B.F.Trike - B.F.Trike (1971 us, superb heavy garage psych)

B.F. Trike formed when three members of late 60’s psyche band Hickory Wind decamped to Nashville in 1971 and started work on an album for RCA Records. Eschewing the psychedelic style of their previous band the trio turned up the fuzz guitar and produced ten tracks of great heavy rock.

The tapes were then shelved for eighteen years until Rockadelic issued them in 1989 in a limited edition of 100 vinyl copies as well as on CD. The vinyl is now long gone and fetches astronomical sums at auction, so if you want to hear the album then you will have to go for the CD. The question is, therefore, is it worth it. Well, in this case it might well be, as the songs are catchy, well played and sung, they have great fuzz guitar solos, the rhythm section is restrained where it needs to be and upfront on the heavy rockers, and the whole album hangs together extremely well.

It opens with a re-recording of one of their Hickory Wind songs ‘Time And Changes’, done in a much heavier style and with some fine guitar-work. ‘For Sale Or Lease’ is slightly slower, but still as heavy, with a crisper guitar sound and some good riffing. ‘Lovely Lady’ is a mixture of commercial hook overlaid with stunning fuzz guitar, making it catchy and accessible while at the same time raw and powerful. ‘Sunshine’ lets you catch your breath after the onslaught of ‘Lovely Lady’, being an upbeat acoustic number, while ‘Bench Of Wood’ has a distinct Hawkwind feel to the vocals and heavy riffing.

They keep the style for ‘Six O’Clock Sleeper’ and manage to pull it off by giving it more of a groove and throwing in some nifty guitar-work. ‘Magic Makin Music Man’ is another one of their catchy heavy rockers, and the album ends with ‘Be Free’, which combines the ubiquitous fuzz guitar with some inventive percussion and a staccato chorus which lifts it above the average.

Why RCA refused to issue this at the time Heaven knows, but be thankful that we can hear it now.
PeterJolly

Tracks
1. Time And Changes - 2:44
2. For Sale Or Lease - 3:03
3. Wait And See - 2:38
4. Lovely Lady - 3:08
5. Sunshine - 4:51
6. Bench Of Wood - 3:31
7. Three Piece Music - 2:39
8. 6 O'Clock Sleeper - 4:15
9. Magic Makin' Music Man - 2:13
10. Be Free - 3:42

B.F.Trike
*Bobby Strehl - Vocals, Drums
*Mike McGuyer - Vocals, Guitar
*Alan Jones - Bass

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Trader Horne - Morning Way....Plus (1970 uk, wonderful folk rock, extra tracks edition)

Legendarily named after DJ John Peel's nickname for his nanny, the duo Trader Horne were one of those wonderful, short-lived footnotes of musical history with which the late-'60s British scene so abounds. In the name game, singer Judy Dyble edged out singer/multi-instrumentalist Jackie - -- he found fame with Them, she flitted through Fairport Convention, Giles, Giles & Fripp, and King Crimson, and guested on an Incredible String Band album.

In 1969, the two paired up, signed to the Pye label's newly launched prog imprint Dawn, and released their first and last album Morning Way. Reissuers Esoteric are touting the set as acid-jazz, presumably because the marketing department never played it. Themed around the transformation from childhood to adulthood, Morning is awash in whimsy, and gentle folk that puddles around pop and occasionally melts into blues or R&B. The entire album has a lovely, lilting quality, a child-like sweetness, innocence, and wonder, even though many of the lyrics explore teen-age angst.

It's far removed from anything else on the scene, then or now, and reminds us how cruelly Dyble's vocals were overshadowed in Fairport history by Sandy Denny. Denny, of course, overshadows everyone, but Dyble is delightful regardless.
by Dave Thompson

Tracks
1. Jenny May - 2:26
2. Children of Oare - 4:03
3. Three Rings for Eleven Kings - 2:13
4. Growing Man - 4:04
5. Down and Out Blues (Cox, McAuley, Traditional) - 4:33
6. The Mixed Up Kind - 6:26
7. Better Than Today - 3:11
8. In My Loneliness - 2:22
9. Sheena - 2:42
10. The Mutant (Goldsmith, McAuley) - 2:54
11. Morning Way (Dyble, McAuley) - 4:35
12. Velvet to Atone (Dyble, Dyke, Quittenton) - 2:26
13. Like That Never Was - 4:56
14. Goodbye Mercy Kelly - 3:18
15. Here Comes the Rain - 2:36
All songs by Jackie McAuley axcept where noted.

Musicians
*Jackie McAuley - Celeste, Conga, Flute, Guitar, Harpsichord, Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Vocals
*Judy Dyble - Electric Autoharp, Electric Harp, Harp, Keyboards, Piano, Vocals
*Ray Elliot - Arranger, Clarinet, Flute, Wind
*John Godfrey - Arranger, Bass, Guitar
*Andy White - Drums

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Giles Giles And Fripp - The Cheerful Insanity (1968 uk, inspired music, pre-King Crimson, japan SHM-CD remaster, 2010 edition with bonus tracks)

This pre-King Crimson aggregate involves the talents of Michael Giles (drums/vocals), Peter Giles (bass/vocals), and Robert Fripp (guitar/vocals) accompanied by a plethora of studio musicians -- most notably keyboardist Nicky Hopkins and backing vocalists the Breakaways. By any standards The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp is one of the more eclectic albums to have been issued during the psychedelic rock movement of the late '60s.

The album was initially issued in September of 1968 on the Decca Records subsidiary Deram -- whose releases were aimed specifically at the alternative or progressive rock market. That said, this disc is a far cry from the type of material that other artists on the label such as the Moody Blues, Caravan, or Pacific Drift were concurrently issuing.

The original record album was divided into two sections: "The Saga of Rodney Toady" and "Just George," which were named after the respective spoken word pieces that link the musical works on the A- and B-sides. Musically, Giles, Giles & Fripp are wholly unlike anything before or since. Drawing upon folk, classical, pop, and even sacred music, each track brings a fresh listening experience. Among the highlights is the leadoff track, "North Meadow," which features some stunning fretwork from Fripp. Likewise, "Call Tomorrow" is a trippy noir tale involving an ambiguous practical joke.

The classically influenced instrumental "Suite No. 1," as well as another one of Fripp's more esoteric compositions, "Erudite Eyes," likewise bear some semblance of sounds to come from the trio. While not everyone's cup of tea, there is a tremendous amount to enjoy on The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp for those whose expectations are not of King Crimson, but rather of lighthearted and decidedly folksy English tales.

Parties interested in this disc should likewise be advised of The Brondesbury Tapes, which is a collection of semiprofessional demos made by this trio and original Fairport Convention vocalist Judy Dyble (vocals) and soon-to-be King Crimson member Ian McDonald (flute/sax).
by Lindsay Planer

Tracks
1. The Saga Of Rodney Toady: North Meadow (P. Giles) - 2:59
2. The Saga Of Rodney Toady: Newly-Weds (P. Giles) - 2:33
3. The Saga Of Rodney Toady: One Ina Million (M. Giles) - 2:43
4. The Saga Of Rodney Toady: Call Tomorrow (P. Giles) - 2:57
5. The Saga Of Rodney Toady: Digging My Lawn (P. Giles) - 2:05
6. The Saga Of Rodney Toady: Littlechildren (R. Fripp) - 2:49
7. The Saga Of Rodney Toady: The Crukster (M. Giles) - 1:35
8. The Saga Of Rodney Toady: Thursday Morning (M. Giles) - 2:51
9. Just George: How Do They Known (M. Giles) - 2:26
10.Just George: Elephant Song (M. Giles) - 3:25
11.Just George: The Sun Is Shinging (M. Giles) - 3:19
12.Just George: Suite No. 1 (R. Fripp) - 5:46
13.Just George: Erudite Eyes (R. Fripp) - 5:06
14.She Is Loaded (P. Giles) - 3:12
15.Thursday Morning (Stereo Single Version) (M. Giles) - 2:54
16.Under The Sky (R. Fripp) - 3:59
17.One In A Million (Mono Single Version) (M. Giles) - 2:27
18.Newly-Weds (Single Version) (P. Giles) - 2:45
19.Thursday Morning (Stereo Single Version) (M. Giles) - 2:51
20.She Is Loaded (P. Giles) - 3:18
21.Just George, Pt. 2 (M. Giles) - 0:10
22.Just George, Pt. 3 (M. Giles) - 0:13
23.Just George, Pt. 4 (M. Giles) - 0:13
24.Under the Sky (R. Fripp) - 4:03
25.One in a Million (Mono Single Version) (M. Giles) - 2:30
26.Newly-Weds (Mono Single Version) (P. Giles) - 2:51
27.Thursday Morning (Mono Single Version) (M. Giles) - 3:02
28.Thursday Morning (Stereo Single Version) (M. Giles) - 2:53

Giles, Giles And Fripp
* Robert Fripp - Guitars
* Peter Giles - Bass
* Michael Giles - Drums, Percussion
Guest Musicians
* Ted Barker, Cliff Hardy - Trombone
* R. Cohen, G. Fields, K. Isaccs, B. Pecker, W. Reid, G. Salisbury - Violin
* John Coulling, Rebecca Patten - Viola
* A. Ford, Charles Tunnell - Cello
* Ivor Raymonde - String Arrangements
* The Breakaways - Backing Vocals
* Mike Hill, Nicky Hopkins - Keyboards

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Phil Ochs - All The News That's Fit To Sing (1964 us, innovative protest folk)

All the News That's Fit to Sing was a fit title for the debut album by a 1960s folk protest singer who some liked to call a "singing journalist." Recorded and released in early 1964, it was done at a time when Ochs's generation of young adults was getting more socially conscious and politicized. The Cold War had almost brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in the Cuban missile crisis, the Civil Rights Movement was heating up, and American military intervention in Vietnam was starting to rise from a grumble to a roar. Ochs addressed all these subjects and more on his first LP, which immediately established him as one of the foremost authors of topical song in American folk music.

Although this was Ochs's first album, it was not the first time he had recorded. Around late 1963, he had cut a song, "The Ballad of William Worthy" (also done for his debut album shortly afterward), for the Broadside Ballads Vol. 1 compilation, which is most famous for including tracks by Bob Dylan that were credited to the pseudonym of Blind Boy Grunt. It's also been reported that Phil sings on the Campers' rare Cameo-Parkway LP Camp Favorites, a collection of -- as if you couldn't tell from the title -- campfire folk songs, released in 1962 or 1963. A couple songs that Ochs performed at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival were recorded, although these did not appear until the following year on the Newport Broadside compilation.

There were other recordings dating roughly from the era of the first album sessions, though the exact dates haven't been pinpointed. Producer Elliot Mazer recalls doing an unreleased demo with Phil for Cameo-Parkway around 1964, and the 1980s compilation A Toast to Those Are Gone presented previously unissued early demos, most or all of which sound as if they come from Ochs's very early career. Five tracks (including an early version of one of his most famous compositions, "There But For Fortune") landed on the 1964 Vanguard compilation New Folks, a couple of outtakes from those sessions surfacing on a 2000 CD anthology.

Several dozen of his compositions had already appeared in the influential folk magazine Broadside prior to All the News That's Fit to Sing, and the singer informally taped dozens of songs for the publication in his early days in New York, a good many of these recordings finding release after the 1960s. Too, his songs were already starting to get covered by other artists, the Modern Folk Quartet interpreting Phil's adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Bells," and the Four Seasons doing an unlikely version of "New Town" (which Ochs never put out himself) on their folk album Born to Wander in early 1964.

It's probably never going to be known exactly how much Ochs had recorded before cutting All the News That's Fit to Sing for Elektra in February 1964. What the existence of all this early stuff makes clear, however, is that Ochs was already a prolific songwriter, with way too much material to fit onto a single LP. It also seems that, although he apparently at least skirted the wavelength of several different record labels, there was no serious rival for his services when he signed with Elektra around the end of 1963, after A&R man Paul Rothchild saw him playing live at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village. Rothchild would be credited as "recording director" on the album, with Elektra founder and president Jac Holzman acting as "production supervisor."

The Beatles had just invaded America around the time the album was recorded, and it was way too soon for recorded folk music to feel the effect of the British Invasion. Accordingly, All the News That's Fit to Sing was, like a great many folk albums of its times by both new and established artists, recorded with nothing but acoustic guitar as accompaniment. "He was a topical singer," explains Holzman today. "The more uncluttered you present a topical song, the better it is, I think. So [the production] was something that we discussed for about a minute and a half. We just went and recorded 'em, pretty much the way he would have performed 'em at a club."

Elektra did, however, enlist the services of a second guitarist, Danny Kalb, who'd become most known for his subsequent stint in the rock band the Blues Project. Kalb had more recording experience prior to the Blues Project than many realize, however, playing on folk recordings by Judy Collins, the New Strangers, the Folk Stringers, and the True Endeavor Jug Band, and also contributing a couple of tracks to the 1964 Elektra compilation LP The Blues Project under his own name.

Contributing in a non-musical capacity were friends and Broadside editors Agnes "Sis" Cunningham and Gordon Friesen, who wrote the liner notes (Cunningham penning the principal essay and Friesen offering detailed comments on each track). "We've printed about 30 or 40 Ochs songs," Cunningham remarked, "and probably have as many others scattered around simply because we haven't had the room for them or the manpower even to prepare them for the mimeograph machine."

Not much more than a dozen such songs could fit onto one LP, however, and likely Ochs and Elektra zeroed in on the stronger ones in his young repertoire. While very specific issue-driven compositions (particularly on "Talking Vietnam" and "Talking Cuban Crisis") were present, Ochs was already branching out into more general observations and critiques of military force ("One More Parade") and injustice ("Too Many Martyrs"), both of them written in collaboration with veteran Elektra folkie Bob Gibson. Another highlight was Phil's musical adaptation of the classic Edgar Allan Poe poem "The Bells," perhaps as an early indicator of his future explorations into poetic expression not tied to current events.

All of the other selections were penned by Ochs alone, including "Power and the Glory," which he likely considered among the more enduring of his early works, as he recorded an updated version a decade later for a 1974 single. Arguably the finest of the tunes was "Bound for Glory," a Woody Guthrie tribute that again proved that Phil's horizons were broader than what could be read in the day's newspapers.
by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. One More Parade (P. Ochs, B. Gibson) - 3:00
2. The Thresher - 2:50
3. Talkin' Vietnam - 3:38
4. Lou Marsh - 4:04
5. Power And The Glory - 2:15
6. Celia - 3:08
7. The Bells (E. A. Poe, With Musical Adaptation By P. Ochs) - 3:00
8. Automation Song - 2:08
9. Ballad Of William Worthy - 2:15
10.Knock On The Door - 2:47
11.Talkin' Cuban Crisis - 2:40
12.Bound For Glory - 3:15
13.Too Many Martyrs (Ochs, Gibson) - 2:46
14.What's That I Hear - 2:00
15.Bullets Of Mexico - 2:34
Words and Music by Phil Ochs except where noted.

Musicians
*Phil Ochs - First Guitar, Vocals
*Danny Kalb - Second Guitar
*John Sebastian - Harmonica On "Bound For Glory"

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Thirsty Moon - You'll Never Come Back (1973 germany, spectacular prog jazz krautrock, 2006 bonus track remaster)

Thirsty Moon uses the elements of jazz as a means of spontaneous expression and melts them together with the aggressiveness and rhythm of rock. They play only their own compositions, connecting voices with instrumental parts and utilizing all electronic possibilities. In spite of all their variety Thirsty Moon has a remarkable sound. Every member of the group knows his instrument perfectly. Everyone is a individualist who adds characteristic features to the group. The basis of the music is the precise playing together of the bass and drums and the Afro sounds of the four congas which connects the hard beat with the Latin American rhythms. The electric piano and the guitar combine to form another important element to the sound.

The saxophonist is an experienced jazz musician who gives the group the exquisite spontaneity of jazz. Unlike many German groups, Thirsty Moon’s lyrics are an essential part of their sound. They reflect the impulses of their surroundings. Thirsty Moon is not a typical German group and they do not want to be one. The texts are English. The musical influences are from various cultures in the music world.

Thirsty Moon do not follow any particular trend and they do not wish to be commercial. Thirsty Moon has a sort of ultimate versatility which does not rely on overused, accepted riffs and styles. Their versatility, on the contrary, comes from a whole array of lines which have not even been used yet! “Yellow Sunshine” has pieces that are so completely phased that the listener cannot tell what instruments are playing the phased lines. “Trash Man” has horn parts resembling The Grand Wazoo in perfection and complexity, but the horns overlay Santana-like rhythms instead of the “old-timey” jazz tones of Zappa’s recording.

This is not to say that Thirsty Moon has the traditional copied sounds of the successful groups. Nobody sounds like Thirsty Moon. No other band has so completely captured the elusive phenomena inherent in acid rock and placed it so effectively in a jazz-rock format. Thirsty Moon’s sound is a mirror ball of images surrounding the listener.
Translation: Dr. Martina Häusler (originally taken from Skylab review)

Tracks
1. I See You - 7:18
2. Trash Man - 14:27
3. Tune In - 5:00
4. You'll Never Come Back - 12:34
5. Das Fest Der Volker - 5:05
6. Music (Bonus Track) - 12:00
Words and Music by Thirsty Moon

Thirsty Moon
*Jurgen Drogies - Guitar, Percussion
*Norbert Drogies- Drums
*Michael Kobs - Keyboards
*Harald Konietzko - Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
*Erwin Noack - Percussion
*Willi Pape - Woodwinds

1972  Thirsty Moon - Thirsty Moon

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Thirsty Moon - Thirsty Moon (1972 germany, outstanding progressive jazz, krautrock)

Thirsty Moon were one of the many German jazz-rock progressive groups in the early '70s that put their own unique spin to their fusion-based music, especially on their first two records, which are rightly considered classics in the Krautrock genre. Thirsty Moon was created in Bremen, in northern Germany, in the summer of 1971 when several groups merged. One of these was the Drogies Rock Project, more commonly known as DRP, fronted by two brothers, drummer Norbert Drogies and guitarist Jurgen Drogies.

They brought with them DRP organist Hans Wener Ranwig, and joined up with Harald Konietzko from the group Tomorrow Too, and Michael Kobs, Willi Pape, and Erwin Noack from the jazz-soul band the Shakespeares, to form the seven-piece Thirsty Moon. Inspired by the brass rock of Chicago, the early fusion of Emergency, and early, jazzy Krautrock like Xhol Caravan, Kollektiv, and Organisation, Thirsty Moon threw everything from horns to congas into their blend of jazz, progressive, and psychedelic music.

At the time, the Brain label was signing progressive rock bands with a jazzy edge, and in 1972 Brain released Thirsty Moon's self-titled debut, which showcased the band's eccentric song structures and highly original sound. Ranwig left the band sometime after the record came out, and was replaced by Siegfried Pisalla, Konietzko's former bandmate in Tomorrow Too, and in July of 1973 this group went into the studio to record their second LP. You'll Never Come Back, released by Brain later that year, was as creative and dynamic as the first record. By 1975, everyone except the Norbert and Jurgen Drogies had left the group.

Their third record, Blitz, released by Brain in 1976, was an all-instrumental album, a bit more lightweight and conventional than the earlier material. Coming out the next year, the LP Real Good Time, quite frankly, was not that much of a good time, as the brothers and a bunch of new recruits churned out conventional pop music. Thirsty Moon broke up at this point, but at the beginning of the '80s, after Brain released the compilation Yellow Sunshine with tracks taken from the first four albums, the brothers re-formed the group with original member Ranwig, as well Junior Weerasingle from the Real Good Time sessions on drums.

The album Starchaser, recorded and released by the Sky label in 1981, saw the group falling flat on their faces with a synthy disco record that had both fans and critics shaking their heads with dismay. Thirsty Moon called it quits again, this time for good. It was unfortunate that Thirsty Moon's quality diminished with each release after You'll Never Come Back, and that they never recaptured the energy and sheer over-the-top creativity exhibited on those first two records.
by Rolf Semprebon

Tracks
1. Morning Sun - 5:24
2. Love Me - 3:54
3. Rooms Behind Your Mind - 3:18
4. Big City - 8:31
5. Yellow Sunshine - 21:30
6. Life Is A Joke - 5:44
Lyrics and Music by N. Drogies, E. Noack, E. Pape, H. Konietzko, H.W. Ranwig and J. Drogies

Thirsty Moon
*Jürgen Drogies - Guitar, Percussion
*Norbert Drogies - Drums, Percussion
*Michael Kobs - Electric Piano
*Harald Konietzko - Bass, 12-String-Guitar, Percussion, Vocals
*Erwin Noack - Congas, Percussion
*Willi Pape - Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Percussion
*Hans Werner Ranwig - Organ, Percussion, Vocals

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Eiliff - Eiliff / Girlrls! (1971-72 germany, fine progressive jazz rock, krautrock)

Eiliff were one of the so-called "progressive jazz rock bands" of the early seventies. Their two albums were recorded in Hamburg, produced by Rainer Goltermann. Their music is hard to describe accurately: a complex blend of many different styles, comparisons could be made with Colosseum, King Crimson, Nucleus and Miles Davis.

With regard to German bands, perhaps a comparison with Xhol, Cornucopia or Thirsty Moon is appropriate. Eiliff also occasionally added ethnic touches, characterised by sitars and percussion. Their first album had the standard (for such bands) 20 minute suite, along with three mid-length tracks. Some sections were good, others sound a bit dated nowadays, particularly the jazz improvisations.

In general, the album was a bit diverse, incorporating as many different styles as it did. Eiliff recorded it in the Star Studios with Konrad Plank engineering. Their second and last album Girlrls! (1972) was closer to progressive rock otherwise it was quite similar to the first. It was recorded at the other famous recording studio of Hamburg: Windrose studios - with F. Bischoff engineering.

Today Eiliff's albums are in the collector's mid-price rank of 50-100 euro, probably justied by their musical content. After Eiliff's demise, Nejadepour played for a short while in Guru Guru at the time of Dance Of The Flames (1974).
by Dag Erik Asbjornsen

Tracks
1. Bird-Night Of The Seventh Day - 5:03
2. Gammeloni - 6:41
3. Uzzek Of Rigel IV - 10:51
4. Suite - 20:38
5. Eve Of Eternity - 5:58
6. Kings Of The Frogs - 5:45
7. Journey To The Ego - 6:17
8. Girlrls - 6:41
9. Hallimasch - 8:48
All compositions by Eiliff.

Eiliff
*Rainer Brüninghaus - Organ, Electric Piano, Sounds
*Herbert J. Kalveram - Sax
*Houschäng Nejadepour - Guitars, Sitar
*Detlev Landmann - Drums
*Bill Brown - Bass

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String Driven Thing - The Machine That Cried (1973 uk, outstanding progressive folk rock, 2008 japan remastered limited edition with extra tracks)

String Driven Thing's rise ought to have been inexorable. Their latest single, "Circus," was making waves on both sides of the Atlantic, and plans were afoot for the group to join Genesis on their own latest tours of both Britain and the U.S. Unfortunately, the beginning of 1973 saw Chris Adams hospitalized with a collapsed lung, an event that was to have a serious impact on String Driven Thing's future.

That experience, and the nightmare of the next week's worth of agonizing recuperation was to form the inspiration for much of The Machine That Cried, String Driven Thing's next album. However, although the band did make it onto the British dates, the American shows never happened; instead, the band found itself shunting up and down the British highway system, playing small clubs and universities, and breaking in the new material.

The group's management at this time was being handled by Charisma's own in-house team, a less than satisfactory arrangement, but one that Stratton Smith seemed unwilling to change. Indeed, when Adams approached him to speak of the group's "total lack of confidence" in the setup, he simply "hummed and hawed and did nothing." Neither was that the end of the group's travails. In conversation with another label staffer one day, Adams mentioned that the band was considering adding a drummer to the lineup. A few days later, Stratton Smith showed up at a concert in Oxford, and instead offered them a keyboard player, Robert John Godfrey. He survived a week of rehearsals, but just one show, at the London Roundhouse, before the band declared him unsuitable and brought in a drummer (fellow Glaswegian Billy Fairley) after all. Godfrey went on to his own solo career at Charisma.

In this form, String Driven Thing returned to the studio to record The Machine That Cried, alongside what remains their best-known number, the single "It's a Game." The LP is one of the finest progressive rock albums of the entire era -- its CD reissue was widely heralded as among the most intelligent re-releases of recent years, and the excitement that greeted the re-formed String Driven Thing's return to action hailed almost wholly from memories of this marvelous album. At the time, however, all seemed doom-laden. "It's a Game," although it received plenty of British airplay, went nowhere (although a hit Bay City Rollers cover later went some way toward making amends)
by Dave Thompson

Tracks
1. Heartfeeder - 6:39
2. To See You - 3:58
3. Night Club - 5:05
4. Sold Down The River (C. Adams, G. Smith) - 4:29
5. Two Timin' Rama - 3:10
6. Travelling - 2:55
7. People On The Street (C. Adams, Pauline Adams) - 6:03
8. The House - 2:37
9. The Machine That Cried - 5:19
10. River Of Sleep - 11:11
11. If only the good (C. Adams, G. Smith) - 4:26
12. It's a game - 3:36
13. Part of the city - 3:32
All songs by Chris Adams except where noted

String Driven Thing
*Bill Hatje - Bass (tracks: 1, 8, 9) ,
*Colin Wilson - Bass (2)
*Billy 'The Kid' Fairley - Drums, Congas
*Grahame Smith - Violin, Viola
*Chris Adams - Vocals, Guitar
*Pauline Adams - Vocals, Percussion

1972/74 String Driven Thing / Please Mind Your Head 
1975 Keep Yer 'And On It

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John Cale - Slow Dazzle (1975 uk, splendid progressive art rock)

Recording again with Phil Manzanera, along with noted journeyman guitarist Chris Spedding, Cale kept up the focus and amazing music on Slow Dazzle, easily the equal of Fear in terms of overall quality. With Brian Eno again helping out on synth work, Slow Dazzle comes across as a little more fried and unsettling than earlier work.

Even the warm, epic lift of the chorus of "Mr. Wilson," very much a tribute to the Beach Boys' main man and one of the best he's ever received, is surrounded by strings and piano both lovely and paranoid. The more accurate tone of the record can be found in such numbers as "Dirty Ass Rock 'n' Roll," an intelligent, sly demolition of the lifestyle done to a glam-touched chug topped off with brass and backing singers, and even more dramatically with "Heartbreak Hotel."

One of the most amazing cover versions ever, and arguably the best Elvis Presley revamp in existence, the slower pace, freaked-out Eno synth arrangement, and above all else Cale's chilling delivery make it a masterpiece. Then there's "Guts," which deserves notice for its low-key but still sharp feedback snarl and steady, cool rhythm, but perhaps has its best moment with Cale's gasped, killer starting lyric: "The bugger in the short sleeves f*cked my wife." For all of the stronger rock power, Cale's obviously not out to be pigeonholed, thus the calmer swing of many other numbers, like the great '50s rock tribute "Darling I Need You," featuring great guest sax from Andy Mackay, and the quick, almost sprightly "Ski Patrol."

In terms of his own performance, Cale's voice again sounds marvelous, balanced perfectly between roughness and trained control, while his piano skills similarly find the connection between straightforward melodies and technical skill.
by Ned Raggett

Tracks
1. Mr. Wilson - 3:17
2. Talking It All Away - 2:59
3. Dirty-Ass Rock 'N' Roll - 4:44
4. Darling I Need You - 3:38
5. Rollaroll - 3:59
6. Heartbreak Hotel (Axton, Durden, Presley) - 3:14
7. Ski Patrol - 2:12
8. I'm Not the Loving Kind - 3:12
9. Guts - 3:27
10. The Jeweller - 5:07
All songs by John Cale except where noted.

Musicians
*John Cale - Bass, Clavinet, Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Viola, Vocals
*Gerry Conway - Drums
*Timi Donald - Drums
*Pat Donaldson - Bass Guitar
*Brian Eno - Keyboards, Synthesizer
*Andy Mackay - Saxophone
*Phil Manzanera - Guitar
*Geoff Muldaur - Harmony, Vocals
*Keith Smart - Drums
*Chris Spedding - Guitar
*Chris Thomas - Piano (Electric), Violin
*John Wood - Engineer, Synthesizer

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John Cale - Helen of Troy (1975 uk, fabulous art rock, bonus track reissue)

The supporting crew on Cale's final Island album makes for a lineup that could never have happened again -- at least, in terms of future results, imagining, among others, Cale, Chris Spedding, Brian Eno, and Phil Collins once more in the same room together seems totally unlikely. Regardless of the oddity, Cale once again led a great ensemble band (Spedding now having fully taken over from Manzanera on guitar) through another set of great, inspiring songs.

Whoever is putting in the guitar solos, Spedding or Cale, sometimes misfires, sometimes succeeds brilliantly -- consider opening song "My Maria," where the earlier efforts are intrusive but the concluding parts a perfect addition to the building smack of the song. Cale's songs generally tend towards the uneasy throughout, his sometimes strained but never forced singing, high volume at points, making the most of the material. The atmosphere of the album as a whole is perhaps the most band-oriented of the three Island records, with further arrangements sounding like additions more than intrinsic parts of the songs.

It's not a criticism, though, more an interesting experiment with often strong results, like the strident horns and heavily treated noise on the title track. "I Keep a Close Watch" is the secret emotional sucker punch on Helen of Troy -- Cale long harbored a sadly unfulfilled dream that Frank Sinatra might cover it, and there's little doubt why. Taking the opening line from Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" as inspiration, with a much different thematic intent, it's an unabashedly romantic number with a great string and horn arrangement.

There are, again, gentler moments that call to mind earlier tributes to the Beach Boys here and there, such as "China Sea," along with a great rendition of Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso." Overall, Helen of Troy finds Cale at his edgiest, with fascinating results.
by Ned Raggett

Tracks
1. My Maria - 3:52
2. Helen of Troy - 4:20
3. China Sea - 2:32
4. Engine - 2:47
5. Save Us - 2:22
6. Cable Hogue - 3:32
7. I Keep A Close Watch - 3:29
8. Pablo Picasso (Jonathan Richman) - 3:23
9. Coral Moon - 2:18
10.Baby, What You Want Me To Do? (Jimmy Reed) - 4:51
11.Sudden Death - 4:39
12.Leaving It Up To You - 4:34
Music and Words by John Cale except where noted.

Musicians
*John Cale - Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals
*Phil Collins - Drums
*Pat Donaldson - Bass
*Timi Donald - Drums
*Brian Eno - Synthesizer
*Chris Spedding - Guitar

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John Cale - Fear (1974 uk, marvelous art rock)

When ex-Velvet Underground virtuoso John Cale relocated back to Britain after a sojourn on the west coast of America, he was ready for a change in direction. Through his writer friend, Richard Williams, he took a three-year, six-album deal with Island Records. “There was a kind of dreamlike quality to London in those days”.

Cale wrote in his autobiography, What's Welsh For Zen? “I was glad to be back there with a different ambience and a new record deal to fulfill.” Moving into a house in Chelsea and then to Shepherd's Bush, Cale found himself somewhat isolated, spending his time recording and writing after spending mornings listening to music. “I would load the turntable with boxed sets of the Beach Boys and Mahler and sit there drifting in a West Coast nostalgia.” These influences spill on to Fear which featured support from Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera and marked a return to the brooding territory of the Velvets albums. It was a dense, clipped, rock album that pointed the way towards punk perfectly. It reflected Cale's dope and alcohol altered mindset. “[I] was trying to be Lou. I was on keyboards, guitar and bass . . . the title song disintegrates into a frenzied 'say, fear is a man's best friend', less sung than shouted.”

This track, “Fear Is A Man Best Friend”, and the eight minute “Gun” were towering achievements. Fear was well received by the UK press, and rightly so, as it brought Cale back to being a British artist. Nick Kent said in the NME that “there's more than enough lyricism and inventiveness dumped into the work to pale most other contemporary products into relative insignificance.” Although it is somewhat overlooked today, Fear demands repeated listening.
by Daryl Easlea

Tracks
1. Fear Is a Man's Best Friend - 3:53
2. Buffalo Ballet - 3:29
3. Barracuda - 3:48
4. Emily - 4:23
5. Ship of Fools - 4:38
6. Gun - 8:05
7. The Man Who Couldn't Afford to Orgy - 4:35
8. You Know Me More Than I Know - 3:35
9. Momamma Scuba - 4:24
Words and Music by John Cale

Musicians
*John Cale - Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Viola, Vocals
*Doreen Chanter - Vocals
*Irene Chanter - Vocals
*Michael Desmarais - Drums
*Brian Eno - Keyboards, Synthesizer
*Bryn Haworth - Guitar, Slide Guitar
*Archie Leggett - Bass, Guitar (Bass)
*Phil Manzanera - Guitar, Slide Guitar
*Judy Nylon - Vocals
*Fred E. Smith - Drums
*Liza Strike - Girl's Choir, Vocals
*Richard Thompson - Guitar
*Brian Turrington - Bass

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John Cale - Paris 1919 (1973 uk, brilliant art rock, 2006 remastered extra tracks issue)

John Cale's 1973 album Paris 1919 has long been justly celebrated as the most accessible and most purely beautiful record of his storied, multi-faceted career. And despite the album's abiding eccentricities-- the literary and historical allusions, posh orchestration, and abstruse lyricism-- it has often seemed to be Cale's most personal and revealing work as well, a deeply felt meditation on loss, dislocation, and introspective yearning. For this lavish new remastered edition, Rhino UK has unearthed 11 previously unreleased rehearsals and alternate takes, including one completed outtake, "Burned Out Affair", not included on the original album. This wealth of additional material nearly triples the running length of the original, and provides fascinating new insight into the deliberative construction of Cale's still-vibrant masterpiece.

By 1973, of course, Cale had already assembled a resume that would assure his status in the avant-rock pantheon. He'd worked in the Dream Syndicate and Theatre of Eternal Music alongside La Monte Young and Tony Conrad; recorded an album with Terry Riley; produced albums for Nico and the Stooges; and-- most significantly-- had co-founded the Velvet Underground. Yet it must be noted that at this point Cale's musical legacy had not yet entirely caught up with him. His early work with Young and Conrad was (and largely remains) under-documented and clouded in shadow, while the Velvets-- and the Stooges, for that matter-- boasted a reverent cult following but had yet to earn their reputation as supremely influential proto-punk and underground rock icons.

Meanwhile, Cale's post-VU solo work had been largely met with critical and commercial indifference, which eventually lead to him parting ways with Columbia Records. His first album for his new label Reprise was The Academy in Peril, an underrated collection of avant-garde instrumentals that Warner Brothers ultimately decided to bill as their first classical release. Despite this marketing confusion, Cale's standing with Reprise remained solid-- at least if one is to trust Paris 1919's original liner notes, included here-- and he was able to author the new album with some degree of creative control. Just as importantly, and for perhaps the last time in his career, Cale was able to approach the ambitious project with a distinct freedom from audience expectation.

Many of the choices Cale made with the benefit of this freedom remain astonishing to this day. Most noteworthy was his curious decision to enlist the talents of guitarist Lowell George and drummer Richie Hayward, both members of the L.A.-based boogie-rock outfit Little Feat. Though it must have seemed an incongruous choice at the time, this small ensemble proved to be an inspired marriage of styles, as George contributes several lovely, expressive solos and Hayward underscores tracks like "Macbeth" with a cavernous post-Velvets stomp. Cale also employed the UCLA Symphony Orchestra to flesh out his sophisticated, piano-based compositions, and their dramatic arrangements furnish Paris 1919 with much of its stately, haunting grandeur.

Throughout the album, Cale populates his songs with geographic detail-- including not just Paris, but also Barbury, Andalucia, Dunkirk, etc.-- and cryptic characters like Old Taylor, Segovia, and Farmer John. As writer Matthew Specktor points out in his lively liner notes, these wry characterizations allow the album to take on the appearance of a Graham Greene novella, with Greene himself the subject of one of the album's strangest and most erudite tracks.

On this track, as elsewhere on Paris 1919, Cale's lyrics veritably drip with intrigue and thinly-masked violence ("It must all seem like second nature/ Chopping down the people where they stand") with the album's central narrative based very loosely upon the Versailles Conference in 1919 Paris. But many of these songs contain tantalizing autobiographical overtones as well, particularly on the opening "Child's Christmas in Wales", which blends its Dylan Thomas references with what might be memories from Cale's own childhood. And on the elegiac "Half Past France", it's left ambiguous whether the song's narrator is a battle-weary WWI soldier returning from the front, or simply an exhausted touring musician wondering where exactly on the map he is.

The shadow of Graham Greene returns on this set's one completed outtake, "A Burnt-Out Affair", a track whose name seems a mash-up of two Greene titles: A Burnt-Out Case and The End of the Affair. Despite Cale's rather ragged vocal delivery, this track seems perfectly of a piece with the bulk of Paris 1919, leaving one to wonder what structural concerns might've kept it off the original album. Many of the other bonus tracks included here appear to be unfinished sketches, including a striking rehearsal take of Cale's deathless ballad "Andalucia" which he sings in a muffled near-whisper, sounding as though not entirely sure of the lyrics.

But several of the bonus tracks seem nearer completion, and grant the listener an intriguing glimpse at what could be Paris 1919's alternate history. A hypnotic, viola-led "drone mix" of "Hanky Panky Nohow" draws a stronger link to Cale's earlier musical experiments than anything on the released version of the album, while a stripped-down rendition of "The Endless Planes of Fortune" better accentuates Cale's nuanced vocal and Lowell George's understated country-rock accents.

The album's title track appears in two additional versions-- a "string mix" that features only Cale and a small chamber ensemble, and a "piano mix" that includes a beautiful, overtly Brian Wilson-inspired vocal bridge. Each of these alternate tracks is revelatory in its own right, and when taken together with the completed album this collection offers a brilliant working portrait of an artist testing the full possibilities of his songcraft. For better or worse, Cale has never again made another record quite like Paris 1919, at least in part, one suspects, because so many in his audience have since longed for him to do so.
by Matthew Murphy

Tracks
1. Child's Christmas in Wales - 3:20
2. Hanky Panky Nohow - 2:46
3. The Endless Plain of Fortune - 4:12
4. Andalucia - 3:54
5. Macbeth - 3:06
6. Paris 1919 - 4:06
7. Graham Greene - 3:00
8. Half Past France - 4:19
9. Antarctica Starts Here - 3:00
10.Burned out Affair - 3:24
11.Child's Christmas in Wales (Alternate Version) - 3:30
12.Hanky Panky Nohow (Drone Mix) - 2:51
13.The Endless Plain of Fortune (Alternate Version) - 4:08
14.Andalucia (Rehearsal) - 4:34
15.Macbeth (Alternate Version) - 3:34
16.Paris 1919 (String Mix) - 4:29
17.Graham Greene (Rehearsal) - 1:40
18.Half Past France (Alternate Version) - 4:50
19.Antarctica Starts Here (Rehearsal) - 2:52
20.Paris 1919 (Piano Mix) - 6:09
Words and Music by John Cale

Musicians
*John Calen - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
*Wilton Felder - Bass
*Lowell George - Guitar
*Richie Hayward - Drums

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Epsilon - Epsilon / Move On (1971-72 germany, superb kraut rock, 2003 remaster)

Epsilon is a group well-known to most collectors of German progressive rock. They started up in 1969 as a Nice-influenced trio. Ortel had previously played in an early incarnation of Jeronimo. They adopted the name Epsilon in October 1970, when Michael Winzkowski joined. They were able to record their first album in January 1971, for the freshly established Bacillus label. This was an early Peter Hauke production in co-operation with engineer Dieter Clerks in the Dierks Studio, Stommeln.

The Epsilon sound was dominated by Ortel's prominent organ work, often adapting themes from classical music, very much in the heavier Emerson Lake & Palmer tradition. Ortel and Winzkowski wrote all the tracks, except for a cover version of "Paint It Black". Indeed, Epsilon were the second German progressive band to record this Rolling Stones composition, as Virus already had included a version of it on their Revelation album! The best moments of Epsilon's debut album were "Two-2-11", the strangely entitled opening piece, and "Every Day's Pain".

Other parts of the album were a bit easy-going and too close to conventional pop rock at that time. Winzkowski's vocals were sometimes dangerously close to soul, but not as bad as on the Dull Knife album. In general, a good album, but Murphy Blend would be a better choice for those keen to listen to classical influenced, organ dominated rock. Epsilon's music improved considerably on their second offeringM ove On (1972). It was another Hauke & Clerks production, adding the guests Curt Cress (drums), Rainer Marz (backing vocals, guitar, ex-Jeronimo), Pete Bender (backing vocals, aka Wyoming) and Christian Felke (flute, ex- Nosferatu). Instrumentally, this album had more guitars.

The nine compositions were an improvement on their debut, resulting in Epsilon's best album. At this stage, they could be seen as a German parallel to Traffic, with their soulish vocals, instrumentation of organ, guitars and flute and their slightly jazzy mood - just listen to the tracks "Feelings" and "Move On". At the time of Move On's release in December 1971, both Ortel and Ertl had already quit. Epsilon virtually moved on! This revamped group warmed up for the British band If, during their German tour of 1972. Peter Koch (ex-Jeronimo) was temporarily added as a fifth member during this year.

Epsilon's third and last album was recorded at Europa Sound Studios in Offenbach-Bieber (engineered by Manfred Screier). Off, released on Phillips in 1974, proved to be their most straight forward album, sometimes bordering on ordinary pop rock. 1975 brought another change of record company, resulting in two commercially unsuccessful singles for Ariola. Epsilon disbanded shortly thereafter. Winzkowski adopted his artist name Michael Wynn, and formed Michael Wynn Band that also Daansen eventually joined.
by Dag Erik Asbjornsen

Tracks
1971 Epsilon
1. Two-2-II - 8:15
2. 2-Four-4 - 7:30
3. Every Day's Pain (H. Born) - 2:54
4. Before - 3:15
5. Between Midnight - 2:41
6. Paint It Black or White - 6:14
7. Hurry Up - 2:46
1972 Move On
8. Walkin' On My Way - 3:20
9. She Belongs To Me - 5:32
10.Feelings - 3:52
11.What About The Future - 2:38
12.Move On - 2:25
13.Reichelsheim - 4:10
14.Hear Me Cryin' - 5:10
15.Waiting - 4:20
16.Don't Know Why - 4:31
All songs by Michael Winzkowski, Walter Ortel unless otherwise stated

Epsilon
1971 Epsilon
*Michael Winzkowski - Vocals, Guitars, Percussion
*Michael Ertl - Bass
*Hartmut Pfannmüller - Drums, Percussion
*Walter Ortel - Organ, Pianos, Vocals, Percussion

1972 Move On
*Michael Winzkowski - Vocals, Guitars, Percussion
*Michael Ertl - Bass
*Hartmut Pfannmüller - Drums, Percussion
*Walter Ortel - Organ, Pianos, Vocals, Percussion
Additional Musicians
*Curt Cress - Drums
*Rainer Marz - Backing Vocals, Guitar
*Pete Bender - Backing Vocals
*Christian Felke - Flute

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Consortium - Rebirth (1975 uk, fantastic heavy prog rock, 2006 release)

After some long years of singles and live performances, the UK band Consortium finally sees the light of day for the first time ever of its sole album, Rebirth, recorded around 1975...

Like many albums of its time, Rebirth stands at the crossroads of psychedelic rock, hard rock and progressive rock. The music can be described as a hybrid between Grand Funk Railroad and Uriah Heep: its dirty, train-like rumble and down-to-earth lyrics (sometimes to the point of banality as in the case of "I Want You") resembling the earlier, while its operatic harmonies and grandiose dimensions reminding of the latter.

The band’s labor pains, which went on for some long years of failing to produce an album (some of their earlier recordings, however, surfaced on the Castle release Looking Back credited to "West Coast Consortium"), add an interesting dimension to the material. The band refuses to let go of its yet-to-be disburdened original ‘60s orientation, and blends it with influences that the band caught during early to mid ‘70s. "Stop (Look at Me)" has an R&B feel in the vein of early The Who (think "I Can’t Explain") and "I’m Dying" has a suspicious resemblance to Led Zeppelin’s "Thank You," while "It’s up to You" takes the timeline further on to early Rush, especially due to its falsetto vocals.

On the heavier side, "She Gave Life" has sparks of Black Sabbath’s doom interlaced with contradicting pastoral harmonies; and the dual lead guitars that run wild throughout some of the songs often make them sound like a prototype of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

And so Rebirth is about the decades that shaped rock music being reflected through a certain point in time. It is therefore a shame it was not released close to its recording, as it could have established its reputation as a pivotal album. Still, it holds most of its vitality to this day.

by Avi Shaked

Tracks
1. Rebirth - 3:47
2. It Was You - 4:18
3. Hold on Tightly - 3:16
4. It's Up to You - 3:39
5. It's Not Easy - 4:07
6. For Me to Forgive - 5:57
7. Stop (Look at Me) - 3:57
8. She Gave Life - 8:54
9. I Want You - 3:03
10. Time Waits For No Man - 5:30
11. I'm Dying - 5:39
All compositions by Ken Brown, Robbert Leggat, Brian Parker, John Parker, Mick Ware

Consortium
*Ken Brown - Bass
*Robbert Leggat - Vocals
*Brian Parker - Lead Guitar, Vocals
*John Parker - Drums
*Mick Ware - Lead Guitar, Vocals

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Various Artists - Peter Green Song Book, A Tribute To His Work (2000, classic blues rock, double disc edition)

In the almost thirty years since Peter Green first formed Fleetwood Mac, a lot of styles of Music and musicians have come anyone. Yet his talent, both as a guitarist and a songwriter, is such that the participants in these recordings (nearly one hundred singers and players) are drawn from a wide variety of musical backgrounds. His songs were, and remain, immense - intensely personal and widely appealing at the same time.

To have seen him play live was an experience, Rod Price, guitarist with Foghat who plays on three of the project’s tracks (“Love That Burns”, “lf You Be My Baby” and “Baby When The Sun Goes Down*), puts it’s simply yet eloquently. "The first time I saw Peter Green play I had no words for what I had heard. The  power and clarity of that evening has stayed with me through the years. The man was one with the music we know as blues - pure, raw emotion.

I heard the music but, more importantly, I felt his soul." Strong stuff – but it’s not necessary to have seen him live to have been touched by him, bassist Billy Sheehan, mainstay of Mr. Big, has been fan of Peter Green’s for many years and used to perform “Oh Well” with his first band Talas. Here he takes the same track and brings it to 1995 with passion, his feelings? Similarly, guitarist Innes Sibun, curently embarking on a solo career after permong with Robert Plant, never saw Peter Green live, but as a guitarist he didn’t have to.

Peter Green Songbook – a tribute to his work was modeled on the classic Fleetwood Mac in Chicago, completing the circle that started in 1969. All of the Musicians in this project virtually donated their time and talents just to be included, and as a label we wanted to contribute something other than merely manufacturing the CD’s. We decided that it would be most fitting to give something back to the music, therefore a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this double disc will be donated to Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation.

The Foundation provides health benefits to Blues Artists in need, contract negotiation and royalty recovery assistance, and administers numerous educational programs for the purpose of accumulating proper recognition for the Art of Blues. We felt that this Foundation would be especially appropriate, considering that when Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac went to Chicago in 1969, the person they sat down with to select the musicians from Chicago, was Willie Dixon.

So it is with this sense of completeness and a feeling of a great pride that we present the Peter Green Songbook - a tribute to his work.
by Jim Kizlowski 

Tracks
Disc - 1
1. Larry McCray / Noel Neal / Steve McCray / Tony Z - Black Magic Woman - 3:59
2. Luther Grosvenor / Jess Roden / Dave Moore / Mike Kellie / Ariel Bender / Steve Dolan / Pete Brown - Crying Won't Bring You Back - 5:17
3. Ian Anderson / Andy Giddings / John McKenzie / Pete Brown - Man Of The World - 2:57
4. Snowy White / "Rabbit" Bundrick / Kuma Harada / Jeff Allen - Looking For Somebody - 7:17
5. Dave Peverett / Rod Price / Southside Johnny / Tommy Mandel / Harvey Brooks / Mo Potts / Arno Hecht / Crispin Cioe / Bob Funk / Larry Etkin Baby - When The Sun Goes Down - 4:51
6. Rory Gallagher, John Cook, Rich Newman, Spoon - Leaving Town Blues - 6:50
7. Vince Converse / Innes Sibun / Steve Robinson / Gerry Soffe / John Baggott / "Little Joe" Frenchwood - Rattlesnake Shake - 5:30
8. Harvey Mandel, Jon Paris, Wilbur Bascomb, Damon Duewhite - Ramblin' Pony - 5:21
9. Arthur Brown / Dick Heckstall-Smith / Randall Ward / Mark Williams / Gary Scucz / Jeff Danford / Pete Brown - The Green Manalishi - 5:08
10.Luther Grosvenor / Jess Roden / Dave Moore / Steve Dolan / Mike Kellie - Merry Go Round - 4:40
11.Dave Peverett / Rod Price / Southside Johnny / Tommy Mandel / Harvey Brooks / Mo Potts / Arno Hecht / Crispin Cioe / Bob Funk / Larry Etkin - Love That Burns - 6:14
12.Kim Simmonds / Pete McMahon / Jim Heyl / Dave Olson - Stop Messin' 'Round - 3:09
13.Harvey Mandel, Jon Paris, Wilbur Bascomb, Damon Duewhite - Long Grey Mare - 4:52
14.Rory Gallagher, John Cook, Rich Newman, Spoon - Showbiz Blues - 6:53
15.Clas Yngstrom / Ulf Ivarsson / Christer Bjorklund / Frank Marstokk - The Supernatural - 3:19

Disc- 2
1. Billy Sheehan / Roy Z / Greg Bissonette / Tommy Mandel / Doug van Booven - Oh Well - 7:31
2. Larry Mitchell / Jay Aston / Wilbur Bascomb / Jonathan Mover - I Loved Another Woman - 4:57
3. Zoot Money / Bobby Tench / Max Middleton / John McKenzie / Jeff Allen - Whatcha Gonna Do - 4:01
4. Paul Jones / Bobby Tench / Max Middleton / John McKenzie / Bob Jenkins / Pete Brown - Albatros - 4:41
5. Jennifer Ferguson / Scott Smith / Mike Davis / Damon Duewhite - Closing My Eyes - 4:58
6. Ray Gomez / Troy Turner / Bobby Chouinard / "Even" Steven Levee - Lazy Poker Blues - 2:50
7. Ray Gomez / Pete McMahon / Bobby Chouinard / "Even" Steven Levee - Evil Woman Blues - 2:05
8. Stu Hamm / Larry Mitchell / Jonathan Mover - Fleetwod Mac - 2:56
9. Mick Abrahams / Dave Lennox / Jim Leverton / Graham Walker - The Same Way - 3:47
10.Wilbur Bascomb / Damon Duewhite / Jon Paris / Pete Brown - Watch Out - 4:31
11.Kim Lembo / Mark Doyle / Cathy Lamanna / Mike Doyle - A Fool No More - 4:03
12.Ken Hensley - Hellhound On My Trail - 3:15
13.Top Topham / Jim McCarty / Andy Cleveland - Drifting - 6:12
14.Dave Peverett / Rod Price / Southside Johnny / Mo Potts / Harvey Brooks - If You Be My Baby - 4:32

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Smith - A Group Called Smith (1969 us, groovy sunny psych)

They only recorded two albums, and their first hit - the top-5 Baby Ws You -was by far their biggest Yet the band that went under the name Smith continues to hold a special place in the hearts of its fans, and the group's records hold up far better today than those of many of their contemporaries. Smith featured three lead singers, and their punchy rhythm and blues-influenced sound emphasized the Hammond B-3 organ, an instrument until then largely identified with soul bands...and with Smith's label mates, Steppenwolf.

Many popular acts of the late '60s had their roots in folk and pop music. Smith's female lead singer, Gayle McCormick, though, had worked her way up through the competitive St. Louis music scene, with a repertoire of songs popularized by Etta James, Tina Turner, and other serious women vocalists, By the time Gayle Annette McCormick was am sophomore in high school, she was in a band.

Within a couple of years, that group had mutated from The Chavels into Steve Cummings and the Classmen ("Steve was the drummer” Gayle explains, "and his father, managed us at the time"). Ultimately, they were the 11-piece show band Gayle McCormick and the Classmen, recording for the local Musicland U.S.A. label — also home for local heroes Bob Kuban and the In-Men (The Cheater) Jerry Carter and James Richard "Rich" Cliburn were on their way through St. Louis from Los Angeles, promoting a single, Norr Taste the Times, although their group, the Smiths, had already effectively broken up. Says Gayle, "They were looking for musicians to back them up locally, and got together with The Classmen. In the meantime, I was trying to make a career decision: should I continue with music, or should I pursue my original goal, which was to teach physical education — I had been accepted as a RE, major by Arkansas State College, Rich and Jerry invited me to go to Florida with them; they drove in their van, and I met them in Miami. Before long, the three of us had relocated to Los Angeles' Cliburn played guitar, Carter was a bassist, and all three sang.

Eventually, they brought on board drummer Bob Evans (originally from Detroit) and keyboardist Larry Moss (from Tulsa), forming the first edition of what was by then called, simply, Smith. Enter destiny, in the form of two former teen idols, "We were playing at a dub called the Rag Doll in North Hollywood, and doing pretty well/' says McCormick. "And one night, Del Shannon and Brian Hyland stopped in. They were taken with the girl singer and the band, and said 'We must talk'. We rehearsed in the music room of Del's house, as he brought representatives of record labels by to see us.

I remember that Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records liked us, but he wanted girl backup singers, like Aretha Franklin was using at the time. Finally, Jay Lasker, Steve Barri and Joel Sill of Dunhill Records came to the club. We were especially good that night, contracts were signed, and things were rolling." Smith's first single, supervised by Sill and Barri, was a version of Baby, It's You, that Del Shannon had helped them arrange. The song has been recorded earlier by the Shirelles and the Beatles; the Shannon-Smith arrangement was something altogether different, featuring McCormick's urgent singing and Moss's B-3. "When Jerry, Rich and I were forming the band, we always wanted a B-3," says McCormick. "Jerry would bring that big church organ down to the Rag Doll, and then, when we started to tour, he had it chopped down to portable size to take with him” The group broke big almost immediately, landing spots on "American Bandstand" and prime-time variety shows hosted by Ed Sullivan, Leslie Uggams and Red Skelton.

Their debut album, a group called..,Smith featured several songs from their chib act and a trio of new tunes — Jeff Thomas's I Don't Believe (I Believe), Chip Taylor and Al Gorgoni's I'll Hold Out My Hand (the hit single, by Texas group Clique, covered the Smith album cut, which had been slated as their next single release), and Mojalesky Ridge, written by Harvey Price, Dan Walsh and co-producer Sill. Lead vocals were divided among Cliburn, Carter and McCormick, though McCormick eventually ^merged (as she had in the Classmen) as the band's focal point, from a marketing standpoint, at least.

The album reached the top-20 nationally. In 1969, Smith was asked to record a version of The Weight, to appear on the soundtrack album for Easy Rider when the Band's version — used in the film — became unavailable due to licensing restrictions. The Easy Rider album reached No. 6 nationally, thanks in no small part to Smith's contribution. That record, incidentally, was the only Smith cut to use an outside musician other than horn players: Larry Knectal was brought in to overdub a piano.
by Todd Everett

Tracks
1. Let's Get Together (Dollison, Powers, Webb) - 3:30
2. I Don't Believe (I Believe) (Thomas) - 3:40
3. Tell Him No (Argent) - 3:24
4. Who Do You Love? (McDaniel) - 2:56
5. Baby It's You (Bacharach, David, David, Williams) - 3:25
6. The Last Time (Jagger, Richards) - 5:38
7. I Just Wanna Make Love to You (Dixon, Lynch, Wackett) - 2:37
8. Mojaleskey Ridge (Price, Sill, Walsh) - 2:31
9. Let's Spend the Night Together (Jagger, Richards) - 3:52
10. I'll Hold Out My Hand (Gorgoni, Taylor) - 3:04
11. Weight (Robertson) - 4:30
12. Take a Look Around (Carter, Cliburn) - 2:25
13. What Am I Gonna Do? (King, Stern) - 2:53
14. Gonna Be Alright Now (Lambert, Potter) 2:47
15. It's a Cryin' Shame (Lambert, Potter) - 2:49

Musicians
*Jerry Carter - Bass, Vocals
*Rick Cliburn - Guitar, Vocals
*Bob Evans - Drums
*Jud Huss - Bass, Vocals
*Larry Knechtel - Piano
*Gayle McCormick - Vocals
*Larry Moss - Keyboards
*Alan Parker - Guitar, Vocals

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Egg - The Polite Force (1971 uk, significant progressive experimental rock, 2008 esoteric remaster)

Egg perfected their distinctive, organ-driven prog with their second and best album. Stewart's excellent playing varied between his light organ-tone and to the more typical, heavy distorted Canterbury sound. The opening track "A Visit to Newport Hospital" demonstrates this perfect.

Light and jazzier playing in some wonderful atmospheric themes relieve VERY heavy organ in other parts. "Contrasong" is a track that features some horns and is complex in a kind of Gentle Giant way. Then comes the really tragic thing about this otherwise superb album: 9 minutes of completely pointless noise and sound effects in "Boilk". If these 9 minutes instead had been filled up with a track of the same quality as the rest of the album, then "The Polite Force" would have been one of the true keyboard-progressive rock classics of the 70's, in league with "Brain Salad Surgery" and "Spartacus".

Fortunately, the second side of the album consists of the great, 20-minute suite "Long Piece No.3" and was probably the best thing Egg ever recorded. Incredibly complex and one of the best pieces of music ever performed on just organ, drums and bass! If you forget about the idiotic "Boilk" then this IS still a great album and worth whatever you have to pay for it. Fans of organ-driven progressive rock with a perfect 70's atmosphere will eat it up.
Vintage-Prog

Tracks
1. A Visit to Newport Hospital (Campbell) - 8:28
2. Contrasong (Campbell) - 4:25
3. Boilk (Brown, Campbell, Stewart) - 9:22
4. Long Piece No. 3 - 5:08
5. Long Piece No. 3 (Continued) - 7:38
6. Long Piece No. 3 (Continued) - 5:03
7. Long Piece No. 3 (Continued) - 2:51
All songs by Brooks, Campbell, Stewart except where indicated.

Egg
*Clive Brooks - Drums, Vocals
*Dave Stewart - Organ, Piano
*Mont Campbell - Bass, Vocals
Guest Musicians
*Mike Davis - Trumpet
*Bob Downes - Sax (Tenor), Saxophone
*Henry Lowther - Trumpet
*Stephen Solloway - Flute
*Tony Roberts - Tenor Sax

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