20,000 vinyl LPs 360: Woodstock ~ The Movie

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Woodstock ~ The Movie

vinyl LP gatefold cover 

photo by Burk Uzzle

photo of album cover by Styrous®

On April 1, 1970, the counterculture American documentary film, Woodstock, premiered in Hollywood. The film documents the music and artists that appeared at the Woodstock Festival which took place in August of 1969 near Bethel, New York.                         

        

The film was directed by Michael Wadleigh in his directional debut. Seven editors are credited, including Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese, and Wadleigh.          

 

 

 Woodstock ~ The Movie

vinyl LP gatefold interior

photo of album cover by Styrous®

 

 

The festival is regarded as a pivotal moment in popular music history, as well as a defining event for the silent and baby boomer generations. The event's significance was reinforced by a 1970 documentary film, this soundtrack album, and a song written by Joni Mitchell that became a major hit for both Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Matthews Southern Comfort. Musical events bearing the Woodstock name were planned for anniversaries, including the tenth, twentieth, twenty-fifth, thirtieth, fortieth, and fiftieth. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine listed it as number 19 of the 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll. In 2017, the festival site became listed on the National Register of Historic Places.            

 

 

 

Woodstock helped to save Warner Bros at a time when the company was on the verge of going out of business.             

 

One of my favorite films is the 2009 movie, Taking Woodstock, directed by Ang Lee. The screenplay by James Schamus is based on the memoir Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert and a Life by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte. It's a brilliant work that never shows any scenes of the event itself.   

 

Side one

1. "I Had a Dream" (John Sebastian) – 2:38 (2:53)
   • Performed by John Sebastian.
2. "Going Up the Country" (Alan Wilson) – 3:19 (5:53)
   • Performed by Canned Heat
3. "Freedom (Motherless Child)" (Richie Havens) – 5:13 (5:26)
   • Performed by Richie Havens.
4. "Rock and Soul Music" (McDonald, Melton, David Cohen, Barthol, Hirsh) – 2:09 (2:09)
   • Performed by Country Joe & the Fish.
5. "Coming into Los Angeles" (Arlo Guthrie) – 2:05 (2:50)
   • Performed by Arlo Guthrie.
6. "At the Hop" (Artie Singer, David White, John Medora) – 2:13 (2:33)
   • Performed by Sha-Na-Na.

Side two

1. "The "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" (McDonald) – 3:02 (3:48)
   • Performed by Country Joe McDonald.
2. "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man" (Roger McGuinn, Gram Parsons) – 2:08 (2:38)
   • Performed by Joan Baez & Jeffrey Shurtleff.
3. "Joe Hill" (Alfred Hayes, Earl Robinson) – 2:40 (5:34)
   • Performed by Joan Baez.
4. "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (Stephen Stills) – 8:04 (9:02)
   • Performed by Crosby, Stills & Nash.
5. "Sea of Madness" (Neil Young) – 3:22 (4:20)
   • Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Recorded in September 1969 at the Fillmore East auditorium, New York City, New York.

Side three

1. "Wooden Ships" (Stills, David Crosby, Paul Kantner—Kantner not credited on original release) – 5:26 (5:26)
   • Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
2. "We're Not Gonna Take It" (Pete Townshend) – 4:39 (6:54)
   • Performed by The Who. (The performance on the album picks up mid-song at the very end of the "We're Not Gonna Take It" portion and then finishes with the "See Me, Feel Me" and "Listening to You" sections.) The final 1:50 of the track is an emergency announcement and the statement that declared "It's a free concert from now on".
3. "With a Little Help from My Friends" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 7:50 (10:06)
   • Performed by Joe Cocker. In the CD version, the first disc would close with this track, with a 1:30 long recording of the rainstorm.

Side four

1. "Soul Sacrifice" (Santana, Rolie, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve, Areas) – 8:05 (13:52)
   • Performed by Santana. The first 3 minutes of the track is the "Crowd Rain Chant," a chant started by the crowd as an attempt to stop the rainstorm.
2. "I'm Going Home" (Alvin Lee) – 9:20 (9:57)
   • Performed by Ten Years After.

Side five

1. "Volunteers" (Marty Balin, Kantner) – 2:45 (3:31)
   • Performed by Jefferson Airplane. The final 34 seconds or so of the track is a speech by Max Yasgur, praising the crowd for coming to the festival.
2. "Medley" (Performed by Sly & the Family Stone) – 13:47 (15:29)
   • "Dance to the Music" (Sylvester Stewart) – 2:11
   • "Music Lover" (Stewart) – 4:50
   • "I Want to Take You Higher" (Stewart) – 6:46
3. "Rainbows All Over Your Blues" (Sebastian) – 2:05 (3:54)
   • Performed by John Sebastian.

Side six

1. "Love March" (Gene Dinwiddie, Phillip Wilson) – 8:43 (8:59)
   • Performed by Butterfield Blues Band.
2. "Medley" (Performed by Jimi Hendrix.) – 12:51 (13:42)
   • "Star Spangled Banner" (Traditional, arrangement, Jimi Hendrix)– 5:40
   • "Purple Haze" (Hendrix) – 3:28
   • "Instrumental Solo" (Hendrix) – 3:43 (retitled and re-edited when Hendrix's Woodstock show was released more fully in the 1990s. The improvised, fast solo section immediately following "Purple Haze" was heavily cut in the original Woodstock film and soundtrack, and most of the track here is what would later be titled "Villanova Junction", a slow bluesy ballad with the band joining in the background. The uncut version of the solo was restored in the director's cut of Woodstock and on the video of Jimi Hendrix: Live at Woodstock and titled "Woodstock Improvisation")

         

Viewfinder links:        

        

         

        

Joni Mitchell        

Martin Scorsese         

Woodstock ~ Looking back after 50 years          

        

YouTube links:        

        

Amplified ~ 3 Days That Changed Everything  (53 mins., 27 secs.)     

History Channel ~ History of Woodstock         

PBS ~ 3 days that defined a generation  (1 min., 59 secs.)          

Woodstock Photos Not Seen Before (53 mins., 27 secs.)    

Woodstock (complete film)        

        

         

        

        

        

Styrous® ~ Monday, April 1, 2024       
       

 

 

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Oscar Brand ~ A man of varied tastes

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Oscar Brand - ca. late 70’s - early 80’s

photo by Nicole Bengiveno /New York Times

 

 

Today is the birthday of Oscar Brand, a Canadian-born American folk singer-songwriter and author with a career spanning 70 years. He composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs. Brand's music ran the gamut from novelty songs to serious social commentary and spanned a number of genres from folk music to Doris Day to Ella Fitzgerald.    

 

His music was not for everyone. You had to be a person who loved the rich variety of the music traditions, history, language and sounds of different cultures and countries from Appalachia to Zimbabwe. He was known for composing catchy and themed folk songs.     

Brand also wrote a number of short stories. And for 70 years, he was the host of a weekly folk music show on WNYC Radio in New York City, which is credited as the longest running radio show with only one host in broadcasting history.              

Oscar Brand - 1960

WNYC Radio in New York City

 photographer unknown

 

 

He hosted the radio show Oscar Brand's Folksong Festival on Saturdays at 10:00 p.m. on WNYC-AM 820 in New York City, which ran into its 70th year. The show ran more or less continuously since its debut on December 10, 1945, making it the longest-running radio show with the same host, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Over its run it introduced such talents to the world as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, Huddie Ledbetter, Joni Mitchell, Peter, Paul & Mary, Judy Collins, the Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger and the Weavers. In order to make sure that his radio program could not be censored he refused to be paid by WNYC for the next 70 years.          

 

 

 

Judy Collins, Oscar Brand & Gordon Lightfoot

 date & photographer unknown

 

 

He played with such legends of folk music as Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White, Jean Ritchie, the Weavers and Pete Seeger. He wrote various books on the folk song and folk song collections, including The Ballad Mongers: Rise of the American Folk Song, Songs Of '76: A Folksinger's History Of The Revolution and Bawdy Songs & Backroom Ballads, the latter comprising four volumes (link below).   

 

Oscar Brand
 date & photographer unknown 

 

He wrote the lyrics to the song A Guy is a Guy, which was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald in 1951 and became a hit for Doris Day in (1952). His score for the 1968 Off-Broadway show, How to Steal An Election sent up the current belief that charisma would help a candidate win. You think?           

 

 

 

 Oscar Brand

date & photographer unknown 

 

 

Oscar Brand was born to a Jewish family in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His father was a Romanian-born flooring contractor, Isidore Brand. His mother was named Beatrice. In 1927, the family moved to Minneapolis, then to Chicago and ultimately to New York City. As a young man, Brand lived in Borough Park, Brooklyn and graduated from Erasmus Hall High School and later from Brooklyn College with a BS in psychology.         

 

Although Brand was anti-Stalinist and was never a member of any Communist party, the House Committee on Un-American Activities referred to his show as a "pipeline of communism", because of his belief in the rights under the First Amendment of blacklisted artists to have a platform to reach the public. Accordingly, in June 1950, Brand was named in the premier issue of Red Channels as a Communist sympathizer, along with Paul Robeson, Josh White and Pete Seeger. A few years before Mr. Brand was targeted by Red Channels, he had been accused of playing Nazi music by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, whose third and last term was ending around the time Brand’s radio career was beginning. Called to the mayor’s office, Brand explained that the German songs he had played were actually centuries old. As pleased as the mayor was to hear that Nazis had not infiltrated the municipal radio station, he was even more delighted to learn that Mr. Brand worked without pay.      

While Brand was not as well-known or radical an activist as some of his contemporaries, he was a long-standing supporter of civil rights. He told stories of buying food for Leadbelly when the two traveled together in segregated areas, and participated in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.        

       

Brand was given the Peabody Award for broadcast excellence in 1982 for his broadcast The Sunday Show on National Public Radio, and was awarded the Personal Peabody Award in 1995 which he shared with Oprah Winfrey.      

 

On February 7, 2010, CBC Radio Sunday Edition celebrated Brand's life on the occasion of his 90th birthday.

Oscar Brand died of pneumonia on September 30, 2016, at his home in Great Neck, New York. He was 96 years old.        

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Brand among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire (link below).             

     

      

     

Viewfinder links:

      

2008 Universal fire         

Joan Baez        

Bawdy Songs & Backroom Ballads Vol 2        

Oscar Brand     

Judy Collins     

Doris Day      

Ella Fitzgerald      

Woody Guthrie      

The Kingston Trio      

Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter)      

Joni Mitchell        

Peter, Paul & Mary       

Paul Robeson        

Pete Seeger         

The Weavers       

Oprah Winfrey      

     

Net links:

      

Billboard ~ Oscar Brand, 'Radio Host, Dies at 96      

Oscar Brand discography         

NY Times ~ Oscar Brand, Folk Singer, Dies at 96          

Vintage Music FM ~ Oscar Brand       

Washington Post ~ Oscar Brand, folk troubadour, dies at 96    

WNYC ~ Oscar Brand     

     

YouTube links:

      

Oscar Brand ~ Bawdy Songs         

Doris Day ~ A Guy is A Guy      

Ella Fitzgerald ~ A Guy is A Guy            

      

     

     

     

     

     

     

Styrous® ~ Sunday, February 7, 2021   

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Music People

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Joni Mitchell articles/mentions

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Joni Mitchell

photo by Jack Robinson

 

 

mentions:

Oscar Brand ~ A man of varied tastes   

David Gates ~ First, Bread     

Dave Greenslade ~ The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony        

Prince ~ Purple Rain     

     

     

     

     

 

      

     

      

     

      

     

      

     

      

     

      

     

 

 

 

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20,000 Vinyl LPs 53: Prince ~ Purple Rain

 Purple Rain vinyl LP

 Prince and The Revolution

 cover photo by Ed Thrasher     

 photo of album cover by Styrous® 

For the third time this year I am in shock! Prince Rogers Nelson, the artist formerly known as Prince, died today. The first time was the death of David Bowie (see link below). The second time was the death of Vanity (see link below). Needless to say, I was stunned! He was only 57 years old! At this point there is no information about his death.

Two of his albums are my favorites and I couldn't decide which one I would write about so I'm going to write about both of them; Purple Rain first, and then in the next article, Around the World in a Day. Purple Rain is the soundtrack of the 1984 film of the same name.    

Purple Rain vinyl LP

Prince and The Revolution

back cover 

art director - Laura LiPump

photo by Styrous®

As with every album I like, there are favorite songs of mine. In Purple Rain, there are two; When Doves Cry which is second only to the title song, Purple Rain. What an incredible song it is! It's rock and it's very best! The guitar work is exquisite!  

Purple Rain a combination of rock, pop, gospel, and orchestral music. It reached number 2 in the U.S. for two weeks, behind Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham!, and it is widely considered Prince's signature song. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, shipping 1 million units in the United States. 

Rolling Stone ranked it number 143 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (no argument from me on this) while Q magazine placed it at number 40 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, and Pitchfork Media named it the best song of the 1980s.

 

 Purple Rain vinyl LP

Prince and The Revolution

side 1 record label detail

art director - Laura LiPump

detail photo by Styrous®

Prince played all the instruments on the song, When Doves Cry. The song's texture is stark. There is no bass line, which is unusual for an 80s dance song; Prince has said that there originally was a bass line but, after a conversation with singer Jill Jones, he decided that the song was too conventional with it. The song ends with a classical music-inspired keyboard piece backed by another synthesizer solo. It's A great dance tune, however.  

According to the Purple Rain DVD, Prince was asked by the director to write a song to match the theme of a particular segment of the film – one which involved intermingled parental difficulties and a love affair. The next morning, Prince had reportedly composed two songs, one of which was "When Doves Cry". According to Per Nilsen, Prince's biographer, the song was inspired by his relationship with Vanity 6 member Susan Moonsie.     

When Doves Cry is considered the lead single from the album and was his first number one hit worldwide. The song was #1 in the U.S. for five weeks, from July 7, 1984 to August 4, 1984. According to Billboard magazine, it was the top-selling single of the year. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.        

Purple Rain vinyl LP

Prince and The Revolution

side 2 record label detail

art director - Laura LiPump

detail photo by Styrous®

Purple Rain is a gatefold album designed by Laura LiPump. Ed Thrasher, who passed away in 2006, was also the photographer for the covers of the Jimi Hendrix album, Are You Experienced?, Song to a Seagull by Joni Mitchell and Anthem of the Sun by the Grateful Dead, among many, many others.   

Purple Rain vinyl LP

Prince and The Revolution

gatefold interior

art director - Laura LiPump

photo by Styrous®

Prince was born on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He wrote his first song when he was seven years old. He wrote one of my all-time favorite songs, Nothing Compares To You, which was covered by Sinéad O'Connor. Her version, which O'Connor co-produced with Nellee Hooper, became a worldwide hit in 1990. A music video, which has been described as iconic, was shot and received heavy rotation on MTV. Its lyrics explore feelings of longing from an abandoned lover's point of view.  

Tracklist: 

Side 1:

	A1 - Let's Go Crazy Recorded By – David Leonard, Susan RogersTechnician [All Overdubs As Well] – David Leonard, Susan RogersWords By, Music By – Prince	4:39
	A2 - Take Me With U Arranged By [Strings] – Lisa*, PrinceCello – David Coleman (2), Suzie KatayamaConductor [Strings] – Lisa & Wendy*Featuring [Duet With] – ApolloniaRecorded By – David Leonard, Peggy Mac*Strings – David Coleman (2), Novi Novog, Suzie KatayamaTechnician [All Overdubs As Well] – David Leonard, Peggy Mac*Violin, Viola – Novi NovogWords By, Music By – Prince	3:54
	A3 - The Beautiful Ones Producer, Arranged By, Composed By, Performer – PrinceRecorded By – David Leonard, Peggy Mac*Technician [All Overdubs As Well] – David Leonard, Peggy Mac*Words By, Music By – Prince	5:15
	A4 - Computer Blue Recorded By – David Leonard, Susan RogersTechnician [All Overdubs As Well] – David Leonard, Susan RogersWords By, Music By – John L. Nelson, Prince, Lisa, Wendy*	3:59
	A5 - Darling Nikki Producer, Arranged By, Composed By, Performer – PrinceWords By, Music By – Prince Side 2:	4:15
	B1 - When Doves Cry Producer, Arranged By, Composed By, Performer – PrinceRecorded By – David Leonard, Peggy Mac*Technician [All Overdubs As Well] – David Leonard, Peggy Mac*Words By, Music By – Prince	5:52
	B2 - I Would Die 4 U Recorded By – David Leonard, David RivkinWords By, Music By – Prince	2:51
	B3 - Baby I'm A Star Arranged By [Strings] – Lisa*, PrinceCello – David Coleman (2), Suzie KatayamaConductor [Strings] – Lisa & Wendy*Recorded By – David Leonard, David RivkinStrings – David Coleman (2), Novi Novog, Suzie KatayamaViolin, Viola – Novi NovogWords By, Music By – Prince	4:20
	B4 - Purple Rain Arranged By [Strings] – Lisa*, PrinceCello – David Coleman (2), Suzie KatayamaConductor [Strings] – Lisa & Wendy*Recorded By – David Leonard, David RivkinStrings – David Coleman (2), Novi Novog, Suzie KatayamaViolin, Viola – Novi NovogWords By, Music By – Prince	8:45

Companies, etc.

• Record Company – Warner Communications
• Phonographic Copyright (p) – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
• Phonographic Copyright (p) – WEA International Inc.
• Copyright (c) – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
• Published By – Controversy Music
• Recorded At – The Warehouse, St. Louis Park
• Recorded At – Sunset Sound
• Recorded At – First Avenue
• Recorded At – Record Plant, N.Y.C.
• Mastered At – Sheffield Lab Matrix – △ 6851
• Distributed By – Warner Bros.
• Pressed By – Allied Record Company

Credits:

• Art Direction – Prince
• Bass, Voice – Brown Mark*
• Design – Laura LiPuma
• Guitar, Voice – Wendy*
• Keyboards, Voice – Lisa Coleman, Matt Fink
• Mastered By [Originally Mastered By] – Bernie Grundman
• Other [Makeup] – Jayson Jefferys
• Other [On The Hair Side] – Earl Jones
• Other [Rags By] – Louis & Vaughn, Marie France & Prince
• Painting [Dust Sleeve Painting] – Doug Handers*
• Percussion – Bobby Z*
• Photography By [Additional Photography] – Larry Williams (9)
• Photography By [Front Cover Photo] – Ed Thrasher & Associates
• Photography By [Photos By] – Larry Williams (9), Ron Slenzak
• Producer, Arranged By, Composed By, Performer – Prince & The Revolution*

Notes:

1st cat# sleeve; 2nd cat# labels

Track A4 segues into track A5 and B2 into B3

Music From The Motion Picture Purple Rain Starring PRINCE

"Let's Go Crazy" & "Computer Blue" were recorded at The Warehouse in the summer of '83
"Take Me With U," "The Beautiful Ones" & "When Doves Cry" were recorded at Sunset Sound
"I Would Die 4 U," "Baby I'm A Star," "Purple Rain" recorded live at 1st Avenue in the summer of '83 & Record Plant, New York.
"Darling Nikki" was recorded at a place very close 2 where u live.

Includes poster and printed inner sleeve. 

           

        

        

        

           

       

Net links: 

     

David Bowie ~ The Man Who Stole the World's Heart  
Action Jackson & Vanity    

Prince Discography             
Prince ~ Around The World In a Day          


YouTube links: 
         
Purple Rain     
When Doves Cry
Prince ~  Nothing Compares To You (original version)           
Sinéad O'Connor ~ Nothing Compares To You    

“Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. ”                            ― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Styrous® ~ Thursday, April 21, 2016

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