“Helplessly Hoping” is a song written by Stephen Stills and recorded by Crosby, Stills and Nash. It was released on their eponymous debut album in 1969 (which, sadly, I don’t own, but I have a copy of So Far, so that’ll have to do). Stills wrote the song after a…
Tag: Classic Rock
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Music Moment – Doctor, My Eyes
Jackson Browne’s debut album was released in 1972, which was a turbulent year for the U.S. The war in Vietnam was intensifying and the Watergate scandal was ramping up. For many, it was the end of the “Peace and Love” era, and Browne’s song, “Doctor, My Eyes”, captures what many…
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Music Moment – Solsbury Hill
“Solsbury Hill” was the first single from Peter Gabriel’s first solo album after leaving Genesis. According to Gabriel, the song is “…about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get … It’s about letting go.” For me, the song has always had a spiritual, metaphysical feel…
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Music Moment – Diamond Dust
Jeff Beck’s first official solo album, Blow by Blow, was released in 1975. Produced by the great George Martin (who produced many of the Beatles later albums), it’s a fantastic collection of instrumentals that span the gamut from slow and melancholy to all-out rockers. “Freeway Jam” was the stand out single,…
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Music Moment – Magic Power
One of the great, but now mostly forgotten, rock bands of the 1980s was the Canadian trio, Triumph. They had a great sound that combined blues, rock, and a little bit of classical (guitarist Rik Emmett was classically trained). One of their biggest hits was 1981s “Magic Power” from their…
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Music Moment – Lunatic Fringe
The Canadian band, Red Rider, released “Lunatic Fringe” way back in 1981. At the time, the songwriter, Tom Cochrane, was inspired to write it after noticing a resurgence of anti-semitism in the 1970s. He was also influenced when reading about Raoul Wallenberg, a Swede who helped Jews to escape the…
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Music Moment – Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection
There’s no disputing that Elton John (and lyricist Bernie Taupin) had an amazing string of hit albums in the 1970s. While not quite as popular as some of the others, Tumbleweed Connection (1970) is, in my opinion, one of the best. At heart, it’s a concept album. John and Taupin…
Influences
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Music Moment – After the Gold Rush by Neil Young
Another one of my favorite singer-songwriters is Canadian artist Neil Young. He first came on the scene as a member of the 1960s folk-rock group Buffalo Springfield. After the band broke up in 1968, Young began an illustrious career as a solo artist, working with his band, Crazy Horse, and…