Sunnyboys - This Is Real (1980-84 aussie, outstanding guitar rock, garage psych revival, double disc edition with ureleased material)

One of Australia's finest bands, the Sunnyboys performing at any number of pubs, clubs or festivals in their home country during the early eighties was to experience great live acts. From their debut in Sydney on August 15th 1980, supporting inner-city faves The Lipstick Killers, right through to their final headline performance on December 24th 1984, they oozed passion, energy, charisma and sweat. Lots of sweat. 'Hi-energy' and 'dance' were the expressions typically used to describe their shows, long before those terms were hijacked and applied to completely different musical genres. Night after night, venue after venue, the band left a writhing mass of sweat-soaked, deliriously happy bodies.

In frontman and guitarist Jeremy Oxley, they had a songsmith to equal the Easybeats' Vanda & Young before him and silverchair's Daniel Johns after him. Backed by a stellar band that included his brother Peter Oxley on bass, Peter's school friend Bil Bilson on drums and Richard Burgman on guitar, Jeremy delivered passionate, concise pop-rock songs that perfectly captured the feelings and thoughts of youth and young adults all over the country. They were Jeremy's songs all right, but the band was very much the sum of its considerable parts, ruling the roost in inner city Sydney as well as throughout much of greater regional Australia.

Along the way, the Sunnyboys produced a tidy sum of classic singles, including the top forty hits Happy Man, Alone With You, You Need A Friend and the controversial Show Me Some Discipline. What was more astonishing perhaps was the quality of the b-sides. Culled for the most part from their first album sessions, songs like Guts of Iron and Stop & Think were A-sides in anyone else's language, but for Jeremy, whose gift was in full flood, they were just more seemingly effortless 'dance' tracks that didn't make the cut.

This Is Real is the definitive Sunnyboys release. A 2CD set that for the first time brings together all those classic single A&B sides plus a selection of rare and previously unreleased studio tracks plus a full live CD drawn from three radio broadcasts in the band's peak years of 1981 - 1982 plus a full 36 page full colour booklet.

Disc-1 Singles A'n'B, Rare and Unreleased
Includes all four tracks issued on their debut self-titled EP in December 1980,  Every single they ever issued from Happy Man to Comes As No Surprise. All original single versions. No album versions. All the single B-sides, many taken from the classic first album recording sessions. All these are on CD for the very first time and include live favourites Stop & Think, Guts Of Iron and Pain The ultra rare Tell Me What You Say taken from the limited edition vinyl version of their debut album plus an alternate mix of first album favourite My Only Friend

Disc-2Live 1981 - 1982
A full 21 song, 70 minute set drawn from three high quality radio broadcasts. Live at Bombay Rock, Melbourne for EON FM in January 1981. Live at the Governors Pleasures Tavern, Sydney for Triple J FM in February 1981. Live at the Family Inn, Sydney for Triple J FM in February 1982. Plus a cover of the Beatles' Birthday taken from the Mushroom Evolution Concert at the Myer Music Bowl in January 1982.
Only four of the twenty ones songs have been released before and only one of those on CD.

Extras
As with the previous Feel Presents release Tales From the Australian Underground, This is Real will be accompanied by a 36 page full colour booklet including rare photos, poster and handbill art as well as a 10,000+ word biography. This biography outlines in full detail the band's rapid rise from their first show on August 15th 1980, their signing to Mushroom Records in February 1981, the platinum success of their debut album and the consequent struggle and pressures faced by the band as the demands for more and more hits and success brought them to a close of business in December 1984. For the very time also, the full story of singer, songwriter, guitarist, Jeremy Oxley's tragic struggle with schizophrenia is disclosed. A read worthy of a book in its own right.

Tracks
Studio
1. Love to Rule - 4:13
2. Stop & Think - 2:21
3. To the Bone - 2:14
4. The Seeker - 3:44
5. What You Need - 3:32
6. Tomorrow Will Be Fine - 2:12
7. Happy Man - 3:00
8. Alone With You - 4:00
9. Guts of Iron - 3:51
10. Physical Jerk - 2:51
11. My Only Friend - 3:27
12. Tell Me What You Say - 3:43
13. You Need A Friend - 4:18
14. No Love Around - 3:24
15. This Is Real - 3:39
16. Pain - 3:00
17. Show Me Some Discipline - 3:10
18. Love in A Box - 3:16
19. Comes As No Surprise - 3:55
20. Bottom Of My Heart - 3:21
21. You Need A Friend - 1:33

Live
1. Why Do I Cry (B Tashian) - 3:07
2. Guts Of Iron - 3:37
3. Love to Rule - 3:59
4. Strategy Idol - 2:43
5. Tomorrow Will Be Fine - 2:20
6. My Only Friend - 3:20
7. Alone With You - 3:39
8. What You Need - 3:24
9. I'm Shakin' - 4:25
10. Tunnel Of Love - 3:03
11. I Don't Want You - 2:38
12. Happy Man - 2:56
13. I Can't Talk to You - 2:37
14. The Seeker - 3:36
15. I Want to Be Alone - 2:55
16. Let You Go - 4:59
17. Thrill (J Oxley, P Oxley) - 3:22
18. I'm No Satisfied (J Oxley, P Oxley) - 3:48
19. Trouble in My Brain - 4:11
20. You Need A Friend - 3:42
21. Birthday (Lennon, McCartney) - 2:15
All songs by Jeremy Oxley except otherwise.

The Sunnyboys
*Jeremy Oxley - Guitar, Vocals
*Peter Oxley - Bass
*Richard Burgman - Guitar
*Bill Bilson - Drums

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Ariel - The Jellabad Mutant (1974-75 aussie, incredible guitar rock with prog shades)

Ariel's second album was to have been a John Whyndham-ish science fiction concept piece, The Jellabad Mutant; you can read more about this long-lost project in Paul Culnane's feature article. But before the project had even been conceived, there was a major disruption, with the band abruptly splitting in two. Mills, Macara and Gaze quit amidst some rancour in April 1974, after a trip to Perth and Mike retreated to the Mornington Peninsula with his family. He began writing fragments of new songs on his "trusty Canora guitar and a crappy tape recorder" which began to form themselves into "some sort of order ... the beginnings of a Grand Idea that might eventually become what every songwriter had dreamt of since Townshend dropped Tommy on an unsuspecting public -- a Rock Opera".

Returning to Melbourne, Rudd "did what I always did -- I called Bill". They worked on the new material over a period of weeks, and by May they the piece sufficintly ready that they approached drummer John Lee to rehearse with them. John, a fine drummer who had previously played in Sayla, Blackfeather and Gulliver Smith & The Dead End Kids, had just left The Dingoes, after recording their first album and their debut single "Way Out West". The three began rehearsing together, and in June or July, as the material took shape, John suggested bringing in his former bandmate from Sayla, lead guitarist Harvey James. Mike later discovered that John and Harvey had also known each other in school, a connection which, he later realised, would sow the seeds of "another 'them and us' scenario" in the band's internal politics.

Harvey, who was already gaining a reputation as a player to watch, had recently left Mississippi and returned home after that band's disastrous trip to England. Rehearsals continued and before long it became apparent that this arrangement had taked on a life of its own. More by accident than by design, the quartet became the new lineup of Ariel. The new lineup cut a terrific single, "Yeah Tonight" which was released in August -- presumably to keep EMI at bay while they beavered away on the new album.

Thus far things had fallen into place rather nicely, but it all began to turn pear-shaped over the next couple of months. With writing more or less complete, Ariel demoed their new album at EMI Studios in Sydney, wit the sessions produced by Peter Dawkns and engineered (probably) by Martin Benge. However, to the band's dismay, EMI rejected it outright. Mike sardonically comments that they were told that it had been rejected because EMI England had "a basement crammed full of rejected rock operas". It would be nearly thirty years before The Jellabad Mutant saw the light of day on record, when it was reissued by Mike and Bill's RareVision label. 

In the liner notes, Mike ponders wistfully about what could have been: "It's interesting to speculate what might have happened had we been allowed to proceed with the Mutant with an intact budget (EMI slashed the budget for Rock'n'Roll Scars adding to the pressure) and with the time to to reflect and be creative with the raw material you hear in the demos. I regret not going in to bat for it at the time. We had a fabulous opportunity with the best technical assistance any band could have wanted. But I didn't sell the dream, even to myself." 

Milesago

Tracks
1. Introduction And Overture - 3:52
2. The Capsule / The Farm - 6:17
3. The Train / The Hospital - 6:17
4. The Funeral - 3:41
5. Cinematic Sandwiches - 3:34
6. Neo-Existentialist Greens / Medicine Man / The Letter - 7:40
7. I'll Take You High - 3:14
8. I Can't Say What I Mean (Rudd, G. Mason) - 4:35
9. Mutant Medley - 10:12
All Songs By Mike Rudd Except Where Noted

Ariel
*Mike Rudd - Guitar Vocals
*Bill Putt - Bass
*Glyn Mason - Guitar, Vocals
*John Lee - Drums
*Harvey James - Guitar

1975  Ariel - Rock And Roll Scars

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Mike Bloomfield - Prescription For The Blues (1977 us, awesome electric acoustic blues, 2005 issue)

During the late 1970s, Mike Bloomfield recorded for several smaller labels, including Takoma.  Through Guitar Player magazine he also put out an instructional album with a vast array of blues guitar styles, titled If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em As You Please.  Bloomfield also performed with John Cale on Cale's soundtrack to the film Caged Heat in 1975.

Through the 1970s, Bloomfield seemed satisfied to play in local San Francisco Bay Area clubs, either sitting in with other bands or using his own Michael Bloomfield and Friends, a group which usually included Mark Naftalin and Nick Gravenites.  But his best performing days were behind him and most of the decade was spent battling drugs and his own deep insecurities.

In 1974 Mike Bloomfield hooked up with a failed supergroup called KGB, from the initials of Ray Kennedy (co-writer of "Sail On, Sailor"), Barry Goldberg on keyboards and Bloomfield on guitar.  The band had a rhythm section of Rick Grech on bass & Carmine Appice on drums.  Grech and Bloomfield immediately quit after the album's release, stating they never had faith in the project.  The album was not well received, but it did contain the standout track "Sail On, Sailor."  Its authorship was credited only to "Wilson-Kennedy," and had a bluesy, darker feel, along with Ray Kennedy's original cocaine related lyrics.

Bloomfield continued his collaborations with other musicians, including Dave Shorey and Jonathan Cramer, and in the summer of 1980 he toured Italy with classical guitarist Woody Harris and cellist Maggie Edmondson.  On November 15, 1980, Bloomfield joined Bob Dylan on stage at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco and jammed on "Like A Rolling Stone," the song they had recorded together 15 years earlier.

Mike Bloomfield was apparently suffering from arthritis in his hands in his last few years, a telling factor in both the decline of his playing and his mental attitude towards performing.

On February 15, 1981 Mike Bloomfield was found dead in San Francisco in his parked car.  According to his friends, the size of the heroin dose that killed him meant that he probably did not drive to this spot and overdose, rather that the lethal dose had been administered somewhere else and he had been driven to this spot to avoid complications for his drug-ingesting cohorts.  The official cause of death was ruled an accidental drug overdose.

Blues-Nexus

This recording contains material from Bloomfield's McCabe's performances at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA January 1, 1977, it's exactly the same recording track list with "Junko Partner" which was released through Akarma label.

Tracks
1. Hully Gully (Goldsmith, Smith) - 4:02
2. The Prisoners Song (Dalhart) - 3:58
3. Walkin' the Floor Over You (Tubb) - 4:25
4. Don't You Lie to Me (Bartholomew, Domino) - 4:10
5. Junko Partner (Shad) - 4:46
6. Knockin' Myself Out (Bloomfield) - 5:57
7. Women Lovin' Each Other (Bloomfield) - 4:44
8. Cherry Red (Johnson, Turner) - 3:45
9. Prescription for the Blues (Bloomfield) - 2:22
10.You Must Have Jesus (Bloomfield) - 5:32

Musicians
*Mike Bloomfield - Guitar, Vocals
*Mark Naftalin - Piano
*Buddy Helm - Drums
*Buell Neidlinger - Bass

Mike Bloomfield's tapestry
1966-68  The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Strawberry Jam
1967  Electric Flag - The Trip
1968-69  Electric Flag - An American Music Band / A Long Time Comin'  
196?-7?  The Electric Flag - Live
1968  Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield - The Lost Concert Tapes, Filmore East
1969  Mike Bloomfield And Al Kooper - The Live Adventures
1969  Michael Bloomfield with Nick Gravenites & Friends - Live At Bill Graham's Fillmore West
1969  Nick Gravenites - My Labors
1973  Bloomfield, Hammond, Dr.John - Triumvirate (Japan remaster)
1976  KGB - KGB
1976-77  Michael Bloomfield - Live at the Old Waldorf

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Country Joe And The Fish - Electric Music For The Mind And Body (1967 us, super classic west coast psych, 2013 double disc remaster)

For many, 1967’s “Electric Music For The Mind And Body” is the premier, defining moment when the attitude and philosophies of the emergent 1960s counter-culture were actually matched by what was in the grooves. The rabble-rousing element of much of Country Joe & the Fish’s subsequent career – the Fish Cheer, Woodstock and their sarcastic musical stance – obscured the fact that the group was responsible for some of the most evocative and striking sounds associated not just with their native San Francisco Bay Area, but the entire late 60s rock movement. 

More importantly, over the years, “Electric Music” has transcended the era of its creation and remains a truly bold and powerful musical statement. Our new 2CD reissue celebrates the fact with the kind of presentation this cornerstone album has long deserved.

Country Joe & the Fish had only really been an electrified unit since early 1966, having emerged from the insular, politicised Berkeley folk scene. Out of the initial chaos, a distinct style evolved: a combination of “Country Joe” McDonald’s strong songwriting and a wilful desire of the musicians to reach out to the extremes of their capabilities. The first evidence of the band’s unique sound came with their second self-released Rag Baby disc (available on “The Berkeley EPs” CDWIKD 153). 

The latter half of 1966 saw the band make inroads into the burgeoning adult rock scene of San Francisco. Original members Paul Armstrong and John Francis Gunning were jettisoned, David Cohen’s organ began to take a larger role in the sound and each player developed their own adroit musical personality, lead guitarist Barry Melton in particular taking to his role with gusto. Bassist Bruce Barthol and new addition Chicken Hirsh on drums made equally distinctive musical contributions, but the centre of the Country Joe sound was the distinctively structured material, by turns angular and romantic, that McDonald brought to the table.

By the time they entered the studio in February 1967 to make their debut for venerable NY folk label Vanguard, Country Joe & the Fish were in the ascendant. They were now one of the hippest and hottest groups in the Bay Area, known for eclecticism and musical unorthodoxy.  The ensuing sessions reflected this with a programme of cutting-edge, frequently original excursions into frontiers unknown, such as the wide-eyed waltz time in ‘The Masked Marauder’ or the elegiac mood music of ‘Section 43’. ‘Bass Strings’ and ‘Superbird’ were knowing and ultra-hip, with a psychedelic nod and a wink, and a sideways glimpse of the biting political satire the group employed on stage. 

The band was no longer folk-rock – they were not even rock, by 1967 standards. The erotic acid trip detailed in ‘Porpoise Mouth’ or the obtuse yet evocative ‘Grace’ had rarely been encountered in popular music up to this point. The strangled guitar, smoky organ lines and poetic whimsy of “Electric Music” would quickly prove to be influential upon a whole generation of musicians. There are very few ensembles of any genre that have equalled the psychedelic magic this album has in spades.

This deluxe edition is the first time producer Sam Charters’ original stereo mixdown of “Electric Music For The Mind And Body” has been reissued on compact disc. In the decade after the album was first released, the 2-track master suffered irreparable tape damage and oxide loss. In the early 1980s, a decision was made by Vanguard to remix the record, and that is how it has appeared in subsequent repackages. 

The mono mix, which has notable disparities to the stereo, has also not been available since the late 1960s. All the members of the group as well as Charters and manager ED Denson contribute to a lengthy and illuminating note, accompanied in the booklet by many eye-catching examples of the iconic art that was associated with Country Joe & The Fish in their early years. As McDonald proudly but quite accurately puts it, “If you want to understand psychedelic music, and you haven’t heard “Electric Music For The Mind And Body”, then you probably don’t know what you’re talking about.”

by Alec Palao 

Tracks

Disc 1 Mono

1. Flying High - 2:48

2. Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine - 4:27

3. Death Sound Blues - 4:27

4. Happiness Is A Porpoise Mouth - 2:52

5. Section 43 - 7:25

6. Superbird - 2:09

7. Sad And Lonely Times - 2:23

8. Love (McDonald, Melton, Cohen, Barthol, Gunning, Hirsh) - 2:27

9. Bass Strings - 5:10

10.The Masked Marauder - 3:12

11.Grace - 7:03

Disc 2 Stereo
1. Flying High - 2:43
2. Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine - 4:24
3. Death Sound Blues - 4:26
4. Happiness Is A Porpoise Mouth - 2:53
5. Section 43 - 7:36
6. Superbird - 2:08
7. Sad And Lonely Times - 2:25
8. Love (McDonald, Melton, Cohen, Barthol, Gunning, Hirsh) - 2:25
9. Bass Strings - 5:05
10.The Masked Marauder - 3:14
11.Grace - 7:08
All songs by Counrty Joe McDonald except where indicated

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

Country Joe discography
1965-71  The First Three E.P's
1967  I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die
1968  Together
1969  Live! Fillmore West
1969  Here We Are Again
1970  CJ Fish
1970  Tonight I'm Singing Just For You
1971  Hold On It's Coming
1971  War War War
1973  Paris Sessions 

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Barbara Keith - Barbara Keith (1973 us, marvelous folk country rock, japan remaster)

A singer/guitarist and folk-influenced songwriter, Barbara Keith's curious career began when she was discovered at Greenwich Village's famous Café Wha?. Her first appearance on record was in 1968, with her background vocals and one of her songs appearing on the self-titled debut from Kangaroo. 

Verve Records released the first of two self-titled albums in 1969. Some critics fell in love with the album but as far as sales the album went nowhere. Her second self-titled album -- released by Reprise in 1972 -- coupled Keith with producer Doug Tibbles. Keith and Tibbles married and soon became unhappy with the music industry. Deciding to focus on family and develop their art with a major-label influence, Keith and Tibbles gave back their Reprise advance, a move that caused the label to under-promote her album. 

Once again, the album didn't achieve much as far as sales, but Keith's songwriting skills were being noticed throughout the record industry. Barbra Streisand, Lowell George, Tanya Tucker, Delaney & Bonnie, the Dillards, and many others covered songs from the album, "The Bramble and the Rose" and "Detroit or Buffalo" being the favorites.

Keith reappeared in the '90s with her "AC/DC meets Patsy Cline" band the Stone Coyotes with her husband, and son John Tibbles, rounding out the band. The band found a cult following of which writer Elmore Leonard was a member. Leonard included the band in his sequel to Get Shorty, Be Cool, and included five Keith songs in the text. 

by David Jeffries

Barbara Keith dropped out of the music scene before anyone really had a chance to appreciate her work. Originally recorded for Warner Bros. in 1971, Barbara Keith was withdrawn when Keith, not completely happy with the results, gave the advance money back and walked away from the music business. 

With the re-release of the album 30 years later by Water, all of this will seem a bit odd, because Barbara Keith is a fine effort highlighted by great writing and solid production. Only one cover, Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," is included, which is surprising in that the original material -- by a fairly unknown artist -- is both strong and familiar. Delaney & Bonnie covered "Free the People" (so did Barbra Streisand), and singer/songwriter Mary McCaslin sang "The Bramble and the Rose." Keith's own versions, highlighted by country-rock and classic rock treatments, respectively, are equally fine. 

Keith's an expressive, soulful singer who sounds like she would've fit into Delaney & Bonnie's band, or passed for an American version of Sandy Denny. Other standout songs include the country-folk of "Detroit or Buffalo" and the rocking closer, "A Stone's Throw Away." The album is fairly short -- 35 minutes -- but it's not weighted down by filler or subpar cuts. Barbara Keith is an excellent album, and one hopes that its author is more inclined to appreciate it in 2004. 

by Ronnie D. Lankford Jr.

Tracks
1. All Along The Watchtower (B. Dylan) - 3:14
2. Rolling Water - 3:12
3. The Bramble And The Bush - 2:55
4. Burn The Midnight Oil No More - 3:09
5. Free The People - 3:48
6. Detroit Or Buffalo - 4:32
7. The Road I Took To You - 3:20
8. Shining All Along - 3:11
9. Rainy Nights Are All The Same - 3:27
10.A Stone's Throw Away (B. Keith, Doug Tibbles) - 4:47
All songs by Barbara Keith except where noted

Musicians
*Barbara Keith - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
*Max Bennett - Bass
*Richard Bennett - Bass, Pedal Steel
*John Brennan - Guitar
*David Bennett Cohen - Guitar
*Nick Decaro - String Arrangements
*Craig Doerge - Piano
*Lowell George - Electric, Slide Guitar
*Jim Gordon - Drums
*Emory Gordy - Bass
*Milt Holland - Percussion
*Jim Keltner - Drums
*Sneaky Pete Kleinow - Pedal Steel Guitar
*Danny Kootch - Electric Guitar
*Danny Kortchmar - Guitar
*Russ Kunkel - Drums
*Clarence Mcdonald - Piano
*Spooner Oldham - Piano
*Tony Peluso - Guitar
*Leland Sklar - Bass
*Ron Tutt - Drums
*Mike Utley - Organ

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Neil Diamond - The Bang Years (1966-68 us, superb pearly folk sunny psych, his best masterwork, 2011 remastered)

Neil Diamond transitioned from professional songwriter to performer when he signed with Bang Records in 1966. There, he cut two albums -- his 1966 debut The Feel of Neil Diamond and its 1967 sequel Just for You -- that contained his greatest songs: “Solitary Man,” “Cherry, Cherry,” “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” “Kentucky Woman,” “Thank the Lord for the Night Time,” “I’m a Believer,” “Red, Red Wine,” “The Boat That I Row,” “You Got to Me,” and “Shilo.” 

All these, along with the rest of the two Bang albums all presented out of LP order, are on Columbia/Legacy’s 2011 The Bang Years: 1966-1968, by far the best overview ever assembled of this crucial era for Diamond. It’s not just that these are Diamond’s best songs but these are his best records: crisp, lively, colorful pop tunes balanced by luxurious moody brooding ballads. 

Once he turned into a superstar Diamond tended to rely on his innate showmanship, but here at the beginning of his career he sounded hungry and knew how to have fun, giving these records a snap that still stings decades later. And Diamond knows just how good these recordings are, as indicated by the terrific autobiographical liner notes he’s penned for this collection, notes that give this music context, but they’re not necessary to appreciate The Bang Years: this is pop music that’s so pure it needs no explanation.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracks
1. Solitary Man - 2:34
2. Cherry, Cherry - 2:47
3. Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon - 3:00
4. Kentucky Woman - 2:26
5. Thank the Lord For the Night Time - 3:03
6. You Got to Me - 2:52
7. I’m a Believer - 2:44
8. Red, Red Wine - 2:41
9. Boat That I Row - 2:39
10. Do It - 1:55
11. New Orleans (Frank Guida, Joseph Roster) - 2:26
12. Monday, Monday (John Phillips) - 3:01
13. Red Rubber Ball (Paul Simon) - 2:23
14. I’ll Come Running - 3:02
15. La Bamba (Ritchie Valens) - 2:09
16. Long Way Home - 2:31
17. I’ve Got the Feeling (Oh No No) - 2:20
18. You’ll Forget - 2:49
19. Love To Love - 2:22
20. Someday Baby - 2:18
21. Hanky Panky (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich) - 2:49
22. Time Is Now - 3:06
23. Shilo - 3:25
All songs by Neil Diamond except where noted.

Musicians
*Neil Diamond - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
*Hugh McCrackin - Guitar, Harmonica
*Al Gorgoni, Sal DiTroia, Charlie Macy, Bill Suyker - Guitar
*Eric Gayle - Electric Guitar
*Artie Kaplan - Saxophone
*Eddie Bert, Nicky Gravine, Benny Powell - Trombone
*Artie Butler - Piano, Organ
*Herb Lavelle, Gary Chester , Buddy Saltzman - Drums
*Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry - Tambourine, Hand Claps, Background Vocals
*George Devens - Percussion

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Cartoone - Cartoone (1969 uk, wonderful folk psych rock, 2009 deluxe edition)

In the late sixties, a typical Atlantic Records album cover used to include these very cool inner sleeves with scores of their many album covers to gawk at for hours. You would see bands of the day like Iron Butterfly, Cream, The Rascals, and then the very cooj album cover for Cartoons.

As hip as their cover looked, the music inside was the real treasure to be explored. Filled with twelve rock and pop gems, the Cartoons story is one to be re-told. 

The four piece band from Scotland, which developed from The Chevlons, consisted of Derek Creigan (Vocals/Bass), Mike Allison (Guitar/Vocals), Mo Trowers (Rhythm Guitar/Vocals) and Charlie Coffils (Drums/Vocals). After relocating to the U.K. and through the help of their friends Lulu and Maurice Gibb of The Bee Gees, they soon got the attention of producer Mark London, who brought them to Atlantic's Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler for a record contract.

In early 1969, the album was released and featured the guitar wizardry of Jimmy Page of the newly formed Led Zeppelin. Their hook driven hit single "Knick Knack Man" immediately caught the attention of radio programmers across the globe, as did the rest of the album with its solid musicianship throughout and the stellar choice of material like the follow-up single "A Penny For The Sun"and the rocking "Let Me Reassure You". Fan support worldwide ignited album sales for the better part of the year as well as helping them land an opening slot on the Led Zeppelin tour.

Drummer Charlie Coffils recently discussed the close friendship Cartoone had with Jimmy Page, "While we were recording the Cartoone album in 1968, Jimmy was putting together Led Zeppelin. I managed to have a long chat with Jimmy as we were listening to the recordings we had just made, ft sounded great with his Gibson acoustic guitar on "Withering Wood" and all the other orchestral tracks, and Jimmy's paisley pattern Fender Telecaster on the other band only tracks, especially "Let Me Reassure You" with the lovely country guitar licks on the fadeout."

Coffils continues, "He told me that he had found an amazing drummer called John Bonham, who was the loudest drummer he had ever played with, but he still had amazing technique on the drums. Jimmy said the whole band just gelled straight away, and the hairs on everyone's neck rose on that very first rehearsal, as they knew they had found something special. Jimmy told me he couldn't wait to get out there and play "live" with this new and exciting band Led Zeppelin, as all the band members were strong talents who he thought everyone would love. Jimmy had great faith in the band to do well, but he never knew then just how massive they would become... no one did at that time."

Even though the Cartoone album achieved a good amount of press and retail sales, the chance at a second album was shelved, and their deal with Atlantic was over as was the band by 1970. In retrospect, these four gentlemen left the music world with one very fine album and nothing but great songs and memories to look back on forever.

But the story continues thanks to Charlie Coffils. Upon doing research for this release, he located his very rare metal acetate of eight unreleased songs that made up the bulk of the second album. Although it is a bit scratchy and weather torn, forty years later, it is the only known missing link from this sorely missed band and shows a more progressive rock edge to the band, as they were moving into more lengthy jams and compositions.  A true treasure trove for the fans indeed!

On a sad note, both Derek Creigan and Mo Trowers have both passed away, but their contributions to the band and to these tracks will live on. Derek's son John Creigan had this to pass onto the fans about his dad "His writing ability came so naturally to him. He made it look so easy. That along with his voice which was so unique was a perfect partnership in all the songs he did. I really hope this release gets to everyone who missed out the first time and I'm sure they would all agree with me. Cartoone shouldn't be forgotten, their music suits the 60's as much as it does now... timeless."

Both Charles Coffils and Mike Allison continue to be involved in the music industry as both successful producers, writers and musicians. We concur— Cartoone shouldn't be forgotten. With this newly remastered versipn of the classic album, plus the bonus, B side, and eight acetate unreleased tracks, we feel this is indeed the definitive version of Cartoone to enjoy and remember them by. Rock On! 

by Joe Reagoso

Tracks
1. Knick Knack Man – 3:50
2. Withering Wood – 2:24
3. The Sadness Of Toby Jugg – 2:39
4. Penny For The Sun – 3:06
5. I'll Stay (Mike Allison) – 2:07
6. Girl Of Yesterday – 3:10
7. Can't Walk Back – 2:52
8. Let Me Reassure You – 2:20
9. Mr. Poor Man – 3:43
10.Ice Cream Dreams – 2:47
11.Doing What Mamma Said – 2:39
12.See Me – 2:05
13.Reflections - 2:42
14.Sunday Morning - 2:55
15.Deep In My Heart - 3:53
16.Going My Way - 3:15
17.Give Me Something New - 3:26
18.Reflections - 2:37
19.Don't Look Down Your Nose - 4:12
20.Only I Can Do It - 3:55
21.Come And Sit By Me - 6:40
Bonus Tracks 13-21

Cartoone
*Derek Creigan - Bass, Lead Vocals
*Mike Allison - Lead Guitar
*Mo Trowers - Rhythm Guitar
*Charlie (Chick E.) Coffils - Drums
With
*Jimmy Page - Guitar
*Leslie Harvey - Guitar
*John Cameron - Orchestral Arrangements

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Chilliwack - Chilliwack II (1971 canada, sensational 2nd album, psych prog experimental rock)

A few words about the Music. Our objective in the studio was to create as much life into the music as we could. Side one contains songs we hope are suitable for AM play. "Changing Reels" on side two is a long sectional composition. The lead vocals in the last section are improvations, and the song was written around them afterwards.

"Music For A Quiet Time" was performed by Bi;ll and Claire  sitting in an echo chamber for a couple of hours. "Night Morning" is the rewsult os a studio full of intruments and microphones set up to record any gree-form music we might want to play.

Ross sat at the organ and started to play sounds with hands, head and elbows. Bill and Claire joined in with piano, flute and vocals, and the piece grew from there. We hope there is something here for  you.

Chilliwack 1971

Tracks
1. Lonesome Mary (Bill Henderson) - 2:59
2. Eat (Bill Henderson) - 3:13
3. Rosie (Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson) - 5:00
4. Ridin'  (Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson) - 3:00
5. Ride-Out (Bill Henderson) - 4:51
6. Always (Bill Henderson) - 2:22
7. Changing Reels (Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson) - 13:38
8. Music for a Quiet Time / Shine (Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson) - 5:30
9. Claps, Chants (Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson) - 2:37
10.Whistle, Flute Pads (Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson) - 2:09
11.Antiphony (Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson) - 5:29
12.Traveling Music (Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson) - 0:53
13.Sleep Music (Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson) - 2:08
14.Night Morning (Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson, Ross Turney) - 14:47

Chilliwack
*Bill Henderson - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
*Claire Lawrence - Flute, Bass, Organ, Saxophone, Vocals
*Ross Turney - Drums, Organ On "Night-Morning"

1970  Chilliwack
Related Act
1967-68  The Collectors - The Collectors / Grass And Wild Strawberries

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Don Cooper - Bless The Children (1970 us, fantastic jazzy folk country psych rock, 2008 reissue)

Don Cooper was a promising folk-style singer/songwriter who enjoyed some modest success -- mostly on-stage -- during the early '70s. Coming up as he did amid the singer/songwriter boom of the era -- dominated by the likes of James Taylor, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and Loudon Wainwright III -- he got lost in the shuffle, perhaps because he was signed to a label (Roulette) that was positioned badly, in terms of image and distribution, to break an artist working in his particular genre. 

Born in the mid-'40s, he grew up in various locales, his father's work taking the family to numerous towns across the country throughout his childhood. Cooper began playing the ukulele (which was a big instrument among kids in the 1950s) in elementary school and was drawn to country music as he grew older. In high school during the early '60s, he played in various bands, with a repertory heavy on the work of James Brown, Buddy Holly, and the Beach Boys, all done country-style.

The transforming moment of his life came when he first heard The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, the 1963 album that established Dylan as a major songwriter and artist. By that time, Cooper was playing a regular gig at a local coffeehouse and began mixing his music and Dylan's songs. By the end of the '60s, at just about the same time that James Taylor and Joni Mitchell were poised to emerge as major artists, Cooper found interest in his work from three different labels, and ended up going with Roulette Records, a company that was primarily associated with jazz (Count Basie, et al.) and pop/rock (Tommy James & the Shondells, et al.), founded and run by a totally disreputable figure named Morris Levy. 

In early 1970, just weeks after signing a contract, his self-titled debut album was released. Cooper proved himself strong singer, with a rich and powerful voice, and also a serious and dauntingly talented songwriter on this and on his subsequent three Roulette albums, which he produced himself. He was good enough to rate support spots on-stage with the likes of Blood, Sweat & Tears (in their peak years) and Chicago at major venues, including Carnegie Hall. He was, thus, able to reach thousands of people at a time at some of his bigger support gigs.

What he wasn't getting, however, were major record sales -- not that Roulette was putting much into marketing his albums, either. Put simply, he was probably the right artist at the wrong label. Apart from its unique jazz roster of the late '50s and early '60s (a point when Levy, with deep pockets and personally being a big jazz enthusiast, was able to pick up a lot of artists being dropped or overlooked by the major labels), Roulette's big strength had always been at breaking big singles, mostly by virtue of Levy's mob connections and his "unique" access to the jukebox business. 

But the music industry was different by the 1970s, and on top of that, Don Cooper wasn't aiming at listeners who did much with jukeboxes -- he was recording songs that were going to get placed in or played on a lot of them (at least, not outside of a few college-town pizzarias). In short, he wasn't Tommy James and wasn't writing "Mony Mony," much less recording it. On Reprise or Columbia, he'd have had a good shot, but Roulette wasn't really the place for an artist like him, anymore than it would have been for Leonard Cohen or Livingston Taylor.

At some point both parties took a look at the contract that linked them together and recognized a losing proposition for both sides. Cooper was obligated to deliver ten LPs to Roulette, a daunting number for any artist, and Roulette could see little profit in continuing to record him much past 1972 and his fourth album. The two parties went their separate ways in the mid-'70s, and Cooper's four LPs were consigned by the thousands to the cut-out bins. 

For his part, Cooper eventually gave up the life of a touring and performing artist, in favor of making records of children's songs, a goal that came to fruition in that peculiar niche market -- which drew upon his folk and popular music backgrounds equally -- during the 1990s, with help from Random House. In 2005, Europe's Delay Records released a 15-song compilation CD of Cooper's work under license from EMI (which owns the Roulette library for Europe), entitled Howlin' at the Moon. The singing is great and even the production is worth hearing.

by Bruce Eder

Tracks
1. Mad George - 2:40
2. Sad-Eyed Queen Of The Mountains - 3:37
3. Tell Me About Her (J. Slezinger) - 3:36
4. Willy Jean - 3:48
5. Bless The Children - 4:05
6. Something In The Way She Moves (James Taylor) - 3:21
7. Tin Cans And Alleyways (Ken Shephard) - 2:46
8. Only A Dream - 3:26  
9. Rapid Rainbow Times - 2:26
10.A New Gun - 2:24
11.Brotherlove - 3:04
All Songs by Don Cooper except where noted

Musicians
*Don Cooper - Vocals, Guitar
*Elliott Randall - Guitar
*Terry Plumeri - Bass
*Bobby Notkoff - Fiddle

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Gordon Jackson - Thinking Back (1969 uk, gorgeous psych folk rock, bonus tracks edition)

Originally released on Marmalade in 1969, Jackson 's lone solo album is the initial salvo from the new UK reissue label, Sunbeam, the brainchild of Steve Carr and rock scribe Richard Morton Jack. Marketed (somewhat correctly) as a long lost Traffic album, the release was produced by Jackson's Worcester neighbour, Dave Mason and features various Traffic permutations (Mason, Chris Wood, Jim Capaldi, and Steve Winwood) throughout, with the entire quartet backing Jackson on the first single, "Me and My Dog" c/w "A Day at The Cottage," whose non-LP B-side, which is included among several bonus tracks, is a reference to Traffic's cottage in Berkshire, where blueprints for many of the album's tracks originated from all night jam sessions). 

The album's personnel reads like a Family tree of late 60's UK rockedelica, including future Traffic bassist, Ric Gretch, along with his then-current partners in Family, Jim King and Poli Palmer (who also played with Blossom Toes, who appear on backing vocals), Luther Grosvenor (future Spooky Tooth guitarist who later changed his name to Ariel Bender and enjoyed much fame with Mott The Hoople), Julie Driscoll, and Reg King from The Action. In fact, Jackson originally played alongside Capaldi and Mason in the primordial Traffic lineups, The Hellions and Deep Feeling, the latter also featuring Palmer and Grosvenor.

Rock history aside, the album itself is a wonderful amalgamation of jazz, psychedelia, and folk influences, with the opening track "The Journey" driven by Rob Blunt's electric sitar and Mason's throbbing basslines and "My Ship, My Star" softly drifting along the open seas like an early, acoustic version of Jethro Tull. The tearfully reflective "When You Are Small," featuring Jackson on sitar and Winwood on bass, provides the lyrical inspiration for the album's title and cover photo, a snapshot of Jackson 's pouting daughter Cherie shedding a tear. 

Despite some warbly playback in the transfer from the original ?" analog master tapes, the song perfectly captures the lost yearning for youthful innocence, occasionally reminding me of the later solo work of the Moody Blues' Ray Thomas (cf., 1975's "From Mighty Oaks"). "Sing To Me Woman" features some tastefully blistering guitar solos from Mason and is included here in both album and single mixes, as is "Song For Freedom," while the extended jam version of "Me and My Dog" finds Traffic firing on all cylinders and is practically worth the price of admission alone, despite its annoying, midflight dropoff, as if the tape (or musicians) ran out of steam! Nevertheless, this is an essential purchase for Traffic and Family completists, as well as anyone interested in late 60's UK rockedelica.

by Jeff Penczak

Tracks
1. The Journey - 4:52
2. My Ship, My Star - 6:13
3. Me And My Dog - 4:12
4. Song For Freedom - 4:52
5. Sing To Me Woman - 5:27
6. When You Are Small - 7:16
7. Snakes And Ladders - 5:57
8. A Day At The Cottage (Non-album B side) - 3:34
9. My Ship, My Star (Demo version) - 4:29
10. Song For Freedom (Single mix) - 3:56
11. Sing To Me Woman (Single mix) - 4:30
12. Me And My Dog (Long version) - 7:09
All songs by Gordon Jackson

Musicians
*Gordon Jackson - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
*Rob Blunt - Electric sitar, Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar
*Dave Mason - Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Bass
*Remic Abacca - Tabla
*Jim Capaldi - Drums, Backing Vocals
*Jim King - Soprano Sax
*Poli Palmer - Piano, Organ, Backing Vocals
*Rocky Dzidzorni - Conga
*Cnris Wood - Flute, Tenor Sax
*Steve Winwood - Bass, Piano
*Reg King, Julie Driscoll - Backing Vocals
*Luther Grosvenor, Meic Stevens, Blossom Toes - Backing Vocals
*Nicole, Karen, Cynthia and Annie - Backing Vocals

Related Act
1966-68  Deep Feeling - Pretty Colours

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Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills (1970 us, amazing debut album, 2008 japan SHM remaster)

Talk about understatement -- there's Stephen Stills on the cover, acoustic guitar in hand, promising a personal singer/songwriter-type statement. And there is some of that -- even a lot of that personal music-making -- on Stephen Stills, but it's all couched in astonishingly bold musical terms. Stephen Stills is top-heavy with 1970 sensibilities, to be sure, from the dedication to the memory of Jimi Hendrix to the now piggish-seeming message of "Love the One You're With." Yet, listening to this album three decades on, it's still a jaw-dropping experience, the musical equal to Crosby, Stills & Nash or Deja Vu, and only a shade less important than either of them. 

The mix of folk, blues (acoustic and electric), hard rock, and gospel is seamless, and the musicianship and the singing are all so there, in your face, that it just burns your brain (in the nicest, most benevolent possible way) even decades later. Recorded amid the breakup of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Stills' first solo album was his effort to put together his own sound and, not surprisingly, it's similar to a lot of stuff on the group's two albums. But it's also infinitely more personal, as well as harder and bluesier in many key spots; yet, it's every bit as soft and as lyrical as the group in other spots, and all laced with a degree of yearning and urgency that far outstrips virtually anything he did with the group.

 "Love the One You're With," which started life as a phrase that Stills borrowed from Billy Preston at a party, is the song from this album that everybody knows, but it's actually one of the lesser cuts here -- not much more than a riff and an upbeat lyric and mood, albeit all of it infectious. "Do for the Others," by contrast, is one of the prettiest and most moving pieces of music that Stills has ever been associated with, and "Church (Part of Someone)" showed him moving toward gospel and R'n'B (and good at it, too); and then there's "Old Times Good Times," musically as good a rock song as Stills has ever recorded (even if it borrows a bit from "Pre-Road Downs"), and featuring Jimi Hendrix on lead guitar. 

"Go Back Home" (which has Eric Clapton on guitar) is fine a piece of bluesy hard rock, while "Sit Yourself Down" features superb singing by Stills and a six-person backing chorus (that includes Cass Elliot, Graham Nash, and David Crosby) around a great tune. "To a Flame" is downright ethereal, while the live "Black Queen" is a superb piece of acoustic blues.

All of this is presented by Stills in the best singing voice of his career up to that point, bolder, more outgoing, and more powerful (a result of his contact with Doris Troy) than anything in his previous output. He also plays lots of instruments (a la Crosby, Stills & Nash, which is another reason it sounds so similar to the group in certain ways), though a bit more organ than guitar, thanks to the presence of Hendrix and Clapton on two cuts. If the album has a flaw, it's the finale, "We Are Not Helpless," which slightly overstays its welcome. But hey, this was still the late '60s, and excess was the rule, not the exception, and it's such modest excess. 

by Bruce Eder

Tracks
1. Love the One You're With - 3:04
2. Do for the Others - 2:52
3. Church (Part of Someone) - 4:05
4. Old Times Good Times - 3:39
5. Go Back Home - 5:54
6. Sit Yourself Down - 3:05
7. To a Flame - 3:08
8. Black Queen - 5:26
9. Cherokee - 3:23
10.We Are Not Helpless" - 4:20
All songs written by Stephen Stills

Musicians
*Stephen Stills - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Piano, Organ, Steel Drum, Percussion
*Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuel - Bass
*Dallas Taylor - Drums
*Conrad Isedor - Drums
*Ringo Starr (listed as "Richie" on track listing, tracks 7 and 10) - Drums
*Johnny Barbata - Drums
*Jeff Whittaker - Congas
*Jimi Hendrix - Guitar (Track 4)
*Eric Clapton - Guitar (Track 5)
*Booker T. Jones - Organ, Vocal
*Sidney George - Flute, Alto Saxophone
*David Crosby - Vocals
*Graham Nash - Vocals
*John Sebastian - Vocals
*Rita Coolidge - Vocals
*Priscilla Jones - Vocals
*Claudia Lanier - Vocals
*Cass Elliott - Vocals
*Henry Diltz - Vocal
*Liza Strike - Vocal
*Judith Powell - Vocal
*Larry Steele - Vocal
*Tony Wilson - Vocal
*Sherlie Matthews - Chorus, Vocals
Horns arranged by Stephen Stills
Strings arranged by Stephen Stills and Arif Mardin

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MC5 - High Time (1971 us, rough energy pure r 'n' r, 2013 japan SHM remaster)

It makes sense. Out of the dialectic of the first two albums—the hyped, throbbing excess of Kick Out the Jams, the trimmed observances of Back in the USA—emerges the synthesis, High Time, in which the MC5 ditch the influences of their father-figures, Sinclair and Landau, and pledge themselves at last to the Goddess. “Sister Anne don’t give a damn about revolution!” is the opening lyrical shot, with the boys flinging aside their seditionary pamphlets and going to their knees before some sort of iron-buttocked Catholic Ur-mama who sneers at them through her wimple, a queen of loving punishment. 

They have failed to change the world (Back In The USA didn’t even make the top 100), the world indeed has begun to change them, so they come before her humbly. Her gift to the band is discipline—a groove that anchors all their freakishness in solid, primally familiar rock’n’roll. The playing is hot but precise, snappy. And they can’t stop blowing your mind: the twin divining rods of the Smith/Kramer guitars are trained on the old structures and magical spaces are found, little pockets of the future wherein reverbed interludes can occur, fantasias of brass and percussion, and Rob Tyner can ponder the prospect of a “vaccination against castration” while still keeping to verse/chorus/verse. 

The uniformity of vision means that band members can write their own songs, speak with their own voices as it were, and maintain coherence: everyone but Mike Davis has a song or two, and Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith has four. Politically too the stance has changed—no more the macho righteousness of …Jams, the phallic boom. This new anger is in the key of confusion. Now hooked (according to the rhetoric of the third phase) on “loving awareness,” as opposed to the “defensive awareness” of the old, paranoid days, the 5 open themselves to the general mood, which is a bummer-saturated mess. It’s 1971. But they can’t stop being funky. “Over and Over” is tired, pissed-off, helpless, a litany of futility with Tyner cracking his voice in a merciless high key, but Fred Smith’s quizzical solo takes it somewhere else, empowers it with a kind of lofty bemusement: the cycles of pseudo-revolution may boom and bust, but the 5, says the skewed guitar, will survive. 

Unfortunately of course they didn’t; the band fell apart before High Time had made a dent. In the words of Dave Marsh, “an album about the future by a band that did not have one,” adrift in time, a little storm of excellence, glimmering with holy possibility.

by James Parker

Tracks
1. Sister Anne (Fred Sonic Smith) – 7:23
2. Baby Won't Ya (Fred Sonic Smith) – 5:32
3. Miss X (Wayne Kramer) – 5:08
4. Gotta Keep Movin' (Dennis Thompson) – 3:24
5. Future/Now (Rob Tyner) – 6:21
6. Poison (Wayne Kramer) – 3:24
7. Over And Over (Fred Sonic Smith) – 5:13
8. Skunk (Sonicly Speaking) (Fred Sonic Smith) – 5:31

MC5
*Michael Davis – Bass,
*Wayne Kramer – Guitar, Vocals, Piano
*Fred "Sonic" Smith – Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, Organ, Sandpaper
*Dennis Thompson – Drums, Percussion
*Rob Tyner – Vocals, Harmonica, Maracas, Castanets, Conga
Guest Musicians
*Pete Kelly – Piano
*Dan Bullock – Trombone
*Ellis Dee – Percussion
*Bobby Wayne Derminer – Wizzer
*Marlene Driscoll – Vocals
*Rick Ferretti – Trumpet
*Dave Heller – Percussion
*Leon Henderson – Tenor Saxophone
*Joanne Hill – Vocals
*Larry Horton – Trombone
*Skip Knapp – Organ
*Brenda Knight – Vocals
*Kinki Lepew – Percussion
*Charles Moore – Flugelhorn, Vocals
*Dr. Dave Morgan - Percussion
*Scott Morgan – Percussion
*Butch O'Brien – Bass Drum
*David Oversteak – Tuba
*Bob Seger – Percussion

1970  MC5 - Back In The USA (Japan SHM remaster)

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Jonathan And Leigh - Third And Main (1967 us, wonderful psych folk country rock, 2007 remaster)

Forged in the early 60s folk scene of Dayton, Ohio, Jonathan and Leigh arrived in New York City in 1967 to play the Greenwich Village folk club The Gaslight Cafe. Vanguard Records' Maynard Solomon was in the audience and was so knocked out that he signed them for "the biggest cash advance the company's ever handed out...$3000 against five percent of record sales" (as a local Ohio newspaper noted at the time).

The album was recorded in a converted church in New York with outstanding supporting musicians such as Russ Savakus, Richard Davis and Bill Salter; overdubs by Jay Berliner and Warren Smith were added later. The sound is very distinctive, with Jonathan And Leigh's heartfelt Ohio roots shining through in the strong vocals and the accompanying music veering between simple folk stylings and a jangly, electric-folk hybrid. The songs are superb. 

Having been honed over the preceding three years they worked together in Ohio, they represent an impressive debut statement. Particularly fine are Winding River, Summer Sorrow (written for Mimi Farina after husband Richard's tragic death in a motorcycle accident) and Tapestry (John's favourite of them all). Though John wrote most of the songs, Sandy came up with the tune to Winding River after John recited the lyrics down the phone to her. He recalled: "I talked the words down the phone to Sandy and she came up with the beautiful music."

However, the hoped-for success did not come and the duo returned to Ohio. Later John Alden moved to Los Angeles, where he remained for eight years before returning to Dayton. He was part of the band Starbuck (along with Leigh), who recorded a session produced by Don Everly for Atlantic (though the album was never finished or released). 

Subsequently John recorded two albums as part of the country band Electric Range - singing lead, playing guitar and bringing his song writing talents to that group. Electric Range's debut features the Byrds Chris Hillman and was produced by the Eagles Randy Meisner. Sandy Roepken (“Leigh”) went on to form a duo with her husband Michael Bashaw and they have worked together continuously since the late 60s.

by John Crosby

Tracks
1. Constant Tuesday - 3:06
2. Someday Baby (John Estes, Hammie Nixon) - 2:00
3. Tapestry - 2:33
4. Brownsville (Traditional) - 2:32
5. Song For Shelley - 2:38
6. Third And Main - 3:29
7. Balm In Gilead (Traditional) - 2:21
8. Cocaine Blues (Traditional) - 2:31
9. Summer Sorrow - 3:15
10.Winding River - 2:41
11.Changes (Phil Ochs) - 2:51
12.If The Earth Be Round - 2:19
All songs by Jonathan Alden except where indicated.

Jonathan And Leigh
*Sandy Roepken - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Dulcimer
*Jonathan Alden - Vocals, Guitars
*Warren Smith - Drums
*William Salter - Bass
Guest Musicians
*Vinnie Bell - Electric Guitar
*Jay Berliner - Electric Guitar
*Richard Davis - Bass
*Russ Savakus - Bass

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The Association - Birthday (1968 us, elegant sunny blue eyed soul, 2013 Japan remaster)

Nobody knew it when Birthday was issued as the Association's fourth album in March 1968, but the group had just passed their commercial peak. Never again would they enjoy such phenomenal popularity as they had in 1967, when "Windy" and "Never My Love" gave them two of the biggest hits of the late '60s, and their Insight Out album (also reissued on Collectors' Choice) became a Top Ten LP. Birthday was nonetheless hardly a slouch saleswise, reaching #23 and spawning the group's final Top Ten single, "Everything That Touches You," as well as the Top Forty hit "Time for Livin'."

The Association's Jim Yester agrees that Birthday was "probably the most pop" of the albums the band did in the 1960s, though he wasn't sure if that was intentional. He does recall it as being a time of uneasy transition for the band, though their trademark harmonious vocal blends were never more intact than on this album. "The relationship was getting very strange at that time between [producer] Bones [Howe] and ourselves," he acknowledges. "Bones contended that had we stuck to that kind of semi-folk genre [which had yielded songs like "Windy"], we would have lasted forever. He was trying to get us to do that, and the group was trying to pull in a more avant-garde direction. I think that was one of the things that pulled the relationship apart. And a lot of other relationships in the group were getting strange at the time."

Howe remained the producer on the sessions, however, which like Insight Out featured top Hollywood studio musicians like drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Joe Osborn, guitarist Mike Deasy, and keyboardist Larry Knechtel. "I'm still really proud of that affiliation with those guys," says Yester. "They're the sweetest guys, and they were so open to direction. Whoever's song it was would go into the studio when guys were running it down for the first time, and they would be asking for direction. It wasn't just like they said, 'Okay, here's how we're gonna do it.' It was like, 'What do you want with it?' It was absolutely a wonderful situation. And such incredible players. Just mind-blowing."

While Insight Out had seen the group turn to outside writers for about half of the material, Birthday returned the focus to the band's own compositions, with a few exceptions. The band's Terry Kirkman was responsible for "Everything That Touches You," the mid-tempo ballad that gave the Association their last big hit. "If we had our preference, we would always prefer the inside material," notes Yester. "But that was getting closer and closer to where material selections were hangings. The guys got real gun-shy about bringing their own material in, because it was like being brutalized by the process. And we were also, each of us, getting involved with people outside the group at that time."

A few of Birthday's tracks, indeed, were collaborations between members of the band and outside writers, Yester penning a couple of songs with childhood friend Skip Carmel. "Those songs that I collaborated on with Skip, most of those are right out of Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung. It's all about personal transformation and archetypes and all of that kind of stuff. When I played it for the group, [Larry] Ramos used to hate that kind of stuff. He'd say, 'What the hell does that mean?' But Bones really liked 'em, so we wound up doing 'em." Ramos himself collaborated with two outside writers on the album's "Like Always," one of the co-authors being Bob Alcivar, who served as the LP's vocal arranger.

Brothers Don and Dick Addrisi, who'd given the Association "Never My Love," supplied the band's final Top Forty single with "Time for Livin'." (It was also the group's sole chart single in England, where they toured around the time of its release, sharing the bill with the Rolling Stones and others at the 1968 New Musical Express Poll Winners' Concert.) Another outside contribution, "Come On In," came from folksinger Jo Mapes, whom Yester had known since his coffeehouse folk days. Yester's brother Jerry's group the Modern Folk Quartet "also did 'Come on In,' that's where we got it from. Although Jo wasn't real happy about the way each of us did it, 'cause she envisioned much more of a soft kind of folk delivery, and we both had kind of hard-edged, rock things."

The most intriguing outside number considered for the sessions, however, was the one that got away. "Bones came in with Jimmy Webb and presented this thing Bones commissioned him to write for us," says Yester. "It was a 24-minute cantata, of which 'MacArthur Park' was a part. The deal was, you take the whole 24 minutes or none of it. We wound up turning it down, and the relationship was never the same after that, because Bones would have had publishing on that." "MacArthur Park," of course, became one of the biggest hits of 1968, as sung by actor Richard Harris - "it was like, 'Okay, I'll show you, I'll give the song to somebody who's not a singer and have a hit with it.

"Jimmy was very bitter, and I can't blame him," Yester continues. "But the deal was his. It was like, it's 24 minutes, take it or leave it. We asked for 'MacArthur Park,' and there was one other song in there that was a great song, a part of this 24-minute cantata, that we really wanted. We were halfway through the album. It's like, okay, whose song is coming off the album? And some of the guys were saying, 'Oh, we can write better stuff than that.' It was great stuff, but there was no way that we could have taken the whole thing.

"Jimmy knew it would have been a monumental piece, a 24-minute piece that was all threaded together, of which these things were all part of. I'm sure it would have been mind-blowing. But we couldn't see it at that time. Had we done that, it would have been trend-setting, and we probably would have reinvented ourselves a la what the Bee Gees did with Saturday Night Fever." As it was, the Association had to content themselves with another hit album that continued to cement their image as a mainstream pop group, although they'd gain more creative control over their sound on their next LP, 1969's The Association. 

by Richie Unterberger  

Tracks
1. Come On In (Jo Mapes) - 3:19
2. Rose Petals, Incense And A Kitten (Ric Mcclelland, Jim Yester) - 2:57
3. Like Always (Bob Alcivar, Tony Ortega, Larry Ramos) - 3:08
4. Everything That Touches You (Terry Kirkman) - 3:22
5. Toymaker (Jeff Comanor) - 3:30
6. Barefoot Gentleman (Skip Carmel, Yester) - 3:27
7. Time For Livin' (Don Addrisi, Dick Addrisi) - 2:48
8. Hear In Here (Ted Bluechel) - 3:17
9. The Time It Is Today (Russ Giguere) - 2:19
10.The Bus Song (Kirkman) - 3:34
11.Birthday Morning (Carmel, Yester) - 2:25

The Association
*Russ Giguere - Vocals, Guitar
*Brian Cole - Vocals, Bass
*Terry Kirkman - Vocals, Brass, Woodwinds
*Jim Yester - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
*Larry Ramos, Jr. - Vocals, Bass, Guitar
*Ted Bluechel Jr - Vocals, Drums
With
*Hal Blaine - Drums
*Joe Osborn - Bass
*Mike Deasy - Guitar
*Larry Knechtel - Keyboards

1969  The Association - The Association (2013 deluxe expanded edition)

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