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Plain and Fancy

Music gives soul to universe, wings to mind, flight to imagination, charm to sadness, and life to everything.

Plato

Sunday, February 13, 2011

B.B.Blunder - Workers' Playtime (1971 uk, splendid heavy psych with blues shades, 2009 double disc remaster)




B.B. Blunder's story is a most confusing one for such a short-lived and little-known band. The group was essentially an offshoot of the Blossom Toes, one of the best underground British rock acts of the '60s, noted for both their droll psychedelic pop and a heavier, dual-lead guitar-oriented sound.

When the Blossom Toes broke up at the end of the '60s, guitarist Brian Godding and bassist Brian Belshaw continued to play together, sometimes in association with singer (and Godding's sister-in-law) Julie Driscoll. Eventually, Kevin Westlake, who had drummed on the Blossom Toes' first LP, joined them, and the trio recorded an album, with Driscoll helping out on vocals.

Although the group could have just as well been called Blossom Toes as B.B. Blunder, their sound was in fact significantly different than what they'd played on the Toes' albums. The songwriting was, well, loose, and unfocused. The record's principal attractions are the multi-layered guitars, which have a certain just-post-Abbey Road charm, with lengthy electric-acoustic passages bordering on jams.

After it was issued as Workers Playtime in 1971, Reg King (formerly of mid-'60s cult mod band the Action) joined the group for live work. The enterprise was basically a non-starter, though. Westlake soon quit, new members joined (including Reg King's brother and fellow Action veteran Bam King), and the group fell apart by the end of 1971.

To add to the confusion surrounding this none-too-tight aggregation, in 1989, their sole album was reissued under the title New Day by Decal, who attributed the recording to "Blossom Toes '70 (formerly B.B. Blunder)." This is why this none-too-interesting one-shot record also shows up in the Blossom Toes discography.
by Richie Unterberger


Tracks
Disc 1
1. Sticky Living! - 6:33
2. You’re So Young - 5:26
3. Lost Horizons (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 2:06
4. Research (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 4:34
5. Rocky Yagbag (Kevin Westlake) - 3:59
6. Seed - 5:28
7. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 3:32
8. Rise - 5:04
9. Moondance (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 1:23
10.New Day - 4:40
All compositions by Brian Godding except where indicated

Disc 2
1. Backstreet (Brian Godding) - 3:55
2. Freedom (Brian Belshaw) - 5:42 
3. Black Crow's Nest (Kevin Westlake) - 3:30 
4. When I Was In The Country (Kevin Westlake) - 4:43
5. A Hard Day's Night (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 4:21 
6. Come On Eyes (Kevin Westlake) - 7:17 
7. Snippet With Tippett (Keith Tippett) - 0:25
8. Square Dance (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 5:38 
9. Earache (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 8:05 
10.Robots (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 4:58 
11.Waltz (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 6:02

The B.B.Blunder
*Brian Godding - Vocals, Guitar, Piano
*Kevin Westlake - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Drums
*Brian Belshaw - Vocals
With
*Julie Driscoll - Vocals
*Marc Charig - Trumpet
*Nick Evans - Trombone
*Chris Kimsey - Piano
*Keith Tippett - Piano
*Barry Jenkins - Piano
*Mick Taylor - Bass
*Brian Auger - Piano

12 comments:

  1. Hi Marios, my Medieval Cue Splitter cannot split this file :-(, problem with the pregap or so. I was looking for this album for a very long time. Any suggestions?

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  2. Hi Brain,
    The problem is when the splitting starts and asks about the gap between the songs, you must click YES

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  3. Very interesting album. Thank you Marios for this post!

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  4. Great to have this in lossless. Thank you

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  5. Fab Marios,i have the original but nice to get it in digi-flac,cheers mate.

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  6. thank you Marios. this album is a gem. let's here it for Rocky Yagbag!

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  7. I've had a vinyl copy of this since it was released, but it's great to find a digital copy. Thanks Marios!

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  8. Hi Marios, please new link on Depositfiles as I cannot use Uploading. Thank you so much!

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  9. Thank you for this album Marios, the musicianship on this opus is simply staggering.

    Check out research and seed, as examples.

    Wonderful it is also to see involvement from Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the amazing Keith Tippett.

    Michael

    Saturday 7th February 2015 2.10pm GMT

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  10. Thank you for the musical introduction the B.B. Blunder, a group that I had only previously known only by name. And I concur w/Johnny Rotten, nice to hear J. Driscoll, K. Tippets, and B. Auger in the mix. Much appreciated! BTW - I also helped myself to Blossom Toes 'If Only For A Moment,' the link between 'We Are Ever So Clean' and 'Workers' Playtime.' Cheers.

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