Gasoline Alley/Closer To Home
This week, #OnTheTurntable features two iconic rock lps celebrating 50 years since their release … The program will start with an lp from Rod Stewart that many fans consider his best … “Gasoline Alley” .. the show will conclude with the lp that sent Grand Funk Railroad into the Heavy Metal Stratosphere … Closer To Home ….
Gasoline Alley is the second solo studio album by Rod Stewart. It was released in June 1970. This is one of my favorite lps, period. I have owned this lp on every format available and will feature a 180 Gram Vinyl Reissue for today’s program … Rod is backed by many of his bandmates from Faces, like many of his early solo efforts … Side one features the title tune that is in my top five Rod songs and My Way of Giving another of my favs which was co-written by Steve Marriott of Humble Pie fame
Gasoline Alley is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and I wholly agree with that distinction … the online critics lists don’t seem to agree … Best Ever Albums Dot Com considers Gasoline Alley as the 148th best lp of 1970 and thirteen hundredth and seventy best of the 1970’s. Digital Dream Door Dot Com shows a little more love, placing the lp in it’s Top 100 of 1970 at 73. Side two starts with two Rod Stewart classics – the impeccable cover of Elton John’s County Comforts and Cut Across Shorty; those two cuts alone would move this lp way up on my list of 1970’s best lps…
Notable Tracks – ‘Cut Across Shorty’ ‘Country Comforts’ ‘My Way Of Giving’ ‘Gasoline Alley’ ‘It’s All Over Now’
Closer To Home
Closer to Home is the third studio album by Grand Funk Railroad. The album was released this very weekend in 1970. This was the band’s third consecutive gold record within a year! The lp only feature eight songs … however, they were very good songs …
Closer To Home was Grand Funk Railroad’s launch into superstardom, the album that would break them through as a Metal Master, such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath … Best Ever Albums Dot Com considers Closer To Home as the 79th best lp of 1970 and the 770th of the decade … Digital Dream Door Dot Com lists the album at number 66 on it’s top 100 list of 1970 … Side two features the title cut… no, it was not called I’m Your Captain …
Notable Tracks – ‘Closer To Home’ ‘Mean Mistreater’ ‘Aimless Lady’ ‘Hooked On Love’