#bearsville

[househunting]

$639,000/2 br/1 ba

Bearsville, NY

Built in 1944

[bobdylan-n-jonimitchell]

Bob Dylan, Victor Maymudes, & Bob Neuwirth, Bearsville, NY, 1964 © John Byrne Cooke.

[mymelodic-chapel]

Sparks- A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing (Glam Rock, Art Pop, Art Rock) Released: February 1973 [Bearsville Records] Producer(s): Thaddeus James Lowe

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Visit Original Link

Alice Cooper - Fire

[elsotemo]

[vinylspinning]

Todd Rundgren: Something/Anything? (1972)

Yes ... yes it is “something,” and anything,” and, heck, Todd could have easily added “everything” to the title, while he was at it.

Something/Anything? was Rundgren’s third solo album, and first double-LP set, as his productivity increased by leaps and bounds to keep pace with a growing confidence in his talents as self-sufficient composer, musician (he played virtually every instrument here) and producer.

(Check out the inner gatefold photo, above, depicting the artist lording over his bedroom studio “domain.”)

Moreover, as its title suggests, there was now no musical style beyond Todd’s curiosity or creative reach; only time (or lack thereof) could limit and shape his ambitions, so he proceeded to group his songs into loosely unified thematic bunches across these four sides, as follows ... 

Side one is subtitled ‘A Bouquet of Ear-Catching Melodies,’ and delivers soulful love songs like "It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” and “Cold Morning Light,” a Motown-style hand-clapper called “Wolfman Jack” and a Latin-flavored rocker in “It Takes Two to Tango (This is for the Girls).”

Side two is designated ‘The Cerebral Side,’ and that means introspective goodies like the Beatles-esque “The Night the Carousel Burnt Down” and “I Went to the Mirror,” the quirky “Song of the Viking,” and another wonderful love song, “Marlene,” thrown in for the lower extremities.

Side three is where ‘The Kid Gets Heavy,’ so you know I got excited to dig the serious hard rock racket of the sinister “Black Maria” and immaculate power-pop gem “Couldn't I Just Tell You,” as well as the just plain heavy words in the heart-rending “One More Day (No Word)” and “Torch Song.” 

Finally, side four is cryptically called ‘Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A Pop Operetta)’ and is the only one recorded live in the studio with supporting musicians; they help Todd find his inner Harry Nilsson (“You Left Me Sore”) or Leon Russell (“Some Folks is Even Whiter than Me,” “Slut”).

Amid all this, Rundgren breaks with the obsessive-compulsive perfectionism exhibited on other one-man albums (see Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Prince, etc.) by dropping random banter (in his nerdy nasal voice), false starts, and even a game of "spot the mixing desk trickery” as side two’s “Intro.”

How can you not love this guy? 

As Something/Anything? proved, Todd Rundgren was both a wizard and a true star, so it’s fitting that his next (even better?) studio album would declare precisely that.

More Todd Rundgren: Runt, A Wizard, A True Star, Todd, Hermit of Mink Hollow.

[sweetdreamsjeff]

Me, hoarding the original images

Jeff at Bearsville Studio

[mymelodic-chapel]

Foghat- Foghat (Blues Rock, Hard Rock, Boogie Rock) Released: July 1972 [Bearsville Records] Producer(s): Dave Edmunds