Chapter 30: What's Going On? (May - November 1972)

12 May 1972

The Rolling Stones - Ziggy Stardust

Released: 12 May 1972

Recorded: June 1971 - March 1972

Producer: The Rolling Stones and Jimmy Miller

Track listing[1]

Side A

Five Years

Rocks Off

Moonage Daydream

Casino Boogie

Hang On to Yourself

Side B

Ziggy Stardust

Sweet Virginia

Torn and Frayed

Starman

Loving Cup

Side C

Soul Love

Sweet Black Angel

Lady Stardust

I Just Want to See His Face

Let It Loose

Side D

All Down the Line

Star

Shine a Light

Rip This Joint

Suffragette City

Rock 'n' Roll Suicide

After the release of Lifehouse by the Who, the Rolling Stones became even more determined than ever to beat them at their game. Lifehouse was a double album, and so the Stones' next album, Ziggy Stardust, would also be a double. Unlike Lifehouse's collection of self-contained songs with a loose concept, Ziggy Stardust would tell its own story about the bisexual androgynous rock star of the same name acting as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings.

Much of the story had been outlined by David Bowie, and after he presented his material, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards changed the lyrics to some of their material to build upon Bowie's vision, essentially expanding the universe of Ziggy Stardust. For instance, "Sweet Black Angel" was originally written about civil rights activist Angela Davis in 1970 following murder charges after the Marin County Civic Center attacks, but it was later changed to serve as a lead-in to "Lady Stardust", following a sexual encounter with the titular Sweet Black Angel. This would mark the beginning of the downfall of Ziggy in the story.

Mick Jagger performing with the Rolling Stones during the Ziggy Stardust Tour, 1972.

The first single off of the album, "Starman"/"Sweet Black Angel" was released in April, the month before the album's release. It marked a milestone in the Rolling Stones' history, with some believing that it was a sequel to "Space Oddity" from their 1969 album of the same name. Still, it received positive reviews and managed to reach #10 in the United Kingdom and #6 in the United States. Ziggy Stardust did even better when it was released in May. It managed to reach #1 on both sides of the Atlantic and was hailed as the Rolling Stones' greatest album, with critics praising the story and musical direction.

MICK JAGGER: "It was strangely satisfying, and yet kind of sad, that the same year that the Beatles were putting out their worst work at the time, the Stones had put out their best." (2012)

DAVID BOWIE: "Ziggy Stardust was such a fun project to work on, possibly one of the best we've ever done." (1983)

Shortly after the release of the album, having dealt with financial problems thanks to the assistance of Brian Epstein and Lord Beeching, the Stones could now finally come back to London. They had been advised not to return to France because of the police wanting to question them following Richards' involvement with drugs. Shortly afterward, the band flew to Los Angeles and resumed rehearsals for their North American tour. The next single off of the album, "All Down the Line"/"Rock and Roll Suicide", was released in June and hit #5 and #22 in the United Kingdom and United States, respectively.

12 June 1972

The Who, 1972.

KEITH MOON: "With hindsight, we should've scampered off with our tails between our legs earlier as the battle between the Who and the Stones had gone on for about five years by that point. Let's face it; they're heavier players than we really are. Except maybe David [Bowie], but he's still a nice guy." (1975)

It had been almost a year since the Who had put out Lifehouse, and people were now wondering what the follow-up was going to be like. Beginning with 1966's A Quick One (Happy Jack in America), the Who seemed to have been alternating between the goofier, looser albums (Magic Bus, 7ft. Wide Car, 6ft. Wide Garage) and the more serious, ambitious projects (Who's Lily, Tommy, Lifehouse), so it seemed to make sense that the next album, Rock is Dead - Long Live Rock, would follow that pattern.

However, Pete Townshend instead had the idea that Rock is Dead would be about the history of the Who, with a television special following it. Among the tracks recorded were "Join Together", "Relay", "Is It In My Head", "Long Live Rock", and "Love, Reign O'er Me". But out of these sessions came the single "Join Together"/"Baby Don't You Do It", which topped out at #9 in the United Kingdom and reached #17 in the United States.

ROGER DALTREY: "The resulting sessions felt too derivative of Lifehouse, and we didn't want to repeat ourselves for the October release, so we put the album on hold whilst Pete came up with new material. Meanwhile, John [Entwistle] and I did solo albums and Keith starred in That'll Be the Day which came out next year." (1995)

The Who performing live, 1972.

PETE TOWNSHEND: "We were soon back at the studio following our European tour and rethought our strategy for Rock is Dead; the first side would consist entirely of self-contained songs such as 'Relay' and 'Join Together', whilst the second side would consist of a mini-rock opera known as 'Cut My Hair'. This would be about teenage adolescence reminiscent to our early singles such as 'My Generation'. But we still didn't have the time to get the album out by the end of '72." (1982)

The Who's next single, "Relay" backed with Keith Moon's "Waspman", was released November 20, but it did not reach the Top 10 in either the United States (#39) or the United Kingdom (#21). Townshend considered the single to be a "white flag" response to the Rolling Stones following the release of Ziggy Stardust, finally realizing that the Who could never attempt to beat them, no matter how hard they tried. The battle of the bands, having begun in 1968, was finally over.

JOHN ENTWISTLE: "It was nice while it lasted, but it was for the best that the Who moved on to do what they did best and threw in the towel; well, what little was left of it, anyway. I can't really imagine what might've happened if we kept having this dick war with the Stones." (2005)

June 9, 1972

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Southbound Train

Released: June 9, 1972

Recorded: February 1971 - May 1972

Producer: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Track listing[2]

Side A

Southbound Train

War Song

Change Partners

Stranger's Room

Where Will I Be?

Sugar Babe

Side B

Are You Ready for the Country?

Page 43

Ecology Song

Alabama

The Wall Song

Immigration Man

GRAHAM NASH: "We had just finished up Southbound Train when Neil and I called David and Stephen into the studio that May. He'd written up a song in support of George McGovern's presidential campaign and I'd helped with the lyrics; ironic as he's Canadian and I'm British, but that's beside the point." (1992)

"Words (Between the Lines of Age)" was dropped from Southbound Train at the eleventh hour in favor of Neil Young and Graham Nash's "War Song"; instead, it would be released as part of a single with Nash's "Immigration Man" for August. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had always included politically-oriented music on their albums - "Wooden Ships" on the eponymous debut album (without Young), for example, was about the horrors of coming across survivors from both sides following a nuclear holocaust - but Southbound Train was a bit more blatant with its political undertones.

American President Richard Nixon shaking hands with Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong, February 21, 1972.

The album's timing was very fitting for American listeners; the next United States presidential election was between incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon of New York and Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. Four years previous, Nixon had defeated Democratic nominees Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota (former vice-president to Nixon's predecessor, Lyndon Johnson) and George Wallace of Alabama (Wallace had been nominee for the American Independent Party in the 1968 election).

Since Nixon's inauguration into office, protests against America's involvement in the Vietnam War had gotten more aggressive following the exposure of the My Lai Massacre of 1968 in a Vietnamese village in November of 1969. At Kent State University in Ohio on May 4, 1970, four college students were killed by the Ohio National Guard for protesting the bombing of Cambodia, a neutral country in the war. This massacre had prompted Neil Young to write up "Ohio" in response to the shootings.

Young was heavily opposed to Nixon's presidency and instead supported George McGovern to become the 38th President of the United States through "War Song". It was the first single out of Southbound Train backed with Stephen Stills' "Singin' Call", released June 19 and reached #1 in the United States. It did not, however, do as highly in the United Kingdom, where it reached #23. The following singles - "Immigration Man"/"Words" (#14 US, #47 UK) and "Change Partners"/"Frozen Smiles" (#8 US, #40 UK) - would be released on August 4 and November 17, respectively, whilst "Page 43"/"Games" (#35 US) would come out the following year on January 19.

Stephen Stills performing live with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1972.

Southbound Train reached #1 in the United States, and also topped the charts for a week in the United Kingdom, with critics praising the sound for having more of a band feeling as opposed to four solo careers going on at the same time. Apart from the four singles, other noteworthy tracks included Young's "Alabama", a sequel to "Southern Man" from his solo album Oh, Lonesome Me the year before, discussing the changing landscape of America up to the early 1970s; both would inspire Lynyrd Skynyrd's most famous song, "Sweet Home Alabama", two years later.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young went on tour across the United States following the release of Southbound Train in the months leading up to Election Day on November 7. For an opening act before each show, Stephen Stills' side band, Manassas, would perform their own set before he would be joined by Crosby, Nash and Young. They were also joined by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band (including bassist Klaus Voormann) for their own set, focusing heavily on Lennon's politically themed numbers such as "Power to the People" and "Gimme Some Truth", as well as his own Beatles material such as "Come Together" and "Yer Blues".

This series of concerts headlined by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young would also inspire artists to perform live in support of George McGovern for president; Simon & Garfunkel had reunited for a live performance at Madison Square Garden alongside the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary and Dionne Warwick. If 1966 had been The Year Rock Fought Religion, then 1972 would go down in fame as The Year Music Fought Politics.

June 17 - November 7, 1972

The Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., 1972.

At 2:30 in the morning of June 17, a burglary had taken place at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex. Five men were arrested for breaking in, all were members of Nixon's White House Plumbers. Three days after the burglary, following the word of Deep Throat (associate director of the FBI, Mark Felt), one of the Plumbers had connections to CIA officer E. Howard Hunt, who was also connected to Special Counsel Charles Colson, who would later become a member of the infamous Watergate Seven.

Following this break in, Nixon had attempted to shut down the investigation, under the advice of Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, by having CIA Director Richard Helms and Deputy Director Vernon A. Walters tell acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray to "Stay the hell out of this." The entire conversation had been recorded, thanks to a sound-activated taping system being installed in the Oval Office in February 1971.

To this day, it remains a mystery as to how and why it happened, and who committed the theft, but between June 23 (the day the conversation between Nixon, Helms and Walters was recorded in secret) and September 15 (the day that Hunt, ex-talk show host G. Gordon Liddy, and the Watergate burglars were indicted by a federal grand jury), the recording had been leaked to the public, sending the United States of America into a constitutional crisis. Now that one of Nixon's secrets had been exposed to the public, along with the popularity of anti-war music in the country, it looked as though the days of Nixon's presidency were numbered. Whoever stole the tapes has since gone down as an American legend, with people debating as to whether or not they were a hero or a villain.

"Come Home, America" was George McGovern's campaign slogan, in hopes of ending America's involvement with the Vietnam War.

President Nixon was furious about the leaks, and he ordered for the tape recorder and the tapes to be destroyed; fortunately, most were salvaged by the janitorial staff at the White House, and ended up at the National Archives and Records Administration. Knowing that it would be impossible to put this genie back in the bottle, Nixon was advised to not run for a second term following the scandal. In his place, House Minority Leader and Leader of the House Republican Conference Gerald Ford would take the Republican Party Ticket for the 1972 election with Bob Dole for Vice-President.[3] This choice was considered questionable by many, wondering why Republican liberal Nelson Rockefeller was not chosen for Ford's running mate instead of Dole.

For the Democratic Party Ticket, George McGovern's running mate for Vice-President would be former Governor of North Carolina and current president of Duke University, Terry Sanford, a close political ally of John F. Kennedy.[4] McGovern was not very popular in the American political world, but he was the Democrats' only choice following Ed Muskie's breakdown and the assassination attempt on George Wallace by Arthur Bremer, paralyzing him from the waist down. Perhaps, to McGovern's mind, choosing a Vice-President with good relations to a previous president would give him the best possible chance of success.

The 1972 presidential election would be the first following the ratification of the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution on July 1, 1971, which would lower the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen. Many college students ranging from eighteen to twenty-one were listening to the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Bob Dylan and the Ladders on their personal record players, and after hearing of the leaks of the Nixon White House Tapes exposing the president's attempt to conceal the burglary at Watergate, most of them agreed that there was an underdog they could root for, and a villain to jeer. This would all soon come to a head as to who would end up winning the election on November 7...

Republican Party nominee Gerald Ford giving a concession following his defeat to Democratic nominee George McGovern, November 8, 1972.

GERALD FORD: "We are here among friends in Nebraska, where this campaign began just a few months ago. And we now bring it to an end tonight and have just sent this telegram to Senator McGovern: 'Congratulations on your victory. I hope that in the next four years, you shall lead us to a time of peace abroad and justice in America. You have my full support and perhaps, one day, you'll come over to watch football with us. With best wishes to you and your gracious wife, Eleanor. Sincerely, Gerald Ford.'" (following the election in which George McGovern became the next President of the United States of America, November 8, 1972)[5]

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Exile on Main St..
2. Tracks are sourced from Graham Nash David Crosby, Stephen Stills 2 and Harvest. "War Song" is sourced from disc eight on The Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972. Ironically, there is less CSNY collaboration than there was on Remember Our Names; Crosby appears on every song except "War Song", Stills appears on four songs, Nash appears on eight songs, and Young only appears on his own songs, averaging about six or seven songs per member.
3. In OTL, Gerald Ford ran for President with Bob Dole as Vice-President in 1976, but they lost against Democrats Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. Ford ran as President with Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice-President, but not choosing Rockefeller as his running mate was Ford's downfall.
4. In OTL, George McGovern chose Thomas Eagleton to be his Vice-President before replacing him with Sargent Shriver.
5. In OTL, George McGovern sent a similar telegram to Richard Nixon's re-election. Ford's invitation to watch football is a reference to Two Bad Neighbors from The Simpsons.

Author's Comments

Someone ought to wake up Green Day since September's just ending! But with all seriousness, I've posted the thirtieth chapter of the series, fittingly, on September 30. It's also the first chapter to delve deeper into American politics, as well as the first big major POD concerning them in the story. What goes on with American politics in Strawberry Peppers won't be hugely focused upon in future chapters (the same thing will apply to movies and television with some exceptions down the road), but I will write information posts as to what went on during the respective presidencies of George McGovern onwards (in case you ask about Richard Nixon, his presidency is the same as it was up to 1972; the tapes were leaked earlier, leading to his downfall, so there won't be one about Tricky Dicky), and how it affected not only America, but politics from around the world as well. I'll admit I know jack shit about foreign politics, but I'll do the best I can. These are what some side-posts will be about:

• Culture: Movies and television.
• Discographies: A summary of a specific band or artist's releases; some discographies stretch back to before the 1966 point of divergence.
• Events: Moments of a conflict, the impact of a war, a political election, changes in laws to America or England, etc.
• Extra Scenes: You already know this one.
• Information: Highlighting events that have occurred since the 1966 point of divergence.
• Profiles: Highlighting a specific character in Strawberry Peppers and summarizing their story thus far, or providing exposition on that character.

Those are likely to be a bit more frequent as the series progresses as I'm putting Phase Two on a bit of a hiatus until October 21; I've got an outline for chapter 31 planned, but getting the albums for that chapter together isn't going to be an easy task. But in the meantime, I'll be working on chapters 32 and 33, which will come out the 23rd and 25th, respectively (hopefully!), and normal weekly service will resume the 28th with chapter 34. That's the plan, at least!

EDIT: (11/3/19) The album cover to Ziggy Stardust has been updated, courtesy of Auran.

Chapter 29: Gimme Shelter (January - July 1972)

30 January 1972

A photograph taken from the Bloody Sunday massacre in Ireland, 30 January 1972. A British solider chases after an Irish civilian whilst another soldier looks on.

Needless to say, 1972 kicked off with a literal bang. In Derry, Northern Ireland, following the events of Operation Demetrius in August 1971, in which 342 Irish republican militants were arrested and 7,000 civilians displaced, British soldiers shot at twenty-eight unarmed civilians during a protest march. Thirteen were killed outright in the massacre whilst a fourteenth (John Johnston, aged 59) died of his injuries four months later. Twelve other people were also shot at whilst two more were run down by army vehicles. An unknown number of civilians were also injured by rubber bullets and flying debris. The events later became known as "Bloody Sunday".

PAUL McCARTNEY: "What the soldiers did in Ireland was simply atrocious, y'know. Despite the bad blood between me and John at the time, that was one time where we had the same feelings. We never knew about it at the time, but both us agreed that we had to make a statement." (1997)

JOHN LENNON: "George, Ringo and I were fresh from the success of the Concert for Bangladesh, and with what we'd recorded at the time, we were pretty heavy into the political scene. Well, I was with Yoko, at least. George kept busy with his religious preachings and Ringo was... ya know, Ringo." (1981)

1 - 25 February 1972

Paul McCartney and his backing band, plus Linda McCartney, outside of Rude Studio, Scotland, 1971. Hugh McCracken is not pictured.

The Beatles' hometown of Liverpool had a heavy population of Irish immigrants, and both the Lennon and McCartney families had Irish ancestry. Paul McCartney was the first to get his statement down on tape with his new song, "Give Ireland Back to the Irish". Using the same backing band that he used for his solo debut Cherry Wine - Denny Laine and Hugh McCracken on guitar and Denny Seiwell on drums, plus Linda on backing vocals - "Give Ireland..." was rush recorded and planned for a release later in the month. "Mama's Little Girl" was also recorded during the sessions as the B-side.

PAUL McCARTNEY: "When Brian [Epstein] first heard the single, he was dismayed, saying that it was nothing like anything the Beatles would've put out. EMI's chairman at the time, Joseph Lockwood, also refused to have it released because there was the potential that 'Ireland' would be banned by the BBC. In retrospect, they both had a point. Still, I insisted that it come out because I wanted to get a message out there." (2001)

"Give Ireland Back to the Irish"/"Mama's Little Girl" was released under Apple Records on 25 February and the A-side was immediately banned by the BBC. Despite this, it managed to reach #16 in the United Kingdom, but missed out on the Top 20 in the United States, topping out at #21. However, the single managed to reach #1 in Ireland. The single was criticized at being out of character for Paul McCartney, especially when some believed he was pro-IRA (Irish Republican Army) for Northern Ireland.

17 March 1972

John Lennon performing at the Free John Sinclair Concert at Crisler Arena (now Crisler Center) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 10, 1971.

If Paul McCartney's "Ireland" single fared poorly among critics and fans, then the Ladders' "The Luck of the Irish" (written by John Lennon) fared even worse, managing to top out at #18 in the United Kingdom and not charting in the Top 40 in the United States. The B-side "Coochy Coochy", however, penned by Ringo Starr and recorded during the Shine On sessions, managed to reach #26 in America. The A-side managed to reach #8 in Ireland.

JOHN LENNON: "Eppy seemed to be on edge when the Ladders and Paul both released singles regarding the Irish conflict within a month of each other. I told him that it wasn't about the bloody record sales; it was about making a statement and putting it out to the world, saying we're not okay with what was going on in Ireland." (1988)

GEORGE HARRISON: "Brian was furious with us. He thought we were outright destroying the Beatles' good name by making controversial statements. We put out 'Taxman' on Abracadabra about the high levels of progressive taxes in England and 'Revolution' on Beatles '68 talking about Vietnam and he didn't bat an eyelid. Same thing when we put out 'Bangla Desh' as the Ladders on Imagine. Yet the Ladders and Paul each put out a single about the Irish conflict and he freaks out." (1985)

12 May - 30 June 1972

The cover for Paul McCartney's non-album single, "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

Frustrated with Apple CEO Brian Epstein for telling them how to make music, Paul McCartney and the Ladders both rebelled in different ways.

In the same month that the Ladders put out "The Luck of the Irish", Paul McCartney recorded a version of the traditional nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb". His intention for the single was to be a response to the banning of "Give Ireland..." from radio stations, as if it was a "sod off, let's see you try to ban this" message to both the BBC and EMI. Despite being seen as a joke, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" managed to reach #10 in the United Kingdom, but it didn't do any better than McCartney's previous single in the United States, hitting #24 there. Its B-side, "Little Woman Love", managed to get more airplay in America.

Epstein was beside himself with fury when "Mary Had a Little Lamb" came out. That marked three singles in a row that the the Beatles - whether it be the Ladders or Paul McCartney - hadn't lived up to their usual standards. The straw that broke the camel's back was when John Lennon presented to him the next Ladders single, "Woman is the Nigger of the World"/"Sue Me, Sue You Blues". The former was Lennon's song concerning feminism, and the latter was Harrison's response to Epstein attempting to censor their music ("Surprisingly, he didn't get the message of my tune," Harrison remembered years later).

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1972.

BRIAN EPSTEIN: "You listen to me, John Winston Lennon! You've gotten us in trouble with American religious folk when you said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus Christ, you've sparked some more controversy when talking about Vietnam, and you nearly ruined the Beatles' good name by putting out that avant-garde bullshit in Back in Your Safely Beds. Then you and Paul have gone out releasing singles relating to the Ireland conflict, and now you present to me quite possibly the worst song I've ever heard! And with an extremely offensive word to boot! This is commercial suicide right there, Lennon, and if you even dare to put out that single as long as I'm CEO, there will be consequences!" (1972, to John Lennon)

Disgruntled, Lennon pulled the "Woman..." single from its planned June release and both songs were left in the Apple vaults until 1990. In its place was "Back Off Boogaloo", written and sung by Starr, backed with Lennon's "How?", an outtake from Imagine. It had a far more commercial sound compared to "The Luck of the Irish" and "Woman..." and managed to hit #2 in the United States and #8 in the United Kingdom.

RINGO STARR: "People thought it was about Brian Epstein after his reaction to the Ladders' recent material, but we'd actually done 'Boogaloo' back in September 1971 around the time of Imagine's release. It was actually my nickname for Paul during that time when he made snide remarks against John and George and was inspired by Marc Bolan of T. Rex." (2012)

5 June 1972

Yoko Ono - Sisters, O Sisters

Released: 5 June 1972

Recorded: 1971-72

Producer: John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Phil Spector

Track listing[1]

Side A

Hirake (Open Your Box)

Sisters, O Sisters

O'Wind (Body is the Scar of Your Mind)

Born in a Prison

You

Side B

Toilet Piece/Unknown

Airmale

Don't Count the Waves

We're All Water

Telephone Piece

"Sisters, O Sisters" was released as a single on 24 April as a feminist anthem, much like Lennon's unreleased "Woman is the Nigger of the World". The B-side, "Open Your Box", however, had risque lyrics - "box" being a slang for the vagina - and was banned as a result. For the album, it was released as "Hirake", the Japanese word for "opening". Neither album nor single managed to reach the Top 40, and it marked Yoko Ono's last ever contribution with Phil Spector.

14 July 1972

The Ladders - Bloody Sunday

Released: 14 July 1972

Recorded: May 1970 - March 1972

Producer: Phil Spector and The Ladders

Track listing [2]

Side A

Run of the Mill

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Who Can See It

It's So Hard

The Day the World Gets 'Round

I Don't Want to Be a Soldier

Side B

Back Off Boogaloo

John Sinclair

Hear Me Lord

How Do You Sleep?

That Is All

Brian Epstein may have prevented the Ladders from putting out "Woman is the Nigger of the World", but he couldn't stop the release of their third album, Bloody Sunday. Whilst Imagine had political undertones and was critically acclaimed, the political undertones of Bloody Sunday were more blatant, but critics were harsh toward the album. Despite the success of "Back Off Boogaloo" as the lead single, the album only managed to reach #11 and #8 in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively.

The material was a mixture of old and new; Harrison's "Run of the Mill" and "Hear Me Lord" were originally recorded for Shine On, but did not make the cut for that album or Imagine. Similarly, Lennon's "It's So Hard", "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier" and "How Do You Sleep?" also had origins from the Imagine sessions. The five new songs for Bloody Sunday included the title track and "John Sinclair" (written as a response to poet John Sinclair being sentenced to ten years in prison for offering a pair of marijuana cigarettes to an undercover police officer) both penned by Lennon. Harrison, meanwhile, penned "Who Can See It" (reflecting his feelings toward the Beatles' legacy), "That Is All", and "The Day the World Gets 'Round" (written in a similar vein to "Imagine").

Outside of "Back Off Boogaloo", the only other noteworthy song was the Lennon/Harrison collaboration "How Do You Sleep?", penned as a response to Paul McCartney's "Too Many People" from Cherry Wine, but also left off of Imagine. "Yeah, 'How Do You Sleep' was about Paul," John said when questioned about it, but it is often also considered to be an attack against Brain Epstein, per Harrison's suggestion, albeit it was indirect. When asked about his thoughts on the song, Paul replied, "Well... it's a drag, innit?" Most of the material was considered to be forgettable at best.

Six of the Chicago Seven during their conspiracy trial, February 11, 1970. Abbie Hoffman is on the far left and Jerry Rubin is third from right.

By now, the Ladders were heavily involved in the political underground scene with activists such as the Chicago Seven (with the likes of Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin) and the Black Panther Party led by Huey Newton and founded with Bobby Seale, with whom keyboardist Billy Preston got on well with. Lennon and company were now considered a threat to the Nixon administration by the FBI, who began to investigate the members in an attempt to deport them back to England, with their visas as temporary visitors set to expire that February. Fortunately, the investigation didn't last very long, with the FBI concluding that the Ladders were so deeply under the influence of drugs that they were hardly considered to be a threat instead of revolutionaries.

GEORGE HARRISON: "We were feeling sort of burnt out by the time we put out Bloody Sunday. John, Ringo and I had practically been together for about a decade, eight of those years with Paul, and the beginning of the 70s had taken a toll on us. Filming for Willy Wonka, the first three Ladders albums, the Concert for Bangladesh, Phil Spector losing his mind altogether, being involved in the political underground scene... I suggested to John and the others that we take a break for the rest of the year to refresh our minds." (1999)

In hindsight, this was the right move. Billy Preston could put more focus on his solo career, starting with finishing up his next album Music is My Life with Harrison co-producing. At the same time, Harrison was composing new material for the Ladders' next album. Ringo Starr went on to direct and produce Born to Boogie starring rock group T. Rex and their frontman, Marc Bolan; Elton John also appeared in the movie. John and Yoko would carry on with their political activities and performed a series of concerts across America with Klaus Voormann on bass.

Brian Epstein was greatly distressed by what had happened to his friends and clients; by that point, his hairline was receding and his eyesight was going bad. With the Ladders being heavily involved with politics and Paul McCartney's second album Tomorrow being a critical and commercial flop (by Beatle standards, anyway), Epstein wondered if there was a way to salvage the Beatles' good name, so he went and called up George Martin to find a solution...

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from Fly and Some Time in New York City.
2. Tracks are sourced from All Things Must Pass, Some Time in New York City, Living in the Material World, Imagine, and Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr.

Author's Comments

So now we're finally deep into 1972. Up until that point, the butterflies haven't had a major effect on politics, but soon they'll be in full force. How they'll affect the political landscape as a whole in the likes of England, China, the Soviet Union, etc., I don't know at this stage. For the thirtieth chapter overall, we're gonna see a big change come to the United States of America.

Oh, and don't worry; I didn't forget about Paul McCartney's Tomorrow. I'll reveal the tracklisting soon enough, just not here.

Chapter 28: Fire and Rain (January 1970 - December 1971)

General Affairs for Apple Corps Ltd.

Mal Evans on the drum kit, 1971.

PETER BROWN: "When the Beatles split up in November 1970, everyone thought that Apple was going to crumble without their combined efforts as an operating company, but as the following year proved, Apple's other artists were excelling, and then some. Couple that with acquiring NEMS and Northern Songs at the end of the 60s, Apple was financially secure, and it quickly stood up on its own as an independent powerhouse in England." (2008, Come and Get It: The History of Apple)

Together as a group, Brian Epstein, Derek Taylor and Lord Beeching - as well as Dick James, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Neil Aspinall, Mal Evans, Lee and John Eastman - had worked hard to ensure that Apple Corps would be a stable business for years to come. Although their primary focus was in the music industry, Lindsay-Hogg pushed to have Apple's film division focus more than just music documentaries and films such as Alice in Wonderland and The Concert for Bangladesh.

Following Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was Raga, a documentary focusing on the life and music of sitarist Ravi Shankar produced and directed by Howard Worth. George Harrison was also involved in the production, such as producing the soundtrack and filming a few scenes with Shankar. By the end of the year, Lindsay-Hogg had begun looking for filmmakers in both the United States and the United Kingdom to expand on Apple Films. One of his first applicants was Yiddish-American filmmaker Mel Brooks, known for directing The Producers and The Twelve Chairs.

Following the death of Allen Klein in the summer of 1970, Epstein, Taylor and Beeching had a meeting with his widow Betty regarding the potential absorption of ABKCO Records and some of its assets. Out of its artists, only the Rolling Stones transferred to Apple Records whilst other artists would move onto other labels. There were even talks about reissuing the Cameo-Parkway recordings of 1957 to 1967 throughout the decade as part of compilation albums, reestablishing the company as a subsidiary of Apple.[1]

The Artists of Apple Records

Old Signings

Badfinger, 1970.

Badfinger's Magic Christian Music was their first album to reach #1 in the United Kingdom, backed by the 1969 single "Come and Get It", produced by Paul McCartney. Their success continued with No Dice (November 1970) and Straight Up (December 1971), the latter of which also hit #1 in the United States. The respective lead singles, "No Matter What" and "Day After Day", were also #1 hits.

Fleetwood Mac had recieved an overhaul in its lineup; Christine Perfect, married to founding member John McVie since 1968, joined the band as keyboardist. Peter Green left in 1970, as did Jeremy Spencer the following year. Bob Welch joined the band to fill the void. Kiln House and Future Games were not big successes, the latter failing to chart at all in the United Kingdom; however, their biggest success during the period was "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" which hit #10 there.

Mary Hopkin started the 1970s off strong with "Temma Harbour", topping at #3 in the United Kingdom, but her follow up to Postcard did not come out until the following year with Earth Song, Ocean Song. "Knock, Knock Who's There?" and "Let My Name Be Sorrow" were also Top 20 hits. Jackie Lomax had a similar success with his albums Heavy Jelly and Home Is In My Head, as well as the single "How the Web Was Woven".

James Taylor had the biggest success out of the 1968 signings with Sweet Baby James and Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, as well as their respective lead singles "Fire and Rain" and a cover of "You've Got a Friend", all hitting #1 in the United States. The latter album and the two singles also hit #1 in the United Kingdom.

Elton John, 1970.

Delaney & Bonnie had three albums during the period of 1970-1971; On Tour with Eric Clapton (credited to Delaney & Bonnie and Friends), To Bonnie from Delaney, and Motel Shot. None of them reached the Top 20 in America. However, "Never Ending Song of Love" managed to hit #10 there and even got to #54 in the United Kingdom.

Elton John, on the other hand, had far greater success with an eponymous album and Tumbleweed Connection for 1970 and Madman Across the Water for 1971. The latter topped out at #30 in the United Kingdom but all three albums were Top 10 hits on the other side of the Atlantic. His most notable single was "Your Song", kept out of the top spot by the Ladders' "Instant Karma". "Levon" hit #20 in the United States.

Billy Preston's Encouraging Words hit #1 in the United Kingdom for a week but stalled at #2 in America. The lead single was his version of the Ladders' "My Sweet Lord", topping out at #4 in America. His next album, I Wrote a Simple Song, had no single released from it, therefore not achieving as much success as Encouraging Words.

Smile continued to release non-album singles with "Step on Me" for 1970 (#46) and "Earth" for 1971 (#29). Although she was signed onto Apple in 1969, Doris Troy did not release her eponymous album until the following year, backed with the single "Ain't That Cute". Coming out at the same time as "How the Web Was Woven", "Fire and Rain", and the Beatles' "Something/Let It Be" double A-side, the Doris Troy single struggled to cut through the noise, only topping out at #15 in the United States whilst the album hit #5. She left Apple by the end of 1971.

New Signings

Aphrodite's Child, 1971.

Aphrodite's Child is perhaps the most unusual entry in Apple Records' history. The Greek progressive rock band had formed in 1967 and neither of their albums, End of the World and It's Five O'Clock, were great successes. George Harrison had met with the band leader, Vangelis, and after seeing the group performed, he signed them onto Apple by mid-1970. By the end of the year, Aphrodite's Child were recording their third album, 666, an adaptation of the biblical Book of Revelation. Despite being secured on a new label, relations between the band members were falling apart.

666 finally came out on July 2, 1971, and was their first album to chart in the United Kingdom, fittingly at #6. It charted at a lower #10 in the United States, likely due to religious reasons. The lead single "Babylon" did not reach the Top 20 on either side, only at #24 and #39 in the United Kingdom and America respectively. Aphrodite's Child would break up at the start of the new year, but 666 would since be regarded as their greatest work.

The Electric Light Orchestra was formed in 1970 by Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan of the band the Move. As they recorded their debut album, the Move's last two albums Looking On and Message from the Country were released on the labels Fly and Apple, respectively; the latter album had ended up on Apple at the insistence of Brian Epstein and Lord Beeching, so that ELO could be given advance financing. This was further backed by non-album singles "Tonight" and "Chinatown" for release in 1971, with another to follow next year. Lynne was said to have been "ecstatic" at being signed up for Apple Records, the label founded by his favorite band the Beatles, from which the ELO had taken influence from.

The band's eponymous album was released December 3, 1971, backed by the lead single, "10538 Overture", topping at #14 and #9, respectively, in the United Kingdom. John Lennon and George Harrison both spoke positively about ELO's debut album, with the former even calling them the sons of the Beatles.[2] Shortly after Christmas, the latter invited Wood and Lynne to Friar Park for some tea alongside Brian Epstein.

Ronnie Spector, 1971.

Former Ronettes lead singer Ronnie Spector had been married to Phil Spector since 1968, and through her husband, George Harrison had her signed onto Apple Records, even writing and producing a few songs for her debut album, Try Some, Buy Some.[3] Other songs recorded during the sessions included Harrison's "You", "Tell Me What Has Happened to You", "Window, Window", "When Every Song is Sung", and the Harrison/Phil Spector collaboration "Tandoori Chicken". When Phil Spector's erratic behavior began to kick in, Harrison saw it upon himself to try and complete the album with the assistance from friends Eric Clapton and Billy Preston, as well as session drummer Jim Gordon and producer Tom Dowd.

The final Try Some, Buy Some album included not only the songs Harrison included, but it even had Ronnie Spector sing Delaney Bramlett and Leon Russell's "Lonesome and a Long Way from Home", the Clapton/Russell "Blues Power", the Bramlett/Clapton "Lovin' You Lovin' Me" and the Clapton solo "Got to Get Better in a Little While". "Tell Me What Has Happened to You" and "Window, Window" also received additional lyrics from Clapton.

Credited to Ronnie Spector and the Ravellers, Try Some, Buy Some barely missed out on the Top 10 in the United States by reaching #11 and topped out at #15 in the United Kingdom. The title track, however, achieved much better success at #4 in America but missed out on the Top 20, again, in the United Kingdom at #21. Although Try Some, Buy Some received mixed reviews when it first came out, it has since gone on to gain a cult following in later years.

At age thirteen, Michael Jackson of the Jackson 5 was the youngest artist to get signed onto Apple Records under a temporary contract between it and Motown lasting up to 1975. His first single as a solo artist, "Got to Be There", hit #4 and #5 in the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively, whilst the album of the same name would not be released until January in the following year.

Apple Records discography, January 1970 - December 1971

Albums

• Past Masters 1963-1966 by The Beatles - 9 January 1970 (#2 UK) [EMI]
• Sessions by The Beatles - 9 January 1970 (#2 US) [EMI]
• Magic Christian Music by Badfinger - 9 January 1970 (#1 UK, #8 US)
• Sweet Baby James by James Taylor - 13 February 1970 (#3 UK, #1 US)
• Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 11 March 1970 (#2 UK, #1 US)
• On Tour with Eric Clapton by Delaney & Bonnie and Friends - 25 March 1970 (#29 US)
• Elton John by Elton John - 10 April 1970 (#4 UK, # 2 US)
• Everest by The Beatles - 17 April 1970 (#1 UK and US) [EMI]
• Let It Rain by Cream - 15 May 1970 (#10 UK, #8 US)
• Heavy Jelly by Jackie Lomax - 26 June 1970 (#10 UK, #27 US)
• Doris Troy by Doris Troy - 14 August 1970 (#8 UK, #5 US)
• Encouraging Words by Billy Preston - 11 September 1970 (#1 UK, #2 US)
• Kiln House by Fleetwood Mac - 18 September 1970 (#25 UK, #40 US)
• To Bonnie from Delaney by Delaney & Bonnie - 25 September 1970 (#58 US)
• Tumbleweed Connection by Elton John - 30 October 1970 (#1 UK, #2 US)
• No Dice by Badfinger - 6 November 1970 (#1 UK, #3 US)
• Shine On by The Ladders - 11 December 1970 (#1 UK and US) [EMI]
• Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band by Yoko Ono - 11 December 1970
• Layla by Cream - 12 February 1971 (#7 UK, #2 US)
• Motel Shot by Delaney & Bonnie - 5 March 1971 (#65 US)
• Remember Our Names by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 26 March 1971 (#7 UK, #3 US)
• Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon by James Taylor - 9 April 1971 (#1 UK and US)
• Cherry Wine by Paul McCartney - 17 May 1971 (#1 UK, #2 US) [EMI]
• Try Some, Buy Some by Ronnie Spector & the Ravellers - 11 June 1971 (#15 UK, #11 US)
• Man of Words by David Bowie - 11 June 1971 (#17 UK, #16 US)
• Message from the Country by The Move - 25 June 1971 (#59 UK)
• 666 by Aphrodite's Child - 2 July (#6 UK, #10 US)
• Home Is In My Head by Jackie Lomax - 23 July 1971 (#8 UK, #40 US)
• Future Games by Fleetwood Mac - 27 August 1971 (#60 US)
• Imagine by The Ladders - 9 September 1971 (#1 UK and US) [EMI]
• Fly by Yoko Ono - 17 September 1971
• Earth Song, Ocean Song by Mary Hopkin - 1 October 1971 (#5 UK, #21 US)
• Madman Across the Water by Elton John - 5 November 1971 (#30 UK, #4 US)
• I Wrote a Simple Song by Billy Preston - 5 November 1971 (#17 UK, #9 US)
• Oh, Lonesome Me by Neil Young - 19 November 1971 (#1 UK and US)
• Raga by Ravi Shankar - 26 November 1971 (#4 UK, #15 US)
• Straight Up by Badfinger - 3 December 1971 (#1 UK and US)
• The Electric Light Orchestra by The Electric Light Orchestra - 3 December 1971 (#14 UK, #61 US)
• Exile on Mars by The Rolling Stones - 10 December 1971 (#2 UK, #1 US)
• The Concert for Bangladesh by Various Artists - 17 December 1971 (#1 UK and US)
• Stephen Stills by Stephen Stills - 17 December 1971 (#22 UK, #8 US)

Notable Singles

• "Temma Harbor" / "Lontano Dagli Occhi" by Mary Hopkin - 16 January 1970 (#3 UK, #30 US)
• "Something" & "Let It Be" by The Beatles - 6 February 1970 (#2 UK, #1 US) [EMI]
• "How the Web Was Woven" / "Thumbin' a Ride" by Jackie Lomax - 9 February 1970 (#6 UK, #20 US)
• "Ain't That Cute" / "Vaya Con Dios" by Doris Troy - 16 February 1970 (#27 UK, #15 US)
• "Fire and Rain" / "Anywhere Like Heaven" by James Taylor - 23 February 1970 (#1 UK and US)
• "Woodstock" / "Helpless" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 9 March 1970 (#5 UK, #8 US)
• "Knock, Knock Who's There?" / "I'm Going to Fall in Love Again" by Mary Hopkin - 23 March (#2 UK)
• "After Midnight" / "Rope Ladder to the Moon" by Cream - 6 April 1970 (#18 US)
• "The Long and Winding Road" / "Octopus's Garden" by The Beatles - 20 April 1970 (#1 US) [EMI]
• "Teach Your Children" / "Carry On" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 May 1970 (#9 UK, #10 US)
• "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" / "World in Harmony" by Fleetwood Mac - 18 May 1970 (#10 UK)
• "Ohio" / "Find the Cost of Freedom" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 12 June 1970 (#14 UK, #1 US)
• "Let It Rain" / "Blues Power" by Cream - 6 July 1970 (#36 UK, #20 US)
• "Step on Me" / "See What a Fool I've Been" by Smile - 17 August 1970 (#46 UK)
• "Our House" / "Déjà Vu" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 18 September 1970 (#18 UK, #23 US)
• "Your Song" / "Into the Old Man's Shoes" by Elton John - 26 October 1970 (#2 UK, #5 US)
• "No Matter What" / "Better Days" by Badfinger - 2 November 1970 (#1 UK, #8 US)
• "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" / "Beware of Darkness" by The Ladders - 23 November 1971 (#1 UK, #3 US) [EMI]
• "My Sweet Lord" / "Little Girl" by Billy Preston - 7 December 1970 (#10 UK, #4 US)
• "Why" / "Who Has Seen the Wind?" by Yoko Ono - 7 December 1970
• "Bell Bottom Blues" / "Tell the Truth" by Cream - 14 December 1970 (#38 US)
• "My Sweet Lord" / "Well Well Well" by The Ladders - 11 January 1971 (#1 UK and US) [EMI]
• "Earth" / "White Queen (As It Began)" by Smile - 18 January 1971 (#29 UK)
• "Another Day" / "Oh Woman, Oh Why" by Paul McCartney - 22 February 1971 (#2 UK, #3 US) [EMI]
• "Love the One You're With" / "What Are Their Names" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 1 March 1971 (#28 UK, #3 US)
• "Layla" / "Keep on Growing" by Cream - 8 March 1971 (#11 UK, #6 US)
• "Never Ending Song of Love" / "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)" by Delaney & Bonnie - 12 April 1971 (#54 UK, #10 US)
• "Tell Me Why" / "Laughing" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 26 April 1971 (#15 UK, #20 US)
• "Try Some, Buy Some" / "Tandoori Chicken" by Ronnie Spector & the Ravellers - 26 April 1971 (#21 UK, #4 US)
• "You've Got a Friend" / "You Can Close Your Eyes" by James Taylor - 10 May 1971 (#1 UK and US)
• "Tonight" / "Don't Mess Me Up" by The Move - 24 May 1971 (#8 UK)
• "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" / "The Back Seat of My Car" by Paul McCartney - 6 June 1971 (#1 US) [EMI]
• "Babylon" / "Infinity" by Aphrodite's Child - 6 June 1971 (#24 UK, #39 US)
• "Let My Name Be Sorrow" / "Kew Gardens" by Mary Hopkin - 20 June 1971 (#14 UK)
• "Music Is Love" / "Go Back Home" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 5 July 1971 (#11 UK, #18 US)
• "Bangla Desh" & "Imagine" by The Ladders - 5 August 1971 (#1 UK and US) [EMI]
• "What Is Life" / "It Don't Come Easy" by The Ladders - 20 September 1971 (#1 UK, #4 US) [EMI]
• "Mrs. Lennon" / "Midsummer New York" by Yoko Ono - 27 September 1971 (#57 US)
• "Got to Be There" / "Maria (You Were the Only One)" by Michael Jackson - 4 October 1971 (#5 UK, #4 US) [Motown]
• "Chinatown" / "Down on the Bay" by The Move - 18 October 1971 (#19 UK)
• "Day After Day" / "Money" by Badfinger - 1 November 1971 (#1 UK and US)
• "10538 Overture" / "Mr. Radio" by The Electric Light Orchestra - 15 November 1971 (#9 UK)
• "Heart of Gold" / "After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young - 22 November 1971 (#7 UK, #1 US)
• "Levon" / "Goodbye" by Elton John - 29 November 1971 (#20 US)
• "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" / "Deep Blue" by The Ladders - 1 December 1971 (#2 UK, #3 US) [EMI]
• "Changes" / "Happy" by The Rolling Stones - 6 December 1971 (#2 UK, #15 US)
• "Mind Holes" / "Listen, the Snow is Falling" by Yoko Ono - 6 December 1971
• "Marianne" / "Know You Got to Run" by Stephen Stills - 20 December 1971 (#20 US)

Apple Artists, as of December 1971

• Aphrodite's Child (since 1970)
• Badfinger (since 1968)
• The Beatles (since 1968; contracted to EMI)
• George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr as The Ladders (since 1970)
• Paul McCartney (since 1971)
• Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (since 1968)
• Stephen Stills (since 1971)
• Neil Young (since 1971)
• Delaney & Bonnie (since 1969)
• The Electric Light Orchestra (since 1970)
• Fleetwood Mac (since 1968)
• Mary Hopkin (since 1968)
• Michael Jackson (since 1971; contracted to Motown)
• Elton John (since 1969)
• Jackie Lomax (since 1968)
• Yoko Ono (since 1969)
• Billy Preston (since 1969)
• Smile (since 1969)
• The Rolling Stones (since 1970)
• David Bowie (since 1971)
• Ronnie Spector (since 1971)
• James Taylor (since 1968)

Departed Apple Artists

• Brute Force (1969)
• Cream (1968-1971)
• Hot Chocolate (1969)
• Radha Krishna Temple (1969)
• White Trash (1969)
• Doris Troy (1969-1971)

Various Artists - The Best of Apple Records Vol. 2: 1970-1971

Released: 21 November 2008

Recorded: 1969-1971

Producer: Various

Track listing

Temma Harbor [Mary Hopkin]
Something [The Beatles]
How the Web Was Woven [Jackie Lomax]
Ain't That Cute [Doris Troy]
Fire and Rain [James Taylor]
The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) [Fleetwood Mac]
Ohio [Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]
Your Song [Elton John]
No Matter What [Badfinger]
My Sweet Lord [Billy Preston]
Earth [Smile]
Layla [Cream]
Never Ending Song of Love [Delaney & Bonnie]
Try Some, Buy Some [Ronnie Spector & the Ravellers]
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey [Paul McCartney]
Imagine [The Ladders]
Mrs. Lennon [Yoko Ono]
Got to Be There [Michael Jackson]
10538 Overture [The Electric Light Orchestra]
Changes [The Rolling Stones]

Apple's second "best of" compilation was considered to be even better than the first album, largely due to choosing the best material from what many consider to be Apple's most fertile period. It topped the charts in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

Footnotes

1. Cameo-Parkway Records was not re-established until 2005.
2. John Lennon said the same thing regarding On the Third Day in 1973.
3. A Ronnie Spector solo album was planned for a release under Apple but it was never completed. "Try Some, Buy Some" ended up on George Harrison's Living in the Material World and "You" ended up on Extra Texture (Read All About It). "When Every Song is Sung" was later re-recorded to become "I'll Still Love You" on Ringo's Rotogravure in 1976.

Author's Comments

Here we are with the second update to Apple Corps! For this chapter, I've included a couple of shout-outs to some other alternate Beatles timelines; the inclusion of Aphrodite's Child was a shout out to The Beatles Don't Break Up in 1970 by YellowSubmarine93, and Ronnie Spector being backed by the Ravellers is a shout out to Auran's old Off-White timeline, as well as his current Something Creative timeline. I'm not sure if Ronnie Spector would've sung some Clapton songs for her Apple debut, but then again, it would've been that or have it sound like a collection of George Harrison covers.

And no, I didn't forget the likes of the Rolling Stones, Cream, Yoko Ono or Crosby, Stills & Nash because I've already talked about them in full in previous chapters set during 1970 and 1971. (Yoko was talked about briefly.) I personally felt a brief recap was kind of redundant. But now, we say goodbye to 1971 and finally head into 1972 with full force. This is going to be a most interesting period in this story.

EDIT: (10/23/19) Added in the Move's last album, Message from the Country, into the album discography, as well as the pair of non-album singles released in 1971.

Chapter 27: American Pie (November 1971 - April 1972)

November 19, 1971

Neil Young - Oh, Lonesome Me

Released: November 19, 1971

Recorded: Winter 1969 - September 1971

Producer: Neil Young with David Briggs

Track listing[1]

Side A

Out on the Weekend
After the Gold Rush
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Harvest
A Man Needs a Maid
Heart of Gold
Cripple Creek Ferry

Side B
Oh, Lonesome Me
Old Man
Birds
Southern Man
There's a World
I Believe in You
The Needle and the Damage Done

Neil Young was the first member of the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to release his own solo album on Apple Records. It was his third solo album overall following a self-titled release in 1968 (some sources claim it was released in 1969) and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere with Crazy Horse in 1969. Oh, Lonesome Me had origins tracing back to August 1969 with on and off sessions for a potential second album together, but plans fell through when Young joined Crosby, Stills & Nash, put out Déjà Vu with them the following year, and the rest was history.

Between January and September, Young had recorded ten new songs for another potential solo album following the cancellation of After the Gold Rush; anything that was left off of Remember Our Names would end up on Young's new solo album.

NEIL YOUNG: "I showed David and Graham some of the new material I was working on for what eventually became Oh, Lonesome Me. Along with Stephen, they ended up partaking in three songs ["Are You Ready for the Country", "Alabama", and "Words (Between the Lines of Age)"] that eventually ended up on the next CSNY album. I'd already filled my quota, and we were soon working on other tracks that they would contribute to Southbound Train, which wouldn't be out until we'd gotten the initial solo stuff on Apple out of the way." (1983)

Carrie Snodgress and Neil Young, 1971.

For the newer material, Young recorded with a group of country session musicians that were dubbed the Stray Gators which included pianist Jack Nitzsche, bassist Tim Drummond, drummer Kenny Buttrey and steel guitarist Ben Keith. Among the newer material included "The Needle and the Damage Done", a lament for great artists with a heroin addiction, which included Young's former Crazy Horse band mate Danny Whitten. Others included future hit single "Heart of Gold", "Old Man", and "A Man Needs a Maid", dedicated to Young's girlfriend, actress Carrie Snodgress.

Oh, Lonesome Me was finally released on November 19, 1971. Despite charting at #1 in both the United States and the United Kingdom, critics gave the album a mixed reception, some even accusing Young of retreading old ground. However, in 1975, Rolling Stone magazine would dub Oh, Lonesome Me as a masterpiece, even calling it Neil Young's greatest album. In 2003, Rolling Stone would rank it as the 71st greatest album of all time, and it would gain the top spot in Bob Mersereau's The Top 100 Canadian Albums in 2007. The lead single "Heart of Gold"/"After the Gold Rush", would also reach #1 in the United States, being the first single by a Canadian artist to do so, whilst it reached #7 in the United Kingdom.

December 17, 1971

Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills

Released: December 17, 1971

Recorded: June-July 1970, February-May 1971

Producer: Stephen Stills and Bill Halverston

Track listing[2]

Side A

Relaxing Town
Nothin' to Do But Today
Do for the Others
Church (Part of Someone)
Old Times Good Times
Fishes and Scorpions
Open Secret

Side B
Word Game
To a Flame
Black Queen
Cherokee
Marianne
Bluebird Revisited

Stephen Stills donated four songs for the next CSNY project - "Change Partners", "Ecology Song", "Singin' Call" and "Sugar Babe". Like Young, Stills was extremely prolific with his songwriting, having written enough songs to form a double album, possibly a triple, but for his first solo album, Stills opted to go for a more marketable single album. For the newer material such as "Word Game", "Fishes and Scorpions" and "Bluebird Revisited" - the latter of which was a sequel to the Buffalo Springfield cut "Bluebird" - Stills gathered the likes of Chris Hillman, Al Perkins and Dallas Taylor to serve as session musicians, which would eventually serve as the basis for his side-band Manassas.

Country musician Rita Coolidge was a romantic interest for both Stills and Graham Nash, having left the former for the latter, which sparked a bitter rivalry between the two during this period. She had also served as the inspiration for "Sit Yourself Down" on Remember Our Names, as well as Stills' solo track "Cherokee" and future CSNY song "Change Partners". Another cut, "Do for the Others", was written for David Crosby following the death of his girlfriend Christine Hinton from a car accident in 1969.

Stills' eponymous album was released the same day as The Concert for Bangladesh, managing to hit #8 in the United States and #22 in the United Kingdom. "Marianne"/"Know You Got to Run" was released as a single, topping at #20 in the United States. Reception for the album generally ranged from lukewarm to positive, although Stills would later lament not releasing the album earlier, commenting "I'd finished my solo album before Neil, David and Graham did; I dunno why it took an extra two or three months to put it out!" (1994) It would be another four months before he had a critical and commercial rebound with Manassas.

April 7, 1972

Crosby & Nash - Songs for Beginners

Released: April 7, 1972

Recorded: 1970-1972

Producer: David Crosby, Graham Nash and Bill Halverson

Track listing[3]

Side A

Military Madness [Nash]
Cowboy Movie [Crosby]
Wounded Bird [Nash]
Whole Cloth [Crosby]
Simple Man [Nash]

Side B
Song with No Words (Tree with No Leaves) [Crosby]
Girl to Be on My Mind [Nash]
Orleans [Crosby]
There's Only One [Nash]
I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here [Crosby]
Chicago (We Can Change the World) [Nash]

Whilst the others had enough material to each fill their own solo albums, David Crosby struggled to come up with material to fill one side of an album, let alone two. He had even considered releasing an extended play with the non-CSNY material he'd already finished, but Graham Nash instead suggested that they release an album together.

GRAHAM NASH: "David had three original songs, one of which was instrumental, and his own take on a traditional ['Orleans']. I had about six or seven on hand, one of which being 'Chicago' that we ended up debuting at the Concert for Bangladesh in Madison Square." (2016)

DAVID CROSBY: "I think Graham had the right idea when we finally put out our duet album. I was going through a writer's block before Remember Our Names came out. After the Concert for Bangladesh, Graham and I suddenly felt a surge of creativity and wrote up ten new songs, five each. The only songs that didn't end up with CSNY were my 'Whole Cloth' and Graham's 'Girl to Be on My Mind'." (1999)

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young performing live, 1972.

A whole duet album could now finally be assembled, but there was a problem regarding the material from the two previous years; the newly recorded "Whole Cloth" and "Girl to Be on My Mind" would've sounded completely out of place. Rather than re-record the old material from scratch, overdubs were instead added to the 1970-71 material so they sounded more contemporary.

Songs for Beginners, credited to Crosby & Nash, was finally released on April 7, 1972, the week before Stephen Stills & Manassas came out with their debut. Songs for Beginners reached #4 in the United States but dipped below the Top 10 in the United Kingdom at #12. Like the solo efforts by Stills and Young, the Crosby & Nash duet album received mixed to positive reception from critics. The lead single off of the album, "Chicago"/"Cowboy Movie", managed to hit #10 in the United States; the most likely reason due to people finally being able to have a once live-only song in their music collection after its first ever performance at the Concert for Bangladesh eight months previous.

Now that their side projects from the leftover sessions from 1970-71 were finally out of the way, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young could finally put some focus onto their next project as a group. What could possibly go wrong?

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from After the Gold Rush and Harvest. "The Needle and the Damage Done" is edited to remove the audience's cheering at the end.
2. Tracks are sourced from Stephen Stills and Stephen Stills 2.
3. Tracks are sourced from If I Could Only Remember My Name, Songs for Beginners, and Graham Nash David Crosby. "Chicago" and "We Can Change the World" are combined to make a single track.

Author's Comments

So here we go; the first ever solo projects by CSNY since they became a group. Neil Young's solo album was perhaps the easiest to assemble. All the leftover material that didn't make it on Remember Our Names or the 1972 and 1973 albums (we'll get to those soon enough) came together to form a collection of songs that holds up really well. Not to mention that nothing ended up being wasted.

Stephen Stills' album was not as easy to assemble, and like Neil, I had fourteen songs leftover from both solo albums but only "Know You Got to Run" ended up being removed and relegated to a B-side. The Crosby & Nash album was even trickier due to the lack of David Crosby material from the period; he had five songs and Graham Nash had twice that many. Three Nash songs ("Be Yourself", "Sleep Song", and "Blacknotes") were removed whilst "Chicago" and "We Can Change the World" were combined as a single track, with the latter being somewhat of a reprise to the former. That was four songs overall that I ended up losing, which is rather impressive.

We will soon be saying goodbye to 1971 and hello to 1972, but first, a recap as to how Apple has been faring at the turn of the decade.