Sadly, within the past two weeks we have lost two musicians whose records I liked, so it seems like time for one of my tribute posts. Their names may not mean much at first, but I’m sure you’ll know their bands – I’ll be playing three songs by each of them to refresh your memory.

The first of these is Rick Davies, who you can see above. He was one of the co-founders (with Roger Hodgson) of Supertramp, who were hugely successful in the Seventies, with a brand of music that encompassed elements of prog rock tempered with pop tendencies. Rick was born in 1944 and grew up in Swindon. His first introduction to music was when he was given a secondhand radiogram and some records when he was 8, one of which was Drummin’ Man by Gene Krupa, which Rick played to bits – in his words, ‘2,000 times.’ His mother has been quoted as saying that music was the only thing he was good at in school, so it seems he found his niche in life at an early age! As I said, I’m playing you three of their songs, starting with one which Rick and Roger co-wrote, and on which Rick takes lead vocal:

That was, of course, Bloody Well Right from their third and breakthrough album, Crime Of The Century, which was released in October 1974 and reached #4 in the UK and #38 in the US, earning Gold discs in both countries but going Platinum in Canada, where it sold a million copies. This track was released as a double A-side single with Dreamer that December, peaking at #13 in the UK and #35 in the US. The video is from a performance on the US tv show Midnight Special in 1975, where it looks like the producer was trying out some new toys he had been given to play with the images. Twat.

I’m cheating a bit with this next one, as although all of their songs are officially credited to both Rick and Roger it was Roger who wrote this and sings lead. But Rick can of course be heard on keyboards and as it is my favourite Supertramp song it makes the cut:

Give A Little Bit was the opening track on their fifth album, Even In The Quietest Moments, which came out in April 1977 and got to #12 in the UK and #16 in the US. Rick is credited with playing piano, organ and clavinet on the recorded version of the song – a difficult trick to pull off for a live performance. This track was released as a single in October 1977, making #29 in the UK and #15 in the US, though it went Gold for 400,000 UK sales.

My final taster of Supertramp to honour Rick’s passing comes from their most successful album:

Breakfast In America was the title track of the band’s sixth album, released in March 1979 and surpassing everything they had done previously – or since, come to that. It reached #3 in the UK but made #1 in the US, Australia, Canada, France, The Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Norway and Spain, and sold more than 20m worldwide, 4m of those in the US. This song was released as a single in June 1979, peaking at #9 in the UK and #62 in the US, again going Gold in the UK for 400,000 sales. It is credited on the record label to Rick though it is actually one of Roger’s songs, but it feels right to share it as part of the legacy of music Rick has left us. R.I.P. Rick, and thank you for many happy hours of listening.

The second guy who has just passed is Mark Volman (above). You may not recognise his name at first, but if I tell you he was a founder member of The Turtles it may ring a bell for you. Along with his friend Howard Kaylan he and the band had a number of hit records in the Sixties, and after The Turtles broke up in 1970 they continued to perform together as Flo and Eddie, having found that their Turtles contract forbade them from using the band name for more music, or even their own names! They should have had a better lawyer! Mark carried on performing with Howard until 2018, when Howard retired on health grounds, but Mark continued, and still used the Turtles name. The pair were also for a time an integral part of Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention. He earned degrees in arts and music in his forties, and went on to teach music, having been prompted by his daughter’s academic success. In December 1968, NME magazine reported that Mark had insured his distinctive frizzy hair for US$100,000 against fire, theft or loss due to illness. The guy had style!

Now for some music. I’m playing you three of their big hit songs from 1967 and 1968, in chronological order. This is the first:

Happy Together was the title track of the band’s third album, released in April 1967 and reaching #18 in the UK and #25 in the US. The song had already been released as a single, in January 1967, and was big success: #1 in the US, #2 in Canada and New Zealand, and #12 in the UK. It went 4x Platinum in the US for 4m sales, and Platinum in the UK for 600,000.

Their follow up single was released in April 1967 to coincide with the album:

As the video showed, that was She’d Rather Be With Me. It was another hit for them, getting to #3 in the US and #4 in the UK. It topped the charts in Canada and South Africa, and was a top ten hit in many other countries. You may have noticed a similarity in the appearance of these two songs: both were recorded on the Ed Sullivan Show on 14 May 1967 – I assume the psychedelic intro screen was Ed or his producer trying to be ‘groovy.’

My final song for today comes from 1968:

Elenore was released as a single in September 1968 ahead of its inclusion on the album The Turtles Present The Battle Of The Bands that November. The single was another hit, reaching #6 in the US and #7 in the UK. The album was a concept album, with the band playing songs in a variety of styles, but it didn’t do that well in the charts, only getting to #128 in the US and #40 in Canada. I bought the album and thought it was great, with tracks like Chicken Little Was Right and Kamanawanalea, an ode to a fictitious Hawaiian ‘god of lust and perversion’ – say it out loud!

Mark was a happy go lucky type and always shared that in his music. He is another I’m sad to see leave us: R.I.P. Mark.

See you again for Song Lyric Sunday, I trust? 🎶