Blood Sweat And Tears - New City (1975 us, excellent fusion jazz rock, 2003 with extra tracks)

In the late '60s and early '70s, Blood, Sweat & Tears was at the forefront of the rock with horns movement. But after lead singer David Clayton-Thomas' 1972 departure, both he and the band lost their commercial footing. New City finds Clayton-Thomas reconvening with Blood, Sweat & Tears after a three-year absence. Jimmy Ienner, who produced hits with the Raspberries, Grand Funk Railroad, and Three Dog Night, is behind the boards for this 1975 album. It does sound promising, but, in all honesty, New City fortunes seemed doomed from the start.

The cover of the Blues Image's "Ride Captain Ride" turns out to be more than a perfunctory exercise and gives the band a chance to show its jazz chops, and Clayton-Thomas wails to his heart's content. Allan Toussaint's "Life" gets an irreverent and funky treatment. Strangely enough, the workouts on here pale in comparison to the ballads.

The best track, the poignant "I Was a Witness to a War," is delicately arranged in the perfect key for Clayton-Thomas' subdued vocals. Janis Ian's "Applause" sustains interest, even as Clayton-Thomas' dramatic flourishes make Richard Harris seem remote.

After a few ho-hum tracks, this closes with an energetic but anti-climatic cover of the Beatles' "Got to Get You Into My Life." Although New City failed to get the band back to the top of the charts, a listener might be pleasantly surprised to hear that the band did proceed through the '70s accordingly.
by Jason Elias

Tracks
1. Ride Captain Ride (Skip Konte, Franke Konte, Mike Pinera, Carlos Pinera) - 5:06
2. Life (Allen Toussaint) - 4:24
3. No Show (Ron McClure) - 5:15
4. I Was a Witness to a War (Danny Meehan, Bobby Scott) - 5:13
5. One Room Country Shack (John Lee Hooker, Traditional) - 2:24
6. Applause (Janis Ian) - 7:47
7. Yesterday's Music (D. Clayton-Thomas, William Smith) - 4:14
8. Naked Man (Randy Newman) - 4:00
9. Got to Get You into My Life (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 3:22
10.Takin' It Home (Bobby Colomby) - 1:37
11.Intro - 0:25
12.Agitato (Bruce Cassidy) - 6:19
13.Nuclear Blues (D. Clayton-Thomas) - 4:08
14.Manic Depresion (J. Hendrix) - 4:45
Tracks 11-14 Bonus Live recordings, October 12 1980, at the Street Scene (Downtown LA)
 
Blood Sweat And Tears
*David Clayton-Thomas - Vocals
*Dave Bargeron - Trombone, Tuba, Baritone Horn, Bass Trumpet
*Bobby Colomby - Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals
*Joe Giorgianni - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Piccolo Trumpet
*Tony Klatka - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Piccolo Trumpet
*Ron McClure - Bass
*Bill Tillman - Saxophone, Background Vocals
*George Wadenius - Guitar, Background Vocals
*Larry Willis - Keyboards
*Mike Corbett - Background Vocals
*Bruce Cassidy - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Steiner Electric Trumpet (11-14)
*Bobby Economou - Drums (11-14)
*David Piltch - Bass (11-14)
*Robert Piltch - Electric, Classical Guitar (11-14)
*Earl Seymour - Baritone, Tenor Sax, Flute (11-14)
*Vern Dorge - Alto, Soprano Sax, Flute (11-14)

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Andrew Leigh - Magician (1970 uk, wonderful psychedelic folk rock, 2011 remaster edition including extra track)

Some albums are classic journeyman's efforts, the work of someone who might have gained notice with other bands but was never quite a name in his own right -- thus Andrew Leigh's one-off solo effort Magician, recorded between his stint in Spooky Tooth's final months and becoming part of Matthews Southern Comfort soon afterward.

Despite the cover art and swirl of flutes helping kick things off, Magician is less acid folk/prog whimsy and more an overview of a lot of things in the year of its release, with a little electric bite here and there but otherwise aiming for gentler twang and rough-and-ready acoustic chug. There's stately late-Beatles pop via "Get Myself Together" (one of two songs from friend and fellow pro Kevin Westlake), a bit of moody folk-rock with "Windy Baker Street," easygoing country-tinged rambles like "Solitaire" and "Leaving Song," and more besides.

Throughout, the echoes of people like Bob Dylan, the Band, the Byrds, Free, and many others can be heard, all slotting into what would be Leigh's own career path well and showing that if his work wasn't deathless it was pleasant listening with a bit of flair. Leigh's liner notes are a fun read, the voice of someone who explored a path, then decided on a new one in later years, before returning to music on a casual for-the-heck-of-it basis -- not a bad place to be.
by Ned Raggett

Tracks
1. Magician - 3:22
2. Get Myself Together (Kevin Westlake) - 4:03
3. Goin’ Out To The West (Kevin Westlake) - 4:36
4. Solitaire - 3:57
5. Windy Baker Street - 4:55
6. Take Me Back - 4:50
7. Leaving Song - 2:58
8. Fresh Brown Eggs - 2:29
9. Up The USA - 9:19
10. The Passing (Bonus Track) - 5:01
All titles by Andrew Leigh except where noted.

Musicians
*Andrew Leigh - Vocals, Acoustic, Electric Guitars, Banjo, Recorder, Piano, Mellotron, Claves, Maracas
*Kevin Westlake - Acoustic, Electric Guitars, Drums, Background Vocals
*Bryan Hayward - Electric, Acoustic Guitars
*Reggie King - Piano, Vocals
*Gordon Jackson - Electric Sitar
*Gary Farr - Harmonica, Acoustic Guitar
*Mike Kellie - Tambourine
*Brian Godding - Electric Guitars
*Tony Priestland - Tenor Sax, Flute, Oboe
*Gary Wright - Electric Piano
*Sam Duboff, George Pastel, Philip Lusher, Mutzi Horvath - Hand Clapping

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The Rugbys - Hot Cargo (1969 us, garage psych, akarma remaster edition)

The Rugbys formed when all the members of the popular Louisville group the Oxfords left that band except the drummer, Jim Guest. Guest kept the Oxfords name and brought in members of the Spectres, soon releasing a good 45 on the Mala label.

The Rugbys took the Spectres' drummer, Glenn Howerton to replace Guest; the other members being Steve McNicol on lead guitar, his brother Jim McNicol on bass, Chris Hubbs on guitar and Doug Black on sax. The band's name supposedly came from wearing rugby shirts onstage.

At least, that was what I had read, but then Susan Harkins sent in this photo of the Rugbys signed by Jim Guest on the back, and Glenn Howerton's signature is not included. Perhaps the Oxfords changed their name to the Rugbys, then Guest left or was kicked out and restarted the Oxfords with new members.

In any case, their first release is this great version of a Doug Sahm song, "Walking the Streets Tonight", on the Top Dog label, from July, 1966. The flip side, "Endlessly", a ballad original by Steve McNicol, has been ignored until now, though mellow it's very good.

The Rugbys continued on until 1970 with some personnel changes, releasing several 45s and an album in a hard rock style.
Garage Hangover

Tracks
1. You, I (Steve McNicol) - 2:57
2. Juditha Gina (Eddy Vernon) - 2:42
3. Song to fellow man (Eddy Vernon) - 2:20
4. King and queen of the world (Steve McNicol) - 3:08
5. Stay with me (Steve McNicol) - 3:05
6. The light (Steve McNicol) - 2:26
7. Rockin' all over again (Mike Hoerni) - 2:17
8. Lines of thought (Mike Hoerni, Steve McNicol) - 4:00
9. For A Love gone (Steve McNicol) - 3:56
10.Wendegahl The Warlock (Eddy Vernon) - 6:20

The Rugbys
*Steve McNicol - Guitar, Vocals
*Mike Hoerni - Bass Guitar, Vocals
*Eddy Vernon - Keyboards, Piano, Vocals
*Glen Howerton - Drums

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Keef Hartley Band - Not Foolish Not Wise (1968-72 uk, great rock blues psych, live recordings for BBC)

Recorded at the BBC Studios, London, England between 1968 and 1972 and issued in England in 1999, Keef Hartley's Not Foolish Not Wise is, apparently, a compilation of sorts of old live recordings and some from the studio. What is maddening is that apart from a personal reminiscence by Neil Slaven that covers some of Hartley's career, there isn't one iota of information -- other than titles and songwriting credits -- as to when or where these recordings were made, or even who played on them.

One can deduce with a degree of certainty that many of these recordings were live gigs featuring outtakes and alternate material from the Halfbreed era that included the four-piece horn section of Henry Lowther (trumpet, violin), Harry Beckett (trumpet), Lyn Dobson (tenor sax, flute), and Chris Mercer (tenor sax), with Hartley on drums, the late bassist Gary Thain (formerly of Uriah Heep!), Dino Dines on keyboards, and Miller Anderson (who also served as vocalist) and Spit James on guitars.

Some come from a later edition of the band with only two horns. The music is rooted deeply in the progressive blues of the early '70s, where the influence of John Mayall's Jazz Blues Fusion project was just making itself known. But Hartley's band was deeper into a more raucous form of blues and R&B than jazz, though the horn charts are fairly sophisticated, as evidenced by the title track, "Marin County," "Too Much Thinking" with its subtly shaded trumpets shimmering over the saxophones, and the slippery funk groove of "Don't You Belong," driven by Thain's bass thud and punched up by the horns Famous Flames style. Given that many of these are live cuts and the rest are outtakes, the sound can be a tad muddy, but it only adds to the overall presence of the music.

Despite the dodgy omissions in credits, this is a vital and thoroughly engaging release, capturing a band at the stellar height of its power both live and in the studio. As Slaven put it in his liner notes, this "was a no nonsense band that played no nonsense music." Recommended for anyone ever interested in Hartley or in the evolution of British blues.
by Thom Jurek

Tracks
1. Sinning for You - 3:36
2. Spanish Fly - 6:05
3. Me and My Woman - 5:21
4. Too Much Thinking - 6:47
5. Not Foolish Not Wise - 4:33
6. Don't You Belong - 5:55
7. Marin County - 4:05
8. Always Thinking of You - 4:31
9. Don't Sing It - 5:05
10.Colours - 6:04
11.Roundabout - 6:19
12.You Can't Take it With You - 7:46
13.Just a Cry - 7:59

Musicians
*Henry Lowther - Trumpet, Violin
*Harry Beckett - Trumpet
*Lyn Dobson - Tenor Sax, Flute
*Chris Mercer - Tenor Sax
*Keef Hartley - Drums
*Gary Thain - Bass
*Dino Dines - Keyboards
*Miller Anderson - Vocals, Guitars
*Spit James - Guitars

Keef Hartley's brands
1969  Halfbreed (2008 Esoteric)
1969  The Battle Of North West Six  (2008 Esoteric)
1970  The Time Is Near (2008 Esoteric)
1970  Overdog (2005 Eclectic)
1971  Little Big Band
1972  Seventy Second Brave (2009 Esoteric)
1972  Lancashire Hustler (2008 Esoteric)

Related Act
1971  Miller Anderson - Bright City

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The Third Estate - Years Before the Wine (1976 us, observable concept psychedelic rock , progressive folk)

Third Estate’s “Years Before the Wine” is an ambitious and intricate psychedelic concept album from 1976 about the French Revolution (!) which blends warm Southern summer sounds (the band were from Baton Rouge, Louisiana) with baroque song structures. Never fear, the serious subject matter is no match for the strong songwriting and light, flowing music.

Stunning vocals from Fae Ficklin on the title track are lovely, but even without them this album would richly deserve its status as a psychedelic classic. Stark, intimate production, with tasty fuzz guitar, backwards tape-loop soundscapes and beautiful treated acoustic guitar, puts one in mind of the Ithaca/Agincourt/Friends trilogy from England. The sound of exploration is evident everywhere, as the band spreads its wings, and glorious harmonies flow forth.

The previously unreleased album recorded as Agonistes (the Greek word for The Fighters) in 1973 shows that the later recordings were no fluke—it can stand alone as one of the most beguiling folk/psych albums we’ve ever heard..

Tracks
1a. Years Before the Wine - Destiny (Robert Everett, Chas Harrell) - 4:44

 b. Years Before the Wine - Overcast (Robert Everett, Chas Harrell) - 5:35

2. Useless Things (Robert Everett) - 3:34
3. Look at Me (Chas Harrell) - 8:42
4. Kings (Robert Everett, Chas Harrell) - 2:32
5. Puppet City (Robert Everett, Chas Harrell) - 8:07
6. Think It's Time (Robert Everett, Chas Harrell) - 4:40
7. The Third Estate (Robert Everett) - 5:31

Third Estate
*Robert Everett - 6-String Electric, Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Piano, Organ, Maracas, Wind Chimes, Vocals
*Chas Harrell - 12-String Acoustic Guitars, 6-String Electric Guitars, Saws, Hammers, Vocals
*Jerry Lang - Drums, Guiro, Bells, Claves
*Fae Ficklin - Vocals

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Beckett - Beckett (1974 uk, fine progressive rock with some hard traces)

Beckett Vocalist Terry Wilson-Slesser, a native of Newcastle upon Tyne, was to figure in ex-Free guitarist Paul Kossoff's solo outfit Back Street Crawler and was later hook up with Charlie. The vocalist was also known to be in contention during 1980 for the AC/DC frontman vacancy following Bon Scott's death.

Wilson-Slesser had replaced original Beckett singer Rob Turner, the previous frontman having been killed in an auto accident. Soon after this appointment guitarist Les Tones quit. The group's first major performance was supporting UFO at Newcastle's City Hall. Beckett carved out a live reputation by performing residencies at the infamous Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. Beckett , having scored the financial backing of Island Publishing, then underwent a major line-up change.

The band's 'My Lady' single was a clear flexi-disc given away free at gigs in 1974, the same year the band released their eponymously titled album, produced by Family's Roger Chapman, on the Raft label subsidiary of Warner Bros. On the live front Beckett supported the likes of Wizzard, Slade, Free, Ten Years After, Thin Lizzy and The Faces. The band performed at the 1974 Reading Festival, after which they switched labels to CBS Records. For a period Wilson-Slesser was rehearsing with Mott The Hoople musicians following Ian Hunter's exit.

The Beckett concerts with Free would ultimately lead to an eventual union between Terry Wilson-Slesser and guitarist Paul Kossoff in Back Street Crawler. Slesser was known to be in contention for the AC/DC frontman position during 1980 after Bon Scott's death. The singer also acted as backing vocalist on Def Leppard's 'Pyromania' album. The Beckett song 'A Rainbow's Gold' was covered by Iron Maiden as a B side on their 1984 hit single '2 Minutes To Midnight'. That same year Wilson-Slesser acted as an offstage singer for the Michael Schenker Group, performing on a European and Japanese tour.
The Rock Detector

Tracks
1. Once Upon a Time... The End - 0:55
2. Rolling Thunder - 5:23
3. Rainclouds - 5:10
4. Life's Shadow - 6:51
5. New Dawn Chorus - 1:02
6. A Rainbow's Gold - 4:40
7. Don't Tell Me I Wasn't Listening - 5:30
8. Green Grass Green - 4:35
9. My Lady - 3:26
10.True Life Story - 5:36

Beckett
*Robert Barton - Guitar, Vocals
*Keith Fisher - Drums
*Terry Wilson-Slesser - Vocals
*Ian Murray - Bass
*Kenny Mountain - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
*Tim Hinkley - Keyboards

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Bruce Cockburn - Circles In The Stream (1977 canada, remarkable live at the peak of his early career, 2005 deluxe edition)

Released shortly after the transitional In the Falling Dark, Circles in the Stream seemed to serve as the final chapter in Bruce Cockburn's promising yet inconsistent early career. Recorded live in Toronto, the record brings together some of Cockburn's best songs from this period, including the beautiful meditation "All the Diamonds in the World," the bluesy "Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long," and "Lord of the Starfields" from his previous release.

And while there isn't anything drastically different here, many of the tracks are more assured and fully realized than their studio counterparts, with Cockburn's guitar and voice front and center -- solo or backed by subtle bass, percussion, and piano or marimba. There are also a scattering of new tunes that mix nicely with the older material, with the Native American tribute "Red Brother, Red Sister" and the instrumental "Deer Dancing Round a Broken Mirror" the true standouts.

Strong performances and a good selection of songs help Circles in the Stream succeed not only as a good live album, but also as a decent retrospective of Cockburn's first seven years.
by Brett Hartenbach

Tracks
1. The Pipes, the Pipes - 1:23
2. Starwheel - 3:56
3. Never So Free - 4:06
4. Deer Dancing Around a Broken Mirror - 4:37
5. Homme Brûlant - 6:17
6. Free To Be - 2:54
7. Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long - 4:24
8. Cader Idris - 7:05
9. Arrows of Light - 4:15
10.One Day I Walk - 4:29
11.Love Song - 3:52
12.Red Brother Red Sister - 4:06
13.Lord of the Starfields - 5:29
14.All the Diamonds in the World - 2:46
15.Dialogue With the Devil - 9:34
16.Joy Will Find a Way - 4:48
17.God, Bless the Children - 5:15

Musicians
*Bruce Cockburn - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Dulcimer
*Patrick Godfrey - Vocals, Electric Piano, Marimba
*Bill Usher - Vocals, percussion
*Ray MacKay - Cornemuse, Bagpipe
*Bob Boucher - Bass

Bruce Cockburn releases

1970  Bruce Cockburn (Japan issue)

1973  Night Vision (Japan Issue)

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Bruce Cockburn - Bruce Cockburn (1970 canada, wonderful debut album, 2007 japan remaster)

In 1966 Bruce Cockburn was asked to join an Ottawa band called The Children, which lasted for about a year. In the spring of 1967, he joined the final lineup of the Esquires before moving to Toronto in the summer to form The Flying Circus with former Bobby Kris & The Imperials members Marty Fisher and Gordon MacBain and ex-Tripp member Neil Lillie. The group recorded some material in late 1967 (which remains unreleased) before changing its name to Olivus in the spring of 1968, by which point Lillie (who changed his name to Neil Merryweather) had been replaced by Dennis Pendrith from Livingstone's Journey.

Olivus opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream in April 1968. That summer Cockburn broke up Olivus, intending to go solo but ending up in the band 3's a Crowd. with David Wiffen, Colleen Peterson and Richard Patterson, who had played with him in The Children. Cockburn left this band in the spring of 1969 to pursue a solo career.

He had made his first solo appearance at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1967, and was the headliner when Beldin Arechavala cancelled in order to appear at Woodstock in 1969. In 1970 he released his first, self-titled, solo album. Cockburn's phenomenal guitar work and songwriting skills won him an enthusiastic following. His early work sparkles with rural and nautical imagery, Biblical metaphors, and a sense of delight in the belief that whatever happens here on earth, heaven is not far away.

Raised as an agnostic, early in his career he became a devout Christian. Many of his albums from the 1970s refer to his Christian belief, which in turn informs the concerns for human rights and environmentalism expressed on his 1980s albums. His references to Christianity in his music include the Grail imagery of 20th-century Christian poet Charles Williams and the ideas of theologian Harvey Cox, but they are so subtle and musical that they do not exclude nonbelievers.

Tracks
1. Going To The Country - 3:10
2. Thoughts On A Rainy Afternoon - 3:42
3. Together Alone - 2:42
4. The Bicycle Trip - 4:05
5. The Thirteenth Mountain - 4:45
6. Musical Friends - 2:54
7. Change Your Mind - 2:19
8. Man Of A Thousand Faces - 5:40
9. Spring Song - 4:19
10.Keep It Open - 1:40

Musicians
*Bruce Cockburn - 6,12 String Guitar, Piano, Bass Drum
*Michael Ferry - Tongue
*Dennis Pendrith - Bass

Bruce Cockburn releases
1973  Night Vision (Japan issue)
1977  Circles In The Stream (Deluxe Edition)

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Bruce Cockburn - Night Vision (1973 canada, brilliant jazzy folk, 2007 japan remaster edition)

Thus abandoned and solitary in the world, human beings are forced to confront their own freedom, a freedom to choose that is both demanding and deadly serious. One of Colville's best-known works, Horse and Train, goes straight to the heart of this source of human anxiety and raises an essential question: can destiny be altered? A helpless witness to imminent disaster, the viewer of this painting can never know the outcome.

Clearly, the train cannot deviate from its track, but the horse has a choice - we think. Is it mesmerized by the light? Is it challenging a foe? Is it aware of the terrible danger? If not, can the engineer stop the train in time? The animal may be driven by instinct, but the human faces an ethical dilemma: Is it worth stopping? How much does the death of a horse matter? Which is more dangerous - to brake and cause a possible derailment, or to keep going and risk a deadly collision? Can we halt time - the little that remains?

The picture was inspired by a poem published in 1949 by the South African writer Roy Campbell. Words by Wilfred Owen serve as the poem's epigraph: "None will break ranks." The poem itself includes the lines: "Against a regiment I oppose a brain / And a dark horse against an armoured train." During his military career, Colville had exhibited an independence of mind that was not always appreciated by his superiors; it is a characteristic he subsequently cultivated, like his opposition to the various forms of 20th-century abstraction.

In Horse and Train, the artist seems to be emphasizing the unavoidable need to make choices: despite the apparently hopeless situation and the magnetic power of the train's light over the animal, we are witnessing a confrontation between two freedoms. The horse is free to change direction, the engineer to engage the brakes.

From The Original Liner Notes

"I think it was Christmas of '73, I was given a book featuring the work of a Canadian painter whose name was new to me. The paintings were striking - perfectly executed, realistic, but with a depth, a kind of transcendence that spoke to me of a larger reality. One painting in particular jumped out at me. In it, a well-muscled black horse gallops headlong down a railway track, straight at an oncoming train.

The horse seems to contain such energy, it's as if it were a charged particle of pure spirit. This sense of spirit, in confrontation with material power, is something any artist can relate to. A sense of impending doom too, I think. I certainly did! Some months later, as we got into working on what was then the "new" album, I kept thinking of the painting, feeling a connection between it and the music we were making. Music which was a little different from the preceding three albums.

In part, a reaction against the hemmed-in feelinq of having been filtered and "labelled" by media and music business expectations. We approached the artist about using his work on the cover of that album and he graciously said "yes". The album was "Night Vision", the paintinq "Horse and Train", the painter Alex Colville.

Bruce Cockburn, May 2002

Born in Ottawa in 1945, Cockburn set his sights on a career in music after growing up listening to Elvis records. He landed at Berklee College of Music in Boston in the early '60s, but found he was too spiritually restless to settle into studies of jazz guitar and composition, and in 1965 he moved back to Ottawa to play in a series of rock 'n' roll bands.

Cockburn eventually found his voice as a songwriter drawing upon instinctive spirituality, a keen eye for detail, and a wry sense of humor. By then he had also developed a highly personal finger-picking guitar style that merged Mississippi John Hurt blues with modal jazz harmony as well as melodic lyricism and cycling rhythms that suggested an ear for Indian, Asian, and African music.

Tracks

1. Foxglove - 1:21

2. You Don't Have To Play The Horses - 3:42

3. The Blues Got The World. - 1:45

4. Mama Just Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long - 4:10

5. Islands In A Black Sky - 7:36

6. Clocks Don't Bring Tomorrow - Knives Don't Bring Good News - 6:40

7. When The Sun Goes Nova - 2:37

8. Déjà Vu - 5:35

9. Lightstorm - 2:32

10.God Bless The Children - 4:16

Musicians

*Pat Godfrey - Keyboards

*Dennis Pendrith - Bass

*John Savage - Percussion

*Bruce Cockburn - Guitars, Banjo, Vocals

Bruce Cockburn releases

1970  Bruce Cockburn (Japan issue)

1977  Circles In The Stream (Deluxe Edition)

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Strawberry Alarm Clock - Wake Up...It's Tomorrow (1968 us, psychedelic rock, gorgeous 2nd album, rare out of print edition)

When the Strawberry Alarm Clock recorded their second album, they were facing the challenge of trying to sustain the remarkable and sudden success of their classic psychedelic debut single, "Incense and Peppermints," which hit #1 on November 25, 1967. Their debut LP of the same name had also done well, rising to #11 in the album charts with its mix of California harmony pop, garage rock, and raga-influenced psychedelia. Wake Up...It's Tomorrow would diversify yet further, adding more sophisticated vocal arrangements and flitting between flower-pop, fuzzed-out psychedelia, and a three-song suite of sorts with sitar and backwards effects. It also yielded their only other Top 40 hit in the semi-title track, "Tomorrow," an effervescent psych-popper that sounded rather like a more psychedelic Association.

     There were also some changes from the band that had recorded the earlier Strawberry Alarm Clock material. The unusual six-man, two-bass lineup in place for the first album proved to have one bass player too many. One of the bassists, Gary Lovetro, departed, getting bought out of the band for $25,000 and leaving the position in the hands of George Bunnell. "It is physically impossible to get a clear bass sound with two bass players on stage," explains keyboardist Mark Weitz. "Even though he was one of the original members [dating back to the days of Thee Sixpence, the band that evolved into the Strawberry Alarm Clock], we felt his interest in the band was more business-oriented than contributing musically. 

Sometimes [guitarist] Ed [King] had to do the bass parts in the studio for Gary. He just didn't have enough talent to conceive a good original bass part." Virtually absent was high school student Steve Bartek, who'd contributed to the songwriting on the first album as well as playing some flute and other instruments, although he was never officially in the band. As Weitz notes, "Steve was only fifteen or sixteen years old. He was a high school friend of George. I think George tried to get him to join the band, but his Mom wouldn't let him -- I didn't blame her. He was a little too young. Steve was exceptionally gifted in his playing -- too bad." Bartek did write the music for one of the tracks on Wake Up...It's Tomorrow, "Sitting on a Star," but as Bunnell notes, "Unfortunately, with me on tour and Steve still in school we weren't writing together. In fact, we didn't resume our co-writing until 1969, after I had left the SAC."

The recording process would be different this time around as well. "Our first album sold well (250,000 copies), we had a nationwide number one record!" exclaims Weitz. "The first album was written quickly, recorded all in one week on a small budget at Original Sound studio on Sunset, in Hollywood. Some of the songs were worked out in the studio right before recording! It was recorded in a low tech studio, we were all feeling each other out. We had not had a lot of experience playing together yet, especially in a studio environment. After we completed the first album, we became a little more sure of each other. Also, at that point, we knew who was more musically talented and who was not, as far as contributing to the overall ideas of our sound. UNI [Records], I guess, was willing to spend more on the second album, in a better studio (TTG) with better equipment and sound. That led ultimately to a better all-around-sounding album. By then, we had played on the road together, we were just more polished, and getting tighter."

Adds guitarist Ed King, "All of the songs for the second album were written in the studio; in other words, they were barely rehearsed and the material wasn't played to a crowd. I played bass on all the songs that I wrote, and George Bunnell played bass on his songs." Other big changes were the Association-like vocal arrangements, devised by vocal coach Howard Davis, who Weitz thinks was brought in by the band's manager. "He was a great guy in his fifties that played piano and sang nightly at a bar in Montrose, California. His voice can be heard [doing the spoken section] in 'Nightmare of Percussion.' He was the main source of most of our three- and-four-part harmonies. That was another MAJOR influence in our sound. He had a great way of being patient with us while we rehearsed some pretty difficult stuff; none of us had previous harmony training as far as I know. Our 'patented' Strawberry Alarm Clock vocal sound was mostly, but not all, Howard Davis arrangements."

 While the mixture of styles on the rest of the album testified to band's eclecticism, Weitz agrees it might have worked against the establishment of a consistent band sound and identity. "I think one of the problems was in the beginning, we would all write together. Now band members were splitting up into writing 'cliques' or writing partners: Ed and [rhythm guitarist] Lee Freeman, [drummer] Randy [Seol] and George, myself and sometimes Ed. I guess each of our styles of writing was going off in different directions -- not on purpose, it just happened. 

A form of competition was developing in the wind...and notwithstanding the constant distraction of our producer, manager and record company execs always telling us what WE should do and HOW we have to sound musically to succeed. 'Trying to do it their way' was hindering our true musical direction, and we were not allowed to flourish on our own....whether we would have succeeded or flopped, at least we would have done it 'on our own.' We were always willing to take that chance all along, but were  constantly being directed by the powers that be. We were afraid to react negatively for fear of UNI's rejection, and the ultimate end of our careers as the Strawberry Alarm Clock. So we went along with just about everything they wanted us to do, even if it meant failure.

Aside from "Tomorrow," the song that got the most exposure was "Pretty Song from Psych-Out," which was used in the notorious Dick Clark-produced Haight-Ashbury psychsploitation movie Psych-Out, starring Jack Nicholson (as guitarist of a fictional psychedelic rock band!). "We were invited on the Dick Clark show playing our #1 hit record," remembers Weitz. "Some time shortly after we performed on his show, I think he asked us to be in a movie he was producing. He also asked us to write a theme song for the movie, which was Ed and Lee's creation from start to finish." King's involvement didn't stop there: "I was assigned the job of sitting down with Jack Nicholson and teaching him some guitar stuff for the movie. The director wanted him to look like he was really playing. Jack really didn't want to have much to do with it!"

The album's diversity was also a reflection of the different tastes and, to some degree, tensions within the group. "Mark and I didn't care for Randy's taste in material," confesses King, "so the ['Curse of the Witches' and 'Nightmare of Percussion'] songs were pretty much recorded under protest. ['Nightmare of Percussion'] was a Bunnell/Seol tune, and they needed Howard [Davis]'s really deep 'thick' voice to complete the song, so they included him as a writer. It was their song, they arranged that with him. I liked Lee's lyrics very much, but didn't want him playing guitar on anything. As it turned out, Lee became a very good guitar player. But I think, during the Alarm Clock days, he was preoccupied with being a teenager. I was preoccupied with learning how to play that damn guitar."

Rather surprisingly, considering the band were still riding the momentum of "Incense and Peppermints" and also coming off a decent-sized follow-up hit single in "Tomorrow" (as well as touring with the Beach Boys and Buffalo Springfield in late 1967 and early 1968), the album failed to reach the charts. King lays some of the blame on the poor timing of the LP release, feeling that it came out way too late to capitalize on the success of the "Tomorrow" single, which was released a month before the album on which it was featured was even recorded. Weitz thinks UNI had already dropped the ball on the "Tomorrow" single, noting that "their record distribution nationwide on 'Tomorrow' was really slow and too late for the fans. It just wasn't promoted. We would play in a small town in the south, and the records weren't in the stores yet. 

How could you sell records on tour if they're not in the record stores when you were there to promote them and play at a concert? Also our manager, Bill Holmes, put up a barrier to UNI and prevented them and other promoters from helping us. That was a big problem for us. Holmes was afraid of losing control of 'his' band, which probably backed down UNI, [the booking agencies] William Morris [and] Premier Talent, and others from promoting us more seriously and to the fullest. Holmes's possessiveness hurt us deeply. That alone was a huge hindrance to us moving forward in our careers, I thought." It didn't keep the Strawberry Alarm Clock, however, from recording quite a bit more material in the late 1960s, including two subsequent albums -- both now available on Collectors' Choice Music as CD reissues, on which the story continues. 

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. Nightmare Of Percussion (G. Bunnell, H. Davis, R. Seol ) - 2:57
2. Soft Skies, No Lies (E. King, L. Freeman) - 3:07
3. Tomorrow (L. Freeman, M. Weitz) - 2:14
4. They Saw The Fat One Coming (E. King, L. Freeman) - 3:25
5.  Curse Of The Witches (G. Bunnell, R. Seol) - 6:46
6. Sit With The Guru (E. King, L. Freeman, M. Weitz) - 2:59
7. Go Back, You're Going The Wrong Way (E. King, L. Freeman, M. Weitz) - 2:19
8. Pretty Song From Psych-Out (E. King, L. Freeman) - 3:15
9. Sitting On A Star (G. Bunnell, R. Seol, S. Bartek) - 2:55
10.Black Butter, Past (E. King, H. Davis, L. Freeman) - 2:23
11.Black Butter, Present (E. King,  L. Freeman) - 2:10
12.Black Butter, Future (E. King, H. Davis, L. Freeman) - 1:32

Strawberry Alarm Clock
*George Bunnell - Bass Guitar, Vocals
*Randy Seol - Drums, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals
*Lee Freeman -  Guitar, Sitar, Vocals
*Edward King - Guitar, Vocals
*Mark Weitz - Vocals, Keyboards
*Howard Davis - Vocal  Arrangements, spoken passage on "Nightmare Of Percussion"

For more Strawberries
1967   Incense And Peppermints (2011 sundazed issue)
1968-69  The World In A Sea Shell / Good Morning Starshine

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Blessed End - Movin' On (1971 us, splendid pshych rock)

Blessed End was conceived in a 10th grade Geometry class in 1968 at Ridley High School by Ken Carson and Jim Shugarts. Neither one even owned a bass or guitar at that time. They agreed that it would be a fun challenge. Over the next summer they both acquired summer jobs and bought their first guitars. They would take turns at each others houses practicing together. In September of 1969 they recruited another guitarist Lenny Perchowski who was a neighbor of Kens'.

They met Mike Petrylak at Ridley High School and Doug Teti in a bowling league. They asked Doug and Mike to come to one of their practices and tryout for the group. When they came over everyone hit it off and Blessed End was formed. We rehearsed for a couple months and started playing school dances, coffee houses, pep rallies, splash parties and battle-of-the-bands. The band had a loyal bunch of fans and friends such as Angela, Clare, Libby, Lynne, Lucy, Mary Jo, Mary Lou, Sue, Phil and Steve whom we thank for all their devotion.

After playing for about a year Lenny had to leave the band to prepare for medical school. SteveQuinzi, joined the band in the fall of 1970. The band continued playing for after prom events, proms, coffee houses etc.

By the spring of 1971 the band was getting itchy to try doing more original tunes and also Ken and Doug were talking about the possibility of leaving for the Navy and medical school. The band decided to try and write a few songs and see how they would turn out. Over the summer of 1971 Jim and Steve devoted many hours composing the ten songs on the album Movin' On. The band rehearsed relentlessly for the recording session.

During the summer a local studio owner asked to borrow some of the band's equipment and Steve bartered for studio time in exchange. Movin' On was recorded in just one day with several songs being recorded totally live.

Several good paying jobs came along and the band had 1000 copies of Movin' On pressed. To save expense Jim had the album cover printed at a print shop where he was working at the time. Ken did the artwork on the cover. The band would always play one set of original music at each gig and then sell some albums. We sold enough records to cover expenses but the record never took off commercially.

Not long after recording the album, Ken left the band to join the Navy, mostly because his dad kicked him out of the house. After that the band lost some character. Blessed End made only one other recording without Ken and that was a remake of Can't Be Without Her with a substitute bass player.

Shortly after Ken was replaced by Rick Swanson, Jim left the group and was replaced by Ernie Fletsig who later had some personal problems, and had to leave the band. His replacement was Lou Grieco who had a personality clash with Mike. By the winter of 1973 things got pretty messy and Steve left to join a top 40 band and Blessed End formally ended.

Jim, started Argus at the end of 1971 and Ken and Mike joined the band, after Ken got a medical discharge from the Navy in 1973. They played together for 10 years.

Doug went on to college and is now a professor of psychology at the University of Maryland. Steve moved to Miami, Fl. in 1978 where he does music production for advertising and corporate presentations at Steve Quinzi Music. Steve is also a New Age artist with three albums out, The Pond, Vanishing Rainforest, and Rhythm Of The World . Mike went on to stay in the area and work as a self-employed auto mechanic. Ken and Jim went on to work at Boeing Helicopter Co. as research and development mechanics. Jim worked there as a manager of several departments until July of 2001. He now is working on a music project, and is President of Web Builder USA - a web page design company. Ken passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1992.
The Blessed End

 Tracks
1. Nighttime Rider (Steve Quinzi, Jim Shugarts) - 3:08
2. Someplace To Hide (Steve Quinzi) - 3:29
3. Is It Time (Jim Shugarts) - 4:22
4. Sometime You've Got To Be Strong (Steve Quinzi) - 3:51
5. Movin' On (Steve Quinzi) - 7:44
6. Day Before Tomorrow (Steve Quinzi) - 4:14
7. Dead Man (Jim Shugarts) - 2:36
8. Can't be Without Her (Steve Quinzi, Jim Shugarts) - 4:05
9. One Stop Woman (Steve Quinzi, Jim Shugarts) - 3:07
10.Escape Train (Steve Quinzi, Jim Shugarts) - 5:50

 Blessed End
*Steve Quinzi - Keyboards (1970-73)
*Jim Shugarts - Guitar (1968-71)
*Ken Carson - Bass (1968-71)
*Doug Teti - Vocals (1969-73)
*Mike Petrylak - Drums (1969-73)
*Ernie Fletsig - Guitar (1971-72)
*Lou Greico - Guitar (1972-73)
*Lenny Perchowsky - Guitar (1969-70)
*Rick Swanson - Bass (1971-73)

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Keef Hartley Band - Overdog (1970 uk, fantastic blues, jazz rock, 2005 extra track remaster edition)

From the opening wah-wah rhythm guitar of "You Can Choose, and the thundering attack of Thain and Hartley when the group comes in, it's clear that Overdog is a considerably different beast to The Time Is Near.... While the previous album had an energy of its own, "You Can Choose righteously bristles with excitement. While nowhere near the metal-edge of Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, Miller adopts a weightier tone and more "reckless abandon approach to soloing.

That doesn't mean that Keef Hartley Band had walked away from its stylistic cross-pollination of soul, jazz, folk and rock. But even the ever-so-slightly countrified opening to "Plain Talkin' is propelled by a more visceral rhythm section, a more assertive solo from Anderson and some fine organ work from now-regular keyboardist Mick Weaver.

There were comparisons, at the time, between Keef Hartley Band and Colosseum, the group spearheaded by drummer Jon Hiseman, who guests on a couple of tracks here. The link is clear when Hartley takes the compositional reins on a couple of tracks, including the "Enroute section of the eight-minute "Theme/Enroute/Theme Reprise medley, which is a vamp-based jam feature for guest flautist Johnny Almond, whose group Mark-Almond would mine similar turf. He also contributes the Latin jazz-tinged, minor-keyed instrumental vamp "Imitations From Home, with Hiseman contributing some propulsive conga work.

But these tracks represent the lighter side of Overdog, an overall heavier album. Anderson's title track begins with thundering tom-toms and a bass pulse, over which Anderson delivers some processed guitar before heading into flat-out funk territory. "Roundabout —heard here in its original version and on two additional bonus takes—begins with another tom tom-driven beat that features a horn arrangement that, like many of the horn parts here and on The Time is Near..., could easily have fit into any version of British jazz/rock group Nucleus. Ultimately it turns rockier, but never loses sight of the soul component.

The link between Keef Hartley Band and groups like Nucleus is, in fact, not a far-fetched one. The difference is that Nucleus came to rock from a jazz background, while Keef Hartley Band did just the opposite. That there are common meeting points is further demonstration of the remarkably fluid cross-fertilization that was taking place in England at the time. Despite the liberal intermixing of musicians, each group managed to assert its own identity, and while there were other bands examining some of the same musical references, none of them sounded quite like Keef Hartley Band.

That Eclectic Discs has made these two seminal recordings available in 24-bit digitally mastered form from the original master tapes, with informative liner notes and a couple of bonus tracks on Overdog, means that while most of the members of the group have slipped into obscurity, a whole new generation of listeners can hear just how vibrant, unfettered and unbiased the English scene of the mid 1960s to mid 1970s was in general—and how great Keef Hartley Band were specifically.
by John Kelman

 Tracks
1. You Can Choose (M. Anderson) - 5:30
2 . Plain Talkin' (M. Anderson) - 3:23
3. Theme Song/En Route/Theme Song (reprise) (M. Anderson, K. Hartley, G. Thain) - 8:05
4. Overdog (M. Anderson) - 4:20
5. Roundabout (M. Anderson) - 6:07
6. Imitations From Home (K. Hartley) - 3:35
7. We Are All The Same (M. Anderson) - 4:42
8. Roundabout (M. Anderson) - 2:55
9. Roundabout Part 2 (M. Anderson) - 4:18

Musicians
*Keef Hartley - Drums, Percussion
*Miller Anderson - Guitars, Vocals,
*Gary Thain - Bass
*Mick Weaver - Keyboards
*Dave Caswell - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
*Lyle Jenkins - Tenor Saxophone, Flute
*Johnny Almond - Flute
*Jon Hiseman - Drums, Percussion, Congas
*Peter Dines - Keyboards
*Mr. & Mrs. G.A. Orme (Preston) - Vocals
*Ingrid Thomas - Backing Vocals
*Joan Knighton - Backing Vocals
*Valerie Charrington - Backing Vocals

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Country Joe And The Fish - Electric Music For The Mind And Body (1967 us, classic debut album, psychedelic folk rock)

Their full-length debut is their most joyous and cohesive statement and one of the most important and enduring documents of the psychedelic era, the band's swirl of distorted guitar and organ at its most inventive. In contrast to Jefferson Airplane, who were at their best working within conventional song structures, and the Grateful Dead, who hadn't quite yet figured out how to transpose their music to the recording studio, Country Joe & the Fish delivered a fully formed, uncompromising, and yet utterly accessible -- in fact, often delightfully witty -- body of psychedelic music the first time out.

Ranging in mood from good-timey to downright apocalyptic, it embraced all of the facets of the band's music, which were startling in their diversity- soaring guitar and keyboard excursions (Flying High, Section 43, Bass Strings, The Masked Marauder), the group's folk roots (Sad and Lonely Times), McDonald's personal ode to Grace Slick (Grace), and their in-your-face politics (Superbird).

Hardly any band since the Beatles had ever come up with such a perfect and perfectly bold introduction to who and what they were, and the results -- given the prodigious talents and wide-ranging orientation of this group -- might've scared off most major record labels. Additionally, this is one of the best-performed records of its period, most of it so bracing and exciting that one gets some of the intensity of a live performance.

The CD reissue also has the virtue of being one of the best analog-to-digital transfers ever issued on one of Vanguard Records' classic albums, with startlingly vivid stereo separation and a close, intimate sound.
by Richie Unterberger & Bruce Eder

Tracks
1. Flying High (Joe McDonald) - 2:38
2. Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine (McDonald) - 4:21
3. Death Sound Blues (McDonald) - 4:23
4. Happiness Is a Porpoise Mouth (McDonald) - 2:48
5. Section 43 (McDonald) - 7:23
6. Superbird (McDonald) - 2:04
7. Sad and Lonely Times (McDonald) - 2:23
8. Love (McDonald, Melton, Cohen, Barthol, Gunning, Hirsh) - 2:19
9. Bass Strings (McDonald) - 4:58
10. The Masked Marauder (McDonald) - 3:10
11. Grace (McDonald) - 7:03

Country Joe And The Fish
*Country Joe McDonald - Vocals, Guitar, Bells, Tambourine
*Barry Melton - Vocals, Guitar
*David Cohen - Guitar, Organ
*Bruce Barthol - Bass, Harmonica
*Gary Chicken Hirsh - Drums

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Duffy Power - Leapers And Sleepers (1962-1967 uk, marvelous rock 'n' roll, blues and jazz-rock, double disc edition)

For such a significant cult artist, Power's 1960s recordings have been fairly poorly documented and distributed, with the best known of them actually being mid-'60s demos that didn't come out until the early-'70s release Innovations.

This two-CD, 34-song set does a magnificent job of filling in the major gap in the Power catalog by collecting both sides of all six of his rare 1962-1967 Parlophone singles in one place, as well as adding no less than a dozen previously unreleased outtakes. That's not all: There are also both sides of his rare U.S.-only 1965 single (credited to Jamie Power), and eight 1965-1967 Marquis Music session demos that were only previously available on the 1995 anthology Just Say Blue.

What's more important than the quite impressive lengths this compilation went to for assembling rare material, though, is the high quality of the music. There were few other singers exploring the eclectic tributary Power navigated in the 1960s, combining shades of blues, folk, jazz, rock, and pop in varying mixtures that never sounded forced, with vocals that could shift from croon to raunch.

Power was an astute interpreter of material ranging from the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" (just the second Beatles cover ever, incidentally; both the rare single and a previously unreleased alternate version are here) and George Gershwin's "It Ain't Necessarily So" to Goffin & King's pop-soul classic "Hey Girl" and Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm." Power also wrote some fine original material that was consistent with the vibes of the outside material he favored.

He also used some great backup musicians, most notably the Graham Bond Quartet (with a pre-Cream Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker), who are heard on "I Saw Her Standing There" and several other songs, including Bond's own composition "Farewell Baby."

A young John McLaughlin is heard on several other tracks. There's quite a lot to dig into here, some of the highlights including the lean blues-rock of "I'm So Glad You're Mine," the unexpectedly fruity orchestral Baroque pop production of his 1967 single (an outtake from that time in the same vein, "Take It Smoothly," is actually better than the tunes that ended up on the 45), the moody teen idol pop of the previously unissued 1962 outtake "Cupid's Bow" and the 1964 single "Where Am I," and the bopping jazz-R&B of his self-penned 1962 B-side "If I Get Lucky Someday."

Some of the previously unissued covers of familiar rock-R&B standards are only average, but that's a minor strike against a very pleasing, well-packaged set, complete with super-detailed liner notes that include many comments from Power himself.
by Richie Unterberger

Tracks 
Disc 1
1. Cupid's Bow (Keith Charles) - 2:26
2. There You Go Again (Duffy Power) - 2:25
3. Times Are Getting Tougher Than Tough (Jimmy Witherspoon) - 2:02
4. It Ain't Necessarily So (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) - 2:44
5. If I Get Lucky Someday (Duffy Power) - 2:43
6. I Saw Her Standing There (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 2:32
7. I Saw Her Standing There (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 2:29
8. Farewell Baby (Graham Bond) - 1:56
9. Shake Rattle and Roll (Charles E. Calhoun) - 4:12
10.What'd I Say (Ray Charles) - 4:55
11.I Got a Woman (Ray Charles, Renald Richard) - 2:54
12.Hey Girl (Carole King, Gerry Goffin) - 2:58
13.Woman Made Trouble (Duffy Power) - 2:22
14.I'm Sitting on Top of the World (Ray Henderson, Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young) - 2:36
15.Parchman Farm (Mose Allison) - 2:35
16.Tired, Broke and Busted (Floyd Dixon) - 2:02
17.I Don't Care (Duffy Power) - 2:42
18.Where Am I (Sterling) - 2:50
19.Money Honey (Jesse Stone) - 2:34
20.Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Lloyd Price) - 2:02

Disc 2
1. Love's Gonna Go (Duffy Power) - 2:53
2. There's No Living Without Your Loving (J. kaufman, A. Harris) - 2:50
3. She Don't Know (Duffy Power) - 2:25
4. I'm So Glad You're Mine (Duffy Power) - 2:38
5. Dollar Mamie (Traditional) - 1:59
6. Little Boy Blue (John McLaughlin, Duffy Power) - 2:36
7. Little Girl (Duffy Power) - 2:29
8. Mary Open the Door (Duffy Power) - 2:46
9. Hound Dog (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 2:32
10.Rags and Old Iron (Oscar Brown Junior) - 3:01
11.Just Stay Blue (Duffy Power) - 3:10
12.Davy O' Brien (Leave That Baby Alone) (Randy Newman) - 2:27
13.July Tree (Eve Merriam, Irma Jurist) - 2:51
14.Take It Smoothly (Unknown) - 3:28

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Various Artists - A Cave Of Clear Light (1967-75 uk, the pye and dawn records underground trip, a cornucopia of psychedelic and progressive sounds, 2010 esoteric edition)

That is, deliver a comprehensive, beautifully packaged three-disc extravaganza complete with extensively detailed booklet. Once again compiled by Mark Powell, behind both the Polydor and Harvest excursions, Cave of Clear Light shines the fiery torch on the label that’s been dismissed as a poor relation to the more dedicated exponents of the psychedelic and progressive sound. Unfairly so, one might add, as Pye/Dawn had an impressive roster of artists on the books, even if the vast majority never so much as tickled the public conscious. Obviously, that’s the style of output HFoS thrives on.

Disc 1 boils down the psychedelic and the folk into one easily consumable portion. The one dud aside (Neo Maya’s ‘UFO’), this starter notches up such classics as the sinister Status Quo number ‘Paradise Flats’, The Mooche’s ‘Hot Smoke and Sassafras’, Blonde on Blonde’s ‘All Day, All Night’ and, obviously, ‘Cave of Clear Light’ by The Bystanders.

Donovan’s ‘Season of the Witch’ and the superior ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ inject the folk element along with the ethereal LSD vibe of Woody Kern (‘Tell You I’m Gone’) and the spectral majesty of Trader Horne’s ‘Velvet to Atone‘. Contributions by both Man and Fire help to push this first disc into essential territory, irrelevant of what follows.

Disc 2 sets its stall out early on, with ‘Tell You a Story’, another track from Fire, once again taken from their sole, but justifiably much sought after concept album The Magic Shoemaker. From then on in we’re treated to a mixture of heavy prog, acid-folk and, once again, The Status Quo.

Titus Groan heads the pack where it comes to weightier measures of prog, and the inclusion of acid-folk must-hears Comus, with ‘Song to Comus’ is more than welcome. Mungo Jerry provide a nine minute throbbing blues-explosion, with their bowel-loosening version of the standard ‘I Just Wanna Make Love to You’, but the highlight of this disc has to be Jackie McAuley’s baroque snapshot of 1971, ‘Cameraman: Wilson and Holmes’.

Demon Fuzz also make an appearance with their rendition of ‘I Put a Spell on You’, and Atomic Rooster close things with the excellent, Hammond-driven ‘Time Take My Life’.

Disc 3 is a progressive paradise, resplendent in flutes, extended solos and such rarities as Gravy Train and Jonesy. Even blue-eyed soul barker, Chris Farlowe, makes an appearance on ‘Can’t Find a Reason’, while pastoral folk bods Heron deliver ‘Yellow Roses’ from their self-titled debut.

The Status Quo are present once again with the excellent, infectiously bluesy ‘Gerdundula’, slipping straight out of the early 1970s, and the rest of this volume is taken up by equally strong acts as Icarus – with an ode to the Fantastic Four – Fruup and the always welcome Stray.

Cave of Clear Light is yet another superior compilation for lovers of the psychedelic and the progressive to sink their teeth into. So long as labels such as Esoteric keep putting stuff like this out, there’s no reason this sometimes under-tapped vein should ever run dry.
Head Full Of Snow 

Disc 1
Track - Artist
1. Cave Of Clear Light - The Bystanders - 3:44
2. Season Of The Witch - Donovan - 4:56
3. Morning Dew - Episode Six - 2:55
4. Paradise Flat - Status Quo - 3:13
5. UFO - Neo Maya - 2:49
6. The Future Hides Its Face - Man - 5:28
7. Ride With Captain Max - Blonde On Blonde - 5:22
8. Yellow Cave Woman - Velvett Fogg - 6:58
9. Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan - 3:14
10.Tell You I'm Gone - Woody Kern - 4:10
11.Hot Smoke And Sassafrass - The Mooche - 3:12
12.All Day, All Night - Blonde On Blonde - 3:35
13.Mister Mind Detector - Status Quo - 4:04
14.Peace Of Mind - Pesky Gee! - 2:20
15.Confusions About A Goldfish - John Kongos - 4:14
16.It Is As It Must Be - Man - 8:30
17.Flies Like A Bird - Fire - 3:40
18.Velvet To Atone - Trader Horne - 2:25

Disc 2
Track - Artist
1. Tell You A Story - Fire - 5:43
2. Hall Of Bright Carvings - Titus Groan - 11:39
3. Hillary Dixon - Atlantic Bridge - 2:33
4. Song To Comus - Comus - 7:25
5. I Just Wanna Make Love To You - Mungo Jerry - 9:05
6. Cameraman: Wilson And Holmes - Jackie McAuley - 4:53
7. Road To Glory - Pluto - 4:25
8. Body To The Mind - Quiet World - 3:26
9. One Way Glass - Trifle - 4:22
10.Pharaoh's March - Mike Cooper - 7:16
11.I Put A Spell On You - Demon Fuzz - 3:54
12.Someone's Learning - Status Quo - 7:10
13.Time Take My Life - Atomic Rooster - 6:01

Disc 3
Track - Artist
1. 3D Mona Lisa - Paul Brett's Sage - 3:20
2. Billy The Kid - The Trio - 1:33
3. Gerdundula - Status Quo - 3:50
4. Hard Labour - Noir - 5:22
5. Yellow Roses - Heron - 4:11
6. Save Me - Atomic Rooster - 3:16
7. Fantastic Four - Icarus - 3:20
8. Man Of Renown - Writing On The Wall - 3:08
9. Staircase To The Day - Gravy Train - 7:33
10.Ricochet - Jonesy - 4:06
11.Can't Find A Reason - Chris Farlowe, Vincent Crane - 4:29
12.Decision - Fruupp - 6:25
13.Lord Offaly - David McWilliams - 6:34
14.Custom Angel Man - Paul Brett's Sage - 2:43
15.Flying - Quicksand - 4:23
16.Stand Up And Be Counted - Stray - 4:19
17.No Alternative - Jonesy - 8:14

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Dave Mason - Alone Together (1970 uk, fabulous classic rock with drops of psych folk, japan remaster edition)

Like Traffic's album "John Barleycorn Must Die", former Traffic member Dave Mason's Alone Together is a good album -- careful, well played, occasionally brilliant and well-conceived -- but like John Barleycorn, Alone Together never breaks its vinyl bonds and soars. The songwriting talent of Mason remains undiminished on Alone Together, and his easy fluid voice, long in Traffic vocalist Stevie Winwood's giant shadow, is used to maximum effect.

This is, of course, the marbled LP, a brilliant burst of color spinning on the turntable, the grooves barely discernible so the needle seems to be floating across the record. Maybe the next step could be a little cartoon around the edge of the record, like those flip-the-pages funnies, or a slow inward spiral so you could be literally hypnotized by the record.

The music is vintage Mason, veering here and there towards commercialism but never quite getting there, slick but not offensive. Falling in line with the rest of Great Britain, Mason chose old Delaney and Bonnie sidemen for the session, including Leon Russell, Jim Keltner, Carl Radle and Rita Coolidge, plus old Mother Don Preston. Russell, as always, is much in evidence, and his piano (if it is him -- the album doesn't say and we have only internal evidence), particularly on "Sad and Deep As You," is masterful.

The high point of the album is clearly "Look at You Look at Me," a song Mason wrote with Trafficker Jim Capaldi, whose tight, urgent drumming on the cut moves the song along with descretion and skill. Mason's singing is simply superb. The other exceptional cuts are "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave" (Mason is not, between you and me, a great song titlist), which features the best wah-wah guitar since Clapton's initial exposition on "Tales of Brave Ulysses"; and "World in Changes," with Mason's deceptively simple lyrics pulled along by some brilliant organ work.

High commercial potential on the album is represented by "Only You Know and I Know," which has a rick-ticky rhythm reminiscent of "You Can All Join In." It's really a trivial song (like others on the album, particularly "Waitin' On You" and "Just A Song"), but it will sound great on a tinny AM radio at 60 miles an hour.
by Jon Carroll, Rolling Stone, 9/3/70.

Tracks
1. Only You Know and I Know (D. Mason) - 4:05
2. Can't Stop Worrying, Can't Stop Loving (D. Mason) - 3:02
3. Waitin' on You (D. Mason) - 3:05
4. Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave (D. Mason) - 6:00
5. World in Changes (D. Mason) - 4:30
6. Sad and Deep as You (D. Mason) - 3:35
7. Just a Song (D. Mason) - 2:59
8. Look at You, Look at Me (J. Capaldi, D. Mason) - 7:22

Musicians
*Dave Mason - Guitar, Vocals
*Delaney Bramlett - Guitar, Vocals
*Bonnie Bramlett - Vocals
*Leon Russell - Keyboards
*Carl Radle - Bass
*Chris Ethridge - Bass
*Larry Knechtel - Bass
*Jim Capaldi - Drums
*Jim Gordon - Drums
*Jim Keltner - Drums
*Michael DeTemple - Guitar
*Don Preston - Keyboards
*John Simon - Keyboards
*John Barbata - Drums
*Rita Coolidge - Vocals
*Mike Coolidge - Vocals
*Claudia Lennear - Vocals
*Lou Cooper - Vocals
*Bob Norwood - Vocals
*Jack Storti - Vocals

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