My track-by-track tales follow the bare-bones list. Audio log of the show unavailable, alas, this week.

1. Montrose, Space Station #5
2. Atomic Rooster, Head In The Sky
3. Camel, Never Let Go
4. J.J. Cale, Stay Around
5. Steely Dan, I Got The News
6. The Rolling Stones, Terrifying
7. Boz Scaggs, Runnin’ Blue
8. Paris, Black Book
9. Fleetwood Mac, Born Enchanter
10. Joe Cocker, Hitchcock Railway
11. Jimi Hendrix, Ezy Ryder
12. Bill Withers, Harlem
13. Peter Gabriel, The Rhythm Of The Heat
14. Pink Floyd, Cymbaline
15. Ten Years After, Convention Prevention
16. Steve Earle, I’m Looking Through You (Beatles cover)
17. Traffic, Many A Mile To Freedom
18. Frank Zappa/The Mothers Of Invention (credited as The Mothers), Fifty-Fifty
19. Rare Earth, Ma

My track-by-track tales:

1. Montrose, Space Station #5 . . . Montrose has been top of mind because I watched a documentary on Sammy Hagar last week, so here you go. Cool ‘space’ intro and then into a propulsive hard rock tune from Montrose’s self-titled debut album, released in 1973 with Hagar of course on lead vocals. It’s where the eventual connections between Hagar and Van Halen arguably began. Eddie Van Halen was a fan of Montrose guitarist Ronnie Montrose and the Montrose album was produced by Ted Templeman, five years before Van Halen’s debut which was produced by Templeman among many Van Halen albums he was involved with, although just one, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, with the Van Hagar version of the band. Templeman, well-known for his production work with The Doobie Brothers and Van Morrison, also worked on solo albums by both Hagar and David Lee Roth.

2. Atomic Rooster, Head In The Sky . . . Driving rocker from a progressive British band whose roots are traced to The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown (known for the single Fire) which featured the late keyboardist Vincent Crane and drummer Carl Palmer, before he left in 1970 after one album with Rooster to join Emerson, Lake and Palmer. This is from the band’s third album, In Hearing Of, released in 1971.

3. Camel, Never Let Go . . . From the English progressive rock band’s self-titled debut album in 1973, melding acoustic and harder rock flourishes.

4. J.J. Cale, Stay Around . . . Typical bluesy, relaxed groove from J.J., an artist I often say did essentially the same thing for countless albums yet was always different enough to never be boring or repetitive. This is the title cut from a 2019 posthumous release of to that point unreleased material. It was put together by Cale’s widow Christine Lakeland, who was a member of his band and appeared on many albums, and his longtime friend and manager, Mike Kappus, who also worked extensively with John Lee Hooker and Robert Cray, among others.

5. Steely Dan, I Got The News . . . Funky, jazzy track from an often funky, jazzy band, from 1977’s Aja album.

6. The Rolling Stones, Terrifying . . . A swinging tune from the 1989 album Steel Wheels. It was the fourth single released from the album, did reasonably well yet isn’t among the band’s well-known tracks in terms of widespread recognition. So, I’m happy to use it as a relative deep cut.

7. Boz Scaggs, Runnin’ Blue . . . Many people I think remember Boz Scaggs for hits like Lido Shuffle and Lowdown but, long before those hits he was a member of the pre-commercial hits Steve Miller Band during that group’s early, psychedelic and blues period, then a fine solo artist in his own right as evidenced by this rhythm and blues tune from his 1971 album Boz Scaggs & Band.

8. Paris, Black Book . . . Hard rocking tune by a hard rocking, Led Zeppelin-ish band put together by mid-period Fleetwood Mac member and, later, solo artist Bob Welch, after he left Fleetwood Mac following 1974’s Heroes Are Hard To Find album. Also in the band, which released two albums in 1976, was former/original Jethro Tull bass player Glenn Cornick.

9. Fleetwood Mac, Born Enchanter . . . And here’s Welch in a different light, on this jazzy, er, enchanting tune he wrote and sang for the aforementioned 1974 Fleetwood Mac album Heroes Are Hard To Find. It was Welch’s last of five albums with the Mac, which recruited Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham and went on to massive commercial success. The band was essentially three different groups: the early, blues-oriented outfit led by Peter Green, the Welch period and the Nicks-Buckingham lineup, all excellent in their own ways.

10. Joe Cocker, Hitchcock Railway . . . Bouncy, jaunty track from Cocker’s second album, the 1969 release Joe Cocker! Cocker is joined by a host of session players including The Grease Band. That group, which backed Cocker at Woodstock, included such luminaries as keyboardist/bassist Chris Stainton, whose long list of credits include albums with Eric Clapton, Leon Russell (who also plays on the Cocker album), Spooky Tooth, Pete Townshend and Ian Hunter, and guitarist Henry McCullough, later of Paul McCartney and Wings.

11. Jimi Hendrix, Ezy Ryder . . . From the first of countless posthumous Hendrix releases, the Cry Of Love which came out in March, 1971. I remember my older brother having it, him being a big Hendrix fan who introduced me to Jimi’s music. The album was comprised of material Hendrix was working on for a planned fourth studio album, which he never completed before his death. Ezy Ryder, a funk-driven rocker, is one of the few available studio recordings by the Band of Gypsys – Hendrix, bass player Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles. The trio is well-known for the album Band of Gypsys, recorded at New York City’s Fillmore East venue as the calendar flipped from 1969 to 1970.

12. Bill Withers, Harlem . . . Ever-escalating soul track from Withers’ 1971 album Just As I Am. It’s the one featuring his biggest hit, Ain’t No Sunshine and is notable for the who’s who of musicians backing Withers, including Stephen Stills, Booker T. Jones and Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn of of Booker T. and The M.G.’s fame, and session drummer to the stars Jim Keltner.

13. Peter Gabriel, The Rhythm Of The Heat . . . Haunting track from Gabriel’s 1982 album, his fourth. It was called Security in North America and featured the hit Shock The Monkey, although Gabriel reluctantly went along with the ‘Security’ nomenclature the record company wanted in order to differentiate the album from what preceded it. The first four Gabriel albums are officially called, simply, Peter Gabriel but the first three are also unofficially known and identifiable as, in order, Car, Scratch and Melt based on their cover art.

14. Pink Floyd, Cymbaline . . . Early Floyd, a pastoral-type track whose sound is at odds with the dark lyrics. It’s from the More movie soundtrack, released in 1969. The movie, about drug addiction, is currently available on YouTube but, regardless, the album hangs together well as a stand-alone statement.

15. Ten Years After, Convention Prevention . . . Typically fine boogie rock from TYA, from 1972’s Rock & Roll Music To The World album.

16. Steve Earle, I’m Looking Through You (Beatles cover) . . . Earle gives the Rubber Soul song the country/bluegrass treatment; from his 1995 album Train a Comin’.

17. Traffic, Many A Mile To Freedom . . . Beautiful track from The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys album, released in 1971. Jethro Tull, and I love that band, isn’t the only group employing fabulous flute playing – here courtesy Chris Wood.

18. Frank Zappa/The Mothers Of Invention (credited as simply The Mothers), Fifty-Fifty . . . Typically great guitar by Zappa on this one from 1973’s Over-Nite Sensation, coupled with the renowned Jean-Luc Ponty on violin. Vocals by Ricky Lancelotti, lost to the world to a drug overdose in 1980, age 35.

19. Rare Earth, Ma . . . Epic, 17-minutes and change title track from the band’s 1973 album. Written by Motown ace songwriter/producer Norman Whitfield, who often teamed with Barrett Strong to write such classics as Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone, to which Ma is considered to be something of a companion piece. Among their other collaborations: I Heard It Through The Grapevine, War and Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me).