Crazy Like a Fox

OK, I’m not bitching about anything today. Just music, I promise.

I still haven’t got the iMac running, but I do have a little bit of stuff left from the last time I ripped vinyl. I’m considering getting a USB turntable if/when I ever get my tax return back. I’m just afraid this long delay means I did something wrong and when I get that letter from the IRS, instead of a check, there’s going to be some sort of bad news.

In the meantime, though, I’ve got some Keith Moon from his one and only solo album, 1975’s Two Sides of the Moon. Referred to variously as “the most expensive karaoke album in history” and a “perfect expression of drunken self-indulgence,” this album wasn’t exactly a hit with the critics when it was released.

Rhino.com, in its review of the album, sort of sets the scene surrounding the recording:

The record was made while a newly divorced Moon was sharing the notorious former beach house of Peter Lawford in Santa Monica, CA (where JFK and Marilyn Monroe had their trysts) with Ringo, John Lennon (then split from Yoko) and Klaus Voormann. All but the latter were heavily drinking at the time, and terrorizing Hollywood clubland from the Troubadour to the Rainbow (Talk about a scenario just begging for a docudrama movie!).

He decided to record Two Sides of the Moon after bandmates John Entwistle and Roger Daltrey both released solo albums, and Pete Townshend had begun work on what would become Rough Mix. Moon recruited friends such as Starr, Harry Nilsson, Joe Walsh, and Spencer Davis, to name but a few. He opted to sing every song on the album, which lent fuel to the critical fire. He only actually played the drums on a couple of songs.

Keith was not dissuaded by the reviews and soon started work on a second album, which he never completed. Repertoire Records re-released Two Sides of the Moon in 1997, including some of the songs Keith had been working on for his next album.

Two Sides... was again re-released by Castle Music and Sanctuary Records in July 2006 as a two-disc deluxe edition, featuring the original 10 songs plus 41 bonus tracks. In its review of the re-releases, Rhino.com notes that history has been a little kinder to Moon’s effort: “But in the end, Keith Moon's legendary/notorious record, both as originally released and in this expanded edition, is at the very least more entertaining than several Roger Daltrey and John Entwhistle solo albums combined.”

Crazy Like a Fox.mp3
In My Life (Beatles cover).mp3
The Kids Are Alright (The Who cover).mp3

Music Note: Keith shares drumming duties with JoJo Gunne drummer Curly Smith on “Crazy Like a Fox.” Also, that song was written by Al Staehely, formerly of Spirit, but I don’t know if Spirit ever recorded it or not. Curly also handles drum duty on “The Kids Are Alright,” until the drum solo, which is Moon. You can also hear Joe Walsh on guitar in that song.

Labels: classic rock, covers

posted by aikin @ 7:43 PM