Chapter 31: Life on Mars (April - December 1972)

April 13, 1972

Dennis Wilson, circa 1971.

DENNIS WILSON: "Before we'd begun collaborating with Steve [Winwood] and his mates for So Tough, I had gotten into an argument with my wife Carole [Freedman] that was so severe, I ended up punching through a plate glass window. That ended up severing the nerves in my hand, meaning I was unable to play the drums for about a couple of years. At least I was still able to sing, play a bit of the keyboards and produce the recording sessions, and thank goodness Roger [Hawkins] was there to play the drums in my place for the Passions' material." (1997)[1]

Prior to the recording of So Tough, the Passions' third album, Dennis Wilson starred alongside Apple Records artist James Taylor and actors Warren Oates and Laurie Bird for a movie called Two-Lane Blacktop, directed by Monte Hellman. Taylor portrayed the Driver, and Wilson the Mechanic. Based around Route 66, the film was made on a minimalist budget of $875 thousand (around $5.5 million in 2019), Two-Lane Blacktop was called movie of the year for 1971 by Esquire magazine, and although not a commercial success, it has since gone on to become a counterculture-era cult classic.

Now Dennis was collaborating with another musical peer; this time, it was for an album with Steve Winwood and the rest of Traffic. And it all happened because of a telegram:

HEY STEVIE, WANT TO GET SOME DRINKS AND TALK ABOUT THIS PROJECT? -DENNY

OF COURSE. WHAT TIME AND DATE SHALL WE ARRANGE FOR A MEETING? -STEVE

ASAP -DENNY

The members of Traffic, 1972.

Steve Winwood and his bandmates from Traffic - saxophonist Chris Wood, percussionists Jim Capaldi and Rebop Kwaku Baah, bassist David Hood, and drummer Roger Hawkins - were soon at Strawberry Hill Studios in Jamaica with the members of the Passions. Winwood had chosen the location for recording because he felt like wanting to record in an exotic location, and the vibes of Jamaican music there would also serve as an influence to their sound.

The sessions for the collaboration album, under the supergroup name "Traffic Passions", were generally smooth, save for the occasional argument between Chris Wood and Bruce Johnston. One of them ended up being so severe that Johnston decided that he didn't want to work with the Passions anymore following the sessions for the album.[2]

JIM CAPALDI: "I remember that a lot of the time, Chris [Wood] and Bruce would get into a lot of arguments due to their clashing egos, but Al and Carl were the glue that kept both Traffic and the Passions together for the collaboration album. Given the opportunity, and if Bruce hadn't been so full of himself and treated Chris like crap, I'd have liked to have played with them again." (2003)

Despite the tensions between Wood and Johnston, shortly after the final session for So Tough, a jam session had taken place consisting largely of Beach Boys covers, which would not be officially released until 2004.

October 27, 1972

The Passions and Traffic - So Tough

Released: October 27, 1972

Recorded: April 13 - September 10, 1972

Producer: Dennis Wilson and Steve Winwood

Track listing[3]

Side A

Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory
Steamboat
Tragic Magic
All This Is That

Side B

Make It Good
Evening Blue
Cuddle Up
(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired

The collaborative album, So Tough, managed to reach the Top 10 in the United States, topping at #6. Sadly, it was not as successful in the United Kingdom, charting at #25. The album had received mixed reviews from critics; whilst some praised the novelty of having the members of Traffic collaborating with the former members of the Beach Boys, others were less forgiving, stating that the compositions from both acts were uniformly weak, with Village Voice ending their review with the note "Giveaway: '(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired'." No singles were released to promote the album.

Traffic released one more album before breaking up a second time, When the Eagle Flies, in the middle of the tour for said album in 1974. As for the Passions, following the departure of Brian Johnston, Carl Wilson took over on bass, and they brought in drummer Ricky Fataar and guitarist Blondie Chaplin from South African rock band the Flame, through Carl's suggestion. They were also aided by Mike Love, having decided to rejoin his former Beach Boy bandmates with "newly-sparked inspiration following the Landlocked sessions. Although Dennis couldn't see it at the time, sooner or later, lightning would strike twice.

1 December 1972

Badfinger - Zoo

Released: 1 December 1972

Recorded: January - October 1972

Producer: Badfinger

Track listing[4]

Side A

Get Away
Piano Red
The Winner
Blind Owl
Do You Mind

Side B

When I Say
Cowboy
Regular
I Can Love You
Timeless

Badfinger's first two albums, Maybe Tomorrow (as The Iveys) and Magic Christian Music, were produced by Tony Visconti and Mal Evans, with Paul McCartney producing a few songs for the latter. No Dice was produced by Evans alongside Geoff Emerick, and Badfinger's latest album, Straight Up, had been co-produced by Todd Rundgren and George Harrison. But now, Pete Ham felt that Badfinger should try self-producing for their next album. Although there were good intentions when it came to this approach, the results were not as great as they could've been.

Zoo, Badfinger's fourth album (fifth overall if Maybe Tomorrow was counted), was released at the start of December and only managed to chart at #16 and #22 in the United Kingdom and the United States, respectively. The lead single from the album was Tom Evans' "When I Say" backed with Joey Molland's "Do You Mind", had been released earlier in September, managing to hit #14 in the United States but did not chart in the United Kingdom.

PETE HAM: "We called our fifth album Zoo, but really, we probably should've called it Ass, given everything surrounding the album. Joey wrote half of the tracks for the album, Tom and I contributed two songs each and Mike [Gibbins, Badfinger's drummer] only had one ['Cowboy']. We'd signed a publishing agreement before Joey came on board. We soon reached a settlement with help from Peter Brown, who became our manager for the rest of our time at Apple, and from Zoo onwards, all songs would be credited to 'Badfinger' as a group, not each member individually." (1981)

16 October 1972

The Electric Light Orchestra, 1972.

ROY WOOD: "Before we'd transferred to Apple, Jeff, Bev and I were being managed by Don Arden. He had a personal vision as to how bands should be operated, and we were glad to be rid of him by the end of 1970. Thank God for George [Harrison] recommending Brian Epstein to us." (1977)

When Don Arden attempted to take control of the Electric Light Orchestra at Apple, Brian Epstein and Peter Brown had already taken the reins, and Lord Beeching simply left Arden a message telling him to "bugger off and let the boys do their thing." By now, following a tour across Europe, Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood were making plans for a second ELO album.

JEFF LYNNE: "During the New Year, George and I talked about spirituality and cosmics, which planted the seed that eventually became The Lost Planet. Most of the songs were to be longer than four minutes, almost like a rock symphony." (1995)

Roy expressed some concern regarding the lack of hit singles from The Lost Planet, and so to compensate, Jeff agreed to releasing a few non-album singles. The first single was Wood's "Ball Park Incident" with Lynne's "Momma" as the B-side, for a release date of 16 October. It topped at #6 in the United Kingdom. The second single, released after the album in January, was a double A-side with Wood's "See My Baby Jive" alongside a mashup of Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" with Beethoven's 5th Symphony. The single would top the charts in the United Kingdom and went to #17 in the United States. The latter track would end up becoming a staple in closing many ELO concerts.

15 December 1972

The Electric Light Orchestra - The Lost Planet

Released: 15 December 1972

Recorded: May - October 1972

Producer: Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood

Track listing[5]

Side A

You Can Dance Your Rock 'n' Roll
In Old England Town (Boogie No. 2)
Wear a Fast Gun

Side B

From the Sun to the World (Boogie No. 1)
Jolly Cup of Tea
Kuiama

The Lost Planet managed to reach #20 in the United Kingdom, but it fared worse in the United States at #49. Although it was not released as a single, the closing track "Kuiama" gained a cult following among rock fans, even by the band themselves, playing it at nearly all of their concerts. Drummer Bev Bevan described it as "a sad story about a war orphan with a soldier explaining to her all about the war, and that it was he that killed her parents. The most sensitive thing we do." (1973)

Despite being viewed as Beatles copycats, the Electric Light Orchestra were slowly gaining a bit of a following due to their non-album singles. Many of the die-hard fans would go all the way to purchase the albums to add to their rock music collections.

Footnotes

1. In OTL, Dennis Wilson had injured himself during the sessions for Surf's Up in 1971.
2. In OTL, Bruce Johnston had a falling out with the Beach Boys' manager Jack Rieley; there are also conflicting reports that Johnston quit because of his lack of enthusiasm for a hard rock approach and that he was fired because of his contempt towards Brian Wilson at the time.
3. Tracks are sourced from Traffic's Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory and the Beach Boys' Carl and the Passions - "So Tough" and Holland.
4. Track listing is based upon an early version of Ass, dated January 14, 1973, which can be seen here. All tracks are taken from the 2010 remaster of Ass; most of the tracks here are alternate versions. Only "Cowboy" is sourced from the actual album whilst "Regular" and "Piano Red" were previously unreleased.
5. Tracks are sourced from Wizzard Brew and ELO 2. The track listing was based off of AEC's version of The Lost Planet, only I rearranged the tracks so that not only did they alternate between Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne, but so that the sides were of roughly equal length.

Author's Comments

At last, we're back from the hiatus! This chapter was not that easy to write up, especially when it came to the segment about the Passions and Traffic, and so I apologize if the quality isn't up to my usual standard. The Badfinger and ELO parts were much easier to write up, the latter especially as I'd already had it pre-written.