1

I never knew Warren Haynes covered this, never mind INXS, both live, the work of a band that famously had left the road, whose songs were thought to be unperformable. You can only find the INXS version on YouTube, and I don’t really recommend it, but the Haynes version?

Actually, my favorite Haynes cover is also live, in this case “Wasted Time,” performed back at Bonnaroo in 2003 and released to the general public in 2004. I remember looking at the track listing when I received the CD in the mail… Really? “Wasted Time”? As in the song that follows “Life in the Fast Lane” and ends side one of “Hotel California,” the one that doesn’t even have its own Wikipedia page despite containing some of Henley’s best lyrics of all time? The entire song is genius, but it’s the final words that are the most memorable.

“So you can get on with your search, baby

And I can get on with mine

And maybe someday we will find

That it wasn’t really wasted time”

Dating is different from the seventies. Boys and girls are supposedly friends, people hang in groups and a date is just a click away online. But back then…you had to go out, you had to mingle, you had to search and then you found someone but then you ultimately discovered they were not the one. This was being a twentysomething boomer.

But that breakup… It was so hard to cope with.

“And you’re back out on the street

And you’re trying to remember, oh

How do you start it over

You don’t know if you can

You don’t care much for a stranger’s touch

But you can’t hold your man”

The irony is this applies to so many boomers today. On the other side of marriage. They’ve been hurt, can they really risk diving back into the pool…seems to me most don’t.

But we’re talking about the title track of Steely Dan’s third album here.

2

No one was anticipating the “Pretzel Logic” album, after all the second LP sans David Palmer’s vocals was a commercial disappointment, despite being considered by the cognoscenti to be the best work Steely Dan ever did. But I never heard a single song from “Countdown to Ecstasy” on the radio.

Then again, FM couldn’t quite make heads nor tails of Steely Dan. Despite its ethereal feel, “Do It Again” was an immediate smash on AM radio. And then its follow-up, the upbeat, bouncy “Reelin’ in the Years,” also broke on AM, but it had elements closer to the hits on that format and as a result traditional rock fans and rock radio stayed away. Actually, years later “Dirty Work” was a staple on L.A.’s soft rock station, KNX, but if a rock programmer listened to this…

No.

But the funny thing is “Can’t Buy a Thrill” is my favorite Steely Dan album, even though I didn’t really hear it for four years, when I moved to Los Angeles and found it in my sister’s record collection. There’s a song on the second side that positively slays me, “Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me).” Don’t ask me to explain it, although now you can read an explanation about a downstairs neighbor online, but there was that sweet chorus…

“A tower room at Eden Roc

His golf at noon for free

Brooklyn owes the charmer under me

Brooklyn owes the charmer under me”

There’s the almost carnivalesque intro and ultimately the backup singers come in on the chorus and the electric guitar solo with a bite and rhythm not heard on conventional rock songs…”Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)” stands alone, fits no hole…this is not the kind of cut the meat and potatoes AOR fan wants to drive his Camaro to.

And then came “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” which broke right away on AM and was not a great opening salvo for AOR adoption. But compared to the stuff on AM at that point…this was not simple, pop that could be consumed and discarded, anything but fluff…it seemed like intellectuals cryptically telling a tale, which the two leaders of the band turned out to be. And when you bought the album…

“Pretzel Logic” had eleven songs, only one longer than four minutes, the aforementioned “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” and there was only a bit over thirty three minutes of music compared to the north of forty of the previous two LPs. What was going on?

Steely Dan was on a lame label, ABC, which despite having Joe Walsh and other hit acts was considered a black hole to fans who were enamored of the Mo and Joe show over at Warner.

And the music… What was “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”? Certainly not traditional rock in any way. And when you got the album you found jazz influences, which were anathema at the time. But if you played “Pretzel Logic” it quickly started to penetrate. The songs were not so obtuse that they could not be comprehended musically, but they were definitely different from what we’d been exposed to. There were verses and choruses, but they were just posts to hang the trimmings.

“Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” opened the album and was followed up by the more dynamic, driving “Night by Night”…this was not Led Zeppelin, but it was definitely not wimpy.

Then came “Any Major Dude Will Tell You,” incorporating the vernacular in its title and intimate in a buddy telling his story in your college dorm room way. There was sweetness without verging on saccharine.

“Barrytown” was upbeat, and lodged itself in your brain after only two listens. Maybe the up and down melody and where exactly was Barrytown?

The first side finished with a cover of Duke Ellington’s “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo,” years before Joni Mitchell made “Mingus,” when most rock fans had no idea who Duke was, never mind his legend, they couldn’t really understand “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo” but they came to know it, because it finished off the first side and that’s how you played your albums, the whole side through.

As for the second side…

3

“Parker’s Band” seemed to align with “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo,” and you didn’t have to know much to know that they were singing about Charlie Parker, but most AOR listeners knew nothing about Parker, and were categorically against jazz. But “Parker’s Band” was a tear. It took off like a shot and you had to hold on to your hat, you didn’t have too much time to contemplate it, you could only go along for the ride.

“Through with Buzz”…the title lyrics stuck in your head, and then there was that great change in the middle.

“With a Gun” had a western feel via New York City, which was riddled with crime at this time, it was a combination of White Album acoustic combined with the proficiency of studio players. And then there was the hiding in the bushes with the Luger… “With a Gun” was a mini-movie.

Which was followed by “Charlie Freak.” Which like “Barrytown” went up and down melodically, yet with a darkness underpinning the entire number.

The closing number, “Monkey in Your Soul”…was not a traditional album-ender, which was usually a summing up, a closing down, either quiet or an in-your-face final statement, whereas “Monkey in Your Soul” was more upbeat and more driving than what had preceded it, to the point where when it ended all you could do was drop the needle to listen to the album again. You were swinging, you didn’t want to stop. “Monkey in Your Soul” was like a live encore, a jaunty number leaving you wanting more.

But in between “Through with Buzz” and “With a Gun” was the title track, “Pretzel Logic.”

4

That GROOVE! Listeners knew what a groove was, they’d listened to soul records, but this was not traditional rock fare, nor were the horn accents, never mind those quirky lead guitar accents, looping in the background. In rock the lead guitar dominated, but not here. Until the solo, which sounded at first like a trombone on mute, dancing in a nearly spastic way, unfamiliar to the rock audience, BUT IT FELT SO GOOD!

And then back to that groove, set by the keyboard.

And then when the vocal came back…

“I stepped up on the platform

The man gave me the news

He said ‘You must be joking son

Where did you get those shoes?’

Where did you get those shoes”

These were hipsters. Cool people. Who knew the difference in footwear, who would judge you based on what was on your feet, delineating a definite line between them and you.

Unlike today, Steely Dan was not accessible, they’d even stopped playing live. They were making music in darkened studios and then…who knew exactly what? But one thing was for sure, you wouldn’t see them downing a beer at the local watering hole in the western-style wear that was the uniform of the era. They might not have even owned a pair of jeans. Not even Frye boots.

But you could listen to this music.

It was like Steely Dan said F*CK YOU! after “Countdown to Ecstasy” was not broadly embraced and determined they were going to do it their way, which was unlike anybody else’s way.

5

I woke up with the groove of “Pretzel Logic” in my head. Not that I could remember the title of the track, but going through my brain was:

“I have never met Napoleon

But I plan to find the time”

Not a subject of rock lyrics at the time, when Robert Plant was infatuated with “Lord of the Rings.”

And the amazing thing is when a song is in your brain you never lose it. It’s on a loop, over and over.

But with the magic of Google I searched and of course I realized it was “Pretzel Logic” after the result was coughed up. And I immediately pulled the track up on my phone.

“I would love to tour the Southland

In a traveling minstrel show”

Needless to say minstrel shows were a thing of the past at this point. However there were rock bands crisscrossing this great nation of ours, and you could see them on stage and nowhere else. And they didn’t pledge fealty to their fans, rather they were dark and private, doing who knows what in their hotel rooms…drinking alcohol, shooting drugs, getting laid. This became the lifestyle an entire generation became enthralled with. Sure, there was perceived to be plenty of money, but… You didn’t have to get up for a nine to five job, you had no boss, and when you came offstage people were throwing themselves at you. And the driver was this music.

By this time there was merch. But bands were not brands. Their records were their edifice, and it was enough. You didn’t feel ripped-off by the acts, you’d like to give them even more money if you could get anything in return. But they didn’t want it! They were too busy traveling from town to town in a rarefied air we had no access to.

But not Steely Dan. We had no idea what they were doing, but they certainly weren’t on a plane from town to town, never mind a bus. And maybe they were night owls up all night at home, but you also knew they were reading, watching and going out and experiencing and reporting back, in a way so enigmatic that all you could do was listen to the records over and over again to divine. If you wanted this hit, this was the only place you could get it. No one else evidenced the same influences. And so many of those who dominated the airwaves were uneducated and far from book smart, but Steely Dan…

“These things are gone forever

Over a long time ago, oh yeah”

The Original Iron City Houserocker. Joe’s got co-writes on Bruce Springsteen’s latest release.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joe-grushecky/id1316200737?i=1000724964681

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/b1618547-2454-4808-8a58-101b590c3208/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-joe-grushecky

This’ll keep you guessing.

This four part series stars Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald, whom you either love or just aren’t aware of yet. You most recently saw her in Netflix’s “Dept. Q,” and she was also in season six of “Line of Duty,” one of the best English series period. It’s all about “bent coppers,” if someone uses this term, you know they’ve seen the series. Macdonald was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland award for Best Actress Television for both of these series, and she won for “The Victim.” Macdonald doesn’t sacrifice her Scottish accent in both productions, which makes her even more believable. And unlike with Meryl Streep and many other vaunted actors, you don’t see the actor behind the role. “The Victim” sports a 92/96 rating on RottenTomatoes (and “Line of Duty” rates 96/94).

I know, I know, you don’t want to pay for another streaming service. But here’s what I do… I sign up via Amazon and immediately cancel, so I am only charged for one month. I’d like to say it’s easy to cancel on Amazon, it’s not, but give it a minute and you can figure it out. Cancellation is easiest on Apple, however having all your charges in one place, i.e. Amazon, can be advantageous. Is it worth the $10.99 for one month of BritBox? (Just raised from $8.99.) I can’t imagine anyone disliking “The Victim” or “Line of Duty,” but I’m not promising your money back, you’ll just have to trust me.

So there are multiple threads in “The Victim,” which ultimately all come together, but the main thread has to do with whether Kelly Macdonald as Anna Dean is liable for posting online the name and address of the person she believes killed her son. So, this is a courtroom drama.

But not at stake in the trial, but dominant throughout the series, is who exactly killed said son. The person she outed or..? This is done just brilliantly, you’re kept guessing, it’s never completely clear, and when you find out who is ultimately responsible…let me just say you’ll be shocked.

In addition there’s a thread about an addled addict coming in for mandatory drug testing, how does he fit in?

And then there’s the backstory and perspective of the investigating detective.

At first you will wonder how these threads all come together, but trust me, they will. And viewing is not as complicated as it may seem above. But having said that, TURN ON THE SUBTITLES! The Scottish accents are heavy, and unless you live there, you’ll have a hard time catching every word.

I’m stunned in a world where they remade the not so great original “War of the Roses” that they haven’t made American versions of these two series. In the case of “The Victim,” you could use the identical script, you’d only have to change the location.

People wonder why I watch so much streaming television. But it’s the highlight of my day. Because when done right it takes me away, puts me in a totally different headspace than I was when I was working.

Yes, I know some people still watch movies, but films are a different experience. They’re short stories and series are novels. In series the characters are more fleshed out, there’s more detail, less left unspoken, and if something is good it continues… “Line of Duty” has six seasons!

Once again, “The Victim” has only four, just under an hour apiece. The landscape is delineated and the action takes place.

What do you believe? Are your instincts correct? Are your conclusions tainted by preconceptions? These are all questions raised in “The Victim.”

I guess I’m selling “The Victim” not because it’s so damn good, although it is truly excellent, but it’s just that when discussing what people are watching they always come up with the usual suspects and oftentimes it’s tripe. But if you broaden your horizons just a little…

This is an English production. Meaning that every character is not beautiful, it’s regular people and therefore you can relate.

This is first class stuff.

WATCH IT!

September 4, 1970

GET YER YA-YA’S OUT!

The Rolling Stones

Incredible reviews, a disappointing listen.

“Live at Leeds” came out earlier in the year and was instantly labeled the greatest live album ever…assuming you don’t care about crowd noise, because there was none. You got plenty of crowd noise on “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out,” but what was surprising was how rough the band was.

The Stones were mostly seen as a singles act prior to “Beggars Banquet.” But even though that album contains “Sympathy for the Devil,” there was such a bad taste in the public’s mouth after “Their Satanic Majesties Request” that there was not instant mass adoption of what was considered a masterpiece then and now. Furthermore, it was earthy as opposed to in your face, as if the Stones had licked their wounds and were making an album for themselves, in a studio cut off from the world of stardom.

HOWEVER, “Let It Bleed” began the sales juggernaut. There were no singles, but if you purchased the album you were wowed. It was slick where “Beggars Banquet” was rough. But as big as it was… Not every ticket was sold for the fall ’69 tour of America. The mania didn’t really start until the spring of ’71, when “Sticky Fingers” came out and “Brown Sugar” was ubiquitous. But in between those two albums we got this live LP.

Now at this point, there’s an extended version with a ton more tracks available on streaming services. But if you focus on the original ten cuts…it’s the two Chuck Berry covers that stick out, most especially “Carol,” however “Little Queenie” is pretty good. There’s a cool descending riff in the instrumental section of “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Honky Tonk Women” was okay, but this was the kind of album you bought and played, waiting for its greatness to be revealed, and when it wasn’t, you didn’t play it a hell of a lot more.

Now the truth is the Stones have always been rough live, sans hard drives more of a bar band that eventually locks into the groove. But having said that, they’re presently playing better than they ever have. Next time through you should go, because we are getting to the point where this could truly be the last time.

September 14, 1970

UNTITLED

The Byrds

Great reviews, but Crosby was gone and was part of the CSNY juggernaut and Gene Clark and Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman were gone too. This was more of a Roger McGuinn solo album. But the band did feature Clarence White, whom insiders knew, but was only truly appreciated after his tragic death.

However, this is the album that contains “Chestnut Mare.”

Yet only one person in my dorm owned this two LP set and we can say that ultimately McGuinn and the Byrds had trouble transitioning from the sixties into the seventies.

September 18, 1970

KILN HOUSE

Fleetwood Mac

The first post Peter Green album. They were a cult item in the U.S. but you did hear “Station Man” on the radio, and I always loved it.

Of course “Station Man”‘s magic was enhanced by Christine McVie’s vocal, even though she was not yet an official member of the group.

Fleetwood Mac built up a presence, especially with “Heroes Are Hard to Find,” but no one would be talking about them today if the group didn’t reconstitute itself with Stevie and Lindsey thereafter.

September 18, 1970

PARANOID

Black Sabbath

At the time the band was considered sludge rubbish by the cognoscenti and didn’t get much radio play. This was a band that was ultimately built by the fans, who heard the music and spread the word. But at this point, the word had not spread too far. It wasn’t like the band didn’t exist, you were aware that “Paranoid” had come out, but all the critics, who still had power, especially in a world where you had limited funds and could not hear most records without buying them, said no and most abstained, at this point anyway.

September 19, 1970

PERFORMANCE

I bought this soundtrack LP for “Memo from Turner,” featuring Ry Cooder’s slide.

That’s how it was back then, certain tracks were rare and you bought the albums to be able to hear them.

As good as “Memo from Turner” was and still is…the rest of the album didn’t require more than one or two listens.

September 19, 1970

AFTER THE GOLD RUSH

Neil Young

I bought it the day it came out because that’s how much I loved the highlights of “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere,” most especially “Down by the River.”

But “After the Gold Rush” was different. More subtle.

The country affect of “Tell Me Why”…most rock listeners had not cottoned to this sound, despite “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” and the Burritos…but they dropped the needle on the first side and came to know it.

When Neil sang “the 1970s” in the title track it was akin to an act naming your hometown from the stage. You have no idea of the weirdness of 1970. Never mind Kent State, this was a new decade. The sixties were over. What did the future portend? Turned out a licking of one’s wounds and a return to the land, and this album was a perfect soundtrack for that.

No one ever talks about the brief side closers, “Till the Morning Comes” and “Cripple Creek Ferry,” but they are killers.

But my favorite track was second on the second side, “Don’t Let It Bring You Down,” fantastic.

But really, as time went by, what I played most came two tracks later, “When You Dance I Can Really Love,” which truly rocked. The antithesis of the mellowness of so much of the album.

I vacillate between saying the debut or “After the Gold Rush” is better. “After the Gold Rush” is more consistent, but the intro of “Emperor of Wyoming” sets the debut in its own environment, far from the city. And then comes “The Loner” and “I’ve Been Waiting for You”…FOR SUCH A LONG TIME! And you have no idea what it was like to hear “The Last Trip to Tulsa” on underground FM radio for the very first time.

P.S. As big as “Southern Man” was, it truly became legendary when Lynyrd Skynyrd referenced it in “Sweet Home Alabama.”

September 23, 1970

ABRAXAS

Santana

Eagerly anticipated after the Woodstock movie, this album was a huge seller and is still the best thing Santana has ever done. Most people did not know that the single “Black Magic Woman” was originally a Fleetwood Mac song, and the cover of “Oye Cómo Va” is definitive, but really it’s the quieter numbers that create such a unique listening experience, like the opener “Singing Winds, Crying Beasts” and “Incident at Neshabur.” Having said that, my favorite tracks are those of Gregg Rolie on the second side, most especially “Mother’s Daughter” and “Hope You’re Feeling Better.” “Abraxas” truly stands the test of time.

September 23, 1970

IDLEWILD SOUTH

The Allman Brothers

Almost no one knew who the Allman Brothers were unless they’d seen them live. The original album is great, but it suffered from Adrian Barber’s production, it lacked a certain zing. However, the debut did contain “Trouble No More” and “Dreams” and the original five minute version of “Whipping Post.”

If you heard “Idlewild South” on the radio at all, they played the cheery opening track, “Revival,” which truly wasn’t representative of the rest of the album, never mind the band. “Idlewild South” started to gain traction at the end of 1970 into the beginning of 1971, once you heard “Midnight Rider” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” you were a fan. As for everybody else…

Bill Graham made the Allmans the closing act at the Fillmore East, which is like…I can’t think of an adequate comparison. A band that plays theatres at best getting the best slot. And then came “Fillmore East” in the summer. But really, most people, the average citizen, didn’t get into the Allman Brothers until “Brothers and Sisters” and “Ramblin’ Man.”

As for the title… The airport had been called Kennedy for years by this point, the use of “Idlewild” was retro and notable.

P.S. In 1973, after the Allmans had left their mark, Atlantic released “Beginnings,” comprised of the two initial albums, that’s how much they were ignored/unknown. But I didn’t realize until this very moment that Tom Dowd remixed the debut for this package.

September 25, 1970

BEAUCOUPS OF BLUES

Ringo Starr

A ton of press, you’d see it in the bins, but I don’t know a single person who bought it. To this day I’m not sure I’ve heard it.

September 25, 1970

MAD SHADOWS

Mott the Hoople

All the hype was about the first album and its instrumental cover of “You Really Got Me.” When that failed commercially, the following three albums, which are viewed positively today might as well not have come out…did you know anybody who purchased them when they were released?

September 30, 1970

JOHNNY WINTER AND

Johnny Winter

Johnny Winter had tons of hype and the public didn’t buy it. There was not a specific track that drew people in and… It’s hard to perceive the era if you weren’t there. Music dominated the culture, press was important, you could hype something but that did not mean it sold. But after two Columbia albums, Johnny Winter formed a band with Rick Derringer, who brought along “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo,” which the public could understand with one listen, which they got, because radio played it consistently. Johnny didn’t return to his blues roots fully until later, after a few hit rock albums.

September 30, 1970

RUNT

Todd Rundgren

A veritable unknown, Todd was the mastermind behind Nazz, but although he wrote the songs, it was Stewkey who sang the slowed down original version of “Hello It’s Me.”

After the failure of that band Todd began a career behind the console and ultimately showed up as the engineer of the Band’s third album, “Stage Fright,” which was astounding if you were a fan.

Managed by Albert Grossman, Todd got the right to record a solo album. However, Grossman’s label Bearsville was distributed by Ampex, which felt it could diversify into the record business. Ultimately it couldn’t. In time Bearsville made a deal with Warner Bros., but before that Todd put out two LPs with Ampex and they were almost universally unavailable. In fact, you couldn’t truly buy them until they were dumped as cut-outs when Ampex failed. Which is how I bought this album and the second, “The Ballad of Todd Rundgren,” which to this day most people have never heard, even though it is Todd’s best work.

As for Todd’s solo debut…

There were two versions and the whole thing was an abortion. However, “Runt” did contain “We Gotta Get You a Woman.” Despite the rewriting of history, the truth was “We Gotta Get You a Woman,” despite being a fantastic track, was not anywhere close to a hit, you were lucky if you even heard it on the radio once.

As for the rest of the album? More than listenable, some quasi-memorable tracks, but the sound was thin and the stuff that came out thereafter was far superior. But if you’re interested in the history, where Todd came from…

Meanwhile, we couldn’t believe that Soupy Sales’s kids were the rhythm section, we thought they were a joke, this legitimized them.