[SACD-R][OF] Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? - 1972/2018 (Rock, pop, R&B, psychedelia)

Bass – Bugsy Maugh (tracks: 10), Jim Colegrove (tracks: 10), John Siegler (tracks: 7), Stu Woods (tracks: 9, 11), Tony Sales (tracks: 12)
Concept By [Album Package] – Todd Rundgren
Congas – Serge Katzen (tracks: 10)
Drums – Billy Mundi (tracks: 8, 10), Hunt Sales (tracks: 12), John Siomos (tracks: 7, 9, 11)
Guitar – Amos Garrett (tracks: 10), Ralph Walsh (tracks: 10), Rick Derringer (tracks: 7), Rick Vito (tracks: 12), Robbie Kogale (tracks: 9, 11), Todd R* (tracks: 10, 12)
Organ – Mark Klingman (tracks: 7, 9, 11)
Pedal Steel Guitar – Ben Keith (tracks: 8)
Piano – Charlie Schoning* (tracks: 12), Mark Klingman (tracks: 10), Todd R* (tracks: 7. 8, 9, 11)
Tenor Saxophone – Gene Dinwiddie (tracks: 10), Jim Horn (tracks: 12), John Kelson (tracks: 12), Mike Brecker* (tracks: 7, 9)
Trombone – Barry Rogers (tracks: 7, 9)
Trumpet – Randy Brecker (tracks: 7, 9)
Vocals – Anthony Carrubba (tracks: 12), Brook Baxes (tracks: 12), Cecilia Norfleet (tracks: 7, 9), Dennis Cooley (tracks: 7, 9), Edward Olmos (tracks: 12), Henry Fanton (tracks: 12), Hope Ruff (tracks: 7, 9, 11), Richard Corey (3) (tracks: 7, 9, 11), Vicki Robinson* (tracks: 7, 9)
Vocals, Instruments [All Instruments] – Todd Rundgren (tracks: 1 to 13)

Something/Anything? is the third album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in February 1972. It was his first double album, and was recorded in late 1971 in Los Angeles, New York City and Bearsville Studios, Woodstock. Three quarters of the album was recorded in the studio with Rundgren playing all instruments and singing all vocals, as well as being the producer. The final quarter contained a number of tracks recorded live in the studio without any overdubs, save for a short snippet of archive recordings from the 1960s.
Rundgren had become confident enough at other instruments beyond his standard guitar and keyboards that he had tackled in earlier releases, and this, coupled with a general dissatisfaction with other studio musicians, led him to temporarily relocate to Los Angeles in an attempt to record an entire album single-handedly. After he had created significantly more material than would fit on a standard LP, an earthquake struck LA. He decided to head back to New York for some live sessions, with the help of Moogy Klingman, to lighten the mood. The final sessions were in Bearsville, where the remainder of the recording and mixing took place, and this created enough material for a double album.
The album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold three years after its release. A single taken from the album, “Hello It’s Me”, was a top-five hit in the US in late 1972, and it contained a further hit, “I Saw the Light”. Something/Anything? later attracted critical acclaim as one of the most significant records of the 1970s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 173 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[1] After Something/Anything, Rundgren moved away from the straightforward pop ballads present on this album to more experimental territory and progressive rock in later releases, beginning with the following A Wizard, A True Star (1973).
All Music Review
After two albums, Todd Rundgren had one hit and a burgeoning cult following, plus growing respect as a hitmaking record producer. There’s no question he was busy, but as it turns out, all this work only scratched the surface of his ambition. He had decided to abandon the Runt pretense and recorded a full double album by himself (save for one side). Others had recorded one-man albums before, most notably Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, but Rundgren — without borrowing musically from either artist — captured the homemade ambience of McCartney with the visionary feel of Music of My Mind, adding an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music from Gilbert & Sullivan through Jimi Hendrix, plus the crazed zeal of a pioneer. Listening to Something/Anything? is a mind-altering trip in itself, no matter how many instantly memorable, shamelessly accessible pop songs are scattered throughout the album. Each side of the double album is a concept onto itself. The first side is “a bouquet of ear-catching melodies”; side two is “the cerebral side”; on side three “the kid gets heavy”; side four is his mock pop operetta, recorded with a full band including the Sales brothers. It gallops through everything — Carole King tributes (“I Saw the Light”), classic ballads (“Hello It’s Me,” “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference”), Motown (“Wolfman Jack”), blinding power pop (“Couldn’t I Just Tell You”), psychedelic hard rock (“Black Maria”), pure weirdness (“I Went to the Mirror”), blue-eyed soul (“Dust in the Wind”), and scores of brilliant songs that don’t fall into any particular style (“Cold Morning Light,” “It Takes Two to Tango”). It’s an amazing journey that’s remarkably unpretentious. He may have contributed self-penned liner notes, but Rundgren peppers his writing with self-aware, self-deprecating asides, and he also indulges his bizarre sense of humor with gross-outs (“Piss Aaron”) and sheer quirkiness, such as an aural tour of the studio at the beginning of side two. Something/Anything? has a ton of loose ends throughout: plenty of studio tricks, slight songs (but no filler), snippets of dialogue, and purposely botched beginnings, but all these throwaways simply add context — they’re what makes the album into a kaleidoscopic odyssey through the mind of an insanely gifted pop music obsessive. Rundgren occasionally touched on the sheer brilliance of Something/Anything? in his later work, but this extraordinary double album is the one time where his classicist songcraft and messy genius converged to create an utterly unique, glorious record.
ELUSIVE:
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 173/500!
This 1972 release was engineered by Todd Rundgren with a little help from his friends Rick Derringer, Billy Mundi, Moogy Klingman, Amos Garrett, Bugsy Maugh and Gene Didwiddie (both from the Butterfield Blues Band), the Hunt Brothers, Rick Vito, Jim Horn and the Brecker Brothers. This collection that defines Rundgren's many talents contains many selections that have stood the test of time including "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light".
"I'm probably the whitest singer in the world," Rundgren told Rolling Stone in 1972. "I have no 'soul' in the usual sense - but I can do this great feminine falsetto." On this tour-de-force double album, Rundgren employs that falsetto on two great singles in the vein of Carole King: "I Say The Light" and "Hello It's Me." For the rest of the album, he demonstrates his complete command of the studio, playing almost all the instruments himself, experimenting with a kaleidoscope of rock genres and even delivering a monologue on what poorly made records sound like, complete with examples of hiss and hum.
Never before available on SACD. Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. Features Billboard Pop Singles "Hello It’s Me," "I Saw The Light," "Couldn’t I Just Tell You" and "Wolfman Jack". Ranked #173 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
"It's an amazing journey that's remarkably unpretentious. Rundgren peppers his writing with self-aware, self-deprecating asides, indulging his bizarre sense of humor with gross-outs ('Piss Aaron') and sheer quirkiness, such as an aural tour of the studio at the beginning of side two. There are a ton of loose ends throughout Something/Anything?, plenty of studio tricks, slight songs (but no filler), snippets of dialogue, and purposely botched beginnings, but all these throwaways simply add context -- they're what makes the album into a kaleidoscopic odyssey through the mind of an insanely gifted pop music obsessive." - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com
"After years spent standing just out of reach of the spotlight, Todd Rundgren has made his grand entrance. Perhaps Something/Anything? was consciously designed not as an exposition of genius, but as Todd's way of calling attention to himself, of saying 'Hey, it's me. I'm finally here and this time you'll remember my name.' If that's the case, then this album's primary value is as an introduction to the man and an invitation to his future. It's an invitation that nobody can afford to pass up. Todd Rundgren's name may be worth its weight in gold, but you'll soon discover that his music is worth at least twice as much." - Ben Edmonds, Creem Magazine, 1972