Saturday 22 September 2012

News, Views and Music Issue 163 (Intro)




In reply to those who ask why I write this website:

I remember being aged seven and being asked by my bĂȘte noire of a form teacher to go through a long list of items and sort them into ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ items. Like my peers –and iognoring the lyrics to one of my favourite Hollies songs ‘The Air That I Breathe’ I quickly got through the usual suspects: food, sleep, breathing. There was one item on the list that screamed out to me as being the most important thing in the universe and, without thinking I ascribed it pride of place at the top of my list. When the teacher went round the class asking everyone to read their list out to the rest of the class (which in a class of 33 must have been one of the most boring 10 minutes I ever sat through) I began to fear apprehension/pride at the fact that my list was ‘different’, that I’d clearly discovered something no one else had yet. When it was my turn I proudly started off with the words ‘music’, before being told I had clearly misunderstood what a ‘luxury’ was. For the first time in my life, I refused to back down: music wasn’t a ‘luxury item’ that we could do without on a whim, it was a wholly necessary, integral part of being, something that gave me the ability to understand the world around me and the capacity to enjoy it better. I argued that although my body probably wouldn’t last long without food or sleep (I wasn’t arguing that), my mind would last an even shorter time without it. I got told I was wrong. I was attacked for speaking out of turn. I was shown the ‘book of answers’ (because the teacher didn’t have a clue about anything without the ‘book’; it was the be all and end all of life and must be ‘right’ because it showed things in print). But they never broke me, because I knew that I had found something no one else had (yet). I always vowed that one day I’d write my own book, with ‘my’ idea of what constituted the important things in life. Then the internet came along and gave my ideas possibility, reaching out towards a world wider audience I never dreamed of reaching and transcending barriers of language, nationality, race and colour. Whatever happens to this site, whether it gets taken away, closed down or left to rust I could do nothing better with my life than scratch away at it, turning the music round in my head and on the screen and understanding better just what it is about the records I play that give my life meaning and purpose.

We need our arts – whether they be music, painting, sculpture, writing, anything. We need to learn how other people approach the world in order to understand how we see it ourselves and learn how our actions have an effect on other people. The Coalition are cutting our arts funding left, right and centre. In their eyes it ‘doesn’t matter’ - or at least it matters less to them than people running round a field, earning wages for some fatcat businessman or pleasing rich millionaires who are spending lots of money abroad. If you’ve made it to this site and this far down the paragraph then clearly you are ‘one of us’ (either that or you’re computer has frozen on this page!) Well done – you’ve learnt something ‘they’ will never understand.

Talking of which latest Government faux pas for you: ‘Teachers don’t work hard enough’...said the politician with the same amount of time off in the summer, various taxpayer-paid expenses who turns up in parliament every weeks or so. Hmmm...
As per last week we haven’t got a ‘new column’ as such, just a new column featuring lots of news from various ‘official sources’, so its on with the music...


Once again we point you here to enjoy our latest weekly feast of news from all the official music sources we could think of via paper.li (its much easier and more detailed than writing it for myself!) http://paper.li/f-1347835090

♫ Beach Boys News: However there is one news item to add, with the recently reunited Beach Boys appearing on the first episode of Jools Hollands’ ‘Later’ series. Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnstone and Dave Marks haven’t been in the UK together before ever (its 1963 since Marks last toured Europe with the group!) so it should be a fascinating chance to see how the band sound with this unique line-up. The show is on Tuesday, September 25th at 10pm with an extended repeat (of a live programme?! What the...?!) on Friday, September 28th. There’s also a whole heap of Beach Boys stuff on radio 2, including a 90 minute concert and a two part documentary ‘The Beach Boys at 50’ (On Radio 2 this Monday, September 24th) and a repeat of the excellent ‘Record Producers’ episode featuring the Beach Boys from a few years back (on BBC 6 this Wednesday, September 26th).


ANNIVERSARIES: It’s another year on the line for the following AAA members (born between September 26th and October 2nd): Craig Chaquico (guitarist with Jefferson Starship/Starship 1973-88) who turns 58 on September 26th, Dewey Martin (drummer with the Buffalo Springfield 1965-68) who would have been 70 on September 30th and Phil Oakey (lead singer with The Human League 1978-present) who turns 57 on October 2nd. Anniversaries of events include: It’s now 43 years since the last Beatles LP ‘Abbey Road’ (September 26th 1969), The Hollies release their groundbreaking single ‘King Midas In Reverse’ (September 27th 1967), A and M sue George Harrison for being late with delivery of his last album for the label (George is ill with hepatitis, delaying delivery of ‘33 and 1/3rd’ till later in the year), the Rolling Stones begin their first ‘proper’ tour – supporting Bo Diddley and the Everly Brothers across the UK (September 29th 1963), CSN go gold in America with their first self-titled album less than three months after its release in July (September 30th 1969), In contrast, it takes the Grateful Dead 22 years to earn their first platinum disc (for ‘In The Dark’, the same day in 1987) and finally, 63 Rolling Stones are arrested after failing to get in to see their band at a concert in Milan. 2000 fans are thought to have taken part in the riot after finding out the venue had been sold out by an overwhelming number (October 2nd 1970).

The Byrds "The Ballad Of Easy Rider" (1969)



You can read 'All The Things - The Alan's Album Archives Guide To The Music Of...The Byrds' by clicking here!



“The river flows, it flows to the sea, wherever the river goes that’s where I want to be, flow river flow, let your waters wash down, take me from this road to some other town” “livin’ may be easy, dyin’ may be hard, but I’m wide awake, staying up late, sending my regards” “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning burning burning, keep me burning till the end of day” “I may not be a wise man, but I know this life you’re leading, you learned your tricks from lots of other men” “When I first came to Liverpool I went upon the spree, me money at last I spent it, fast got drunk as drunk could be” “I don’t care what they might say, I don’t care what they might do, I don’t care what they might know, Jesus is just alright with me!” “You better go now, take what you want, you think will last, but if there’s something you wish to keep, you better grab it fast!” “The empty handed painter from your streets is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets” “All my life I’ve been alone, got no friends, got no home, And there must be someone I can turn to” “All my so-called friends have turned their back on me, they were lookin’ for someone I just couldn’t be, let them go and have their fun, unaware of the harm they’ve done, as there must be someone I can turn to” “I’m writing this here letter from aboard a DC8, heading into Angel Town, hoping it’s not too late, it rained in New York City, Mr Rock ‘n’ Roll couldn’t stay, the crowd was mad and we were had, chasing the sun back to L.A.” “Some of us are illegal, others aren’t wanted, our work contract’s up and we have to move on, 600 miles to that Mexican border, they chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves” “You won’t have a name when you ride the big airplane, all you will be is a deportee” “Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were launched into space, millions of hearts were lifted, proud of the human race, space control at Houston, radio command, the team below that gave the go, they had God’s helping hand”

The Byrds “The Ballad Of Easy Rider” (1969)

Ballad Of Easy Rider/Fido/Oil In My Lamp/Tulsa County Blue/Jack Tarr The Sailor//Jesus Is Just Alright/It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue/There Must Be Someone/Gunga Din/Deportee (Plane Wreck At Las Gatos)/Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins


Scenario #1: It’s late 1969. You’ve just walked home on air from the cinema down the end of the road (sigh they were everywhere in those days) having seen the film ‘Easy Rider’. You don’t know much about music but together with the motorbikes and the moral messages and the semi-improvised acting the film’s soundtrack thrilled you, full of songs about freedom, wild open spaces and sticking it to the man. You strain your eyes to read the credits at the end of the film and learn that three of the songs included feature at least one of The Byrds. Best of all, you read in the press later that week that the film was even loosely based on The Byrds – or at least their prime characters, the cool calm collected Roger McGuinn (Peter Fonda) and the fiery, rebellious David Crosby (Dennis Hopper in one of Crosby’s trademark capes). Having saved up your pocket money for the film soundtrack (now, alas, a regular in charity shops and second hand shops but in 1969 a highly prized item) you hear news that The Byrds are a real live band, that they’re touring in a town near you and, best of all, they have a new record coming out one that even – glory be! – features the same name and (on first glance) what appears to be a film still on the cover. Holding the record like a new born baby you proudly walk back home clutching the record so that everyone can see it. At last, in your neighbourhood at least, you’re hip.

Scenario #2. The ‘Crosby, Stills and Nash’ album is the album of the summer. It’s everywhere. Even grandmas seem to be singing along to ‘Marrakesh Express’ on the radio while rock fans who normally only trust their music if its stapled together with electric bolts are loving the acoustic softness of ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ and the radical hippies are falling over themselves in praise of ‘Long Time Gone’. With money to burn – and one hell of a long wait between CSN albums – you look at where the three men came from. Buffalo Springfield, alas, are defunct, but Nash’s English band The Hollies are still going; what a shame their new album ‘Hollies Sing Hollies’ is so hard to get a hold of and, quite frankly, the paisley shirts on the cover put you off (see next week’s review for more on this). No, your best bet is to buy The Byrds’ latest, a quaint little retro album named ‘The Ballad Of Easy Rider’. At last, in your neighbourhood, you’re hip.

Scenario #3 You’ve loved The Byrds since you were knee high to a Tambourine Man (whatever one of those is). You’ve grown up to the sound of the coolest band in the universe and even spent a year dressed in square granny specs and a long flowing cape, while desperately trying to get your hair to stick in the shape of the super-cool pudding basin hair cut like drummer Michael Clarke (only it won’t quite go). You were hip once in your neighbourhood, before the band lost their way and their members so fast it wasn’t funny. One minute it was Gene Clark, next it was David Crosby, soon even Chris Hillman was gone leaving the original Byrds a fading distant memory. You didn’t even bother buying the band’s records when they got all country – that wasn’t what ‘your’ band was about. But suddenly, joy of joys, The Byrds are back in fashion again. So many other bands – CSN included – are making folk-rock fashionable again that everyone wants to go back to the ‘beginnings’ of that sound and a new cult must-see-filmed-for-pennies road film has made them ‘cool’ again. Proudly you get your old Byrds LP covers out the loft and casually drape them around your room so all the neighbours can see through the window that, yes indeed, you are hip again.

In all those three scenarios ‘The Ballad Of Easy Rider’ fails and fails spectacularly. Far from cashing in on the allure and escape of the film, this album is an often slow and boring plod through songs on the one hand so traditional and on the other so new and strange that lovers of film songs like ‘Wasn’t Born To Follow’ don’t know quite what to make of. Even the film’s title song is re-recorded here in a far inferior, more polished version that seems like an antithesis of everything that movie was about. The CSN fans just laugh, say ‘Crosby was right to get out’, labelling The Byrds as squares who, far from kicking out a talentless troublemaker, couldn’t see the biggest talent in the group. And fans who’ve loved the band’s sound for so long are incredibly frustrated that so very little on this album sounds like The Byrds. Where is the jingly-jangly guitar? The strong songs? The effortless ability to record songs in at least three different styles at once? What do you mean I’ve waited this long to be in fashion and I’m still not hip?!

Looked at again in 2012, with the benefit of understanding where The Byrds have been and where they’re about to go. ‘The Ballad Of Easy Rider’ sounds like a much better album than it must have done at the time. This line-up is – almost – the most stable one, the quartet who made the effortless masterpiece ‘Untitled’ the following year but who are still coping pretty well for a band who’ve rise, phoenix like, from the ashes of the old Byrds, disintegrated for good when Gram Parsons left for country rock fame, taking old hand Chris Hillman with him. Less schizophrenic than predecessor ‘Dr Byrds and Mr Hyde’, this album is probably the least consistent the band ever recorded (bearing in mind that albums like ‘Byrdmaniax’ are at least consistently awful) but when it reaches its peaks its hard to see what all the negative fuss and feeling was all about at the time.

To be honest, though, the band don’t do themselves many favours. Only three of the songs here are original compositions and two of them (John York’s ‘Fido’ and Gene Parsons’ ‘Gunga Din’) are by writers who’d never released a solo song on a Byrds album before. Roger McGuinn is so busy with his ill-fated (but wonderful) Peer Gynt re-write of a musical ‘Gene Tryp’ (its an anagram folks!) that he gets just the one song on this album (lasting a paltry two minutes) and despite being the Byrds’ only original member by this stage often sounds like an extra on this record, which barely features his trademark Rickenbacker guitar. That means there’s a ridiculous (for the era anyway) eight cover songs on this album; when set against the almost-all original ‘Dr Byrds’ or especially the groundbreaking first CSN album, there’s simply no contest. ‘The Ballad of Easy Rider’ is a water-treading album released at a time when in musical terms anything was possible and people were covering ground no one had ever covered before, seemingly at random.

The album cover doesn’t help. The ‘Easy Rider’ film is about as dated as anything gets now we’ve had so many copycat versions and, in truth, is a plod to sit through for 21st century viewers, full of long talking sequences, forgotten politics and not enough action. But at the time, when this sort of thing had never been done before in a mainstream release– when long haired youngsters were painted as the ‘heroes’ not the enemy of America in a film for pretty much the first time since The Beatles – it must have seemed revolutionary. The Byrds’ take on the film, by contrast, is to feature a picture of a motorbike being used by part of the ‘old’ generation – drummer Gene Parsons’ dad Lem to be exact – and he’s clutching a gun and laughing, apparently straight at you. That’s not the image the hippie ethos loving film was trying to portray, in fact it looks like a straight pastiche of it and, for the band’s (almost completely) young fans it was a kick in the teeth. Even the use of the film’s name in the title is a bit ‘uncool’ for the day, a sop to non-hippie capitalism and cashing in of product (most modern stars get away with this by adding ‘as featured in the movie...’ stickers but they didn’t have those in 1969) and bound to annoy fans who thought there’s be more links to the film (why not include McGuinn’s take on Dylan’s ‘It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding’, possibly the best thing in the film which – while a live regular – was never put on record by The Byrds)? Even the liner notes are a ‘cheat’ – asked to contribute something Easy Rider star Peter Fonda takes the ‘easy’ way out and writes a sprawling stream-of-consciousness rap about what The Byrds mean to him which is printed, mistakes and all, on the back sleeve. Compared to Derek Taylor’s groundbreaking sleevenotes in the mid 60s, its a hurried mess (not that I’m blaming Fonda – what did he know about writing sleevenotes? They could at least have asked Easy Rider writer/director and head Monkee Bob Rafelson?!)

But what is here is often great, bordering on genius. Gene Parsons song ‘Gunga Din’ is rightly hailed by fans as one of the best songs on the band’s last handful of albums. Some of the cover song choices – Deportee, Tulsa Country Blue, There Must Be Someone, a long awaited third attempt at covering Dylan’s ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue – are brave ideas arranged with all the aplomb and subtlety you expect from a brand like The Byrds. Even the worst songs here - like ‘Jack Tarr The Sailor’ and the latest in a long line of head-scratching closing songs ‘Armstrong Aldrin and Collins’ – are well played, with much more cohesion than the band of ‘Dr Byrds’ and ‘Sweetheart Of The Rodeo’ and on ‘Fido’ in particular sound as raw and exciting as any line-up of the band ever did. Add in a couple of the excellent bonus tracks (John York’s take on a then unknown Pentangle’s ‘Way Behind The Sun’, McGuinn’s take on a then unknown Jackson Browne’s ‘Me Jean Goes To Hollywood’ and ‘It’s Alright Ma’ from the ‘Easy Rider’ film) and you suddenly have at least a chance at one of the more successful Byrds albums of the era.

It’s a stepping stone to later success, this album, and even if it only intermittently catches fire you can at least hear that the band are getting it together. It’s sad, then, to report that this is yet another case of The Byrds in transition. He only ever had two albums to show us what he could do but, in my opinion, bassist John York is the one who ‘got away’ from The Byrds. Younger than the hardened veterans in the band, he had a great voice and a strong songwriting instinct and was badly treated by the band he was so excited to join (York adored The Byrds in 1965, as did most sensible young Americans). His paltry one song released by them (this album’s ‘Fido’) is only the tip of what he was able to achieve and he had to give many of his choice of ‘cover’ songs over to McGuinn to sing who – if you compare the two singers side by side on the deluxe CD version where York’s vocals are added as bonus tracks - comes off even worse than he does against Gram Parsons on ‘Sweetheart Of The Rodeo’ (when a contract Gram signed when he was a teenager reared his ugly head and another company claimed rights to his ‘voice’). Given what I’ve read in Byrds biogs I’m also on York’s side when it comes to the band’s fights: why should the band turn up late to gigs and then give short sets instead of ‘repaying favours’ when an audience patiently waits? And why shouldn’t the band ‘junk’ the older material if they want to be a real live fresh new band? (Only McGuinn in the current line-up had played on the songs as it was). Dismissed for being ‘unprofessional’, it was actually McGuinn and co who were being ‘unprofessional’ in my eyes and its a sad loss to music that York’s only other contribution to the music business was playing back up to Gene Clark in a much maligned revived Byrds in the 1980s. To be fair to McGuinn, he must have been wary of the competition: he’d spent three years fighting with Crosby over the band’s sound, then fought with Gram and lost bassist Chris Hillman into the bargain. He really didn’t need another young buck telling him how to think. But in that case, why on earth isn’t he back in charge in this album, dominating the band’s sound as he should?

To my ears the York-Parsons rhythm section is the best the Byrds ever had. Many fans have criticised Parsons’ drumming, which often did get a bit wayward live, but in the studio with a chance to cut re-takes his drumming is always original and rarely overpowers a song the way some drummers do. Gene has quite a lyrical style that’s quite interesting, close in fact to Paul McCartney on the few occasions he plays the drums, perhaps because both of them were guitarists and keyboardists long before they picked up a drumkit (that’s also Gene you can hear on the mouthorgan on some tracks). Clarence White, now an old hand after playing on two Byrds as a session musician and two as a member, is also more than a match for McGuinn, the source of most of the albu’s country trappings whilst still able to play as fast and as raw as any rock guitarist (‘This Wheel’s On Fire’ on ‘Dr Byrds’ is a case in point). By contrast McGuinn is nearly silent on this album, content to write one song and sing lead on that and four others. Distracted by Gene Tryp, he’s missing at the one time the band really need him to stamp his authority – its his ‘return’ to the band on ‘Untitled’ that really makes that album such a gem (and the Gene Tryp songs are the best of all).

The other major player on this album is producer Terry Melcher, the son of Doris Day and the original producer with The Byrds circa 1965. Melcher left because of conflicts with manager Jim Dickson rather than any great upset with the band and got on particularly well with McGuinn. His return to the story in this period helped cement the idea in the fans’ eyes that this really was ‘The Byrds’ Mark Two (or is that three or four?!) and not just the band’s guitarist with three other guys and his desire to get back to the band’s original cross between Dylan and The Beatles gives this album many of its best moments (though surprisingly there’s only one Dylan cover – barring his possible co-write on the title track, see below – less than on any other Byrds record since ‘5D’ – and that nearly didn’t make the album). After their (largely failed) attempt to go all out country, its a relief to hear the band back in their natural environment, at least attempting to take the best of two genres without ever quite fitting with either one (again, better is still to come on the rockier and harder-edged ‘Untitled’) and thanks to Melcher’s typical sonic clarity this album sounds better than most records made and mixed in 1969 (CSN’s included), even if what we hear isn’t always that great. In retrospect its amazing he made the sessions at all: the killer Charles Manson was that year’s most talked about villain, after the Sharon Tate murders; it was an open secret that he was really after several leading musicians-come-music industry figures including Melcher and Beach Boy Dennis Wilson (whose gift of hospitality wasn’t enough for Manson).
Yet again ‘Easy Rider’ is a frustratingly uneven Byrds album that could – and should – have been so much more, especially to fans around at the time who’d already sat through two albums of filler waiting for the band to get their act together. But to dismiss it out of hand would be unfair, for there is much to admire on this album. Gene Parsons’ couple of songs (one original, one a cover) are among the best the band ever recorded, McGuinn’s take on the cursed Dylan song ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue’ in ballad form is well worth the wait and there’s still the title track to enjoy. Better is to come – with the ‘Untitled’ album next in line my favourite of any Byrds album barring ‘The Notorious Byrd Brothers’ – and even in dissolution, even in the middle of yet another line-up change this album paves the way back to greatness, even if it’s not entirely great in itself.



‘The Ballad Of Easy Rider’ is the one song on the album that does have links with the film, although its an entirely different recording from the one on the soundtrack (which I prefer, being looser and less polished than the album cut; alas it still hasn’t appeared on any Byrds CD at the time of writing). One of the strongest songs on the album, ‘Easy Rider’ is a yearning ballad similar in feel to the Byrds’ previous song ‘I Wasn’t Born To Follow’ (another song that made the film) in its depictions of freedom and space. When McGuinn sings ‘all he wanted is to be free’ he managed to conjure up the hopes and dreams of his generation, chiming with the mood of the era far more successfully than at any time since 1965 (I’m intrigued to know what old partner David Crosby made of the song, given how similar it is to his own work). However it’s probably fair to say that at barely two minutes this song is far from the epic that might have been and seems woefully light, with just two verses and (unusually) no chorus (the first verse is repeated at the end). Had McGuinn contributed another couple of verses this song might have been better still, but then again this song does have an unusual genesis. McGuinn’s love-hate (or at least fire and ice) relationship with Bob Dylan is well documented (thrilled with the Byrds’ take on ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, he loathed follow up ‘All I Really Wanna Do’ and actually started promoting the rival Sonny and Cher cover over the Byrds’ own) and it comes to a head on this song. Dylan was contacted by the film makers to provide a title song and even went out to dinner with them but, being Dylan, made things as hard as possible (he was never quite sure if he agreed with the film’s message or not – especially the hippies being blown up at the end of the film), scribbling the song’s opening two lines on a napkin and asking the film makers to hand it to McGuinn to finish. He also asked for his name to be removed from the film credits – which it wasn’t, a fact that for some odd reason McGuinn got the blame for – the pair didn’t speak for quite some time afterwards even though The Byrds were largely innocent in this (Dylan’s name was removed from the record packaging, for instance). In the end it seems like an awful lot of fuss for what is such a short and simple song, even if it is head and shoulders above a good half of the album.

‘Fido’ is John York’s only original song recorded by the band and is unloved by many fans (as well as most of the band). For these ears, though, its a lot of fun, putting twist on the latest runs of Byrds odes to dogs in their country period (‘Old Blue’ et al) and giving the song the rockiest feel of any Byrds song for a couple of albums. Rather than a remorseful song about the death of an old friend this narrator is being kept awake all night by wild howling outside his door and, in effect, wishes the dog was dead (or at least that he wasn’t ‘wide awake, staying up late’). York’s vocal is strong and impressive, given the mood of the recording (McGuinn doesn’t appear) and the song really suits the rest of the band: Gene Parsons’ only drum solo (on a part written into the song especially by York who wasnted to show off what the drummer could do) is one of his two greatest moments as a Byrd (the other comes later on this same album), while Clarence White at least appears to be enjoying the chance to play rock over country. If the idea of a dog sounds corny, well, the idea behind the song at least is a good one: York wrote the song when lonely and isolated in a hotel room on a Byrds tour, unwilling to spend any more time with the others: the fact that a dog could be heard next door howling his head off let him feel he wasn’t so alone. Sure there are some clunky moments (the rhyme of ‘chick’ and ‘feeling mighty sick’ could only happen in the 1960s), but ignore the lyrics if you want; the tune to this song is a good one, with some distinctive ear-catching hooks and played with far more energy than any Byrds song since ‘Notorious Byrd Brothers’. Ironically the Byrds are beginning to sound like a bona fide band again, just at the time when they appear to be splitting apart more than ever.

‘Oil In My Lamp’ is Clarence White’s vocal choice on the album and is the old traditional folk song given a new folk-rock Byrds twist. It’s certainly a lot more successful than the Byrds’ first attempt at the song (heard on either of the two box sets and as a bonus track on the album re-issue of ‘Easy Rider’) which equates ‘modern’ with noise and fire. This slower version is more subtle, held together by Clarence’s own fine fiery playing drenched in feedback and some lovely band harmonies from York and Parsons. White’s vocal itself, while hardly a strong voice in the way of the others, is more palatable here than elsewhere and his lived-in nasally quality suits this world-weary song a lot more than, say, ‘Take A Whiff On Me’ from the next album. Again, though, McGuinn is notable by his absence: should a band on only their second album together as a line-up really be spending so much time without the one link to their past sound? Considering its age and the fact that, really, ‘Oil’ is a Christian hymn quite unsuited to 1969, the song comes off quite well, sounding suitably spiritual without sounding completely at odds with other recordings of the period.

‘Tulsa County Blue’ features the return of McGuinn, but quite frankly I wish it hadn’t. The ‘bonus track’ version of the song with York in vocal is superior to this cut in every way: timing, sensitivity and tunefulness and you sense the only reason McGuinn replaced the vocal was because of the lack of belief in York rather than any belief he personally had in the song. Written by Pamela Polland, it sounds like another really old song but actually only dates back a year (its on her first album ‘Gentle Soul’) and fits the Byrds’ ‘old’ (ie Gram Parsons era) country sound much more successfully than the hackneyed attempts on the ‘Dr Byrds’ album. (In fact its not unlike the many Mike Nesmith country-rock songs he was writing and singing in this era, with its themes of waving goodbye to an old life and being lost in the present and would have fitted the wool-hatted one well). Byron Berline, later an associate member of Stephen Stills’ Manassas group, plays some fine violin and the group sound surprisingly at home throughout – especially Clarence who plays one of the definitive ‘country’ guitar solos in stark contrast to his feedback drenched solo on the last song. All that’s missing is a strong vocal from McGuinn to measure up to what the others are doing. Substitute the John York version in the running order and it sounds pretty good for a cover, though.

‘Jack Tarr The Sailor’ extends McGuinn’s love of the sea shanty, although unlike its nearest rival (‘Space Odyssey’ from ‘Notorious’) there’s no real attempt to modernsise the sound or put the sea shanty into a more modern context of space and exploration. At least the tune is slightly better this time around, although this traditional song is, like many traditional songs, uncomfortably repetitive and dirge-like for modern listening. Roger also does perhaps too good a job of getting ‘into character’ as the sailor and his vocal is impenetrable in places, with only some lovely band harmonies to add a bit of spice and colour. To be honest, though, the song isn’t that much more interesting when you do know what the lyrics are: a sailor is fooled into spending all his money, is forced back out to sea without any money for decent equipment and so makes no money whaling. On its own terms its not so bad, but if you compare it to, say, what Jack The Lad did with the similar ‘Wheary Whaling Grounds’ (a song that sounded at once contemporary and every bit in keeping with the 17th century origin) this is a disappointment, with only a mournful held organ note adding a distinctive touch. At least its fun to hear the very American McGuinn to sing the word ‘Liverpool’ (you just hope the rest of the song isn’t his idea of a souse accent!)

Side two begins with another peculiar cover, ‘Jesus Is Just Alright’, written by Arthur Reynolds and it’s another song that could have come from any era in the past 200 years but was actually first recorded as recently as 1966 (by the Art Reynolds Singers). If you think the title is an odd choice for a hip band in 1969, that’s nothing on the rest of the song which – like a noisy younger sibling to previous Byrds song ‘The Christian Life’ – is very un-Christian (at least on paper) in the way it refuses to listen to any other opinion and doesn’t care what anybody else thinks. More of a chant than a song, its another track on this album that takes repetition to new heights, although at least The Byrds sound interested in the song this time around, turning in a fairly strong band performance, complete with some delightful churning bass from York and some ‘answering’ vocals from Parsons. Presumably the song points a way forward to McGuinn’s ‘new born Christian’ conversion in the mid 70s, although he was still very much a part of the ‘subud’ faith at the time (its notable how often McGuinn chooses religious songs to cover with the Byrds – and also how little of that thinking makes its way to his own songs of the period).Then again some sources have it as Parsons’ choice (despite McGuinn’s lead), a song he nudged the band into recording after playing on the original session (certainly the Byrds’ version is much better known than the original, which is a pretty obscure choice even by Byrds standards). ‘Jesus Is Just Alright’ must be at least a candidate for the strangest song to ever come out of 1969 and yet it was still catchy enough to become a small hit when released as a single, although it sounded a lot better live than it ever did on record (the band generally played it with a much slower opening and sometimes with an a capella chant opening the song before the electric instruments kick in on a charge).

‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ is a cursed song. The band first tried to cut it for their third single in 1965 (before adapting the superior ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’), dismissing it as ‘too fast’ (this version, released on the Byrds box sets and the re-issue of the second album, is charming but slight and far too fast). They did it again when pushed for time and material the following year before deciding it was a little ‘out of time’ (this second version still hasn’t been released). McGuinn must have really liked the song to have revived it a third time, although even he confesses to being disappointed with his performance on this record and wishes it still hadn’t seen the light of day. While it’s true to say that slowing down the tempo to a crawl does make the song a bit of a drag by the end, for the most part this arrangement of the song is sound (unlike the others its a good match down the middle of the Dylan-Beatles road the Byrds started off pioneering). McGuinn’s performance, while not his best ever by any means, is still his best on the record; the slow regret of the opening verse, accompanied by a single acoustic, making for a really ear-catching opening. The band’s harmonies are also wonderful here, the only time they ever come close to aping Crosby, Stills and Nash, with the three voices (Clarence stays quiet) actually moving together like a single ‘fourth’ voice, the way good harmonies are meant to be sung. While, frankly, 4:53 of it seems like a waste, given how short many of the other undeveloped tracks on the album are, I actually rate this version of ‘Baby Blue’ as one of the Byrds’ best Dylan covers, adding to the emotion of Bob’s lyrics without spoiling the mystery.

‘There Must Be Someone’ is better still, a moody ballad again chosen by Gene Parsons, who was a close friend of writer Vern Godsin. The melancholy of the song is true: returning home after a back-breaking soul destroying tour, Godsin returned home to find his wife and family gone, a note on the table and almost all his possessions gone except for his guitar. With nothing else to do, he sat down with his acoustic and wrote this sad and aching song, asking for deliverance from someone, anyone, whether deity, friend, lover or stranger. He then walked to Clarence White’s house (another old friend and close neighbour) and played him the song, waking him up in the process! McGuinn reportedly hated the song (he’s missing again from this version) but its actually a fine ballad, invested with real feeling by Parsons in his most world weary voice. Slow, despondent and un-repenting, its great to hear The Byrds singing it straight (it could so easily have become a ‘joke’ song OTT) and playing what sounds like a ‘live’ take of the song, without the album’s usual polish and pizzazz. In the end the only ‘mistake’ about this song was that it was placed on the album directly after ‘Baby Blue’, thus putting the two slowest recordings in the Byrds’ entire canon side by side.

‘Gunga Din’ is better still, the album’s highlight in fact and only the third band original on the album. Parsons’ semi-autobiographical, rather obtuse and confusing lyric makes sense when you figure this song is simply a ‘see life from someone’s point of view’ song and that, as in the poem ‘Gunga Din’ your perception is changed when you learn the details (chased out of town as ‘long haired weirdoes’ out to subvert civilisation as we know it, the rock and roll band on board are sophisticated letter writers, keen on art). The opening verse finds the band on board a ‘DCA’ jet (yet another reference to aircraft on a Byrds album), facing ‘the wrong way’ in a metaphor for how badly the band are feeling and playing. The end of the first verse admits that the audience were ‘had’ when ‘Mr Rock’ n’ Roll couldn’t stay’ (reportedly bill headliner Chuck Berry) and the audience were ‘mad’ chasing the band back home. The chorus (‘Got a leather jacket on, know that its a sin’) relates to an incident where York – still eager at joining a band he adored – wanted to treat his mother and take her to a fancy restaurant, who refused to serve him because – shock horror – he was wearing a leather jacket (he probably wasn’t a wearing tie either, *faint*). Figuring that the proprietors of the place had jumped to the wrong conclusion, parsons fitted it into his song about being careful to judge by appearances and, by accident rather than design, came up with only the second song on the album that ‘relates’ to the theme of ‘Easy Rider’ (where the audience is meant to ‘care’ more for the hippies after getting to know them; given how irritating their antics are by the end of the film I’m not sure this scene works as well as it should). The end result is, like Kipling’s Gunga Din, a brave statement for its time, turning the ‘hero’ of the plot into a villain and the ‘villain’ into a hero by the end. Together with a delightful flowing acoustic guitar riff, some glorious harmonies and an excellent lead by Gene, it’s no wonder that ‘Gunga Din’ is one of the highest rated songs of the Byrds’ later period (it deservedly made the Mojo ‘Guide to the music of...’ Byrds best-of about ten years ago). Clearly the highlight of the album.

‘Deportee’ is another case of right song, wrong band, wrong album. Woody Guthrie’s original is a folk classic, bravely denouncing reports of a plane wreck that casually mentioned that the death toll didn’t matter because those on board were only ‘refugees’ being shipped out the country. Ashamed at the casual racism, Guthrie comes up with a casually sarcastic song of his own, albeit turning the dead of the song into ‘real’ people, bidding farewell to their home land not knowing what’s in store. There’s a hint that modern civilisation let these people down, the first example of Western might they see (an aeroplane) causing their death. A great song, then, but goodness knows what the Byrds have done to it; this cover version plods along awfully and no one sounds at all bothered. To be fair the original works well because Guthrie sounds so detached from the people’s fate, but you can still tell the hidden burning anger at the heart of the song – the Byrds don’t seem to have quite realised what this song is about. McGuinn’s lead is particularly poor and really truly should have been re-recorded; it wanders around all over the place and sounds like the talking clock talking in a Nashville accent. The song deserved better.

The album then closes with the Byrds traditional ‘what the hell is going on?’ slot. After such oddities as a souped up ‘We’ll Meet Again’, a falling-apart 10 minute blues medley and a sea shanty in space (not to mention McGuinn’s hoover doubling as a jet aircraft) comes a short 90 second long ode to the first men to walk on the moon. A very recent song by a country musician with the wonderfully space-age name of Zeke Manners, it features a rocket taking off (a superior one to McGuinn’s vacuum cleaner this time around) and McGuinn singing tinnily in the left hand channel. A verse rather than a song, it seeks to equate the space explorer’s achievement in the context of human understanding, ‘proud of the human race’ but still only achievable with ‘God’s helping hand’. Now that Neil Armstrong is sadly no more, perhaps someone could re-record this lovely song and do it properly – for all its good intentions this version is too deliberately quirky and space age to work. Worryingly my copy of the album lists Aldrin’s name as ‘Alorin’ – honestly what do they teach these people at school nowadays?!

A weird end to a too often weird album. ‘The Ballad Of Easy Rider’ is not an album you reach for when you want to impress people how good the Byrds are; nor is it – with the exception of ‘Gunga Din’ – an album that ever approaches their best work. However to dismiss this album out of hand would be unfair. Many of the cover song choices on this album are brave indeed and while the arrangements and performances don’t always work there’s enough good intentions and flashes of genius to help you get through the lesser moments. As we said earlier, this album is a stepping stone to bigger and brighter things and even if on its terms its not a good album it is at least an often promising one. Worth buying for ‘Gunga Din’ alone, its the sound of a band trying to work out once more what they stand for and what direction they should head in next and there’s no shame in that if the band do eventually find their direction (which they do with the wonderful ‘Untitled’ the following year). The only way you will truly be disappointed is if a) you’re a Woody Guthro fan b) you bought this album off the back of the film or c) you expect this shaky, inexperienced version of The Byrds to be as great and pioneering as they were in 1965.


A Now Complete Link Of Byrd Articles Available To Read At Alan’s Album Archives:

'Mr Tambourine Man' (1965)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/news-views-and-music-issue-134-byrds-mr.html
‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’ (1965) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/the-byrds-turn-turn-turn-1965.html

'(5D) Fifth Dimension' (1966)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-49-byrds-5d.html

'Younger Than Yesterday' (1967) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-108-byrds.html

'The Nototious Byrd Brothers' (1968)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-20-byrds-notorious-byrd-brothers.html

'Sweethearts Of The Rodeo' (1968) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-byrds-sweetheart-of-rodeo-1968.html

'Dr Byrds and Mr Hyde' (1969) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-viedws-and-music-issue-68-byrds-dr.html

‘The Ballad Of Easy Rider’ (1969) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-byrds-ballad-of-easy-rider-1969.html

'Untitled' (1970)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-38-byrds-untitled-1970.html
'Byrdmaniax' (1971) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/the-byrds-byrdmaniax-1971-album-review.html
'The Byrds' (1973) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-byrds-1973.html

Surviving TV Appearances http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-byrds-surviving-tv-appearance-1965.html
Unreleased Songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/the-byrds-unreleased-songs-1965-72.html
Non-Album Songs (1964-1990) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/the-byrds-non-album-songs-1964-90.html
A Guide To Pre-Fame Byrds Recordings http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/the-byrds-pre-fame-recordings-in.html
Solo/Live/Compilation Albums Part One (1964-1972) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/the-byrds-sololivecompilation-albums.html
Solo/Live/Compilation Albums Part Two (1973-1977) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-byrds-sololivecompilation-albums.html

Solo/Live/Compilation Albums Part Three (1978-1991) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-byrds-sololivecompilation-albums_9.html
Solo/Live/Compilation Albums Part Four (1992-2013) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-byrds-sololivecompilation-albums_16.html
Essay: Why This Band Were Made For Turn! Turn! Turn!ing https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/byrds-essay-why-this-band-were-made-for.html
Five Landmark Concerts and Three Key Cover Versions https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-byrds-five-landmark-concerts-and.html

AAA Songs (More Or Less) Exclusive To Film Soundtracks (News, Views and Music Issue 163 Top 5)




In honour of this week’s review of an album released to cash in on a movie soundtrack (only one of these songs actually appears in ‘Easy Rider’...and then its in a different version!) here are five notable AAA soundtrack spin-off songs. Now its worth noting that we’ve already covered AAA films on a couple of other top ten articles by now, so there’s no all-one-band soundtracks listed here (no acting-with-music films like The Beatles’ ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, no mock-documentaries on one artist like Neil Young’s ‘Journey Thru The Past’, no all-music soundtrack albums released separately under a single artist name like Belle and Sebastian’s ‘Storytelling’ or concert films like ‘Pink Floyd at Pompeii’, because that would be covering old ground – and cheating – all at the same time). We’ve also restricted artists to one entry each because, well, to be brutally honest I’m a bit pushed for time this week what with ATOS forms and all, but we can always return to this article and expand it in the future if enough people ask for it. Right, that lot over with, here are five exclusive-at-the-time-to-soundtrack-albums for you to enjoy!

Simon and Garfunkel “Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine (Alternate Take)”/”Mrs Robinson” (Instrumental) (Available on ‘The Graduate’ soundtrack album)

The Graduate is an interesting film. Despite the hoo-hah about the poignancy and the lyricalness of Simon and Garfunkel’s recordings, I never thought they worked that well in the film (hard as it tries, ‘The Graduate’ isn’t that complex a film and doesn’t really meet the multi-generational confrontation that so often happens in the choice of soundtrack songs). That said, unless you really knew your music in 1967 chances are you’d never heard of Simon and Garfunkel and the fact that this album of orchestral instrumentals and two new versions of one old song and one soon –to-be-properly-released song charted high alongside the first three previously released S+G albums, all at the same time, means that we fans are indebted to the movie for making mainstream success of what till then had been a (still sizeable) cult. You can count on one hand, maybe one finger, the amount of ‘other’ films willing to give the whole of a precious soundtrack over to a not that well known audience and the bravery works: the film was undeniably a good thing for S+G and the soundtrack gave the film an air of respectability it might not otherwise have been awarded. Modern fans might be disappointed with the soundtrack album today, which doesn’t have much you won’t already find on the ‘Sounds of Silence’ and ‘Parsley, Sage,. Rosemary and Thyme’ albums, but there are two forgotten gems. ‘The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine’ has always been one of my favourite of the duos songs, a sarcastic take on how the logical next step of a consumerist society is to have one big computer with buttons to press and flashing lights but doesn’t actually do anything. It sounds better here than on ‘Parsley, sage’ too, thanks to a rawer early mix complete with fuzz guitar and more of a sense of urgency. As for the film’s most famous moment, ‘Mrs Robinson’ (not written with the film in mind and originally titled ‘Mrs Roosevelt’ till the film makers asked for a change and got lucky with the song’s agenda of generational divide), you get to hear it twice – once in the single version we got to know and love that also appeared later on the S+G album ‘Bookends’ and once as a rather bare demo, a near-instrumental played to just Paul’s acoustic guitar and some do-do-do-do-do-doos for good measure. It’s well worth seeking out by committed fans, even though its barely 90 seconds long.

Cat Stevens “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out”/”Don’t Be Shy” (1971) (Available on the ‘Harold and Maude’ soundtrack album and most Cat Stevens Greatest Hits Compilations)

Cat was already a star after ‘Tea For The Tillerman’, but being associated with this cult film about a teenager obsessed with death until he meets a lively elderly lady, arguably did his career no harm. Like ‘The Graduate’ much of the soundtrack is made up of previously issued Cat Stevens songs, although for my money they fit the film rather better, with Cat’s more soul-searching songs like ‘On The Road To Find Out’ and ‘Trouble’ well placed throughout the film. With only two ‘philosophical’ Cat Stevens albums to choose from, they managed to persuade Cat to fill in the gaps and he came up with two of his most childish songs, both played to just a simple acoustic guitar backing. ‘Don’t Be Shy’ is textbook Cat, quietly urging the listener on to their goals however much they might fear the hurt and rejection if things go wrong, while ‘Sing Out’ is a delightful nursery rhyme singalong about how all of us have our own destinies and we should stop trying to ape everyone around us (if ever a singer-songwriter loved the theme of ‘uniqueness’ its Cat Stevens). Surprisingly, neither song made it to Cat’s next album ‘Teaser and the Firecat’ the same year, despite the fact that – like all of Cat’s albums – it runs to not quite half an hour (at a time when most albums were 40-45 minutes). As a result they’re currently available on CD only on best-ofs – ‘The Very Best Of Cat Stevens’ is your best bet if you want to search for them.

Art Garfunkel “Bright Eyes” (1977) (Available on the ‘Watership Down’ soundtrack album and Art’s 1979 album ‘Fate For Breakfast’)

So much more than a film about bunnies (as its so often seen), the adaptation of Richard Adams’ watershed book ‘Watership Down’ is, if anything, even darker and harsher than the original. Despite the cleverly drawn details of rabbit life this is really a book (and film) about human societies living together and touches on several deep subjects – such as death. In the film Art Garfunkel’s biggest hit (in Britain anyway, it never charted in America!) comes just at the moment when warren leader Hazel appears to have died. The liveliest rabbit in the film, the thought that this most sparkling of characters might have died inspires one of Mike Batt (he of the Wombles)’ better songs, similar to his striking song for the Hollies ‘Soldier Song’. Art’s vocal is perfect for the breathy, rather dreamlike haze that fills the gap between living and dead and the result is a perfect movie moment, slightly ruined by the rather basic way Hazel comes back to life in the next scene. Huh, all that emotion for nothing! By the way, his brother Fiver is clearly the best character in the film and should have been given his own ‘theme’ (something suitably dreamlike and hallucinatory, like early Pink Floyd psychedelia). At the time the song was exclusive to either the single (with an instrumental ‘Kee-haw’s Tune’ on the back, in honour of the seagull the rabbits befriend) or soundtrack album, although Art did release it on his next record, the patchy ‘Fate For Breakfast’. Eerily, this song about death appears to be cursed, at least a little: Art’s longterm girlfriend committed suicide months after its release (see our Garfunkel review on news and music 161 for more) and Stephen Gately, the former member of Westlife who sang it on the children’s TV series re-make in 1999, died shortly after at a very young age. That said, both Batt and Garfunkel are fine at the time of writing and they are the two most associated with the song!

Paul McCartney “Spies Like Us” (1985) (Available as a single; currently unavailable on CD)

I was song to write about the superior Macca soundtrack song ‘Did We Meet Somewhere Before?’, a song from the late-Wings period that almost made it onto the film soundtrack of ‘Heaven Can Wait’ before ending up on the slightly less glamorous ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll High School’. However, as it never appeared on any soundtrack album, I can’t currently find which Macca CD it came out on as a bonus track (I never did own most of the ‘McCartney Collection’ CDs as my copies come from the issues before that) and I’ve never seen either film I’ve plumped for a minutely more common song. ‘Spies Like Us’ is a surprisingly primitive pop/dance song from Macca that’s very mid-80s, all booming synths and drums, but still deserved better than to have been dropped from the film at the last minute (a James Bond spoof about a couple of spies, one of which is Chevy Chase, it has two good jokes an hour apart). Fans might know the song best from the ‘McCartney Collection’ DVD which features the promo video featuring clips from the film and opening with a rubber-faced McCartney back in Abbey Road being chased by the two ‘heroes’ of the film across that famous Abbey Road crossing. Unloved by many, and something of a flop as a single after the success of ‘No More Lonely Nights’, many fans will tell you this is the nadir of McCartney’s releases. That said it makes for a useful stepping stone to more successful attempts in the same medium, notably the three ‘Fireman’ albums and the under-rated 1989 B-side ‘Ou est le Soliel?’

Neil Young “Philadelphia” (1993) (Available on the soundtrack album ‘Philadelphia’)

Many film fans talked about what a brave guy Tom Hanks was to appear in a film about Aids during a period when the illness was still little understood and treated with public scorn and miscomprehension (its effectively the chronic fatigue of its day in terms of mangled misinformation and blocked research and funding and I hope the naysayers of both illnesses feel pretty bad about themselves in decades to come). What went unsaid was how brave a whole great handful of leading musicians of the day were giving their time and energy to the exclusive songs on the soundtrack and risking being associated with what could have been a deeply unfashionable film. Neil Young’s song is, naturally, my favourite moment on the album (and film) and is one of his moody piano ballads, a song every bit as good as the ‘purple period’ in Neil’s career at the time suggests. The narrator of the song thinks he knows ‘what life’s all about’ before something unexpected shakes up his life, inspiring one of Neil’s best ever vocals, sung at a higher pitch than normal and as a result more fragile and wobbly than ever. It’s a strong moment in a strong film, which sadly Neil hardly ever plays in concert nowadays and never appeared on any of his own solo albums. The soundtrack album of ‘Philadelphia’ is a fairly common sight in record shops though (especially second-hand ones) and shouldn’t be too hard to find online either.

And that’s that for another week. Join us for more music-related mayhem next week!

A NOW COMPLETE List Of Top Five/Top Ten/TOP TWENTY  Entries 2008-2019
1) Chronic Fatigue songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/news-views-and-music-issue-1-top-five.html

2) Songs For The Face Of Bo
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-2-top-five.html

3) Credit Crunch Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-3-top-five.html

4) Songs For The Autumn
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-4-top-five.html

5) National Wombat Week
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-top-five-national.html

6) AAA Box Sets
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-6-top-five.html

7) Virus Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-7-top-five.html

8) Worst AAA-Related DVDs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issu-8-top-five.html

9) Self-Punctuating Superstar Classics
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-9-top-five.html

10) Ways To Know You Have Turned Into A Collector
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-9-top-five.html

11) Political Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/news-views-and-music-issue-11-top-five.html

12) Totally Bonkers Concept Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/news-views-and-music-top-five-totally.html

13) Celebrating 40 Years Of The Beatles' White Album
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/top-five-issue-13-40-years-of-beatles.html

14) Still Celebrating 40 Years Of The Beatles' White Album
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-14-top-five.html

15) AAA Existential Questions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-15-top-five.html

16) Releases Of The Year 2008
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-16-top-five.html

17) Top AAA Xmas Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-17-top-five.html

18) Notable AAA Gigs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/news-views-and-music-issue-19-top-five.html

19) All things '20' related for our 20th issue
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/news-views-and-music-issue-20-aaa-songs.html

20) Romantic odes for Valentine's Day
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/news-views-and-music-issue-22-top-five.html

21) Hollies B sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-23-top-five.html

22) 'Other' BBC Session Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-24-top-five.html

23) Beach Boys Rarities Still Not Available On CD
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-25-top-five.html

24) Songs John, Paul and George wrote for Ringo's solo albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-26-top-five.html

25) 5 of the Best Rock 'n' Roll Tracks From The Pre-Beatles Era
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-27-top-five.html

26) AAA Autobiographies
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-28-top-five.html

27) Rolling Stones B-sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-29-top-five.html

28) Beatles B-Sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-30-top-five.html

29) The lllloooonnngggeesssttt AAA songs of all time
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-31-top-five.html

30) Kinks B-Sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-32-top-five.html

31) Abandoned CSNY projects 'wasted on the way'
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-33-top-five.html

32) Best AAA Rarities and Outtakes Sets
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/news-views-and-music-issue-34-top-five.html

33) News We've Missed While We've Been Away
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-35-top-five.html

34) Birthday Songs for our 1st Anniversary
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-37-top-five.html

35) Brightest Album Covers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-37-top-five.html

36) Biggest Recorded Arguments
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-38-top-five.html

37) Songs About Superheroes
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-39-top-five.html

38) AAA TV Networks That Should Exist
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-40-top-five.html

39) AAA Woodtsock Moments
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-41-top-five.html

40) Top Moments Of The Past Year As Voted For By Readers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-42-top-five.html

41) Music Segues
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/news-views-and-music-issue-43-top-five.html

42) AAA Foreign Language Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/news-views-and-music-issue-44-top-five.html

43) 'Other' Groups In Need Of Re-Mastering
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/news-views-and-music-issue-45-top-five.html

44) The Kinks Preservation Rock Opera - Was It Really About The Forthcoming UK General Election?
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-46-top-five.html

45) Mono and Stereo Mixes - Biggest Differences
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-47-top-five.html

46) Weirdest Things To Do When A Band Member Leaves
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/nerws-views-and-music-issue-48-top-five.html

47) Video Clips Exclusive To Youtube (#1)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-49-top-five.html

48) Top AAA Releases Of 2009
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/news-views-and-music-issue-50-top-five.html

49) Songs About Trains
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/news-views-and-music-issue-51-top-five.html

50) Songs about Winter
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/news-views-and-music-issue-52-top-five.html

51) Songs about astrology plus horoscopes for selected AAA members
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/news-views-and-music-issue-53-top-five.html

52) The Worst Five Groups Ever!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/news-views-and-music-issue-54-top-five.html

53) The Most Over-Rated AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/news-views-and-music-issue-56-top-five.html

54) Top AAA Rarities Exclusive To EPs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/news-views-and-music-issue-57-top-five.html

55) Random Recent Purchases (#1)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/news-views-and-music-issue-58-top-five.html

56) AAA Party Political Slogans
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-60-top-five.html

57) Songs To Celebrate 'Rock Sunday'
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-61-top-five_21.html

58) Strange But True (?) AAA Ghost Stories
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-61-top-five.html

59) AAA Artists In Song
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/news-views-and-music-issue-63-top-five.html

60) Songs About Dogs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/news-views-and-music-issue-65-top-five.html

61) Sunshiney Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-67-top-five.html

62) The AAA Staff Play Their Own Version Of Monoploy/Mornington Crescent!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-68-top-forty.html

63) What 'Other' British Invasion DVDs We'd Like To See
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-69-top-five.html

64) What We Want To Place In Our AAA Time Capsule
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-issue-70-top-five.html

65) AAA Conspiracy Theroies
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-issue-72-top-ten.html

66) Weirdest Things To Do Before - And After - Becoming A Star
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-top-ten-aaa-stars.html

67) Songs To Tweet To
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/news-views-and-music-issue-74-top-five.html

68) Greatest Ever AAA Solos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/news-views-and-music-issue-75-top-ten.html

69) John Lennon Musical Tributes
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/news-views-and-music-issue-77-top-five.html

70) Songs For Halloween
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/news-views-and-music-issue-78-top-five.html

71) Earliest Examples Of Psychedelia
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-79-top-five.html

72) Purely Instrumental Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-81-top-five.html

73) AAA Utopias

74) AAA Imaginary Bands
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-82-top-five.html

75) Unexpected AAA Cover Versions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-83-top-five.html

76) Top Releases of 2010
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-84-top-five.html

77) Songs About Snow
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-85-top-five.html

78) Predictions For 2011
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_01_02_archive.html

79) AAA Fugitives

80) AAA Home Towns
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/news-views-and-music-issue-88-home.html

81) The Biggest Non-Musical Influences On The 1960s
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/news-views-and-music-issue-89-top-five.html

82) AAA Groups Covering Other AAA Groups
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-90-top.html

83) Strange Censorship Decisions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-91-top-ten.html

84) AAA Albums Still Unreleased on CD
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-92-top-five.html

85) Random Recent Purchases (#2)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/news-views-and-music-issue-93-top-ten.html

86) Top AAA Music Videos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-94-top-ten.html

87) 30 Day Facebook Music Challenge
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-95-top.html

88) AAA Documentaries
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-top-five-aaa.html

89) Unfinished and 'Lost' AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-97-top-ten.html

90) Strangest AAA Album Covers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/newsa-views-and-music-issue-98-top-ten.html

91) AAA Performers Live From Mars (!)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-99-top-ten.html

92) Songs Including The Number '100' for our 100th Issue
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-100-top-five.html

93) Most Songs Recorded In A Single Day
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-101-top-five.html

94) Most Revealing AAA Interviews
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/news-views-and-music-issue-102-top-five.html

95) Top 10 Pre-Fame Recordings
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/news-views-and-music-issue-103-top-ten.html

96) The Shortest And Longest AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-104-top-ten.html


97) The AAA Allstars Ultimate Band Line-Up
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-105-top.html

98) Top Songs About Sports
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-106-top-ten.html

99) AAA Conversations With God
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-107-top-ten.html

100) AAA Managers: The Good, The Bad and the Financially Ugly
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-108-top-ten.html

101) Unexpected AAA Cameos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-109-top-ten.html

102) AAA Words You can Type Into A Caluclator
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-110-top-five.html

103) AAA Court Cases
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-111-top-five.html

104) Postmodern Songs About Songwriting
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-112-top-five.html

105) Biggest Stylistic Leaps Between Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-113-top-ten.html

106) 20 Reasons Why Cameron Should Go!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-114-top.html

107) The AAA Pun-Filled Cookbook
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-115-top-five.html

108) Classic Debut Releases
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-116-top-five.html

109) Five Uses Of Bird Sound Effects
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-118-top-five.html

110) AAA Classic Youtube Clips Part #1
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-119-top.html

111) Part #2
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-120-top.html

112) Part #3
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-121-top.html

113) AAA Facts You Might Not Know
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-122-top-ten.html

114) The 20 Rarest AAA Records
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-123-top.html

115) AAA Instrumental Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_04_archive.html

116) Musical Tarot
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/news-views-and-music-issue-125-top-23-i.html

117) Christmas Carols
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_18_archive.html

118) Top AAA Releases Of 2011
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_25_archive.html

119) AAA Bands In The Beano/The Dandy
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/news-views-and-music-issue-128-top-five.html

120) Top 20 Guitarists #1
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/news-views-and-music-issue-129-top-ten.html

121) #2
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_15_archive.html

122) 'Shorty' Nomination Award Questionairre
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_22_archive.html

123) Top Best-Selling AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_29_archive.html

124) AAA Songs Featuring Bagpipes

125) A (Hopefully) Complete List Of AAA Musicians On Twitter
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_19_archive.html

126) Beatles Albums That Might Have Been 1970-74 and 1980
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_26_archive.html

127) DVD/Computer Games We've Just Invented
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_11_archive.html

128) The AAA Albums With The Most Weeks At #1 in the UK
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_18_archive.html

129) The AAA Singles With The Most Weeks At #1 in the UK
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_25_archive.html

130) Lyric Competition (Questions)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_15_archive.html

131) Top Crooning Classics
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_22_archive.html

132) Funeral Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/news-views-and-music-issue-142-top-five.html

133) AAA Songs For When Your Phone Is On Hold
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-143-top-five.html

134) Random Recent Purchases (#3)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-144-top-five.html

135) Lyric Competition (Answers)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-146-top.html http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-145-top-five.html

136) Bee Gees Songs/AAA Goes Disco!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-issue-147-top-five.html

137) The Best AAA Sleevenotes (And Worst)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-issue-148-top-ten.html

138) A Short Precise Of The Years 1962-70
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-149-top-eight.html

139) More Wacky AAA-Related Films And Their Soundtracks
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/top-five-for-news-views-and-music-150.html

140) AAA Appearances On Desert Island Discs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/top-eight-aaa-desert-island-discs.html

141) Songs Exclusive To Live Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/news-views-and-music-issue-153-top-10.html

142) More AAA Songs About Armageddon
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/aaa-armageddon-songsalbums-top-5-for.html

What difference does a name make? Arguably not much if you’re already a collector of a certain group, for whom the names on the album sleeves just...

This week’s top ten honours the humble motor car. The death trap on wheels, the metaphor for freedom, the put-down of capitalism, a source of...

This week we’re going to have a look at the 10 AAA singles that spent the most weeks at number on the American chart ‘Billboard’ – and it makes for...

Following on from last issue’s study of the American Billboard charts, here’s a look at which AAA albums spent the most weeks on the chart. The...

There are many dying arts in our modern world: incorruptible politicians, faith that things are going to get better and the ability to make decent...

This week we’ve decided to dedicate our top ten to those unsung heroes of music, the session musicians, whose playing often brings AAA artists (and...

Naturally we hold our AAA bands in high esteem in these articles: after all, without their good taste, intelligence and humanity we’d have nothing to...

What do you do when you’ve left a multi-million selling band and yet you still feel the pull of the road and the tours and the playing to audiences...

‘The ATOS Song’ (You’re Not Fit To Live)’ (Mini-Review) Dear readers, we don’t often feature reviews of singles over albums or musicians who aren’t...

In honour of this week’s review of an album released to cash in on a movie soundtrack (only one of these songs actually appears in ‘Easy Rider’...and...

Hic! Everyone raise a glass to the rock stars of the past and to this week’s feature...songs about alcolholic beverages! Yes that’s right, everything...

154) The human singing voice carries with it a vast array of emotions, thoughts that cannot be expressed in any other way except opening the lungs and...

Everyone has a spiritual home, even if they don’t actually live there. Mine is in a windy, rainy city where the weather is always awful but the...

Having a family does funny things to some musicians, as we’ve already seen in this week’s review (surely the only AAA album actually written around...

Some artists just have no idea what their best work really is. One thing that amazes me as a collector is how consistently excellent many of the...

159) A (Not That) Short Guide To The 15 Best Non-AAA Bands http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/a-not-that-short-guide-to-15-of-best.html%20%0d160

160) The Greatest AAA Drum Solos (Or Near Solos!) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-greatest-aaa-drum-solos-or-near.html%20%0d161

161) AAA Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame Acceptance Speeches http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/aaa-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.html%20%0d162

162) AAA Re-Recordings Of Past Songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/aaa-re-recordings-of-past-songs-news.html%20%0d163

163) A Coalition Christmas (A Fairy Tale) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/a-coalition-christmas-news-views-and.html%20%0d164

164) AAA Songs About Islands http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/aaa-songs-about-islands-news-views-and.html%20%0d165

165) The AAA Review Of The Year 2012 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2012-news-views.html



166) The Best AAA Concerts I Attended
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-best-aaa-concerts-i-attended-news.html

167) Tributes To The 10 AAA Stars Who Died The Youngest http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/tributes-to-10-aaa-stars-who-died.html



168) The First 10 AAA Songs Listed Alphabetically
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-first-10-aaa-songs-if-listed.html


171) The 10 Best Songs From The Psychedelia Box-Sets ‘Nuggets’ and ‘Nuggets Two’ http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-best-of-two-nuggets-psychedelia.html%20%0d172

172) The 20 Most Common Girl’s Names In AAA Song Titles (With Definitions) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/girls-names-in-aaa-song-titles-from.html 








180) First Recordings By Future AAA Stars http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/first-





185) A Tribute To Storm Thorgerson Via The Five AAA Bands He Worked With http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-tribute-to-hipgnosis-via-five-aaa.html



188) Surprise! Celebrating 300 Album Reviews With The Biggest 'Surprises' Of The Past Five Years Of Alan's Album Archives! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/celebrating-300-album-reviews-10.html


190) Comparatively Obscure First Compositions By AAA Stars http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/comparatively-obscure-debut.html



193) Evolution Of A Band: Comparing First Lyric With Last Lyric: http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/evolution-of-band-comparing-1st-lyric.html







200) The Monkees In Relation To Postmodernism (University Dissertation) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/university-dissertation-monkees-in.html


202) Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain': Was It About One Of The AAA Crew? http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/carly-simons-youre-so-vain-was-it-about.html















217) AAA 'Christmas Presents' we'd most like to have next year http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/aaa-christmas-presents-wed-most-like-to.html




221) Dr Who and the AAA (Five Musical Links) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/dr-who-and-five-musical-links-to-alans.html

222) Five Random Recent Purchases http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/five-random-recent-purchases-news-views.html

223) AAA Grammy Nominees http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/aaa-grammy-nominees-top-twelve-news.html

224) Ten AAA songs that are better heard unedited and in full http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/ten-aaa-songs-that-are-better-unedited.html

225) The shortest gaps between AAA albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-shortest-gaps-between-aaa-albums.html

226) The longest gaps between AAA albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-longest-gaps-between-aaa-albums.html

227) Top ten AAA drummers http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/03/top-ten-aaa-drummers-news-views-and.html

228) Top Ten AAA Singles (In Terms of 'A' and 'B' Sides) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/top-ten-aaa-singles-and-b-sides-news.html

229) The Stories Behind Six AAA Logos http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-stories-behind-six-aaa-logos.html

230) AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! The Best Ten AAA Screams http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-best-aaa-screams-top-ten-news-views.html

231) An AAA Pack Of Horses http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-songs-about-horses-top-ten-news.html

232) AAA Granamas - Sorry, Anagrams! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-anagrams-news-views-and-music-issue.html

233) AAA Surnames and Their Meanings http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-surnames-and-their-meanings-news.html

234) 20 Erroneous AAA Album Titles http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/twenty-erroneous-aaa-album-titles-news.html

235) The Best AAA Orchestral Arrangements http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/fifteen-great-aaa-string-parts-news.html

236) Top 30 Hilariously Misheard Album Titles/Lyrics http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/top-thirty-hilariously-misheard-aaa.html

237) Ten controversial AAA sackings - and whether they were right http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/ten-controversial-aaa-sackings-news.html

238) A Critique On Critiquing - In Response To Brian Wilson http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/a-critique-on-critiquing-in-response-to.html

239) The Ten MusicianS Who've Played On The Most AAA Albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/the-ten-musicians-whove-played-on-most.html

240) Thoughts on #CameronMustGo http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/thoughts-on-cameronmustgo.html

241) Random Recent Purchases (Kinks/Grateful Dead/Nils Lofgren/Rolling Stones/Hollies) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/six-random-recent-purchases-kinksg.html 

242) AAA Christmas Number Ones http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/aaa-christmas-number-ones.html 

243) AAA Review Of The Year 2014 (Top Releases/Re-issues/Documentaries/DVDs/Books/Songs/ Articles  plus worst releases of the year) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/aaa-review-of-year-2014.html

244) Me/CFS Awareness Week 2015 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/mecfs-awareness-week-at-alans-album.html

245) Why The Tory 2015 Victory Seems A Little...Suspicious http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/why-tory-victory-seems-deeply.html

246) A Plea For Peace and Tolerance After The Attacks on Paris - and Syria http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/a-plea-for-peace-and-toleration.html

247) AAA Review Of The Year 2015 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2015.html

248) The Fifty Most Read AAA Articles (as of December 31st 2015) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/the-fifty-most-read-aaa-posts-2008-2015.html

249) The Revised AAA Crossword! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016_07_10_archive.html


251) Half-A-Dozen Berries Plus One (An AAA Tribute To Chuck Berry) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/an-aaa-covers-tribute-to-chuck-berry.html

252) Guest Post: ‘The Skids – Joy’ (1981) by Kenny Brown  https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/guest-post-skids-joy-1981.html


254) Guest Post: ‘Supertramp – Some Things Never Change’ by Kenny Brown https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/06/guest-review-supertramp-some-things.html

255) AAA Review Of The Year 2018 https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2018.html

256) AAA Review Of The Year 2019 plus Review Of The Decade 2010-2019 https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-alans-album-archives-review-of-year.html



257) Tiermaker https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2019/06/alans-album-archives-on-tiermaker.html

258) #Coronastock https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2020/04/coronastock.html

259) #Coronadocstock https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2020/05/coronadocstock.html