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Friday, April 27, 2018

MURDER MYSTERY IN MY YARD

THE FOLLOWING IS MORE A LESS A TRUE STORY.  NONE OF THE NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED BECAUSE THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE.

The last thing I do before I go to bed at night is to take my constant and best companion, Dutch, out in the front yard with me so that he can take care of any unfinished business while I grab a smoke.  Ordinarily it is an uneventful time for the two of us.  Dutch weighs in at about sixty pounds and is strong enough that I have to be on alert when we go out.  If Dutch spies a stray cat or the occasional possum, he has a tendency to lunge toward the night stalker and I must be prepared.  One night a couple of years ago I was not being very vigilant when Dutch spotted one of those night creepers.  He lunged and pulled me over.  My right foot was planted firmly though and my leg snapped in half.  After Dutch realized what had happened he dragged me up to the front porch so I could seek aid.

On this night however I was being vigilant and at the ready for such a sudden pull so that when it did come, I was ready.  Dutch pulled forward and started barking.  I looked down the street to see what was catching his sharp eyes.  I saw nothing.  He continued to pull and bark and no matter how much I tried to calm him down he would not give it up continuing to pull and to bark until I finally saw what I thought he was after.

It was a very dark spot in the middle of the yard.  I squinted my eyes trying to make out what it was but could not figure it out.  I did notice it wasn't moving and seeing how Dutch was so set on the figure I thought I should try to see what it was.  I took Dutch back into the house where he went over to the window to observe what I was doing. As I approached the dark spot I started to notice it had shape and depth to it.  As I circled around I finally came to the proper conclusion.  It was a midnight black cat and it appeared to be dead.  I started looking around for any indication of how this victim had ended up in my front yard.  I did not find any clues but it was dark that night as clouds were hiding the moon and the light it usually reflects.  I decided I would wait until the morning and do an investigation then.

When I awoke the next morning, I found it to be gray, cold and cloudy with a slight chance of snow.  A perfect day to investigate the heinous crime that had left a victim in my front yard.  I donned my Eddie Bower sweatshirt jacket with a hoodie and headed out to the crime scene.  When I got to the unfortunate one I discovered that I had been right the night before.  It was a totally black cat laying on its side and it was indeed dead.  I made this observation by taking note that it had not moved since Dutch had discovered it the night before.  I pulled my Pentel .05mm mechanical pencil and my note pad out of my pocket and began taking notes.  The cat's head was facing the street and its four paws were pointing to the south.  I looked over the cats body as it lay there and I did not see any wounds or blood at all.  That was curious.  Perhaps I would find more clues on the underside of the cat.

I had seen a pesky raccoon on the roof of one of my neighbor's house a few days before and it crossed my mind that the cat could have died from a rabies infection.  I decided it would probably be best for me not to actually touch the cat so I went into my garage and retrieved one of my forensic tools that I keep for just such an occasion.

I brought my snow shovel out and walked calmly over to the cat.  I slip the blade of the shovel under the cat and lifted it up a bit until its body slid completely onto the blade.  I stepped on the handle of the instrument in order to lift the blade up out of the grass giving me a better look at the body that lie before me.  I took notes of my observations as I tried to find clues.  I estimated the cat to weigh approximately eight to ten pounds.  It was totally black with not one white spot showing.  This, I knew, would have to be taken into account while I looked for blood.  I studied the fur of the unfortunate soul and did not find any wet spots indicating that there was not any blood that I could detect.

As I continued to take notes on my little pad thinking that no detail was too small to be noted, I felt like I was being watched.  I squatted down pretending to take a closer look at the cat and started to slyly take glances around.  I look at my own house and, as expected, saw Dutch's eye peering over the bottom of the window watching every move I made.  I glanced over to Lori's house and saw a space in the blinds that revealed her two eye watching intently.  I glanced across the street and saw the big figure of Chuck standing in his kitchen in the back side of his house watching though his front window from there.  I quickly turned my head to the house on the south side and saw the front door close quickly but quietly.  Yes, the neighbors were watching the investigation with a lot of interest.  Maybe a little too much interest.  I did not have time just yet to worry about the neighbors, I needed to wrap up my observations.

I checked the cats face.  The eyes were closed, shut tight.  The mouth showed what I thought could be construed as a painful look, halfway open with its sharp little teeth barely visible.  I checked the front legs and paws of the cat and did not find any defensive wounds at all.  I must be missing something.  I started replaying episodes of Law and Order along with Blue Bloods trying to bring to mind anything I may be missing in the investigation.  I could not think of anything I was overlooking.

I stood up and looked over my notes, flipping through the fifteen or so pages that I had written down.  It didn't make sense.  I stood and looked over the cat one more time, checked my notes and then went to get the body bag for the cat.  I went to the garage and came out with a thirty gallon garbage sack that on this day would serve as the body bag.  I picked up the shovel and placed the cat into the bag, tying it off at the top to secure any evidence I may have missed in case I think of something later on in the investigation.  I carried the bag to the north side of the house and gently tossed it up against the house then stood studying my notes more.  I had come to what I thought was the answer to what had brought the cat to its untimely demise.  It was the raccoon.  I walked it through my head.  I figured that the raccoon had snuck up on the cat one day, or night, last week and had scratched it or placed a small bite on the cat.  The cat had probably thought it was a tick or flea bite and shook it off without thinking anything of it.  The rabies poison had settled into the cats bloodstream and started doing its damage.  Yes, I would have to find the raccoon and bring it to justice by calling Kansas City Animal Control to arrest it and take it away.

About that time my neighbor on the north side came walking out.  Charlene is a beautiful elderly lady who keeps a sharp eye on what is happening in the neighborhood.  She made her way towards me with her hands on her hips as always.

"What's up?" she asked seriously.

"Well Charlene, Dutch found a dead cat in the front yard last night." and I proceeded to share my notes with her from the investigation.  She stared at me as I relayed the facts of the case in amazement.  I assume that she didn't realize my abilities as an investigator and so she was indeed stunned.  She lifted her hand and started waving it at me as if to signal me to stop so she could say something.

"Have you talked to Chuck about this?" she asked in total amazement that I had not interviewed any potential witnesses as of yet.

"Well, no, not yet.  You are the first witness I have talked to.  You are a witness I presume?  Did you see anything last night?"  I was firm in my questioning to let her know she should not try to put anything over on me.

"Well, no I personally did not see anything, but Chuck said he did."

"And what did Chuck have to tell you about this?"

"Well," Charlene began giving me a rather strange look, "Chuck said that a car had come down the street just as the cat was crossing and it hit the cat.  Car didn't stop I guess.  He said that he walked over to the cat to see if he could help it, but the cat hissed at him, so he walked away."  Charlene was still looking at me in wonderment at my ability to investigate.  I had obviously asked the right question.

Charlene pointed at my pad of notes and pointed at it without taking her eyes off of me.

"So, do you have a suspect yet?" she asked with a hint of a smile.  That smile told me she knew I did have an idea of who was responsible for the crime.

"I figure it was the raccoon."

"The, umm, raccoon?" Charlene repeated.

"Yes, the raccoon.  I saw it top of Sally's house the other day so he is out and about.  I think he did a sneak attack on the cat and poisoned him with rabies"  I said while using my hands to point to Sally's roof and then to the spot where the body had been found.

Charlene sighed before putting her hand over her mouth. "Well, you could be right on that one.  I am guessing the hiss of the cat points it that way?"

"That's the way I see it."  I looked over at Chuck's place to see him just exiting his house.  "Thanks Charlene.  Think I'll have a little talk with Chuck now."

Charlene turned and went back to her house shaking her head as I started to cross the street to talk to Chuck.

Chuck is a big guy.  He stands about six foot two and weighs in at about 270 I would guess and he is a talker.  Chuck loves to talk and doesn't seem to hear what others may be saying to him.  I waved at him.

"Hey Chuck, you got a second to answer a couple of questions?"

Chuck stopped and looked at me.  "Depends.  You got an extra smoke?"

"Really Chuck?  You need a smoke to answer a question or two?"

"I remember things better if I have a smoke." Chuck stated matter of factly.

"Okay, okay," I reached in my pocket and pulled out a smoke for him " Here you go, now I got just a couple of...."

"You got a light?" Chuck was looking at me holding out the cigarette.

"Geez Chuck.  You haven't bought that lighter yet?"

Chuck stared down at me. "I said ... Do.... you ... have... a LIGHT?" He was emphasizing his words by stabbing the cigarette in the air towards my face.

I reached back in my pocket and pulled out my light and handed it to him.  He lit the smoke and took a couple of puffs staring off into the cold sky.  He slowly lowered his head and looked at me.

"Okay, now what is it you want to know?"

"Well, it's about a cat me and Dutch found in the front yard last night.  I was wondering if you could tell me anything about it."

Chuck smiled and started pacing back and forth a couple of steps at a time.

"Sure I can tell you all about that.  You see it was last night, before you and that mutt came out like you always do.  What is that about anyway? No matter. Okay the cat.  I was out last night taking in some air and seeing if it was snowing yet when I seen this cat you see.  Now, I have never seen this cat around here before.  You know Lori over there has a black cat but it has a lot of white on it too but this cat, well this cat was solid black.  Blackest cat I ever seen.  Well, this cat is in my front yard you know and I don't really care if it is in my yard, but something about that black cat spooked me so I took a step towards it to shoo it off and it stopped and look at me then started to run across the street.  Just then, just as this cat was heading in the street this car come racing down the street and BAM! hit the cat.  Car didn't stop, didn't even slow down.  I reckon he didn't know he had hit the cat.  Well, that cat, he is laying out in the middle of the street and I could see it was still moving you know so I go out to see if I can help it at all.  Well, as soon as I get within five feet of that thing it started hissing at me.  I don't need no hissing cat at me and besides, hey have you seen that raccoon hanging around here? well I have and I figure maybe that cat got the rabies from the raccoon and that is why it was hissing at me, so I told myself I don't want to mess with a rabies filled hissing cat so I walked back over here.  I stood out here and watched it for awhile and it started to pull itself, well it was more of a crawl I guess but it started crawling over towards your place.  Got into your front yard and stopped.  I figured it was dead at that point or would be shortly, so I went back in the house.  Nothing I could do for it, you know.  It was in pretty bad shape, so I went back in the house."

I gave up trying to take notes on Chuck's account as to what had happened because I couldn't keep up with him.

"That answer your question?" Chuck asked.

"Yes sir, I believe it does.  Thanks Chuck."

"No problem," Chuck said as he went and got in his car.

I stood there and thought about Chucks version.  It pretty well matched up with what Charlene had said but then again, Charlene had gotten her facts from Chuck so you would expect their stories to match.  Chuck had mentioned the raccoon though while Charlene didn't seem to know about any raccoon in the area.  If Chuck's version was right, then you couldn't really blame the raccoon for the death since a car was the actual cause of death.

About that time Susan and Cory, who are my neighbors to the south came out of their house getting ready to go to breakfast.  I decided it was worth a shot to see if they had any more information.

"HEY SUSAN, CORY, YOU GOT SEC?" I yelled over to them.

"Sure,". Susan said, "What can we do for you?"

They are a young couple who are extremely nice.  They haven't lived there but a couple of weeks so this crime was their indoctrination to the neighborhood.

"Well, I am looking into the case of this dead cat Dutch found in the yard last night."I explained.

Susan lowered her eyes, "Oh yes, that cat.  It was awful.  It was so very sad." and she reached out and held her husbands hand.  "A car hit it last night.  I was just getting home when it happened."

Susan looked over at Cory who nodded his head to urge her on.

Susan sighed.  "The car didn't even stop.  It just kept on going.  So, so very sad." and Susan sniffled a bit.

I softened my voice as I continued to ask her questions knowing how upset she was.

"What happened after the car drove off?"

"Well, that man over there," she said pointing towards Chuck's house, "He came out to try to help the poor thing but I guess the cat was in a lot of pain."  She stopped and thought for a second.  "I think it was in pain because it hissed at that man and he was just trying to help.  Then the poor thing crawled over into your yard and...."

Susan broke down and sobbed.  Cory put his arm around Susan's shoulders and whispered "and it died there, in your yard."

"Thanks.  I appreciate your help" I said as I watched Cory lead Susan to the car and gently help her in before shutting the door.

I sat on the front porch and looked over my notes.  I reran the witness interviews in my head.  It seemed that they all pretty much coincided.  I was convinced it was that filthy raccoon but in the end, I could not pin it on him.  Sure, the raccoon may have poisoned the cat, that was a definite possibility but it wasn't the rabies poison that killed the cat.  No it was a speeding out of control car.

I went in and typed up a report spelling out my conclusion on the murder in my front yard on my computer.  I proof read it correcting any mistakes I happened to find.  I sent the report to the printer and printed it out in nice bold type.  After placing the official report in a folder, I tucked it under my arm and walked out to my car.

About that time Charlene came striding out of her house.

"Where you headed?" she asked excitingly.  Charlene didn't drive so I thought she needed a ride somewhere.

I held up the report in my hand and said, "Taking this report I typed up on the murder to the police station.  They probably can use all the help they can get."

Charlene's eyes lit up and a small smile crossed her lips.  "I was hoping ... I mean thought you might be going up there.  Mind if I ride along?  I would love to see them express their appreciation to you."

"Sure, hop in. It will be nice to have some company going up there."

She got in the car quickly and fastened her seat belt. "Okay, let's go" she said with a touch of excitement in her voice.

So Charlene and myself headed to the station.  I had a feeling that the police would be very interested in this report and probably be very thankful to have such responsible citizens in the city trying to help them out.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

FIVE OVER LOOKED ALBUMS THAT ARE GREAT

A while back I did an entry that listed ten great studio albums that I feel should be in everyone's collection.  I have decided to return to the subject and this time list ten albums that are mainly over looked in artists libraries.  Ground rules are simple: Greatest Hits albums are not allowed nor are live albums.  In the previous post, which included Carole King, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Willie Nelson, Miles Davis, The Allman Brothers Band and Chicago.  There was also one album that could be included on this list as well.  That one being Nicky Hopkins "The Tin Man Was A Dreamer"  However since it was included in the previous post, it will not be included here although it is a great album that nobody knows about.  You can read about the album on my "Great Music Installation" post.

So here are some great albums that are often over shadowed and over looked by music lovers everywhere.

CAT STEVENS - "CATCH BULL AT FOUR"
Like so many albums on this list, "Catch Bull At Four" is the casualty of the greatness of Cat Stevens other albums such as "Tea For The Tillerman", "Teaser And the Firecat" and "Buddah and the Chocolate Box" all of which were filled with great songs and hits.  This album has just two songs known to the casual Cat Stevens listener "Sitting" and "Can't Keep It In".  The album is for the most part quieter than his previous albums and let's face it, this album was up against some pretty stiff competition for the casual Cat Stevens listener.  It is more acoustic and the lyrics are a bit more complicated as Stevens was starting his journey to find spirituality for his life.  Still, this album holds up against those other three if it is given a chance.

DAVID BOWIE - "STATION TO STATION"
This album suffered much the same fate as "Catch Bull At Four" did.  Bowie had already amassed a fairly large following and had several songs hit the charts before this album was released.  There is only one song that is considered a vital part of his canon in "Golden Years".  The rest of the songs slipped between the cracks.  The first problem for this album was that there were only six songs on it.  "Golden Years" clocked in at 4:00 and was the only song that would fit the single release format.  All of the other songs range from 5:34 to 10:16.  Those other songs were great though.  The album follows the seventies Bowie formula music wise with each song a master to itself.  TVC-15, Station to Station, Stay and Wild Is The Wind are to Bowie fanatics must haves.  This album deserves a better placement than it gets in the Bowie Catalogue.  Give it a listen if you get the chance.

WARREN ZEVON - "WARREN ZEVON"
Long before "Werewolves Of London" became a standard classic rock song, Warren Zevon was sitting at home writing songs and working as a studio musician.  He met Jackson Browne and the two became very good friends.  One weekend Browne visited Zevon to listen to some songs that the piano player had written.  Browne was dutifully impressed and talked the record studios into recording a record with some of these early songs.  This album was the result.  Actually, almost all of Warren Zevon's career was over looked.  He only charted two songs with "Werewolves Of London" peaking at #21 and "A Certain Girl" hitting #57.  Even though his recordings were overlooked his songs weren't.  Other artists needing songs for their own albums were directed to some Zevon songs.  "Hasten Down The Wind", Poor Poor Pitiful Me" and "Carmelita" were all covered by several artists and became hits.  Zevon continued to record though and when "Werewolves Of London" finally made a splash his name became a little better known.  It was then that he became one of David Letterman's favorite guest musicians and Zevon sat in for Paul Schieffer  several time on Letterman's show.  This exposure brought more attention to Zevon and his later songs but this first album was loaded with what would became an integral part of his library.  Along with "Hasten Down The Wind" and Poor Poor Pitiful Me" were "The French Inhaler", "Mohammed's Radio", "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" and "Desperados Under The Eaves".  As Zevon was closing out his career due to cancer, his songs began to catch the attention of the music world and by the time he passed, he was considered one of rock's greatest composers and entertainers.  Although the album is still relatively unknown, the songs from it appear on his greatest hits packages and are well know as songs unto themselves, not songs from a certain album.  This album in hindsight is one of Zevon's greatest and deserves a listen.

THREE DOG NIGHT - "COMING DOWN YOUR WAY"
Anyone who knows me knows about my lifelong love affair with this band.  I truly do love all the music they produced.  After landing on the charts with three #1's, 11 top 20's and 20 consecutive top 40 hits, this album was released in 1975.  It would give Three Dog Night their 21st and final top 40 hit in the form of "Til The World Ends".  It was the year I graduated High School and so it seemed my public academic life and the life of Three Dog Night came to an end at the same time.  Coincidence?  I don't know ... maybe.  This album though is overlooked because it did just produce one single and it seemed like the music world in general was heading in a different direction than these guys.  This album though is classic Three Dog Night as it follows the formula of all of their previous albums.  It sounds like Three Dog Night and, to me anyway, it is one fantastic record.  This thing is loaded with songs that in an earlier point of the bands existence would have produced three singles easily.  After this album, Three Dog Night began to fall apart and they tried different sounds, and well, it all came crashing down.  For anyone who listened to and enjoyed Three Dog Night, this album is a must listen.  If anything it will help bring closure to the end of a great career by a great group.

 JOHN MAYALL - "NEW YEAR NEW BAND NEW COMPANY"
It is hard to fathom the number of albums John Mayall has released and so it is easy to see how a few of them could get lost in the shuffle.  This album was special though.  Mayall was, and still is, considered a master bluesman who brought up guitarists who he had discovered like Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor. Clapton would go on to form Cream and a solo career, Peter Green would co-found Fleetwood Mac and a solo career, and Mick Taylor who would join the Rolling Stones.  On this album though, Mayall took a chance and hung a HUGE left turn sliding a little bit away from the blues into a southern rock sound.  It was 1975 and the southern rock genre was hitting it big and Mayall wanted to give it a shot.  He put together a totally new band and included for the first time a female vocalist in Dee McKinnie.  When the record hit the shelves Mayall fans were stunned as they were expecting another great blues album and got southern rock instead.  The reviews were not good because it wasn't what was expected of the master but in hindsight, this album is a wonder.  It is a wonder that Mayall could take such a turn away from blues and still put out an incredible recording.  All of you Mayall blues fans out there ... give this thing a chance.  You may like it better than you think you will.

So there are five of many albums that are underrated or overlooked in my opinion.  Maybe you have a couple of your favorite albums that no one else seems to know about.  It is pretty easy to do.

Monday, April 16, 2018

SHOULD HAVE HAVE BEEN DOUBLE ALBUMS

This is a subject that has rolled around in my mind for a very long time.  Not often, but once in a great while, an artist or band put out two albums back to back that become a defining moment in time for the artist.  Every now and then two albums are released that are so good, close to masterpieces, that it is difficult to separate the two albums from each other.

Other than live albums, the first group to thrive on double albums was Chicago.  Their first three albums were double and they needed to be.  It was those three albums that threw Chicago into the forefront of rock in the late sixties and early seventies.  Chicago is often compared to Al Kooper's Blood Sweat and Tears because of the huge presence of horns giving their recordings a touch of jazz into the rock and roll.  Where Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears part ways is that Chicago using the double album format were able to actually record jazz and introduce the rock and pop world to the world of jazz.  They still had their rock singles from those albums but when the listener purchased the album they were gifted with a mixture that no other bands were doing.  Their fourth album was a FOUR record set of live performances from those first three albums.  As Chicago was starting to prepare for the fifth album, Columbia Records made it known that Chicago was big enough now that the company was losing profits on the double album format and it seemed that casual Chicago fans were starting to think it a bit too much music to absorb and frankly, the public were starting to hesitate on dishing out the price for a double record from Chicago.  So Chicago made the fifth album their first single record.  The effect of this was a great album but at the expense of a lot of the jazz influence.  The album were all songs that would play on AM radio.  The public apparently was grateful that they could buy a cheaper single disc from the band instead of a jazz filled double record.  It changed the overall Chicago sound that would progress through time and Chicago was never the same band that they were during those first three albums.

I have always thought that an artist could stand to put out at least one double record once in a great while that would have created some absolutely awesome albums that would rocket up the charts.  This piece is about a few select set of albums that would fit together wonderfully as a double record set.  Some groups have done this as Bob Dylan did with "Blonde On Blonde", The Beatles "White Album", Elton John "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and ELO did "Out Of The Blue" as very successful double records.

So let's start at the top.

The Beatles: "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver"
These two albums are special in The Beatles discography.  They seem to slowly divide the old Beatles sound with the new sound that would lead to the Sgt Pepper's album.  This was the beginning of the metamorphosis  of the Beatles when they began to experiment with different sounds and Harrison became more involved in creating the new sound.

Tracks for "Rubber Soul":
1. Drive My Car
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3. You Won't See Me
4. Nowhere Man
5. Think For Yourself
6. The Word
7. Michelle
8. What Goes On
9. Girl
10. I'm Looking Through You
11. In My Life
12. Wait
13. If I Needed Someone
14. Run For Your Life

Tracks for "Revolver":
1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. Love You To
4. Here, There And Everywhere
5. Yellow Submarine
6. She Said She Said
7. Good Day Sunshine
8. For No One
9. I Want To Tell You
10. Got To Get You Into My Life
11. Tomorrow Never Knows

Quite a line up of tunes and it ends with a very Sgt Pepper's sound in Tomorrow Never Knows.  These two albums, when played back to back, sounds seamless between the two records.

Bob Dylan: "Blood On The Tracks" and "Desire"
These two albums still have a little political content included but what ties these two albums together is not only the greatness of the songs between the two, but Dylan goes into full story telling mode.  They are entertaining because of this.  You are listening to not only songs, but stories and it began a new style for Dylan.

Tracks for "Blood On The Tracks":
1. Tangled Up In Blue
2. Simple Twist Of Fate
3. You're a Big Girl Now
4. Idiot Wind
5. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
6. Meet Me In The Morning
7. Lilly, Rosemary and The Jack Of Hearts
8. If You See Her Say Hello
9. Shelter From The Storm
10. Buckets Of Rain

Tracks for "Desire":
1. Hurricane
2. Isis
3. Mozambique
4. One More Cup Of Coffee
5. Oh Sister
6. Joey
7. Romance In Durango
8. Black Diamond Bay
9. Sara

Bob Seger "Night Moves" and "Stranger In Town":

These albums show Seger at his absolute best, his peak.  While he did do some great albums later, every song on these two albums are Seger classics.  Personally, I can not listen to one without wanting to listen to the other right after it.  You can shuffle all the songs on these two albums and it still sounds perfect, each song having the sound that it belongs on the album.  It was his live album released right before these two that brought him into the main stream of rock, but these two albums cemented his presence there.  While Seger would have a few more classic albums, none surpassed the quality of music that these two hold.

Tracks for "Night Moves":
1. Rock and Roll Never Forgets
2. Night Moves
3. The Fire Down Below
4. Sunburst
5. Sunspot Baby
6. Mainstreet
7. Come To Poppa
8. Ship Of Fools
9. Mary Lou

Tracks for "Stranger In Town":
1. Hollywood Nights
2. Still The Same
3. Old Time Rock and Roll
4. Till It Shines
5. Feel Like A Number
6. Ain't Got No Money
7. We've Got Tonight
8. Brave Strangers
9. The Famous Final Scene

Bad Company: "Bad Co" and "Straight Shooter"

Imagine a new band coming on to the scene.  The vocals sound familiar but you can't really place who it is until you see them.  That was the case with Bad Company.  Paul Rogers was in a band named "Free" who had one hit song "All Right Now" and people liked it.  They loved it.  But the band wasn't working out and Rogers wanted more freedom to do what he wanted to do and so he formed Bad Company.  The first album was a smash and by the end of their first tour as an opening act, fans were wondering why they weren't headlining.  Then within a year the second album "Straight Shooter" is released and it is, by most pundits, better than the first album and Bad Company's second tour had them as the headliners.  Every song on these two albums are instantly noticed as a Bad Company song and each one of these songs has fans asking "Why wasn't that a single?  These two albums go hand in hand with each other.  Bad Company would never again have a backlog of songs to release all at one time and the group would fade a little bit after these two albums.  If this had been a double record set, it could have been their first greatest hits album.

Tracks for "Bad Co":
1. Can't Get Enough
2. Rock Steady
3. Ready For Love
4. Don't Let Me Down
5. Bad Company
6. The Way I Choose
7. Movin' On
8. Seagull

Tracks for "Straight Shooter":
1. Good Lovin' Gone Bad
2. Feel Like Makin' Love
3. Weep No More
4. Shooting Star
5. Deal With The Preacher
6. Wild Fire Woman
7. Anna
8. Call On Me

Rod Stewart: "Every Picture Tells A Story" and "Never A Dull Moment"

Rod Stewart had already known some pretty good success with the group Faces with his pal Ronnie Wood before breaking out on his own.  He first few solo attempts were fairly good but overlooked as Stewart was still putting out Faces albums.  Then he decided to make a full break and focus on a solo project.  The result was the epic "Every Picture Tells A Story" which featured one of his best known songs "Maggie May"  The album is non-stop good with a different sound than the Faces had.  It is considered one of the greatest albums of all time and I still consider it so.  Within a year he did the follow up "Never A Dull Moment" which had some cover songs that Stewart breathed new life into.  The second of the two seemed to pick up where the first one left off.  In this case again, when put together, these two disc sound like they came off of the same album.  I think if Stewart had released these as a double disc would have really shot his solo career to a point where it would take a few more years to achieve.
 
Tracks for "Every Picture Tell A Story":
1. Every Picture Tells A Story
2. Seems Like A Long Time
3. That's All Right
4. Tomorrow Is A Long Time
5. Maggie May
6. Mandolin Wind
7. I'm Losing You
8. Reason To Believe

Tracks for "Never A Dull Moment":
1. True Blue
2. Lost Paraguayos
3. Mama You Been On My Mind
4. Italian Girls
5. Angel
6. Interludings
7. You Wear It Well
8. I'd Rather Go Blind
9. Twistin' The Night Away

Well I have some other ideas but they would not have worked out due to the circumstances surrounding the times.  I could see Elton John double up "Don't Shoot Me" with "Honky Chateau" but he already had "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" in the planning stages.  Eagles "On The Border" and  "One Of These Nights" would have been a classic double set, but then they would have been out of material waiting for Joe Walsh to come along.  In the seventies, when there were so many great rock albums coming out, the possibilities are infinite for possible double record sets.  These that I selected I feel would have really made a difference in the discography of the seventies.  They individual albums that seem to have a sibling type disc to go along as a double.

Next time you listen to one of your discs, think of one that truly is a companion disc and think what it would have been like if the two had been released simultaneously as a double record set.

This was a short and not too deep entry but one that I wanted to do just to put an idea out there.  Hope you enjoyed.