Yes, Genesis, Monkees Vinyl LPs Out Now!

Available from http://www.1960s.london

Broadcasts 1969 – Yes

Side One

1. Every Little Thing (Lennon, McCartney)
2. Something’s Coming (Bernstein, Sondheim)
3. Looking Around (Anderson, Squire)
4. Everydays (Stills)
5. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Havens, Moross)  

Side Two

1. Something’s Coming (Bernstein, Sondheim)
2. Every Little Thing (Lennon, McCartney)
3. Looking Around (Anderson, Squire)
4. Survival (Anderson)

Recording Details

All tracks recorded live in 1969 as follows:

Side One

Tracks 1 & 2 German TV WDR, Big Apple, Wiesbaden, August 26^th

Track 3 BBC Radio The Johnnie Walker Show, June 4th

Track 4 BBC Radio Symonds On Sunday, August 4^th

Track 5 Radio Bremen, Germany, November 29^th

Side Two

Tracks 1 & 2 BBC Radio Symonds On Sunday, August 4^th

Tracks 3 & 4 Radio Bremen, Germany, November 29^th

Personnel

John Anderson – vocals and percussion

Peter Banks – guitars and vocals

Chris Squire – bass and vocals

Tony Kaye – organ and piano

Bill Bruford – drums and percussion

Sleevenotes

1969 was a crucial year for Yes. Having released their first LP in July they were keen to promote it across Europe through a series of live TV and radio performances. Some of these were included on the 2CD set Something’s Coming (1997). This LP brings together a selection of high quality recordings designed to complement those previously released.

The members of Yes served their apprenticeship in the UK mid-sixties beat boom. Guitarist Pete Banks and bass player Chris Squire were both in Deram-recording artists The Syn. They hooked up with Warriors vocalist John Anderson  – he would not become Jon until 1970 – to form Mabel Greer’s Toy Shop together with guitarist Clive Bayley. The addition of keyboard player Tony Kaye (ex-Bitter Sweet) and drummer Bill Bruford (Melody Maker ad) together with the subtraction of Bayley resulted in the first Yes line up. In September 1968 Yes performed at Blaise’s club in Kensington as last-minute replacements for Sly and the Family Stone. They were well received by both the audience and the host Roy Flynn, who became the band’s first manager. After an audition for Ahmet Eretgun at the Speakeasy, Yes signed to Atlantic in March 1969 and began recording their first, self-titled LP.

The songs recorded were a combination of original materials and covers designed to highlight both the instrumental prowess and the harmony singing of the band.

If you are only familiar with the music made by the later versions of Yes, these live recordings will be a revelation. The band play with power and aggression to the point where the opening Every Little Thing recorded for German TV sounds like The Who, thanks to Banks’ Rickenbacker slashes and Bruford’s exuberant drumming. Something’s Coming is played in a version very different to that found in West Side Story, Kaye’s organ flourishes are very Nice.

Looking Around was an unsuccessful single from Yes, this BBC version recorded for The Johnnie Walker Show highlights the band’s lush harmonies and more instrumental interaction between Peter Banks and Tony Kaye. The Symonds On Sunday version of Stephen Stills’ Everydays loses the swinging jazzy feel heard on Buffalo Springfield Again, replaced by a more start-stop arrangement featuring Banks fuzzed guitar and Kaye’s Hammond plus an incongruous snippet of I Do Like To Be Besides The Seaside. Everydays would eventually appear on the second Yes LP, Time And A Word (July 1970). The band’s cover of Richie Havens No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed would also appear on Time And A Word. Recorded in the TV studios of Radio Bremen for the venerable Beat Club TV programme, this version contains an instrumental reference to the theme from 1958 Western The Big Country.

Two more supercharged cover versions open Side Two, both recorded for the BBC’s Symonds On Sunday. This lengthier version of Something’s Coming opens with some impressive Bruford drumming before the melody gradually becomes discernible, interspersed with snatches of America and Tonight. On Beatles For SaleEvery Little Thing was a melancholy number with a delicate arrangement. Yes completely overhaul the song, even slipping in the riff from Day Tripper. Finally two further tracks recorded for Beat Club. Looking Aroundbenefits here from Chris Squire’s  distinctive bass. Survival moves through different moods – lively, pensive, optimistic – with a catchy riff, ecological lyrics and more of those fine harmonies. 

Yes would break through internationally in 1971 with their third LP The Yes Album. By then Peter Banks had been replaced by Steve Howe: Rick Wakeman in a glitter cape and concept albums would follow. As both musical virtuosity and song lengths increased, some of the enthusiasm and freshness of this first Yes line-up would be lost. Lester Bangs described Yes in Rolling Stone as “a totally unexpected thrust of musical power with a sense of style, taste, and subtlety“. This LP shows what he was talking about.

Sleevenotes: Cindy Catts

At The BBC 1972 – Genesis

Side One

1. Twilight Alehouse (Gabriel, Phillips, Rutherford, Banks)
2. Get ‘Em Out By Friday (Gabriel, Rutherford, Banks, Hackett S, Hackett J)
3. Watcher Of The Skies (Gabriel, Collins Rutherford, Banks)

Side Two

1. The Musical Box (Gabriel, Collins, Rutherford, Banks, Hackett S)
2. The Fountain Of Salmacis (Banks, Gabriel)
3. The Return Of The Giant Hogweed (Gabriel, Collins, Rutherford, Banks, Hackett S)

Recording Details

Side One  Recorded for John Peel on September 25^th, broadcast on November 7^th

Side Two Recorded for In Concert at the Paris Studios, Lower Regent Street on March 2^nd  and transmitted 11^th March

Personnel

Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, flute, percussion

Tony Banks – keyboards, 12 string guitar and backing vocals

Mike Rutherford – bass guitar, guitar and backing vocals

Steve Hackett – lead guitar and effects

Phil Collins – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Sleevenotes

Listening to debut Genesis LP From Genesis To Revelation in 1969 it is hard to imagine that this collection of ex-Charterhouse public schoolboys would one day achieve world domination. However by 1972 when the band recorded these two radio sessions for the BBC they had a stable and committed line-up, a sympathetic record label manager in Tony Stratton-Smith and a growing fanbase, the latter generated by incessant touring. Most of the songs here come from two key LPs – Nursery Cryme (November 1971) and Foxtrot (October 1972). Singer Peter Gabriel had become a convincing frontman, telling bizarre stories to introduce songs and wearing his wife’s red dress and a fox’s head, as per the cover of Foxtrot. The instrumental prowess of the band was sufficient to cope with a variety of time changes and songs composed of different sections. We are fortunate that the high standards of recording at BBC radio allow us to present this material in excellent stereo sound throughout.

Twilight Alehouse was a song recorded during the sessions for Foxtrot but left off the LP for reasons of space. The band had been playing the song live since 1970: the studio version ended up as the B-side of the 1973 single I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) and was also included on the box set Genesis Archive 1967 – 1975. Gabriel’s flute features extensively on this version, complementing his vocal in praise of “the magic power of wine”.  Get ‘Em Out By Friday has been described by Gabriel as”part social comment, part prophetic“. It was partly inspired by Gabriel’s own problems with the landlord of his London flat. During the song he adopts four different characters, each with their own vocal style. The song carries a composition credit for John Hackett, Steve’s younger brother. Watcher Of The Skies takes its title from a line of the 1817 sonnet On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer by John Keats. The song imagines an empty earth being viewed by an alien visitor. The  mellotron that Tony Banks plays had been bought from King Crimson.

The BBC In Concert programme lasted for an hour. On this occasion Genesis were  sharing the slot with Max Merritt and the Meteors, an Australian pub-rock band. Genesis are introduced by DJ Andy Dunkley as “old friends”. The Musical Box is a lengthy piece based on a macabre Victorian fairy tale written by Peter Gabriel that involves a girl killing a boy by knocking his head off with a croquet mallet (the Nursery Cryme featured on the album’s cover). After a quiet introduction featuring Gabriel on flute, riff-based passages alternate with softer sections featuring acoustic guitars. Collins drives the second half of the song, underpinning an impassioned Gabriel vocal. The Fountain of Salmacis is a retelling of the  Greek myth of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus. Banks features on mellotron and organ, Gabriel contributes flute and the song ends with a succinct Hackett guitar solo. The Return Of The Giant Hogweed warns of the spread of the toxic plant Heracleum mantegazzianum after it was “captured” in Russia and brought to England by a Victorian explorer. Though the real plant is extremely toxic, the song’s lyrics are a humorous exaggeration, suggesting the plant is attempting to take over the human race. Collins’ drumming and Banks’ organ bring a swing to this song.

Listening to these six songs there is a drive and a heightened sense of dynamics compared to the versions released on the bands studio LPs. The band must have sensed this, as in 1973 they recorded Genesis Live, still many fans favourite snapshot of the band in concert. With At The BBC 1972 we are delighted to provide further insight into Genesis at their creative peak.

Sleevenotes: Harald d’Barelle

Live In Japan 1968 – The Monkees

Side One

1. Last Train To Clarksville (Boyce, Hart)
2. I Wanna Be Free (Boyce, Hart)
3. D.W. Washburn (Leiber, Stoller)
4. Daydream Believer (Stewart) /
5. Cuddly Toy (Nilsson)
6. Salesman (Smith)
7. It’s Nice To Be With You (Goldstein)

Side Two

1. Mary, Mary (Nesmith)  
2. Cindy, Cindy (Traditional)
3. Peter Percival Patterson’s Pet Pig Porky (Tork)
4. Johnny B. Goode (Berry)
5. Gonna Build A Mountain (Bricusse, Newley)
6. I Got A Woman (Charles, Richard)
7. I’m A Believer (Diamond)
8. (I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone (Boyce, Hart)

Recording Details

All tracks recorded live at the Budokan Hall, Tokyo on October 4^th 1968 and broadcast on Japanese TBS television

Personnel

Michael Nesmith – guitar, vocals

Davy Jones – drums, vocals

Peter Tork – bass, organ, banjo, vocals

Micky Dolenz – drums, vocals

The Floral – instrumental support Side Two, tracks 2 – 6

Sleevenotes

“In 1966 an American TV company observed the success of the Beatles’ A Hard Days Night and Help! movies and decided that a TV series with a similar theme and style would do well. After auditioning The Lovin’ Spoonful they decided that an already existing group would cause too many problems, so they placed a few adds to see who arrived.“ The NME Book of Rock (1973)

Who arrived were Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz. Although initially recruited by Screen Gems on the basis of how they looked, each Monkee had considerable musical expertise. Nesmith had been playing since 1963, Tork was a Greenwich Village folkie, Dolenz had sung and played guitar in The Missing Links and Jones already had a record contract. Despite this it was not until their third LP Headquarters (1967) that the Monkees were allowed to play on their own records. The Monkees TV series was an immediate hit both in the US and elsewhere: their commercial success made the four Monkees the target of criticism from both jealous musicians and from the underground press. Roger McGuinn’s lyrical jibes in So You Want To Be A Rock’n’Roll Star? were typical.

 In 1971 Lillian Roxon wrote  “After a while it got to be a matter of pride for the Monkees to master their own instruments, so when things were a little settled in the summer of 1967 they got together a ‘live” act, proving they could provide a pleasant evening’s entertainment as well as anyone. The tour won them a lot of respect from people who had previously dismissed them as a non-group.” Nesmith played guitar, Dolenz was on drums, Tork was on bass and Jones on lead vocals with the other three all singing.Had the live performances been based solely on playing ability Nesmith suggested it would have himself on bass, Tork on guitar and Jones on drums with Dolenz on lead vocals. This configuration can be seen in the video for Words, the B side of Pleasant Valley Sunday. 

Following the success of their 1967 US tour, the following year The Monkees toured Australia and Japan. The results were far better than expected. The four Monkees performed all the instruments and vocals for most of the live set, only needing additional instrumental support for their individual solo spots. In Japan this support was provided by The Floral. From the six shows in Japan, a performance at the Budokan was recorded for Japanese TV. Sadly the original video is now lost and even Monkees archivist Andrew Sandoval has been unable to locate it. This LP is the soundtrack to that concert, carefully edited to minimise the presence of two very intrusive Japanese announcers who talk over the start of every track.

Against a background of constant screaming Last Train To Clarksville is a lively opener, closely following the studio version. I Wanna Be Free has an impassioned Davy Jones vocal whilst then-single D.W. Washburn features an almost ragtime arrangement. The screams get even louder for the introduction to Daydream Believer, driven by a propulsive bass and Jones exhortations for the crowd to join in. Cuddly Toy is another Davy Jones singalong, but Nesmith’s Salesman brings a tougher edge with some daft backing vocals and prominent organ. It’s Nice To Be With You was the B side of DW Washburn: neither track made it onto a Monkees studio LP. Davy Jones’ vocal on It’s Nice To Be With You reveals his background in musicals with a strong resemblance to Anthony Newley-era David Bowie (aka The Other David Jones)

Side two kicks off with Mary, Mary sung effectively by Micky Dolenz. Mike Nesmith wrote the song before he joined the Monkees and it was first recorded by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band on their East West LP. Cindy, Cindy and Peter Percival Patterson’s Pet Pig Porky allow Pete Tork’s folk tendencies full reign. Nesmith rocks out with a creditable if brief  Johnny B Goode. Jones’s Gonna Build A Mountain was originally written  for the musical Stop The World – I Want To Get Off. The most entertaining solo spot is from Dolenz who performs Ray Charles’ I Got A Woman in the style of James Brown, right down to multiple attempts to leave the stage. I’m A Believer  is also sung by Dolenz. The final number is a menacing version of (I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone, taken slower than the single version and ending with a freakbeat style guitar/organ coda. The crowd go bonkers.Sadly the concerts in Japan would be the last time the original Monkees quartet would appear onstage together until 1986.

Despite releasing the cult movie Head  in November 1968 the Monkees career went into terminal decline, with Tork leaving at the end of that year. On stage recordings from this era are rare, with only the Live 1967 release compiled by Rhino from dates in Seattle, Portland and Spokane on their US tour that summer. We are delighted to expand the amount of in-concert Monkees material available and demonstrate what a fine live band they had become.

With thanks to www.monkeeslivealmanac.com

Sleeve notes: Alan Ternate (Mr.)