1st Album-1st Song-Great Debut

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Warren Haynes- Fire In The Kitchen (1993)

Warren Haynes, born in Asheville, North Carolina, IMO is the pre-eminent southern rock guitarist. He got an invite from Dickie Betts in 1987 to lend some vocals on a Betts solo Lp. The following Dickie disc had Warren add his guitar as well. In 1989 Dickie Betts and others decided upon an Allman Brothers reunion and Warren Haynes was invited along. Haynes certainly helped make this phase 2 Allman band a revitalized group with some well-received albums for the balance of the 1990s.

In 1994 Haynes and Allman Bros bass guitarist Alan Woody started a side project jam band, Gov't Mule. Haynes would bounce back and forth between both bands. On top of that, he began lending a hand to many Dave Matthews Band concerts. That's when he also had free time from sitting in with various members of The Grateful Dead on their concert dates

Because Haynes can operate without sleep, he began recording some solo work as well as hitting the road with his own band. 1993 saw his first solo disc released, Tales Of Ordinary Madness

First track-"Fire In The Kitchen"

What the hell am I going to come up with for the letter X

 

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I come up empty within my collection for a first name of X. The only other thing that come to mind is

Xavier Cugat- The Americano (1955)

From his first album of original material, 1955's Ole', this Spanish-American bandleader was a key figure in popularizing Latin music in America. he began playing in the 1920s, appeared in many early sound musical short subject motion pictures and eventually became the bandleader for New York City's Waldorff-Astoria Hotel Orchestra, a position he kept for 16 years. He was known for holding a chihuahua in one hand and his baton with the other

"The Americano" was the first cut on his first original material album

 

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First name beginning with a Y. I already did Yoko Ono. I might get banned from this forum if I do Yanni. But I do own one album from this guy

Yusef Lateef-Metaphor (1957)

Yusef (actually born William Emanuel Huddleston) was an American jazz performer. Born in 1920 in Chattanooga, Tennessee and died in 2013. Started out as a swing saxophonist and could also play piano, flute and oboe. Lateef kept evolving, helping to oioneer bop,jazz fusion and world music. He also incorporated soul and gospel into his music. John Coltrane, it's been said, was influenced by Lateef's work. Lateef won a grammy in 1987 for best New Age Album

His debut LP occured in 1957 for Savoy Records on the disc titled Jazz Mood. Metaphor begins the platter

 

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Just as they did with the former planet Pluto, leading scientists are currently evaluating certain alphabetical letters in the English language and considering to label a few as "dwarf letters", not true letters. Z is one of them, easily replaced by S. The lack of first names that begin with Z is one bit of evidence of it's dwarf properties and most babies named with the Z initial are usually found from old Hippie couples. But thankfully, the jazz genre enables me to find artists with names beginning with dwarf letters

Zoot Sims- Trotting (1951)

Zoot Sims, born John Haley Sims in 1925, was an tenor saxophonist who began playing for jazz swing bands such as those headed by Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Buddy Rich etc. By the early 1950s he led his own quartet and began recording for Prestige Records. You might have heard him without knowing it because he had a 30 second solo bit on Phoebe Snow's 1970s hit single Poetry Man.

1951 saw the Zoot Sims Quartet's first disc, Tenor Sax Favorites. He passed away in 1985 after releasing over 60 albums

Now that the first name alphabet excursion is completed, next up is ???. Stay tuned

 

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Another alphabetical journey. This time personal favorite performers who are, IMO, forgotten or underrated. Might even encounter first album/first song/not-a-great-debut. But those are the risks one must take. probably will linger for a bit on certain alpha-letters but come up empty on certain "dwarf letters". First off will be groups whose names are number-oriented

13th Floor Elevators- You're Gonna Miss Me (1966)

The original 13th Floor Elevators line-up was built around singer/guitarist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. Hailing from Austin, Texas they were one of the first psychedelic rock bands but unfortunately never had a big national hit single. The first cut on their first album charted the highest, peaking at # 55 nationally in 1966 but did much better in certain local markets including the mecca of head-music, San Francisco.

In fact, the 13th Floor elevators have left their mark, influencing many later performers. A tribute album to their music included R.E.M., ZZ Top, The Jesus And Mary Chain and Primal Scream. That great music movie, High Fidelity with John Cusack used the song 'You're Gonna Miss Me" to open the film. The same song was also used in an episode of HBO's True Blood.

The 13th Floor's 2nd album, Easter Everywhere, was critically praised but was commercially disappointing. The group dissolved by 1969 due to limp sales and drug/legal problems. Leader Roky Ericksn was busted on marijuana charges and plead insanity rather than serving a jail term. He was thrown into a psychiatric hospital for close to 4 years. Texas was always rough on pot smokers

One of the distinguishing sounds of the band was the use of the electric jug. You'll know it when you hear it

The song was popular enough to land the group numerous TV appearances including Where The Action is and Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Audience members from American Bandstand gave the song a 9 grade because you can trip to it. Notice Dick Clark asking the group who the head man was so he would know who to score from backstage after the show

 

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801- Tomorrow Never Knows (1976)

In 1976 Roxy Music members agreed to take a temporary sabbatical from group activities. Guitarist Phil Manzanera subsequently paired up with keyboardist Brian Eno to work on a project during this interval. Another prog-rock musician , Francis Monkman (Sisyphus, Curved Air) joined as well for additional guitar and keyboard. The band was filled out with drummer Simon Phillips, bassist Bill McCormick and slide guitarist Lloyd Watson.

The group, 801, rehearsed for 3 weeks and put on 3 concerts, one of which became the live LP. It gained cult status and did better commercially than anticipated. A studio album, Listen Now, followed and that was the end for this group (until a 1999 reunion tour)

But that first live album, 801 Live, was a prog rock 70s highlight and was one of the first live albums to use direct hookups from all stage amps into the mixing deck. This method of concert recording became the norm thereafter.

The first cut on the album was the short "Lagrima" which was not much more than a tune-up throwaway. Then came the audacious attempt of a cover to The Beatles ground-breaking piece "Tomorrow Never Knows". A ballsy choice

 

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20/20- Yellow Pills (1979)

This power pop band sprung up in 1977 and had 4 albums between 1979-1983. They reunited for 3 more LPs in the late 90s. I've only heard the first 2 and they were decent enough back then. However after a more current listen, I'm struck by how similar they sound to The Cars whose debut was released a year earlier.

The album, 20/20, was the debut. First cut was a throw away 1 minute intro ( and I'll keep emphasizing how wasteful and pretentious most intros are: It's like recording someone clearing their throat). Yellow Pills is the debut song, probably their best song, and so very Cars-like. Even the album cover looks like something from The Cars

 

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Alvin Lee & Mylon LeFevre- On The Road To Freedom (1973)

By 1973, Alvin Lee felt bored with his role as hard rock guitar virtuoso for Ten Years After. Lee built a recording studio at his home in England and enlisted Gospel Rock vocalist Mylon Fevre to partner with him in creating a country rock LP. It would be Alvin's first solo album. He had met Mylon whose group Mylon & The Broken Hearts toured with TYA briefly.

The album veered into other genres including rock and R&B. Friends such as George Harrison, Ron Wood, Steve Winwood, Boz Burrell and Mick Fleetwood also lent a hand. It was never intended to be a commercial hit record but it was loved by the critics. I'm sure many TYA fans dismissed it. I was a TYA fan myself but found much to enjoy with the disc. Side 1 of the album was on my turntable many a time.

Ten Years After disbanded for good the following year and Alvin Lee moved on to solo work, mostly with The Blues. Here is the first track of the disc, also titled On The Road To Freedom, that signaled that the end of Ten Years After was coming

 

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Badger- Wheel Of Fortune (1973)

Vanna White had no involvement with this. However, since I was a Yes fan in their early days, I was interested in what keyboardist Tony Kaye was up to after he quit the band and Rick Wakeman took over his spot. Badger was a progressive rock band that Kaye formed and actually toured with Yes as an opening act. Guess the split was amicable. One of those concerts was recorded and issued as Badger's first album named One Live Badger.

The following year, Badger hired on singer Jackie Lomax and came out with their first studio album named White Lady. But this LP was completely different with Lomax writing all the songs and turning the group into a funky R&B combo. Kaye fled the band right after the recording sessions.

For the balance of the decade, Tony Kaye settled in California, hooked up with David Bowie for some tours and joined Badfinger in their final days

Wheel Of Fortune was the first cut from Badger's live album

 

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Bernie Williams- La Salsa En Mi (2003)

New York Yankee outfielder from 1991-2006. Member of 4 World Series Championship teams. 5 time All-Star selections and 4 Gold Glove Awards. Lifetime .2,336 career hits with a 297 Batting Average, 287 Home Runs and 1,257 RBIs.

Oh, he also released 2 albums showcasing his guitar work, 2003's The Journey Within and 2009's Moving Forward which was nominated for a Latin Grammy . The Boss, Bruce Springsteen (not George Steinbrenner) appeared on that album. Both are well deserving of a listen

Here's Bernie in a live performance of the first cut from the debut. Bern, Baby, Bern

Another of Bernie's great hits

Bernie Walks Off The Stage