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This broadcast revisits the Rockin’ Seventies….

Traffic – 1970-04-30 – Live at the Paris Theatre, London,  England [SBD]

Traffic was an English rock band formed in 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason.  They met when they had jammed together at a club called The Elbow Room.  After Winwood left The Spencer Davis Group in 1967, the four formed Traffic.  After releasing a couple singles, they recorded and released their debut album, Mr. Fantasy in 1967.  Mason left the group around that time due to artistic differences, and returned for a short time in 1968, log enough to contribute to their second album, Traffic, which contained Mason’s Feeling Alright.  Traffic broke up in 1969 after the release of their third album, Last Exit, due to Winwood leaving to form the supergroup, Blind Faith.  Blind Faith lasted less than one year, and performed one US tour in that time.  The band broke up when Eric Clapton left to play with the Plastic Ono Band, and then to tour with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends.  In 1970, Winwood started working on a solo project with Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood that would lead to the reformation of Traffic and the release of the highly successful album, John Barleycorn Must Die.  This concert is an FM broadcast, prior to the release of that album, and just the 3rd of the newly reformed Traffic.

ACDC – 1974-12-31 – Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia [FM]

ACDC was an Australian rock band that exploded onto the music scene in 1973, originally comprised of the brothers Angus and Malcolm Young (lead and rhythm guitar), Dave Evans (vocals), Larry Van Kriedt (bass), and Colin Burgess (drums).  The band’s lineup as they released their first two (Australian-only) albums were, besides the Young brothers, Bon Scott (vocals), Mark Evans (bass), and Phil Rudd (drums).  Evans was fired eventually in 1977 due to clashes with Angus Young, and replaced with Cliff Williams, still currently in the band.  They have definitely shaped the sound of music, more specifically heavy metal and hard rock in their over 40 years together.  This short concert finds them in the Festival Hall in Melbourne, Australia on 31 Dec 1974.  This was 1.5 months before the Australian-only release of their first album, High Voltage.  It would be a little more than a year after that first release that they would release their third (and first international) album, titled again, High Voltage.  Their second album, still only released in Australia, was titled TNT.

The Allman Brothers Band – 1971-08-26 – A&R Studios, NY [SBD]

The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by the brothers Duane Allman (slide and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson (drums).  As 1971 began, the Allman Brothers Band was riding a wave of critical success.  Their 2nd album, Idlewild South, released in late 1970, had received a strong review from Rolling Stone magazine.  The band’s best work was yet to come.  The live album Fillmore East, recorded on 12 and 13 Mar 1970 has often been called the finest live album ever produced.  While those Fillmore shows get the attention thanks to that historic album, the truth is that on almost every night in 1971, the Allmans, with Duane leading the way, were on fire!  This soundboard recording captures the band at A&R studios in NY on 28 Aug 1971,  just five months after the historic Fillmore shows.  Unfortunately, Duane would die in a motorcycle crash just three months later.

Santana – 1970-08-18 – Tanglewood, Lennox, MA [SBD]

Santana is a Latin rock band, founded in San Francisco during the late 1960s by Carlos Santana.  The band first came to widespread public attention with their performance of  Soul Sacrifice at Woodstock in 1969.  Bill Graham promoted the first rock concert at Tanglewood in Lennox, MA in the summer of 1969.  Billed as “The Fillmore at Tanglewood”, the concert featured BB King, Jefferson Airplane, and The Who, and served as the summer home for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.  The gig was so successful that Graham was back the next summer with a whole series of shows.  Santana played at Tanglewood on 18 Aug 1970, just over a year after their historic set at Woodstock.  By August 1970, Carlos had added a teenage guitar prodigy from San Francisco to the band by the name of Neal Schon.  Less than a month later, Santana would release their second album, Abraxas.  The album would climb to #1 on the Billboard charts and would spawn two of Santana‘s best known singles, Black Magic Woman, and Oye Como Va, which went to #4 and #13, respectively on the charts.