Help Me Identify two obscure songs from the 70s!

November 7, 2006 8:49 AM

Can you name these two songs from around 1971? They were taped from a campus radio station but defy all efforts at identification. Help! I've put short .mp3 excerpts here
posted by storybored to media & arts (22 comments total)

Zappa? I don't know Zappa very well, so I may be way off, but that would be my first guess...
posted by sneakyalien at 9:19 AM on November 7, 2006

1 is Emerson Lake and Palmer. From Tarkus. Pre-arthritis, I could play Greg Lake's bass chops here note for note.
posted by hal9k at 9:22 AM on November 7, 2006

(1) You don't have longer excerpts? That would be helpful, especially for the first one. Vocals do a world of good for this sort of thing, if they exist.

(2) The lyrics on the second one, unfortunately, don't ring any bells for me or for Google. (You probably know that already.) Can you give some details on where this was taped from? I mean, if it was taped recently, you should be able to get in contact with whoever did the show. The kind of people who DJ at campus radio stations are usually pretty approachable, and will remember playing specific songs at specific times, especially if you can describe/ play those songs for them.

(3) Paging jonmc.
posted by koeselitz at 9:27 AM on November 7, 2006

Sorry. 1 may be Tank (ELP- the first album)
posted by hal9k at 9:29 AM on November 7, 2006

For 2 Just throwing out possibilities... Lead singer from Savoy Brown (and later Foghat) Lonesome Dave Peverett. Also another singer, also from a later Savoy Brown: Dave Walker.
posted by hal9k at 9:39 AM on November 7, 2006

This is probably crazy but have you contacted the station to ask if they still have logs from then? I worked at two different college stations, but I don't recall how long we kept the logs.

(I doubt they'd have them, but in case they're in some dusty corner somewhere, you might luck out and find someone with enough energy to go look)
posted by pinky at 9:48 AM on November 7, 2006

The first cut is either from Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Tarkus, or Yes's Fragile, probably the former

The second cut has lyrics---i'd write them out and then google it and see what you come up with
posted by DudeAsInCool at 11:56 AM on November 7, 2006

1st cut is definitely ELP, almost definitely from their self titled 1st album. Growing up I had that album and not Tarkus (just the live album version of Tarkus). I'll second hal9k's guess of "Tank", but can't confirm it until tonight. ELP didn't make the transition to CD in my music collection, let alone iPod.
posted by dr. fresh at 12:05 PM on November 7, 2006

Thanks for all the hints so far. Here's some more detail:
Both songs were recorded from radio station CJOM-FM in
Windsor in 1971, probably during the summer. (CJOM had
a brief stint as an "underground" or progressive station in
those days.)

The first song is entirely instrumental and features an
ELP-like synthesizer. (For years I thought it was on Tarkus,
but it's not.) It's quite a long song - over 6 minutes.

The second song is shorter (4 minutes or so) and reminds me of something Deep Purple could have done: the band features an organ as well as the usual guitar, bass and drums.
posted by storybored at 2:52 PM on November 7, 2006

1st is ELP, and I'm voting for Pictures at an Exhibition.

2nd: not a clue, but I certainly recognize the genre and the sound.
posted by jokeefe at 3:02 PM on November 7, 2006

I should add: it sounds like the raft of semi-Zeppellin imitators that were floating around way back when, is what I mean.

And after reading your last comment: definitely Pictures at an Exhibition.
posted by jokeefe at 3:05 PM on November 7, 2006

*cough* Zeppelin, I mean. I bet jonmc could narrow it down better than that...
posted by jokeefe at 3:05 PM on November 7, 2006

Pictures at an Exhibition.
posted by jokeefe at 3:08 PM on November 7, 2006

clip #1 is definitely from the ELP self titled album. I have it playing right now. It's hard to tell where the songs start and end on my cassette, but I'm rather confident this is the "Atropos" section of "The Three Fates". This piece has three sections: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. I'm calling Clotho the church organ solo, Lachesis the 7/8 piano/drums/vibraslap workout section, and Atropos the section where the bass and synthesizer start, piano ostinato in the background sometimes. This includes the "trading twos" section between synth/bass and drums heard in clip #1. I think Tank starts immediately after this section, with a long winded drum solo leading into a loping groove with Emerson piling on the square wave harmonies. After the fade out, "Lucky Man" starts, ending the album.
posted by dr. fresh at 10:33 PM on November 7, 2006

What Dr. Fresh said. Definitely NOT Pictures At An Exhibition (old Modest is spinning in his grave). Definitely not Yes' Fragile, although it is a very Chris Squire-ish bassline.
posted by Dunwitty at 3:12 AM on November 8, 2006

The Zeppish track sounded like Grand Funk Railroad to me, especially the vocals, but I don't recognize the song. The other possibility is Uriah Heep.

The keyboardy track, I thought sounded a little like Sugarloaf, but I could be way off there.
posted by jonmc at 6:50 AM on November 8, 2006

(I work at a music database company, so I've emailed a few co-workers even geeker than me. Maybe they'll narrow it down)
posted by jonmc at 6:56 AM on November 8, 2006

On reconsideration, the organ on #2 is making me lean heavily towards Uriah Heep. That was their signature thing.
posted by jonmc at 7:37 AM on November 8, 2006

Kudos to you, dr. fresh for nailing mystery #1!

Thanks for dropping by jonmc! Much appreciated. Waiting with bated breath on what your uber-music friends say about mystery #2.

Personal clarification: These two songs were actually taped by a buddy of mine. In the comment where i added the details about the songs, there should have been quotes around the three paragraphs. My buddy is also going to try to get the lyrics for mystery song #2.
posted by storybored at 1:25 PM on November 8, 2006

They said pretty much the same thing as me. With longer samples we might be able to be more accurate.
posted by jonmc at 3:22 PM on November 8, 2006

Okay, let me see if i can get the full mp3, jon.

For now here's the best we can do on the lyrics: The ?'s are unclear words/lines.

----
? don't stop we've got too much at stake
Don't look back at me
Troubles I got can't count 'em on my fingers
?

Yeah lookin' at me

(chorus:)
Life is full of changes
?
Life is just a whirlpool
?

? don't stop we got to keep moving
This ain't no time to tell
Troubles I got the Lord knows how many
?

(chorus:)

don't you run, it's time to get off
Think our day is done

?? don't you run, it's time to slow down,
? our work is done
Watch me run!

total time: approx 4:30
posted by storybored at 7:55 AM on November 9, 2006

I've now posted the entire mystery song #2 as an mp3 if this is any help!
posted by storybored at 8:08 PM on November 9, 2006