Rockasteria

1975 Clancy - Seriously Speaking (2025 korean remaster)

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Clancy - Every Day (1976 uk, fascinating energetic funky jazzy rock, 2024 korean remaster)

Clancy’s follow-up album, Every Day (1976), continued in a similar vein but showed a band that was more confident and cohesive in its sound. Every Day was well-received by fans of the band and critics alike, who praised its more polished production and tighter songwriting.

Clancy was primarily known for their energetic and improvisational live performances, which were a major draw for fans. Their live shows often featured extended jams and re-interpretations of their studio material, showcasing the band's musicianship and their ability to interact dynamically on stage. They toured extensively in the UK, playing small dubs and opening for more prominent acts. Despite their relatively low commercial profile, Clancy developed a dedicated following, particularly among fans of more progressive and experimental rock.

However, Clancy struggled to break into the mainstream. The band's refusal to conform to the commercial pressures of the music industry meant that they remained somewhat of a cult band, appreciated by those who discovered them but largely overlooked by the broader public. Their eclectic style, while artistically fulfilling, may have contributed to their limited commercial success, as it didn't easily fit into the more rigidly defined genres that were popular at the time. Clancy disbanded in late 1976, couple of years after their formation, having failed to achieve the level of success that would sustain them in the long term. The members went on to pursue various other musical projects, with Colin Bass achieving significant success as a member of the band Camel. Ernie Graham also continued to work in music, though he never achieved the same level of recognition he had with his earlier projects.

Despite their brief career, Clancy left a lasting impact on those who heard them. The band is often cited as an example of the richly diverse music scene of the 1970s, where musicians were willing to take risks and explore new territories. Over the years, their albums have gained a certain cult status among collectors and fans of the era's more obscure bands. In retrospect, Clancy's music can be seen as a reflection of a time when the boundaries of rock music were being pushed in all directions. While they may not have achieved widespread fame, their work remains a testament to the creativity and adventurous spirit of 1970s British rock

Liner-Notes

Tracks

1. Working Together (Ernie Graham) - 6:21

2. Timetaker (Dave Skinner) - 4:23

3. Seconds Out (Dave Vasco) - 1:53

4. You Have Made My Life So Sweet (Barry Ford) - 5:55

5. Jeka José (Gaspar Lawal) - 5:39

6. You Don't Understand (Colin Bass, Dave Vasco) - 6:24

7. Good Judgement (Dave Skinner) - 6:40

8. Jealousy (Colin Bass) - 4:38

Clancy

*Barry Ford - Drums, Vocals, Chinese Gong, Flute, Cymbals

*Colin Bass - Bass, Vocals

*Dave Skinner - Fender Rhodes, Hammond Organ, Wooden Piano, Clavinet, Synthesizers, Vocals

*Dave Vasco - Electric, Acoustic Guitars, Vocals

*Ernie Graham - Acoustc, Electric, Wah Wah Guitars, Vocals

*Gaspar Lawal - Percussion, Vocals, Congas, Talking, Agba Drums, Finger Cymbals, Seke Seke

With

*Sammy Mitchell - Dobro (Track 2)

1971 Ernie Graham - Ernie Graham (2014 japan remaster)

1971-73 Help Yourself - Reaffirmation An Anthology (2014 Remaster)

1966-68 Twice as Much - Sittin' On a Fence, The Immediate Anthology

1972 Uncle Dog - Old Hat (2005 japan remaster)

1977 Jackson Highway - Jackson Highway (2024 remaster)

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Jackson Highway - Jackson Highway (1980 us, awesome southern boogie classic rock, 2014 reissue)

The Capitol album boasted the George Jackson-penned “Rock And Roll Man (Hung Up On A Disco Girl),” featuring a guitar cameo from Blackfoot’s Rickey Medlocke, later a longtime member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was a full-circle moment. Medlocke played drums on a pre-fame Skynyrd’s Muscle Shoals Sound demo. Rolling Stone gave Jackson Highway’s Capitol album a three-star review. Not bad.

Jackson Highway was enlisted for a big tour opening for wild man guitarist Ted Nugent, known for hits like “Cat Scratch Fever” and “Stranglehold.” Russell says Nugent, “had a reputation of being hard to deal with and pretty rough on opening acts. But for some reason he was always very kind to us.”

Dennis recalled after a Jackson Highway show opening for Nugent, they ran into him at the hotel bar afterwards. “We walked up to us and said, ‘You guys sounded great. Was the crew good to you?’ We said, well, yeah. He said, ‘If there’s anything you need, I’ll make sure they do it for you.’”

Jackson Highway also opened arena concerts for coheadliners UFO, British melodic-rockers known for live album “Strangers in the Night,” and Triumph, the Canadian power-trio famed for hit “Lay It On the Line.” The headliners were embroiled in petty competition, the Gulley brothers said, that sucked the joy out of the run. UFO and Triumph traveled by airplane, Russell said. Meanwhile, Jackson Highway drove all night between shows in a Winnebago with a trailer behind.

Jackson Highway came from the Allmans school of live performing. Stand there and play your ass off. But from working with more physically active acts like Nugent, UFO and Triumph, they learned the value of putting on a show too. After those tours, Jackson Highway wrote harder rocking songs. This surprised their mentors Jimmy Johnson and David Hood when the band ran through the new material, bang-bang, back at Muscle Shoals Sound.

Alas, the day Jackson Highway was scheduled to play a showcase for label execs, Russell’s dad died. “I couldn’t not go home and take care of business,” Russell said. “And our option was dropped. I blame myself for us losing the Capitol deal because it conflicted with my family.”

Jackson Highway split up. Some band members got more stable opportunities, like Patterson, who landed a salaried job as a piano tuner. At the suggestion of country band Alabama bassist Teddy Gentry, the Gulleys moved to Nashville, where Dennis resides to this day.

Dennis found work with the likes of John Schneider, the unfairly handsome “Dukes of Hazzard” actor who’s also a country-rock singer/songwriter. Russell toured with successful Canadian country singer Gary Buck. Russell has since returned to North Alabama, where he resides today, and is a mainstay of the state’s roots music scene. On August 23, he’ll play a set at Eutaw’s Black Belt Folk Roots Festival lineup.

There have been occasional Jackson Highway reunions, and a few years back, they released an EP. The brothers are currently working on their first Muscle Shoals-recorded project in decades. Dennis and Russell are also collaborating on music for a photography exhibit by Muscle Shoals music insider Dick Cooper August 25 - 29 at Auburn Arts Association . They might take that elsewhere, Russell said.

And that original “Old Time Rock and Roll” demo? Dennis still has a copy on cassette, and a digital file on his computer. He’s never released the demo publicly, though, because Capitol owns the rights, he said. “I’ve never even played it for anybody other than friends,” Dennis said. “If you and I were together, I wouldn’t mind playing it for you, but I wouldn’t give you a copy of it. Because I’ve had people ask me for it and it’s not mine to do that with.”

by Matt Wake, Jun. 12, 2025

Tracks

1. Drive Me On Home (Matthew Jones, Dennis Gulley, Russell Gulley, Tommy Patterson) - 3:25

2. Rock And Roll Man (Hung Up On A Disco Girl) (George Jackson) - 3:57

3. Circles (Russell Gulley, Tommy Patterson) - 3:46

4. Hook, Line And Sinker (Dennis Gulley, Russell Gulley, Tommy Patterson) - 4:38

5. Rave On (Bill Tilghman, Norman Petty, Sonny West) - 3:13

6. Knee Deep In Love (Collins Kirby, Dennis Gulley, Russell Gulley) - 2:56

7. You're Looking Good (Dennis Gulley, Russell Gulley) - 3:50

8. Nobody To Love (David Weatherspoon Jr., Thomas Earl Jones) - 2:36

9. Cold Chill Out Of The Blue (Dennis Gulley, Russell Gulley) - 4:43

Jackson Highway

*Dennis Gulley - Piano, Organ, Bass, Acoustic, Electric Guitars, Lead, Background Vocals

*Britt Meacham - Acoustic, Electric Guitars, Background Vocals

*Tommy Patterson - Piano, Synthesizers, Harmonica, Lead, Background Vocals

*Ronny Vance - Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals

*Russell Gulley - Bass Guitar, Background Vocals

With

Jimmy Johnson - Guitar

Randy McCormick - Keyboards

Roger Hawkins - Drums

Charlie Hargrett - Backing Vocals (Track 2)

Duncan Cameron - Backing Vocals (Track 9)

Greg T. Walker - Backing Vocals (Track 2)

Rickey Medlocke - Backing Vocals (Track 2)

1972 Joe Walsh - Barnstorm (2011 japan SHM remaster)

Monday, July 7, 2025

Joe Walsh - But Seriously Folks... (1978 us, wonderful insightful, melodic classic rock, 2017 japan SHM remaster)

Joe Walsh's fourth album, ... But Seriously Folks, is best known for producing the hit single "Life's Been Good." But that's just the most obvious starting point of a record that proved to be one of Walsh's most durable LPs.

Comparisons to the Eagles for the album came early and often – and not just because this was the first stand-alone project Walsh released after he joined the group before 1976's Hotel California. All four of his bandmates appeared on ... But Seriously Folks, though they're mere footnotes on an album that strikes a more considered balance of introspection and biting wit, and of smart balladry and tough rockers, than the reconstituted Eagles' deflating finale The Long Run.

Walsh moves with cunning and verve through the expected joys of country rockers like "Second Hand Store" and the surprising reggae rhythms of "Over and Over," from the incisive nostalgia of "Indian Summer" to the fully realized instrumental wit of "Theme From Boat Weirdos."

Even casual fans will notice signature elements of the Eagles sound throughout, from the soaring background vocals of Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit on "Tomorrow" to Don Felder's pedal steel on "Second Hand Store." Walsh and Felder then reanimate their twin-guitar "Hotel California" entanglement on "At the Station."

Still, ... But Seriously Folks arrived on May 16, 1978, as a Walsh record at its core, dominated not by the Eagles but by his vision. Don't let the winks and nudges fool you. As with Walsh's other must-buy solo album, The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get, he's in complete command of his muse, something that becomes utterly clear on the hilarious album closer "Life's Been Good."

A comic depiction of the "hardships" of rock stardom, the song appeared on ... But Seriously Folks not in the zippy four-minute version that went to No. 12 on the pop chart but as an extended anthem of double that length.

Along the way, it earned fame separate from the charts when Walsh ran for president in 1980 as a lark. He suggested, tongue firmly in cheek, that "The Star-Spangled Banner" be replaced by "Life's Been Good." That didn't happen. But it certainly became Walsh's personal good-time anthem – and a staple of his concerts, with and without the Eagles.

Many fans understandably listen to ... But Seriously Folks decades later to relive that moment in time. But there's an entire album's worth of Walsh to enjoy here.

by Nick DeRiso, May 16, 2023

Tracks

1. Over And Over - 4:53

2. Second Hand Store (Joe Walsh, Mike Murphy) - 3:35

3. Indian Summer - 3:03

4. At The Station (Joe Vitale, Joe Walsh) - 5:09

5. Tomorrow - 3:39

6. Inner Tube - 1:25

7. Theme From Boat Weirdos (Bill Szymczyk, Jay Ferguson, Joe Vitale, Joe Walsh, Willie Weeks) - 4:42

8. Life's Been Good - 8:56

All songs written by Joe Walsh except where stated

Musicians

*Joe Walsh - Guitars, Synthesizers

*Joe Vitale - Drums, Percussion, Flute, Synthesizer,

*Jay Ferguson - Keyboards, Background Vocals

*Willie Weeks - Bass

*Joey Murcia - 2nd Guitar

*Don Felder - Pedal Steel, Vocals (Track 2), Guitar, Vocals (Track 4)

*Bill Szymczyk – Tambourine, Vocals (Track 4), Background Vocals (Track 8)

*Jody Boyer - Background Vocals (Tracks 2,3,8)

*Don Henley - Background Vocals (Track 5)

*Glenn Frey - Background Vocals (Track 5)

*Timothy B. Schmit - Background Vocals (Track 5)

1973 Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink The Player You Get (2009 HDCD)

1974 Joe Walsh - So What (2015 SACD)

1971 James Gang - Live in Concert (2010 SHM)