It's one of the unwritten laws of record collecting that some labels guaranteed quality simply by existing -- and, if a record bears that sainted logo, then it's worth any investment you care to make. Of course, it doesn't always work that way, as collectors of the legendary U.K. prog label Vertigo will ruefully inform you. But anybody taking a chance on one of the final albums to be released beneath the label's spiral logo, the one-and-only album by singer/songwriter Thomas F. Browne, might well find themselves wondering why the company wasted so much wax on half-hearted jazz-rock, and so little exploring the further reaches of the folk-rock hybrid.
Browne himself was drummer with the '60s beat band Nero & the Gladiators, a heavily classics-influenced band that also featured future Spooky Tooth/Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones for a time. Indeed, Jones and Browne alone later worked together as the State of Mickey & Tommy, and Wednesday's Child continued the partnership, with additional (and supremely characteristic) help from fellow Spooky Gary Wright, and the Sandy Denny-less Fotheringay. Such heavyweight backing, of course, dictates much of the ensuing mood, a gently rolling collection of ballads that fall into much the same bag as the period Strawbs and Mike Heron. Browne's voice is not always at its best, lacking the depth of expression that his lyrics generally demand. But the power of the arrangements and some wonderfully atmospheric backing vocals from Doris Troy and Sue & Sunny readily salvage things, and songs like "Carry My Load" (with a breathtaking Jones guitar solo) and "Dark Eyed Lady"'s cheeky approximation of "Pinball Wizard"'s acoustic guitar hook are both supremely contagious, while "The Alamo" is as epic as the land it immortalizes.
The eponymous, German-only album from this long forgotten British hard progressive quintet was released in 1971 by Bellaphon - the record label responsible for the collectable (and now very expensive) vinyl editions of other, stylistically similar but also little known UK bands like Diabolus, Steel Mill, Crazy Mabel and Sunday.
This difficult to describe album contained an eclectic mix of styles, going between straight rock, tasteful rock ballads and hard progressive rock. That varied, well-arranged and in most parts simply stunning record will certainly appeal to the fans of Procol Harum, Skin Alley and Jody Grind. As a bonus we have added a very rare, non-LP UK single (from 1970) - with a terrific and insanely hypnotic Just A Game being one of the very best heavy rock tracks from early 70's.
Tracks
1. Good Time Music (John Sebastian) - 3:38
2. Getting It Together (John Mark) - 3:31
3. I Wish I Had The Words - 4:27
4. Anything That Turns You On - 3:02
5. Right Road (Alan Davis) - 3:31
6. Name Of The Game - 3:07
7. Something Good - 2:56
8. Ain't No Harm - 3:39
9. Isn't It Strange - 3:22
10.Just Ain't Fair - 5:28
11.Another Man's Song - 3:57
12.Just A Game - 4:16
All songs by Jim Turner except where noted
Bonus Track 12
Little Big Horn
*Jim Turner - Vocals, Piano, Organ
*Barry Beasley - Vocals, Bass
*Billy Slaney - Drums, Percussion
*Alan Davis - Lead Vocals
*Danny Maidment - Vocals, Guitar
The Lost Souls never released any records, yet the meager recorded evidence that survives indicates that they were one of the finest unknown American groups of the mid-’60s, able to write both catchy British Invasion-type rockers and, in their latter days, experimental psychedelic pieces with unusual tempo changes and song structures. The band were also unusual in their occasional embellishment of the typical period guitar-bass-drums lineup with flute, sax, and mandolin. Although popular in their Cleveland hometown, they broke up in 1968 to attend college. Rhythm guitarist Denny Carleton, who wrote and sang some of their best material, went on to briefly join The Choir, their chief and more successful rivals.”
by Richie Unterberger
The music scene in Cleveland in the mid to late 1960’s was ripe with talent: the James Gang with Joe Walsh and Glenn Schwartz, The Choir, Eric Carmen () - pre-Raspberries, Glass Harp with Phil Keaggy, the Damnation of Adam Blessing… and the Lost Souls. Of all those bands, only the Lost Souls never released a record. Then again, they were in high school, trying to navigate dress codes and bullies—and playing in front of a couple thousand fans when not suspended. Sure, they lost a battle of the bands at Teen Fair 1968, but it was to the James Gang with Joe Walsh. And somehow it is the Lost Souls who emerge from that time and place with the greatest mystique and some of the most adventurous music, music which few have heard. Lost Souls main songwriter Denny Carleton released a cassette of the band’s original recordings in 1984. It received airplay on hundreds of college and public radio stations in the USA and around the world, and garnered glowing reviews… and that was it, until now.
Not only is this the first time the music of the Lost Souls has been available since that cassette, our Lion Productions edition is the first release for many additional Lost Souls cuts, including alternate versions of key tracks like the insightful ‘Things That Are Important’ and ‘I’m Falling’ the closest to a hit the band ever had, all taken from the original tapes and carefully mastered. Seven bonus tracks highlight the work of Lost Soul’s main songwriter Denny Carleton, one-time member of The Choir, and more surprisingly, punk legends the Pagans; selections by The Choir, Moses, Milk and Carleton, many in all possible low-fi glory, recorded on various 4-Track devices, ranging from power-pop to grimy garage.
Tracks
1. Love I Won't Admit - 2:57
2. Look At Me (Unknown) - 2:08
3. Walking Out On Me (Unknown) - 2:19
4. Things That Are Important - 2:24
5. Let's Get Away (Chuck McKinley) - 3:26
6. Dare To Surmise (Denny Marek) - 4:14
7. If These Are Men - 2:26
8. Josephine - 3:32
9. Trashcan Throne (Denny Marek) - 2:16
10.Livin' The Way I Want To (Chuck McKinley) - 3:31
11.Pre-Break Song (Denny Marek) - 0:57
12.I'm Falling - 3:49
13.I Want You - 3:30
14.Whatcha Gonna Do - 2:38
15.Things That Are - 2:31
16.I'm Falling - 3:33
17.Diamond Head - 2:06
18.I Can See Beyond Your Lies - 2:46
19.Oh Yes - 3:50
20.If These Are Men - 3:02
21.Mummer Band - 2:24
22.Middle Of An Island - 2:20
23.Alice - 2:07
24.I'm Not Busy, It's Just The Phone - 2:41
25.Could She Love Me - 3:28
26.Moonlight Rebellion (Key One) - 2:37
All songs by Denny Carleton except where indicated
Bloody Mary was a group based in New York, and this is their only album released by USA Family Productions in 1974. The rumors was that they were Sir Lord Baltimore, who was also from New York, but that was a misunderstanding because it was recorded in the same studio in Hempstead, Long Island, as Sir Lord's second album, with the same engineer (John Bradley). Sir Lord and Bloody Mary recorded in studios next to each other in 1971, but for some reason this album was released in 1974. The album was produced by Vinnie Testa.
According to some infos, members were Vito Albano, John Parisio, Richard Incoirvaia, (these three guys were part of a band called Alive ‘N Kickin, who scored a big hit with the song “Tighter, Tighter” in 1970), for the rest of the members Donnie Dimola, John Tattos and Larry Goodman, except their names, I don't have further informations.
The guitar and organ are constantly played, and the music is high-tension, fast-paced hard rock. The songs are based on blues but have a touch of funk and progressive rock, and the 16-beat-based performance with Latin percussion is simply cool. It gives the impression of a jumble of Purple-like and Santana-like parts, and there are also elements of rough hard rock. A great album with a full band feel.
Tracks
1. Dragon Lady - 5:04
2. Highway - 2:51
3. Riddle Of The Sea - 4:08
4. Free And Easy - 5:10
5. You Only Got Yourself - 7:01
6. Can You Feel It (Fire) - 5:37
7. I Hear The Music Playing - 4:51
All titles by Vito Albano, John Parisio, Richard Incoirvaia, Donnie Dimola, John Tattos, Larry Goodman
Brian Short was an English singer who emerged as the frontman of Black Cat Bones. His solo album, Anything for a Laugh, appeared in 1971 on Transatlantic Records. He later wrote songs for Jeff Beck and Hummingbird.
Short first fronted The Sect, a Newcastle beat group that played numerous Tyneside venues (Club A’Gogo, the Mayfair, the Majestic, the Quay Club) during the mid-1960s. It was at one 1965 show at the Cellar Club in South Shields where he met his wife of 40 years, Lynda.
In 1968, Short joined London blues-rockers Black Cat Bones, taking the place of original vocalist (and later Downliners Sect frontman) Paul Tiller. Short remained long enough to sing on their one album, the 1970 Decca Nova release Barbed Wire Sandwich.
In 1971, Short teamed with keyboardist Max Middleton, then of the Jeff Beck Group, and four-fifths of the unsigned act Simpson’s Pure Oxygen (formerly Griffin): guitarist Peter Kirtley, bassist Colin Gibson, guitarist/keyboardist Kenny Craddock, and drummer Alan White. They backed Short for an album on the folk-jazz-psych label Transatlantic Records with additional help from reedist Lyn Dobson (Locomotive, Soft Machine, Keef Hartley Band, Mick Softley, Mick Greenwood), Jamaican contra-bassist Coleridge Goode, and the Leiston Dafties Choir.
Short released Anything for a Laugh in 1971 on Transatlantic. The 12-song album features 11 originals, including “Blue Tuesday,” “Don’t You Need Me Anymore,” “Emily,” “Wishing Well” and “Winter Comes.” Also included is a cover of the Randy Newman composition “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today.”
Original copies of Anything for a Laugh are housed in a gatefold sleeve with blue- and sepia-tinted b&w photos of urban desolation. Lyrics appear on the inner-spread. The album was produced by Mike Finesilver (Love Sculpture, Kingdom Come, Ross, Gonzalez, J.A.L.N. Band). Craddock plays harmonium on select passages.
Short retained his ties with Middleton, who performed on the 1971 release Rough and Ready by the Jeff Beck Group. That album wraps with the six-minute Short composition “Jody.” Middleton’s next band, Hummingbird, included the Short co-write “Got My ‘Led Boots’ On” on their 1977 third album Diamond Nights, arranged by drummer Bernard Purdie.
As a songwriter, Short penned “I Don’t Want the Night to End,” a 1978 disco hit for French singer Sylvie Vartan. In 1981, he partnered with Maxine Nightingale on the A&M single “Rendezvous” (b/w “You Touched Me”). During the ’80s, his songs were recorded by Syreeta; Toni Basil; Ray, Goodman & Brown (aka The Moments); and Beau Williams. Brian passed away in 2014.
It was 1969 when Mike Huey introduced his friend, Spencer Clark, to his brother Rick Huey, and the three of them started a "garage band" called Evolepoh. In 1970, Craig Gysler joined the band, now renamed Lorien, and they started composing original tunes and working toward playing live shows.
In the Spring of 1972, Spencer (lead guitar, lead vocals, song writer) - , Mike (drums, backing vocals, artistic promoter, lyricist) - , and Craig (keyboards, rhythm guitar, lead vocals) - were about to graduate high school, although Rick (bass, backing vocals, song writer-uri-diculous) - had graduated two years prior. Soon the boys were landing opening spots with MC5, Captain Beefheart, and The Amboy Dukes (Ted Nugent) - at a local Houston venue called "of Our Own". They were not yet in their Progressive Zone, but were listening to and influenced by bands such as King Crimson, ELP, Peter-Gabriel-Era Genesis, and Yes.
By 1975 the band had changed their name to Chameleon, and were playing gigs around Houston and surrounding Texas cities. Widely known and praised as a Progressive Rock band, they shared the stage with other notable Houston bands such as Eeze (later known as Automatic) - , La Paz, The Electromagnets with Eric Johnson, Heyoka, One Hand Clapping, and Oz Knozz. Chameleon rehearsed 4 or 5 nights a week out at Spencer's place west of Houston, (a converted barn) - and that is where they fine-tuned their progressive style.
Mike left the band in 1978, and Marty Naul from Oz Knozz joined as drummer, backing vocalist, director, and "crazy-Ass Insane Chauffer") - Chameleon began to increase the vision of being a Prog Rock band, and recorded the now famous "Barn Tapes" during this period.
By 1981, the band Chameleon had run its course, and although the five spirits of Spencer, Craig, Rick, Mike and Marty that comprised the band's soul went their separate ways, all of the recordings they left behind are still here, fully restored and presented to you now for enjoyment and remembrance.
CD Liner-notes
Tracks
1. Texas Cyclone (Craig Gysler) - 9:41
2. Follow Your Love (Paradise Lost) (Craig Gysler, Spencer Clark) - 3:57
3. Pilot Thoughts (Spencer Clark, Mike Huey) - 7:24
4. Brave New Way (Spencer Clark, Craig Gysler) - 4:08
5. Drool Away (Spencer Clark) - 4:36
6. Pass Thru The Columbian Mountains (Spencer Clark) - 6:43
7. Everyday Everyway (Spencer Clark, Craig Gysler) - 5:56
8. Mirkwood Forest (Craig Gysler, S. Clark, Mike Huey, Rick Huey) - 6:53
9. In The Heart (Craig Gysler) - 5:26
10.Saturate (Spencer Clark, Craig Gysler) - 4:49
11.Midnight Matinee (Spencer Clark) - 5:29
12.Life Positions (S. Clark, Craig Gysler, Rick Huey, Marty Naul) - 9:26
13.In My Own Way (Craig Gysler) - 3:14
This is the third album from Canadian swamp singer-songwriter Christopher Keaney. His sound is more refined than his debut, featuring three songs by band member Bob Yeomans. It seems to have been influenced by Steely Dan, and while the vocals still retain a down-to-earth quality, they are light and elegant. This is a work from the period when swamp music was moving towards to straight rock forms, and it is of high quality.
Tracks
1. Prayin` For Rain - 3:06
2. Sweetwater - 3:01
3. Chicano Cowboy - 3:35
4. Silver Spoon - 2:39
5. Travellin` Son - 5:07
6. Steady Ground - 3:05
7. Dirt Road - 6:58
8. Raggedy Ann - 3:37
9. Runnin` Child - 3:17
10.The Last Train - 3:31
All compositions by Christopher Kearney, Bob Yeomans
The Surprise Package were a Seattle, Washington group consisting of Fred Zeufeldt (drums, backing vocals), Michael Rohers (piano, organ, bass, backing vocals), Greg Beck (guitar, backing vocals), Rob Lowery (lead vocals).
Their only album was released in early 1969 on tiny LHI label owned by the famous arttist/producer Lee Hazelwood. The Record mostly contained a trippy and quite intense music with lots of Hammond organ pasages, loud and fuzzed-out guitar parts and solid drumming. It can be easily described as a stylistic combination of Vanilla Fudge, The Doors and especially Iron Butterfly.
It worth noting that the title track lasted nearly 16 minutes and its structure wasvery similar to In A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Excellent freaky improvisations in some parts.Very Essential for acid heads. Unfortunately, the album (and also single with cover of MacArthur Park) went almost completely unnoticed. Soon after the band changed its name to American Eagle and 1970 released an eponymous LP for Decca records.
The acting career of Rudy Ramos has covered six decades and started with an appearance on the television show, "Ironside" in 1969. Six months later he was cast as a series regular, playing the part of Wind the volatile half-breed Indian boy in the legendary television western "High Chaparral." Since then he has done over sixty guest shots on episodic television including recurring roles on the hit TV show, "Hunter" in 1987-88 and "Resurrection Boulevard" in 2002-2003.
Mr. Ramos has done numerous movies for television including the ground breaking Helter Skelter (100 million viewers over two nights) playing the part of Danny DeCarlo, Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure and Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman: The Movie as the villainous Captain Ruiz.
Feature film credits include The Enforcer with Clint Eastwood, Walter Hill's cult classic The Driver with Ryan Oneal and Academy Award nominee French actress Isabelle Adjani, Defiance with Jan-Michael Vincent and Art Carney, Quicksilver with Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne, Colors with Sean Penn and Robert Duvall and the 2001 sleeper Road Dogz directed by the up and coming talent Alfredo Ramos to name a few.
The stage has been a big part of Mr. Ramos' life with appearances in the Los Angeles area at the Mark Taper Forum, Taper Too, The Met, Matrix Theater, Los Angeles Theatre Center, and Nosotros Theatre. He also was a member of the Los Angeles Actors Theatre and performed in the award winning hit show Shorteyes by Miguel Pinero playing the part of Cupcakes. The ensemble won the 1977 Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Ensemble.
In his spare time Mr. Ramos is very passionate about music. He recorded an album for Fantasy Records in the 70's titled "Hard Knocks and Bad Times." He is also very passionate about horses and is an advocate of natural horsemanship.
CD Liner Notes
Tracks
1. Let`em Roll Johnny (Roger Tillison) - 4:01
2. I Was Amazed - 4:11
3. Nathaniel - 3:01
4. Abraham - 3:28
5. Another Town - 3:06
6. Opel Jackson - 3:35
7. The Sharecropper - 3:05
8. Old Santa Fe (Roger Tillison) - 2:34
9. You Can See It In My Eyes - 4:41
10.Hard Knocks And Bad Times - 3:10
11.Manfred Jones And Willie Drew (Lonnie Hillard) - 2:34
All songs by Phil Sampson except where noted
Personnel
*Rudy Ramos - Lead Vocals
*Phil Sampson - Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Harp
*Doyle Madden - Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
During the late 60's - early 70's my hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts was not very receptive to local bands that played songs they had written themselves. If you were a band that wanted work, you played the hits of the day with some oldies thrown in - not too bad a gig for someone in his late teens (me), because the AM pop and FM "underground" music that prevailed included The Beatles, The Stones, Hendrix, Dylan, Cream, The Kinks, Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Procol Harum, etc., etc....
But I began to write my own songs, and soon I had a few that I considered good enough to perform and record. In the "cover tune" climate of that time, performing these songs live was out of the question - although we'd sneak one or two into a performance unannounced. In 1969, I began recording these songs with my bandmates at Northeast Recording, a 2-track studio in the nearby town of Shrewsbury. Over the course of a year of so I had amassed about 30 demo tapes of songs, most of them amateurish at best. I tried to improve, writing more tunes on my own time while still "playing the hits" on weekends with the band. Here I was with all these songs and no outlet for them except on tape.
In 1973, I ran into Dwight Glodell at Union Music, the local music retailers. Dwight was an acquaintance he was a friend of one of my cousins. We had jammed once or twice and we respected each other's musical abilities. I mentioned that I had all these original songs with no means of exposing them to the public, and when I expressed an interest in possibly cutting my own LP he told me that he was beginning his own small studio above Union Music in the same building. He suggested that we work on my LP project together, and I agreed.
Dwight's studio was a cramped office suite sitting three floors above Main Street in Worcester. There was a tiny control room with homemade speakers for monitors, Ampex preamps and an Ampex 4-track machine, a mixing board with APSI Modules, a few high-quality microphones, a good baby grand piano, an ARP 2600 synthesizer, some insulation stuffed into the windows, and not much else. Armed with these tools and Dwight's fledgling recording chops, we set to work on the recording you are holding in your hot little hands. Oh, did I mention that the studio was named Starizon?
Anyway, as I said before, this was an office suite - surrounded by other office suites filled with 9-to-5 people who wouldn't appreciate someone banging on musical instruments during the day. We could work on weeknights and weekends when I wasn't "playing the hits", so we settled into this schedule immediately. I enlisted Dave Rice to play drums, my then-girlfriend Dorrie Powers to help with graphics and background vocals, and my buddy and musical right-hand man Denis delaGorgendiere to help on vocals and bass.
We worked with the attendant difficulties of recording 4-track analog - - - calibration problems, tuning problems, noise problems (both environmental and electronic), overheating problems, humidity problems, string players who couldn't read charts properly, running-out-of-tracks problems....AAARRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!
In order to have more tracks to record on, we eventually transferred this never-ending project to a Scully 8-track professional 1-inch recorder.
I don't even remember how long it took to record these songs. Tracks were scrapped. Tracks were accidentally erased. Tracks that sounded perfect the day before now refused to play in tune. The string section for "Michael Henchard" had to be scrubbed and replaced with the ARP synth. We laughed; we cried. And then towards the end of the project Dwight approached me with the idea of scrapping the whole thing and starting over, no extra charge. I couldn't do it. I couldn't return to that circus of temperamental equipment and human error. I had new songs to record with more ambitious arrangements, and I was chomping at the bit to move on. I decided to release it, even if parts of it were unfinished. The year was 1974.
In the early to mid 70's a local independently released LP in Central Massachusetts didn't stand a chance. Most record stores would not carry a record that wasn't handled by a distributor. Distributors wouldn't touch a record that was on an ad hoc label. Publicity was the "local boy makes his own LP" story in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. "Songs From Down The Hall" died on the streets after a few months and even fewer initial sales.
Denis, Dorrie, Dwight and I began recording new songs, and when Starizon Studios folded in the mid 70's we moved the new recording project into Northern Recording Studios in Maynard, Massachusetts. The Starizon LP was becoming an afterthought, and as the new project took shape I abandoned "Songs", a record that I believed was an important learning experience, but a dead issue commercially and not as good as the new recordings.
Skip ahead about 25 years. With the advent of internet directories, letters about "Songs From Down The Hall" started appearing in my mailbox. I began to get requests for copies of the LP from places like Texas, New England, New Jersey, The United Kingdom, Austrailia and Switzerland. Who'd-a thunk it? The thing took on a life of its own, finding a home in record collections across the planet. I began to receive requests for any additional unreleased recordings, too. So consider this re-release on CD the first chapter. There are a few 2-track demos from the Northeast sessions with Denis on bass and Dave on drums, demos of two unreleased songs that aren't TOO embarrassing, and a finished version of "Old Richard" (released in an unfinished version on the LP because of tuning problems with the harmonica).
