| Two Sides of the Moon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | March 1975 (1975-03) |
| Recorded | August–December 1974 |
| Studio | Record Plant Studios (Los Angeles) |
| Genre | |
| Length | 29:02 |
| Label | MCA/Polydor (1975) Repertoire (1997) Sanctuary (2006) |
| Producer |
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| Singles from Two Sides of the Moon | |
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Two Sides of the Moon is the only solo studio album by the English rock musician Keith Moon, drummer for the Who. It peaked at No. 155 on the Billboard 200.[1] The album title was credited to Ringo Starr.[2] Rather than using the album as a chance to showcase his drumming skill, Moon sang lead vocals on all tracks, and played drums only on three of the tracks[3] ("Crazy Like a Fox", "The Kids Are Alright" and "Move Over Ms. L"), although he played percussion on "Don't Worry Baby". The album features contributions from Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Joe Walsh of the Eagles, Jim Keltner, Bobby Keys, Klaus Voormann, John Sebastian, Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylanofthe Turtles), Spencer Davis, Dick Dale, Suzi Quatro's sister Patti Quatro, Patti's bandmates from Fanny Jean Millington and Nickey Barclay, and future actor Miguel Ferrer.[4]
Moon was the last member of the Who to release a solo album. By this point, John Entwistle had released Smash Your Head Against the Wall (1972; with Moon playing percussion and singing backing vocals), Roger Daltrey released his hit album Daltrey (1973), and Pete Townshend had produced several Meher Baba tribute albums and the demo compilation Who Came First (1972).
Moon had moved into the Beverly Wilshire Hotel with assistant Dougal Butler in March 1974, to play on the sessions for Harry Nilsson's Pussy Cats.[5] The album was produced by John Lennon. Lennon and Nilsson had been ejected from the Troubadour for drunkenly heckling a Smothers Brothers performance several days before Moon's arrival.[6] The three, along with Ringo Starr (who also drummed on Pussy Cats), Lennon's girlfriend May Pang, bassist Klaus Voormann, Voormann's girlfriend Cynthia Webb, and Starr's manager Hilary Gerrard, moved together into a Santa Monica beach house for three weeks.[7] The sessions were affected by Lennon, Nilsson, Moon and Starr's excessive lifestyles and drug abuse,[8] ultimately prompting Lennon to relocate the sessions to New York City.
At the time of Moon's arrival, Lennon had made initial recordings for Rock 'n' Roll (1975) with Phil Spector, and David Bowie and Bryan Ferry had also released cover albums; Bowie's Pin Ups (1973) notably included two songs by the Who, "I Can't Explain" and "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere".[9] Encountering the Beatles' former road manager Mal Evans on the Sunset Strip, Moon suggested that Evans produce a solo album for him.
The first song, a cover version of the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby", was recorded in late March at the Record Plant Studios. The musicians included John Sebastian, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, Jesse Ed Davis, and Miguel Ferrer playing drums.[9] Kaylan described the album as "a fantasy record for him", allowing him to live out his fantasy to "be a Beach Boy". For this reason, Moon largely avoided playing the drums, as he considered drumming his "job".[9] Moon left Los Angeles on 19 April to begin filming Tommy,[10] and after the filming concluded, unofficially relocated to California in August 1974, to work on the studio album.[11]
The album would be funded by a recording contract directly with Los Angeles' MCA Records arranged by Bill Curbishley and Peter Rudge. Funding was unavailable from London due to Track Records' legal problems with former Who managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, and Moon's extravagant spending habits made labels reluctant to fund the sessions.[11] Biographer Tony Fletcher expresses astonishment that MCA approved the album's recording and released the "travesty of a Beach Boys cover" as a single rather than rejecting the master tapes for "Don't Worry Baby".[12]
The sessions for Two Sides of the Moon were affected by the "lazy and decadent self-indulgence" of mid-1970s Los Angeles' "superstar scene".[12] Inconsistent working hours and substance abuse slowed down the sessions considerably. The atmosphere of the studio resembled that of a club.[13] Engineer Gary Ladinsky recalled: "You'd get something done for an hour, and then it's a party scene. Eventually, you clear out the studio and you might do something for another half an hour, and then people wander out, and you realise, 'I guess the session is over.'"[13]
After "Teenage Idol", with Dick Dale guesting on guitar, was delivered to MCA, Evans was fired. Fletcher attributes this to Moon's realisation that the sessions were largely fruitless and Evans' own drinking problem was worsening.[13] Skip Taylor replaced him as producer. Volman and engineer John Stronach described Taylor as the main provider of drugs for the sessions. Taylor did not dispute the assessment: "I would go in and decide, is this a night where we should have a little brandy, or should we smoke some stuff, or should we put a couple of lines out?"[14]
Most of the musicians involved saw no real difference as a result of the change. Kaylan commented that after recording his parts twice, "Basically it was the same record." Joe Walsh, then recording So What with Stronach at the Record Plant, was brought in to play additional guitar on "The Kids Are Alright" late in the sessions. He described the results as "semi-train wrecks" and expressed surprise that Moon had only used two producers since he would "fry" anyone who worked with him.[15]
Moon's contributions to the album were primarily vocals. He only played drums on three songs, simultaneously accompanied by session drummers. Stronach said that the sessions had two drummers: "One to keep time and then Keith to play over it."[12] The first set of vocals recorded with Evans, done while Moon was drunk, was discarded. Taylor characterised them as "a guy from England trying to sound like a guy from Nashville but having about five belts before he did it."[15] Taylor demanded that Moon abandon the country twang in which he had sung the early songs (and which is noticeable on outtakes such as "I'm Not Angry"), and sing in the posh British accent he regularly mimicked.[16]
Fletcher comments that so many musicians were brought in to try to "salvage" the record (sixty being credited on the final album, with several others such as Brian Wilson having been rumoured to have contributed as well[16]) that it resulted in Moon sounding more like "the guest on someone else's record".[16]
Moon's behaviour during the sessions reflected his self-destructive lifestyle and worsening health. Stronach recalled, "He'd come in, reach into his pockets, and there'd be pills and cocaine falling out."[17] Moon had previously been able to sing adequately on several songs from the A Quick One (1966), Ready Steady Who (1966), The Who Sell Out (1967) and Quadrophenia (1973) sessions. His strained and frequently off-key vocals on Two Sides of the Moon contributed to feelings of inadequacy and depression throughout recording.[17] Recording vocals one night in Studio B under a low ceiling covered in spotlights, he smashed a light bulb with an ashtray every time recording was stopped because he failed to hit a note. He ended up destroying the entire light fixture.[17]
MCA's then-president Mike Maitland told Taylor at their first meeting that a lot of money had been invested before he assumed production duties, and that MCA was "prepared to spend an enormous sum of money in promotion and marketing".[14] This was exactly what happened: Fletcher states that "well over $200,000" was spent for "recording costs alone", and that Moon claimed to receive a non-returnable advance for the same amount.[11]
With the album being prepared for release in 1975, MCA initially refused to pay for the elaborate sleeve designed by Gary Stromberg. Moon, Taylor and Stronach went to meet with Maitland. Moon asked Taylor to stop in front of an Army and Navy store on the way, and returned with a fire axe, which he kept hidden on himself. Maitland once again denied their sleeve request, criticising them for the excessive cost of the album. Moon responded by placing himself directly in front of Maitland and held the fire axe above Maitland's mahogany partners desk, and said, "What's it going to be, dear boy? My album cover or a new desk?"[18]
Originally recorded for his own album, but not released on it, John Lennon gave Moon the track "Move Over Ms. L" and later did his own version.[19] "Solid Gold", written by keyboardist Nickey Barclay, was originally recorded by her band Fanny.
Vinyl pressings of the Two Sides of the Moon had text etched into the run-out groove of side 1 that read "Grown Men Did This". The record itself was contained in an elaborate reversible inner sleeve that, when flipped, changed the front cover to show Moon's buttocks hanging from the limousine window,[20] forming a pun on his name. Upon release, Moon subsequently started work on a second solo studio album, which was never completed.[21] Two Sides of the Moon was re-released by Repertoire Records in 1997, including the finished songs that Moon had made for his second album. Two Sides of the Moon 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. 9788512
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   link |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B[22] |
| Rolling Stone | (negative) link |
| PopMatters |   [23] |
Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said "It's hard to imagine the auteur of this alternately vulgar, silly, and tender travesty/tour de force as anyone but Keith Moon; his madness translates not only to film (Stardust, Tommy) but even to the supersolo studio jobs that this parodies so deliciously. I presume they thought it was funny to mix the backup singers (Nilsson, Nelson, Flo & Eddie) up in front of the guy with his name on the cover. And it was."[22]
In a review for AllMusic, Steve Leggett said the album was "so fascinatingly bad that it has assumed a certain cult status" but was nevertheless "a horrible album on all counts."[3]
The album was included in a list of 12 ill-advised solo albums, in an article produced by the NME in 2009.[24]
Side one
Side two
1997 bonus tracks
Disc oneThe original 1975 album
Outtakes from the album
The original 1974 U.S. single
The Mal Evans mixes
The Unreleased Xmas '74 Single
The 1975 Clover masters
|
Disc twoRecord Plant, Los Angeles, August – November 1974
Clover Recorders, Los Angeles, August 1975
And finally...
Hidden tracks:
|
Technical
Credits taken from the inner sleeve of the vinyl release.
"Crazy Like a Fox"
"Solid Gold"
"Don't Worry Baby"
"One Night Stand"
"The Kids Are Alright"
"Move Over Ms. L"
"Teenage Idol"
"Back Door Sally"
"In My Life"
"Together"
