05 December 1970

Show

Name

• Top Gear

Station

• BBC Radio One

YYYY-MM-DD

• 1970-12-05

Comments

• File 1 contains the first hour of a Saturday afternoon Top Gear
• Peel says that "On Monday and Tuesday I had to sit down and listen to 72 LPs - it was gruesome...". He expresses his scepticism regarding what had become known as "progressive rock", saying that successful "progressive" bands "don't progress at all" and follow a simple formula. 
• His remarks reflect a general mood at the end of the 1960s, when musicians and listeners weary of "heavy" rock began to look to earlier, simpler forms of music for inspiration - 1950s rock'n'roll, blues, country, folk. All of these genres would be featured in Peel's shows in the first half of the 1970s.
• An early-70s reaction against the dominance of "progressive" rock is evident here in the easy-going, US-inspired country-rock of Cochise and session guests Brinsley Schwarz. The show ends with a track from Elton John's album Tumbleweed Connection, also a part of this trend as it was heavily influenced by EJ's then favourites, the Band.
• Many thanks to Ken Garner for additional tracklisting information.

Sessions

• Brinsley Schwarz #1 First broadcast. Recorded 1970-11-16.
• Mr Fox: #1 First broadcast. Recorded 1970-11-24.
  • ’Mr Fox’ not played until repeat on 27 February 1971.
• Family: #7 Repeat. First broadcast 05 September 1970. Recorded 1970-11-24.
  • 'Holding The Compass' and Lives And Ladies' available on BBC Radio Volume 3 1970 (HUX 107)
  • Full session re-released in December 2018 on "Family At The BBC" and in 2023 on "Anyway (2 CD edition)"

(Please add details of any commercial release of these sessions)

Tracklisting

• File 7 begins with last track from Folk On One
• File 1 begins with handover from Folk On One and File 3 begins shortly after.
• Cochise: Love's Made A Fool Of You (single) Liberty LBF 15425 (JP; "I think Buddy (Holly) would've been quite proud of that")
• Carol Grimes & Delivery: We Were Satisfied (LP: Fool's Meeting) Charisma CAS 1023 (B&C?) (*JP: "I wonder what's happening up at Anfield?...") [*Liverpool 0-0 Leeds Utd. FL Div. 1. Final Score: 1-1. Paul Madeley scored first for Leeds and John Toshack equalised for Liverpool after 52 minutes. Att. 51,357!]
• Brinsley Schwarz: Seymour I Love You/Funk Angel (session)
• Keef Hartley Band: Roundabout (Part 1) (single) Deram DM 316
• Family: Holding the Compass (session) 4
• Frank Zappa: Transylvanian Boogie (LP: Chunga's Revenge) Bizarre/Reprise RSLP 2030
• 3.30 News (main story; unions strike against the Industrial Relations Act)
• Van Morrison: Domino (single) Warner Bros. WB 7034
• Mr. Fox: Mr. Trill's Song (session)
• The Rev. Ether, The Kingdom Power & The Glory : 1862 B.P. (7") Et Cet'er-A 45-201 (US release) (Obscure import which, Peel tells us, he hunted down after it was "reviewed ecstatically in Rolling Stone")
• Family: Good News - Bad News (session) 5
• Bridget St. John: If You've Got Money (single) Warner Bros WB 8019
• Mr. Fox: The Gay Goshawk (session)
• File 1 ends during above track
• Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band: Japan Is A Dishpan (LP – Lick My Decals Off, Baby) Straight/Reprise 1063
• File 3 ends during above track
• Brinsley Schwarz: The Slow One (session) @
• Badfinger: Blodwin (LP - No Dice) Apple SAPCOR 16
• Mr Fox: Susan’s Song (session)
• Robert Johnson: Love In Vain (LP - The King Of The Delta Blues Singers Vol.2) CBS 64102
• Ron Geesin & Roger Waters: The Womb Bit / Embryo Thought / March Past Of The Embryos / More Than Seven Dwarfs In Penis-Land / Dance Of The Red Corpuscles (album - Music Form The Body) Harvest SHSP 4008
• 4.30 news
• Wizz Jones: Slow Down To My Speed (LP - Legendary Me) Village Thing VTS 4
• Brinsley Schwarz: Rock And Roll Station (session)
• Edgar Broughton Band: Apache Drop Out (Apache Intro. Drop Out Boogie) (single) Harvest HAR 5032
• Mr Fox: Ballad Of Noddy Nick (session)
• Family: Lives And Ladies (session) (JP: "Oh, that's superb, really is... great stuff!") 6
• Elton John: Burn Down The Mission (LP - Tumbleweed Connection) DJM DJLPS 410
• File 7 ends
• Track marked @ available on File 2
• Track marked 4 available on "Family At The BBC"

File

Name

• 1) 1970-12-05 Sat - BBC R1 (247m) - John Peel - Top Gear (60 mins).mp3
• 2) Brinsley Schwarz - Peel sessions - Top Gear 5/12/70 & 11/4/71
• 3) BBC-R1-19701206-0300-0400-JohnPeel-TopGear.mp3
• 4) Holding The Compass (Live, BBC Radio One Top Gear Session, 5th September 1970)
• 5) Good News, Bad News (Live, BBC Radio One Top Gear Session, 5th September 1970)
• 6) Lives and Ladies (Live, BBC Radio One Top Gear Session, 5th September 1970)
• 7) John Peel's Top Gear 5.12.70

Length

• 1) 59.06
• 2) 9:46 (to 5:45)
• 3) 1:01:24
• 4) 3:24
• 5) 8:17
• 6) 7:16
• 7) 1:59:47

Other

• 2) Many thanks to Colin Harper
• 3) Many thanks to Vincent
• 7) Many thanks to Rob Chapman

Available

• 1) azanorak
• 1) Mooo
• 2) Youtube
• 3) Mooo
• 4) Youtube
• 5) Youtube
• 6) Youtube
• 7) Internet Archive (Robs uploads)