Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship - Have You Seen the Stars Tonite? (1970)

Internal problems amongst the members of Jefferson Airplane began to boil over in 1970, starting with their drummer, Spencer Dryden, being unanimously voted out of the band. Members Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen launched a side project, Hot Tuna; Paul Kantner and the married Grace Slick began a love affair; and Marty Balin felt like a bit of an outcast because of his bandmates pairing up without him.

Since Jefferson Airplane had only released one single in 1970, Paul Kantner decided to work on a solo album with Grace Slick titled Blows Against the Empire. The entire album was conceptualized around a science-fiction theme and was released under the name “Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship.” It’s important to note that this was not the same Jefferson Starship band that would be created in 1974 by Kantner. This was, if anything, a coincidental name that would provide the inspiration for Kantner’s Jefferson Starship four years later. It’s said that the name “Starship,” was inspired by many things: the evolution of Jefferson Airplane to something more grandiose, the star-filled lineup that accompanied Kantner and Slick on the album, and the fact that the characters within the album were seeking a starship to leave the planet Earth.

Speaking of the talent involved in the creation of the album, Blows Against the Empire featured not only the talents of Paul Kantner and Grace Slick, but also fellow Jefferson Airplane members Jack Casady and Joey Covington; the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart; CSN’s David Crosby and Graham Nash; Quicksilver Messenger Service’s David Freiberg; The Electric Flag’s Harvey Brooks; and Jorma Kaukonen’s brother Peter Kaukonen.

The song heard below appeared as the eighth song on Blows Against the Empire. It was written by Paul Kantner and David Crosby. It features Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jerry Garcia (pedal steel guitar), Mickey Hart (percussion), and David Crosby (vocals, guitar). Although the song never charted, Blows Against the Empire itself was the first rock album to be nominated for the Hugo science fiction award. If you like this song, I highly recommend listening to the entire album.



Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship - Have You Seen the Stars Tonite? (1970)

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Lyrics:

Have you seen the stars tonight?
Would you like to go up on ‘A’ Deck and look at them with me?
Have you seen the stars tonight?
Would you like to go up for a stroll and keep me company?

Do you know?
We could go
We are free
Any place you could think of
We could be

Have you seen the stars tonight?
Have you look at all the family of stars?

Road - I'm Trying (1972)

Noel Redding started the band Fat Mattress while still enrolled as the bassist of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Although he would often play in both bands in the same night, he played his last concert with the Experience in June 1969. He quit Fat Mattress later that same year. Living in Los Angeles and deciding what to do next, he was contacted by Hendrix’s manager, Michael Jeffery, a few months after Woodstock (August 1969) about getting back together with Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell to reform the Experience. All three members got together for an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, but no concerts or recordings ever came about. Instead, Redding got together with ex-Rare Earth member Rod Richards and drummer Les Sampson to form this semi-supergroup in the beginning of 1970. Together, the new band only recorded one album, self-titled Road and released in 1972, sharing lead vocals throughout the album. The LP was criticized as being a “watered-down, post-Experience” attempt at hard rock and was quickly forgotten. A short time after the release of the album, the band called it quits and Redding and Sampson went on together forming The Noel Redding Band, while Richards attempted a solo career and had stints with various bands in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

The opening track on their only album, this song was written and sung by Rod Richards. Although Redding had been a guitarist originally, he switched to the bass when joining The Jimi Hendrix Experience. He switched back to the guitar for his band Fat Mattress; and found himself back on bass for this band.



Road - I'm Trying (1972)

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Lyrics:

I’m trying
To forget the past
I’m trying
How long will it last?

Hope I can do something
What I want you for

Well, maybe
Someday, somewhere
You’ll remember things you said
We should finish them
As you said hi to me
That was love to me

I’m trying
To forget the past
Hope you won’t be long
Feelings coming strong

I’m trying
Oh, I’m trying
I’m try…

Captain Beyond - Sufficiently Breathless (1973)

When Iron Butterfly split up in 1971, two of its members got together with ex-musicians of other popular groups of the era and formed this band. Arguably considered a supergroup, the talent found on the band’s first lineup consisted of Rod Evans from Deep Purple, Bobby Caldwell from Johnny Winter’s band, and Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt and Lee Dorman still paired up from Iron Butterfly. This initial lineup created the band’s debut album, Captain Beyond, in 1972. After its release, personnel began to shift with a particular revolving door for drummers. By the time they were ready to record their next album (Sufficiently Breathless in 1973), they were a six-piece band. The abridged version is that they lost Bobby Caldwell and ultimately gained Guille Garcia and Marty Roriguez. Unfortunately for fans, that lineup, too, disintegrated before the album they worked on together was released. A brief reunion of the four original members in the latter-half of '73 toured to support the album, but the group again ended on December 31st, 1973 when lead singer Rod Evans announced that he'd be leaving the group for good. As a last hurrah, the three remaining members of the band released an album in 1977, titled Dawn Explosion, featuring Willy Daffern to replace Evans on lead vocals. The album had a lukewarm response and the band folded permanently in 1978.

The band’s second album, Sufficiently Breathless, features the eponymous title track heard below. Written by Lee Dorman, the song is the opening track on the album and features the vocal talents of Rod Evans. The album was produced by Phil Walden (Otis Redding’s manager up until Otis’ death) and released on Capricorn Records (the home of Southern Rock bands such as The Allman Brothers Band and The Marshall Tucker Band).



Captain Beyond - Sufficiently Breathless (1973)

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Lyrics:

Sitting on the door stoop
Watching multiples of people pass me by
Look through the windows, through the houses
Oh, they're made of sky

Gargoyle watching the bouncing ball
Strangers mystified by all
All the goings on
Sufficiently breathless
Sufficiently breathless

Hey, Mr. Policeman, can you point the way
Oh, with your handgun?
The Earth above me and the space below
Don't you understand ‘em?

Gargoyle watching the bouncing ball
Strangers mystified by all
All the goings on
Sufficiently breathless
Sufficiently breathless
Sufficiently breathless
Sufficiently breathless

Hearing and watching all the city sounds
On the street where we live
No one to care about us
Seems it’s falling down around us
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless on the street)
(Where we live)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless on the street)
(Where we live)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless on the street)
(Where we live)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless on the street)
(Where we live)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless on the street)
(Where we live)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for…

Blind Faith - Can't Find My Way Home (1969)

As you may remember from our post a while back, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce of Cream did not get along ever since their days playing together in The Graham Bond Organisation. While in Cream, the bickering between the two was usually mediated by their bandmate Eric Clapton; but, it eventually took its toll on the band, causing them to split up in1968. In the subsequent months, Clapton found himself frequently playing with Steve Winwood, who had just recently, in January 1969, parted ways with Traffic due to differences in opinion about the band’s musical direction. While jamming on one particular day in early 1969, Ginger Baker sat in to play the drums. Impressed with the chemistry the three of them had together, Winwood presented Clapton with the idea of asking Baker to form a new band with them. At first, Clapton had whole-heartedly decided against it, as he had promised Jack Bruce that if any new projects had been started he’d invite him. But given that Ginger Baker was a part of this new project, Clapton felt it would basically be restarting Cream nine weeks after breaking it up. Winwood eventually persuaded Clapton to ask Baker to join without approaching Jack Bruce at all. In May 1969, the newly formed trio then persuaded bass player Ric Grech to leave his current band, Family, mid-tour and join them in their collaboration. Word of mouth quickly spread to the public about a new “Super Cream” that was being formed. Before the band had even released any material, although they had been recording their first album, they were touring and playing to crowds of up to 20,000 people. Not having penned enough material of their own yet, they found themselves playing a lot of Cream’s and Traffic’s songs. This is exactly what Clapton wanted to avoid. After the release of their one and only album in 1969, the band finished their tour and returned to the UK, where they soon decided it best to split up. Ginger Baker went on to form Ginger Baker’s Air Force; Steve Winwood reformed Traffic with Ric Grech; and Eric Clapton passionately escaped the limelight by playing as a guest of the Plastic Ono Band and Delaney & Bonnie and Friends.

Written by Steve Winwood, this song appeared as the second track on the band’s one and only album, Blind Faith, released in 1969. The album was met with a stark criticism, as it artistically featured an underage nude female model. Although the girl and her parents both consented to her appearance on the album art, rumors circulated that it was Ginger Baker’s daughter or a groupie held hostage by the band. In the United States, an alternate album cover, seen below, was released.



Blind Faith - Can't Find My Way Home (1969)

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Lyrics:

Come down off your throne
And leave your body alone
Somebody must change
You are the reason I’ve been waiting so long
Somebody holds the key

But I’m near the end and
I just ain’t got the time
And I’m wasted and I
Can’t find my way home

Come down on your own
And leave your body alone
Somebody must change
You are the reason I’ve been waiting all these years
Somebody holds the key

But I’m near the end
I just ain’t got the time
Oh, I’m wasted and I
Can’t find my way home

But I can’t find my way home
But I can’t find my way home
But I can’t find my way home
But I can’t find my way home
But I can’t find my way home
And I ain’t done nothing wrong
But I can’t find my way home

Cream - As You Said (1968)

One night in 1966, Ginger Baker had gone to see Eric Clapton play in a concert with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Giving Clapton a ride home, Baker informed him about the creative stifling he was feeling in his current group, the Graham Bond Organisation. It was Baker’s idea and invitation for him and Clapton to start a new group together that would allow them to explore their creative desires. Clapton, equally admiring Baker’s playing, suggested that they pick up Jack Bruce as the bassist, also admiring his work from having played with him briefly in the Bluesbreakers and Powerhouse. Allegedly, Baker was so distraught at this suggestion that he nearly ran off the road and crashed the car. Unaware to Clapton at the time, Baker and Bruce had been known for their feuding while they were in the Graham Bond Organisation together. The two musicians were allegedly known to sabotage one another’s instruments and fight with one another on stage. At one point Baker had verbally fired Bruce from the band, but Bruce kept showing up at their practices and gigs. Bruce finally got the picture and left permanently when Ginger Baker threatened him up close and personally with a knife. Putting his differences aside and obeying Clapton’s wishes, Baker and Bruce saw past their differences and came together to form the band. With each of the three members having been renowned as “the cream of the crop” of their respective instruments, the band thought “Cream” might make for a good band name.

After the band’s first two albums, Fresh Cream and the legendary Disraeli Gears, they decided to release a double album that was going to be laced with a combination of studio tracks and live recordings. Calling it Wheels of Fire, the band split whose songs they would record pretty evenly three ways. Although the album is remembered for songs such as “White Room” and Clapton’s arrangement of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads,” the entire album is something to enjoy. This song, written by Jack Bruce and lyricist/poet Pete Brown, was the closing track to side one of the first disc and showed that the group didn’t have to “rock” to make great music.



Cream - As You Said (1968)

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Lyrics:

Let's go down to where it's clean
To see the time that might have been
The tides have carried off the beach
As you said, “The sun is out of reach”

Let's go back to where it's clean
To see what year it might have been
The roads have carried off the smile
As you said, “To judge them at the trial”

So let's go back to now that's bad
To see what time we might have had
The rails have carried off the train
As you said, “I'll never come again, again, again, a-”

Beck, Page, Jones, Moon, & Hopkins – Beck’s Bolero (1966)

Although they never officially became a group, this collection of musicians did manage to get together long enough to record one song together, heard below, in 1966. The “group” was composed of: Jeff Beck of The Yardbirds (and later The Jeff Beck Group); Jimmy Page of The Yardbirds (and later Led Zeppelin); John Paul Jones, a session musician (and later of Led Zeppelin); Keith Moon of The Who; and Nicky Hopkins, a session musician keyboardist who had worked frequently with The Rolling Stones.

Keith Moon arrived to the session wearing a disguise so nobody would know he was playing with somebody other than The Who. John Entwistle, also of The Who, was scheduled to play bass until he had to back out and was replaced by John Paul Jones.

Later released as the B-side to Jeff Beck’s single, “Hi Ho Silver Lining,” this song was originally supposed to be only the beginning of the guys work together. Planning to record a full album, they failed to locate a lead vocalist after being denied by Steve Mariott of The Small Faces. Combined with contractual obligations, the album never happened and this was the only song recorded. The history of this song is quite interesting, and can be read in more detail, on Wikipedia, here.



Beck, Page, Jones, Moon, & Hopkins – Beck’s Bolero (1966)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

The Traveling Wilburys - Handle with Care (1988)

Looking to create a B-side for his upcoming solo release, “This Is Love,” George Harrison got together with Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty to work on some ideas. Needing a place to record, they went to the home of Bob Dylan, who had a home recording studio nearby where they all happened to be. That session resulted in such a good track (heard below), that Harrison suggested they form a supergroup and release an entire album. All of them agreed and what resulted was the greatest commercial supergroup of the decade.

The title of this song came about when Harrison saw a box that had been lying around in Dylan’s garage. It was used as the first track on their first album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, and was the most success Dylan, Lynne, and Orbison had seen in years. Sadly, it was also the last release in Orbison’s lifetime, as it came out less than two months prior to his passing.



The Traveling Wilburys - Handle with Care (1988)

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Lyrics:

Been beat up and battered around
Been sent up and I've been shot down
You're the best thing that I've ever found
Handle me with care

Reputations changeable
Situations tolerable
But baby, you're adorable
Handle me with care

I'm so tired of being lonely
I still have some love to give
Won't you show me that you really care?

Everybody's got somebody to lean on
Put your body next to mine and dream on

I've been fobbed off and I've been fooled
I've been robbed and ridiculed
In daycare centers and night schools
Handle me with care

Been stuck in airports, terrorized
Sent to meetings, hypnotized
Overexposed, commercialized
Handle me with care

I'm so tired of being lonely
I still have some love to give
Won't you show me that you really care?

Everybody got somebody to lean on
Put your body next to mine and dream on

I've been uptight and made a mess
But I'll clean it up myself, I guess
Oh, the sweet smell of success
Handle me with care

McGuinn, Clark & Hillman - I Love Her [Demo] (1979)

When The Byrds finally disbanded permanently in 1973, each member went on to varying degrees of success. In 1977, Roger McGuinn (who had been touring with Bob Dylan the past few years), Gene Clark (who had been recording solo albums), and Chris Hillman (who had also been recording solo albums), found themselves on the same tour through Britain. The three reunited to form this supergroup and released one album together, McGuinn, Clark & Hillman, in 1979. They attempted another release together in 1980, but Clark’s lack of reliability resulted in the album, named City, being credited to McGuinn and Hillman while “featuring Clark.”

This song had initially not been included when the album was first released in 1979. It wasn’t until over twenty years later that this song (and two others) was made available for the public to hear. “Surrender to Me,” “Little Girl,” and this song were all demos added to the end of the album’s re-release in 2001. This song really brought back the sound of The Byrds.



McGuinn, Clark & Hillman - I Love Her [Demo] (1979)

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Lyrics:

I love her, I love her
I’m always thinking of her
The way she makes me feel
Keeps her on my mind

Loving and gentle
It wasn’t accidental
Thank God I found her
Thank the Lord she’s mine
I love to see her face
In the morning when I rise

She’s still dreaming
When she opens up her eyes

Heaven knows I know
Our love is like a rainbow
Filled with every promise
Shining in the sun

I love her, I love her
I’m always thinking of her
The way she makes me feel
Keeps her on my mind

She’s still dreaming
When she opens up her eyes

Heaven knows I know
Our love is like a rainbow
Filled with every promise
Shining in the sun

Loving and gentle
It wasn’t accidental
Thank God I found her
Thank God I found her
Thank God I found her
Thank the Lord she’s mine

Crosby, Stills & Nash - Lady of the Island (1969)

This supergroup, abbreviated CSN, was composed of some of rocks greatest icons: David Crosby, previously of The Byrds; Stephen Stills, previously of Buffalo Springfield; and Graham Nash, previously of The Hollies. Later in their career they would occasionally be accompanied by Neil Young (previously of Buffalo Springfield, as well) and then referred to as CSNY.

This song comes from the group’s first album, Crosby, Stills and Nash. It was written by Graham Nash about Joni Mitchell, his love interest at the time. Quite interesting is that another song on the album, “Guinnevere,” was also written about Joni Mitchell, but by her other love interest in the group, David Crosby.



Crosby, Stills & Nash - Lady of the Island (1969)

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Lyrics:

Holding you close, undisturbed before the fire
The pressure in my chest when you breath in my ear
We both knew this would happen when you first appeared
My lady of the island

The browness of your body in the fire glow
Except the places where the sun refused to go
Our bodies were a perfect fit in afterglow
We lay; my lady of the island

Letting myself wander through the world inside your eyes
You know I'd like to stay here until every tear runs dry
Doo, doo, doo…
My lady of the island

Wrapped around each other in the peeping sun
Beams of sunshine light the stage; the red light's on
I never want to finish what I've just begun with you
My lady of the island
Doo, doo, doo…

Cream - Tales of Brave Ulysses (1967)

The first commercially successful supergroup, these guys were pioneers for fusing blues, jazz, and psychedelic sounds. They consisted of Jack Bruce (of Blues Incorporated, The Bluesbreakers, and Manfredd Mann), Eric Clapton (of The Yardbirds and The Bluesbreakers), and Ginger Baker (of Graham Bond Organisation). They had huge hits, such as “Sunshine of Your Love,” “White Room,” and “I Feel Free”.

This song is the first release in rock history to use the wah wah pedal. Its lyrics were written in the form of a poem by Martin Sharp (inspired by the Odyssey by Homer) and reconfigured into a song by Eric Clapton, who was looking to create a song based on riffs inspired by “Summer in the City” by The Lovin’ Spoonful. It was never one of the band’s biggest hits, but with my love for ancient Greek/Roman mythology, I absolutely love it.



Cream - Tales of Brave Ulysses (1967)

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Lyrics:

You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever
But you rode upon a steamer to the violence of the sun

And the colors of the sea blind your eyes with trembling mermaids
And you touch the distant beaches with tales of brave Ulysses
How his naked ears were tortured by the sirens sweetly singing
For the sparkling waves are calling you to kiss their white-laced lips

And you see a girl's brown body dancing through the turquoise
And her footprints make you follow where the sky loves the sea
And when your fingers find her, she drowns you in her body
Carving deep blue ripples in the tissues of your mind

The tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers
And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the winter

Her name is Aphrodite and she rides a crimson shell
And you know you cannot leave her
For you touched the distant sands with tales of brave Ulysses
How his naked ears were tortured by the sirens sweetly singing

The tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers
And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the winter

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Lucky Man (1970)

This supergroup, formed in 1969 and usually referred to as ELP, consisted of Keith Emerson (formerly of The Nice), Greg Lake (formerly of King Crimson), and Carl Palmer (formerly of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown). They were almost known as HELP when Jimi Hendrix had interest in joining the band. Unfortunately, Hendrix died 26 days after having planned their first jam session.

This song was written by Greg Lake when he was only 12 years old. It was also one of the first to have a solo done with a Moog synthesizer.



Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Lucky Man (1970)

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Lyrics:

He had white horses
And ladies by the score
All dressed in satin
And waiting by the door

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

White lace and feathers
They made up his bed
A gold covered mattress
On which he was led

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

He went to fight wars
For his country and his king
Of his honor and his glory
The people would sing

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

A bullet had found him
His blood ran as he cried
No money could save him
So he laid down and he died

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was