Jeff Beck - "Tallyman" b/w "Rock My Plimsoul" 45prm single, yellow vinyl, 1967/2015 (Epic/Sundazed)

Jeff Beck always appealed to me due to his clothes sense, physical looks, and of course, his guitar playing.  There is something no-nonsense concerning his approach to music-making.  I admire that and being a fan of The Yardbirds, I feel a devotion to his time in that band.  Still, in 1968, when I purchased his album "Truth" I was disappointed in its conservative approach to rock.  I loved the craziness and wildness of The Yardbirds singles and their manic quality.  Beck, on his own, was a tad tasteful.   He had a great band, with such talent as Rod Stewart, Ron Wood as the bassist, and Mick Weller as a drummer - plus the presence of the great Nicky Hopkins.  Still, there was something missing in the mix, and I think that was due that Beck is not a songwriter.  Also, he's not a great arranger like Jimmy Page, who by the way, I don't think he's a songwriter as well.  But he knows a great tune if you get my drift. 

"Tally Man" is an interesting record/song by Beck. Written by the great Graham Gouldman, who wrote hits for The Yardbirds as well as Herman's Hermits, and produced by Mickie Most.  I believe it's Beck on lead vocals, and it's a wonderful pop song done in that Beck manner to make it heavy.  A one-off single before the album, or before he got the band together.  

Graham Gouldman - "The Graham Gouldman Thing (Vinyl, Album, Stereo, 1968 (RCA)

My interest in figures who somehow made pop music culture, yet remain in its shadows is an obsession of mine. For instance, songwriters who wrote numerous hit songs for various artists, and yet, they made their album. Does one wonder if they had hopes of being successful without fronting other music artists? Graham Gouldman wrote hit songs for The Yardbirds and Herman's Hermits, among others. He eventually formed and became a member of 10cc. Eric Stewart, his co-band member, was also from the British Invasion era. He was a member and songwriter for The Mindbenders (with and without "Wayne").

I'm an admirer of these 'pop' songwriter albums such as "The Graham Gouldman Thing" as well as Tony Hazzard (wrote songs for The Yardbirds as well as Manfred Mann) and Boyce and Hart (they wrote classic hits for The Monkees). All albums are of great importance, mostly due that they have their 'hit songs' on them, and it's interesting to compare the recordings between their recorded version and others by the bands who did their songs.

Gouldman's album was co-produced by Peter Noone (Herman of Herman's Hermits) and himself, as well as John Paul Jones handling the arrangements. It is released in 1968, a tad later than The Yardbirds's "For Your Love" this is very much a showcase of Gouldman's songs and his ability to carry these tunes under his name. The hits (made famous by others) are "For Your Love" (The Yardbirds), "Bus Stop" (The Hollies), "No Milk Today and "Upstairs and Downstairs" both by Herman's Hermits. If there is a Gouldman aesthetic, it seems his songs relay sort of mid-20th-century British culture, that is a snapshot of life as it happens, with a touch of the Harold Pinter/John Osbourne observation of British everyday life. When he started working with 10cc, his songs, as well as the others in the band, became still, observational, but with a savage sense of humor. Here in his early works, it's more of a reflection that has traces of sadness and romantic disappointment. Gouldman wrote the hits, but I feel he left an enormous amount of DNA of his personality and thoughts in these commercial works.

Tony Hazzard - "Tony Hazzard Sings Tony Hazzard Vinyl, LP, Reissue, 1969/2016 (You Are The Cosmos)

I have favorite songs that I can't get enough of:  "Goodnight Sweet Josephine" and "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown."   Both were recorded by the Jimmy Page era of The Yardbirds, as well as Manfred Mann who actually had the hit with "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown."   My life goal is to get every recorded version of "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown." It's interesting to note that two blues related bands of that time recorded the most pop of the pop song possible at that time.  And I know there are Yardbirds fans who must that song and "Goodnight Sweet Josephine," but I love them to bits because they are provocative in the sense that its throw-a-way pop song, but brilliant at the same time.  The author of those two songs is Tony Hazzard, a songwriter from Liverpool.  

"Tony Hazzard Sings Tony Hazzard" is an interesting album, not only due that he wrote two perfect pop songs, but also he was one of the last songwriters whose existence is to write songs for other artists.  1969 is pretty late in the game for the pure pop songwriter when artists like Manfred Mann and Yardbirds were also writing their own material, and one presumes that the producer or record company made these bands take on Hazzard's professional material.  Also, The Yardbirds and Manfred Mann were slowly fading to of course change to Led Zeppelin and Manfred Mann Chapter Three.  Still, it was the last dying grasp that these bands recorded the Tony Hazzard songs. 

If one needs to compare Hazzard with another singer-songwriter it would have to be Graham Gouldman of 10cc fame, but also a very prominent commercial songwriter for a lot of beat bands during the early 60s, including The Yardbirds, The Hollies, and Herman's Hermits.  I don't know Hazzard's history, but I feel that he was the last 'echo' of that type of British songwriter such as Gouldman. 

Listening to Hazzard's record is odd, and it must have been odder to hear it when the album was originally released in 1969 when things got heavy, yet, this is an album of consistent pop songwriting techniques.  Clearly an album by a man who knows how to put a song together.  One thing that stands out in the recording is the 12-string acoustic guitar which is very strong in the mix.  There is psychedelic phrasing of the electric guitar - which may be a nod to the Jimmy Page touch, and in fact, maybe Page is on this album?   My obsession with British music is very much my interest, and Tony Hazzard fascinates me within that's context.   For those who love British pop, I do suggest checking this album out.  

10cc - "Sheet Music" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1974 (UK Records)

In the early 1970s, I was intrigued with the band 10cc, due that two of the musicians were very much part of the music business or scene of the 1960s.  Graham Gouldman wrote hits for The Yardbirds, The Hollies, and Herman's Hermits, while Eric Stewart was a member and writer for Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders.   The new guys in the band (at the time) Kevin Godley and Lol Creme came out of nowhere but soon became prominent music video directors as well as working with the group Art of Noise.  What made 10cc interesting is the creative tension between Godley/Creme and Gouldman/Stewart.   Generally speaking, the veterans had a classic songwriting approach to their material, but Godley/Creme always had a visual flair to their songwriting which was cinematic and ambitious.  

10cc at their weakest are sometimes a parody act, or a very pretentious reach to expand their pop sensibilities. "Sheet Music," their second album plays on both sides of the coin and succeeds greatly.  "The Wall Street Shuffle" and "Silly Love" are classic songwriting with a broad sense of satire and the Beatleastic (mostly on the Paul side of the world) touches of melody and production makes them a witty counterpoint to McCartney's blandness at the time. "The Worst Band in the World" and "Clockwork Creep" are fantastic pieces of pop fun, with "Creep" showing its sinister side of being a song about a bomb and that object's point of view.  

At the time, I purchased all the early 10cc albums, but "Sheet Music" stayed with me because it was fresh and it still sounds vital.  I think due to the intensity of four very creative guys working together to make a pop album that had serious issues but done ironically or humorously.  It's worth noting that Paul McCartney used the same recording studio as 10cc when they recorded "Sheet Music."   Paul was co-writing and producing his brother's solo album "McGear," which is a great Paul album.  There is a sound that goes back and forth between "Sheet Music" and "McGear."  For sure, a sense of adventure and playfulness.