(Single) Street Fighting Man / No Expectations

Street Fighting Man / No Expectations

The last single of 1968 Stones

Format: Mono, Singles 1968-1971 release (2005)

Street Fighting Man

It took me a second listen to fully appreciate this song. The first listen stopped a quarter of the way because I was worried something was wrong with my listening devices. unfortunately, Jagger’s vocals just could not escape the mix well enough.

In case you didn't think you were out of the over-produced Stones era yet, this is the most raw sound I’ve heard yet from all of the Stones. It’s pretty basic but powerful, with a strong acoustic sound and the drums that produce power. This song (the single version, mind you) is just mixed so oddly, and everything just blends in together. It makes sense on a song like that, but I still don’t particularly like the mix.

I can’t find anything else to say about this. Maybe it’ll grow on me. Single material, never the less.

No Expectations

The song continues the simple yet effective sound the A-side had, but this time it’s not a raw rocking song. Instead it’s the opposite, a soft song with a prominent slide guitar played by Brian Jones.  Everything about it is slow and peaceful, yet with a touch of sad that comes with the style of blues rock. My favorite part of the song comes from the lyrics, and how many people interpret the song into their own. Johnny Cash did a version completely different from this version; a different tempo and a different mood, but good for a different reason than the original was.

It’s simple and sweet, and that’s why I have a problem picking out anything. It does what it sets out to do.

The single is two different personalities that are simple, yet get the job done. While nothing to frame on a wall, the messages and mood of both provide an entertaining performance, one that was the last major contribution by Brian Jones. As many people put it, the “swan song.”

The next piece of Stones will be the Sympathy for the Devil movie.

Honeybus, a History

This was written on June 8, 2014. I love to write, and sometimes I just write for the hell of it. Here is something I wrote for myself that actually ended up being somewhat complete.

So this is a small history of Honeybus, an obscure band from 1970 with one album that I enjoy. I remember digging for hours finding all this information. This is presented to you without any reviewing of it's content since it's creation. So even the format most likely sucks. And I'm sure it does.

Here's a picture from Wikipedia. Also, for a band with one album, they spawned 5 compilation albums.

Honeybus. Many of you will not know this name. To fill you in, Honeybus is a “pop” band from London, England from 1967. It’s a story filled with setback after setback for a band that could have been far, far more successful than they were. I honestly don’t know how to set up a biography / study, so I’ll start with Mr. Pete Dello and work my way up.

Pete Dello, born Peter Blumsom, was born in 1942 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. In the 1950’s, Pete co-founded Grant Tracy & the Sunsets with, of course, Grant Tracy (born Roy Barker). Before this, however, both men played at the 59 Club, which was actually a church called the St. Mary of Eton church, run by John Oates. To get a gig at the church, all you had to do was attend services, to then they could perform in front of church members and others, usually reaching numbers in the thousands. The 59 Club is now a famous motorcycle club, with a motorcycle section added in 1962. Grant Tracy & the Sunsets were officially formed in 1961, which included Grant Tracy (vocals), Pete Dello (guitar), Ray Cane (guitar), James Hurley (drums), Norman Smith (bass), and John Oates as their manager until the church requested he come back. From 1961 to 1965, they released eight singles and an LP. The LP, Teenbeat, released in 1963, contained all the singles released up into that point plus four new instrumental tracks (MTV even acknowledges this album on their website, although they use January 1 as the release date, and I also use that for the release date on albums with an unknown release date.)

Teenbeat, and the singles released before it, failed. Miserably, in fact. Some time after the collapse of Grant Tracy and the Sunsets, Pete Dello, Ray Cane, and ex-Them drummer Terry Noone formed The Yum Yum Band, created five singles (on Decca!), and Dello had to stop due to a collapsed lung in early 1966. Finally, Honeybus was formed, with Pete Dello (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ray Cane (vocals, bass, keyboards), Colin Hare (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Pete Kircher (drums, vocals). Honeybus took an opposite route to what Pete Dello was doing before this; they stayed away from clubs and focused on studio recordings, with overdubs and orchestration being looked at, which is reminiscent to what The Beatles did after they realized the stress of live performances took a toll on their music.

Decca moved Honeybus to their “Dream” label, which was focused on the current sound: Psychedelic Pop. Honeybus’ first single, “(a) Delighted to See You / (b) The Breaking Up Scene)”, was created with help from Bon Henrit and Russ Ballard from The Roulettes fame. While this single, and their second single “(a) (Do I Figure) In You Life / (b) Throw My Love Away” were well received, they did not chart. Fortunately for them, their third single, “(a) I Can’t Let Maggie Go / (b) Tender Are the Ashes) charted in the British Top 50 for three months and went to number 8, and became arguably Honeybus’ only hit.

A number one hit is the greatest thing to happen to any band, except Honeybus. Pete Dello left the band after the single finally got it’s radio playtime, perhaps for fear of touring. While Pete still played with Honeybus for the rare TV appearance, that was it for him. Pete would record one solo album with the remaining songs he had in 1971, titled “Into Your Ears,” and stopped completely to study music instead of playing it.

Obviously that pretty much spelled death for the band. While Dello was replaced by Jim Kelly, during the creation of their first and only LP “Story,” the drummer left to join Englebert Humperdincks’ band (which, really, I’d stay with Honeybus than to join a band run by Humperdincks.) He was replaced by both Lloyd Courteney and Bob Henrit. The band was dead: but they did have to reform for a single spring season to promote the album, because no one else was pushing it. Because of that, the album was forgotten and was never given its fair share of publicity.

Colin Hare created his own album, “March Hare” in 1971, and as noted before Dello had his “Into Your Ears”, which also saw Ray Cane working on it as well. Jim Kelly released a single in 1969 that did not find any success. Later, he joined the “Sleaz Band” in 1970, who released their own single and worked on an album that was never released.

Then, suddenly out of nowhere, a glimmer of hope for the defunct Honeybus. Dello got the whole band back together to create a single single, “(a) She is the Female To My Soul / (b) For Where Have You Been,” released in 1972. Warner Brothers scooped them up for a record deal, and Honeybus started to work on their second album, Recital.

All this hope was just false hope. Warner Brothers shifted around internally, and suddenly the interest in Honeybus disappeared. Recital was dropped, never to be released. However, there seems to have been some test pressings that some fans have gotten ahold of, so we’ll just see if that ever surfaces.

Now begins the “Where are they now” portion of the story. The main character of this story, Pete Dello, gave the song “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” to a commercial which became a big hit, which saw the single re-released several times. That was his only success after Honeybus (reborn) however, as he tried to push his own material, which failed, and faded away to nothing.

Ray Cane went to Bo’flyers, signed on Pye records, with ex-Them drummer Terry Noon.

Jim Kelly found no more music work and died on December 26, 1995 from a long battle with an unknown illness.

Pete Kircher probably found the most success, as he joined up with many bands before drumming with Status Quo. After their performance at Live Aid, however, Kircher retired from music.

Everyone except Pete Kircher gave up music by the time the 80’s rolled around.

What’s left of Honeybus? They reunited once in 2003 for a Dutch TV show called “Single Luck” in 2003. Colin Hare came back into the music spotlight and released solo material in 2002, before gathering up Pete Dello and a group of other people and created a new Honeybus in 2007, which isn’t really Honeybus. Because, you know, only two people remained. But luckily for them, they have a whopping one and a half albums to choose from to play live.

And that’s it for the history portion of this blog. Today’s subject was Honeybus, and obscure 70’s band that many people called “Decca’s response to Rubber Soul.” You know, in 1970. Five years after Rubber Soul. That’s like saying the submachine gun was America’s response to the Civil War. Or not.

Pink Floyd - Animals

Today, I’ll be looking at what I think is an underrated album from Pink Floyd. A certain Animals.

Animals

Animals was released on January 23, 1977 in a terrible place between Wish You Were Here and The Wall. By this point, Roger Waters wanted complete control, and with David Gilmour busy with real life, Waters had almost full control of writing. Dogs was the only song on Animals which wasn't solely credited to Waters, being a Gilmour-Waters composition (Although Gilmour says that song was 90% his.)

It wasn't only the album that was creating tension. The live tour is notoriously famous for spawning the concept for The Wall, and an overall tense situation between band and fan. The final concert for the tour, on July 6, 1977 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, saw the full extent of the problems, as Waters spat on a bunch of rowdy fans in the front row. In the end, Gilmour refused to play the normal encore, and a riot ensued as equipment was hauled off stage while a small jam continued.

The true message of the album seems to be the main turnoff for people. The lyrics place certain society classes within capitalism in the form of animals and then proceeds to tear them apart. The finale has the sheep, the mindless drones of America, overpowering the dogs, the combatic higher class. A part of me understands how uncomfortable some people can be when their favorite band goes from something like Wish You Were Here to judging their way of life. However, at the same time, the rest of me thinks that’s complete nonsense. The album takes place in a certain point of view, and with that point of view comes brilliantly written lyrics, no matter what the subject. Besides, you should look at albums like these in a more broadened sense instead of it being strictly about society. If you took the time to dissect the lyrics enough to feel like it compares to your life, hasn't it done a good job?

The main draw for me comes with the music itself. Animals has a total of five songs, with the three main songs going over 10 minutes long. Each song has a certain feeling to them that makes them feel unique to each other, all while keeping this long presence that keeps you entranced for the whole album. The album also starts and ends with a track titled Pigs on the Wing, which sets you up and brings you down gently (or if you have the 8-track version of the album, bring you to a fantastic solo done by Snowy White.)

Dogs, the longest track on the album, contains some of the most impressive solos from Gilmour. A very large portion of the song was created by Gilmour. The guitars that play together harmonize so beautifully. Wright also has his work cut out for him on this song, as he gets a solo of sorts as well as a very important part in the song, almost alongside the guitars. Even the drums bring an imposing sound that creates a masterpiece.

Pigs (Three Different Ones). Silly cowbell aside, this song is very powerful. Waters plays a unique rhythm guitar throughout the song while Gilmour provides three different solos, one in bass form, one in talk box, and one in a screeching guitar, all of which are just so strong on top of Pigs’ instrumentation. The vocals, I think, are the best on the album. They flow so smoothly and feel like they have a dominating force. I want to keep on using the word strong and powerful.

Sheep is yet again, another interesting song. Sheep is a song that just demands attention. First off, everything plays an important role in the song without ever stepping over the boundaries. The vocals come out strong and end up fading into a synth note, and Wright plays a big part in making this song stand out. His keyboard parts almost steal the spotlight from the song itself, it Floyd didn’t have a way to make everything equally interesting. In overall feel, the album intensifies it plays through, with Sheep being some of the strongest work Floyd has done.

Each songs holds up itself extremely well, especially for songs that extend past a normal song’s length. At the same time, each song together as an album provides a unique and enjoyable listen, almost like you’re involved somehow.

I have a hard time putting into words things I've spent a long time on. Lines become biased, and it’s almost unfair to pit me against this album. I just feel like it needs a tiny more bit of love. After all, some of Pink Floyd’s greatest efforts, I think, are shown on this album. Go ahead and feel uncomfortable about the lyrics, but just remember the lyrics for In the Flesh and the whole concept of The Wall album.

I give it a 10 / 10. 10 stars out of ten.