STIFFS! Killer Albums that Didn't Sell by Popular Artists

[Quad Linda]

Several friends in the record business have used the term stiffs for albums by popular artists that sold poorly. The criteria here is that:
1- You LIKE the album
2- You'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND it
3- It is by a very popular artist, at least at the time they were releasing albums
4- It sold poorly. Poorly is relative. Someone who sold 250,000 units after their previous albums all sold a million or more would qualify. An album that sold 5,000 units by an artist who consistently sold 10,000 units probably isn't a stiff.

Remember the Stiff records label's motto:


Open Road - Donovan
It is far afield from his usual folkie/hippie bag, which I love. It is Donovan heading (5/8/14 edit: HIS OWN) rock band. IMHO, his BEST album. (5/8/14 edit: Some of it is rockin', some of it is folkin'.) BTW: Donovan is one of the nicest, most sincere folks I've ever met.
Riki Tiki Tavi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS1q0BBgQmE


You Smile, the Song Begins - Herb Alpert & TJB
Originally scheduled as an A&M Quad, it sold so poorly that the Quad was cancelled. The music is stellar, truly one of his best albums. Sadly, he had fallen from his sixties heights by '74, so few cared. I got a promo kit of this with a t-shirt and mobile. The first time I met Herb, I was wearing the t-shirt, which he got a kick out of.
Fox Hunt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm6hlENMm2o
Save the Sunlight (w/Lani Hall): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-R71rQZIj4
Neither of these tracks are on Lost Treasures.



Four of the tracks are available on the recent Lost Treasures CD compilation:



Phil Ochs' Greatest Hits
His worst selling album in his lifetime. The cover by Elvis' taylor Nudie Cohen only heightens the absurdity. If you like folk music at all, you need this! It also features a couple tracks with some of the "Bakersfield guys," so it also gives a nod to that sound. IT is NOT a greatest hits album, but the cover is a parody.
Chords of Fame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8qZQORjmzQ
Jim Dean of Indiana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7hg7AyVEo8


Izitso - Cat Stevens
After stellar success, he released Numbers which stiffed, and deservedly so. His next studio effort, Izitso, is one of his best. This is Cat Stevens a bit rocked up and with synthesizers. Was Dog a Doughnut is an instrumental that KILLS. Sonically, it is SPECTACULAR. It was released on Gold CD as part of the Cat Stevens Three, which also includes the stiffs Numbers and Back to Earth. IMHO, the other two deserved to be stiffs. This one didn't.
Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O_Uymz2W8A
Killin' Time (a ROCKER!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZReEgDUk2JE
Was Dog a Doughnut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx4DAezUW9A




Shot of Love - Bob Dylan
Released after his abysmal Saved album. There are a couple "Jesus" songs here, but this album is truly one of his best. Ringo Starr guests.
Heart of Mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5konBDe0CU

 

[Quad Linda]

Wonderwall Music - George Harrison
Recorded in India and UK in Dec '67 and January '68. Although not on this album, The Inner Light came from the same sessions. An instrumental soundtrack to the Wonderwall movie. The first Apple Beatles solo album, as well as George's first solo project, it sold poorly and deserves a far better fate. Some very famous friends also appeared, either uncredited or under pseudonyms.
Eddie Clayton (Eric Clapton) – guitar
Richie Snare (Ringo Starr) – drums
Peter Tork – banjo (uncredited)
Entire album (with an ad :howl): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UllxxMkG7uI


Movie trailer (song not indicative of most of the soundtrack): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxd7_w-23YU

Yes, I bought the DVD, but I guess I need to rebuy it on Blu-Ray:

 

[IMachine]

Very good thread

Here is one of my favorite prog albums:


You have to hear it twice! Wonderful!

 

[Quad Linda]

Doriella du Fontaine - Lightnin' Rod w/Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles
Not many people have heard this, including most hard core Hendrix fans. Perhaps it doesn't belong here, since few people know Lightnin' Rod from the Last Poets, and it's an EP. Yet, this is perhaps the least known and lowest selling of Hendrix' official releases. His guitar work is among his tastiest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfN9O3Ok85c

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[proufo]

Although "didn't sell" is a very relative term when it comes to Eric Clapton albums, I think Money and Cigarettes should be considered a masterpiece and it isn't.

 

[Quad Linda]

I believe it IS one of his best, at least in The Shape I'm In!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV2tH6QP2w0

Although "didn't sell" is a very relative term when it comes to Eric Clapton albums, I think Money and Cigarettes should be considered a masterpiece and it isn't.

 

[Quad Linda]

Other Roads - Boz Scaggs
After being a mega hit-maker, he returned in the late '80's with a SPECTACULAR album that few bought. Perhaps it's his best. I was a manufacturer's rep when this hit. I turned lots of hi-fi dealers onto this one. It's recorded especially well. If you don't own it, get the Friday Music US CD FRM 40463 from 2010. It has bonus tracks.
Cool Runnin' (official video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kYw8K12wNg
I Don't Hear You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcLvGxdHwuY
What's Number One?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWgkKoIICK8

 

[IMachine]

I wrote it in another thread already.

For me a perfect singer/songwriter album:

 

[watsontr]

Doriella du Fontaine - Lightnin' Rod w/Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles
Not many people have heard this, including most hard core Hendrix fans. Perhaps it doesn't belong here, since few people know Lightnin' Rod from the Last Poets, and it's an EP. Yet, this is perhaps the least known and lowest selling of Hendrix' official releases. His guitar work is among his tastiest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfN9O3Ok85c
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View attachment 14066
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View attachment 14065

It'd be nice to know the true origin of this. I know of no official date that marks these sessions with Lightnin' Rod. Alan Douglas said it was done in 1969 with Jimi and Buddy but he also said he 'fixed' things on other recordings so I find it hard to believe this guy. A so-so thing overall but still interesting for me.

 

[proufo]

I believe it IS one of his best, at least in The Shape I'm In!

Thanks for the link, QL! As I prepare to work "until late" (a so-clever reference to Cream), it totally refreshed me.

 

[OppoFood]

How does one establish the actual sales figure for a particular release?

 

[Quad Linda]

Smoke & mirrors!

How does one establish the actual sales figure for a particular release?

Watsontr: "It'd be nice to know the true origin of this (Jimi Hendrix' Doriella). I know of no official date that marks these sessions with Lightnin' Rod. Alan Douglas said it was done in 1969 with Jimi and Buddy but he also said he 'fixed' things on other recordings so I find it hard to believe this guy. A so-so thing overall but still interesting for me."

QL: It is a jam track of Hendrix' that had Lightnin' Rod added posthumously. Sort of like the Beatles' Real Love and Free as a Bird where the other three added to Lennon demos. As most Hendrix fans know, there are hundreds of jam tracks and live performances that have never been officially released.

Celluloid is the record label that originally released Doriella. It was a French/American label owned by Jean Georgakarakos (sometimes shortened to Jean Karakos.) Bill Laswell was their in-house producer. Later CD rereleases were on Charly.

Undoubtedly, the jam tape from which Doriella was taken was leaked to Lightnin' Rod by Alan Douglas and/or his people. Lightnin' Rod and his group, The Last Poets were on Douglas Records (distributed by CBS.)

 

[dr8track]

Several friends in the record business have used the term stiffs for albums by popular artists that sold poorly. The criteria here is that:
1- You LIKE the album
2- You'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND it
3- It is by a very popular artist, at least at the time they were releasing albums
4- It sold poorly. Poorly is relative. Someone who sold 250,000 units after their previous albums all sold a million or more would qualify. An album that sold 5,000 units by an artist who consistently sold 10,000 units probably isn't a stiff.



Open Road - Donovan
It is far afield from his usual folkie/hippie bag, which I love. It is Donovan heading a rock band. IMHO, his BEST album. BTW: Donovan is one of the nicest, most sincere folks I've ever met.
Riki Tiki Tavi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS1q0BBgQmE
View attachment 14055

One of my favorite Donovan songs from my youth was Hurdy Gurdy Man. In my opinion, the greatest psychedia/rock title he ever produced. Loved that record and still have the original 45 I purchased as a lad in one of my jukeboxes. Having loved Hurdy Gurdy Man it prompted me to make an investment in Donovan's next album, Barabajagal. As a young teen, buying an album was a major financial decision and Barabajagal did not disappoint. My favorite song, and what led me to purchase the album was, Atlantis, but I played the front and back side of that album over and over in my bedroom and grew to love the whole thing.
But being a kid at the time, it was hard to hold my interest long when it came to a particular artist, so I was not even aware of the album that followed, Open Road. I did hear Riki Tiki Tavi on the radio and was not nearly as hot on that single as I was Hurdy Gurdy Man or Atlantis. So, when I got a copy of the Open Road CD recently after reading this thread it was the first time I'd heard this album. After the first listen I was a little surprised that it was heralded as Donovan's first rock album! In doing a bit of reading about it I learned that he had parted ways with producer Mickie Most who had been with him on his previous hit releases. So I get that it was a transitional album for Donovan, but I'm not really hearing anything far more toward the rock edge than the album Barabajagal and certainly not nearly anything as "heavy" as Hurdy Gurdy Man. On first listen I prefer what would have been side B on the album. I'm sure with more listens I will come to like the whole recording even more. I certainly don't dislike the record. I'm enjoying it. I guess I just expected something different when it was touted as his first full rock album.

 

[ChristopherLees]

To me this is the most obvious lp for this category
The album reached #41 on the charts the 2 singles "Tequila Sunrise" and "Outlaw Man". reached only #64 and #59 respectively.

Of course total sales for this are now at about 2 million...but that's as a result of people buying back catalogue after their later releases...at the time it charted far worse than their debut..Glynn Johns blames David Geffen for a lack of promotion.At the time he was busy promoting Bob Dylan's Planet Waves lp and a Dylan/Band Tour ,at the expense of everything else.

 

[Quad Linda]

Mea culpa! My apologies to Dr. 8 Track. What I had MEANT to say was that it was Donovan's first time fronting HIS OWN ROCK BAND. I too have a vintage 45 of Hurdy Gurdy which features some guy on screaming guitar who sank without a trace. LOL!! Don had a rock band known as the Jeff Beck Group play on the Barabajagal alum which is rockin. There are some folk tunes on Open Road like Roots of Oak, but there are also rockers like Riki Tiki Tavi and Poke at the Pope. I'm sorry if you felt mislead.

It's a shame you didn't buy the album on tape, because then you could have taped Led Zeppelin over Open Road if you decided it was a bust. Give it a few more listens and you may grow to like it. I'll stand by my apology and my opinion that it is Don's best album. When my Daughter and I met Don at Beatlefest, he was kind enough to sign my copy and marveled that I had an import CD of HMS Donovan, a childrens' album, which he also signed.

Eagles' Desperado was kind of a stiff when it was released. I picked up the LP when it was first released. I felt it was unfair, as it was (is) a great album. Since it didn't have any big hit singles like Take it Easy, I feared that the band would eventually be forgotten. Thankfully, Already Gone sold well, got a Quad release, and the band will likely never be forgotten.

Geffen had not only signed Dylan, but was promoting Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark, her second for the label. The oversight was rectified, and the subsequent Eagles albums sold like hotcakes.

 

[dr8track]

Mea culpa! My apologies to Dr. 8 Track. What I had MEANT to say was that it was Donovan's first time fronting HIS OWN ROCK BAND. I too have a vintage 45 of Hurdy Gurdy which features some guy on screaming guitar who sank without a trace. LOL!! Don had a rock band known as the Jeff Beck Group play on the Barabajagal alum which is rockin. There are some folk tunes on Open Road like Roots of Oak, but there are also rockers like Riki Tiki Tavi and Poke at the Pope. I'm sorry if you felt mislead.

It's a shame you didn't buy the album on tape, because then you could have taped Led Zeppelin over Open Road if you decided it was a bust. Give it a few more listens and you may grow to like it. I'll stand by my apology and my opinion that it is Don's best album. .

Hey Linda! No, I most definitely appreciate the recommendation! I'm continuing to listen to the album and you're right, it is growing on me. Just from a pure sentimentality perspective, I don't think I will ever like it better than Barabajagal because I relate that album to so many memories from my youth, but I am always thankful to be turned on to new (old) material by artists who I enjoyed back then and still enjoy today. It really is a very good album so thank you for letting us know about it!
And speaking of Donovan 45's, in addition to my original Hurdy Gurdy Man 45 I've managed to track down a couple more Donovan 45's for my Seeburg Phoenix jukebox; Atlantis and Lalena.

 

[Quad Linda]

If you're looking for more mid-period Donovan, the Cosmic Wheels album is fun. Check out the Intergalactic Laxative. :yikes

Cosmic Wheels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbKldILIjfo
Intergalactic Laxative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iab9YKocUcw

 

[kap'n krunch]

I HAVE to post this or I'll EXPLODE!!!
Patto their first 3 LPs


Their BEST!!!


and their true selves

 

[proufo]

Just listened to BBM - Around the Next Dream. Wow!

I think it's appropriate for this thread.

 

[Cyber 1]

Don't know the sales numbers for this album but when I had John Entwistle sign this in 1988 he was very surprised to see it as he was unaware it was released, so we chatted for about 10 minutes till he had to leave.He had some cool stories about it.
the album has a very interesting lineup of people on it, John is the only musician to play on every track and is the albums producer, A.K.A John Alcock