My track-by-track tales follow the bare-bones list. Audio log to be posted after the show airs.

1. Deep Purple, Flight Of The Rat
2. Golden Earring, Big Tree, Blue Sea
3. Love, She Comes In Colors
4. Robert Plant, Fat Lip
5. Midnight Oil, The Real Thing
6. Bruce Springsteen, Candy’s Room
7. Blue Oyster Cult, Then Came The Last Days Of May
8. Fleetwood Mac, Although The Sun Is Shining
9. The Rolling Stones, Whole Wide World
10. Little Feat, Day Or Night
11. Johnny Winter, It’s My Own Fault (live)
12. Moby Grape, Miller’s Blues (live)
13. Sass Jordan, Do What Ya Want
14. Lee Harvey Osmond, Cuckoo’s Nest
15. Otis Redding, Let Me Come On Home
16. Muddy Waters, Deep Down In Florida (live)
17. Joe Satriani, Clouds Race Across The Sky

My track-by-track tales:

1. Deep Purple, Flight Of The Rat . . . Just a shade under eight minutes of metal mayhem powered by Ritchie Blackmore’s driving guitar riff. Actually, I don’t consider Deep Purple to be metal, I just couldn’t resist the alliteration of ‘metal mayhem.” Purple has always been more just, for the most part, heavy or hard rock to me, if you can even generalize that much; they’ve got some bluesy ballads and other pretty diverse stuff if you dig deep enough. But, metal wasn’t really a widely-used musical term when the band began and I started listening, although they along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were big influences on bands that did fully adopt the metal motif.

2. Golden Earring, Big Tree, Blue Sea . . . Many, me included, bought Golden Earring’s Moontan album to have their big hit Radar Love when it came out in 1973. That opened the door to discovering other excellent tunes, like this one, on a terrific hard rock/progressive album also featuring such tracks as Candy’s Going Bad, Are You Receiving Me and Vanilla Queen, all of which I’ve played over time.

3. Love, She Comes In Colors . . . A sound shift to softer psychedelia, from the influential Los Angeles band’s second album, Da Capo, released in 1966. It was a single but, like much of Love’s material, didn’t chart. It’s thought to have, and seems logical, inspired The Rolling Stones’ 1967 song She’s A Rainbow, which features ‘she comes in colours everywhere’ in its lyrics and the songs are stylistically similar. Love bandleader and writer Arthur Lee was apparently miffed as he thought the Stones stole the line.

4. Robert Plant, Fat Lip . . . Terrific mid-tempo tune from Pictures At Eleven, Plant’s first solo album, released in 1982, after Led Zeppelin called it quits upon the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980. Led Zeppelin did have a some reunions for live shows, in 1985 at Live Aid and in 2007 at a London concert which resulted in the live album and film Celebration Day.

5. Midnight Oil, The Real Thing . . . A cover of a big 1969 hit in Midnight Oil’s home turf of Australia by Russell Morris, a regular chart presence in that country in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Oils recorded their own studio version and released it as the title track to an otherwise mostly acoustic live album of their songs, issued in 2000.

6. Bruce Springsteen, Candy’s Room . . . Great rocker from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album, 1978. Besides that, and I’ve always loved the song, it’s a ‘correct an error’ tune for me on this show because last week, when I was doing a box set show and played a live version of Because The Night from Springsteen’s 1975-85 set, for whatever reason, as I later heard when listening to the audio playback, I introduced Because The Night as Candy’s Room. That’s likely because I was looking at the track listing on the Springsteen box, as I was talking, Candy’s Room is also on the live set and, anyway, I never corrected myself although I was accurate in my track-by-track tales written commentary. Never a bad time to play Candy’s Room, though. So, here it is, studio version.

7. Blue Oyster Cult, Then Came The Last Days Of May . . . Another spooky one, of which there are many, on the debut album by BOC that came out in 1972. I’ve had this in mind since the calendar changed to May and, while there’s still a bit more than two weeks left in the month, I figured I’d get it in before I forget. Not that I couldn’t play it at any time, of course.

8. Fleetwood Mac, Although The Sun Is Shining . . . Beautiful song written and sung by guitarist Danny Kirwan on 1969’s Then Play On, the album that introduced me to Fleetwood Mac via my older brother owning it, and was also the last to feature founding guitarist Peter Green. I just found out today that the song is used in the 2023 sci-fi movie Foe. I’m not a huge movie buff but I do like sci-fi, so maybe I’ll check it out. Or, maybe not. I just checked a review site and the movie at best averages a 5/10.

9. The Rolling Stones, Whole Wide World . . . Riff rocker from the 2023 album release Hackney Diamonds, the Stones’ first one of original material since 2005. (they released the blues covers album Blue and Lonesome in 2016). They’re out on tour, five dates into it, playing a fair bit, and rightly so, from the terrific new record. They played Whole Wide World at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, second show of the current tour, on May 2 after having debuted it live on Oct. 19, 2023 at the Racket club in New York, an album release show, with the studio record coming out the next day. That seven-song live set from New York was released in December, 2023 in an expanded issue of Hackney Diamonds.

10. Little Feat, Day Or Night . . . Funky, bluesy, swampy tune, the essence of the melting pot of music that is Little Feat, from 1975’s The Last Record Album, which it wasn’t. The band broke up in 1979 following the death of co-founder Lowell George, reunited in the late 1980s and continues on, mostly on the concert circuit while releasing studio material sporadically. Original member and co-founder and keyboard player Bill Payne is still in the group along with longtime core members, since 1972, Sam Clayton on percussion and Kenny Gradney on bass. Founding member and drummer Richie Hayward died in 2010 while guitarist Paul Barrere, who joined in 1972 and essentially assumed leadership of the reunited group, passed in 2019.

11. Winter, It’s My Own Fault (live) . . . Lengthy live treatment of a blues piece written by Riley King, aka B.B. King. It was released on the album Live Johnny Winter And in 1971.

12. Moby Grape, Miller’s Blues (live) . . . Straight ahead beautiful blues, co-written by Grape guitarist Jerry Miller and bass player Bob Mosley. The original studio version came out on the Wow album, paired with another studio record, Grape Jam, in 1968. This live version is a previously-unreleased track taken from The Very Best Of Moby Grape: Vintage, a fine 2-CD compilation.

13. Sass Jordan, Do What Ya Want . . . Typically raunchy Jordan rocker from her 1992 album Racine, which yielded the hit Make You A Believer.

14. Lee Harvey Osmond, Cuckoo’s Nest . . . From one of Canadian artist – and one of my favorites, regardless nationality – Tom Wilson’s various projects. Over time, and sometimes at the same time, those projects have included the Florida Razors, Junkhouse, solo work under his own name, Blackie and The Rodeo Kings with Colin Linden and Stephen Fearing, and Lee Harvey Osmond, with members of Cowboy Junkies and the Skydiggers. Wilson’s work mines blues, blues rock, folk/psychedelic folk, you name it.

15. Otis Redding, Let Me Come On Home . . . From The Dock Of The Bay, an album put together from various Redding recordings between 1965 and his death in a plane crash in December 1967. It was released in February, 1968 including and using the title of Redding’s posthumous No. 1 single.

16. Muddy Waters, Deep Down In Florida (live) . . . Ten minutes of deep blues from one of the masters, taken from the album Muddy “Mississippi” Waters – Live, released in 1979. It features Johnny Winter, who also produced, among the greats like pianist Pinetop Perkins and harmonica player James Cotton who were members of the band that worked with Waters on the trio of studio albums – Hard Again, I’m Ready and King Bee – released between 1977 and 1981. They were the final records of Waters’ career; he died of a heart attack in 1983.

17. Joe Satriani, Clouds Race Across The Sky . . . From Engines Of Creation, the 2000 album released by the instrumental music guitar ace Satriani. It’s an album where he went ‘completely techno’ in his own words, and it works. I always knew of Satriani but never thought a concert featuring an instrumental artist would be compelling, but I was proven very wrong when I saw him open for Deep Purple in 2004. Amazing show, as was Purple’s and of course there’s a connection between the bands as Satriani stepped in to help Purple finish a Japanese tour in late 1993 when guitarist Ritchie Blackmore quit Purple (again and for, so far, the last time). Satriani was apparently asked to join Purple fulltime but declined to concentrate on his solo career, with Steve Morse then filling the guitar slot. Morse left Purple in 2022 to care for his ailing wife, who died of cancer in February of 2024. Morse has since been replaced by Belfast-born guitarist Simon McBride whose first studio record with Deep Purple will be the album = 1 (I’ve also seen reports saying it’s to be called = 1 More Time) is due out July 19. It’ll be my birthday present.

I was originally going to do a full Stones’ solo set but quickly realized that it would become mostly a Mick Jagger-Keith Richards-Ron Wood show, with some dips into Charlie Watts’ jazz excursions, and I actually had such a set in the works, including solo material from former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and bassist Bill Wyman.

Then an old remark from Richards occurred to me. “Nobody leaves this band except in a coffin” Richards once said, miffed when Bill Wyman quit the band in 1993 and, before that, when Taylor left in 1974 although if memory serves Richards said ‘pine box’ instead of coffin, when Taylor left. Original founder member Brian Jones had been dismissed from the band in 1969 and died later that year.

So, perhaps a Jagger-Richards-Wood-Watts set (which if memory serves I’ve done before, actually) at some point but for this Saturday’s show, solo Stones featuring two former members who are still alive. I don’t think their solo music measures up to that of the other members, neither of them are at the same level in terms of songwriting, certainly with respect to Jagger and Richards in my view, but there is quality music within their catalogs.

My track-by-track tales follow the bare-bones list. Audio log of the show to come after it airs.

1. Mick Taylor, Giddy-Up
2. Bill Wyman, Apache Woman
3. Bill Wyman, Ride On Baby
4. Mick Taylor, Baby I Want You
5. Bill Wyman, A New Fashion
6. Mick Taylor, Leather Jacket
7. Bill Wyman, Visions (single version)
8. Bill Wyman, Every Sixty Seconds
9. Mick Taylor, Broken Hands
10. Bill Wyman, I Wanna Get Me A Gun
11. Bill Wyman, Like A Knife
12. Bill Wyman, Blue Murder (Lies)
13. Mick Taylor, Slow Blues
14. Mick Taylor, S.W. 5
15. Bill Wyman, Mighty Fine Time
16. Bill Wyman, Peanut Butter Time
17. Bill Wyman, Nuclear Reactions
18. Bill Wyman, Monkey Grip Glue (single version)
19. Bill Wyman, Soul Satisfying
20. Bill Wyman, Stuff (Can’t Get Enough, 12-inch single extended version)
21. Carla Olson & Mick Taylor, Silver Train
22. Carla Olson & Mick Taylor, Sway
23. Carla Olson & Mick Taylor, Winter
24. The Rolling Stones with Mick Taylor, Midnight Rambler, (from Grrr! Live, 2012 concert from Stones’ 50 & Counting tour)

My track-by-track tales:

1. Mick Taylor, Giddy-Up . . . Bluesy instrumental from Taylor’s debut self-titled solo album, issued in 1979, five years after he left The Rolling Stones. Little Feat’s Lowell George features on slide guitar.

2. Bill Wyman, Apache Woman . . . From Wyman’s second solo album, Stone Alone, released in 1976. His first one, Monkey Grip, came out in 1974 and received far more positive reviews but Stone Alone (also the name of a later Wyman book on the Stones) is the one I’m more familiar with, likely because it’s the one I bought first, when it came out. Decent funky-type rocker but as with Mick Taylor, Wyman is not the most compelling singer. What’s most impressive about Wyman’s first two albums, particularly Stone Alone, is the who’s who of rock stars of the time who helped him out on the albums, among them: pianist/singer Leon Russell, Lowell George, well-regarded session guitarist to the stars Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, Dr. John, Van Morrison, Joe Walsh, Stones’ mate Ronnie Wood, drummers Jim Keltner, Joe Vitale and Dallas Taylor, regular Stones’ session pianist Nicky Hopkins and, on this song, The Pointer Sisters on backing vocals.

3. Bill Wyman, Ride On Baby . . . Not the Stones track which was recorded during the sessions for the 1966 album Aftermath and later released on the US compilation Flowers. This is Wyman’s own song, a bouncy number released on his 1982 self-titled album that yielded the hit single (Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star. Brian Setzer, who later formed the Stray Cats and then The Brian Setzer Orchestra, plays guitar on the tune.

4. Mick Taylor, Baby I Want You . . . Taylor sounds, to me, almost like Peter Green in his singing on this one, a mid-tempo tune from his 1979 album. Taylor, of course, replaced Green in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in the late 1960s, before Taylor joined the Stones, when Green formed the first, blues-oriented version of Fleetwood Mac.

5. Bill Wyman, A New Fashion . . . A nice love song, a ballad from Wyman’s 1982 album.

6. Mick Taylor, Leather Jacket . . . Perhaps Taylor’s best known solo song, again from his 1979 debut. Originally an instrumental worked on by the Stones in 1970. According to Martin Elliott’s book The Rolling Stones Complete Recording Sessions (at least up until 2012) lyrics and vocals may have been intended for the song, as a Stones’ piece, but it was left on the shelf until Taylor added lyrics to it, essentially describing his time with the band:

Rock and roll circus, it’s the best I’ve ever seen
All your leather jackets and your faded jeans
All you have left of your rock and roll dreams
Whoa, put your leather jacket on
Now it’s time to be movin’ on

7. Bill Wyman, Visions . . . Another love song from Wyman’s 1982 album, similar to some of the stuff issued during the early- to mid-70s period of Bob Welch-era Fleetwood Mac, to my ears, anyway. Chris Rea of Fool If You Think It’s Over (but so much more) fame guests on guitar.

8. Bill Wyman, Every Sixty Seconds . . . One of the songs, a bluesy, horn-drenched shuffle that immediately grabbed me when I bought Wyman’s Stone Alone album.

9. Mick Taylor, Broken Hands . . . Up tempo bluesy rocker, again from his 1979 album. Taylor only has two solo studio albums, and being the completist I am I have the other one, 1998’s A Stone’s Throw but alas I haven’t got round to putting A Stone’s Throw into the station’s computer system. So, Saturday’s being a programmed show, I don’t have anything from that album available. So, I may play something from A Stone’s Thrown on my Monday live in studio show at some point but, trust me, aside from myriad live albums and session work with various members of the Stones like Keith Richards and Ron Wood, and with Bob Dylan on Dylan’s Infidels and Empire Burlesque albums, Taylor’s best solo stuff is on the 1979 album. Speaking of Dylan, while putting together this Wyman-Taylor show I happened upon a YouTube clip of Dylan, Richards and Wood chatting backstage before their performance at the 1985 Live Aid show and Dylan mentioned Broken Hands as one of Taylor’s finest. Interesting also in that chat is Richards reiterating, in a positive way, that Taylor, like many musicians, was best as an accompanist, not as a solo artist/frontman. I’ve always agreed with that assessment because the proof is out there. There’s no doubt the Stones did some of their finest work when Taylor was in the band from 1969-74 but did they benefit from him, or vice-versa? Lots of both, really. Taylor hasn’t done much since, great guitarist obviously but . . . and the Stones were hitmakers long before him, Satisfaction and so on, during the early- to mid-1960s and on into the classic album Beggars Banquet and most of Let It Bleed. And the Stones have had hits, and continue to roll on, after him. As an old friend once said, it’s all about songwriting.

10. Bill Wyman, I Wanna Get Me A Gun . . . One of the best tracks, just a good rock song, from Wyman’s solo debut, Monkey Grip, 1974. Dr. John on piano.

11. Bill Wyman, Like A Knife . . . A funky tune from Wyman’s 1992 album Stuff.

12. Bill Wyman, Blue Murder (Lies) . . . Another funky, disco-type tune from the Stuff album, with longtime Stones’ henchman Nicky Hopkins helping out on piano and Ray Cooper, noted for his work with Elton John among many others including the Stones, Paul McCartney and George Harrison to name just a few, on percussion.

13. Mick Taylor, Slow Blues . . . Exactly what the title suggests, a slow blues number featuring Taylor’s exquisite playing.

14. Mick Taylor, S.W. 5 . . . S.W. standing for southwest, one of the highlights of Taylor’s 1979 album.

15. Bill Wyman, Mighty Fine Time . . . Nice groove on this one from Monkey Grip, 1974. Leon Russell (piano), Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar (guitar) and Dallas Taylor (drums), perhaps best known for his work with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and some of their solo projects, are among the personnel.

16. Bill Wyman, Peanut Butter Time . . . The Pointer Sisters on backing vocals on this one from Stone Alone.

17. Bill Wyman, Nuclear Reactions . . . An interesting Kraftwerk-like piece from Wyman’s 1982 self-titled album.

18. Bill Wyman, Monkey Grip Glue (single version) . . . Somebody on YouTube commented that it sounds like early 1970s Ringo Starr. True.

19. Bill Wyman, Soul Satisfying . . . Reggae and disco type tune from Stone Alone.

20. Bill Wyman, Stuff (Can’t Get Enough), 12-inch single extended version) . . . A nearly seven-minute remix of a funky tune that originally appeared on Wyman’s Stuff album, 1992. Not the Stones’ song Hot Stuff, although ‘Can’t Get Enough’ is the refrain in that tune that opens the Stones’ Black and Blue album.

21. Carla Olson & Mick Taylor, Silver Train . . . The first of several in the set highlighting what Mick Taylor arguably does best, besides straight blues; that being Stones’ songs, either with the band, or covering their tunes. He teamed with Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter/producer Olson for a couple live albums in 1990 and ’91, arguably the highlights of which were Stones’ tracks sung by Olson. Silver Train, also done by Johnny Winter, is from the 1973 Stones’ album Goats Head Soup.

22. Carla Olson & Mick Taylor, Sway . . . Fiery live version of the terrific track from Sticky Fingers.

23. Carla Olson & Mick Taylor, Winter . . . And another, this one a near-12 minute epic treatment of one of the highlights from Goats Head Soup.

24. The Rolling Stones with Mick Taylor, Midnight Rambler, (from Grrr! Live, 2012 concert from Stones’ 50 & Counting tour) . . . All of the boys got back together, with Taylor (and Wyman for selected shows just in the UK; Wyman doesn’t like flying) touring with the Stones and appearing on one or two songs per set on the band’s 2012-13 tour. I saw the Toronto show, great stuff.

I did a box set show last Monday, April 29 so this is box set show 2, from collections I own that I didn’t touch on last week. Still a few boxes left unmined, so I may do a 3rd such show next week, or sometime soon. My full track-by-track tales follow the list below.

1. Alphonse Mouzon, Nitroglycerin . . . The first of four songs taken from the 1989-released Tommy Bolin package The Ultimate. It covers the late guitarist’s trips, both solo and with various artists including the James Gang and Deep Purple, into blues and hard rock, jazz fusion and funk rock. This one’s from jazz drummer Mouzon’s 1975 album Mind Transplant.

2. Billy Cobham, Quadrant 4 . . . Via The Ultimate box, from jazz fusion drummer Cobham’s 1973 debut album Spectrum.

3. Zephyr, Showbizzy . . . Rocker from Zephyr’s second and final album featuring Bolin, 1971’s Going Back To Colorado.

4. Moxy, Time To Move On . . . From the Toronto rockers’ self-titled 1975 debut album, Bolin on guitar on this track.

5. Rod Stewart/Python Lee Jackson, In A Broken Dream . . . Stewart on lead vocals with Aussie rock band Python Lee Jackson, 1969. From Stewart’s Storyteller box set.

6. The Rolling Stones, I’m Free . . . Live, from Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out! 40th anniversary expanded box set release.

7. B.B. King, How Blue Can You Get . . . Live, from Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out! 40th anniverary expanded release.

8. Ike & Tina Turner, Come Together . . . Cover of The Beatles’ song, live, from Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out! 40th anniversary expanded release.

9. John Lennon with Elton John, I Saw Her Standing There . . . Live, from 4-CD Lennon set, played with Elton John’s band during EJ’s November, 1974 concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

10. Peter Green, Cruel Contradictions . . . from 2008’s 4-CD release Peter Green: The Anthology.

11. Chicago, A Song For Richard and His Friends . . . A diatribe against then US President Richard Nixon, from the Chicago box set Group Portrait via this live version originally released on the 4-LP vinyl album Chicago At Carnegie Hall in 1971.

12. Jeff Beck, Back On The Street . . . B-side of 1985 single People Get Ready, released on 1991’s Beckology.

13. ZZ Top, Salt Lick . . . Non-album single, 1970, taken from the Chrome, Smoke & BBQ box released in 2003.

14. Yes, Something’s Coming . . . Adaptation of the Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim song from West Side Story, taken from 1991’s 4-CD box Yesyears.

15. Derek and The Dominos, Evil . . . From Eric Clapton’s 1988 Crossroads box set, recorded during 1971 sessions for the Dominos’ aborted second studio album.

16. Judas Priest, Heart Of A Lion . . . Outtake from the 1986 Turbo album sessions, taken from 2004’s Metalogy box set.

17. Jethro Tull, To Be Sad Is A Mad Way To Be . . . Live cut from a 1969 show in Stockholm, Sweden, taken from the limited edition 25th Anniversary Box Set, released in 1993.

18. The Byrds, Mae Jean Goes To Hollywood . . . Outtake from 1969’s Ballad Of Easy Rider album, from The Byrds box, 1990.

19. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Junkie . . . 1970 demo released on the Lynyrd Skynyrd box set, 1991.

20. The Allman Brothers Band, I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town . . . Live, from 1989’s Dreams box set, also available on Live at Ludlow Garage 1970.

My full track-by-track tales:

1. Alphonse Mouzon, Nitroglycerin . . . The first of four songs in this box set show taken from the 1989-released Tommy Bolin package The Ultimate. It covers the late great guitarist’s trip, both solo and with various artists including the James Gang and Deep Purple, into blues and hard rock, jazz fusion and funk rock. This one’s from jazz drummer Mouzon’s 1975 album Mind Transplant.

2. Billy Cobham, Quadrant 4 . . . Via The Ultimate box, from jazz fusion drummer Cobham’s 1973 debut album Spectrum. . It’s the record, featuring Bolin’s guitar playing, that caught the attention of then-Deep Purple singer David Coverdale who recommended Bolin – who played on Purple’s 1975 album Come Taste The Band – to his bandmates after Ritchie Blackmore left to form Rainbow.

3. Zephyr, Showbizzy . . . Rocker from Zephyr’s second and final album featuring Bolin, 1971’s Going Back To Colorado, with singer Candy Givens doing a nice impression of Heart’s Ann Wilson, or vice-versa.

4. Moxy, Time To Move On . . . From the Toronto rockers’ self-titled 1975 debut album, Bolin on guitar on this track. The story goes that Moxy’s guitarist was thrown out of the studio after a disagreement with the engineer, Bolin was recording in a studio next door, knew one of Moxy’s members and, here you go.

5. Rod Stewart/Python Lee Jackson, In A Broken Dream . . . Stewart on lead vocals with Aussie rock band Python Lee Jackson, 1969. From Stewart’s Storyteller box set.

6. The Rolling Stones, I’m Free . . . Live, from Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out! 40th anniversary expanded box set release.

7. B.B. King, How Blue Can You Get . . . Live, from Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out! 40th anniverary expanded release.

8. Ike & Tina Turner, Come Together . . . Cover of The Beatles’ song, live, from Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out! 40th anniversary expanded release. According to Roy Carr’s book The Rolling Stones: An Illustrated Record, the Stones wanted the B.B. King and Turner opening sets released as the second disc on a double live album but were turned down by their then-record company, Decca. The full package finally came out in a lavish 2009 box set that includes a retrospective book and DVD.

9. John Lennon with Elton John, I Saw Her Standing There . . . Live, from 4-CD Lennon set, played with Elton John’s band during EJ’s November, 1974 concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It was the lead track, sung by Paul McCartney, on The Beatles’ debut album Please Please Me, released in 1963. Lennon introduced it, as follows, during the 1974 show:

“I’d like to thank Elton and the boys for having me on tonight. We tried to think of a number to finish off with so I can get out of here and be sick, and we thought we’d do a number of an old, estranged fiancé of mine, called Paul. This is one I never sang, it’s an old Beatle number, and we just about know it.”

Elton John released it as the B-side to his Philadelphia Freedom single and it’s also on his To Be Continued . . . box set and expanded re-releases of his 1976 live album Here and There.

10. Peter Green, Cruel Contradictions . . . Sublime jazzy blues from 2008’s 4-CD release Peter Green: The Anthology, with Green collaborating on guitar, harmnica and lead vocals with renowned British jazz, blues and R & B saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith on a song from Heckstall-Smith’s 2001 album Blues and Beyond. The album was something of a Bluesbreakers reunion as it featured, on various tracks, not only John Mayall but former Bluesbreakers Green, Heckstall-Smith and guitarist Mick Taylor, later of The Rolling Stones. Heckstall-Smith and Taylor, who replaced Green in the Bluesbreakers when Green formed Fleetwood Mac, played together on the 1968 Bluesbreakers album Bare Wires.

11. Chicago, A Song For Richard and His Friends . . . A diatribe against then US President Richard Nixon, from the Chicago box set Group Portrait via this live version originally relesased on the 4-LP vinyl album Chicago At Carnegie Hall in 1971. An instrumental version appeared as a bonus track on the 2002 reissue of the 1972 studio release, Chicago V.

12. Jeff Beck, Back On The Street . . . A metallic rocker, lead vocals by American singer Karen Lawrence, notable for her background vocals to Steven Tyler on the chorus of Aerosmith’s song Get It Up, from 1977’s Draw The Line album. Back On The Street was the B-side of the 1985 single People Get Ready that featured old Beck collaborator Rod Stewart, from the Truth and Beck-Ola album days, on lead vocals. Both songs were recorded during the sessions for Beck’s 1985 album Flash and both also appeared on the 1991 Beckology box.

13. ZZ Top, Salt Lick . . . Non-album funky somewhat psychedelic single from 1970, taken from 2003’s Chrome, Smoke & BBQ box set. ZZ Top was still in its formative stages, with only guitarist/singer/songwriter Billy Gibbons of the classic trio of Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard in the lineup at this point. Lanier Gregg (bass) and Dan Mitchell (drums) were the other band members at the time.

14. Yes, Something’s Coming . . . An adaptation of the Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim song from West Side Story, taken from 1991’s 4-CD box Yesyears. It was the B-side to Yes’s first released single, Sweetness, from the band’s self-titled 1969 debut album.

15. Derek and The Dominos, Evil . . . I played a track from Clapton’s Crossroads 2 live songs box last week. This cover of the Willie Dixon tune, also famously done by Howlin’ Wolf, is from the first Crossroads box set, released in 1988. It was recorded during 1971 sessions for the Dominos’ aborted second studio album.

16. Judas Priest, Heart Of A Lion . . . Studio outtake from the sessions for 1986 album Turbo, taken from 2004’s Metalogy box set. Should have made the original album, if you ask me.

17. Jethro Tull, To Be Sad Is A Mad Way To Be . . . Bluesy live cut from a 1969 show in Stockholm, Sweden, taken from the limited edition 25th Anniversary Box Set, released in 1993. Ian Anderson is known for his flute playing, but he nails this one on harmonica, too.

18. The Byrds, Mae Jean Goes To Hollywood . . . An outtake from 1969’s Ballad Of Easy Rider album since released on expanded versions of that record. The song first appeared on the original 4-CD The Byrds box set, released in 1990. Now out of print, that box was replaced in 2006 with a new one, There Is A Season although each set contains some tracks, like this countryish tune written by Jackson Browne, that the other box does not.

19. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Junkie . . . 1970 demo of a funky rocker, released on the Lynyrd Skynyrd box set, 1991.

20. The Allman Brothers Band . . . I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town . . . Live, extended cut first recorded in 1936 by bluesman William “Casey Bill’ Weldon. Taken from the Dreams box set released in 1989, the same version is also available on Live At Ludlow Garage 1970 and features the original ABB lineup of Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny “Jamioe” Johanson.

My track-by-track tales follow the bare-bones list.

1. Teenage Head, Disgusteen
2. Ian Dury, Wake Up And Make Love With Me
3. Graham Parker & The Rumour, Saturday Nite Is Dead
4. Elvis Costello, I’m Not Angry
5. The Clash, Brand New Cadillac
6. Blondie, Accidents Never Happen
7. The Cars, You Can’t Hold On Too Long
8. Joe Jackson, Throw It Away
9. Jefferson Airplane, She Has Funny Cars
10. Neil Young, Crime In The City (Sixty To Zero Part 1)
11. Motorhead, Ain’t My Crime
12. Billy Joel, Ain’t No Crime
13. Elton John, It Ain’t Gonna Be Easy
14. Leon Russell, Jumpin’ Jack Flash/Youngblood (live, from the Concert for Bangladesh)
15. The Rolling Stones, Child Of The Moon
16. Iron Maiden, Sign Of The Cross
17. Black Sabbath, Computer God
18. King Crimson, 21st Century Schizoid Man
19. Judas Priest, Beyond The Realms Of Death
20. KK’s Priest, Return Of The Sentinel
21. Bob Dylan, The Ballad Of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
22. Van Halen, Mine All Mine

My track-by-track tales:

1. Teenage Head, Disgusteen . . . “Nice day for a party . . . isn’t it?” I can never get enough of that intro line and then of course the later playing off The Exorcist movie amid the incessant riff of the song . . . “Come on in, Father Karras. Regan’s inside here with me, she’s going nowhere. ‘But please, it’s so cold you must let her go.’ “She’s not going anywhere. Not till I’m finished with her, you understand.”

2. Ian Dury, Wake Up And Make Love With Me . . . Dury, one of those artists I got into via a college friend who, en route to a party, played me Dury’s Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll on his car tape deck (yeah, I’m aging) which prompted me to investigate New Boots and Panties!! album from which Wake Up And Make Love With Me comes. Loved the album, still do, easily to me Dury’s best, most consistent work and I became a disciple of Dury, for a time, anyway, because aside from the slightly later hit, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, the stuff he was releasing post-New Boots and Panties!! didn’t make it with me anymore. But, that does not take away from whatever it is he did and I’ve named just a few songs here and the point is, he did them.

3. Graham Parker & The Rumour, Saturday Nite Is Dead . . . From the ‘angry young man’ period of Parker’s career, from the album, Squeezing Out Sparks, arguably his best album, terrific front to back and featuring such songs as the single Local Girls and Protection. But, I must confess that I got into Parker via his next album, The Up Escalator, issued in 1980 which met with lukewarm reviews I’ve never understood I mean, Devil’s Sidewalk, Stupefaction, Endless Night, Empty Lives . . . anyway so I got into Parker via The Up Escalator, then I went back, and forward until he found marital bliss, lost the angry young man persona, got boring, to me anyway, and that was that. He’s still out there, though. Maybe I should see what he’s up to; we’ve both aged, maybe I’ll find some commonality.

4. Elvis Costello, I’m Not Angry . . . Speaking of ‘angry young men’, Costello, around the same time as Parker was considered part of that unofficial, media-created trio that also included Joe Jackson, who I’ll get to in a bit because if I play one of the ‘angry young men’ I feel compelled to play the other two, at least if I’m playing something from their late 1970s period. So here’s I’m Not Angry, from Costello’s 1977 debut release My Aim Is True which arguably could be categorized as a greatest hits album, it’s so full of great songs.

5. The Clash, Brand New Cadillac . . . The Clash’s explosive take on Vince Taylor’s 1959 rockabilly tune, released by The Clash on London Calling in 1979 and prompting music completists like me to take a trip back to Taylor, which is what a great cover tune can do and thankfully so. Taylor’s tune is terrific. And you can’t beat a lyric the Clash inserted, Baby, baby, drove up in a Cadillac I said, “Jesus Christ, where’d you get that Cadillac?” She said, “Balls to you, daddy, she ain’t never coming back.” Now, Vince Taylor may have wanted to write and sing such a lyric but allowable things were different in 1958 when he released his song, as a B-side (?!) but anyway 21 years later The Clash said it and all is well and good.

6. Blondie, Accidents Never Happen . . . My favorite song – and maybe my favorite Blondie song overall, hits and otherwise – from the Eat To The Beat album, the 1979 followup to the smash hit 1978 album Parallel Lines which featured the hits or at least well-known tracks Hanging On The Telephone, Heart Of Glass and One Way Or Another. Accidents Never Happen wasn’t released as a single, though. Killer track, to my ears.

7. The Cars, You Can’t Hold On Too Long . . . David Bowie-esque track from the second Cars album, Candy-O, released in 1979. Sung by bass player Benjamin Orr, who also handled vocals on such well-known Cars tunes as Just What I Needed, Drive, Let’s Go and Moving In Stereo.

8. Joe Jackson, Throw It Away . . . a rocker from JJ’s debut album, Look Sharp! in 1979 ends the opening salvo of songs and bands I got into during my college days.

9. Jefferson Airplane, She Has Funny Cars . . . Bo Diddley-esque beat on this one from Surrealistic Pillow, overshadowed by that album’s two hits and the songs – Somebody To Love and White Rabbit – for which the Airplane is best known to casual listeners. There’s so much more, if you dig.

10. Neil Young, Crime In The City (Sixty To Zero Part 1) . . . Rockin’ In The Free World, electric version (it also appeared in acoustic form on the record) was the hit single from Young’s 1989 album Freedom. But this epic ‘story’ song is arguably the heart of the album, a tune Young had road tested at varying lengths, up to 20 minutes, with the final album track coming in at just under nine minutes, prior to official studio album release. Lots of interesting reading about the song available online, although was an instant favorite of mine when I bought the album on CD when it was released, without knowing further to that point.

11. Motorhead, Ain’t My Crime . . . It just came up in the computer system when I was digging for the previous Neil Young song, also featuring the word ‘crime’ in the title. Same as the song after this one. Anyway, as for Motorhead, this is from the band’s 1986 album Orgasmatron, back during a time I wasn’t much into metal although I soon gave the genre more of a chance and embraced it, evidenced by some songs later in the set. Well, check that, re metal. I was into it, I liked Judas Priest, Black Sabbath (who I continue to categorize as hard rock but anyway) and similar bands but I had always thought Motorhead was just shit noise, based on a few listens, but I decided to keep listening, and I was rewarded as I finally ‘got it’.

12. Billy Joel, Ain’t No Crime . . . A song about hangovers, at least that’s how I read the lyrics, good tune, too, from Joel’s Piano Man album. Just get up, get out and move on, to quote a song by the band Fludd which I should play again sometime.
“You got to open your eyes in the morning
Nine o’clock comin’ without any warnin’
And you gotta get ready to go
You say you went out late last evenin’
Did a lot of drinkin’, come home stinkin’
And you went and fell asleep on the floor
And then your lady comes and finds you a-sleepin’
Starts into weepin’ ’bout the hours you been keepin’
And you better get your ass out the door
Ain’t no crime
Yeah, it’s good to get it on to get a load off your mind
It ain’t no crime,
Well, ev’rybody gets that way sometime
It ain’t no crime”

Agreed.

13. Elton John, It Ain’t Gonna Be Easy . . . Lengthy, bluesy piece, one of my favorites from EJ, from 1978’s A Single Man album during a period when he and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin had parted ways and Elton’s commercial fortunes – at least compared to his massive success earlier in the 1970s – were on the downslope. Great stuff, nevertheless.

14. Leon Russell, Jumpin’ Jack Flash/Youngblood (live, from the Concert for Bangladesh) . . . Third in a row in the set from an artist best known for piano/keyboard playing, from Russell’s appearance at the George Harrison-Ravi Shankar-organized benefit concert at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in 1971.

15. The Rolling Stones, Child Of The Moon . . . And here are the Stones, who weren’t at the Bangladesh concert, with the psychedelic sounding B-side to their hit single Jumpin’ Jack Flash. JJ Flash is an amazing song but the fact Child Of The Moon was relegated to B-side status shows how great the Stones are but for the zillionth time, don’t take my word for it, I’m a huge fan so there exists an inherent bias for me, towards them. We all like what we like, we hear things and are moved by them as we hear them, or not, and that’s the beauty of it.

16. Iron Maiden, Sign Of The Cross . . . Spooky, heavy, lengthy progressive metal from The X Factor album, released in 1995 and the first of two records with Blaze Bayley on lead vocals replacing Bruce Dickinson, who had left to pursue a solo career. Bayley never seemed to be fully accepted by the band’s fan base, or arguably the band itself as sales suffered and they asked him to leave at a band meeting as talks of a reunion with Dickinson percolated, although I like the albums Bayley performed on.
Bayley remains something of a footnote and soon enough, Dickinson was back in the band. Maiden has still performed some Bayley-era songs in concert, including Sign Of The Cross which has appeared on some subsequent compilations albeit in live versions with Dickinson singing which seems to me a cheap dig at Bayley but whatever. Frankly, while I truly like Iron Maiden I can only take Dickinson’s vocals in small doses and I’m not saying Bayley is or was better, but Dickinson’s sort of to me operatic whatever one might call it style I find grating after a few songs. And live? Bruce, spare us the ‘scream for me (insert city you’re playing in)” shit, OK? It’s as bad as Ozzy Osbourne’s “clap your hands” BS during his concerts. Uh, the music should make us clap our hands, no? If we need you to exhort us, then maybe the music ain’t quite making it? And I like Maiden, Sabbath, Ozzy solo. Just saying.

17. Black Sabbath, Computer God . . . Prescience from Sabbath’s 1992 album Dehumanizer, Ronnie James Dio on lead vocals and songwriting? “Virtual existence with a superhuman mind, the ultimate creation, destroyer of mankind” Da dum, as AI takes us over which of course has long been addressed in sci-fi, and we’re getting there if not already although so far, we humans appear to still be in charge.

18. King Crimson, 21st Century Schizoid Man . . . More in the same vein as Dehumanizer, in the song title, anyway. And maybe some of the lyrics: “Nothing he’s got he really needs. Twenty first century schizoid man.” It’s so very true about the ‘nothing’ I mean in the end what does one need but a roof over one’s head, food and…music. 🙂 Or maybe I’m overanalzying. In any case, progressive jazz rock metal, this one, from Crimson’s classic debut album, 1969’s In The Court Of The Crimson King.

19. Judas Priest, Beyond The Realms Of Death . . . Acoustic to metal and back again, repeat . . . guitar solos by Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing. Classic stuff from Priest’s 1978 album Stained Class.

20. KK’s Priest, Return Of The Sentinel . . . Speaking of K.K. (Kenneth Keith) Downing . . . He’s dropped the periods in the title initials of his new project since parting with Priest. Not for his name, just the band name. Anyway, KK’s Priest has released two albums, 2021’s Sermons Of The Sinner, from which I pulled this lengthy obviously Priest-type piece what else would one expect and we now have essentially two Judas Priest bands to enjoy, and 2023’s The Sinner Rides Again. Both discs feature Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens on lead vocals. Owens replaced Rob Halford for two Priest albums, I liked them, in the late 1990s/early 2000s before Halford returned to JP.

21. Bob Dylan, The Ballad Of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest . . . Something completely different from the recent metallic nature of the set, from Dylan’s 1967 folk rock album John Wesley Harding. But . . . it is actually related, in that Judas Priest was inspired by the Dylan song in naming the band. And, later, Priest rocked up Diamonds and Rust, written by Joan Baez, who had been in a relationship with Dylan both musically and personally. It’s interesting how artists mining different genres within music can come together, in a fashion but that should be obvious as most people I would think open their ears to anything and everything. Baez loved Priest’s version of her song (and no doubt the royalties) which in a flip of things, Priest later did live in an acoustic setting, available on YouTube.

22. Van Halen, Mine All Mine . . . I saw/heard Van Halen, the Van (Sammy) Hagar incarnation of the band, open with this on Canada Day 1993 when Van Halen headlined a festival show in Barrie, Ontario. I remember some people bitched about why an American band was headlining a Canada Day show but whatever. We’ve long since had rock acts headlining supposed blues festivals (like in my town, Kitchener, Ontario) that really ought to be rebranded as music festivals with a blues element, so what’s the difference? You want to sell tickets, no?
Anyway, it’s a driving kinda funky track I immediatly liked upon purchase of the second Van Hagar album, OU812 incorporating thoughtful lyrics on life/humanity. Another case where a song could easily have been a single along with those released from the record: Black and Blue, Finish What You Started, When It’s Love and Feels So Good. Quality, all of them. And hey, with 10 tracks on the album you have to leave some for deep cuts DJs to play. 🙂