Tracks 7 & 8 from their fourth album “Killer” released in 1971 copyright Warner Bros. Records. It was their second recorded at the RCA Mid-American Recording Center in Chicago. The band continued to refine their sound and style with the help of Bob Ezrin, the eager twenty-two year-old who had produced their last album. Many successful bands have said that their best work was the result of working with that one producer who understood how to take their talent and creativity to another level and become so involved that they are like another member of the band. Ezrin’s song arrangements and masterful production skills were a key factor in this album’s success. Most of the band’s new songs highlighted Alice’s gritty vocal delivery and adopted a more aggressive, villainous attitude on this album. Alice was portrayed as a murderous criminal who in the end receives his deserved fate: execution by hanging. This album introduced shock-rock to the world and the Church Ladies were quite upset, so of course teenagers ate it up as a way to rebel against their parents and the establishment. The song “Dead Babies” was deemed particularly offensive by some, even though the song’s lyrics infer that child abuse through neglect is a bad thing. It probably didn’t help that the band used swords to stab and skewer plastic baby dolls covered in fake blood during their stage shows. But it was all in good fun back in the day and was taken as such by most reasonable people. It was just macabre theater. Political correctness was still some bureaucrat’s wet dream far off in the future, thank God. It was definitely a unique period in the history of music. Their shows became theatrical spectacles, telling a sordid story as the concert unfolded with the climax being Alice’s death. The song “Desperado” was written about Alice’s friend Jim Morrison of the Doors, who had died in Paris from a drug overdose earlier that year, and became one of the first members of the “27 Club.” “Halo of Flies” was their successful attempt at a progressive rock song, and it made the Top Ten in the Netherlands. The album received above average reviews at the time and excellent ones in retrospect. It reached No. 22 in Finland, No. 21 on Billboard and No. 17 in Canada. It was certified Gold in two months and achieved Platinum status in 1986. Written by Alice Cooper, Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway & Neal Smith/Michael Bruce & Dennis Dunaway and produced by Bob Ezrin. RIP Glen Buxton. Featuring:
Alice Cooper - Lead vocals & harmonica
Glen Buxton - Lead & rhythm guitars
Michael Bruce - Rhythm guitars, keyboards & background vocals
Dennis Dunaway - Bass & background vocals
Neal Smith - Drums, percussion & background vocals
Special Guests:
Bob Ezrin - Keyboards
Rick Derringer - Guitar on “Under My Wheels” & “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”
Little Betty ate a pound of aspirin
She got them from the shelf upon the wall
Betty's Mommy wasn't there to save her
She didn't even hear her baby call
(Dead babies can't take care of themselves)
(Dead babies can't take things off the shelf)
Well, we didn't want you anyway
Daddy is an agrophile in Texas
Mommy's on the bar most every night
Little Betty's sleeping in the graveyard
Living there in burgundy and white
(Dead babies can't take care of themselves)
(Dead babies can't take things off the shelf)
Well, we didn't love you anyway
Goodbye little Betty
Goodbye little Betty
(So long little Betty)
(So long little Betty)
Betty, so long
(Dead babies can't take care of themselves)
(Dead babies can't take things off the shelf)
Well, we didn't need you anyway
Goodbye little Betty
What did I do to deserve such a fate?
I didn't really want to get involved in this thing
Someone handed me this gun and I, I gave it everything
Yeah, I gave it everything
I came into this life, looked all around
I saw just what I liked and took what I found
Nothin' came easy, nothin' came free
And nothin' came at all until they came after me
Yeah, yeah
"What did I do to deserve such a fate?
I gave it everything, now I need to escape
Someone near to me calling my name
I gave it everything
I gave it everything"
3 янв 2023
