Lost/Forgotten Album #216

[Jon]

As I prepared this anniversary edition of your L/F album o' the week, I came to a few realizations.

1) I never knew anyone that owned a Nelson album, or anybody that admitted that they did.

b) I never heard anyone say, "Check this out!" when a Nelson video was shown on MTV. 

7) I never went to a party where a Nelson album was played or requested.  

So what does that have to do with this weeks pick?

Well, this week's offering is "Windfall" from Rick Nelson And The Stone Canyon Band, released in 1974. Now it should be clear. If it's not, do some research. I'm not here to hold your hand.

(NOTE: 100% collusion free! All facts are from jonsmindopedia, unless otherwise noted.)

"WIndfall" was the followup to the "Garden Party" album which scored a hit with the title track, a song most everyone should know. The rest of that album is pretty good.

As for "Windfall", let's grab the review from allmusic.com:

"Windfall was Rick Nelson's killer follow-up to his late-1972 album Garden Party, and it exceeded any creative expectations that the artist or his audience could possibly have had. It also featured a new version of his Stone Canyon Band, and a brace of original songs growing out of that new membership. Nelson, displaying more confidence than he'd had since the mid-1960s, delved not only into some achingly beautiful corners of country-rock, but also harder rocking territory and also more soul and funk-oriented sounds than anyone believed possible. Nelson and company start off with "Legacy," an original by new lead guitarist Dennis Larden, which picks up right where Garden Party left off and ought to have been a hit in its own right; then he pulls off one of the great transformations in rock & roll history, sounding tougher than tough on Nelson's own "Someone to Love," with some of the loudest guitar ever heard on one of his records, and then drifts into a seductive, bluesy country mode with elements of reggae in "How Many Times" (written by bassist De Witt White); Larden's volume-pedal dominated performance on "Evil Woman Child" is something else new to a Rick Nelson record, but no one could have been prepared for Nelson's vocal, bouncing across syllables like the best rappers of the 1980s; and Larden's "Don't Leave Me Here" brings us back to country-rock. Side Two hews closer to country-rock, starting with the superb rocker "Wild Nights in Tulsa" and getting better from there -- "I Don't Want to Be Lonely Tonight" even intersects with Creedence Clearwater Revival, or the Eagles in a harder-rocking moment, and "One Night Stand" is another hit that should have been, and "Windfall" is one of the best originals Nelson ever cut. It's all a pity that nobody was listening, because Windfall was the crowning glory of Nelson's albums for Decca, and as solid a piece of '70s music as any early rock & roller this side of Elvis Presley ever delivered."

This album might surprise you. 

Give it a listen.

Windfall

1. Legacy
2. Someone To Love
3. How Many Times
4. Evil Woman Child
5. Don't Leave Me Here
6. Wild Nights In Tulsa
7. Lifestream
8. One Night Stand
9. I Don't Want To Be Lonely Tonight
10. Windfall

Availability: The best option is the remastered BGO edition, featuring this album as well as "Garden Party" and it runs around $15.

[Scott]

Seriously???!!!!  You two are back together again?

[Jon]

Not it any way. He asked what year I was doing, I told him '74, he then thanked me and said he would post something from '84. He obviously lied. I am further distancing myself from him over this blatant lie.

[Scott]

[Jon]

[Scott]

I have very little memory of Ricky Nelson musically outside of Garden Party which, if memory serves correct (and it usually does), my oldest brother played from time to time.  And I do not own any Nelson music in any format… 1, b, and 7.  Nice!

 

Legacy is nice countrified opener, very well written.  The fuzz/distortion on Someone to Love was not expected, but I like the tune.  Bluesy.

 

How Many Time has nice acoustic funk, but slowed way down.  Kind of a droned vocally though.  Gives way to the funk of Evil Woman Child is good way.  I think when I was going through my seventies series I noted that stylistically everything was wide open and everything played out very nicely.  This seems to support my thinking.

 

Don’t Leave Me Here, returns to the country-rock of the times and is a very nicely done tune.  I get an early Poco vibe.  Maybe a single?

 

Got meetings…  will be back later for the second half of this!

[Scott]

Wild Nights in Tulsa…  Is there such a thing?

 

Whoa…  Podsnack freaks out when your internet goes down and it’s in the middle of switching tracks

 

Lifestream.  Real nice acoustic ballad here.  Ozzie would be proud!  Probably Harriet and David too.  Very quick tune, maybe to short?  Would’ve liked to hear more of this one.

 

One Night Stand.  Now he is in New York City?  Did he forget where the wild nights are?

 

I Don’t Want To be Lonely Tonight, this is the filler.  Windfall is a nice closer (aren’t you glad I came up with that topic so we could continue to talk about it and give me credit for it on every post forever more?)

 

Surprised at how much I enjoyed this.  Thought it may be a nice listen but it far surpassed the lowered expectations I have when you two work this closely together.

 

Nice work Jon …  and RJ

[RJhog (Admin)]

Okay, so I listened to side one just now.  Wow, this is pretty dang good.  And I've been wanting to hear some of his 70's stuff since Mike Pell played him.  It starts out mellow with that nice country type song, which I like.  It definitely mixes it up.  From the rocking second track, to the wocka wocka guitar in Evil Woman Child, to the Allmanesque sound of the guitar in the final track on side one.  I'm very impressed.   I'll have to catch side two later.

By the way, I think Don't Leave Me Here is my favorite from this side, but they are all good.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Just finished up.  Side two, at least the first 3 songs, are more straight up country.  Not bad at all though.  The second track has such a smooth vocal.  And the song after that, One Night Stand, could very easily be an early Eagles track.  The pedal steel is terrific.  That's the best song on side two.  

The pace picks back up after that.  Again, all of the songs are very listenable.  I like this post.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Found this on vinyl today for a buck.  I thought I remembered Jon featuring it here, but couldn't remember for sure.  Seems as though I liked it too.