One of the Summer of 75's great singles, War's "Why Can't We Be Friends", was released this week 40 years ago. Harmonica virtuoso and founding member Lee Oskar says all of War's tunes evolved from jamming together. This one's got a deliriously happy reggae vibe and lyrics that must have been written in all of ten minutes. Still, the band's bubbly personality sells the tune. And its message remains as relevant as ever.
For one week in the Spring of 1975, UK pop idol Andy Fairweather Lowe popped up on the US charts, hitting #92 with the title track from the 1974 album Robert Christgau gave a rare A rating. Hear Andy perform the track in 2013 with some guy named Eric.
More than ten years before Dwight Yoakum declared himself a "Honky Tonk Man", Gary Stewart scored three straight Top Ten country hits in a row. With a quiver in his voice that made it sound like he could barely keep himself together, "The King of Honky Tonk" won over country music fans. His chart success suggested country radio might be returning to its honky tonk roots, and fewer sessions for Nashville string sections.
Best of all were his songs about drinking. None was bigger than "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)", his #1 single from the critically acclaimed Out of Hand.
Stewart's time in the spotlight only lasted two years. The countrypolitan string sections and cross-over artists would win the day. As a live act, Stewart remained a country bar favorite until his death in 2003 by self inflicted shotgun in the days following the death of his wife.
To kick off his 1975 "Disco Soul" dance album, Sex Machine Today, James Brown and his band stretch out on yet another version of his 1970 hit "Get Up ( I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine)". This jam runs nearly twelve minutes and hit #16 on the R and B charts despite critic Robert Christgau writing "if you own another version of 'Sex Machine" you own a better one". And how about that album cover? Where can I find the naked lady font?
Joey Ramone liked his rock loud, direct and lacking in frills, and he was not afraid to put one of his band's albums on his top ten list for Spin Magazine's Alternate Record Guide, published in 1995. That it's their live album might come as a surprise to some.
1. Stooges : Fun House
2. Stooges : The Stooges
3. Ramones : It's Alive
4. Motorhead: No Remorse
5. Alice Cooper: Love It To Death
6. Sex Pistols : Never Mind the Bollocks
7. MC5 : Kick Out the Jams
Play this blistering opening track from ex-Yardbirds Keith Relf's last great comeback album as loud as you can. Just not in the car. It's the kind of tune that will have your blood boiling and racing your way through speed traps. Teaming up with two former members of Steamhammer and the drummer from Captain Beyond, Armageddon cranks up explosive hard rock in tasty metal morsels most of which run more than eight blissed out minutes.
At the eleventh hour the band decided not to tour as an opening act with another ex Yardbird, Eric Clapton. It probably wouldn't have been a great fit anyway. Back in his London basement, on May 14 1976, Relf electrocuted himself while playing his improperly grounded electric guitar. He was 33.
On May 1, 1975 The Rolling Stones announced their 1975 'Tour of the Americas" by pulling up outside a 5th Avenue hotel on a flatbed truck and performing an extended version of "Brown Sugar".
By now, the Stones had selected Mick Taylor's replacement: Ronnie Wood of the Faces (though he wouldn't be made an official Stone until December).
“Sometimes I feel that my whole career with The Birds, Jeff Beck and The Faces was one long audition to join The Rolling Stones," Wood tells Uncut Magazine.
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Also on this date John Cale and his band, featuring Chris Spedding, performed a four song set on John Peel's radio show.
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