| Band Wagon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 25, 1975 | |||
| Recorded | October 28 – November 28, 1974 | |||
| Studio | Different Fur in San Francisco and Clover Studio in Hollywood | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | Panam/Crown | |||
| Producer | Shigeru Suzuki | |||
| Shigeru Suzuki chronology | ||||
| ||||
Band Wagon is the 1975 debut solo album of Japanese musician Shigeru Suzuki recorded with musicians from Los Angeles. [1] Two singles were released from the album "The Smell of August"/"Snow Express" and "100-Watt Lover", both in 1975.
The solo album followed the disbanding of Happy End and formation of Tin Pan Alley with Haruomi Hosono and Masataka Matsutoya. Suzuki's fellow Happy End bandmate Takashi Matsumoto wrote the lyrics to the songs.
The album features American musicians from notable acts such as Little Feat, Santana and Sly and the Family Stone. [2] Suzuki had previously worked with Bill Payne, Dick Hyde and Kirby Johnson on Happy End's final album.
The track "Woman in the Dunes" was named after the novel of the same name and its film adaptation.
To tour the record, Suzuki formed the band Huckleback (ハックルバック, sometimes written as "Hucklebuck"), consisting of keyboardist Hiroshi Sato, bassist Akihiro Tanaka, and drummer Toshiaki Hayashi. The group played around 10 shows, before disbanding on November 16, 1975. [3]
Live recordings from the tour appear on 2008's Shigeru Suzuki History Box - Crown Years 1974-1979 box set. In 2014, Suzuki performed Band Wagon in its entry for his Get Back Sessions Special "Band Wagon" Live concert video. It peaked at number 272 on Oricon's DVD chart. [4] A 2-disc live album recorded during the original 1975 tour on April 4 and May 15 was released on September 23, 2015 under the title 1975 Live. [3]
All lyrics are written by Takashi Matsumoto; all music is composed by Shigeru Suzuki.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Woman in the Dunes" (Suna no On'na (砂の女)) | 3:55 |
| 2. | "Smell of August" (Hachigatsu no Nioi (八月の匂い)) | 3:38 |
| 3. | "Low-fever Boy" (Binetsu Shōnen (微熱少年)) | 3:40 |
| 4. | "Snow Express" (Sunō Ekusupuresu (スノー・エクスプレス), Instrumental) | 3:51 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 5. | "The Night of Man-powered Aircraft" (Jinryokuhikōki no Yoru (人力飛行機の夜)) | 2:33 |
| 6. | "100-Watts Lover" (100-Watto no Koibito (100ワットの恋人)) | 4:36 |
| 7. | "Wood Pecker" (Uddo Pekkā (ウッド・ペッカー), Instrumental) | 3:08 |
| 8. | "Sunset Wharf" (Yūyakehatoba (夕焼け波止場)) | 4:45 |
| 9. | "Galaxy Rhapsody" (Ginga Rapusodī (銀河ラプソディー)) | 3:48 |
According to 2008 re-release CD booklet:
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