Happy birthday, Todd Rundgren (71) and Kris Kristofferon (83)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

From 2018:

Turning the big 7-0 today, Todd Rundgren

Hat tip, http://www.thisdayinrock.com/

What a great producer, among so many other things. He produced Badfinger's Straight Up and the New York Dolls' first album. Ooh, and those albums he and Utopia cranked out.

I've been "working" today, so I didn't get to this 'til now.

Big salute to Todd. He is so great.

Also: Kris Kristofferon? He turns [83] today.

Todd Rundgren

Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Utopia. He is characterized for his sophisticated and often-unorthodox music, flamboyant stage outfits, and his later experiments with interactive entertainment. He also produced innovative music videos, pioneered forms of multimedia, and was an early adopter and promoter of various computer technologies, such as using the Internet as a means of music distribution in the late 1990s.

A native of Philadelphia, Rundgren began his professional career in the mid 1960s, forming the psychedelic band Nazz in 1967. Two years later, he left Nazz to pursue a solo career and immediately scored his first US top 40 hit with "We Gotta Get You a Woman" (1970). His best-known songs include "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light" from Something/Anything? (1972), which have heavy rotation on classic rock radio stations, and the 1983 single "Bang the Drum All Day", which is featured in many sports arenas, commercials and movie trailers. Although lesser known, "Couldn't I Just Tell You" (1972) was influential to many artists in the power pop genre. His 1973 album A Wizard, a True Star remains an influence on later generations of "bedroom" musicians.
....

Career

1966–1969: Nazz

After graduating from Upper Darby High School in 1966, Rundgren moved to Philadelphia and began his career in Woody's Truck Stop, a blues rock group in the style of Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Rundgren stayed with the band for eight months, and in the process, they became the most popular group in Philadelphia. He and bassist Carson Van Osten left before they released the eponymous first album to form the rock band Nazz in 1967. By then, Rundgren had lost interest in the blues and wanted to pursue a recording career with original songs in the style of newer records by the Beatles and the Who. As a member of Nazz, he learned his craft as a songwriter and vocal arranger and was determined to equal the artistry of the Beatles.
....

Nazz gained minor recognition with their debut record, July 1968's "Open My Eyes" backed with "Hello It's Me", both songs penned by Rundgren. The group subsequently released three albums: Nazz (October 1968), Nazz Nazz (April 1969), and Nazz III (1971). In March 1968, New York singer-songwriter Laura Nyro released her second album, Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. When Rundgren heard the record, he was struck by "all the major seventh chords and variations on augmented and suspended chords", and it had an immediate impact on his songwriting, especially as he began to compose more on piano. He has elaborated:

{snip}

From the Nazz era:

Later, live:

The flip side. I hadn't known that Nazz had recorded this until I read it in Wikipedia just now.

This album is great:

From another one of my favorite albums:

From the album "Todd":

Also from that album, this one is dedicated to "Donald":

The best pop tune of all time:

[sandensea]

1. Here's to the good times

And the not-so good times, when Kris certainly helped us get through them.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. One more birthday: Peter Asher, of Peter and Gordon, hitting 75

Hat tip, http://www.thisdayinrock.com/

Peter Asher

Peter Asher CBE (born 22 June 1944) is a British guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and record producer. As of 2018, he tours alongside Jeremy Clyde of Chad and Jeremy in a new duo entitled Peter and Jeremy, where they perform hits from both of their respective catalogs.
....

Early life
....

He is a member of Mensa. While attending the independent Westminster School as a day boy, he first met fellow pupil Gordon Waller (1945–2009), and they began playing and singing together as a duo in coffee bars. In 1962, they began working formally as Peter and Gordon. Their first (and biggest) hit was the 1964 Paul McCartney song "A World Without Love." Asher's sister Jane was, in the mid-1960s, the girlfriend of Paul McCartney. Through this connection, Asher and Waller were often given unrecorded Lennon-McCartney songs to perform.

Asher later read philosophy at King's College London.

In 1965, he was best man when singer Marianne Faithfull married John Dunbar in Cambridge.

After Peter and Gordon disbanded in 1968, Asher took charge of the A&R department at the Beatles' Apple Records label, where he signed a then-unknown James Taylor and agreed to produce the singer-songwriter's debut solo album. The album was not a success, but Asher was so convinced that Taylor held great potential that he resigned his post at Apple to move to the United States and work as Taylor's manager. Asher produced Paul Jones' rendition of the Bee Gees' "And the Sun Will Shine" which was released as a single (only in the UK). He also produced a number of Taylor's recordings from 1970 to 1985, including Sweet Baby James, Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, JT and Flag.
....

Personal life

Asher had a short-lived relationship with singer Millie Small, also known as Millie, who sang "My Boy Lollipop".

ritared236
Published on Nov 25, 2007

This is Lennon/McCartney masterpiece A World Without Love.



Peter and Gordon were one of the greatest pop-rock duos of the sixties, formed by Peter Asher and Gordon Waller

In living color:

Alex Rutiaga
Published on Jul 3, 2017

Not actual HD, just an upscaling to fit the whole frame.
I dont know who uploaded the original video, but its not on YT anymore, and i really like this video in particular (It reminds me to "The house of the rising sun" from The Animals) so here it is.
Enjoy.

*Fair use right*

As covered by some obscure performer:

CompleatBeatles
Published on Oct 5, 2009

This track appeared on various obscure bootlegs in the 1980's. It was originally claimed to be Paul McCartney's original demo of the track, though this claim is extremely questionable. In fact, the vocals on this track bare only a vague resemblance of those of Paul McCartney. Nonetheless, this is a lovely version of this wonderful track, regardless of its authenticity.

From 2017:

Happy 71st birthday, Millie Small

[littlemissmartypants]

3. Want of a Nail

Very pertinent in our current circumstances, imo.