After a music career of twenty years Quincy Jones finally made it on the map as a solo musician. Previously he had enjoyed big success producing and composing arrangements for Leslie Gore, Count Basie, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie and countless others. But it wasn’t until 1974 that he finally made it into the top ten with one of his own albums. “Body Heat,” his 24th studio album made it up to #6 on the US album charts as well as #1 on the Jazz charts and his first to reach #1 on the R&B charts. His highest charting album before that was 1969’s “Walking In Space” and 1971’s “Smackwater Jack” each reaching #56 on the US album chart.
"Boogie Joe The Grinder"
What was it that made “Body Heat” more successful than it’s preceding albums? Could it have been Quincy’s decided embrace of a more urban sound? Maybe it was the inclusion of Minnie Riperton and Al Jarreau performing “If I Ever Lose This Heaven.” Could it have been the momentum Q had been working up beginning in 1969 with his album “Walking In Space”? Whatever it was “Body Heat” struck a chord with the music listening public and rallied Q to that day when he joined with Michael Jackson to produce the super mega-hit “Thriller.”
“Boys In The Trees” was one of Carly Simon’s most successful studio albums in her entire career. The album reached #10 in the US and #4 in Canada as well as #27 in Australia. “Boys In The Trees” signified a change in musical style for Carly capitalizing on a stylishly serene approach.
After her huge success with the James Bond theme “Nobody Does It Better,” Carly went into the studio with producer Arif Mardin to record “Boys In The Tree.” During this time period Mardin’s productions were known to incorporate bits of R&B and disco into other genres such as pop and jazz. In 1978 Mardin also produced Chaka Khan’s album “Chaka” which includes the classic “I’m Every Woman”
Three singles were released from “Boys In the Tree” including the international hit “You Belong To Me,” written by Doobie Brothers leader Michael McDonald and Carly Simon. The song was originally recorded by the Doobie Brothers in 1977 and featured on their album “Livin’ On The Faultline.” This was not the first Doobie Brothers song Carly recorded, she also recorded “It Keeps Me Runnin’” a song she featured on her 1976 album “Another Passenger.” Carly took “You Belong To Me” to #6 in the US and #5 in Canada. The second single was a cover of the Everly Brothers classic “Devoted To You,” this was a charming duet performed with James Taylor, this song was not as big a hit as the previous but managed to make it to US #36 and Canada #50. The third single “Tranquillo (Melt My Heart),” written by Carly Simon, James Taylor and Arif Mardin, was a disco tinged rocker that failed to chart but made a great album track.
"You Belong To Me"
Highlights on the album include “De Bat (Fly In Me Face)” a calypso influenced reggae tune shows off Carly’s sense of humor along with backing vocals by James Taylor. “In A Small Moment” is a great predecessor to her work on her 1981 album “Torch.”
The album won a Grammy award for Best Album Package, which went to Tony Lane, and Johnny Lee, who designed the album cover and packaging. The song “You Belong To Me” received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance but lost to Anne Murray’s “You Needed Me.”
Considered a one-hit wonder, Maria Muldaur, had been on the music scene for ten years performing with various musicians and bands including a band her then husband, Geoff Muldaur, was in called Jim Kweskin and The Jug Band. After the Jug Band broke up Geoff and Maria released tow albums as a duo in 1968 and 1972. Finally in 1972 Maria began her solo career and released her first album "Maria Muldaur" in 1973. Her album featured some of the great musicians of the time including David Lindley, Ry Cooder, Andrew Gold and Dr. John.
The album featured a mostly bluesy New Orleans jazz style, a sound that Dr. John had been known for throughout his career. The track "Any Old Time," written by country singer/songwriter Jimmie Rodgers, features a decidedly blues vocal with New Orleans styled piano and Hawaiian influenced guitar by David Lindley (we remember Lindley for his classic tune "Mercury Blues"). "Three Dollar Bill" is one of the album's highlights. Co-written by Mac Rebennack (aka Dr. John), "Three Dollar Bill" showcases the great Dr. John in a great horn arrangement and the prolific Jim Gordon on piano. Jim Gordon has worked with many luminaries including Elvin Bishop, Paul Butterfield, Linda Ronstadt, Delaney Bramlett, Jessi Colter, Waylon Jennings, Bonnie Raitt, The Band, Rod Stewart, Rita Coolidge and many others. Andrew Gold, singer and songwriter of the song, "Thank You For Being A Friend" was prominently featured playing acoustic guitar on the jazzy "Vaudeville Man," a song in which Dr. John tinkles the ivories. Maria does a charming rendition of Dolly Parton’s “My Tennessee Mountain Home.”
The album's prominent highlight is the smash single "Midnight At The Oasis" which reached #6 in the US and #21 in the UK in 1973. The song enjoyed a major amount of radio airplay that lasted several years. The song impressed critics and peers alike so much that it was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 17th Annual Grammy Awards held in 1975.
David Nichtern, songwriter of “Midnight At The Oasis said, "I wrote the song before I started working with Maria... the details are a little bit intimate, but let's just say there was a girl, a waterbed, feta cheese and grape leaves, and a Martin 000-18 (acoustic guitar) near by.
I actually produced the demo (in Woodstock) that got Maria her Warner Bros solo artist deal, so I was on the map already with them to that extent. On that demo was a song I wrote called 'I Never Did Sing You a Lovesong' which made it onto her album as well as a track that Wendy Waldman wrote called 'Mad Mad Me (I Love You)' which made it onto the album as it was so I got producer credit for that track.
My memory is that I came out to LA and got to play rhythm guitar on several tracks. From there I got more and more involved with the record. At a rehearsal, I played 'Midnight at the Oasis' for Lenny Waronker and he liked it and wanted to include it on the record. We recorded it with some great musicians - Jim Gordon on drums (who later went crazy and killed his own mother and went to prison for life I think). Freebo played bass, Mark Jordan on piano and me on acoustic guitar. Later, Famous Amos Garrett added that amazing electric guitar part and solo, which in some circles is as famous as the song itself. Warner’s released the album and then Midnight as the first single... they hung in there with it for something like nine months until it took off.... that might not happen today... the rest is herstory as they say..."
In an interview with Maria, she explained: “I was making my first solo album for Warner Brothers in 1973, and I had just recently separated from my then-husband, Geoff Muldaur, who not only was my partner, but also my musical partner, and sort of the mastermind of, musically, whatever we did together. So being a solo artist was completely strange and alien and rather scary territory for me.
And so I was out in California finding myself in the studio with all the top guns: Dr. John, Ry Cooder, David Lindley; I mean, all the fabulous guys that played on my first album. And I had been working with a young guitarist named David Nichtern when I first separated from Geoffrey. He was very encouraging and told me, 'You can do this.' I was just sobbing and I was a mess. We had a little talk and he would say, 'Look, people still know you from the Jug Band, and if I can get work in these little coffee houses, you can, too.' And so we put together a few tunes, and he got us some gigs. This was real low-profile stuff. I'd be crying all the way up to the gig, and he'd say, 'Okay, dry your eyes and wash your face. We're on in half an hour.' And he was just a very supportive little brother to me.
And so when I found myself out in California doing this solo album, I was going to do one of his songs. He's a very lovely songwriter and he'd written this beautiful song called 'I Never Did Sing You a Lovesong.' Very lyrical little waltz-y, kind of a country waltz kind of thing. And he knew I had all these really fabulous musicians at the studio. But he came out on his own dime, because he just felt, well, maybe they'll let him play rhythm guitar on his own tune or something. So he came on out in his little VW bug and slept on a mattress on my living room floor in the Hollywood Hills and came to the studio, was observing everything, and did get to play on his own song.
And then we were almost finished recording, the producer came in the studio and said, 'You know, I've been listening to the rough mixes, and I think we're in pretty good shape.' He said, 'You know, we've got some up tempo stuff and we've got some nice ballads. I think if we had one more medium tempo song, then the album would be nicely balanced out, we'd be in good shape. Does anything come to mind?'
So David was standing right there, and just off the top of my head, kind of as a gesture of gratitude to him because he had been so supportive to me, kind of holding my hand through all of this, which was very overwhelming, you know, I'd never been in that position before of being a solo artist and trying to make my way through an album that was all about me. And I said, 'Well, David has this song. It's a funny little song, really, but it is medium tempo.' I said, 'David, play them 'Midnight at the Oasis' and see what you think.' Which I'd heard before and I thought it was just a goofy little song; I didn't think much of it one way or the other. So he whipped out his guitar and started to play it on the guitar, and I sang it. And the producer cocked his head, he said, 'Oh, that's cute, okay, wanna do that one?' So as a gesture to David, I said, 'Yeah, let's do that one. I have no other bright ideas.' And we called in some great studio players and we cut it. And the rest is history."
After “Midnight At The Oasis” had been a hit Maria came back in 1974 with her second hit “I’m A Woman,” which made it to #12 on the US single chart. Saving her from being a one hit wonder.
By the time Neil Young released “Harvest” he had already experienced a good amount of success with previous musical entities. In 1967 “For What It’s Worth” was a top ten hit for his band Buffalo Springfield. He joined Crosby, Stills and Nash to record the 1970 album “Déjà Vu” which spawned the hits “Woodstock” and “Teach Your Children.” Finally “Harvest” is released, his fourth studio album and it becomes a worldwide hit reaching #1 in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Norway and The Netherlands as well as making it to #4 in Germany and Denmark, #6 Japan, #12 in both Finland and Italy, #48 in New Zealand and #100 in France.
Many of the songs on the album were dark in theme he tackled lost love, drug addiction and loneliness. The album has an overall mood and an overall lyrical content. The mood is melancholic and personal and the songs mostly describe the longing for and fulfillment of new love. In the song “The Needle and the Damage Done” of a friend of his who died of heroin addiction. “Old Man” talks about loneliness and fleeting moments. Young is perhaps most explicit in his search for love on the controversial "A Man Needs a Maid," which is often condemned as sexist by people judging it on the basis of its title. In fact, the song contrasts the fears of committing to a relationship with simply living alone and hiring help, and it contains some of Young's most autobiographical writing.
There were two singles released from the album “Old Man,” the second single, made it to #31 US and #4 Canada. The first single release is the classic “Heart of Gold,” which has become Young’s biggest hit of his career. Young sings this song with a chilling yearning that digs deep into the soul. The song was a huge hit around the world making it to #1 in the US and Canada, #4 Norway, #6 Denmark, #8 The Netherlands, #10 UK, #28 Japan and #30 Belgium. James Taylor and a relatively unknown Linda Ronstadt sang backing vocals on the song.
James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt don't come in until the end of the song. Like Young, Taylor and Ronstadt were in town to appear on The Johnny Cash Show (Elliot Mazer, producer of “Heart of Gold,” had produced Ronstadt's 1970 Silk Purse album). Young convinced them to lend their voices to this track, and they came in on Sunday, February 8, 1971 and the next day the rest of the song was completed.
