Additional Information: Electric Light Orchestra lineups, 1970-1975

Note: Those marked in bold indicate the arrival of new members to the Electric Light Orchestra.

January - July 1970: Formation and signing with Apple Records

Roy Wood - vocals, guitar, cello

Jeff Lynne - vocals, guitar

Bev Bevan - drums

Rick Price - bass

Wood, Lynne, Bevan and Price were all members of the group the Move when they first formed the Electric Light Orchestra. Former Move lead singer Carl Wayne did not join the quartet when they signed up to Apple Records.

July 1970 - December 1971: The Electric Light Orchestra

Roy Wood - vocals, guitar, cello, oboe

Jeff Lynne - vocals, guitar, piano, Moog synthesizer

Bev Bevan - drums

Rick Price - bass

Bill Hunt - brass

Steve Woolam - violin

Bill Hunt was the unofficial keyboardist for The Move during this period. Steve Woolam was their violinist for the eponymous debut album prior to his suicide in 1971.

January - July 1972: Promotional tours

Roy Wood - vocals, guitar, cello, saxophone

Jeff Lynne - vocals, guitar

Bev Bevan - drums

Rick Price - bass

Bill Hunt - piano, French horn

Richard Tandy - piano

Wilfred Gibson - violin

Mike Edwards - cello

Hugh McDowell - cello

Unofficial Move bassist Richard Tandy joined ELO at the start of 1972 to play the piano. He was also aided by Wilfred Gibson, replacing Steve Woolam for violin, as well as cellists Mike Edwards and Hugh McDowell. This will mark a big shift in tone for ELO.

August 1972 - July 1973: The Lost Planet

Roy Wood - vocals, guitar, cello, saxophone

Jeff Lynne - vocals, guitar

Bev Bevan - drums

Rick Price - bass

Mike Burney - saxophone, clarinet, flute

Bill Hunt - piano, French horn

Richard Tandy - piano, Moog synthesizer

Mike de Albuquerque - bass, backing vocals

Wilfred Gibson - violin

Mike Edwards - cello

Hugh McDowell - cello

Saxophonist Mike Burney and bassist Mike de Albuquerque joined ELO during the sessions for The Lost Planet. Burney would later become essential to their sound in tracks such as "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday".

July 1973 - December 1974: Hocus Pocus, The Falcons of El Dorado

Roy Wood - vocals, guitar, cello, saxophone

Jeff Lynne - vocals, guitar

Bev Bevan - drums

Rick Price - bass

Mike Burney - saxophone, clarinet, flute

Bill Hunt - piano, French horn

Richard Tandy - piano, Moog synthesizer

Mike de Albuquerque - bass, backing vocals

Mik Kaminski - violin

Mike Edwards - cello

Hugh McDowell - cello

Wilfred Gibson was replaced by Mik Kaminski on violin.

January - August 1975: Face the Music

Roy Wood - vocals, guitar, cello, saxophone

Jeff Lynne - vocals, guitar

Bev Bevan - drums

Rick Price - bass

Mike Burney - saxophone, clarinet, flute

Richard Tandy - piano, Moog synthesizer

Kelly Groucutt - bass, backing vocals

Mik Kaminski - violin

Melvyn Gale - cello

Hugh McDowell - cello

Mike Edwards was replaced by Melvyn Gale on cello, and Bill Hunt and Mike de Albuquerque both departed as well. Kelly Groucutt took over as a new bassist whilst Richard Tandy became the full-time pianist for ELO. This would be the last time that members of the group were replaced.

September 1975 - present: The current line-up

Jeff Lynne - vocals, guitar

Bev Bevan - drums

Richard Tandy - bass, piano, Moog synthesizer

Kelly Groucutt - bass, backing vocals

Mik Kaminski - violin

Melvyn Gale - cello

Hugh McDowell - cello

Roy Wood, Rick Price and Mike Burney all left the Electric Light Orchestra following the sessions to Face the Music to form their own group, Wizzo, and departed from Apple Records by the end of 1975. That September, the classic ELO lineup was born.

Author's Comments

The shifting lineups for ELO were very much based upon the various lineups during the 1970-1975, with the exclusion of cellists Andy Craig (1971-2) and Colin Walker (1972-3). The latter went into teaching after he left ELO in 1973, so I imagine that instead of continuing a career in music in the 1970s, he became a full-time music teacher. On an interesting note, Walker had been considered to play on the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" but declined to do so, which became his greatest regret.

In addition to Roy Wood, Mike Burney, Bill Hunt, Hugh McDowell and Rick Price all played with Wizzard, and McDowell had left to play with ELO following the release of Wizzard Brew in 1973. Here, since Wizzard doesn't form, Bill, Hugh and Rick never leave ELO. Well, Bill and Rick do eventually leave while Hugh stays, but you get the point.

But where does that leave the remaining Wizzard members - Charlie Grima (drummer), Nick Pentelow (saxophonist), Keith Smart (drummer), and Bob Brady (keyboardist)? Well, since they probably never run into Roy Wood, anything could've gone with them; fall into obscurity, become session musicians, end up dying early on, or some of the above (though all of them dying early on at once is highly unlikely, even for Strawberry Peppers).

Chapter 43: Magic Man (January - September 1975)

10 January 1975

Badfinger - Head First

Released: 10 January 1975

Recorded: July and December 1974

Producer: Chris Thomas

Track listing[1]

Side A

Lay Me Down
You're So Fine
Got to Get Out of Here
Know One Knows
King of the Load (T)
Rockin' Machine
Dennis

Side B

Just a Chance
In the Meantime (Some Other Time)
Saville Row Link
Love Time
Keep Believing
Back Again
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch (Should I Smoke)

Badfinger's eponymous album, their sixth overall, had been released on 1 February 1974, backed by the sole leading single "I Miss You"/"Shine On". It had managed to do a respectable #17 in the United Kingdom, but it was a dismal flop in the United States. The album had marked their first with producer Chris Thomas, who had also done some engineer work with the Beatles on albums such as Beatles '68 and Alice in Wonderland. Their next album with Thomas was intended to be released in December, but that same month, the band had returned to the studio following the initial July sessions (following a brief spring tour in Europe) to record a few new songs for possible inclusion.

JOEY MOLLAND: "We didn't know it when we began recording Head First in July, but when we  did the final December sessions, we were certain that Badfinger was a spent force by that point. We just had to turn the album in to fulfill our contract with Apple." (1981)

Since Apple Records' formation in 1968, Badfinger had been a backbone for the label, achieving great success that almost rivaled the Beatles in their heyday up to 1971, alongside Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Elton John. In recent years, however, Badfinger was beginning to falter, most notably when putting out the self-produced Zoo at the end of 1972. The music landscape had greatly changed since 1970, and it seemed as though Badfinger had become irrelevant in favor of reggae, funk and soul music. It was better to burn out than to fade away.

Joey Molland and Pete Ham performing live with Badfinger, 1974.

Head First was the first album released under Apple Records in 1975, on 10 January. It was Badfinger's least impressive album performance wise, having decided not to tour in support of the record because of the breakup. As a result, the album only managed to reach #39 in the United Kingdom, and the sole single, "Lay Me Down"/"Queen of Darkness" (non-album B-side), did no better at #35. Neither the album nor the single charted in the United States.[2]

Badfinger was officially over, but it wasn't all bad news.

PETE HAM: "By that point, I wasn't interested in making music anymore. My heart just wasn't in it. Of course, I still wanted to be involved in the music industry and Apple itself, and so I told George [Harrison] that I wanted to become a record producer instead. Highway 61 Records was slowly taking off after it was launched forty years ago, and it needed people behind the console to produce potential hits." (2003)

Pete Ham wasn't the only person signed up to Highway 61 Records as a producer; Dave Edmunds and ex-Monkees member Peter Tork had been brought in to produce potential hit artists in 1973, and most recently, Dennis Wilson had also been brought into the portfolio, following the dissolution of the Passions. Throughout the past year, Highway 61 had brought in Alice Cooper, Supertramp, Nigel Olsson, Neil Sedaka, Tina Turner, Solution, and most famously, Tom Petty and his band Mudcrutch.

August 15, 1975

Tom Petty & Mudcrutch - Tom Petty & Mudcrutch

Released: August 15, 1975

Recorded: 1971, 1974 - 1975

Producer: George Harrison and Pete Ham

Track listing[3]

Side A

Lost in Your Eyes
Don't Do Me Like That
Makin' Some Noise
Up in Mississippi Tonight
I Can't Fight It

Side B

Cry to Me
Since You Said You Loved Me
On the Street
Another Lonely Night
Depot Street

TOM PETTY: "We were signed onto Highway 61 back in '74. Mike [Campbell], Benmont [Tench], Randall [Marsh], Danny [Roberts] and I were looking for a record contract in Los Angeles, and who should sign us up but George Harrison himself!" (1996)

MIKE CAMPBELL: "George did some test recording with us upon signing us up and could tell that we had great potential to be great artists. The initial sessions for our debut album were in 1974, but then they stopped when George went played live with the Ladders and Elton John. Luckily, he didn't forget about us and called in Pete Ham to finish the job he'd started." (2010)

The only recording outside of the 1974 and 1975 sessions was Tom Petty and Mudcrutch's first single, "Up in Mississippi Tonight", released in 1971 under Pepper Records. Its B-side, "Cause Is Understood", did not make it onto the album, and was not re-released until the CD reissue in 2001.

RANDALL MARSH: "Some of the songs had to be re-recorded when Pete Ham took over as producer, but I think the end result was worth it." (1983)

The members of Tom Petty & Mudcrutch, 1975. Not pictured: Benmont Tench.

Tom Petty & Mudcrutch (#87 US) was released on August 15, 1975, with the production credit jointly shared between Harrison and Ham. The first single, "Depot Street"/"Wild Eyes" (non-album B-side), was released in June before the album but only reached #55 in the United States. However, the second single, "Don't Do Me Like That"/"Lost in Your Eyes", did much better, charting at #17 there and even managed to reach #38 in the United Kingdom. In retrospective years, the album was looked back as a modest start to Tom Petty's music career, and since its release, he has gone on to make even better albums and write up some greater songs.

But while Tom Petty & Mudcrutch was seen as a modest start for Tom Petty, many tend to overlook the fact that it was Pete Ham's first real success following the breakup of Badfinger. He had been seeing problems Apple had been facing at the time with a stagnating roster and wanted to make the effort to discover new, unknown artists for Highway 61.

Nancy and Ann Wilson of Heart, 1975.

Among Ham's first signings was a Canadian female-fronted band called Heart, led by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, and even produced their debut album Dreamboat Annie as well as the lead single "Magic Man"/"How Deep It Goes", which reached #9 in the United States. Following Heart's success, as well as approval from label president Jack Oliver, Ham would also go on to sign up Patti Smith and the Ramones to Highway 61. It was the beginning of the punk scene in the music world.

Dennis Wilson was also kept busy in singing up new artists. Most of his contributions in 1975 were signing up previously established artists in the music scene such as blues artist Dr. John, progressive rock band Genesis, Blue Öyster Cult, as well as ex-Faces member Rod Stewart. For both Ham and Wilson, their foresight would pay off as all would go on to achieve success in the future and even face a career revival in some cases, most notably Genesis and Rod Stewart. The only new signing that year not by either Wilson or Ham was Harry Nilsson, signed up by John Lennon.

19 September 1975

Electric Light Orchestra - Face the Music

Released: 19 September 1975

Recorded: May - June 1975

Producer: Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood

Track listing[4]

Side A

Fire on High
Brand New 88
Waterfall
I Dun Lotsa Cryin' Over You
Nightrider

Side B

Rattlesnake Roll
Poker
Everyday I Wonder
Down Home Town
We're Gonna Rock 'n' Roll Tonight

The Electric Light Orchestra's fifth album, Face the Music, was preceded by the non-album single "Rattlesnake Roll"/"Strange Magic" (#14 US, #38 UK) and then followed up by "Evil Woman"/"Indiana Rainbow" (#10 US and UK), for September and December releases, respectively. The album itself would hit #8 in the United States and #27 in the United Kingdom, as well as marking the end of an era.

JEFF LYNNE: "Just two months after we finished recording for Face the Music, Roy called me up and said that he wanted a change. At first, I didn't know where he was coming from, but then he said to me that he wanted to leave the Orchestra and carve out a path for himself. By the end of August, Rick [Price] and Mike [Burney] had left the band as well and joined Roy to form Wizzo, and left Apple. There's no hard feelings between us, of course. We still hang out every now and again to catch up on the goings-on between us." (2000)

Face the Music received generally positive reviews from critics; for the tour supporting the album, many lamented the absence of Roy Wood and Rick Price, having been part of the band since its inception (Mike Burney had been part of the group since 1972), but it was still regarded as the turning point for ELO, which now had a bigger success in America. It was further exemplified the following year with A New World Record, which launched them into global success, making them one of the biggest bands of the 1970s.

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from Wish You Were Here (Badfinger) and Head First.
2. In OTL, Head First remained unreleased until 2000, becoming their tenth album as opposed to their eighth. In addition, Joey Molland was replaced by Bob Jackson following the former's resignation from Badfinger, and Pete Ham took his own life just three days short of his 28th birthday.
3. Seven of the tracks can be found on the 2000 box set Playback. "Lost in Your Eyes" can be found on the posthumous box set An American Treasure, and "Makin' Some Noise" and "Another Lonely Night" can both be found on the bootleg Mudcrutch and Solo Petty Outtakes.
4. Tracks are sourced from OTL's Face the Music and Introducing Eddy and the Falcons, excluding "Rattlesnake Roll", taken from the 2000 reissue of Roy Wood's Mustard.

Author's Comments

A bit of a shorter chapter this time around, but it's fairly significant when it comes to the story's development. Badfinger has ended, but happily, Pete Ham's still with us and he's gained a new position at Highway 61 Records. But what'll become of the post-Ham Badfinger albums? Well, I figure that if there's no Pete Ham, then they probably can't be Badfinger albums. Maybe they'll exist in some capacity as a solo album for one of the members with Pete Ham producing, not dissimilar to how Joe Strummer produced for Mick Jones' album with Bad Audio Dynamite, No. 10, Upping Street.

As well as that, we're finally introduced to Tom Petty and Mudcrutch - Tom himself, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Charlie Souza and Randall Marsh (taking the place of Ron Blair and Stan Lynch, respectively). Even though Mudcrutch broke up in 1975 in OTL, they still carried on under the Heartbreakers, or at least, Tom, Mike and Benmont did, almost like a metamorphosis. With Bob Dylan also at Highway 61 Records and George Harrison and Jeff Lynne at Apple, four of the five Wilburys are now all under the same banner - don't worry about Roy; they'll cross paths with him soon enough.

The next chapter will be up Monday the third, but before that, this Friday will come out with a post regarding the various ELO lineups up to 1975.

Chapter 42: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (July 1974 - June 1975)

July 19, 1974

Neil Young - On the Beach

Released: July 19, 1974

Recorded: February 5 - April 7, 1974

Producer: Neil Young, David Briggs, Mark Harman and Al Schmitt

Track listing[1]

Side A

Walk On
See the Sky About to Rain
Pardon My Heart
For the Turnstiles
Vampire Blues

Side B

On the Beach
Motion Pictures
Ambulance Blues

Neil Young's sixth solo album - following his eponymous solo debut (1968), Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (1969), Oh, Lonesome Me (1971), Time Fades Away (1973) and Tonight's the Night (January 1974) - was not only his third album under Highway 61 Records, but also the third in what would be known as his infamous "Ditch Tetralogy". Much like his contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and John Lennon, poor old Neil had been going through personal struggles, having begun when fellow Crazy Horse musician, Danny Whitten, had died on November 18, 1972 from methaqualone overdose. For a long time, Young blamed himself for Whitten's early demise, having fired him on the date of his death. "Danny had a lot to give; he was really good," he remembered.

Following Whitten's death was the death of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young roadie Bruce Berry from a heroin and cocaine overdose on June 4, 1973. Following that was the respective releases of the live album Time Fades Away (#22 US, #20 UK) with The Stray Gators and the studio album Tonight's the Night (#11 US, #35 UK), which featured the track "Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown", co-written with Whitten.

The latest addition to Young's "Ditch Tetralogy", On the Beach, did not reach the Top 10 in either the United States (#16) or the United Kingdom (#42), but it did hit #13 in his native Canada. Although neither studio album was the biggest commercial success when they first came out, they have since received positive acclaim from critics and fans for their raw, honest emotions, being compared to the Ladders' Shine On and Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks.

August 14 - September 14, 1974

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young near Woodside, California, 1974.

NEIL YOUNG: "Yeah, my life was a living hell by this point. Two of my closest friends had died on me, and Carrie [Snodgress] and I were on the verge of splitting. The only thing that saved me from killing myself in the 70s was the company of David, Stephen and Graham and playing live with them, as well as company from artists like Bob Dylan going through similar struggles as I." (2002)

STEPHEN STILLS: "Neil probably felt his strongest when it came to playing live in 1974. We were all still working on Human Highway at this point, and there was a high demand for CSNY to play live again after we did Bangladesh." (1988)

Indeed, the summer of 1974 was a big opportunity for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to undergo their first tour as a group since 1970, being largely managed by former Beatles roadies Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans, as well as Apple road manager Chris O'Dell. "It certainly gave us something to do!" Aspinall recalled years later. "Better than constantly being stuck in the office eight hours a day." (2006) Alongside the four main singer-songwriters, the quartet was aided by sidemen Tim Drummond (bass), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Joe Lala (percussion), and they rehearsed at Young's ranch near Woodside, California that spring before embarking on the tour in the summer.

GRAHMAN NASH: "As well as having Neil, Mal and Chris help us with dates, we'd also planned for a movie concert based at one of our shows. We'd hired Michael Lindsay-Hogg to film some of our shows, mostly from our shows at Capital Centre and Chicago Stadium; we then used some of the best audio recordings for our live album and Human Highway." (2000)

A screenshot from the concert documentary film, CSNY: Back in the States '74, released in theaters 1975.

DAVID CROSBY: "We must've performed at least forty songs during the tour, and well over a third of them were new songs, mostly written by Neil, with some by Stephen and Graham. I didn't have much to contribute, but my biggest contribution was probably our first single 'Carry Me'. Deciding on what to put out was a bitch." (1994)

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Back in the States '74" Tour was considered to be one of the biggest concert tours in America, even bigger than Bob Dylan and the Band's tour from January and February of that same year. The entire Wembley Stadium show on September 14 had been filmed, but none of the footage ended up on the CSNY: Back in the States '74 concert documentary film, which was released in theaters on May 16, 1975, giving moviegoers the chance to witness what they had missed or wanted to re-live in the summer of 1974. The Wembley footage, however, eventually ended up being released in 2004 as CSNY at Wembley 14/9/74 (9/14/74 for North American releases) to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the show.

Alongside older CSNY songs such as "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", "Love the One You're With", and "Immigration Man", the quartet also performed songs from side projects such as Manassas' "Johnny's Garden", Stephen Stills' "Word Game", Crosby and Nash's "Military Madness" and Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart". Among the newest songs introduced on the tour were "Traces", "The Lee Shore" (written back in 1970), "Fieldworker", "Hawaiian Sunrise" and "My Angel".

December 6, 1974

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Hawaiian Sunrise

Released: December 6, 1974

Recorded: August 15, 19-21, and 27-29, September 14, 1974

Producer: CSNY and Joel Bernstein

Track listing[2]

Side A

Love the One You're With
Wooden Ships
Immigration Man
Traces
Change Partners

Side B

Almost Cut My Hair
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Military Madness
Déjà Vu

Side C
Teach Your Children
Word Game
Pre-Road Downs
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

Side D
Helpless
Black Queen
The Lee Shore
Fieldworker
Hawaiian Sunrise

Side E
Johnny's Garden
Don't Be Denied
Long Time Gone
Old Man

Side F
Our House
Guinevere
My Angel
Chicago
Ohio

Although it had initially been planned to be released in the summer of 1975, the triple live album Hawaiian Sunrise found itself being put out on December 6, 1974, close to the Christmas rush. The album hit #6 in the United States and #2 in the United Kingdom, kept off of the top spot there by Paul McCartney & Smile's Band on the Run.

Many had been expecting the long-gestating Human Highway album and found themselves disappointed when they got a live album instead. Between this and the 1973 compilation So Far, it was believed that Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had basically sold out and were not even ten years into their career as a group. "Neil took the criticism very hard," Stephen Stills remembered. "The performances were probably the one time during his 'ditch' saga he felt genuinely happy and critics savaged what we put out. It was hard to not feel sorry for him during that time." (2005)

Despite the mixed to negative reception upon release, Hawaiian Sunrise eventually became a critical favorite. In a 1999 review by Rolling Stone, it was "practically a career retrospective for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the first five years they put out material together. Fourteen classics from the first four studio albums, eight songs from their side projects in the early 1970s, and five songs that are exclusive to this collection, this is a live album that every music fan should own, even if they're not the biggest fans of wooden music."

Most of the live recordings were taken from the Capital Centre Landover (August 19-21, Maryland) and Chicago Stadium (August 27-29, Illinois) performances with "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and "Long Time Gone" both taken from the August 15 Nassau Coliseum Uniondale performance in New York, and "Our House" and "Guinnevere" from the Wembley Stadium performance. Among the tracks that wasn't included was Neil Young's "Goodbye Dick", a short song written in response to disgraced ex-President Richard Nixon's arrest on August 9, 1974 after being declared guilty for obstruction of justice in the Watergate scandal.

April 11, 1975

Neil Young - Homegrown

Released: April 11, 1975

Recorded: September 14, 1974 and November 1974 - January 1975

Producer: Neil Young, David Briggs and Elliot Mazer

Track listing[3]

Side A

Homegrown
The Old Homestead
Deep Forbidden Lake
Give Me Strength
River of Pride (White Line)

Side B

Star of Bethlehem
Little Wing
Danger Bird
Love is a Rose
Pushed It Over the End [w/ Crosby, Stills & Nash]

Neil Young had recorded his seventh solo album alongside the final sessions for Human Highway, with the majority of the songs being written following his break-up with Carrie Snodgress, and so the tone for Homegrown was dark. Almost twenty songs had been written and recorded for the album for possible inclusion, but out of them, nine ended up making the final album, plus a live CSNY track, "Pushed It Over the End". Among the tracks that were left unreleased at the time included "Separate Ways", "We Don't Smoke It", "Vacancy", "Try", "Mexico", and "Florida".

Homegrown marked the fourth and final album of Neil Young's "Ditch Tetralogy" (though some could potentially include Hawaiian Sunrise as part of the saga, making it a pentalogy), and was the best-selling album of the saga, reaching #7 in the United Kingdom and #9 in the United States, his first solo Top 10 showing in either country since Oh, Lonesome Me. Although critical reception at the time was better than Time Fades Away, Tonight's the Night and On the Beach, they weren't as strong as those for Everybody Knows This is Nowhere or Oh, Lonesome Me. Today, Homegrown is regarded as a landmark album for Neil Young, who even said that along with Tonight's the Night, it was the closest he had ever come to art.

But the best was yet to come...

June 20, 1975

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Human Highway

Released: June 20, 1975

Recorded: June 28, 1973 - December 16, 1974

Producer: CSNY and Joel Bernstein

Track listing[4]

Side A

Carry Me*
See the Changes
Human Highway
Prison Song*
Love Art Blues*
As I Come of Age
And So It Goes

Side B

First Things First
Little Blind Fish
Grave Concern*
Revolution Blues*
Homeward Through the Haze
Myth of Sisyphus*
Through My Sails

The resulting Human Highway album was a mixture of both live and studio tracks. Of the eight studio tracks, "See the Changes", "And So It Goes", "First Things First", and "As I Come of Age" were all recorded during the initial 1973 sessions, the latter of which being written as early as 1971. The remaining four studio tracks and the six live tracks were all recorded in 1974. After Human Highway's summer 1975 release, it hit #1 in both the United States and the United Kingdom, being hailed as their greatest album since Déjà Vu, and a return to form after Hawaiian Sunrise.

The album was preceded that May by the single "Carry Me"/"Myth of Sisyphus", which hit #5 in the United States and #9 in the United Kingdom. This was later followed by "As I Come of Age"/"Grave Concern" (#12 US, #20 UK) and "Human Highway"/"Homeward Through the Haze" (#8 US, #26 UK) in August and October, respectively, with the fourth and final single "Prison Song"/"Through My Sails" (#15 US, #38 UK) being released in January 1976.

Human Highway's mixing of live tracks and studio tracks was considered an achievement for the 1970s with studio tracks fading in and/or out of live tracks, an idea by Neil Young. Although Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young popularized the concept of mixing live and studio tracks, they were not the first group to put out a hybrid album; the Grateful Dead had put out Anthem of the Sun in 1968, which combined multiple studio and live recordings of each song, although it was usually classified as a studio album.

Regardless of any misconceptions, Human Highway was nominated for Album the Year at the Grammy Awards, but lost out to Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years. Despite this loss, it still holds up as one of the best records of 1975.

Footnotes

1. All tracks are sourced from On the Beach excluding "Pardon My Heart", taken from Zuma.
2. All tracks are sourced from CSNY 1974, reedited to form six album sides (they can also be edited for two CDs). Sides A-C are mostly from Capital Centre whilst Sides D-F are mostly from Chicago Stadium.
3. Tracks are sourced from American Stars 'n Bars ("Homegrown", "Star of Bethlehem"), Hawks & Doves ("The Old Homestead", "Little Wing"), Decade ("Deep Forbidden Lake", "Love is a Rose"), Hitchhiker ("Give Me Strength"), Zuma ("Danger Bird"), and CSNY 1974 ("Pushed It Over the End"). The mid-1970s recording of "River of Pride (White Line)" can be found on the Chrome Dreams bootleg.
4. The studio tracks are sourced from disc three of the CSN box set ("See the Changes", "Homeward Through the Haze"), Stephen Stills' Stills ("As I Come of Age", "First Things First"), Graham Nash's Wild Tales ("And So It Goes"), and Neil Young's Zuma ("Through My Sails"). "Human Highway" and "Little Blind Fish" can both be found on the Rarities Volume 2: 1970-1974 bootleg. All live tracks marked with an asterisk (*) are from CSNY 1974.

Author's Comments

Well, happy (belated) birthday to myself! Yep, I've just turned twenty-five last Friday, and as a late birthday present from me - if that makes any sense - I give you all my take on the lost Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album, Human Highway, the bridge between Déjà Vu and CSN (1977), but in this case, there four albums between the 1970 and 1975 albums, and there will be one more album before we get to CSN (1977).

Although the main focus of the story is CSNY, much of it is on Neil Young, especially with a slightly modified On the Beach and my own take on what Homegrown could've been like had it been released, also supposing that Tonight's the Night had come out in 1974 as I think was intended. And yes, I'm aware that Neil Young's official(ish) version of Homegrown will be coming out this year, and when that happens, I'll likely be replacing those from my version ("Homegrown", "White Line", "Star of Bethlehem", "Little Wing" and "Love is a Rose", according to a potential track listing) with the official recordings, and maybe insert one or two of the previously-unreleased songs. We'll see how it goes when it comes out, but for now, I'm happy with how my take on Homegrown stands.

Album cover for Homegrown is taken from soniclovenoize's version as can be seen here, mostly because some versions of the cover I've seen on Google searches were too low-resolution for my liking.

Chapter 41: Some Kind of Wonderful (June - December 1974)

14 June 1974

Paul and Linda McCartney, 1974.

Whilst Paul McCartney & Smile was on a joint tour with Freddie Mercury, the recording for the former's next single, "Helen Wheels" and "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)", had taken place. The B-side had been written the year previously whilst McCartney was on holiday in Jamaica and met with Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen on the set of Papillon. Hoffman doubted that McCartney could actually write a song about anything, and so he presented McCartney a magazine story about the death of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso and his immortal last words - "Drink to me, drink to my health. You know I can't drink anymore." Hoffman's reported reaction to his then-wife Anne Byrne was, "Look, he's doing it... He's doing it! Come and listen!"

The "Helen Wheels" single topped #9 in the United States after its initial release, and it just barely hit the Top 10 in the United Kingdom. The A-side made its debut during the final tour dates, replacing "Soily" as the opening track for Smile's setlist. However, as the tour was drawing to a close, Brian May had fallen sick from hepatitis, believed to have been caught from a dirty needle he had picked up. The tour was then brought to a halt in order to allow May to recover. Whilst he was in hospital, McCartney, Mercury, Denny Laine and Roger Taylor wrote up new material for their next projects and Paul made some arrangements.

By then, both groups had become acquainted with John Deacon, who had created an electric guitar amplifier known as the Deacy Amp that was used alongside May's Red Special electric guitar to produce sounds reminiscent of various orchestral instruments, as could be heard in "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" from The King of Rhye. Apart from being an electrical engineer by profession, Deacon was also a bass guitarist, and often performed bass for Mercury when McCartney was unavailable. As well as that, Deacon would even write up songs for Mercury to sing as he didn't like the sound of his own voice, with his first songwriting credit being "Misfire", a Caribbean-influenced number, as well as a collaboration with Mercury, May and Taylor, "Stone Cold Crazy".

Brian May, 1974.

PAUL McCARTNEY: "I wanted to give the rest of us a change of scenery and record the next Smile album outside of England. Y'know, go somewhere exotic and all that." (1974)

BRIAN MAY: "Paul suggested going to Paraguay to record Band on the Run. I was fresh out of the hospital, and now he was suggesting we go to South America of all places! I still liked it there though, despite the odd teething trouble here and there." (1988)

Smile, Mercury and their entourage such as Apple A&R and record producer Roy Thomas Baker and John Deacon landed in Paraguay that July. The studio picked for recording was not the best in the world, but it was at least serviceable enough for their needs. Recording began on the 11th with McCartney's "Let Me Roll It", a pastiche of his former bandmate John Lennon's sound. When Lennon first heard the album, he cited "Let Me Roll It" as one of Paul's greatest written songs, and later commented, "I felt jealous that he didn't think about calling me to record on it; we could've had a real Beatles reunion then!" (1984)

The sessions in Paraguay were not without problems; some of the master tapes had been stolen one night and had to be re-recorded from scratch (the tapes were eventually recovered, but they were shelved when it was decided that the new recordings were better), and during a recording session, Paul had passed out from a bronchial spasm from excessive smoking, which prompted him to quit smoking following this close call.

In between both the Smile project and Freddie's planned extended play, around twenty songs had been recorded. May, Taylor and Laine each got a respective lead vocal - "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)", "Tenement Funster", and "I Would Only Smile", a re-recording of an outtake from Purple Highway - whilst there were duets with Paul on the likes of "Band on the Run" (with May), "No Words" (with Laine), and "Junior's Farm" (with Taylor), making it feel more like a band project than a Paul McCartney solo project.

Freddie Mercury during the recording sessions for both Band on the Run and Killer Queen, 1974.

For Mercury's extended play, tentatively titled Killer Queen, eight tracks were recorded as potential candidates; the title track, "Misfire", "Stone Cold Crazy", the medley consisting of "Flick of the Wrist" and "Lily of the Valley", two tracks called "In the Lap of the Gods" and "Bring Back That Leroy Brown". In addition, he provided vocals for May's "Now I'm Here" to serve as a Smile B-side. Once the basic tracks from both groups were completed, everyone returned to London to record overdubs. Among the guest artists was saxophonist Howie Casey for solos on "Bluebird" and "Mrs. Vandebilt", the latter of which had been previewed in "Picasso's Last Words".

FREDDIE MERCURY: "I thought '74 was a pretty good year for us overall, probably one of our most productive yet. Of course, we were only just getting started for next year when Band on the Run and Killer Queen came out." (1993)

23 September 1974

Elton John and John Lennon, 1974.

The Ladders' next single release, their first since "Mind Games" last November, was a collaboration with Apple artist Elton John and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. It was a double A-side - John Lennon's "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" and Elton and Bernie's "Snookeroo", performed by Ringo Starr. Lennon wrote "Night" from a wager by Elton that if it became a #1 hit on either side of the Atlantic, then the Ladders would make a guest appearance at one of his concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

When the double A-side was released, "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" did indeed reach #1 in America, but it topped out at #23 in the United Kingdom. "Snookeroo" also charted in America at #3, but did not chart in the United Kingdom. Critics and fans praised the novelty of seeing three fourths of the former Beatles collaborating with one of the most successful partnerships of the 1970s, which helped the single become a success.

GEORGE HARRISON: "We might've clawed back some success with Elton, but not all was well for us. I was suffering with laryngitis and Pattie and I ended up splitting with her leaving me for Eric [Clapton]. I too had had some affairs of my own, one of them being Maureen, Ringo's wife at the time. It put a strain on our friendship but it eventually healed. On the plus side of things, I helped to produce Little Malcolm for Apple Films. I felt like shit during '74, but I think John suffered worse than I did." (1987)

John Lennon, 1974.

JOHN LENNON: "Even after finishing up Young Frankenstein with Mel, Gene and Maddy, I was a fucking mess. I was now very much in love with Madeline, but I was still married to Yoko. It fucking tore me apart on the inside. It eventually led to me having an argument with Yoko on the phone - I'll spare you the details as to what was said - but long and short, I told her that this marriage was destroying me, and after some more angry words, I hung up." (1997)

RINGO STARR: "George and I were with John when he had this argument with Yoko on the phone. Neither of us said anything once he'd hung up. When he did turn to us, the first thing he said was, 'I need some help.' I thought back to the song he'd written in 1965, and it seemed to ring truer than ever than it did back then. He really needed help, and there was no joking about it." (2007)

GEORGE HARRISON: "Ringo and I didn't say anything after John first told us he needed some help. We both had his attention, and he went on for about an hour or so about what he'd been going through for the last few years. It was like his primal scream therapy sessions with Arthur Janov from 1970, only there was no professional involved. We stayed silent until John had finished, having collapsed onto the nearest chair. I asked what we should do to help him, and he told me, 'Get me to rehabilitation. Even if I'm screaming and calling you names, force me to go against my fucking will.'" (1983)

4 October 1974

Paul McCartney & Smile - Band on the Run

Released: 4 October 1974

Recorded: April 1974, 11 July - September 1974

Producer: Paul McCartney and Roy Thomas Baker

Track listing[1]

Side A

Band on the Run
Jet
Tenement Funster
No Words
Mrs. Vandebilt
Let Me Roll It

Side B

Junior's Farm
Bluebird
I Would Only Smile
Helen Wheels
She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five

The second album by Paul McCartney & Smile, Band on the Run topped the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. "Helen Wheels" was included on the American version of the album but not the British version, although later editions would include it as the third to last song on the album. "Picasso's Last Words" had been left off due to time constraints.

Band on the Run received critical acclaim, being cited as Paul McCartney's best work following the Beatles' split. The title track even reached #1 in the United States, knocking the Ladders' "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" off of the top spot (following a one week stay) and keeping both Billy Swan's "I Can Help" and Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" off the top spot, and becoming the greatest selling single of 1974. It was eventually topped by Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle", which became the last #1 hit in the United States. Despite reaching #1 in America, "Band on the Run" stalled at #2 in the United Kingdom, although the B-side "Now I'm Here" reached #11 there. The subsequent singles, "Jet"/"Sally G" (#7 US and UK) and "Junior's Farm"/"Walking in the Park with Eloise" (#1 US, #4 UK) were also Top 10 hits.

In later years, Band on the Run has often been cited as one of the best albums of 1974, along with the Yardbirds' Kashmir, Elton John's Caribou, Bad Company's eponymous debut album, Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevard, and Neil Young's Tonight's the Night.

Freddie Mercury's Killer Queen extended play - released 8 November - also achieved success in the United Kingdom, charting at #3, with the titular track reaching #1 as a single backed with "Stone Cold Crazy". The first side consisted of "In the Lap of the Gods", "Killer Queen" and the "Flick of the Wrist"/"Lily of the Valley" medley. The second side had "Stone Cold Crazy", "Misfire", "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" and "In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited".[2] The single reached #10 in the United States but the extended play did not chart there due to the declining popularity of the format.

15 November 1974

The Ladders - Dark Horse

Released: 15 November 1974

Recorded: June - July 1973, April and August - October 1974

Producer: The Ladders and Dennis Wilson

Track listing[3]

Side A

Simply Shady
Intuition
Oh My My
Tight A$
So Sad
I Know (I Know)

Side B

Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)
Dark Horse
Only People
Devil Woman
Far East Man
You Are Here

Most of the tracks from Dark Horse actually had their origins coming from the Photograph sessions with Dennis Wilson, and those sung by Lennon and Starr - plus Harrison's "So Sad" - were also recorded during said sessions. The only new tracks from the April 1974 sessions were all written and sung by Harrison; "Simply Shady", "Dark Horse" and "Far East Man", the latter of which had been written with Ronnie Wood of the Jeff Beck Group and Faces. Overdubs had been added with help from Highway 61 artist Tom Scott and the L.A. Express from August to October.

When Dark Horse finally came out on 15 November, it received very mixed reviews from critics, reaching #4 in the United States and #13 in the United Kingdom. It had been preceded the week before by the single "Oh My My"/"Maya Love" (#5 US, #3 UK) which had gotten better reviews. Most criticized the fact that Dark Horse was simply a collection of outtakes from the previous Dennis Wilson collaboration, Photograph, with a few new songs from Harrison and overdubs put into the 1973 recordings.

But was the album really that bad? In retrospect, it was generally forgettable but inoffensive, save for Harrison's vocals not being as strong as they normally were due to his bout of laryngitis at the time. Other than "Oh My My" and the title track, there were still other highlights like the rockabilly "Tight A$", the songwriting collaborations with Dennis Wilson ("Devil Woman") and Ronnie Wood ("Far East Man") and the soulful "I Know (I Know)", which called back to the Beatles' "I've Got a Feeling". "So Sad" even gained a following among Beatles fans, calling it one of Harrison's most undervalued songs.

November 28, 1974

George Harrison performing at Madison Square Garden, November 28, 1974.

Fulfilling their end of the wager with Elton John, the Ladders made their first live performance as a group since the Concert for Bangladesh three years ago. For the past two months, John Lennon had been undergoing therapy and rehabilitation to cure his drug and alcohol addiction; Lennon was still a bit on edge, having admitted to Harrison and Starr in the midst of his ranting that he was now in love with his Young Frankenstein co-star Madeline Kahn, but he didn't know how he could admit it to her, especially as he was still married to Ono.

ELTON JOHN: "It was Ringo who told me about John's love for Madeline. He said to me, 'She seems to bring out the best in him. He's more like the John we knew back in the days of Beatlemania, but a bit less sarcastic and a bit more sensitive.' With a bit of help from Marty Feldman, I arranged for a meeting between John and Madeline after the performance." (2004)

Lennon's thoughts were focused on the performance when it came time for him, Harrison, Starr, Klaus Voormann and Billy Preston to appear on stage. Elton had already performed eleven of his greatest songs including "Candle in the Wind", "Rocket Man", "Bennie and the Jets" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", and after performing "You're So Static", he introduced the Ladders for their guest spot.

The first song was the current Ladders hit, "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night", then followed by a pair of Beatles covers - "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (later released as a single) and "I Saw Her Standing There", which John introduced as "a number of an old, estranged fiance of mine, called Paul." Lennon, Harrison and Starr got caught up in the moment and performed the rest of the show with Elton, with George performing a duet version of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - which had kept Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods' "Billy Don't Be a Hero" off of the #1 spot in America that June - Ringo taking the lead on "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", and Billy Preston sharing vocals on "Crocodile Rock" during the encore, as did John Lennon for "The Bitch is Back" with he, George, Billy and Ringo harmonizing with Elton on "Your Song".

RINGO STARR: "It was such a magical moment for us, playing live with Elton. I think it's safe to say we stole the show from him. *laughs*" (1996)

Madeline Kahn as Elizabeth in Young Frankenstein, 1974.

Ringo might have called the performance magical, but even he knew that the meeting between Lennon and Kahn was just as special, as it was backstage that he professed his love to her. "There was silence at first," John remembered years later, "and it was kind of like in the movies, you know, when time stands still?" It was that moment between him and Madeline that marked the final death knell for John Lennon's marriage with Yoko Ono, whom he would divorce at the start of 1975, having had no children with her, discounting a few miscarriages in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

JOHN LENNON: "I was in such good spirits following that performance with Elton and making it almost official with Madeline that I wanted us to perform at Madison Square again. Even George was enthusiastic about the idea." (1986)

December 6 - 20, 1974

The Ladders - 1974 Madison Square Performances[4]
3 shows at Madison Square Garden, New York City (December 19 and 20)
Setlist:
1. Ladders Express[5]
2. Mind Games
3. Something
4. Yellow Submarine
5. Instant Karma
6. Will It Go Round in Circles (Get Back on second December 20 show)
7. For You Blue
8. Puttin' on the Ritz
9. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)
10. I Wanna Be Your Man (Back Off Boogaloo on second December 20 show)
11. Come Together
12. Nothing from Nothing (That's the Way God Planned It on first December 20 show)
13. Photograph
14. What Is Life (My Sweet Lord on December 19 show)
15. In My Life
16. It Don't Come Easy
17. Imagine
Encores: While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happy Xmas (War is Over), Ding Dong, Ding Dong (second December 20 show only)

Ringo Starr, 1974.

The Ladders made three surprise appearances at Madison Square Garden following their now-legendary performance with Elton John from three weeks previously. In between, there was the release of the holiday single "Ding Dong, Ding Dong"/"Rock and Roll People" (#30 US, #35 UK) on the sixth of December, which had been met with indifference from critics at the time but had since gone on to receive airplay over the holiday season, and Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein on the 15th, which received critical acclaim and has since been considered by many to be Mel Brooks' greatest film, with critics praising Lennon's performance as Frederick Frankenstein.

On all three shows, Lennon performed "Puttin' on the Ritz" like he did in the movie when introducing Peter Boyle's character to the crowd with Ringo hamming up the lyric "Puttin' on the Ritz!" in lieu of Boyle. This was met with great laughter among the audiences, and reportedly, it even got George Harrison to laugh. The overall performances were considered a bit sloppy in some places, but they were still positively received for how spontaneous they were.

Rolling Stone

December 28, 1974

Smiles Over Ladders: The Band Battle of the Decade

"At the start of the decade, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr proved they could still create magic together as a threesome, especially Harrison, who's had his chance to shine with the popular hits such as 'What Is Life' and 'Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)'. This was further proved by their performance at the Concert for Bangladesh on August 1, 1971, which also generated the best-selling double A-side 'Bangla Desh'/'Imagine', the Lennon-penned track now on its way in becoming an anthem for world peace.

But alas, poor Paul McCartney showed that he needed them to be a pop wizard when he went solo with his first album Cherry Wine from 1971; that was further proven with 1972's Tomorrow. Since then, he's gotten a little help from new friends Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Denny Laine, as well as the eccentric Freddie Mercury, as can be seen with McCartney's soon-to-be-classic Band on the Run.

It seemed as if Paul was now on the same level as his former bandmates, although it now appears they've stumbled with their latest album Dark Horse and their holiday single 'Ding Dong' despite successful collaborations with Elton John on the 'Whatever Gets You Thru the Night'/'Snookeroo' single and the November 28 Madison Square performance. Still, there's only half a decade to go to see where this rivalry between Paul McCartney & Smile and the Ladders will end up; it's anyone's battle at this stage."

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from Band on the Run, Sheer Heart Attack ("Tenement Funster", "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)", Venus and Mars ("Junior's Farm"), and Red Rose Speedway ("I Would Only Smile"). In addition, the start of "Flick of the Wrist" - which segues from "Tenement Funster" is added onto the start of "No Words", linking the songs together.
2. All tracks are sourced from Sheer Heart Attack.
3. Tracks are sourced from Dark Horse, Mind Games and Ringo (1973).
4. Some of the songs from the setlist were actually performed by George Harrison and Billy Preston during the ill-fated North America tour in 1974. Ringo's songs were from his 1989 live performances as part of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
5. OTL's "Hari's on Tour (Express)" from Dark Horse.

Author's Comments

We're back! Happy New Year (and Decade), readers! It's only fitting that we kick off by bringing in the members of the Beatles and Queen to the forefront.

Parts of this chapter were written back in November 2018. At this point, I should mention that much of what you've read in regards to the series has been essentially a serialized first draft of sorts; some sections were second, or possibly even third, drafts. As Neil Gaiman once stated, "the purpose of a first draft is to finish it." Right now, I've outlined the story up to 1977, which will be close to the start of Phase Three. The next chapter will be the last set in 1974, and the remaining eight chapters for Phase Two will cover 1975 and 1976. With a bit of luck, I'll have completed 1976 by the end of March, having covered eleven years over fifty chapters.

I've also been thinking about it further, and I thought about taking the series up to the end of 1989; Phase Three will consist of 1977-1985, and Phase Four will run from 1986-1989 (or 1990, depending on what comes up). I've always intended for Live Aid to be the endgame of sorts, with the rest of the 1980s being an encore of sorts. I may end up doing a sequel blog taking place from 1990 to the present. We'll see where it goes in the future. As Ringo Starr once commented, "Tomorrow never knows."