YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 123 (Precious Metals)
(Originally finalized on February 7, 2025)
Preface: I almost padded out last week's theme with the precious metals just to be done with them, since gemstones turned out to be rarer than I was expecting. I thought that combining them together would make for a more polished cut. But I discovered a couple of new songs at the eleventh hour, and it felt like I was giving silver and gold (which are both popular subjects for songs) short shrift. So I decided to present them separately, after all.
Monday: Quicksilver Messenger Service - Gold And Silver [Quicksilver Messenger Service, 1968]
Comments: There are a lot of silver songs, and even more gold songs, but when it comes to gold and silver songs, this is my first choice. A shuffling, psychedelic instrumental from their self-titled debut album - that could be stretched out to at least twice its length in concert - I have an alternate version that appends the prefix "Acapulco", which reveals the song's inspiration to be a variety of marijuana that was popular around that time.
Tuesday: REO Speedwagon - Golden Country [R.E.O./T.W.O., 1972]
Comments: For our last theme, I had the opportunity to share a track that demonstrated the unexpected genesis of a band that later courted massive popularity in the '80s as a pop/rock act - Journey. This time, I get to do the same for REO Speedwagon (not that I haven't done it before), a band with a similar trajectory, albeit with less jazz fusion and more hard rock. Closing out their second album, this song - a political call to action that is, depressingly, just as relevant today as the year it was released - features a characteristically fiery guitar solo by Gary Richrath.
Wednesday: Pink Floyd - The Gold It's In The... [Obscured By Clouds, 1972]
Comments: Without disparaging the rest of their catalogue - because Pink Floyd were most assuredly not a one-hit-album band - when something as groundbreaking and sonically cohesive as Dark Side of the Moon comes out, you can't help thinking, "where on Earth did this come from?" Released the previous year as the soundtrack to a French film about the search for a lost jungle paradise, Obscured By Clouds offers precious little insight, with the same musicians playing songs about similar themes - like money, and the passage of time. But it doesn't answer the question of how Dark Side of the Moon sounds so perfectly polished and thematically mature. Perhaps a deal was struck down at the crossroads? ;-p
Thursday: The Rolling Stones - Silver Train [Goats Head Soup, 1973]
Comments: One of the advantages of separating the precious metals from the gemstones is that I get to feature certain bands twice! Although You Got The Silver from 1969's Let It Bleed - which mentions not only silver, but gold and diamonds, too - would be a more thematically appropriate choice, this song (which wouldn't be out of place on my trains theme) gets the edge due to its more upbeat tempo. It's even been covered by Johnny Winter!
Friday: Fleetwood Mac - Gold Dust Woman [Rumours, 1977]
Comments: One of Stevie Nicks' highlights (and the closing track) from Rumours - Fleetwood Mac's absurdly popular breakup album (the band wasn't breaking up, the members were just breaking up with each other) - the outtake Silver Springs offers an alternate selection that would also have been appropriate for this theme. The band's previous album even contains a song titled Crystal (also written by Nicks). Suffice to say, it didn't make the cut for my Gemstones theme.
Saturday: Country Joe & The Fish - Silver & Gold [CJ Fish, 1970]
Comments: And not making the cut for this theme is Neil Young's biggest hit, Heart of Gold. I actually prefer After The Gold Rush, but I really wanted to feature that song (and, particularly, Neil's vocals) for my episode of Band Connections dedicated to Crosby Stills Nash & Young. Neil also has an album titled Silver & Gold from 2000, but the title track is a little soft for my tastes. As an alternative, here's a song I recently discovered with the same title, by Country Joe & The Fish. It even mentions rubies, sapphires, and diamonds! What I like about it is that it effectively demonstrates both of the band's signature styles, with a complimentary blend of acoustic folk guitar, and psychedelic electric guitar.
Sunday: The Beatles - Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End [Abbey Road, 1969]
Comments: You would be forgiven for thinking that I had to pad out this theme with some filler, if I'm featuring a song by The Beatles. But, actually, this is one Beatles tune that I can tolerate. And it really isn't complete unless it's combined with the rest of the suite that closes out Abbey Road (not the last album the band released before breaking up, but the last they recorded together), which starts with a gentle lullaby, and builds to a rocking conclusion.
Honorable Mention: Rainbow - Man On The Silver Mountain [Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, 1975]
Comments: Of the songs I passed over (mostly because they weren't that great), and the songs that were disqualified only because I've already used them on my music log before, Man On The Silver Mountain by Rainbow - which was featured as a First Impression - is most deserving of an honorable mention. And it would have tipped the balance more favorably toward silver, too! Although, I guess it makes sense that gold is better represented. But where are all the platinum songs? :-p