4. The Moody Blues - A Question Of Balance

Released: 7 August 1970

My pressings: Original Threshold UK LP and Friday Music repressing.

And it was good??

Psychedelia was on the wane by 1970. A slew of bands in the mid-60s had striven towards a more sophisticated and complex sound, only to turn their back on it a year or so later. The Rolling Stones were the first. They had released the roots rock of Beggar’s Banquet in 1968, a reaction to their less than well-received Sgt Pepper also ran, Their Satanic Majesties Request. The Beatles themselves famously sought to “get back” to a more organic and simpler work ethic after their elaborate productions of 1967, and began 1969 with the intention of rehearsing new material for a live show. Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys released a trilogy of simple “homemade” albums that were the antithesis of Pet Sounds. The Who followed their “rock opera” Tommy with Live At Leeds, a live album of raw, spontaneous power. Bands like Free, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin were emerging with music steeped in the blues, and meanwhile The Moody Blues released A Question Of Balance.

For a band who toured as much as the Moodies did, translating their heavily tracked music live was always a problem (their 1968 album In Search Of The Lost Chord famously featured 33 instruments, all played by the band themselves). But by 1970 they had decided to follow in the footsteps of The Beatles and Stones and consciously planned an album that could be perfectly replicated on stage. Also as a first, the band entered the studio without any ready written material to rehearse.

Unlike most bands of this era, all five members of the Moody Blues contributed material. Guitarist Justin Hayward and bassist John Lodge tended to pen the more straightforward rock songs that could be lifted as singles (Nights In White Satin, Ride My See-Saw, etc.). Master of the mellotron Mike Pinder wrote proto-Prog Rock epics, notably the Have You Heard suite from 1969. Flautist Ray Thomas composed tongue in cheek Kinks-like observational pieces like Another Morning and Dear Diary, and rather charmingly, drummer Graeme Edge composed poetry.

Despite the varying nature of the material, Tony Clarke’s lush production of earlier Moodies albums would bind the compositions together and the different styles would complement each other. With the no frills approach of A Question Of Balance this irregularity is far more apparent, making the album more of a patchwork than previous efforts. It’s also a very downbeat album – full of songs about despair, lost love and feeling insignificant.

A Question Of Balance begins with its best-known track, the epic Question. A cut-and-shut of a song (Justin Hayward basically stitched two unfinished pieces together), a superior single mix got to number 2 in the UK chart and was kept off the top spot by the England Football Team. The other stand out tracks are Ray Thomas’s And The Tide Rushes In (written after a spat with his wife) and Mike Pinder’s Melancholy Man. Never the greatest vocalist, Pinder here rises to the occasion at the song’s climax – spewing dejection and anguish over a sea of backing vocals.

Tellingly the band would return to a more familiar sound and format for the next album, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, but in the short term they had achieved what they wanted – a long player perfect for the road (Question, Melancholy Man, Minstrel’s Song and Tortoise and the Hare were performed at the 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival). Compared to other Moodies albums before and after however, it lacks a cohesion, and rather ironically, a balance.

3. Paul McCartney - McCartney

Released: 17 April 1970
My pressing: Original Apple UK LP

A concept album by Billy Martin?

The promotional film for "Something" by The Beatles, filmed in October 1969, is rather an anomaly in their nest. All Beatles are filmed separately from each other and instead with their wives (this being shot shortly after Lennon's private announcement he was leaving the group), however it's the Paul McCartney segments that are the most fascinating. Symbolizing the division between him and the other three Beatles, McCartney is shown self-filmed on lower resolution film than Lennon, Harrison and Starr, and looks extremely unkempt and shabby.

McCartney is shown on his farm in Cambeltown in Scotland. Finding himself ostracized from his Beatle bandmates due to business and bossiness issues, he had entered a self-imposed exile here with his wife Linda, step daughter Heather and newborn baby Mary. Not even becoming a father for the first time could halten McCartney's depression, and during his time in Scotland he increasingly became reliant on alcohol to cope with the break up of the band he loved being a part of. During an interview with Life magazine during this time, he sadly admitted "the Beatle thing is over".

Whether or not it was boredom or the desire to prove himself to the other three Beatles, upon his return to London McCartney immediately started to gather compositions for a solo album. He initially recorded the material at home, playing all instruments himself using a primitive setup, before taking the tapes to be polished up and mixed at Morgan Studios and the familiar environment of Studio 2 at EMI Studios on Abbey Road under the pseudonym of Billy Martin.

McCartney defiantly opens the album with three pieces of unbaked music. "The Lovely Linda", a 45 minute fragment that was recorded at home just to test the equipment, "That Would Be Something", composed in Scotland that consists of the same two lines of lyric repeated over and over, and "Valentine Day", an instrumental ad-libbed on the spot. It isn't until we get to track four that we get our first fully realised song in the shape of "Every Night". Although composed in 1968 and tried out during the Beatles' Get Back sessions, the lyrics could be seen to reflect McCartney's state of mind in the aftermath of the band's breakup and his need of Linda. In fact this theme of love routing out loneliness can be seen in two other songs recorded at Abbey Road on the same day: "Man We Was Lonely", symbolically featuring Linda on backing vocals and an arrangement that foreshadows the next album Ram; and the album's centerpiece "Maybe I'm Amazed". Most reviews of the album single out "Amazed" as the standout track, and they're correct. It is an extremely powerful love song, with a raw and honest vocal from McCartney.

Other songs of note include "Junk" and "Teddy Boy". The former in its final form is a beautiful, delicate track that sounds as if it's fallen off The White Album (and in fact demoed prior to that album being recorded). Like "Every Night", several attempts of "Teddy Boy" were tried out during the Beatles Get Back sessions of January 1969, the most famous of which appears on Anthology 3 and features "humorous" interjections by John Lennon.

A release date for the completed album was pencilled in for April 1970, however there was a snag. As Paul had withdrawn himself from the other three Beatles and in turn Apple Corps, he was unaware that they were planning to release Let It Be, the new Phil Spector-produced version of the Get Back sessions (more on that album in a future post), at the same time, as well as a solo album by Ringo Starr. Ringo himself opted to notify Paul of this by delivering a letter to his house, only to be thrown out by him on hearing the news. The other Beatles acquiesced, Let It Be was put back a month, and Paul's album was released on the 17th April 1970.

Christening the album McCartney couldn't be more perfect. Due to the primitive nature of the recording, it has a lo-fi, homemade quality to it which, rather like Paul's own public personna, makes it charming and accessible. At the time that concept albums were on the rise, its easy to see McCartney as one about family: songs recorded at home and about the wife. This is reflected in the packaging too: the inner gatefold sleeve of the record looks like a McCartney holiday snaps photo album, and the back cover features Paul with a terrified baby Mary looking out from inside his fleece lined leather jacket (incidentally, the same one he's seen wearing in the "Something" promo). True, Paul would maybe take this family idea a little too far with his 1972 single "Mary Had A Little Lamb" but with McCartney at least he found a happy medium.

2. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III

Released: 5 October 1970
My pressings:
Original UK Atlantic LP with plum label. "Do what thou wilt / so mote it be" etched in the run out grooves
1977 US Atlantic LP with green/orange label
2001 Classic Records 200g LP

Imagine hearing the oft-held myth that Led Zeppelin III is the band's "acoustic album", sitting down with a cup of tea expecting something John Martyn-esque, and Immigrant Song blares out the speakers. It is completely understandable why this label is attached to the album, after all, the majority of Side B is Zep unplugged, but there's an argument to be made that it's probably the most eclectic collection in their canon (Remember, much of the wide-ranging material on Physical Graffiti hails from sessions up to five years prior). The album features the simmering blues rock of Since I've Been Loving You, the out-and-out thrash of Immigrant Song, the Indian drone of Friends, the trad folk of Gallows Pole and the country hoedown of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp. Listening to the tracks in sequence it's a little bit like turning the famous volvelle wheel on its front cover; you're not sure what you're going to find next...

The writing of the album couldn't have been more different from its two predecessors. Following an exhaustive American tour, guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant decamped to an isolated cottage in Wales's Snowdonia with no running water or electricity. It was here, and inspired by folkies John Fahey and Bert Jansch, that the pair wrote the bulk of the lighter material on the album, as well as fine-tuning an old song of Page's from his Yardbirds days, Tangerine. The rural theme to the album continued with the band choosing to record Page and Plant's new songs at East Hampshire mansion Headley Grange using portable equipment (this too provided a contrast to earlier albums which were recorded in London studios Olympic and Morgan and over in New York).

When released in its intricate pin-wheel sleeve in October 1970, Led Zeppelin III confounded many critics and fans who were looking for a new Whole Lotta Love and thought the band had gone soft. From 2020 eyes however, the album can be viewed as a stepping stone to their all-conquering untitled fourth album, and a stairway to the mighty Stairway To Heaven, that inescapable millstone around the band's neck and distills the eclectic nature of LZIII into one 8-minute track. Fundamentally though it is a strong set of songs showing a band already restless with their existing repertoire and wanting to do something different. They certainly succeeded.

Bonus tracks relating to the album were released in 2014-15 across the deluxe editions of LZIII and Coda. These can be compiled into one handy playlist or onto CD-R and I've appended a suggested tracklist below:  

1. Hey Hey What Can I Do (Coda Deluxe)
2. Poor Tom (Coda Deluxe)
3. Bron-Yr-Aur (Physical Graffiti)
4. St. Tristan's Sword (LZIII Deluxe)
5. Key To The Highway / Trouble In Mind (LZIII Deluxe)
6. The Immigrant Song (Alternate Mix) (LZIII Deluxe)

7. Friends (Track, No Vocal) (LZIII Deluxe)
8. Celebration Day (Alternate Mix) (LZIII Deluxe)
9. Since I've Been Loving You (Rough Mix of First Recording) (LZIII Deluxe)
10. Bathroom Sound (Out On The Tiles) (Track, No Vocal) (LZIII Deluxe)
11. Gallows Pole (Rough Mix) (LZIII Deluxe)
12. That's The Way (Rough Mix) (LZIII Deluxe)

13. Jennings Farm Blues (Early version of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp) (LZIII Deluxe)

14. Poor Tom (Instrumental Mix) (Coda Deluxe)

15. Friends (Bombay Orchestra) (Coda Deluxe)

BTW *this* was folded up inside my UK original. It's dated 1971, but I'd like to think the previous owner thought it was a better fit to enclose it into LZIII than IV.

1. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Deja Vu

Released: 11 March 1970
My pressing: Original UK Atlantic LP with plum label

It's quite strange that a lot of bands known for their harmony vocals didn't translate that harmonious nature to behind the scenes, particularly Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys and the Everly Brothers. The same can be said for Crosby, Stills and Nash, and even more so when Neil Young entered the fold for this album. Stephen Stills had invited his old sparring partner from Buffalo Springfield to bolster CSN's ranks when playing live, and it was only natural that a prolific songwriter such as Young should also contribute to their studio work.

CSNY was now a vehicle for the four members to do whatever they liked: Graham Nash continued his accessible pop songs that he had fine-tuned throughout his time with the Hollies, and David Crosby in his own words "wrote the weird shit". The band also became a battleground for the electric guitar dueling between Stills and Young, most notably on Crosby's Almost Cut My Hair*. This album for me is faultless, and despite the varied styles between the four songwriters their work coalesces beautifully.

I find it an incredible shame then, but not surprising, that under the weight of the four egos involved that the band effectively collapsed later in the year. Despite a reunion tour in 1974, a follow up to Deja Vu (and a poor one at that) wasn't issued until the late 80s. Thankfully with the advent of the mixed-tapes and now playlists we can compile our own 1971 CSNY album from the four strong solo albums they issued in its aftermath.

*I recommend the extended version of this song available on the 1991 CSN boxset. Incredible.

"So just look at them and sigh..."
And know they absolutely can't stand each other....

A few introductory words.

Look at these LPs! These records! These beautiful pieces of wax! (I never refer to them as "vinyl" though. Not in this house. You don't call a human a "flesh and blood"). Look at the variety of the music held within... The blues and swagger of Free. The power of the Who. The sheer ambition of Miles Davis. The satire of Randy Newman. The Americana of Elton. The sweet harmonies of the Beach Boys. The primal screaming of Lennon. The dress of Bowie.

If you're a music fan, and if you're reading this (and if you've seen the name of this blog), you'll know that this year all of these albums turn 50. To commemorate this feat (and to give me a kick up the arse) I will be listening to one of these albums a week throughout 2020 and offering a few thoughts about them on this blog. I don't claim to be a writer by any means (you've probably gathered that if you've read this far) and I doubt any of my lightweight analysis will say anything new about them. These albums have been held under music journalists microscopes continually since their release, which is a testament to the brilliance of the musicians and producers behind them. No, this blog is simply an excuse for me to celebrate some amazing music, and to share some photos of my record collection.

Happy reading.
Craig.