Thursday, September 26, 2019

June 1969 - December 1969: I Don't Think I Could Have Handled That Responsibility

Pictured above: George Harrison, 1969


Recording for George Harrison’s debut album, Something, was officially concluded on August 26th, 1969. Having gained a lot of publicity since Woodstock, the album was promoted tirelessly by Apple Corps. The album cover was taken on August 8th, 1969, outside EMI Studios on Abbey Road. The image became one of the most infamous and imitated in recording history, with it becoming a popular destination for Beatles fans, so much so that EMI Studios was renamed to Abbey Road Studios in 1970.


“The idea for the cover is just me taking a step into the next phase of my life, almost symbolically.”
- George Harrison, 1970


The album was finally released on October 4th, 1969 (the release was delayed to not compete with The Beatles’ Get Back), receiving nearly universal acclaim and becoming one of the best-sold records of the 1960s.


Something

- 01. Art of Dying (3:43) [1]
- 02. Something (3:02) [2]
- 03. Old Brown Shoe (3:18) [3]
- 04. For You Blue (2:29) [4]
- 05. I Me Mine (2:25) [4]
- 06. Isn’t it a Pity (7:13) [1]
- 07. Here Comes The Sun (3:05) [5]
- 08. Apple Scruffs (3:09) [1]
- 09. Nowhere to Go (3:11) [6]
- 10. Wah-Wah (5:39) [1]
- 11. Window, Window (2:42) [6]
- 12. Hear Me Lord (6:00) [1]


Released: October 4th, 1969
Track sources:
[1] - All Things Must Pass, 1970
[2] - Abbey Road, 1969
[3] - Past Masters, 1988
[4] - Let It Be Naked, 2003


Pictured above: Bob Dylan playing with The Band at the Isle of Wight Festival, 1969


Despite not participating with The Band at Woodstock, Bob Dylan came to the Isle of Wight Festival with The Band on August 31st, 1969. It was the first time he performed live since his motorcycle incident in 1966. Their setlist at the concert was as follows:


  1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
  2. Mr. Tamborine Man
  3. Like a Rolling Stone
  4. This Wheel’s on Fire
  5. Tears of Rage
  6. The Weight
  7. Highway 61 Revisited
  8. Stuck in The Middle of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
  9. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
  10. Chest Fever
  11. I Shall Be Released
  12. To Kingdom Come
  13. I Pity the Poor Immigrant
  14. Drifter’s Escape
  15. Minstrel Boy
  16. Slippin’ and Slidin’ (Peepin’ and Hidin’)


    After returning to America, The Band set up shop in the pool house of a home rented by the group in Hollywood Hills, with the intent of giving their latest album, John Wesley Harding, a Basement Tapes-like feel in what was termed “a clubhouse concept”. Recording finished on September 6th, with the album being released on September 22nd.


    John Wesley Harding

    - 01. Across the Great Divide (2:54) [1]
    - 02. John Wesley Harding (3:00) [2]
    - 03. Rag Mama Rag (3:03) [1]
    - 04. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (3:32) [2]
    - 05. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine (3:55) [1]
    - 06. When You Awake (3:13) [1]
    - 07. Up On Cripple Creek (4:32) [1]
    - 08. The Wicked Messenger (2:05) [2]
    - 09. Whispering Pines (3:58) [1]
    - 10. Jemima Surrender (3:31) [1]
    - 11. Rockin’ Chair (3:43) [1]
    - 12. The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest (5:35) [2]
    - 13. Look Out Cleveland (3:10) [1]
    - 14. Jawbone (4:21) [1]
    - 15. The Unfaithful Servant (4:17) [1]
    - 16. Dear Landlord (3:18) [2]
    - 17. King Harvest (3:36) [1]
    - 18. Down Along the Cove (2:25) [2]


    Released: September 22nd, 1969
    Track sources:
    [1] - The Band, 1969
    [2] - John Wesley Harding, 1967


    Pictured above: The Plastic Ono Band performing at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, 1969


    After his departure from The Beatles, John and Yoko Ono Lennon started organizing a band to play at the Toronto Rock and Roll Festival, following a call John received on September 12th about attending the festival for free to boost its profile. The lineup (which also became the second lineup of the Plastic Ono Band following the recording of Give Peace a Chance during John and Yoko’s second Bed-in for Peace), consisted of John Lennon on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Yoko Ono on vocals, Eric Clapton on lead guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, and Alan White on drums. Despite being planned for September 13th, the festival was delayed to September 30th, due to heavy rains.


    Pictured above: Cover for the Plastic Ono Band live album Live Peace In Toronto, 1969


    Also with this lineup (albeit with Ringo Starr on drums rather than Alan White), the single Cold Turkey was recorded, with the intent to be put on John Lennon’s debut solo album (which had the working title In His Own Songwrite). The single was released on October 20th, with the B-side Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow).


    Pictured above: The Rolling Stones, 1969


    By the time Beggars Banquet was released, Brian Jones was only sporadically contributing to The Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger saying that Jones was “not psychologically suited for this way of life.” During a meeting in June with Jagger, Jones and Charlie Watts at Jones’ house, Jones admitted he was “unable to go on the road again” and left the band, saying “I’ve left, and if I want to I can come back.”


    The Rolling Stones set forth looking for a new guitarist, auditioning several including Paul Kossoff and David Bowie, before settling on Mick Taylor.


    “The funny thing is that I was actually considered to be a replacement for Brian Jones, but... truth be told I don’t think I could have handled that responsibility”
    David Bowie, 1987


    On June 3rd, Brian Jones was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the swimming pool at his home, less than a month after his leave from the band. Despite this, the band went forth with a free concert organized by Blackhill Enterprises two days later in Hyde Park with King Crimson as the opening act, debuting Mick Taylor publically and dedicating the show to Jones. Before starting their set, Blackhill Enterprises stage manager Sam Cutler introduced The Rolling Stones as “the greatest rock and roll band in the world”. Jagger read an excerpt from Percy Bysshe Shelly’s poem Andonaïs, an elegy written on the death of his friend John Keats. They released thousands of butterflies in Jones’ memory before finally opening their set with “I’m Yours and I’m Her’s”.


    The Rolling Stones’ last album of the 60s was Let It Bleed, recorded between February and October of 1969, with a break between August and September. It was released shortly after their 1969 American Tour on December 5th, 1969.


    Pictured above: Pink Floyd, 1969


    After finishing their The Man and The Journey tour on September 24th, 1969, Pink Floyd released a live album using recordings mostly from their 1969 tour, albeit some songs were taken from BBC recordings and earlier live recordings, some with Syd Barrett.


    “There was some demand for a live album, dunno why. Either way, the main reason we released On the Road was because EMI wanted an album from us for their new label Harvest. We didn’t have any new material at the time, so we ended up just releasing those live recordings.”
    - Nick Mason, 2005


    On the Road

    - 01. Astronomy Domine (8:28) [1]
    - 02. The Beginning / Beset by The Creatures of The Deep (11:00) [1]
    - 03. Interstellar Overdrive (16:41) [1]
    - 04. Pow R. Toc H. (4:21) [1]
    - 05. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (9:22) [1]
    - 06. The Massed Gadgets of Hercules (12:48) [1]
    - 07. Let There Be More Light (4:18) [1]
    - 08. Nightmare (10:27)


    Released: September 24th, 1969
    Track sources:



    Recording for Ummagumma took place between September and October of 1969, with the single Point Me at The Sky / It Would Be So Nice being released on November 1st, 1969. A noteworthy part of the album is the suite after which the album is named, Ummagumma, which itself was named after Cambridge slang for sex.


    “The Ummagumma Suite, to put it simply, was about having sex and a child. There’s not much else to it, we just kind of wanted to make a suite about that.”
    Rick Wright, 1970


    Ummagumma


    - 01. Cirrus Minor (5:18) [1]
    - 02. The Nile (3:26) [1]
    - 03. Crying (3:33) [1]
    - 04. It Would Be So Nice (3:46) [2]
    - 05. Ibiza Bar (3:19) [1]
    - 06. Lady Divine (4:35) [3]
    - 07. Julia Dream (2:34) [2]
    - 08. Point Me at the Sky (3:40) [2]
    - 09. Ummagumma (20:59) [4]
    a. Main Ummagumma
    b. Odeon
    c. Tadpole’s Journey
    d. Seabirds
    e. Dramatic Ummagumma


    Released: November 7th, 1969
    Track sources:
    [1] - More, 1969
    [2] - 1968 Germin/ation, 2016
    [3] - 1968 Germin/ation, 2016 - Roger’s Boogie (Capitol Studios 1968)

    Author’s comments:
    Well, everyone, we’re basically done with 1969 at this point. This post was really just to tie up loose ends on plot points that conclude in 1969.


    However before we carry on with the 1970s, we’re going to pull inspiration from Strawberry Peppers a bit more and do a few “deleted scenes” scenarios of ideas and plot points we thought of a bit too late to be included in our original posts covering the 1960s. I hope you enjoy that and thank you once more for reading!

    P.S., I forgot to link Get Back in the last post, should be there now.
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    A brief explanation for this blog.

    This is an archive of the first draft of my music-focused alternate timeline history Something Creative , with every unpublished post republ...