Tag Archives: 1973

The Miracles: Renaissance

On April 18, 1973, “Tamla” label released “Renaissance”, album by The Miracles. It was recorded in 1972, and was produced by Hal Davis, Willie Hutch, Fonce Mizell, Freddie Perren, Marvin Gaye, Frank Wilson, Clay McMurray, Leonard Caston, Jerry Marcellino and Mel Larson.

Personnel:

  • Billy Griffin – lead vocals
  • Ronnie White – baritone backing vocals
  • Pete Moore – bass backing vocals
  • Bobby Rogers – tenor backing vocals
  • Marv Tarplin – guitar
  • Smokey Robinson – executive producer

Track listing:

  1. What is a Heart Good For – Arthur Ross, Leon Ware
  2. If You’re Ever in the Neighborhood – Don Fenceton, Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson
  3. I Wanna Be with You – Willie Hutch
  4. Wigs and Lashes – Larry Mizell
  5.  Don’t Let It End (‘Til You Let It Begin) – Christine Yarian, Freddie Perren
  6. I Love You Secretly – Anna Gordy Gaye, Elgie Stover, Marvin Gaye
  7. I Don’t Need No Reason – Leon Ware, Pam Sawyer
  8. Nowhere To Go – Clay McMurray, Dennis Jackson, Gary Fears
  9. I Didn’t Realize the Show Was Over – Richard Hutch, Willie Hutch

The Four Tops: Meeting of the Minds

In April 1974, “ABC / Dunhill Records” label released “Meeting of the Minds”, the 21st Four Tops (The) album. It was recorded in 1973 – 1974, at “ABC Recording Studios, Inc. Studio A”, and was produced by Steve Barri, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter.

Personnel:

  • Abdul “Duke” Fakir – vocal
  • Levi Stubbs – vocal
  • Renaldo “Obie” Benson – vocal
  • Lawrence Payton – vocal
  • Sylvia Smith – vocal
  • Ben Benaym Dean Parks, Ray Parker, Larry Carlton – guitar
  • Dennis Lambert – keyboards, arrangements
  • Michael Omartian – keyboards, arrangements
  • Scott Edwards, Wilton Felder – bass
  • Paul Humphrey, Ed Greene – drums
  • Brian Potter, Steve Barri, Gary Coleman, King Errisson – percussion
  • Don Hockett – arrangements
  • Gil Askey – arrangements
  • Jimmie Haskell – arrangements
  • McKinley Jackson – arrangements
  • Sid Sharp – concertmaster
  • Barney Perkins, Howard Gale, Phil Kaye – engineer
  • Vic Zaslav – mastering
  • Peter Palombi – illustration
  • Ron Slenzak – photography

Track listing:

  1. One Chain Don’t Make No Prison – Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter
  2. Midnight Flower – McKinley Jackson, Reginald Dozier
  3. The Well Is Dry – Brian Potter, Dennis Lambert
  4. Love Ain’t Easy to Come By – Brian Potter, Dennis Lambert
  5. No Sad Songs – Glenn Leonard, Len Perry, Rachel Foster
  6. Right on Brother – Brian Potter, Dennis Lambert
  7. Tell Me You Love Me – Al Cleveland, Lawrence Payton
  8. All My Love – Renaldo Benson, Val Benson
  9. I Found the Spirit – Renaldo Benson, Val Benson
  10. Meeting of the Minds – Brian Potter, Dennis Lambert

Elvis Presley: Good Times

On March 20, 1974, “RCA” label released “Good Times”, the twentieth Elvis Presley studio album. It was recorded July – December 1973, and was produced by Felton Jarvis.

Personnel:

  • Elvis Presley – lead vocals
  • James Burton – lead guitar
  • Charlie Hodge – acoustic rhythm guitar
  • Reggie Young – guitar
  • Johnny Christopher – guitar
  • Dennis Linde – guitar
  • Bobby Wood – piano
  • Per Erik “Pete” Hallin – piano
  • Bobby Emmons – Hammond organ 
  • David Briggs – Hammond organ
  • Tommy Cogbill – bass guitar
  • Norbert Putnam – bass guitar
  • Ron Tutt – drums
  • Jerry Carrigan – drums
  • Joe Esposito – percussion
  • Mary and Ginger Holliday – backing vocals
  • Kathy Westmoreland – backing vocals
  • J. D. Sumner & The Stamps, Voice – backing vocals
  • Mike Leech – strings and horn arrangements
  • Glen Spreen – strings arrangements
  • Al Pachucki, Dick Baxter, Mickey Crofford, Mike Moran – engineer

Track listing:

  1. Take Good Care of Her – Arthur Kent, Edward C. Warren
  2. Loving Arms – Tom Jans
  3. I Got a Feelin’ in My Body – Deenis Linde
  4. If That Isn’t Love – Dottie Rambo
  5. She Wears My Ring – Felice Bryant, Boudleaux Bryant
  6. I’ve Got a Thing About You Baby – Tony Joe White
  7. My Boy – Bill Martin, Phil Coulter, Jean-Pierre Bourtayre, Claude François
  8. Spanish Eyes – Bert Keampfert, Eddie Snyder, Charles Singleton
  9. Talk About the Good Times – Jerry Reed
  10. Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues – Danny O’Keefe

Herbie Mann: London Underground

On February 25, 1974, “Atlantic” label released “London Underground”, the 60th Herbie Mann album. It was recorded in 1973, at “Advision Studios” in London, and was produced by Geoffrey Haslam.

Personnel:

  • Herbie Mann – flute
  • Albert Lee – acoustic and electric guitar
  • Mick Taylor – guitar
  • Pat Rebillot – keyboards
  • Al Gorry – bass 
  • Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuels – bass
  • Aynsley Dunbar – drums 
  • Robbie McIntosh – drums
  • Armen Halburian – percussion
  • Ian McDonald – alto saxophone
  • Stéphane Grappelli – violin
  • Gary Martin – engineer
  • Paulo Bisacca – art direction, design
  • Giuseppe Pino – photography
  • Ahmet Ertegun – executive producer

Track listing:

  1. Bitch – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
  2. Something in the Air – Speedy Keen
  3. Layla – Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon
  4. Spin Ball – Paddy Kingsland
  5. Mellow Yellow – Donovan Leitch
  6. A Whiter Shade of Pale – Gary Brooker, Keith Reid
  7. Memphis Spoon Bread & Dover Sole – Herbie Mann
  8. Paper Sun – Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood
  9. You Never Give Me Your Money – John Lennon, Paul McCartney

Barrett Strong

On January 29, 2023, Barrett Strong died aged 81. He was singer and songwriter, the performer who had the first hit for Berry Gordy’s label “Tamla Records”, “Money (That’s What I Want)”. Strong was best known for his work as a songwriter, especially in association with the producer Norman Whitfield. In mid 1960s he became “Motown Records” writer lyricist, and together with Whitfield, they wrote some of the best known soul and funk classics of all times, including “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips; “War” by Edwin Starr; “Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)” by Marvin Gaye; “Smiling Faces Sometimes” by The Undisputed Truth; “Cloud Nine”, “I Can’t Get Next to You”, “Psychedelic Shack”, “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)”, and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”, by The Temptations. In 1973, Strong received “Grammy Award for Best R&B Song” for “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”. As leader, Strong released four albums.

Horslips: The Táin

In December 1973, “Horslips Records” label released “The Táin”, the second Horslips studio album. It was recorded in November 1973, at” Escape Studios”, “Manor Studios”, and was produced by Alan O’Duffy, Jim Lockhart, John Fean, Charles O’Connor, Barry Devlin and Eamon Carr.

Personnel:

  • Jim Lockhart – keyboards, flute, tin whistles, uilleann pipes, backing vocals
  • John Fean – lead and backing vocals, guitars, banjo
  • Charles O’Connor – lead and backing vocals, fiddle, mandolin, concertina
  • Barry Devlin – lead and backing vocals, bass guitar
  • Eamon Carr – drums, bodhrán, percussions

Track listing:

  1. Setanta
  2. Maeve’s Court
  3. Charolais
  4. The March
  5. You Can’t Fool the Beast
  6. Dearg Doom
  7. Ferdia’s Song
  8. Gae Bolga
  9. Cú Chulainn’s Lament
  10. Faster Than the Hound
  11. Silver Spear
  12. More Than You Can Chew
  13. The Morrigan’s Dream
  14. Time to Kill

Tir na nOg: Strong in the Sun

On October 26, 1973, “Chrysalis” label released “Strong in the Sun”, the third Tír na nÓg studio album. It was recorded June – August 1973, and was produced by Matthew Fisher.

Personnel:

  • Sonny Condell – vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, pottery drums, jaw harp
  • Leo O’Kelly – vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, dulcimer, violin
  • Brian Odgers, Dave Markee, Jim Ryan – bass
  • Barry De Souza, Ace Follington, Jeff Jones – drums
  • Matthew Fisher – keyboards, production
  • Geoff Emerick – engineer

Track listing:

  1. Free Ride – Nick Drake
  2. Whitestone Bridge – Sonny Condell
  3. Teesside – Sonny Condell
  4. Cinema – Leo O’Kelly
  5. Strong in the Sun – Leo O’Kelly
  6. The Wind Was High – Leo O’Kelly
  7. In the Morning – Sonny Condell
  8. Love Lost – Leo O’Kelly
  9. Most Magical – Sonny Condell
  10. Fall of Day – Sonny Condell

Thad Jones, Mel Lewis and Manuel De Sica: Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis and Manuel De Sica and the Jazz Orschetra

In September 1976, “Pausa” label released “Thad Jones/Mel Lewis and Manuel De Sica and the Jazz Orchestra”, album by Thad Jones, Mel Lewis and Manuel De Sica. It was recorded in September 1973 in London and in July 1974 in Perugia, Italy.

Personnel:

  • Manuel De Sica – composer
  • Thad Jones – flugelhorn
  • Mel Lewis – drums
  • Dee Dee Bridgewater – vocals
  • Roland Hanna – piano
  • George Mraz – bass
  • Jerry Dodgion – alto saxophone, flute
  • Eddie Xiques – alto saxophone, clarinet
  • Billy Harper – tenor saxophone
  • Ron Bridgewater – tenor saxophone, clarinet
  • Pepper Adams – baritone saxophone
  • Jon Faddis – trumpet
  • Jim Bossy – trumpet
  • Steve Furtado – trumpet
  • Cecil Bridgewater – trumpet
  • Jimmy Knepper – trombone
  • Quentin Jackson – trombone
  • Billy Campbell – trombone
  • Cliff Heather – trombone

Track listing:

  1. First Jazz Suite – Manuel De Sica
  2. Brasserie
  3. Father
  4. Sing
  5. Ballade
  6. For Life
  7. Little Pixie – Thad Jones

Brownsville Station: Yeah!

In August 1973, “Big Tree” label released “Yeah!”, the third studio Brownsville Station studio album. It was recorded in 1973, at “Mediasound” in New York City, and was produced by Doug Morris and Eric Stevens.

Personnel:

  • Cub Koda – vocals, guitar
  • Mike Lutz – vocals, bass
  • Henry “H Bomb” Weck – drums
  • Michael Delugg – engineer
  • Beverly Weinstein – art direction
  • Rob Nalli – photography

Track listing:

  1. Question of Temperature – Mike Appel, Ed Schnug, Don Henny
  2. Lightnin’ Bar Blues – Hoyt Axton
  3. Take It or Leave It – H. Cardell
  4. All Night Long – Mike Lutz, Cub Koda
  5. Let Your Yeah Be Yeah – Jimmy Cliff
  6. Sweet Jane – Lou Reed
  7. Love, Love, Love – Terry Knight
  8. Go Out and Get Her – Doug Morris
  9. Barefootin’ – Robert Parker
  10. Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room – Mike Lutz, Cub Koda