I bought my first long-playing records around 1974, after I had earned some money with my first holiday job. To be honest, I bought three albums on recommendation. Yessongs and Dylan's Before The Flood because at the time I thought live albums showed the artists unvarnished and with a double or triple album I would have got more for the money I spent. I also bought Bruce Springsteen's second album.
Springsteen wasn't the boss back then and was largely unknown. I actually only bought the album on the recommendation of the salesman in the record shop, but I have never regretted it. The album is now over 50 years old and I still listen to it from time to time. It has none of Yes's overblown organ sound but a lot of Dylan, especially the gift of telling stories in the songs.
For me, his quieter and atmospherically dense songs have always been in the foreground and here he has collected many of his best and most melancholic songs. With Rosalita he laid the foundation for his later status. A record that has stayed with me throughout Springsteen's career and shows what he was all about. A poet from New Jersey who dreamed his dream of rock ‘n’ roll.
M. Walking On The Water was a German indie-band formed in the mid 80's and one of those bands a lot of people could agree. From the beginning they were hard to categorize because they added many unusual instruments like accordion and a violin to their sound. In 1983 they released an EP with six cover versions from prog-rock and hard rock era. I've seen this cover and I recognized that it was a tribute to Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother. And their versions are worth to listen because they were more interpretations of songs almost everybody knew. It was also courageous to cover songs from this era. I don't know any other band that tried this.
A few days ago I was in the train on the way to my office with earphones on listening to music and reading a novel. Then a a song appeared and I stopped reading. It was Fragile by Sun Kil Moon from their latest record released a few month ago. I seldom listened to intimate lyrics like that. Mark Kozelek tells us about losing a close friend on leukemia and how they enjoyed listening to Chris Squire and listening to Yes. A very sad story and I remember to those who died very too early during the last decades. May they rest in peace.
This series run since almost one year and it was a great fun to show you some German artists that made a very good music during the last 40 years. I tried to show you the kind of music German musicians were able to do. But like every series it has to come to an end. The last band I would like to introduce is M. Walking On The Water. It's a band that was formed in Krefeld, a bigger town close to Düsseldorf in the middle of Germany. They were an Indie-band I liked very much when they released their records. A very own sound according to bands like The Woodentops and other bands in this genre. In 1993 they released an EP called 'Pictures of an Exhibitionist' covering old hits by King Crimson, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Caravan, Yes and Deep Purple. Not the ordinary songs to cover and in their interpretation something special.
This will be almost the end of this little series. Next week I'll make a mash-up of German songs that mean a lot to me. It might be distressed but that is even my musical background the time I got older.
Back in Europe after three weeks in Sri Lanka. Never had a jetlag like this before. Maybe I got too much years on by back to bear it like a 20 something. During my vacation I've got pretty much time to think about this and that and what's going on. I also had to let pass the opportunity in rest to reflect my present life in myself. Step by step I got the idea to post some of my minds the next months. Now it is 40 years ago I fell into music (someone will call it mania also). Throughout my whole life music was a part of it. The basic idea is to recapitulate every year with my (musical) education, historical events and other what was important. I try to present for every year a long-playing record which is important to me for this year. Maybe, however, even some songs. I have acquired these records not everyone this year, however, I try to return the mood of this time.
1974 was my last year in regular school, before I went to grammar school. It was also the first year I worked during summer break to earn some money to buy my a record player. After six weeks I've got enough money to get it and also my first long-playing records. I still remember how proud I was when I hold my first record in my hand. It was the triple record from YES - Yessongs. Not that I was in to this kind of music, but I thought that I got pretty much music for less money. And so thus synthie-sounds floated by my room daily. It was also the year I went to my first concert. Some older friends took me with to Munich to watch the Faces. Since then I was infected to the harder style of music. I was so much impressed of Rod Stewart and his physical presence on stage so that I knew that this would be the kind I want to have in future times.
Songs that were in the charts these year: Lot of Philly sound like MFSOP, Carl Douglas, ABBA because of ESC, and Mud that directed me into classic R'n'R
as well as Ace who told me the way of British Rhythm and Blues, Motown and all that stuff that was on their first record (by the way maybe one of the best record cover ever) Five-a-side.
During the next years I have discovered for myself the following records from this year and love qualified:
Van Morrison - It's too late to stop now
Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel
Lou Reed - Rock and Roll Animal
Loggins & Messina - On Stage
Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness' First Finale
Minnie Riperton - Perfect Angel
Supertramp - Crime of The Century
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
There was one record that was published this year that will be in my heart forever. It's from Joni Mitchell. Miles of Aisles is a 1974 double live album by Joni Mitchell backed by the L.A. Express, recorded on the Court and Spark tour. It reached #2 on the charts and became one of her biggest-selling records. Her backing band was filled with a lot of jazz and blues musicians like Robben Ford and John Guerin. I love this record for it's smooth sound, the clear voice of Joni Mitchel and also for her lyrics. The older I get the more I recognize her wisdom she had 40 years ago.
In this year Germany also won the world championship in football, although they were not the best team at all - but the most successful one. The best team in this tournament is still the team from Netherlands with their genius Johann Cruyff. Also the Polish team impressed me much. But the main reason to win this competition was that we had the probably best striker ever: Gerd Müller.
