Here’s two album reviews from April 7th, 1974 edition of the L.A. Times. Poor Cameron got stuck reviewing another Black Oak Arkansas record and this one fares no better than the last. Flash Cadillac avoids his scorn and receives a passing grade. I’ve given the L.A. Times its own section on the Journalism page as I’ll be sharing a slew of additional articles and reviews in the coming weeks…
Cameron sat down with Glenn Frey and Don Henley for the liner notes of Eagles: Very Best of. Instead of the usual essay, they discuss each song and share anecdotes, recording info, early versions, title changes and inspirations behind the songs. It’s interesting to hear them reflect back on these iconic tunes and the impact that unofficial member J.D. Souther had on the band. Enjoy!
Happy Friday everyone. I’d like to share 5 mini-reviews that Cameron did for the San Diego Door. He completely dominated the Stereoscopes (i.e. review) section of the July 28, 1972 issue, so I’ll be sharing all of his reviews over three or four posts. For now, he’s pretty harsh on Black Oak Arkansas and Jim Croce, while being mixed on the latest albums from Hank Snow and New Riders of the Purple Sage. On a better note, he’s very favorable on the first solo album from some guy named Peter Frampton (who used to be the group Humble Pie). Could be the start of a beautiful friendship…
Today’s May 1974 Rolling Stone profile of the Guess Who marks the 175th Journalism entry for the site. That’s a big number, but we have plenty more Cameron Crowe penned articles in the coming months. This includes interviews and reviews from the San Diego Door, L.A. Times, Rolling Stone, Musician magazine, Interview magazine and much, much more. We’ll continue to add these pieces between entries about Pearl Jam Twenty, We Bought a Zoo and The Union.
OK, back to the Guess Who article. It focuses on the split between Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman with some interesting (and juicy quotes) on both sides. Over the years, the band (with Cummings and Bachman) has reunited multiple times, but are unable to use the Guess Who name due to legal issues.
In June 1972, just prior to his 15th birthday, Cameron wrote this epic review of three new albums from the members of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. At this time, this was definitely the most in-depth review that he’d done for the San Diego Door. Neil Young’s Harvest gets the bulk of the attention and you can feel Cameron’s disappointment as you read his review. It’s very clear that Cameron prefers the “stripped down-acoustic” versions of these Harvest songs that Young had previously debuted on tour. Stephen Stills’ Manassas doesn’t fare too well either, but Cameron really enjoyed the Crosby contributions on the Nash/Crosby LP quite a bit.
I’m pleased to share Cameron’s first journalism he did for the L.A. Times in 1973 covering Led Zeppelin entitled “Zeppelin Alchemy: Transmuting”. The article begins with a recap of Zep’s show at the San Diego Sports Arena, moves into a history of the band and includes many quotes from Robert Plant and a very talkative Jimmy Page. Enjoy!
How about three more 1972 San Diego Door LP reviews for your reading pleasure? According to Cameron, the winner in this bunch is Plainsong’s Amelia Earhart concept album. Boz Scagg’s gets a mixed review and Ronnie Hawkins doesn’t fare too well. Check ’em out!
Boz Scaggs – My Time – October, 1972
Plainsong – In Search of Amelia Earhart – December, 1972
Ronnie Hawkins – Rock & Roll Resurrection – August, 1972
Cameron provides the humorous and touching introduction to Teenage, a 2003 book by Joseph Szabo. It’s a wonderful collection of photographs that Szabo took while teaching on Long Island in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Cameron uses the opportunity to recall some of the colorful characters from his high school and the parts they played. The book is now out of print and highly collectable, but you can find out more about Szabo over at his official site. Here’s just a taste at some of his deeply moving black and white images.
