10 Songs from the Old Folks

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In the mid seventies, two sisters named Ann and Nancy Wilson joined an all-male group that had previously gone under the name 'Army' and 'White Heart'. Although they had joined an all-male group, they quickly became the dominant members of the band. The band name was changed to 'Heart', and they eventually got a record deal. In the late 70's they were a mainstay on hard rock radio stations throughout the US. Nancy would eventually become the center piece of the band as Ann would gain weight and 'Heart' went after the MTV crowd.

Ann Wilson - Guitar (Acoustic), Flute, Guitar, Violin, Keyboards, Vocals,
Nancy Wilson - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Piano, Guitar (Electric), Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Guitar (12 String)
Roger Fisher - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel), Lap Steel Guitar
Michael DeRosier - Drums
Steve Fossen - Bass, Percussion
Howard Leese - Synthesizer, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, Vocals, Bells, Orchestral Arrangements, Orchestral Bells
Mike Flicker - Percussion, Arranger, Producer, Engineer, Tympani [Timpani]


Magic Man - 'Dreamboat Annie' released Feb. 14, 1976. "Magic Man" is the most well known single from the album receiving plenty of airplay in 1976. The more mystical "Magic Man" climbed to No. 9 on the Top 40. A fiery bluesy guitar opens "Magic Man". That pulsing bass keeping rhythm works to advantage on this bluesy rock number. Ann and Nancy's choir-like vocals highlight the second part of the song, after the pause. Then that pulsing guitar that rises until Ann starts singing the chorus again.

Crazy On You - 'Dreamboat Annie' released Feb. 14, 1976. "Crazy on You," which spotlighted the piercing vocals of singer Ann Wilson and the chunky guitar bluster of her sister Nancy, entered the Top 40. Listen to Nancy Wilson tear the roof off with that guitar riff.

Barracuda - 'Little Queen' released May 14 1977. Hot on the heels of their platinum debut 'Dreamboat Annie', Heart released the more ambitious, less accessible 'Little Queen'. Heart's follow-up to their phenomenally successful debut LP continued their curious marriage of bursting-at-the-seams hard rock and reflective, soft acoustic music. The record contained the monolithic "Barracuda," which included one of the meanest guitar chugs since Deep Purple's "Highway Star." This song is amongst their best and beyond. That Led Zeppelin-like riff is enough to make any fan crazy. This song is the reason why Led Zeppelin, who is Heart's biggest influence, calls Heart, "Little Led Zeppelin". The blueprint chug of the guitars along with Ann Wilson's Plant-ish vocal parrying mark "Barracuda" as one of the all-time great rock/early metal songs.

Love Alive - 'Little Queen' released May 14 1977. The mellow "Love Alive" features some exotic instruments, such as a flute, tabla and an autoharp. The tempo then picks up with drums and electric guitar, mirroring that "sunbeam arch thrilled me to my weary heart/It was the prettiest thing I ever seen" line sung a few verses earlier.

Sylvan Song / Dream of the Archer - 'Little Queen' released May 14 1977 Nowhere is their Zeppelin influence more apparent than on "Dream of the Archer". Heart's acoustic work is simply no match for their hard stuff; "Archer," with its mesmerizing double-tracked mandolins, is the only nonrocker that works. 'Sylvan Song/ Dream of the Archer showcases Ann Wilson's wonderful voice and there is some excellent mandolin playing by sister Nancy and Roger Fisher.

Straight On - 'Dog Butterfly' released Oct. 7 1978. By the time this album was released, Roger Fisher and Nancy Wilson had long since ended their affair. But Roger went on with harrassing Nancy, leading the band to fire Roger Fisher in 1979. "Straight On" is a great song and the band, especially Ann and Nancy sound like they are having fun singing this song. The steady drum provides the rhythm for the catchy single, helped by both sisters' vocals, Ann's being more resonant.

Mistral Wind - 'Dog Butterfly' released Oct. 7 1978. "Mistral Wind" starts out nice and quiet, for the first two minutes ten seconds. But after that, the drums and guitars start sounding and you know that the song has suddenly changed to hard rock. Ann's vocals are brilliant; there is a moment where she cries and somewhat screams out the first word in the title. The hard rock part of the song lasts for the majority of it, but goes back to the quiet sound for the last minute. One reviewer said that "Mistral Wind" is like "Stairway To Heaven". This is somewhat true, and a good comparison, because both songs have quiet and loud passages.

Heartless - 'Magazine' released April 22, 1978. 'Magazine' is the lp left half-finished when Heart hit it big and split with Mushroom, an independent label. "Heartless" is a guitar-heavy rock roller in the "Magic Man"/"Crazy on You" vein. The song has rough lead vocals but great guitar work by Fisher and Leese.

Even It Up - 'Bebe le Strange' released Feb. 14, 1980. In 1979, Heart went through a lineup configuration. In February of 1980, Heart released their fifth album entitled, 'Bebe le Strange', the album that most fans would agree to be Heart's last greatest album. It is also the first without Roger Fisher,one of the band's founding members and the last with Mike Derosier and Steve Fossen, also founding members. The music and arrangements are incredible, the horn section in this song is courtesy of the Tower of Power group.

Rockin Heaven Down - 'Bebe le Strange' released Feb. 14, 1980. After starting with a slow guitar, "Rockin Heaven Down" goes into power rocker mode after the title words are sung. 'Rockin' Heaven Down' contains all the feel and elements that created hits for Heart in the musical climate in which this was released - i.e. an 'Even It Up' type of essence, yet it received virtually no airplay at that time.
 

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Totally agree with you on this one; all of Heart's best stuff was in the '70's. My only (slight) disagreement with you is on "Mistral Wind"; the live version is so much more powerful than the studio version (listen to "Greatest Hits/Live"). On the studio version, they sound very tentative and somewhat restrained, whereas live they really cut loose with a lot of energy and power. I think it's my favorite song from that particular album (and it's a shame they dropped "Unchained Melody" from the lineup when they reissued it on CD!).
 
I'll have to check that out. Never really go for "Greatest hits..." packages but a few weeks ago they were on a TV special and just ripped up "Battle of Evermore". Ann should layoff the doughnuts!
 
I'll have to check that out. Never really go for "Greatest hits..." packages but a few weeks ago they were on a TV special and just ripped up "Battle of Evermore". Ann should layoff the doughnuts!

That particular album came out in about 1980, and was the last album that was actually produced by Heart; after that, they turned production over to other people, and stopped (mostly) writing their own songs.

Yeah, Ann was pretty hot in her day; however, since the '80's, she's been "growing". I think she actually lost all of that weight sometime in the '90's, but then put it right back on again.

Trivia Question: What was Nancy Wilson's first film appearance in the '80's?
 
Too funny. I was in a music store about 5 years ago and this 16 year old girl started playing the chords to "Crazy on You". I picked up a guitar and started playing the lead. We both grinned and had a little impromptu jam session. That was fun.
 
Phoebe Cates in a bikini!! ummmmm

Some of the actors there were Forrest Whitaker who just won Oscar for best actor and numerous others. I loved it because it was the first movie that used Zeppelin music as part of the story. Of course he couldn't get LZ IV so it was "kashmir"!
 
Phoebe Cates in a bikini!! ummmmm

Some of the actors there were Forrest Whitaker who just won Oscar for best actor and numerous others. I loved it because it was the first movie that used Zeppelin music as part of the story. Of course he couldn't get LZ IV so it was "kashmir"!

Yeah, back when Phoebe was still considered a semi-serious actress (pre-Gremilns); and what a faux pas on the Zeppelin scene! Makes me cringe every time I see that scene . . .

Other notables were Jennier Jason Leigh, Ray Walston, and Sean Penn in his break-out role as the constantly-stoned Jeff Spicoli.
 
Genesis was formed in 1966 in Godalming, England by Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks. Genesis were known as a progressive rock band of the 70's and had a harder edge to their earlier music than the fluffy hits of the 80's. Beginning with 'Nursery Cryme', the band settled into a sound that often reached sublime heights. Genesis is most known the superb line-up Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, which played together between "Trespass" and "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway". 'Foxtrot', 'Selling England By The Pound' and 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' are staples in any prog rock portfolio. Following the departure of lead vocalist Peter Gabriel, Genesis went on a short hiatus before regrouping with drummer Phil Collins at the fore. 'A Trick of the Tail' and 'Wind Wuthering' continued in the progressive vein, though the band streamlined their sound in the wake of guitarist Steve Hackett's departure. From that point on, under the popish influence of Phil Collins, the band took another path towards the commercial market.


ANTHONY BANKS -- organ, piano, mellotron, guitar, voices from 1968 - present
PETER GABRIEL -- lead voice, flute, accordion, tambourine and bass drum from 1968-1975
JOHN MAYHEW -- drummer for the 'Trespass' sessions
PHIL COLLINS -- drums, voices, assorted percussion from 1971, lead vocals from 1976
ANTHONY PHILLIPS -- acoustic 12-string, lead electric, dulcimer, voices from 1968 - 1970
MICHAEL RUTHERFORD -- acoustic 12-string, electric bass, nylon, cello, voices from 1968 - present
STEVE HACKETT -- electric guitar, 12 string and 6 string solo from 1971 - 1977
Chester Cortez Thompson - tour drums, from 1977


The Return of The Giant Hogweed - 'Nursery Cryme' Released on November 1971. "The Return of The Giant Hogweed" took guts as much as talent, epic in tone, where a window into 'Foxtrot' is found. Listeners will quickly hear elements of "Get 'Em Out By Friday" in the tale of the poisonous plant. By this point, lead singer Peter Gabriel, keyboard player Tony Banks and bass player Mike Rutherford were going through the motions as they lost original guitarist Anthony Phillips and went through drummers as drummer John Mayhew also quit. The three surviving members of Genesis held auditions for a new drummer and guitarist and settled on then 20 year old Phil Collins and Steve Hackett (who joined a few months after Collins joined). The former also brought some needed humor and a singing voice to off-set Gabriel's theatrics and the latter a superb guitar style. The addition of Phil Collins and Steve Hackett does change the sound of Genesis, but no more than Peter Gabriel's heightened sense of drama or Tony Banks' increased use of the mellotron. "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" tells a haunting but light-hearted tale which is a great song and has an awesome intro with Hackett's guitar and Banks' organ playing a haunting riff.

Watcher of the Skies - 'Foxtrot' Released on October 1972. From the first moments that Tony Banks heralds "Watcher of the Skies," it's clear that this is a different Genesis. Peter Gabriel inhabits the songs like a foot in a well-worn shoe, wiggling into different characters with ease and aplomb. With Mike Rutherford's bass providing the foundation, Phil Collins' drums are free to add delicious commentary throughout the record, underscoring gentle passages with a well-placed tap on the bell, ushering in stormclouds of sound with dexterous rolls on the drums. And of course there's Steve Hackett,his electric guitar sliding in and out of the music like sunrays through clouds.The piece begins with Banks' swirling mellotron intro and then morphs into a classic Genesis track with superb playing by the Genesis members and Gabriel's vocals just burn here.

I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) - 'Selling England By The Pound' Released on October 1973. "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)," became the band's first big single and the group's first British hit. This piece tells the story of a lawnmower sitting on the porch which was one of the band's first tracks to feature a synthesizer and a great piece. Steve Hackett works magic on this recording and Gabriel's vocals and character are perfect for this music. The band continued to experiment with new sounds in the studio. The most notable example is of an electric piano and an organ playing the same chord very slightly out of key. The resultant "beating" is responsible for the lawnmower sound on "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)".

Lillywhite Lilith - 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' Released on November 8 1974. Despite the on-going tensions in the group, Gabriel created one final masterpiece with Genesis before he left the band in May of 1975. 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' is arguably the band's finest album. It is a 90-minute theater piece filled with a wide variety of music and moods. 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' was a concept album about a Puerto Rican kid named Rael whom falls into a netherworld known as New York and struggles to find himself throughout the course of the album. This song has a rough edge that I wish was longer and at times feels as if it was half completed.

Counting Out Time - 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' Released on November 8 1974. "Counting Out Time" is a funny pop song. It was the lyrics that caught me with this song - the first time I heard about sex in a humorous way. One of the greatest lines by Genesis are in this song:
"Erongenous zones I question you -
Without you, what would a poor boy do?
Without you, what would a poor boy do?
Without you, mankind handkinds thru' the blues."

Dance on a Volcano - 'A Trick of the Tail' Released on February 2, 1976. Following the departure of Peter Gabriel, and letting more than a year pass for the other shoe to drop, the remaining quartet returned with 'A Trick of the Tail', conceding nothing. The album begins with the explosive "Dance on a Volcano," a tour de force that conceals one of Steve Hackett's more riveting musical nightmares. Phil reluctantly became Peter Gabriel's replacement as lead singer after fellow Genesis members (keyboard player Tony Banks, bass player Mike Rutherford and guitarist Steve Hackett) concluded that he was better than the four hundred some-odd people they were auditioning to replace Peter. Sounding "more like Gabriel that Gabriel did" according to some, this was Collins' moment as he filled the lead spot. Someone listening to "Dance on a Volcano" for the first time might think that the CD is skipping. It has a polyrhythm that becomes very catchy after listening to it a few times. You have Hackett strumming a tenuous, chromatic pattern until Collins checks in with his thunderous drumming

Squonk - 'A Trick of the Tail' Released on February 2, 1976. "Squonk" was Phil Collin's first vocal track recorded for this album. It's a powerful song and one of the best "story" songs genesis ever recorded ( based on a tall-tale myth from Pennsylvania). Written by the guitarist of the group, it features one of Mike Rutherford's best performances on doubleneck bass/electric with booming bass pedals.

Down and Out - '…And Then There Were Three' Released on March 1978. The line on '…And Then There Were Three' said that it marked the beginning of the band's commercial reinvention, which is misleading. Despite the loss of Steve Hackett and the presence of the popular "Follow You, Follow Me," the band still had one foot firmly planted in the progressive rock of yore. The opening track, "Down and Out," actually addresses the pressure they felt to create more commercial music -- tellingly, it's one of the album's more complex tracks. With the trio splitting the songwriting and Mike Rutherford assuming guitar duties, some different styles emerged. Not a complete failure, the album doesn't represent their complete transition to bastardized pop and the album keeps a more versatile side of progressive rock, mainly recognized in songs like the explosive, fast paced "Down And Out", its a song that gives the best hopes for the first listen to the album, possessing such a heavy performance that they had to take out the song from live performances.The song starts the album out quite powerfully, with an oddly accentuated beat like "Dance on a Volcano" and a wild, unexpected Arabian-flavored Tony Banks solo.

Deep in the Motherlode - '…And Then There Were Three' Released on March 1978. When the departures of original frontman Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett left Genesis a studio trio of Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford, few could have expected the band to climb to greater levels of commercial success. But that's exactly what happened. Phil Collins' drums assume a larger role in the mix, and he's clearly grown more comfortable as a vocalist, belting it out on songs like "Deep in the Motherlode."

Behind the Lines - 'Duke' Released on March 31 1980. 'Duke' saw Genesis start, somewhat unwillingly, to shed their progressive-rock mantle. Partly this was a response to the radically changing musical scene, partly a result of Phil Collins's new-found influence within the band as a songwriter, and partly it was a logical direction if they were to capitalize upon the success of "Follow You Follow Me" from 1978's '... And Then There Were Three'. The opening neo progressive song "Behind The Lines" also stands as one of the most remarkable, enjoyable and interesting compositions in the album, being composed by the trio.
 

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