SE 5, EP 3: Bad Company - Bad Company

12/31/24 • 90 min

This week we dig into the 1973 self-titled debut by Bad Company.
Coming off of the success of Free, Paul Rodgers hooked up with Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs, and along with former Free drummer Simon Kirk, and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell, formed what may be the most American-sounding British band ever: Bad Company.
Rodgers soulful and powerful voice and Ralphs crunchy guitars punctuate songs about the old west, ballads about sea birds, and tunes about physical love that don't take much work to interpret. Bad Company was a monster hit, topping the charts in US and reaching # 3 in the UK. It is not an album full deep thought and self reflection, but that doesn't matter because it is and album of catchy licks and high octane fun that helped define the radio-freindy heavy rock of the 1970's.

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SE 5, EP 2: The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow

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This week we dive head first into the 1968 psychedelic rock opera by the Pretty Things, S.F. Sorrow.
Ask any music fan what was the first rock opera was and most would say Tommy by the Who. That answer would be wrong. Recorded on S.F. Sorrow started a year before the Who even went into the studio to begin Tommy. Unfortunately the release of the album was delayed and was released after Tommy, placing S.F. Sorrow into the "also ran" category for the vast majority of critics and the music buying public at the time. Which is unfortunate because the S.F. Sorrow is a wonderfully imaginative album, and the blueprint for many a concept album to come. One listen illustrates how inventive and influential it was for many albums at the time, including Tommy.
Starting out life as a blues-based band in the vein of the Rolling Stones (one time Stone's guitarist Dick Taylor was a founding member), by the time the Pretty Thing were set to record their fourth LP, they had become much more divers in the music they made, incorporating such diverse element as pop, psychedelia, folk, and even proto-metal) into their sound. And while the concept of S.F. Sorrow is a sad one, the music is remarkable and the lyrics compelling making repeated listens a must. S.F. is a true underrated masterpiece.

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SE 5, EP 4: Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

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On this episode, we take a deep dive into a “Listener Pick” - the fifth and final studio album by the Simon and Garfunkel, 1970's Bridge Over Trouble Water.
While the partnership between Simon and Garfunkel was under immense strain that elementally led to its demise, the duo went out with a bang. Bridge Over Trouble Water was a commercial smash, and is regarded by many as Simon and Garfunkel's masterpiece.
The album was their most ambitious and showed Simon had become a master song writer. In addition to folk music, the album incorporate elements of rock, gospel, R&B, Jazz, and world music . Known for its stirring title track (what Paul Simon called his "Yesterday") as well as its enduring singles, "The Boxer", "Cecelia", and "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)", the album won the Grammy for best album in 1971, while the title track won an additional three awards, including for record and song of the year, and has sold over 25,000,000 copies worldwide.

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