Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll
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My top 50 songs of 2025 according to Spotify, #6: Joe Cocker, “Something’s Coming On,” 1968
Originally the b-side to Cocker’s first hit single, his cover of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends,” it was added to later editions of his 1969 debut album. I discovered this by chance last year, having never heard it before: Feel free to add links to your Joe Cocker favorites, live or…
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My top songs of 2025 according to Spotify, #5: REO Speedwagon, “Roll with the Changes,” 1978
These midwestern boys from Champaign, Illinois started as a blues rock band in the early 1970s, but only made it big in the late 1970s. This song was arguably the turning point for them (in terms of fame and fortune), although they soon adopted a more saccharine pop sound I did not care for. But…
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My top 50 songs of 2025 according to Spotify, #4: Terry Reid, “Tinker Tailor,” 1968
Now this is definitely an obscure one, by the British rock singer who turned down the opportunity to front both Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, but never had a particularly successful solo career. This is from his first album, and is probably the best number: Feel free to add links to other Terry Reid favorites.
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My top 50 songs of 2025 according to Spotify, #3: Foghat, “She’s Gone,” 1973
Foghat, which came out of the British blues rock band Savoy Brown, is best-remembered for mid-70s “classic” rock standards like “Fool for the City” and “Slow Ride,” but this song from their second album was always my favorite. Here’s the studio version: And here’s a live version, where “Lonesome” Dave Peverett is having some trouble…
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My top 50 of 2025 according to Spotify, #2: Santana, “Everybody’s Everything,” 1971
Early in the year, I started listening to some Santana, which I had not done in a number of years. Those first three Santana albums are gems, a fusion of blues rock and Latin musical styles. This song, which I apparently listened to more than any other, comes from Santana III in 1971: Feel free…
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My top 50 of 2025 according to Spotify, #1: Rumplestiltskin, “Make You Make Me,” 1970
I think I’ve finally exhausted the “great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll” that do not deserve their obscurity (arguably some I’ve posted also deserved it!). So for 2026, each Saturday, I’ll post the tunes Spotify tells me I listened to most in 2025; those who enjoyed the “obscure moments” postings will probably like many…
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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Mick Abrahams (1943-2025) memorial edition
Mick Abrahams was the original guitarist for Jethro Tull, but left after their first album, This Was, in 1968 because Abrahams wanted to push the band in a more blues rock direction, and Ian Anderson did not. On that first album, Abrahams did the arrangements for the instrumental “Cat’s Squirrel,” perhaps his most memorable contribution…
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Great moments in obscure “classic” rock ‘n’ roll albums: Leaf Hound, “Growers of Mushroom,” 1971
For heavy blues rock, it doesn’t get much heavier than the debut album by Leaf Hound, which went largely unnoticed at the time, but enjoyed a revival of interest with the “stoner rock” crowd in the 1990s, leading Peter French, the original lead singer, to reform the band in the 2000s. There are so many…
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Great moments in obscure “classic” rock albums: Budgie, “Bandolier,” 1975
This great Welsh hard rock trio never made it big in either the U.S. or Europe, but have long had a strong following among hard rock afficionados (helped no doubt by Metallica covering a couple of their songs, most famously “Breadfan“). Their best album, in my view, is 1975’s Bandolier (their fifth album), from the…
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Great moments in obscure “classic” rock ‘n’ roll albums: Humble Pie, “Rock On,” 1971
Steve Marriott, the dynamite vocalist and lead guitarist from The Small Faces teamed up with Peter Frampton in 1969 to form Humble Pie, a heavy blues rock band with a sound rather different than Marriott’s prior, psychedelic band. Although Humble Pie had its greatest success after 1971’s Rock On (and after Frampton left the band),…
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Great moments in obscure “classic” rock ‘n’ roll albums: Spooky Tooth, “Spooky Two,” 1969
For the next couple of months, I will feature some great, but largely forgotten, rock albums from the “classic” era of rock ‘n’ roll (i.e., the era indebted to the American blues). First up is a British rock band, formed in 1967, with one American (Gary Wright, later of “Dream Weaver” fame in the 1970s),…
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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Christine McVie, “I Want You,” 1970
Before she married Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie, Christine Perfect was already part of the British blues scene, most notably with the band Chicken Shack. This great tune was a solo number recorded in 1970: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJONhfJOEII Feel free to add links to other Christine Perfect favorites, including with Chicken Shack.
I first met Professor Hoy when I returned to UC Santa Cruz in Fall of ’92 to finish my undergraduate…