Spirit - Dark Eyed Woman / So Little Time To Fly / 1984

Spirit had only formed in 1967 in the ashes of a previous band called Red Roosters and already by 1968 the band had released its first two albums, scored a top 40 hit with 'I Got A Line On You' AND was asked by French film director Jacques Demy to record the soundtrack to his film 'Model Shop' which ultimately would be shelved until it finally saw a release in 2005. The band had also undergone a massive touring schedule yet the pressures of the record labels were to consistently pump out product no matter at what cost to the quality. Having capitulated, the result was the rather disjointed third release Clear which pretty much gets panned as Spirit's weakest moment during its initial four album run with the classic lineup.
Although Clear featured the by then standard mix of songs written by both guitarist / vocalist Randy California and drummer Jay Ferguson, the album felt more like an odds and sods kind of affair with tracks scraped together for the sake of releasing an album's worth of material. The band itself has always expressed a distaste for having to release an album before it was actually ready to do so but nevertheless the album emerged in August 1969 and despite it all doesn't really sound that bad once you know the story behind why it sounds so unusually eclectic. The band delivered its usual 60s psychedelic rock soaked bluesy pop tracks and opens with the instantly catchy 'Dark Eyed Woman' followed by 'Apple Orchard' which showcases California's tasty guitar soloing and the band's excellent vocal harmonies.
While the band starts out in classic Spirit form, the album becomes a bit more unpredictable starting with 'Ground Hog Day' which suddenly abandons the 60s pop psych for a blues rock sound as if the band was channeling its inner John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers. Interestingly Spirit also seems to have written catchy melodies that others would later borrow and make their own. The rather unremarkable track 'Cold Wind' has an intro that sounds just like the main melody for Bill Wither's 1972 smash hit 'Lean On Me.' Add that to the 'Stairway To Heaven' debacle from the band's debut album track 'Taurus' and perhaps Spirit was one of the most plagiarized bands of the entire 60s!
Given the soundtrack score fell through, the band suddenly had a bunch of extra tracks it could pad the album with however given the three tracks 'Ice,' 'Clear' and 'Caught' sound more like something off a Weather Report album in an all instrumental jazz fusion light mode, these tracks totally clash with the brash ballsy blue rock songs such as 'Policeman's Ball' and 'I'm Truckin.' Despite sounding like totally different bands, the jazz rock tracks are actually quite brilliantly performed sounding a bit like 70s Soft Machine at times with beautiful keyboard tones and California's excellent fusion guitar soloing. The rather anachronistic 'Give A Life, Take A Life' sounds as if it was one of the band member's first songs written in the early 60s with a dreamy traditional pop song with pop harmonies right out of the early 60s.
Despite its oddball mix of tracks, Spirit didn't really have it in them to craft inferior material. While the album doesn't hold together as a whole, the tracks taken on their own terms hold up pretty well although not all are created equal. For a throw-it-together job, Spirit rose to the occasion and piece-mealed a decent selection of tracks that just happen to sound a bit quirky sitting next to each other. Newer remastered versions of the album also feature a number of bonus tracks including non-album singles such as the excellent '1984.' The band would have the proper amount of time to work on its next album 'Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus' which would got down in history as their strongest work.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=13051  

 

Rod Stewart - (I Know) I'm Losing You / Mandolin Wind / Lost Paraguayos / Twistin' The Night Away

The focus of today’s ‘Take One’ feature is a idiosyncratic little ditty composed by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood and released by Stewart (in some countries) as the flip side to his 1972 number one hit ‘You Wear It Well’. ‘Lost Paraguayos’is a humorous narrative set to the quintessential and solid instrumental backing group Stewart used exclusively at the time. The song is available as an album track on side A of Stewart’s classic 1972 solo LP Never a Dull Moment.
The song spotlights the deft arranging talents of Stewart and showcases the usual Stewart suspects, Micky Waller on drums, Stewart collaborator Martin Quittenton on acoustic and of course Ronnie Wood on guitars and bass. Stewart’s compositions often had a unique folk thread running through their foundations and this track concentrates on Stewart’s blending of both pastoral folk elements and pub rock. His vocals can never be doubted in this era and this track allows for argument that he was the best rock vocalist of the time.
A ticklish acoustic filigree begins the song with the campfire accompaniment of a solitary tambourine. The song bobs around expectantly with Rod sweetly laying out his reasoning for abandoning his overnight love. Stewart first lists what he likes about his lady before initiating the litany of reasons she can’t join him on his journey. Stewart sings to his female companion with buzzed buoyancy, explaining to her that the inclement weather is bringing him down and he must be on his way to some ‘South American sun’. He admonishes his lady friend that she’s too young to come with him, she may cause him trouble and that ‘she sure don’t look like his daughter’. The story follows a pebbled road to camp but will soon find its way to the expressway as Stewart plans his musical getaway.
Stewart’s marvelous vocals are made more enjoyable by his suspiciously hearty laughing the follows the lines ending with, ‘Ya know I wouldn’t tell you no lie’. The brisk rustic strumming works in conjunction with the eavesdropping nature of the narrative, coloring a wonderful scene developed as well through Stewart’s lyrical humor and the sympathetic instrumental arrangement. 
The songs humble beginning in a contemporary folk setting patiently shifts to exuberant rocking and rolling by the halfway point. The contrast between the ‘shade’ of Stewart’s current situation as opposed to his eventual destination of fun and sun is the crux of his debate with the unseen lady of the song as well as the basis of  his many excuses to her. The changes of  Stewart’s emotional state are reflected by the developing instrumental dynamics that take place throughout the duration of the track.
A sunny water front mid song guitar breakdown following the fist verses elicits the big ‘bang-bang’ drums and bass that enter for the third verse.  Woody, in the sneaky way that made him famous begins to play a beautiful muted counter melody on bass under Stewart’s ascending and now urgent vocalizations. The layered acoustic guitars exude vibrant tones that bring to mind other legendary and helplessly catchy Stewart tracks from the era, ‘Maggie May’ and the ‘A’ side to this song ‘You Wear It Well’.  The song’s anxiousness continues to increase as I can envision Stewart already has one foot out the door and one eye on the Southern reaches.
A  Mexican Banda joins in on swelling horns as Stewart bids ‘farewell’ in a series of excited vocal exclamations. Woody catches up from behind on electric guitar and offers the street musicians a descending melody line played in perfect, yet gently contradictory time to the horn licks. The clear blue guitar line reminds me of the introductory Chuck Berry ’Sweet Little Sixteen’ lick, but placed in a brand new context. 
The song soon reveals a huge fadeout reaching the crest of a musical arc as bottles pour, the breeze blows and the celebratory destination of the sun is reached. Stewart reports lyrically, ‘Good Bye honey, it aint’ funny’ on the fade, while a dusty street dance has been initiated and glorious musical independence has been achieved. The bass is particularly active here and a gold star must be offered to Woody for his assistance in composing the multitude of melodic interplay the dresses the songs framework.  From: https://talkfromtherockroom.com/2015/07/take-one-rod-stewart-lost-paraguayos.html

K's Choice - White Kite Fauna / To This Day / Paradise In Me

She strides into the room, her wild, bleached mane damp from a
long day of interviews and rehearsal. He follows close behind with
a casual gait and cool, unaffected manner. Lounging in the bar of
the Troubadour on a sultry Los Angeles afternoon, modern rock band
K’s Choice oozes quintessential rock star quality.
But over apple juice and insightful reflections, siblings Sarah
and Gert Bettens seem grounded by the Belgian comfort that they are
quick to remember and eager to discuss.
"A lot of the things that I wrote about in this record are
inspired by, or just triggered by, melancholy and missing home,"
lead singer Sarah reveals. "It’s a very strange way of living,
always being away from home – the same nine people on a tour bus
coming home for, like, one week and then going on the road for two
months."
This nostalgic feeling drives their emotional songwriting,
culminating in their third and latest album, "Cocoon Crash." The
Bettens lead the band, which includes guitarist Jan Van Sichem Jr.,
drummer Bart Van Der Zeeuw and bass guitarist Eric Grossman.
Last week, K’s Choice kicked off their American club tour after
a 10-day stint with the Lilith Fair tour. Beginning in San
Francisco, they stopped next at the Troubadour in Los Angeles on
Tuesday, dispensing their version of what Americans have coined
"alternative rock."
"(‘Alternative music’) means something else in Belgium than it
means here, and I haven’t figured out yet exactly what it means,"
Sarah admits.
The two explain that "alternative" music in their country
remains faithful to its name; a "really original" and "really
experimental" form that doesn’t necessarily apply to their
style.
"I don’t think we’re an experimental band," Sarah says. "It’s
pretty straightforward songwriting – emotional, acoustic guitar,
about things about ourselves. But here, I’m not really sure what it
means. A lot of things that are ‘alternative’ seem really
mainstream to me."
But she adds, "We’re not just the pop band who has one song, and
that’s it. I think we take our lyrics very seriously, and we really
try to make something that, although it doesn’t sound experimental,
we really try to make something very genuine."
Their musical philosophy imbues every aspect of their
songwriting in "Cocoon Crash," from the friendship-inspired ballad,
"Winners," to the self-affirming "Believe." Their key distinction
from the oxymoronic "mainstream alternative" scene is their
unabashed willingness to be positive.
"We wrote a song about that," Gert says. "It’s called, ‘Too Many
Happy Faces.’ It’s the quote of a singer in a Belgian band that
told friends of ours after a show that he liked (it), but he
thought there were too many happy faces … It is kind of cool to
be negative. We want to emphasize that it doesn’t need to be that
way."
Their thought-provoking lyrics fused with an edgy, electric
sound was what attracted Alanis Morisette when she stumbled upon
the relative unknowns at a music festival in Germany in 1996.
Morisette invited the band to join her American tour. Their break
coincided with the growing popularity of their single, "Not An
Addict," which ultimately became their biggest hit.
While the song’s success propelled them to American notoriety,
pressure to deliver another hit plagued K’s Choice when recording
"Cocoon Crash."
"The record company kept telling me, ‘We don’t have the new "Not
An Addict" yet,’" Sarah said. "There’s nothing that stimulates you
less than people who tell you stuff like that … but while we were
working, we were just trying to make the best record we could make.
You can’t do anything more than that."
The result is an album with a greater intensity than their 1995
sophomore release "Paradise in Me," said Sarah. She attributes this
new level of quality to the band’s growing closeness through the
years.
"Cocoon Crash" is also characterized by a wide range of musical
genres, from folk to rock.
"To both of us, an interesting thing on our albums is a lot of
dynamics in the lyrics (but) especially in the music," Gert says.
"We try to do that live too. That surprise element is always
interesting."
The dynamics of their live act was evident in Tuesday’s show at
the Troubadour with a variety of songs that pleasantly jerked the
mood of the evening from smooth ballads to jolting rhythms.
Sarah shifted from song to song with a rasped intensity that the
unaccustomed ear could have mistaken for hoarseness. But fans knew
it was distinctively Sarah.
While K’s Choice entertained with a high energy that infected
the eager crowd, their performance left die-hard devotees
uninspired. The band’s slow start dragged for the first handful of
numbers but managed to gain momentum once they unleashed "Not An
Addict."
With their growing popularity in the United States, K’s Choice
seems far removed from their much-missed home. But their pensive
lyrics act as an ongoing reminder of their true priorities, much
like the Celtic cross tattooed on Sarah’s forearm.
"I wanted something that, for me, meant that I’ll always believe
in something," Sarah explains. "But I didn’t want specifically a
Christian cross because I really don’t know what I’m going to
believe in 50 years. But I know, for me, it means that life will
always have a deeper meaning, and there’s a universal truth,
whatever it is."
From: https://dailybruin.com/1998/08/02/making-the-right-choice

Jackson Browne - Doctor My Eyes

Jackson Browne's songs often ask if it's better to see the world through the harsh lens of reality, or to just leave on the rose-colored glasses. He does just that in "Doctor My Eyes," asking if was unwise to leave his eyes open for so long, as now he must contend with a "slow parade of fears."
The song had a very literal inspiration. "I did, in fact, have something happen to my eyes," Browne told Rolling Stone. "They became red, I could barely see - I didn't know what it was. They gave me some drops: 'Keep your eyes shut for a few days.' By the time I wrote this, I could see again. But it was a metaphor for having seen too much, a loss of innocence."
Originally, the lyrics were about a guy who tries to get help, but is doomed because it's too late. Browne's record company thought it was too much of a downer, so he made it into a story about a guy who has gone through a lot in life and comes to accept his fate.
Browne's Southern California musical cohorts David Crosby and Graham Nash sang harmony vocals. Brown was signed to Asylum Records, which was owned by David Geffen. According to Jackson, Geffen asked Nash if he thought there was a single on the album (Browne's first), and Nash picked this one, with the proviso that Browne add a high vocal part, which he did.
Browne was just 23 when this song was released, but he was well known in the Southern California music community, where he had high standing with the likes of Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. A few years earlier, he was part of an early permutation of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, which ended up recording two of his songs: "Melissa" and "Holding." He also worked with Nico and Tim Buckley as a backing musician; Nico covered Browne's song "These Days" in 1967.
Browne, though, had never had his own band, so putting one together for the album was a challenge. He ended up anchoring it around bass player Lee Sklar and drummer Russ Kunkel, who where James Taylor's rhythm section and much-admired session pros. Instead of working with a high-powered producer, Browne put engineer Richard Orshoff in that role and gave his players lots of input. They were able to transform the songs he had been playing solo on acoustic guitar into full arrangements.  From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/jackson-browne/doctor-my-eyes