The Grass Roots - Uprooted / Powers Of The Night (1979/82 us, wonderful melt of classic rock blue eyed soul and power pop, 2005 edition)

Robert Frank "Rob" Grill was born November 30, 1943 in Los Angeles, California and was an American lead singer, songwriter and bass guitarist.

He was the central member of The Grass Roots and he launched a solo career in 1979, assisted on his solo project by several members of Fleetwood Mac. He then returned to leading The Grass Roots into the new millennium.

He was a native of Hollywood, California where he attended Hollywood High School. Soon after graduation, he began working at American Recording Studios with musician friends Cory Wells and John Kay (who later formed Three Dog Night & Steppenwolf).

Rob and The Grass Roots teamed up with mega-hit producer Steve Barri (The Mamas and the Papas, Tommy Roe, Four Tops and Dusty Springfield) and went on to chart twenty nine singles, thirteen of which went gold, followed by two gold albums and two platinum albums. In the new millennium, he released two live albums and one with a symphonic quartet.

Rob passed away on July 11, 2011
The GrassRoots 

In 1982, seven years after the group disbanded, and three years after he recorded his solo album Uprooted, Rob Grill reactivated the Grass Roots with three new musicians and cut this album, which must be tied with its predecessor, The Grass Roots on the Haven label, as the most obscure album in the group's output. That's a genuine pity, as the record has lots of very good moments and is far more polished and successful than Uprooted -- one can only imagine that, beyond any role that the relative weakness of MCA at the time played in its failure (this reviewer scarcely saw or heard a word printed about the album or its release), it died an absolute death in the MTV-dominated environment of 1982-1983, as many worthwhile records did.

The album opens with a title track that's a little bit too much of a by-the-numbers power pop exercise, but from there we move through some nicely soul-flavored pop/rock with lots of hooks, vocal, and instrumental -- the guitars, in particular, are memorable and Grill is in excellent voice almost everywhere, and the selection of material is stronger than most of what is on Uprooted.

Given the large number of session musicians who participated on the Grass Roots' most famous recordings, there seems to be little point in pondering who's doing the backup singing behind Grill or playing some of what we hear; on the other hand, it does seem to be a great showcase for Terry Oubre's guitar work. And the results are consistently appealing, if not groundbreaking -- actually, a lot like the group's best work of the '60s. There were at least three potential singles on this album, which marked just about the last time that the Grass Roots were anything but an oldies act, redoing their vintage hits either on-stage or in the studio. One wishes it were a little better known on that basis, as well as a pretty good place for this band to have stopped making new music.
by Bruce Eder

Tracks
1. Feel The Heat (D. Callens, E. Villeria, W. Warkins) - 4:40
2. God Help The Man (Dennis Provisor) - 5:02
3. Have Mercy (Dennis Provisor, Rob Grill) - 3:24
4. Rockin' On The Road Again (Rob Grill) - 3:25
5. Strangers (Mike Chapman, Nicky Chin) - 4:17
6. Rock Sugar (Dennis Provisor) - 5:28
7. When Will It Be (Dennis Provisor) - 5:23
8. Open Up Your Heart (D. Callens, E. Villeria, W. Warkins) - 4:38
9. Where Were You When I Needed You (P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri) - 3:42
10.Powers Of The Night.. (Frieda Parton, Mark Anderson) - 4:21
11.Here Comes That Feeling Again (John Sembello, Louie Shelton) - 3:18
12.Try Me (Alex Call, Jim Keller) - 3:05
13.Keeps On Burning (Bobby Bennett, Rob Grill) - 3:09
14.I'm Not Gonna Cry Anymore (Bobby David) - 3:44
15.She Don't Know Me (Mark Avsec) - 3:28
16.Mirage (John Bettis, Michael Clark) - 3:28
17.You've Got To Be The One (Evan Pace, Scott Lipsker) - 2:48
18.Feels Like The First Time (Detlef Peterson, Inga Rumpf, Rob Grill) - 4:30
19.Little Too Late (Alex Call) - 4:01
Tracks 1-9 from Rob Grill 1979 solo album "Uprooted"
Tracks 10-19 from The Grass Roots 1982 album "Powers Of The Night"

Personnel
1979 Uprooted
*Rob Grill - Vocals
*Dennis Provisor - Keyboards
*Brian Naughton - Guitar
*Lindsey Buckingham - Guitar
*Steve Hunter - Guitar
*Mick Fleetwood - Drums
*Mike Huey - Drums
*John McVie - Bass
*Mark Leonard - Bass
*Annie McCloone - Backing Vocals
*Bill Champlin - Backing Vocals
*Carl Graves - Backing Vocals
*Donnie Gerrard - Backing Vocals
*Jay Gruska - Backing Vocals
*Kathy Collier - Backing Vocals

The Grass Roots 1982
*Ralph Gilmore - Drums, Vocals
*Rob Grill - Lead Vocals, Bass
*Terry Oubre - Guitar, Vocals
*Charles Judge - Keyboards, Vocals

1967-68  Grassroots - Let's Live For Today / Feelings 
1969  The Grass Roots - Leaving It All Behind  (2010 edition)
1972-73  The Grass Roots - Move Along / Alotta Mileage

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One Of Hours ‎- When You Hear The Music, It's Yours (1967-68 us, fantastic psych garage rock, 2019 release)

One of Hours were a Stonewall neighborhood band from Lexington’s south side. Formed in 1966, the three core members of the original lineup had been playing in a prior group called the 7 Suns performing primarily rock ‘n roll and early rhythm and blues covers for fraternity parties and special occasions.

Shawn Foreman, Lexington Catholic HS Class of ’64, recruited his 7 Suns bandmates David Bogliole and Dave Flynn (both still Seniors at Catholic) and formed One of Hours. The band was fleshed out with the addition of Lafayette HS grad Carol Craig on vocals and Georgetown College student Robert Nelson on drums.

Searching for a new sound, the band worked on lyrics and arrangements as a unit. There was no designated ‘leader’ of the group, but Foreman is generally credited as the creative force behind the band’s sound and direction.

A young man of only 20, Foreman was the embodiment of his Pisces birth – a true poet and artist. Image was everything and he was obsessed with the British Invasion and the fashion that came along with it. The band had to have the right clothes, Chelsea boots, and (since he had short, wiry hair) he would often don a mod Beatle-cut wig for photos and studio hangouts. He prowled the streets in a ’57 Cadillac hearse (appropriate since he had already earned a certificate in Mortuary Science after a short stay in Louisville) and used his ride to haul the band’s equipment to practice and gigs.

Shawn Foreman was the youngest of two boys. His family moved to Kentucky from Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst neighborhood. His Italian Catholic mother Fulvia was a gifted pianist in the church and Shawn was also classically trained. His mother was very supportive of his musical interests and nurtured the band providing the use of the family’s basement, plenty of hot meals, and even helped with sewing outfits for the group during the early days.

The band walked into the newly founded Chetwyd studio (originally located at 1611 Fortune Drive in the Regency area of Southland) to record what would be the first release on the label. Ed Commons – a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, transplant – had already been working in radio and had a small jazz label there. A young entrepreneur, Commons was only 28 when he set up shop in his mother’s basement. His fledgling label would eventually produce eight singles, one EP, and at least four albums ranging from folk, jazz, soul, and garage/psych.

“It’s Best” b/w “Trifolia” was released in 1966. It is hard to pin down a direct influence from the band. Both sides have a dreamy, breezy psych pop Baroque feel unlike anything happening in Lexington at the time. The lyrics are imaginative and translucent with a lost-at-sea sound from the band. This complexity was intentional since, unlike other bands in the area, One of Hours were primarily a studio group. They played a few outings but were mostly interested in recording, writing, working on arrangements and experimenting with sound.

Bob Willcutt from Washington D.C. would join the group on guitar for their second and final release. Bob was at age 18 already a talented guitar player and prior had recorded with a group called the Curfews, a D.C. band with two garage 45s on the Montgomery label.

One of Hours already had a rough draft of the song “Feel the Pain” by 1967 when Bob made the scene to add the scorching guitar breaks and menacing feel to the track. Bob recalls working with the band and having “a great version of the Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’ worked up with extra fuzz tone.” He also remembers an upstairs shop at the intersection of High and Rose where a guy was making boutique effects pedals and having Willcutt come and ‘audition’ them for him.

By the summer of ’67 the single “Feel the Pain / Psychedelic Illusion” was released. “Feel the Pain” having a direct “(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone” influence would be considered the A-side and the haunting, shimmering “Psychedelic Illusion”, which was made up almost on the spot with lyrics by Foreman and 12-string guitar courtesy of Willcutt. With nice bubbling bass lines from Bogliole and an organ dirge break from Shawn, this is a hidden gem on the two-sider.

500 copies were pressed at Recordings Incorporated pressing plant in Baltimore. Though distribution was slim, the record was getting some airplay on local Lexington radio station WLAP and by DJ Denny Mitchell on WVLK’s ‘Denny’s Den.’ The groups effort cracked the local Top 40 and a photo of the band was featured in the Lexington Herald-Leader upon the release of the new single.

Shortly after “Feel the Pain / Psychedelic Illusion”, the band morphed again adding new members and losing others. A name change to Dandelion Wine cemented the new lineup. By ’68 the band was traveling to D.C. to try and make a bigger city splash. Opening up for the likes of the Cherry People and Iron Butterfly, the group settled in an apartment there for a short time. The Civil Rights movement and accompanying race riots, protest marches and normal D.C. politics created an unusually chaotic time in the city and the band retreated back to Lexington and familiar territory.

Not missing a beat, Dandelion Wine played a memorable dance party at UK complete with a full psychedelic light rig, black lights and day glo painted dancers. They also quickly slid back into the studio to record an LP’s worth of unreleased material – “When You Hear the Music It’s Yours.” More progressive and art rock oriented with the sounds of the late ‘60s, it took 50 years but Willcutt has made it available on the internet digitized from a quarter inch tape of the original master.

By 1970 the band was dissolved. Shawn Foreman took off for California with the Dandelion Wine master in hopes of finding a record deal. It is also believed that he had many of the copies of the second One of Hours singles with him at the time as well. Foreman would be heard from one more time with his album of DIY electronic compositions “Transistor-Jet Strikes Back” before his untimely death at age 38 in June of 1985.

David Bogliole stayed in Lexington and became a practicing architect.

Dave Flynn continued to play music and joined several local country rock bands over the years.

Bob Willcutt continued to play guitar and was also in several soul/rock and country rock bands in the area including one with a Lemco release – B.W. Cat. He opened a guitar shop in the Southland area in the 1970s and remains in business today.

Robert Nelson moved to Arizona and continues to play drums in a wedding band dubbed Blue Passion.

Label owner Ed Commons is still in the music recording business and is the sound engineer for Red Barn Radio an old-time string band and Americana themed live broadcast and variety show in downtown Lexington at Arts Place. 

by Lee Bryant 

Tracks
1. When Your Hear The Music, It's Yours - 5:35
2. Mother Said - 2:26
3. Love Is Real - 2:15
4. Two Heads For 35 Cents - 2:34
5. Mary Jane Like A Woman - 3:25
6. Cry - 2:41
7. Within My Garden - 3:42
8. Little Willie - 3:35
9. Kazoo Man - 2:41
10.Sweet Dragonfly - 3:23
11.Incense C-19x - 2:02
12.A Way To Leave At Last - 3:31
All compositions by Bob Willcutt, Shawn Foreman, David Bogliole, Dave Flynn, Robert Nelson  

One Of Hours
*Bob Willcutt - Guitars
*Shawn Foreman - Hammond Organ, Piano, Flute
*David Bogliole - Bass
*Davy Randolph - Drums
*Vance Arnett - Lead Vocals

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Gene Clark - Gene Clark With The Gosdin Brothers (1967 us, a glorious countrified psych folk rock album, 2014 japan blu spec remaster and expanded)

When Gene Clark died in 1991 after years of substance abuse, obit writers cited his brief period as a founding member of the Byrds. Clark was actually much more. He infused the original band with much of its soul and vision, establishing himself as a pivotal folk-rock innovator, a fact known to the band and hardcore fans but never comprehensively chronicled until John Einarson’s 2005 Clark biography, Mr. Tambourine Man.

Like bandmates Jim (now Roger) McGuinn and David Crosby, Clark was a former folkie captivated by the Beatles. His baritone vocals were as integral to the Byrds’ sound as McGuinn’s jangly Rickenbacker twelve-string electric. So were Clark originals such as “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better”, “I Knew I’d Want You” and “She Don’t Care About Time”. McGuinn and Crosby may have shared co-writer credit on “Eight Miles High”, but they essentially embellished a song that Clark had created. Overwhelmed by demands of fame and tired of clashing with the contentious Crosby, Clark left the band in 1966; Byrds manager Jim Dickson landed him the Columbia contract that spawned this album.

Recorded with the Byrds’ rhythm section of Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke, plus A-list Los Angeles studio musicians Glen Campbell and Leon Russell, Gene Clark With The Gosdin Brothers has justifiably gained stature over the past 40 years, not only as a glorious brew of ’60s folk-rock, proto-country-rock and complex, Beatlesque pop, but as an expository effort that defined and clarified Clark’s importance to the band he left behind (and briefly rejoined).

Given the fact the vocal harmonies from the Gosdins (future Nashville star Vern and his brother Rex) were of marginal importance, their overblown billing can only by explained by the fact that Dickson also managed them. Clark invoked the Byrds sound several times, on “The Same One” (with guitar from Clarence White, then just beginning to plug in), “Couldn’t Believe Her”, and “So You Say You Lost Your Baby”. The painfully emotional “Echoes”, a bit of baroque ’60s art-rock framed by Russell’s string arrangement, showcases Clark’s stunning lyrical impressionism.

Revolver-era Beatles influence bursts forth from “Is Yours Is Mine” and “Elevator Operator”. Buck Owens is the influence on “Tried So Hard” and “Keep On Pushin'”, a harbinger of the country-rock Clark would pursue with Doug Dillard in 1968. Six bonus tracks include two alternate takes, two acoustic demos, and mono mixes of both sides of a 1967 Columbia single. This isn’t the album’s first reissue, but this edition conclusively summarizes and showcases Clark’s early genius.

No Depression

Tracks
1. Echoes - 3:19
2. Think I'm Gonna Feel Better - 1:37
3. Tried So Hard - 2:22
4. Is Yours Is Mine - 2:23
5. Keep On Pushin' (Gene Clark, Bill Rinehart) - 1:47
6. I Found You - 3:02
7. So You Say You Lost Your Baby - 2:09
8. Elevator Operator (Gene Clark, Bill Rinehart, Joel Larson) - 2:28
9. The Same One - 3:30
10.Couldn't Believe Her - 1:53
11.Needing Someone - 2:04
12.So You Say You Lost Your Baby - 2:29
13.Is Yours Is Mine - 2:10
14.Tried So Hard - 2:27
15.Only Colombe - 3:02
16.The French Girl (Ian Tyson, Sylvia Fricker) - 2:33
17.Tried So Hard - 2:22
18.Keep On Pushin' (Gene Clark, Bill Rinehart) - 1:49
19.Think I'm Gonna Feel Better  - 1:36
20.Is Yours Is Mine - 2:29
21.Echoes - 3:21
22.The Same One - 3:32
23.Needing Someone - 2:02
24.So You Say You Lost Your Baby - 2:10
25.Couldn't Believe Her - 1:58
26.I Found You - 2:58
27.Elevator Operator (Gene Clark, Bill Rinehart, Joel Larson) - 2:55
28.Couldn't Believe Her - 2:11
29.Tried So Hard - 2:20
30.Only Colombe - 3:09
31.The French Girl (Ian Tyson, Sylvia Fricker) - 2:37
32. So You Say You Lost Your Baby - 3:13
All songs by Gene Clark except where indicated
Tracks 12-13 Acoustic Mono Versions
Track 14 Alternate Mono Mix
Tracks 15-16 Mono Versions
Tracks 17-26 Collector's Series Early L.A. Sessions
Tracks 27,29 Alternative Stereo Version
Tracks 28,30,31 Remixed
Track 32 Acoustic Demo Version

Personnel
*Gene Clark - Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
*Vern Gosdin - Backing Vocals
*Rex Gosdin - Backing Vocals
*Glen Campbell - Electric Guitar
*Jerry Cole - Guitars
*Bill Rinehart - Guitars
*Clarence White - Guitar On
*Doug Dillard - Electric Banjo
*Leon Russell - Piano, Harpsichord; String Arrangements
*Van Dyke Parks - Keyboards
*Chris Hillman - Bass
*Jim Gordon - Drums
*Michael Clarke - Drums
*Joel Larson - Drums

1964-90  Gene Clark - Flying High
1964-82  Gene Clark ‎- The Lost Studio Sessions (2016 audiophile double Vinyl set)
1967  Gene Clark - Echoes
1967  Gene Clark - Sings For You (2018 digipak with unreleased material)
1968-69  Dillard And Clark - Fantastic Expedition / Through The Morning, Through The Night
1971  Gene Clark - White Light
1972  Gene Clark - Roadmaster  (2011 Edition)
1974  Gene Clark ‎– No Other / No Other Sessions (2019 hybrid SACD three disc box set) 
Related Acts
1979  McGuinn, Clark And Hillman (2014 Japan SHM Remaster)
1964  The Byrds - Preflyte (2012 Edition)
1973  Byrds - Byrds (2004 issue)
1967-68  The Rose Garden - A Trip Through The Garden (2018 bonus tracks remaster)

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Keith Christmas - Pigmy (1971 uk, sensational acid folk psych rock, 2012 remaster)

Acid Folk is one of those musicological genre headings that had to be invented retrospectively because it didn’t exist when the music it describes was extant in the late sixties. These days it’s taken to cover the acoustic singer-songwriter individuals and combos who sprang from Dylan-inspired folk-pop roots, picked up psychedelic overtones and morphed into the complexity of prog-rock – which satisfyingly describes Keith Christmas’s most creative period, up to and including Pigmy.

Originally an Essex lad, Christmas was an undergrad at Bath University (coincidentally my own alma mater at around the same time, though we never met) where he studied Building Technology in between extensive gigging on the vibrant London and Bristol folk club circuits. Never a true folkie but certainly influenced by the likes of Bert Jansch and John Rembourn, he combined an enviable fingerstyle technique on an unfashionable but strident Fender Palomino with hippie bedsitter lyricism and a reedy but distinctive voice, a combination also evident in the work of his contemporaries Nick Drake and Al Stewart. The schizophrenic nature of Keith’s career at this time – recording with session musicians but invariably gigging solo – is mirrored in the three albums he cut between 1969 and 1971, these setting his formidable acoustic guitar work alternately against orchestral ensembles and jazzy rock band backings.

Christmas has disowned his first album, 1969’s vaguely country-rock Stimulus, recorded with musicians from Mighty Baby and pedal steelist Gordon Huntley, as “overproduced”; I’d say it was rather a venture in an unsuitable musical direction for the man. He hit his stride eighteen months later with the second, Fable Of The Wings, recorded with session musicians with folk-rock credentials, which subsequently established the folk-baroque-prog template for which he’s best remembered today. There’s little to choose quality-wise between this and the ensuing Pigmy, which for me just has the edge, offering immaculate, restrained orchestral arrangements by Robert Kirby (who did the same for Nick Drake) and the LSO on its first side of introspective ballads, notably the earnest but cerebral “Timeless And Strange”, and powerful keyboards from Rod Argent and bass from Fuzzy Samuels on the other side’s trio of extended classy rockers, culminating in the extraordinary “Forest And The Shore” with its swelling, Ligeti-like choral interludes. Keith’s acoustic shimmers like a harpsichord on the top side, and his ferocious acoustic rhythm work on the flip is leavened with some fluid electric soloing. The album artwork shows him appropriately framed by a Narnia-like background, wispily-bearded, Afghan-coated and apparently rolling a joint, the true zeitgeist of the period.

Although critically his best-received works, neither Fable nor Pigmy sold in droves at the time, and after an even less successful move in a rock/soul direction Christmas threw in the professional music business. While his contemporaries Al Stewart and Nick Drake had gone on to contrasting fates – one to superstardom in LA, the other to clinical depression and an untimely death – Keith became a renovator of old houses and eventually a schoolteacher, settling in a pleasant village near Bristol and making music for his own pleasure, issuing privately-recorded small-circulation albums at intervals and occasionally gigging local pubs and small venues, his acoustic guitar mastery undiminished. Stimulus has been bootlegged for CD, but Fable and Pigmy remain unreissued and are now great rarities on vinyl; however, almost their entire contents are available on the excellent Castle compilation CD Timeless And Strange, whose title encapsulates his music of that period and which is available direct from Keith himself at his website.

by Len Liechti

Tracks
1. Travelling Down - 4:11
2. Timeless And Strange - 4:42
3. Evensong - 4:28
4. Spanky - 2:38
5. Poem - 2:01
6. The Waiting Grounds - 3:29
7. Song For A Survivor - 9:18
8. Forest And The Shore - 7:07
All compositions by Keith Christmas

Musicians
*Keith Christmas - Vocals, Guitars
*Rod Argent - Piano, Organ
*Calvin 'Fuzzy' Samuels - Bass
*Adrian Shaw - Bass
*Conrad Isidore - Drums
*Roger Powell - Drums
*Mac Kissoon - Backing Vocals
*Kathy Kissoon - Backing Vocals
*Mike London - Backing Vocals
*Ray Warleigh - Saxophone
*Bob Stewart - Swedish Psaltery
*Robert Kirby - String, Choral Arrangements
*London Symphony Orchestra - Strings

1969  Keith Christmas - Stimulus (2012 remaster) 

1970  Keith Christmas - Fable Of The Wings (2012 remaster)
1974-76  Keith Christmas - Tomorrow Never Ends The Anthology (2010 Two Disc Set)

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Don Nix - In God We Trust (1971 us, spiritual blues rock, 2016 SHM remaster)

Born in Memphis, Nix attended Messick High School with Donald "Duck" Dunn and Steve Cropper of the famed Stax house band Booker T. & the MG's. After graduation, Nix spent a short stint in the Army before returning to Memphis, where he joined Dunn and Cropper, along with Wayne Jackson, Packy Axton, Terry Johnson, and Smoochy Smith, as a saxophonist in the Mar-Keys.

The group scored a smash hit with the instrumental "Last Night" on the Satellite label (later Stax/Volt), and Nix went on the road with the group, while a house band from Memphis attempted to recorded follow-up hits under the Mar-Keys' name.

After the success of "Last Night" fizzled, Nix returned to Memphis and spent the next several years as a horn for hire, occasionally playing gigs with a re-formed version of the Mar-Keys or backing Stax stars such as William Bell and Carla Thomas.

In the mid-'60s, Nix began making trips to L.A. to visit Leon Russell and Carle Radle, friends he'd met through touring. The friendship with Russell, a big producer at the time, landed Nix a position in Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars backing one of Russell's acts, Gary Lewis & the Playboys. Their friendship also provided Nix the opportunity to see how a session was put together, and he began engineering and producing at studios around Memphis such as Stax and Ardent. 

Nix spent the next several years writing and producing for artists such as Freddie King, Albert King, Sid Selvidge, and Charlie Musselwhite. In 1970, he signed a recording deal with Shelter Records (co-owned by his old friend Leon Russell) and released a solo album, In God We Trust and followed it a year later with Living by the Days. Neither album sold very well, and after a few more attempts, Nix returned to recording other artists, producing records for John Mayall and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. 

by Steve Kurutz

Tracks
1. In God We Trust - 4:29
2. Golden Mansions - 4:08
3. I'll Fly Away (Traditional) - 3:29
4. He Never Lived A Day Without Jesus (Don Nix, Bobby Whitlock) - 4:07
5. Nero My God To Thee (Traditional) - 1:09
6. Amos Burke - 3:03
7. Long Way To Nowhere (Don Nix, Larry Rasberry) - 3:38
8. Iuka - 5:20
9. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Traditional) - 3:58
10.I've Tried - 1:29
All songs by Don Nix except where indicated

Musicians
*Don Nix - Vocals
*Barry Beckett - Keyboards
*Roger Hawkins - Drums
*David Hood - Bass
*Eddie Hinton - Electric, Rhythm, Slide Guitars
*Furry Lewis - Slide Guitar
*Larry Rasberry - Rhythm Guitar
*J.A. Spell - Fiddle

1971  Don Nix - Living By The Days (2011 japan SHM remaster)

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Lee Michaels - Recital (1968 us, awesome classic rock with prog shades, 2016 hard sleeve remaster)

A big, demanding voice seeping with melody, combined with crafty keyboard exercises were prime factors engraved in the songs of Lee Michaels. Prior to adopting such a stance, the Southern California based musician held membership in a surf rock band called the Sentinals, trailed by stints with the Joel Scott Hill Group and the Family Tree. Leaving the band thing behind, Lee launched a solo career that parented a string of fine albums.

Powered by limitless energy and imagination, Lee’s second album, Recital taps into his multiple talents from track to track. Along with piano and Hammond organ, Lee also plays guitar and harpsichord, while his songwriting is strong and expressive. A crack band further contributes their mojo to the disc. Noted session musician Larry Knechtel handles bass, and both John Barbata (the Turtles, Jefferson Airplane) and Frank Davis supply drum duties.

The first song on the album, “If I Lose You”  radiates with harmonious motions shaped of punchy hooks, digging rhythms and a soul-inflected swagger. As an incentive, former Paul Revere and the Raiders guitarist adds a run of steamy licks to the cut. Beginning on mid-tempo footing, “The War” eventually develops into a muscular force of intensity. A tasty blend of driving harpsichord and organ flourishes accent the folky angst of “Basic Knowledge,” where “Spare Change” starts out on a funky feel before turning into an ear-splitting experimental endeavor pulsating with pounding keyboard passages tinted with classical leanings.

Composed of catchy arrangements and stirring instrumentation, “Time Is Over,” “Blind” and “Grocery Soldier” weigh in as other excellent songs featured on the record. An exciting listen from side to side, Recital captures Lee at the peak of his presence. His ability to incorporate rock, pop, blues and soul into a progressive soundscape remains stunning.

Although Lee’s music swayed more towards the underground edge of the spectrum, he managed to score a pair of hit singles during the latter days of 1971. “Do You Know What I Mean” reached number six on the charts that autumn, followed by a cool cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Can I Get A Witness,” which made it to the number thirty-nine position. But after that, his profile waned and he soon disappeared from the scene altogether. An artist ripe for rediscovery, Lee Michaels truly commands the recognition he deserves. And Recital proves to be just one of his many masterstrokes. 

by  Beverly Paterson

Tracks
1. If I Lose You (Larry Marks, Lee Michaels) - 2:23
2. Time Is Over - 3:45
3. No Part Of It - 2:14
4. Fell In Love Today - 1:59
5. Blind - 2:53
6. Grocery Soldier - 2:28
7. What Can He Do - 0:45
8. Basic Knowledge - 3:29
9. Gonna Leave - 2:22
10.The War - 3:12
11.Spare Change - 7:24
All songs by Lee Michaels except where stated

Personnel
*Lee Michaels - Vocals, Piano, Harpsichord, Organ, Bass
*Drake Levin - Guitar
*John Barbata - Drums
*Frank Davis - Drums
*Larry Knechtel - Bass

1968  Lee Michaels - Carnival Of Life (2010 remaster)
1969  Lee Michaels - Lee Michaels 
1970  Lee Michaels - Barrel

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Trilogy - I'm Beginning To Feel It (1970 us, magnificent classic rock with folk tinges, 2019 korean remaster)

Skip Griparis has flourished in many of the performing arts. After first studying piano and saxophone as a boy, he began his professional career while at Joliet West High School as a singer/guitarist in the first of a succession of top-rated pop/rock bands. Skip also found the time to work as an announcer at WJRC-AM Radio. Following high school, he continued his music studies at Joliet Junior College.

Soon Skip released his first album on Mercury Records as a member of Trilogy, a Joliet- based band that opened for such artists as Count Basie and Buddy Rich. Griparis also became a staff writer for United Artists Publishing, where he penned songs that have sold worldwide. Next, he joined Chicago's MCA recording artists New Colony Six. After a two-year stint, he left to sing and play in the Olivia Newton-John band, a position he held for four years. Skip performed with Olivia in a wide range of venues, including the Bu-Do Kan in Tokyo, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, and on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. 

After his tours with Newton-John ended, Griparis performed in several Joliet Drama Guild productions, and then completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater at Lewis University. He has acted in everything from professional world-premier productions to classic Shakespeare. His film and TV appearances include the role of Monte the colorman in the blockbuster hit movies Major League I and II.

Always looking for a new challenge, Skip combined his sense of humor with his music and acting skills to produce a satiric musical comedy act. In addition to performing numerous times at the Rialto Theater, he has headlined Dangerfield's in New York, Zanies in Chicago, and the Ice House in Los Angeles. A Chicago Tribune poll recognized Griparis as one of the top five comics in the country.

Joliet City

American classic rock band with folk shades, good vocal hamonies and excellent guitar with some psychedelic influences. They were from Chicago area but in their hearts they must have been from San Francisco.

Tracks
1. Red Wine (Skip Griparis) - 3:43
2. Thought (#1) (Skip Griparis) - 0:41
3. Three Blind Minds (Kevin McCann) - 3:35
4. The Royal Shut (Kevin McCann) - 2:57
5. Thought (#2) (Bob Wilson) - 0:21
6. Removing Myself  (Bob Wilson) - 2:47
7. Thought (#3) (Kevin McCann) - 0:27
8. Goodbye Flying  (Skip Griparis) - 3:13
9. I'm Beginning To Feel It (Kevin McCann) - 2:45
10.March 16th (My Closet Shelf) (Bob Wilson) - 2:58
11.Comin Up Soon (Skip Griparis) - 4:07
12.Thought (#4) (Kevin McCann) - 0:52
13.For An Occasion (After The Ball) (Kevin McCann) - 2:10
14.Trilogy For Carol (Bob Wilson) - 5:17

Trilogy
*Skip Griparis - Lead Guitar, Piano, Vocals,
*Kevin McCann - Guitar, Harmonica, Organ, Vocals,
*Bob Wilson - Lead Guitar, 12-String Guitar, Vocals
With
*Bernie Pershey - Drums, Tabla
*Rick Barr - Drums
*Thom Richards - Bass, Flute

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The Troggs - Wild Thing (1966 uk, classic garage psych beat, 2015 audiophile limited edition)

Remembered chiefly as proto-punkers who reached the top of the charts with the "caveman rock" of "Wild Thing" (1966), the Troggs were also adept at crafting power pop and ballads. Hearkening back to a somewhat simpler, more basic British Invasion approach as psychedelia began to explode in the late '60s, the group also reached the Top Five with their flower-power ballad "Love Is All Around" in 1968. While more popular in their native England than the U.S., the band also fashioned memorable, insistently riffing hit singles like "With a Girl Like You," "Night of the Long Grass," and the notoriously salacious "I Can't Control Myself" between 1966 and 1968. Paced by Reg Presley's lusting vocals, the group -- which composed most of their own material -- could crunch with the best of them, but were also capable of quite a bit more range and melodic invention than they've been given credit for.

Hailing from the relatively unknown British town of Andover, the Troggs hooked up with manager/producer Larry Page (who was involved in the Kinks' early affairs) in the mid-'60s. After a flop debut single, they were fortunate enough to come across a demo of Chip Taylor's "Wild Thing" (which had already been unsuccessfully recorded by the Wild Ones). In the hands of the Troggs, "Wild Thing" -- with its grungy chords and off-the-wall ocarina solo -- became a primeval three-chord monster, famous not only in its original hit Troggs version, but in its psychedelic revamping by Jimi Hendrix, who used it to close his famous set at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.

"Wild Thing" made number one in the States, but the Troggs' momentum there was impeded by a strange legal dispute which saw their early records simultaneously released on two different labels. Nor did it help that the band didn't tour the U.S. for a couple of years. As a consequence, the fine follow-up single "With a Girl Like You" didn't do as well as they might have.

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. With A Girl Like You - 2:07
2. From Home - 2:21
3. I Just Sing - 2:09
4. Hi Hi Hazel (Bill Martin) - 2:43
5. Lost Girl - 2:32
6. Evil (Shelby S. Singleton Jr.) - 3:14
7. Wild Thing (Chip Taylor) - 2:34
8. Our Love Will Still Be There - 3:08
9. Jingle Jangle - 2:26
10.When I'm With You - 2:23
11.Your Love (Michael Julien) - 1:53
12.I Want You (Colin Michael Frechter) - 2:14
All songs by Reg Presley except where indicated

The Troggs
*Ronnie Bond -  Drums
*Chris Britton - Lead Guitar
*Reg Presley - Lead vocals
*Peter Staples - Bass

1966  The Troggs - From Nowhere (2003 bonus tracks)
1967  The Troggs - Cellophane (2003 bonus tracks)
1966-76  Troggs - Archeology (double disc)
1968-73  The Troggs - Hip Hip Hooray (2004 digipak remaster) 

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Don Nix - Living By The Days (1971 us, spectacular blend of country psych blues rock, 2011 japan SHM remaster)

Don Nix may not be a household name, but for serious fans of 1960s and 1970s music, he is an important figure: as a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer. He also looms large in his home town of Memphis' musical history. Nix was a member of the legendary Mar-Keys and played saxophone on the hit "Last Night." He produced records at Stax (including Delaney & Bonnie's Home) and, while at Ardent, he wrote "Going Down" for Freddie King (later covered by Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughan quite successfully). Nix played on and arranged a boatload of records. He was on the Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour, and arranged the choir for George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh. Living by the Days was his second album of 1971 and appeared on Elektra. His first, In God We Trust, was released by Leon Russell's Shelter Records.

Recorded at Muscle Shoals, its lineup includes Donald "Duck" Dunn, Barry Beckett, David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, Roger Hawkins, Claudia Lennear, and Kathi McDonald. Opener "The Shape I'm In" (not the Robbie Robertson tune, but Nix's own; he wrote or co-wrote everything but the tepid cover of Hank Williams' "I Saw the Light"), "She Don't Want a Lover (She Just Needs a Friend)," and closer "My Train's Done Come and Gone" sound somewhat similar to the music the Band was making. Gospel, loose Southern gothic funkiness, and roots rock all commingle, but Nix's plaintive voice is drenched in authenticity. (And no disrespect to the Band, but the musicians here are on a wholly different -- higher -- level.) 

Stomping Southern R&B and early Memphis rock & roll fuel "Olena," and one can hear more than a trace of the sounds that the Rolling Stones would "borrow" on Sticky Fingers (on which Lennear also appeared). One can hear the influence of Russell on the honky tonk gospel of "Three Angels." Despite the shortcomings of "I Saw the Light" (Furry Lewis' opening narration is priceless), Nix and the Memphis bluesman were quite close. "Going Back to Iuka" begins as a conventional electric blues but becomes a tribute to "Mystery Train," with great slide guitar work and a popping funky bassline. While Living by the Days is very much a record of its time, it is from an era that has proven timeless in appeal to subsequent generations of rock fans. Living by the Days is well worth seeking out as one of the more obscure offerings issued by a major in 1971. 

by Thom Jurek

Tracks
1. Shape I'm In -  5:44
2. Olena -  4:19
3. I Saw The Light (Hank Williams) -  3:55
4. She Don't Want A Lover (She Just Needs A Friend) -  4:25
5. Living By The Days -  3:18
6. Going Back To Iuka -  4:29
7. Three Angels (Don Nix, Lonnie Mack) -  3:45
8. Mary Louise (Don Nix, Marlin Greene) -  2:47
9. My Train's Done Come And Gone -  5:00
All songs by Don Nix except where indicated

Musicians
*Don Nix - Vocals
*Tippy Armstrong - Guitars
*Barry Beckett - Keyboards
*Joey Cooper - Vocals
*Donald "Duck" Dunn - Bass
*Jeanie Greene - Vocals
*Marlin Greene - Vocals
*Roger Hawkins - Drums
*David Hood - Bass
*Jimmy Johnson - Guitars
*Claudia Lennear - Vocals
*Furry Lewis - Narrator
*Kathi McDonald - Vocals
*Mount Zion Singers - Vocals
*Gimmer Nicholson - Guitars
*Wayne Perkins - Guitars, Vocals
*Don Preston - Vocals
*Chris Stainton - Keyboards

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A.B. Skhy - Ramblin' On (1970 us, stunning blues psych rock, 2019 korean remaster)

Originally known as New Blues, they were basically an electric blues band with horns and some jazz influences. From Milwaukee, Winconsin they relocated to San Francisco where they became a popular live attraction at venues like the Fillmore and Avalon in the late sixties. 

Released following personnel changes which saw drummer Anderson replaced by Rick Jaeger and the addition of guitarist James Cooke, 1970's "Ramblin'" teamed the band with producers Kim Fowley and Michael Lloyd. Surrounded by an all-star cast, including appearances from guitarist Elvin Bishop, Dave Roberts and Steve Miller associate/keyboardist Ben Sidran.

Tracks
1. Gotta Be Free (Dennis Geyer, James Cooke) - 2:36
2. My Baby's Quit Me (Doc Pomus, Joe Kookoolis) - 3:54
3. Pearl (James Cooke) - 1:41
4. Lady In The Dark (James Cooke) - 4:30
5. Hope For The Future (James Cooke) - 3:17
6. Sweet Mother Earth (Dennis Geyer) - 4:02
7. Groovin' (Ben E. King, James Bethea) - 3:35
8. Trackin' Shoes (Jim Marcotte, Rick Jaeger, Dennis Geyer) - 4:35
9. I'm Walkin' (Antoine Domino, James Bartholemew) - 2:45
10.Gazebo (Dennis Geyer, James Cooke, Jim Marcotte, Rick Jaeger) - 6:06

A.B. Skhy
*Dennis Geyer - Guitar, Vocals
*James Curley Cooke - Guitar, Vocals
*Dr. Rick Jaeger - Percussion
*Jim Marcotte - Bass
With
*Wally Rose - Piano
*Ben Sidran - Keyboard
*Terry Andersen - Drums, Vocals
*Elvin Bishop - Guitar

1969  A.B. Skhy - A.B. Skhy 

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Buzzy Linhart - The Time To Live Is Now (1971 us, eccentric, eclectic jazzy funky folk rock)

Buzzy Linhart's first of two albums for Kama Sutra, three if you include the band Music's on the Buddah-distributed Eleuthera Records, 1971's The Time to Live Is Now has the songwriter playing with different styles and sounds in a setting that is not as refined as the Eddie Kramer co-produced Music album or Barry Beckett and Roger Hawkins' production of 1974's Pussycats Can Go Far. But don't blame the artist for that. In an exclusive interview for the All Media Guide conducted February 28th, 2002, Linhart revealed some of the secrets of The Time To Live Is Now: Bill Takas and Luther Rix, the bass player and drummer, are "world class jazz and classical musicians." Bill Takas spent nine years on the Tonight Show, and they co-founded Ten Wheel Drive (with Genya Ravan; see the Construction #1 LP). "We had been performing eight-to-ten months as a trio, sometimes with sax...it was supposed to be more [produced] like 'Pussycats' (Pussycats Can Go Far)...but [record exec] Neil Bogart played this for a group of 30-something pros for Buddah/Kama Sutra, and they got up out of their chairs and danced to it." 

That resulted in the late Neil Bogart deciding he wanted to release the roughs -- the rough vocals, the rough mix, even with a 32,000 dollar budget, which was pretty good at that point in time. They called this "rock-folk," rock with a jazz tinge as opposed to "jazz rock" that was Blood, Sweat & Tears. Even in its raw form, it is great stuff. Linhart lifts lines from here and there. Four lines from the Beatles' 1968 hit "Lady Madonna" are taken almost verbatim in the title track -- "Who buys the money, when you pay the rent" -- while the strange "Cheat Cheat Lied" is fused with Percy Mayfield's "Hit the Road Jack," Linhart lifting a melody and line from Blind Faith's "Presence of the Lord." On the following album, Buzzy (also called "The Black Album" as his 1969 outing on Phillips was also titled Buzzy), he's more blatantly lifting "What the World Needs Now Is Love" for his "Rollin' On" title. When he goes into Chester Powers' 1963 composition "Let's Get Together," you think he's absconding with lyrics and melody again, but it's actually a very cool cover of the Youngbloods' "Get Together," which hit for them in 1967 and 1969.

It is charming, as is the first appearance of "Friends," the Barry Manilow-produced hit for Bette Midler in 1973, re-cut by Buzzy on Pussycats Can Go Far and the only appearance here of friend Moogy Klingman, in the capacity of co-writer. Most of the material is by Linhart, "Good Face" being co-written with future Music bandmemberDoug Rodrigues, while drummer and co-producer Luther Rix pens and sings "Comin' Home." The group covers Jordan Kaplan's "There's No Need" with the legendary Ken Ascher on piano, and Jeannie Linhart does a vocal harmony on "The Love's Still Growing," but other than that, it's the three-piece unit producing and performing on this Kama Sutra debut album. Todd Rundgren would come onboard to mix "The Black Album," 1972's Buzzy, which would replace Takas with Danny Trifan on bass, and add Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on guitar, but The Time to Live Is Now remains an important, albeit raw, document of a major talent emerging from the early '70s. 

by Joe Viglione

William Linhart was born March 3, 1943, in Pittsburgh, Penn. In 2018 Linhart suffered a heart attack, he was subsequently hospitalized, then was moved to a nursing home in Berkeley. Following his  health issues, Linhart had hoped to return to the concert stage on July 14 2018, to perform at the Art House Gallery & Culture Center in Berkeley, Calif. Though the event took place, Linhart was not well enough to attend.  He died on February 13, 2020.

Tracks
1. The Time To Live Is Now (Buzzy Linhart) - 2:38
2. There's No Need (Jordan Kaplan) - 3:37
3. Comin' Home (Luther Rix) - 3:10
4. Heaven (Buzzy Linhart) - 3:22
5. Crazy (Buzzy Linhart) - 3:31
6. Let's Get Together (Chester Powers) - 5:36
7. Leila (Buzzy Linhart, Skip Brooker) - 2:02
8. I Don't Evere Want To Say Goodbye (Buzzy Linhart) - 2:50
9. The Love's Still Growing (Buzzy Linhart) - 4:55
10.Friends (Buzzy Linhart, Mark Klingman) - 3:11
11.Cheat-Cheat-Lied-Hit The Road Jack (Buzzy Linhart, Percy Mayfield) - 8:02
12.Good Face (Buzzy Linhart, Doug Rodrigues) - 1:26

Personnel
*Buzzy Linhart - Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar, Vibraphone
*Luther Rix - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
*Bill Takas - Bass Guitar, Vocals
*Kenny Ascher - Piano
*Jeannie Linhart - Vocals

1968  Buzz Linhart And Eyes Of Blue - Buzzy 

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Jerry Yester - Pass Your Light Around (1964-7? us, wonderful folk soft rock, 2017 remaster)

Though having been a member of the New Christy Minstrels and Modern Folk Quartet, and a replacement for Zal Yanovsky in the Lovin’ Spoonful, Jerry Yester is known mostly for his behind-the-scenes work as a studio musician, arranger and producer. His album with then-wife Judy Henske, Farewell Aldebaran, and a follow-up collaboration as Rosebud, are both highly revered, but did little to establish Yester’s name commercially. A pair of 1967 singles on the Dunhill label were his only commercially released solo material, but he wrote and recorded at a variety of Los Angeles studios throughout the 1970s, and fifteen of those pieces are collected and released here for the very first time.

These are finished studio recordings, not songwriter demos, and their artistry, quality and polish are undimmed by the decades they’ve spent on the shelf. Yester’s collaboration with lyricist Larry Beckett yielded a wide range of material, with the former responding musically to the latter’s words. The material covers pop, folk, bubblegum, country-rock, baroque and more. The lyrics, which were often inspired by real-life events, are filled with yearning, period detail and allegorical depth. The overdubbed harmonies of “Brooklyn Girl” show what Yester could accomplish on his own, and the backing of the Manhattan Transfer’s Laurel Massé on “Dance for Me, Anna Lee” shows off the artistic circles in which he traveled.

Yester repurposed a few of his earlier melodies, borrowed a few from Bach, and for the vocal intro of “Brooklyn Girl,” he deftly lifted the hook from “Stop! In the Name of Love.” The latter’s production of beautifully layered harmonies and harmonium combine to suggest the Tokens singing a Left Banke song. There are several songs of unrequited infatuation, and Beckett’s lyric of marital dissolution, “The Minutes,” echoed Yester’s split from Judy Henske. Although several of these songs were recorded by a reformed mid-70s MFQ, the originals remained on Yester’s shelf until now. It’s surprising that no one spotted the commercial possibilities of “All I Can Do Is Dance” or the FM potential of an album. Liner notes by Barry Alphonso and photos by Henry Diltz fill out a very special package.

No Depression

Tracks
1. Pass Your Light Around (Larry Beckett) - 2:29
2. My Dusty Darling - 2:20
3. Brooklyn Girl - 3:01
4. The Whiskey Moon (Larry Beckett) - 2:38
5. Showboat - 3:27
6. The Sun Is Like A Big Brass Band (Jerry Yester, Larry Beckett, Johan Sebastian Bach) - 2:08
7. Corn Cracker - 3:04
8. Dance For Me, Anna Lee - 2:56
9. With A Hickory Pole - 2:58
10.Seesaw - 2:57
11.The Minutes - 2:56
12.The Rose - 3:00
13.Across The Persian Gulf (Jerry Yester, Larry Beckett, Johan Sebastian Bach) - 2:11
14.All I Can Do Is Dance - 3:59
15.Hip Toad - 2:07
Compositions by Jerry Yester, Larry Beckett except where stated

Musicians
*Jerry Yester - Lead Vocals, Piano, Electric, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonium, Bass, Organ, Autoharp, Synthesizer
*David Vaught - Bass
*Don Heffington - Drums, Percussion
*John Seiter - Keyboards
*Peter Klimes - Electric, Acoustic Guitars
*John Forsha - Electric, 12 String Guitars
*John Tuttle - Violins
*Larry Brown - Guitar
*Laurel Massé - Vocals

Related Acts
1969  Judy Henske And Jerry Yester - Farewell Aldebaran 
1971  Rosebud - Rosebud (2017 remaster and expanded)
1965  Do You Believe In Magic (2016 Blu Spec Bonus Tracks Edition)
1966  Daydream  (2016 Blu Spec Bonus Tracks Edition)
1966  Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful  (2016 Blu Spec Bonus Tracks Edition)
1966 The Lovin' Spoonful - What's Up, Tiger Lily (2008 japan remaster) 
1967-68  You're A Big Boy Now / Everything Playing (2011 edition and 2016 Blu Spec Bonus Tracks Edition)
1969  Revelation: Revolution '69
1968  Zalman Yanovsky - Alive And Well In Argentina (2010 remaster and expanded)

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The Seeds - Raw And Alive The Seeds In Concert At Merlin's Music Box (1967-68 us, superb punkadelic, 2014 double dsic remaster)

Sky Saxon and the Seeds were an aggregation who, at their peak, understood how to unleash the unbridled cathartic power of rock’n’roll in their live performances. Their swansong album “Raw & Alive: The Seeds In Concert” is a remarkable encapsulation of this gift. Its contents were not recorded “live” on location, although that had been the original intention and, apart from added crowd noise, there is no studio trickery or editing of the performances. The record really is the Seeds “raw” and it delivers the sense of chaotic excitement their audiences have long enthused about. It remains a fitting tribute to the power of the original Seeds quartet.

At the start of 1968, the Seeds needed help, especially after the disappointing reaction to their “Future” and “Seedy Blues” albums. They had fired voluble manager Lord Tim Hudson and were playing fewer and fewer dates, as Sky now preferred to hold stoned court at his Malibu crash pad. A long-playing record showcasing their strength as a live act was mooted. The original plan was to record in the studio in front of a small invited audience, but the dynamics of a true Seeds show were lacking and the results were scrapped. Disc 2 of our reissue contains this performance as it went down. It is a fascinating document, featuring different arrangements of some Seeds classics and a wholly unreleased song, ‘Hubbly Bubbly Love’.

The band tried again in April 1968, this time without an audience but in the same warts-and-all “live” mode. The selections were a combination of singles, classic album cuts and some new material including the spooky ‘Forest Outside Your Door’ and ‘Mumble And Jumble’. The experimental ‘Night Time Girl’ featured a prototype Vox guitar/organ combination, and the fuzz-tinged rocker ‘Satisfy You’ was a real return to form. Once completed, the tracks were overlaid with the sort of frenzied screaming that might have  been heard at the Seeds concerts a year before, but was now in increasingly short supply. Hearing the undubbed original renditions, as presented on Disc 1 for the first time, suggests this fake applause was probably unneccessary, such is the power of Sky, Daryl, Jan and Rick on these essential cuts.

The deluxe remastered reissue of “Raw & Alive: The Seeds In Concert” comes in a gatefold digipak that contains a fat booklet crammed with full details on the making of the album and dozens of photos of the Seeds in action during their heyday.

by Alec Palao

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Introduction By "Humble Harve" Miller/Mr. Farmer - 3:58

2. No Escape (Jimmy Lawrence, Jan Savage, Sky Saxon) - 2:27

3. Satisfy You (Sky Saxon, Jan Savage) - 2:04

4. Night Time Girl - 2:33

5. Up In Her Room - 9:56

6. Gypsy Plays His Drums (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 4:35

7. Can't Seem To Make You Mine - 2:40

8. Mumble And Bumble (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 2:27

9. Forest Outside Your Door (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 2:41

10.Pushin' Too Hard - 2:53

11.Introduction By "Humble Harve"/Mr. Farmer - 4:07

12.No Escape (Jimmy Lawrence, Jan Savage, Sky Saxon) - 2:30

13.Satisfy You (Sky Saxon, Jan Savage) - 2:07

14.Night Time Girl - 2:31

15.Up In Her Room - 9:56

16.Gypsy Plays His Drums (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 4:40

17.Can't Seem To Make You Mine - 2:38

18.Humble And Bumble (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 2:30

19.Forest Outside Your Door (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 2:42

20.900 Million People Daily All Making Love - 4:55

21.Pushin' Too Hard - 2:56

All songs by Sky Saxon except where noted

Disc 2
1. Introduction By Gene Norman - 2:51
2. Mumble And Bumble (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 2:21
3. Gypsy Plays His Drums (New Mix) (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 4:44
4. Mr Farmer - 4:01
5. No Escape (Jimmy Lawrence, Jan Savage, Sky Saxon)2:44
6. Satisfy You (Jan Savage, Sky Saxon) - 2:04
7. Can't Seem To Make You Mine - 2:52
8. Two Fingers Pointing On You - 3:17
9. 900 Million People Daily All Making Love - 8:56
10.Forest Outside Your Door (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 3:26
11.Hubbly Bubbly Love - 2:15
12.Up In Her Room - 7:39
13.A Faded Picture (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 6:50
14.Fallin' (Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper) - 7:22
15.Pushin' Too Hard (New Mix) (2:49
16.Wdgy Spots - 0:55
All songs by Sky Saxon except where stated

1965-93 The Seeds - Pushin' Too Hard (2007 double CD compilation)
1966 The Seeds - The Seeds (2012 remaster and expanded
1966-67 The Seeds - Web Of Sound / A Full Spoon Of Seedy Blues (2013 double disc) 
1967 The Seeds - Future (Vinyl edition)
1967 The Seeds - Future (2013 double disc digipak)
1986  Sky "Sunlight" Saxon And Firewall - Destiny's Children

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Mountain - Climbing! (1970 us, impressive heavy rock with melodic sensibilities, 2013 blu spec edition)

In the early ‘70s, the transition of rock as a form of expression towards the mass market entertainment industry swept aside in its wake a large number of musical pioneers – pioneers such as Mountain, the missing link to heavy metal’s beginnings, among others. The rock behind the mountain is none other than Leslie West, one of history’s most influential guitarists who the gods have only looked down kindly upon the one time, when he was courting a certain queen from Mississippi. Having recently turned 71 (born in October 1945), his biography may not take up that much space in the encyclopaedias, but that great song can still often be heard on the radio. Maybe his mistake was arriving at the right place, but at the wrong time in the history of rock.  

Climbing! , Mountain’s debut album in 1970, was in fact the ex-guitarist of The Vagrants’ second record, with whom he had already made a name for himself - both for his imposing frame and his unusual technique. He recorded his first album, a sublime slice of blues, by himself – tracks which convinced record producer Felix Pappalardi that this giant of a man was the perfect candidate to take over from Cream, another of his creations. It wasn’t long before a contract with Atlantic Records was laid on the table to be signed.   

Back then, Clapton was god and West was set on sounding like him, exactly like him. This was going to be a dream come true for the 25-year-old New Yorker. To keep him company, Pappalardi had brought in Steve Knight on the keyboards and Laurence ‘Corky’ Laing on drums. Before he knew what had hit him, West found himself up on stage at Woodstock and about to become legend.  

He took full advantage of the opportunity handed to him and surprised all and sundry with a record that didn’t just follow in the stellar path of the legendary trio, but was much grittier. That said, Pappalardi ensured that a piece by Jack Bruce was on there, even though it wasn’t one of the composer’s best efforts. The one-hit-wonder that Mississippi Queen would prove to be aside, songs such as Never in My Life (very popular back then), with their heavy, hypnotic riffs, were the early signs of hard rock’s coming of age. On Side B, back when you had to turn a record over and that pause in the proceedings actually mattered (not like with today’s CDs and USBs), the psychedelic hues present were more along the lines of progressive rock. At times it’s quite impossible to not think of Rush.  

Apart from the elaborate and perfectionist work of West, also of note is the music played by Knight on the piano in Boys in the Band – almost the only chance that the keyboard player got to shine in an album ruled by West’s Gibson Les Paul Jr., a guitar that he is famous for, along with the Electra Plexiglass that he used to fool around with during his early concerts.  

However, the hidden gem that can be found in Climbing! is the acoustic beauty, To My Friend, and the only song that West wrote entirely on his own. A fine example of just how well this maestro of the six strings can play.

Guitars Exchange

Tracks
1. Mississippi Queen (Corky Laing, David Rea, Felix Pappalardi, Leslie West) - 2:32
2. Theme From An Imaginary Western (Jack Bruce, Pete Brown) - 5:08
3. Never In My Life (Corky Laing, Felix Pappalardi, Gail Collins, Leslie West) - 3:53
4. Silver Paper (Corky Laing, Felix Pappalardi, Gail Collins, George Gardos, Leslie West, Steve Knight) - 3:19
5. For Yasgur's Farm (Corky Laing, David Rea, Felix Pappalardi, Gail Collins, Gary Ship, George Gardos) - 3:23
6. To My Friend (Leslie West) - 3:38
7. The Laird (Felix Pappalardi, Gail Collins) - 4:39
8. Sittin' On A Rainbow (Corky Laing, Gail Collins, Leslie West) - 2:23
9. Boys In The Band (Felix Pappalardi, Gail Collins) - 3:43
10.For Yasgur's Farm (Live) (Corky Laing, David Rea, Felix Pappalardi, Gail Collins, Gary Ship, George Gardos) - 4:19
Bonus Track #10

Mountain
*Leslie West - Guitars, Vocals
*Felix Pappalardi - Bass Guitar, Piano, Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
*Corky Laing - Drums, Percussion
*Steve Knight - Organ, Mellotron

1974  Mountain - Twin Peaks (2005 digi pak)
Related Acts

1965-68  Vagrants - I Can't Make a Friend (2011 remaster)

1969  Kensington Market - Aardvark (2008 remaster)   
1969  Leslie West - Mountain (Japanese edition)

1972  West Bruce And Laing - Why Dontcha (2012 remaster) 

1973  West Bruce And Laing - Whatever Turns You On (2008 remaster)

1973  Back Door - 8th Street Nites

1976  The (Blues) Creation With Felix Pappalardi - Live At Budokan (rare double disc japan issue) 

1977-78  Laing • Hunter • Ronson • Pappalardi - The Secret Sessions (2011 Retro World)

1979  Felix Pappalardi - Don't Worry Ma (2004 edition)

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