Rockasteria: Jean Turk - Blue On Blue (1976 us / uk, fascinating raw heavy blues rock with killer lead guitar, 2024 limited 320 copies remaster)

Friday, March 7, 2025

Jean Turk - Blue On Blue (1976 us / uk, fascinating raw heavy blues rock with killer lead guitar, 2024 limited 320 copies remaster)

Released in a 3-sided digi-sleeve from Seely Court in the UK. Limited pressing of 320 copies. Jean Turk is an American singer-songwriter (SSW) from Norfolk, Virginia, and is said to be the daughter of a Native American Iroquois/Cherokee chief. In 1976, while searching for a musical career in Europe, she met the UK band Mad Dogs at the US military camp circuit in Germany, and was invited to go to England and start her activities based in Liverpool. This work is an unreleased studio recording from 1976, and has been made into a CD from the master tape kept by Steve Giles (ex. Dark, etc.), who was the studio engineer at the time. The members are centered around vocalist Gene, with the aforementioned Mad Dogs (Andrew Kightly, Steve Musgrove, Chris Bunny, etc.) providing backing for tracks 1-5, and Axe (Tony Burford, Mick Knight, Martin Winning, etc.) providing backing for tracks 6-11. Both Mad Dogs and Axe are thought to be bands related to the Northampton-based band Windroad. Tracks 1-5 are fairly simple and straightforward blues rock, with Gene's amber singing and free-style ensemble converging into a muffled atmosphere, giving a sense of nostalgia that will make you want to drink more. Tracks 6-11 have a slightly soul-like taste, giving them a somewhat sophisticated impression, but they still have that underground feel that can't be brought out.