Tag: Abbey Road

Roxy Music – “Virginia Plain”, “If There Is Something”, “Psalm”, “Pyjamarama”, “Love Is The Drug”, “Both Ends Burning”, “Still Falls The Rain”, “Dance Away”, “Over You”, “Oh Yeah”, “Same Old Scene”, “Jealous Guy”, “More Than This” And “Avalon”

With Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music I’m never sure where to start, there’s so much, and I keep discovering more.

I mainly know some of their songs from the late Seventies and early Eighties, but I’ve also taken some of their work from the early Seventies here.

In the early years Brian Eno was in the band, but he left after the second album, “For Your Pleasure”. From then on, Phil Manazanera and Andy Mackay began co-writing, but Bryan Ferry continued to write most of the material.

The first single, which went to No. 4 in the UK in 1972, was “Virginia Plain”:

Also in 1972, album track “If There Is Something”:

Some of the guitar on this makes me think of the Beatles “Abbey Road” album. I like it. In fact, the more I listen to it, the more I like it!

From the 1973 album “Stranded”, here is “Psalm”, quite a bit different from some of the later stuff:

Also from 1973, Roxy Music’s second single “Pyjamarama”:

A major single in 1975 that peaked at No. 2 in the UK was “Love Is The Drug”:

Here is a somewhat later live version of “Love Is The Drug”:

Also from 1975, “Both Ends Burning”:

“Still Falls The Rain” was a track on the 1979 album “Manifesto”:

“Dance Away” (UK No. 2 in 1979, also from “Manifesto”) just makes me melt away….

I also quite like “Over You” (No. 5 in the UK, from the next album, “Flesh + Blood”):

And this has got to be my favourite Roxy Music song ever…. “Oh Yeah” from 1980. I love it! I still remember hearing it on a stormy night in a pub in Broadford on the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. And in a small bar in Nuremberg below the castle, while waiting for a concert (might have been Led Zeppelin, not sure). “Oh Yeah”:

“Same Old Scene” was the third single from the “Flesh + Blood” album:

Shortly after John Lennon was shot, Roxy Music sang a tribute version of one of my favourite Lennon songs, “Jealous Guy”, taking it to No. 1 in the UK and Australia:

They followed it with “More Than This” (No. 6)…

… and “Avalon”:

I’d better stop now…

Paul
The Alan Parsons Project – “The Raven”, “(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether”, “I Robot”, “Breakdown”, “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You”, “Some Other Time”, “Don’t Let It Show”, “Time”, “Eye In The Sky”

When I heard the name Alan Parsons mentioned today, in my mind I was in a student flat in about 1977 in Waldegrave Street, Palmerston North, New Zealand, listening to “The Raven” from the album “Tales Of Mystery And Imagination”, the first from The Alan Parsons Project.

The Alan Parsons Project was founded by its namesake Alan Parsons, a young engineer at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, and Eric Woolfson, who wrote most of the songs and sang on many of them. Woolfson died at the beginning of December last year (2009).

Alan Parsons first came to prominence engineering the Beatles album “Abbey Road”, and was also particularly well known for his work on Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side Of The Moon”, as well as many works by The Hollies.

He also played a major role in influencing the sound of Al Stewart’s “The Year Of The Cat” and “Time Passages”, which he also produced.

The Alan Parsons Project was really a fluid group of different musicians around these two main protagonists, and produced studio music in the genre some call progressive rock.

“Tales Of Mystery And Imagination”, released in 1976, was a tribute to horror writer Edgar Allen Poe. Here are two tracks from it:

“The Raven” (lead vocals by Leonard Whiting, Alan Parsons lead vocal through a “vocoder”):

“(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether” (vocals John Miles and Jack Harris):

The following year “I Robot” was released. There are a number of tunes from this record I still remember well.

Firstly, of course, the title track, “I Robot”:

“Breakdown” (vocals Allan Clarke):

“I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You” (vocals Lenny Zakatek):

“Some Other Time” (vocals Peter Straker and Jaki Whitren):

“Don’t Let It Show” (vocals Dave Townsend)

Although in the early years there was little live material, later you can find more, and especially recently, although The Alan Parsons Project itself ceased to exist back in 1987 already.

Here is a live version of “Don’t Let It Show”:

In 1980 the musicians released the album “The Turn Of A Friendly Card”.

It featured the song “Time”, with lead vocals by Eric Woolfson:

Finally, from the 1982 album of the same name, “Eye In The Sky”, also sung by Eric Woolfson:

And here’s “Eye In The Sky” live:

Here’s looking at you!

Paul

Tag: Abbey Road

The Alan Parsons Project – “The Raven”, “(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether”, “I Robot”, “Breakdown”, “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You”, “Some Other Time”, “Don’t Let It Show”, “Time”, “Eye In The Sky”