Stylus over Substance (Volume 13) - Steppenwolf, Max Webster, Ian Thomas, The Grass Roots, Mel Tellis

Number thirteen and still plugging away. I have notice though that I'm not keeping with the theme as consistently as I had expected. The intent of dropping a bunch of mini blurbs was to save me time and to allow me to put down some thoughts on albums without having to go too deep. You know, "Oh I liked this one." that sort of thing. But nope. My balloon is apparently very much full of hot air. Some of these are longer and I suppose I could have just blown a little more air into them and released them on their own.

But I didn't, still I did get in a couple of short ones, so I'll take it as a win.

Welcome to the summer baby. Get a drink, pull up a chair and let's waste so time shall we?

• Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf (1968)
• Max Webster - Live Magnetic Air (1979)
• Ian Thomas - Long Long Way (1974)
• The Grass Roots - Golden Grass: Their Greatest Hits (1968)
• Mel Tillis - Night Train to Memphis (1967)
  

Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf (1968) Steppenwolf is one of those bands whose name recognition seems to be tied to one song, "Born to Be Wild" and this tie is so strong that it is the song, not the band that was inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame in the single category. This may not seem fair, but there's some twisted logic to it, but it sure does feel like a snub. Through 1968 and 1970 the band would release a mind bogglin' five albums, and four of them would go gold. The band would sputter along through the '70s but their chat success was behind them. Honestly, I can't really say I was ever a fan of the band, but I was a fan of a couple songs. Most notably "Born to Be Wild" and to a lesser extent "The Pusher" which was a pretty cool slow burn, but it always got a bit tiring after hearing John Kay say, "God Damn" for the 100th time, I suppose it was edgy, now it just sounds like John had Tourette's syndrome and couldn't think of anything else to say. Both of those songs were present on their debut. The album is mix of heavy, trippy blues based rock and psychedelic swirly ambience. I'll be the first to admit the psychedelic era has aged poorly. It doesn't mean there weren't flashes of brilliance here and there and when Steppenwolf was good they were so good. I enjoy this now and again, mainly to hear "Born to Be Wild" but there are other songs I've found I really enjoy. 

The record I found was an original Dunhill pressing, and the jacket had managed to hold on to about half of the original shrinkwrap for over half a century - something I found hilarious. Now it doesn't have any ... sadly the vinyl was spotty in places. Which makes sense as I suspect this was played on pretty suspect gear for a long time, which means it was well loved. It sort of adds to the charm, but it's also irritating at times. The album closes with "The Ostrich" that borrows heavily from Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" at times, especially on the main riff ... it's also a really solid song and to me represents the best of heavy psychedelic blues rock. 

Max Webster - Live Magnetic Air (1979) Max Webster was always one of Canada's great little secrets. An odd band who were equal parts weird artsy fartsy nonsense and pure pop wizardry that was pretty much unparalleled. Over their career they released six studio albums - five went gold, and A Million Vacations went platinum in 1979, and Live Magnetic Air would go gold. 1979 was their best year. They were a pretty big deal up here in Canada, eh?

I'll also need to disqualify myself as anything other than a casual "radio hits" fan. I liked the songs I heard, and honestly can take or leave "Battle Scar" despite it being the only band duet I'm aware of with Rush. I have friends who with swear on a stack of vintage Oui magazines that Live Magnetic Air is one the purest examples of a live album to ever be captured. For me it isn't that simple. I found this a while back, and gave it a couple of spins, and while I was particularly taken with "Paradise Skies" the rest was kind of meh. I was used to the pretty pop Kim Mitchell had crafted during his solo career where he maintained his wacky persona, but kept it out of the music. When I put this on again, I may have been in the right mood, who knows, but this was really enjoyable. Still a tad weird and out there but my goodness them boys sure could play. I'm still drawn to the sparkly pop gem "Paradise Skies" - it is a wonderful song. Some of the other pieces take a bit more effort to get into, however, the album did indeed capture a band who were at the top of their game. They managed to make a song like "Here Among The Cats" sound awesome. Max Webster was a band who managed to incorporate the progressive elements of the '70s with their brand of artistic expression that was at times wrapped in pop goodness. They knew what they were doing, "We're just Max Webster, here to thin the thickness of your skin."  

Ian Thomas - Long Long Way (1974) I'd been on the lookout for this one, and lo and behold I found a really nice copy and while it was more than a dollar, it was a few dollars well spent. Long Long Way, is one of a handful of albums you can stream which is cool, but the majority of Mister Thomas' catalogue is still buried and unavailable - which is a shame. This was Ian's second release, and the title track is an absolutely killer piece of pop magic. The rest of the album is enjoyable, really enjoyable - there are no filler tunes to be found on this nine song collection, but in terms of stand out songs it's the title track that is the centrepiece. 

Ian was 24 when this was released, and it's amazing to me how grounded and mature the songs are, and how confident the arrangements were. There's something about Ian's early work, well frankly, all of his work that just resonates with me. The artwork though, well, that's another story. I suppose you just have to roll with it. It's not like it's the only cover that elicits a bit of groan, but there's a certain charm as well. 

The Grass Roots - Golden Grass: Their Greatest Hits (1968) The band's first album was released in 1966 and by 1968 they had released a trio of albums and later that same year the label put out a greatest hits collection. This collection turned out to be most successful album of the band's career. I vaguely remembered "Let's Live for Today" which is a pretty cool song, but otherwise really had no idea what was on the album. Grass Roots may not occupy the same rarefied air as some of their contemporaries from the late '60s but at the time the band was a pretty big deal. Up to the early '70s saw the band charting into the top 100 over 20 times. This early collection captures the era with well crafted pop songs, that were honestly a little generic sounding. Probably because the label more or less controlled song selection and had studio musicians perform the songs, most likely the infamous Wrecking Crew ... as you'd expect this caused some friction between the band and their label. As an aside, The Grass Roots are probably now as likely to be remembered because of Creed Bratton who was the band's lead guitar player. Yes, the same Creed Bratton who played a fictional version of himself in the US version of the office, and even mentions his old band on occasion. I'll admit this was one of the reasons I was curious about the band. Golden Grass is really good, and the blending of the bouncy pop with the harmonies and brass accompaniment was awesome.

Mel Tillis - Night Train to Memphis (1967) I was looking for some stuff the other day and Bob (who runs the store), who is often referred to as Krazy Bob, sometimes affectionately, sometimes not - suggested rather strongly that I HAD TO HAVE THIS ALBUM because "Tom Dooley" was not to be missed. In the past when Bob has suggested stuff he's been pretty spot on and generally it costs me an extra buck or two - but this time we were rifling through his discount bin and he just wanted me to have it. So I took it, and brought it home and cleaned it up. Night Train to Memphis is one of those strange budget Pickwick releases that never has a date, and doesn't show up in Mel's official discography says this is from 1979, checking on Discogs.com the Pickwick / Hilltop version seems to be from 1967, and a US pressing was shown as being from 1974 ... I don't think it matters.

This is early Mel Tillis, and frankly it's classic country, the good kind. The album is short, really short barely cresting 22 minutes, which means the whole thing could have been fitted onto one side. I liked the essay on the back by Ellis Nassour as even back then Mel was an established artist. I really did enjoy this, and yes to get back "Tom Dooley" was a happy upbeat number that was payed straight and belied the rather gruesome subject matter. Mel may have been known more for his stutter and personality in later years, but the songs here were pure classic country. It's not a genre I spend a lot of time in, but once in a while you have to explore a little. Thanks Bob.