Day 0165 - Hot Buttered Soul

Isaac Hayes "Hot Buttered Soul" (1969) - got it

Isaac was a hit songwriter before this album.  He was primarily writing songs for other artists.  I saw a documentary about Stax Records, and it sounds like at some point EVERYBODY got given a chance to do an album.  Isaac first release didn't fare so well, but his second go paid off nicely, and once he had the Shaft soundtrack under his belt his reputation was pretty well set in stone.

With music I generally prefer shorter more concise statements (but with plenty of exceptions to that rule).  The songs on this album are fairly long, but they are just so damned sultry and funky that it doesn't matter, plus this seems to be one of the earliest albums designed specifically for the audience to "get it on" to, so I guess you don't want the tracks to be 3-4 minutes long!  That being said, I definitely need to be in the right mood to listen to the lengthy spoken word intro to "By the Time I Get to Phoenix".

Day 0164 - Elephant Mountain

The Youngbloods "Elephant Mountain" (1969)

I really enjoyed this.  Laidback, pop and folk with bits of funky rock along the way.  It has a lot of kind of 'familiar' sounds.  At times there are hints of Led Zep's mellower moments, at other times you can hear various stages of the Beatles.

Some really beautiful melodies and chord sequences. Sunshiney acoustic songs.  "Double sunlight" in particular is gorgeous,

Day 0160 - Stand!

Sly and the Family Stone "Stand!" (1969) - got it

This has got to be one of the first serious 'funk' albums.  Those beats.  Dat bass.  Those horns. Sly and the family are one of those bands that have always been on my radar but I've never quite got around to checking them out properly.

A mixture of races and genders coming together to make great music, and one of the earliest bands to mix upbeat funky 'party' music with serious political commentary.  Great stuff, and as the "got it" at the top implies, I ended up picking up a copy of the album as a result of listening to it.

Day 0159 - Cloud Nine

The Temptations "Cloud Nine" (1969)

 
Love the Temptations, I only have a greatest hits, so some of this was new to me. The Temps got teamed up with a new lead singer and a hot producer who wanted to take them new places, moving beyond the standard motown sound to throw in some looser, slinkier funk beats and some whicky whicky wah wah guitar.  It's great stuff, and suits the Temps' vocal harmonies and passionate lead vocals down to the ground.
 

Day 0157 - Led Zeppelin II

Led Zeppelin "Led Zeppelin II" (1969)

This has to be a record: two entries in the 1001 albums book, with only a one other artist's album to separate them!

I'm more familiar with the non 'hits' on this album than I was from the debut.  There are further forays into delicate numbers with 'ramble on' (or parts of it are delicate) and the beautiful 'thank you'.  There's also plenty more big rockin' blues, including a favourite of mine 'heartbreaker'.

John Bonham's drums sound ENORMOUS throughout.

Day 0152 - From Elvis in Memphis

Elvis Presley "From Elvis in Memphis" (1969)

 
Elvis had been sinking a bit of time into making his movies.  He got back into the music thing with a TV special that was hugely popular and revitalised him and inspired him to get back into the studio. He went down to Memphis and unlike Dusty (in yesterday's post) he apparently had a laid back and enjoyable recording experience, dipping back into the RnB sound that worked so well for him in the past.

Another success, and some great tracks.  You can kind of hear the start of the added cheese that would segue the King into his sequinned disco suits and Vegas residencies.

Day 0148 - Basket of Light

The Pentangle "Basket of Light" (1969)

I'd never heard of these guys but it sounds as they're a sort of folk 'supergroup' led by Bert Jansch. Their music is a thing of beauty with occasionally complicated time signatures, wistful vocals and virtuosic musicianship. It all works to serve the music, rather than being musical wank just for the sake of it.  The mix of male and female voices works beautifully.