Posts From Mark Leviton
Yes’ ‘The Yes Album’: Brilliance Under Pressure
Their record label was looking for commercial progress in order to justify keeping them under contract. This 1971 classic put the band on the prog map.
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Boz Scaggs’ ‘Silk Degrees’: Game-Changer
Looking back at the recording of the album, Scaggs said that while listening to the playbacks in 1975 he had the sense that something special had happened.
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Andrew Gold’s ‘What’s Wrong with This Picture?’: All In the Family
His singing fit in well with the laid-back L.A. singer-songwriter milieu, but it took him a while to find his first real pop hit.
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Strawbs’ ‘Bursting at the Seams’: Poetry and Pop
The band’s fifth album showed Dave Cousins and company turning firmly toward more complex material.
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Bob Dylan’s ‘Desire’: Story Time
Songs from the best-selling album continued to be heavily featured in the Rolling Thunder Revue live performances.
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Smokey Robinson & the Miracles’ ‘Going to a Go-Go’: Life of the Party
Their 1965 release was their only studio album to make the Billboard top 10 during the ’60s.
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Patti Smith’s ‘Horses’: Poetry In Motion
She said, “Of course I wanted to work in the rock ’n’ roll tradition. I didn’t know any other tradition existed.”
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Rockpile’s ‘Seconds of Pleasure’: One And Done
By any measure they were a great rock ‘n’ roll band, but their sole album under the group’s name didn’t always show why.
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Stevie Wonder’s ‘Talking Book’: Passion, Pain & Love
Said the Motown great of the groundbreaking 1972 album, “I wanted to express various things that I felt…the passions, emotion and love.”
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Genesis’ ‘Seconds Out’: From Paris With Love
Released in 1977, the 2-LP set showcased the band’s great live performances and was a major worldwide hit.
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