Muddy Waters - Electric Mud (1968 us, electric acid blues masterpiece, 2013 japan remaster)

Muddy Waters is obviously one of the most recognized and influential blues artists of this century. When his name is mentioned phrases like "slide guitar" and "electric Chicago blues" are associated with it, but what about "wah-wah" and "psychedelic"? For a small period in history, Muddy Waters' image became one of a psychedelic icon and if there weren't records still around from then, most people would doubt it had ever happened. The sixties were a strange time for music and musicians- none felt stranger than musicians from the previous decade trying to stay afloat then. Many times in music, established artists will try to expand upon their work and take a chance with something different. They should at least be praised and encouraged when they try to experiment with their sound. If music were condemned to always following a strict guideline of rules, it would be pretty boring. Music should be allowed to grow and explore new territories because everyone can agree that it's not exciting if it's always predictable.

We've already heard the story of Muddy's rise from a Mississippi planation to a Chicago blues legend but that only took his career so far, at least in his chosen style of music. Eventually, bands that were influenced byMuddy like the Rolling Stones (named after one of his songs), Animals, Yardbirds, Cream and Hendrix became big, raising Muddy's profile but not getting him the same level of success his descendants were having. Marshall Chess, son of the president of the label who worked at the company had the idea to try something different by putting Muddy's music into a psychedelic setting to appeal to a younger audience. After discussing the project with Muddy, he went for it. He wasn't forced into it as some have been led to believe.

Marshall Chess assembled in his words "the hottest, most avant garde rock guys in Chicago" for the album sessions consisting of Pete Cosey (lead guitar, later with Miles Davis) Phil Upchurch and Roland Faulkner (rhythm guitar), Louis Satterfield (bass) Gene Barge (tenor sax), Charles Stepney (organs) and Morris Jennings (drums). Since Muddy wasn't as accustomed to this style, he only contributed vocals, but he still played an essential part in this recording. Electric Mud (1968) was mostly recorded in live takes with few overdubs and that off-the-cuff live feel that's captured on it makes it stronger. On the opener, "I Just Want To Make Love to You," pounding drums and Cosey firing out raw screaming guitar grabs your ear with Muddy's confident singing pushing the music along. The solo on this song is nothing short of phenomenal.

The guitar starts playing some distorted melodic notes then morphs into this gigantic screeching feedback riff becoming louder and wilder then continues to morph from a tearing solo until it reaches this intense mind-bending groove that sounds on the brink of collapse. At this point, the guitar cuts out, leaving you breathless, with just drums and Muddy's voice building up back to the verse, then with an out-of-your-mind guitar and organ playing off each other to the end. The next song, "Hoochie Coochie Man," begins with an incoming guitar sound and has the opposite feel of the last track. Muddy's vocals seemingly come out of the speakers at you as alternating lines come from the left and then right, giving the listener a disorienting acid-like effect.

A liquidy sounding guitar that washes over like a wave accompanies the verse and changes into an expressive wah-wah lead on the chorus. There's a great, fun cover of "Let's Spend The Night Together" which the Stones must have taken as a huge compliment, having their idol cover one of their songs. Muddy and the band turn it, around making it appear like he wrote it with a big mean sounding back melody, soulful distorted guitar lines and Muddy's commanding voice sounding the way he might have sung in a club in Chicago. "She's Alright" has a trippy beginning with bass notes fluttering up then swaying back down to open up to smash your head against the wall along with crashing cymbals matched by a dirty guitar that has real spirit to it. The song makes great use of cross-overs with a screeching guitar bouncing back and forth between speakers and then somehow transforms and ends with a pleasant distorted instrumental version of "My Girl." Original material was also written for this record like "Tom Cat" and "Herbert Harper's Free Press News," with the latter as a vaguely topical song about the sixties with lines like "world is moving much too fast" and "where ya gonna run to, where ya gonna hide" and a fuzzed out guitar that parallels the confusion and outrage of the lyrics. "The Same Thing" closes Electric Mud with a slow heavy blues feel to it and a stretched out, aching guitar on top.

When Electric Mud was released, it was a huge success, selling 150,000 in the first six weeks. It was also the best selling Muddy Waters record at Chess ever, entering Billboard's Top 200 Chart. It was a triumph of a record that updated his sound and put him elbow to elbow with the bands that had influenced him. The record broke down restrictions of genres with its inventiveness and ability to re-arrange songs and have them come out as something radically different. Unfortunately, narrow-minded blues purists across the board denounced it as atrocious, offensive and a big "sell out." There's a direct similarity between this and what happened to Bob Dylan a few years earlier when he decided to go electric, making his folk-purist fans angry that he was "selling out" to rock and roll. Since Muddy is primarily a blues artist, overviews of his career would be written by a number of blues historians who would automatically dismiss this record for years to come.

But not everyone hated the album. Pete Cosey was later told by Hendrix's valet that before he would perform live, he'd listen to "Herbert Harper" for inspiration. In the '70's, when Marshall Chess went to visit the Rolling Stones rehearsal space, he saw a poster on the wall for the Electric Mud album. Led Zeppelin's bassist John Paul Jones cites Electric Mud as the inspiration for the basic riff behind "Black Dog." Marshall Chess also notes "the English accepted it; they are more eccentric." Strangely enough, rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy has emerged over the years as the biggest supporter of the record, stating "To me, it's a brilliant record. I've played it a thousand times." Chuck D also explained part of the intent of the record saying "It took me a while to warm up to traditional blues, but what struck me right away was the Electric Mud thing." Based on the success of Electric Mud, another blues musician on Chess, Howlin Wolf, was forced into recording a psych record. This Is Howlin Wolf's New Album (subtitled And He Doesn't Like It) (1969) isn't as good as Electric Mud although it did yield a minor hit with a psyched out version of "Evil." Chubby Checker even released a psych record (Chequered (1971)) that sounds better than you'd expect, though it only came out in England.

Over the years, Muddy has famously criticized EM, but around the time of its release, he seemed to have a different attitude. Blues fans claim he always hated it but the following proves otherwise. Six months after EM, the same line-up reassembled and recorded a sequel called After The Rain (1969) that still has distortion on it but isn't as overtly psychedelic. If Muddy hadn't liked EM, he would have had enough say at Chess to dismiss a follow-up, but instead he went along with it. In fact, Pete Cosey says "I'll never forget as soon as I walked into the studio for the follow-up and Muddy saw me he threw his arms around me and said ‘Hey, how you doing, boy, play some of that stuff you played on the last album." After The Rain's songs alternate between Chicago blues and distorted guitar tracks.

There's a marked difference on After The Rain with Paul Oscher (harmonica) and Otis Spann (piano) from Muddy's old band joining in and Muddy playing lead guitar on several tracks. On the Chicago blues tracks, more prominent bass and drums put the music into a rock setting, but it's Muddy's slide guitar playing that highlights them. Muddy really let's loose with some striking, tenseful slide work on tracks like "Honey Bee," "Rollin and Tumblin" and "Blues and Trouble" that just send a chill through your bones. On the other side of the album, the guitar on "Ramblin Mind" lashes and cries out in dense fuzz while on "Bottom of the Sea," the fuzzy leads seem to hang in the air along with an innovative bowed bass and harmonious organ in the background (the bowed bass is also used on the record on "I am The Blues").

By the time After The Rain came out, the blues critics created enough of a backlash that it started affecting sales. Muddy must have realized that the records were upsetting his blues fanbase which had been loyal to him for over twenty years. Perhaps he feared he'd lose them forever if he stayed in this direction and that the young fanbase he had now might not stick with him as long. It wasn't until 1970 and after a more normal electric blues record (Fathers and Sons) that Muddy started talking badly about Electric Mud and then only mildly at first. Muddy released some great records in the rest of his lifetime, but he never experimented much with his music again.

In the years following Electric Mud and Muddy's Death in 1983 from heart failure , the record itself started building a cult around it, comprised of acid rock fans, record collectors and curious people. By 1996, the resurgence of popularity in the record matched with its scarcity led it to being reissued in a deluxe edition by Chess with new line notes by Mark Humphrey and Marshall Chess. Despite all the bad press Electric Mud received, Marshall Chess never stopped claiming it was a brilliant, misunderstood record.

In 2003, The Blues, a PBS-TV series produced by famed director Martin Scorsese, traced the roots of the blues from Africa to modern day society, showing how it inspired other generations of musicians. While in production, Marshall Chess got an e-mail from Chuck D saying that he heard he was doing a film that connected the blues to hip hop and that he wanted to be part of it. Chess was happy to hear Chuck D say "Electric Mud was one of his favorite, most influential albums and that all the early hip hop guys were inspired by it," affirming a connection he thought had happened.

In the episode titled Godfathers and Sons, the focus is on the Chicago blues, Chess records and the effect of Electric Mud on Public Enemy, with Chuck D coming to Chicago, led on a historic blues tour by Chess. There, Chuck D's feverant appreciation of EM got him to reassemble the musicians from the sessions to perform material from it for the upcoming 20th Anniversary Chicago Blues Festival. In keeping with the experimental vein of the record, Chuck D added a turntablist (Juice) and a rapper (Kyle Jason) to the band, re-naming the group the Electric Mudcats. Having the material played at a blues festival showed how the album had finally come full circle, from being hated to being respected and enjoyed.
by Tim Shannon

Tracks
1. I Just Want To Make Love To You (Willie Dixon) - 4:17
2. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon) - 4:51
3. Let's Spend the Night Together (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 3:09
4. She's Alright (McKinley Morganfield) - 6:33
5. Mannish Boy (McKinley Morganfield) - 3:48
6. Herbert Harper's Free Press News (Sidney Barnes, Robert Thurston) - 4:37
7. Tom Cat (Charles Williams) - 3:38
8. The Same Thing (Willie Dixon) - 5:43

Musicians
*Muddy Waters - Vocal
*Gene Barge - Tenor Saxophone
*Phil Upchurch - Guitars
*Roland Faulkner - Guitars
*Pete Cosey - Guitars
*Charles Stepney - Organ
*Louis Satterfield - Bass
*Morris Jennings - Drums

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Funkadelic - Maggot Brain (1971 us, fantastic soul funk psych, 2005 bonus tracks remaster)

"Maggot Brain" is far more than something that can be defined by any individual genre. It's a fusion of so many musical ideas that it simply should not work. After all, any album that is defined by the label of "funk", traditionally an upbeat style of music really should not start with a 10 minute guitar solo owing more to the blues than anything else. It's hard to really compare this solo to much else (it's been described as the greatest solo ever, and with very good reason), but if you really want a point of comparison it's probably a good idea to listen to Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd, since there are some definite similarities there, not least in the blues influence, and in the way that the songs builds and builds.

However, and remarkably, this solo (played by the late Eddie Hazel) actually outdoes that song in terms of pure emotion. As some of you will know, Shine On You Crazy Diamond is a tribute to Syd Barrett, the former member of Pink Floyd, and as such really is an emotional song, but it simply can't live up to this. Whereas Gilmour plays with feeling, and not much speed, here the guitar is both dripping with emotion as well, at times, sounding like it's going to fall in on itself, such is the passion and speed with which it's being played.. The fact that Hazel was simply told by funk legend George Clinton (the creative force behind this album) to "play like your mother just died" may account for the quality of this song, but the fact that it was recorded in one take makes it a truly remarkable piece of music, as well as being completely and totally atypical of anything that could really call itself "funk". You see why I put that disclaimer at the top yet?

Although that's by far and away the biggest oddity on the album, it's by no means the most thrilling track here, beautiful though it is. The next two songs, Can You Get To That and You And Your Folks, Me And My Folks are far more upbeat, although hidden deep under the waves of bubbling funk is the dark secret of this album, namely how political it is. And here's another thing that makes this odd. Funk simply isn't meant to be like this. Funk is meant to be James Brown, singing about feeling like a sex machine. In spite of George Clinton's reputation though, the lyrics here include lines such as:

?But if in our fears, we don't learn to trust each other
And if in our tears, we don't learn to share with your brother
You know that hate is gonna keep on multiplying
And you know that man is gonna keep right on dying".

While this is obviously very much a product of the times (in Vietnam war era America it would have been hard to have some political references somewhere in your music), and the idealism of the record can grate on some people, in a way that merely strengthens the album still further. After all, although some of the lyrics here focus on the staple of women, and Clinton?s love for them, ideas such as "You've lost the fight and the winner is fear" would be considered as lyrical genius if more conventionally respected songwriters wrote them. What am I trying to say here? Basically, don't write this album off because of the politics that's in here at times. Although it can be corny, it's genuine, and adds yet another layer to the intense musical experience that's available with this album.

On the subject of musical experiences, I perhaps haven't talked about just how many influences this album has, and how much it subsequently influenced. Although, as I've said, there are blues influences clearly obvious here, there's also jazz, soul, psychedelica, as well as a clear precursor of what would become metal, on Super Stupid, which is built around a blazing guitar performance from Hazel. If the title track sees him displaying his most sensitive side, this song shows how well he can write a truly memorable riff of the sort that Jimmy Page would rip off Willie Dixon for, before following it with a virtuoso solo. Not only do the band play many styles, but my God do they do it well. Bernie Worrell, who plays keyboards on this album often takes a back seat to the other members of the band, but on Hit It And Quit It gives a demonstration of his talents, as well as being the proud possessor of a chorus that can probably be heard from outer space, as well as being the spiritual twin of Can You Get To That, which features greatly diverse vocals, with a gospel choir providing the bulk of the singing, with a deep baritone occasionally entering the mix.

If there's one criticism of this album, it's that Back In Our Minds is on it. While not a bad track in its own right (in fact it's quite enjoyable when listened to by itself), it simply isn't up to the standard of the rest of the record. Although it features some really odd effects that I'm not even going to try and attribute to a particular instrument, it sounds as if it was recorded as an afterthought, with vaguely dissonant voices moaning away in the background, and no real structure to the song existing. Other than that though, the record's near perfect. Unlike some other great albums they've also put the record together pretty much to perfection. With the opening and closing track both being over 9 minutes long and no other song going over the 4 minute mark it's short enough to be easily listenable to, but with enough themes and ideas on never to get boring. And on final song Wars Of Armageddon, all hell breaks loose.

The most obvious immediate comparison is to something like Revolution 9; The Beatles's famous ambient piece that they never really sounded like either before or after, but that's to ignore the genius of the song. Although there are lyrics to it (mainly freedom chants of one sort or another), these very much fade in and out of the music, and aren't the focus at all. Latin drumming, constantly shifting guitars, and electronic effects that sound as if they're gatecrashing the band's private party make this sound as if the band just sat down, turned on every machine they could find in the studio, and recorded what happened for the next 9 minutes. Now I think of it they may have done just that, but the fact remains that no matter how they got there, Wars Of Armageddon is a true masterpiece, with both musical skill and effects such as cows mooing, airport announcements, and background whispers combining to keep the listener intrigued for the full duration of the song.

Who would I recommend this album to? In a word, everyone. It's undoubtedly a definitive album, although of what genre I'm not really quite sure. At times emotionally pure, at others sounding like an aural orgasm, this is a work of music that most bands would be forced to hold their hands up to and admit that they just don't have the creativity to even begin thinking about making an album like this. If you hate all the genres that I've shamelessly namechecked in this review (just for clarity's sake I've worked my way through jazz, soul, funk, psychedelica, metal, blues, and I'm now adding rock, just because I can), then at the very least download the title track. As an exhibition of how good the guitar can sound, that's pretty much unsurpassed. For everyone else, just get the album. It's quite possible that you'll never look at music in quite the same way again.
by Sputnik Music

Tracks
1. Maggot Brain (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel) – 10:20
2. Can You Get to That (George Clinton, Ernie Harris) – 2:50
3. Hit It And Quit It (George Clinton, Billy Bass Nelson, Garry Shider) – 3:50
4. You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks (George Clinton, Judie Jones, Bernie Worrell) – 3:36
5. Super Stupid (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Billy Bass Nelson, Tawl Ross) – 3:57
6. Back in Our Minds (Fuzzy Haskins) – 2:38
7. Wars of Armageddon (George Clinton, Tiki Fulwood, Tawl Ross, Bernie Worrell) – 9:42
8. Whole Lot of BS (George Clinton, Bernie Worrell) - 2:11
9. I Miss My Baby (Eddie Haskins) - 5:02
10.Maggot Brain (Eddie Hazel, George Clinton) - 9:35

Musicians
*Eddie Hazel - Lead Guitar
*Tawl Ross - Rhythm Guitar
*Bernie Worrell - Keyboards
*Billy Bass Nelson - Bass
*Tiki Fulwood - Drums
*George Clinton - Vocals
*Fuzzy Haskins - Vocals
*Calvin Simon - Vocals
*Grady Thomas - Vocals
*Ray Davis - Vocals
*Garry Shider - Vocals
*Bernie Worrell - Vocals
*Tawl Ross - Vocals
*Eddie Hazel - Vocals
*Billy Bass Nelson - Vocals

1970  Funkadelic
1970  Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow 

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Funkadelic - Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow (1970 us, super heavy soul psych, 2005 bonus tracks remaster)

Conventional wisdom has it that Maggot Brain is the definitive early Funkadelic record, but for me, Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow best represents what the band – in their first acid drenched psychedelic funk incarnation – were really all about. Allegedly recorded in a single 24 hour session so that producer and band leader George Clinton could “see if we can cut a whole album while we’re tripping on acid”, Free Your Mind… is a nasty, clawing, scratching, messed up concoction of pysch funk guitar mayhem from start to finish. It’s easily Funkadelic’s noisiest and least immediately accessible album. It’s also a stone cold killer.

The opening title cut, ten minutes of squalling feedback drenched sound effects, drone rock and freaky lyrical chants, immediately demonstrates everything that’s wrong with trying to cut a record while heavily under the influence of hallucinogenics… and everything that’s so right about it. A more reflective (or sober) producer would surely have brought Eddie Hazel’s chugging guitar riff out to the forefront and rocked the track out from the get go. Instead, it’s faded teasingly in and out of the mix in a white squall of space age studio effects. Somehow, it still manages to work. “Free your mind and your ass will follow – the kingdom of heaven is within” the band chants amid the chaos, kicking off Funkadelic’s characteristic subversion of religious themes into quasi mystical party jams. The track resolves itself by breaking down into an extended, trancy organ solo by Bernie Worrell. Heady stuff.

Friday Night, August 14th, to my mind, is one of the most underrated cuts in the Funkadelic canon. It’s possibly the band’s hardest rocking track - a great slice of Hendrix inspired heavy guitar groove. Hazel’s riffage is thick, fuzzy and dirty sounding on this one, and the sound mix is rough as hell, but, if anything, this only serves to accentuate the track’s primal urgency. George Clinton was still learning his trade behind the production decks at this point. Later releases would feature a much more accomplished studio sheen, but in the early years the lack of polish became a part of Funkadelic’s signature sound. Free Your Mind… is an angry, buzzing, hissing record, fairly seething with an atmosphere of proto-punk menace.

Funky Dollar Bill is one of Funkadelic’s classic early singles. It’s a loose, raunchy funk rock stomper with more instant appeal than any other cut on the album. The band’s lyrics would get more pointed and wildly creative as time went on, but Funky Dollar Bill is an early example of Funkadelic’s wry, playful and slightly cynical worldview. Everybody knows that chasin’ a dollar ultimately gets you nowhere, but everybody keeps chasin’ a dollar anyway.

It’s immediately followed up by another classic single, and arguably the greatest of all the early Funkadelic tracks, I Wanna Know if it’s Good to You. The Eddie Hazel riff that drives the song is nothing less than inspired; an insanely funky wah-wah guitar lick that taps directly into the brain’s auditory G-Spot and then refuses to let go. It was the sound of Hazel’s guitar that was front and centre on all of the early Funkadelic records, his licks poured out all over them like white hot liquid gold. Criminally overlooked in the usual, tiresomely predictable magazine polls listing the greatest ever rock guitarists, Hazel was nothing less than the lineal successor to Jimi Hendrix. Not quite as flashy, maybe, but with a greater knack for turning out instantly killer funk rock riffs. Hazel breaks out into a searing, stinging guitar solo in the second half of the track – one of his finest in a terrific arsenal of inspired solo work – as Bernie Worrell vamps away on the organ. Tantalisingly, the tape fades out just as Hazel is poised to bust out with another lyrical passage of solo play. Man, I’d love to hear the studio out takes from this track.

The album shifts gears somewhat at this point with Some More, a rather more sedate number that trundles along on an amiable blues rock groove. It’s hardly one of Funkadelic’s most memorable moments, but it’s inoffensive enough and settles the palette after the preceding 25 minutes worth of psych guitar freak outs. The album closes with Eulogy and Light, one of the more bizarre experiments in Funkadelic’s back catalogue. It’s essentially snippets from Open Our Eyes – an early Funkadelic song – played backwards and mixed in with spaced out studio effects. It’s accompanied by an eerie chant that subverts the Lord’s Prayer into a satirical comment on consumer culture, before descending into abstract, vaguely sinister wordplay. It’s very much a product of its time, and as with many such acid fuelled ventures into studio experimentation – like say, The Beatles’ Revolution 9 – it’s not something you’d necessarily want to listen to repeatedly.

Clocking in at just under 31 minutes, Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow is a brief album, even by the standards of its 1971 release date. But it’s stripped of extraneous fat and there’s a refreshing lack of dud tracks, even if the last couple probably won’t be played through on every listen. It’s too rough and unevenly formed an album to be declared an outright masterpiece, and those in search of perfectly realised composition or elegant song craft had better look elsewhere. But Funkadelic were never really a “song” band. They were all about kickin’ out the jams. You either get on board and follow them deep into the groove, or you stay at home altogether. But if you can’t get enough of nasty sounding guitar freak out music, fulminating in a lethally funky psychedelic stew, then it just doesn’t get any more intoxicating than
Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow.
by The Grand Inquisitor 

Tracks
1. Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow (George Clinton, Ray Davis, Eddie Hazel) - 10:04
2. Friday Night, August 14th (Clinton, Hazel, Billy Bass Nelson) - 5:21
3. Funky Dollar Bill (Clinton, Davis, Hazel, Tawl Ross) - 3:15
4. I Wanna Know If It's Good to You? (Clinton, Clarence Haskins, Hazel , Nelson) 5:59
5. Some More (Clinton, Ernie Harris, Hazel ) - 2:56
6. Eulogy and Light (Clinton, Harris) - 3:31
7. Fish, Chips and Sweat (William Nelson,Eddie Hazel, George Clinton) - 3:22 
8. Free Your Mind Radio Advert - 0:55
9. I Wanna Know If It's Good to You (William Nelson, Edward Hazel, Clarence Haskins, George Clinton) - 2:50 
10.I Wanna Know If It's Good to You (instrumental) (William Nelson, Edward Hazel, Clarence Haskins, George Clinton) - 3:12 

Musicians
*George Clinton - Vocals
*Ray Davis - Vocals
*Fuzzy Haskins - Vocals
*Calvin Simon - Vocals
*Grady Thomas - Vocals
*Eddie Hazel - Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals (Tracks 4,5)
*Tawl Ross - Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals (Track 3)
*Billy Bass Nelson - Bass, Lead Vocals (Tracks 2,4)
*Bernie Worrell - Keyboards, Piano (Track 3), Organ  (Track 9)
*Tiki Fulwood - Drums

1970  Funkadelic

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Funkadelic - Funkadelic (1969-70 us, superb soul heavy psych, 2005 bonus tracks remaster)

Funkadelic, arguably the greatest "black rock" band ever...Actually, strike that, they are far and away the best black rock band ever. In fact, screw everything, they're one of the greatest rock bands period, up there with any classic rock dinosaur you care to name. And though it's tempting to launch an essay on the racism of rock radio-- or rock journalism for that matter-- I'll stick to the band. Even as they're revered as legends and purveyors of the some of the best funk of the 70s, I've read relatively few accounts on their greatness as a pure rock band. But they had it all: great players, great singers, a great look, a great concept, actual hits, great albums, great drugs, freaky sex, disputes over money-- everything Led Zeppelin (or Spinal Tap) taught us was necessary to make the world's greatest rock music.

They started small, backing up ringleader George Clinton's Parliaments in the late 60s. When Clinton got into arguments with his label Revilot over money and rights, he decided to start recording his backup band instead, using the original Parliaments singers (Clinton, Ray Davis, Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins-- and come on, dude's name is "Fuzzy"-- Calvin Simon and Grady Thomas) as "guests." Guitarists Eddie Hazel and Tawl Ross, bassist Billy Nelson, drummer Tiki Fulwood, and eventually, master keyboardist Bernie Worrell were the band that would turn this fairly traditional soul group into the intense live act that wowed Detroit's Westbound Records head Armen Boladian. He signed them, and from the get-go, their music cut through genres and money bullshit like neither had ever existed. Never mind that half the band quit and came back again during recording sessions for their first record, Funkadelic was destined for greatness. Ace's reissues of the band's Westbound catalog is long overdue-- they sound a world better than the terribly mastered original CD pressings, and contain a wealth of bonus tracks, alternate mixes, and liner notes.

Funkadelic from 1970 was a bomb dropped all over rock and soul. No matter Hendrix, no matter James Brown, no matter the MC5, nobody had ever heard anything like this. This music was slower than sludge, dirtier than the "raw funk" Herb "Sparky" Sparkman talks about in "Music For My Mother". It was a great big fucking mess, and a lot of people didn't know what to make of it. I remember reading a Rolling Stone review from the time that ended with "who needs this shit?" and a writer from the Blues & Soul 'zine from a year later admitted, "Funkadelic has never been one of my favorite R&B; acts". Still, the record sold (peaking at #16 on the Soul LPs chart), and planted the seed of a cult worship that would balloon in the latter half of the decade, making the P-Funk enterprise the most successful soul act on the planet.

"Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?" started out with the sound of Clinton's wet mouth and the best ever opening line for an album: "If you will suck my soul, I will lick your funky emotions." When the beat hits with Hazel's guitar line, there can be no doubt that Funkadelic were without peer as far as this stuff was concerned. This stuff-- hell, tunes like "Mommy" and "Good Old Music" are slams to the gut as powerful as anything Zep ever did, and with beats to spare. "Music For My Mother" is like a Southern myth, detailing a loner's travels through "Keep Runnin' Mississippi", hearing music he thought long dead, yet getting trapped by its sticky black allure. "What Is Soul?" drops more classic lines ("soul is a hamhock in your cornflakes," "Soul is chitlins foo young," "soul is a joint rolled in toilet paper") in seven minutes than most bands muster up in a career. Bonus tracks like the tight instrumental "As Good As I Can Feel" and several single versions of album cuts make this album one of the most indispensable of all indispensable Funkadelic records.
by Dominique Leone

Tracks
1. Mommy, What's a Funkadelic? (George Clinton) - 9:04
2. I Bet You (George Clinton, Patrick Lindsey, Sidney Barnes) - 6:10
3. Music for My Mother (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Billy Nelson) - 5:37
4. I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing (Clarence Haskins) - 3:52
5. Good Old Music (George Clinton) - 7:59
6. Qualify and Satisfy (George Clinton, Billy Nelson, Eddie Hazel) - 6:15
7. What Is Soul (George Clinton) - 7:40
8. Can't Shake It Loose (George Clinton, Sidney Barnes, Joanne Jackson, Rose Marie McCoy) - 2:28 
9. I Bet You (George Clinton, Patrick Lindsey, Sidney Barnes) - 4:10 
10.Music for My Mother (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Billy Nelson) - 5:17 
11.As Good as I Can Feel (George Clinton, Clarence Haskins) - 2:31
12.Open Our Eyes (Leon Lumpkins) - 3:58 
13.Qualify and Satisfy (George Clinton, Billy Nelson, Eddie Hazel) - 3:00 
14.Music for My Mother (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Billy Nelson) - 6:14 

Bonus Tracks 8-14

Musicians

*George Clinton - Vocals

*Eddie Hazel - Lead Guitar, Vocals (Tracks 1,9)

*Lucius "Tawl" Ross - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals (Tracks 3,10)

*Ray Monette - Guitar (Track 4)

*Billy "Bass" Nelson - Bass (Track 1), Vocals (Tracks 3,4,10)

*Bob Babbitt - Bass (Track 9)

*Mickey Atkins - Organ (Track 1)

*Bernie Worrell - Organ (Track )

*Earl Van Dyke - Keyboards (Track 9)

*Ramon "Tiki" Fulwood - Drums (Tracks 1,4,9,6,13) 

*Brad Innis - Drums (Tracks 3,10)

*Gasper Lawal - Conga (Tracks 3,10)

*Herb Sparkman - Lead Vocals (Tracks 3,10)

*Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins - Lead Vocals (Track 4)

*Calvin Simon - Lead Vocals (Tracks 6,13) 

*Ray Davis, Grady Thomas and some unknown Female Vocalists - Additional Vocals 

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Mason - Harbour (1971 us, stunning organ drivin heavy psych)

The years 1968-1974 brought about the awakening and evolution of the Tidewater-Chesapeake Bay music scene The ocean front and tidal inlets with their military influences of Norfolk and the commercialism of Virginia Beach tourism brought the money to support a thriving hot bed of live music.

British infusion brought Cream, Hendnx, Traffic, Mountain, and Blind Faith influences and began an evolution from the beach music of the R&B roots. Mason was formed to combine these roots and resulted in a trio of multi talented musicians playing the stages of Peabody's Warehouse and The Dome to Alex Cooley's in Atlanta's Electric Ballroom Especially memorable was the Fan district of Richmond where on any given weekend night.

Mason would be playing across the street from other clubs that were featuring bands headed up by Bruce Hornsby. Bruce Springsteen (Steel Mill), and Lynard Skynard. However. Mason was the only band at this time (1971) to actually have recorded and released an LP. Morgan Hampton played both piano and sang; but his impeccable beat and drive on drums set Mason apart from most of the R&B drummers of this time. Steve Arcese had the vocal uniqueness which drew from his deep roots in classic R&B His virtuosity on the B3 Hammond organ drove walls of sound up and down the East coast.

As Mason's music expanded. Steve branched out to guitar and bass, setting the group apart as a multi faceted presentation of music styles James Galyon's musically diverse skills accented Morgan's and Steve's virtuosities James played flute, saxophone, Lyricon, bass, keyboards, and acoustic and electric guitar.

The combined sounds initially drew five to six hundred listeners each performance in 1969, but by 1973 Mason was performing in concerts to audiences of over 15.000.
CD Liner-Notes

Tracks
1. Let It Burn - 4:30
2. Tell Me - 7:15
3. Electric Sox And All (Jim Galyon, Steve Arcese, Morgan Hampton) - 4:54
4. Golden Sails - 3:05
5. Travelin' - 4:13
6. Harbour - 8:20
7. Coin Home - 2:22
8. Charlotte - 2:16
9. Carry Me Home - 3:49
10.One More Drink - 0:39
All songs by Jim Galyon except where indicated

Mason
*Steve Arcese - Organ, Lead Vocal
*Jim Galyon - Bass, Flute, Tenor, Soprano Saxophones, Vocals, Piano
*Morgan Hampton - Drums, Vocals

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Room - Pre-Flight (1970 uk, well-structured and punctuated prog rock with interesting time changes and skillful use of wind and string instruments, 2008 remaster)

Room were from Dorset, recorded an album for Decca in the early 1970s and then disappeared from the scene again. "Pre-Flight", the group's only LP, is very rare on vinyl and was re-released on CD by Esoteric Recordings some time ago.

The basis of Room's music is a complex blues rock, which is determined by the intricate interplay of the two electric guitars. Then there is Jane Kevern's characteristic singing, which covers all kinds of expressions between subtle, almost ethereal sighs and powerful roars. The band initially didn't have a keyboard player (one apparently only joined the group after the release of "Pre-Flight"). In the studio, however, various strings and wind instruments take on the sound-filling tasks. The result is a high-quality, quite typical protoprog of the time, which sometimes falls into distinctly jazzy-rock territory.

Protoprog with female vocals wasn't all that rare in Britain in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Other bands in this small subgenre included Delivery, Julian's Treatment, Catapilla, Affinity, Fusion Orchestra or the band of Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger, and Room's music fits in quite well with that. Jazz, blues and a few classical ingredients are mixed together on "Pre-Flight" to form an interesting whole, rounded off by successful string and brass sections and short solo contributions by these guest musicians, which flows from the speakers in a relaxed to powerfully angular way. Only the pretty "normal", somewhat ordinary blues rockers "Where Did I Go Wrong?" and "Big John Blues" don't quite fit into the progressive picture. What makes up for this is the long title track and the closing "Cemetery Junction" (but the three remaining, slightly shorter pieces are not bad either), which are a very successful, very unique jazzy-proto-progressive mixture of more complex rock and elaborate, but never intrusive Wind and string interludes form.

Anyone who appreciates the music of the British bands mentioned above and generally proto-progressive music with female vocals has come to the right place! Great cover!

by Achim Breiling 

Tracks
1. Preflight (Steve Edge) - 8:56
2. Where Did I Go Wrong (Chris Williams, Roy Putt, Jane Kevern, Steve Edge, Bob Jenkins) - 5:27
3. No Warmth In My Life (Chris Williams, Jane Kevern) - 4:34
4. Big John Blues (Chris Williams) - 2:33
5. Andromeda (Chris Williams, Roy Putt, Jane Kevern) - 5:07
6. War (Chris Williams) - 4:33
7. Cemetery Junction (Chris Williams, Jane Kevern) - 8:32

Room
*Steve Edge - Lead, Rhythm Guitar
*Chris Williams - Lead Guitars
*Bob Jenkins - Drums, Congas, Percussion
*Jane Kevern - Vocals, Tambourine
*Roy Putt - Bass

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Short Cross - Arising (1972 us, splendid psych blues rock)

To begin the story of Short Cross. I must go back to the day in 1965 that my father introduced me to the son of a friend who  was playing in a band in Sandston, Virginia. I was just  beginning to learn how to play guitar and they needed a bass  player so I was recruited to play bass. Since none of us had  even seen a bass guitar up dose, I played bass on my Stella  acoustic guitar, tuned down an octave, with a cheap  microphone stuck in the sound hole. I don’t remember, but I'm  sure it was a wonderful sound. The reason that I mention ail of  this is because this was the day I met Gray McCalley Gray and  I together became the nucleus of Short Cross.  That first primitive incarnation of the band didn't last very long.  I went back to playing baseball and forgot about playing music  until Gray called one Saturday about a year later and asked if I  wanted to practice. To make a long story somewhat shorter, we  went through several personnel changes and name changes.  We were, at various times, The Crusaders, The Resonators,  finally settling on The Hustlers in the spring of 1967.

The  original line-up of this band was Bob Holmes on rhythm guitar,  Kenny Roberts on bass and sax, Ben Luck on piano, Gray  McCalley on drums and myself on lead guitar. This was the  Line-up that actually started to get paying gigs on a semi-regular  basis.  Our first taste of success was winning the local Battle of the  Bands at Skateland in Sandston. There were no judges. The  contest was to be decided by votes cast by the paying  customers. We let It slip out that, if we won, we were throwing  a beer-party afterwards, and to and behold, we won I could not  attend the party, being only twelve years old at the time, but I'm  sure a rousing good time was had by all and the porcelain was  hugged by many who attended. The competition at this contest  was pretty stiff. It included The Outlaws, whose organ player,  Butch Owens, would soon join our band, and a band that we  had never heard of called The Spiders, whose guitar player,  Joe Sheets, will figure prominently in the rest of this story. The  Spiders repertoire consisted of "the first three Rolling Stones  albums", according to Joe and we were pretty worried when we  heard them. They were Rockin'. But, as it turned out, our beer  party was the key to victory.  Ben Luck, our piano player, left the band to join The  Barracudas. We knew this was a great opportunity for Ben, so  there were no hard feelings.

This Barracudas was the band  that cut the album "A Plane View of the Barracudas" for Justice  Records, recently reissued on CD. Ben played and sang on  their follow-up single, "Days of A Quiet Sun", a great  psychedelic record, if you can find it. The Barracudas were our first role models, our heroes. They had matching suits,  matching Vox equipment, a 1958 Cadillac limousine and a  trailer with their name on it. They were "big time" and they lived  right up the street in Highland Springs. We aspired to be as  cool as they were. I had known Butch Owens for years We  had played baseball together as kids. Lately he had been  playing with a band that we all respected called The Outlaws  (mentioned previously), so we recruited him and he joined up.  Butch was an organ player, so the switch from electric piano to  organ was a new sound. We liked it. It was with this new lineup  that we won our region in the statewide Battle of The Bands.  We probably won because a) we had worked in a girl singer  named Gale Scott and b) we closed with a version of  Beethoven's 'Fur Elise* that we had ripped from Vanilla Fudge.  I guess the judge a thought that was extremely hip and gave us  the win We went on to the state finals, where we finished third  behind two very good soul bands. This was May 1966.

The organ filled the sound up so nicely that we decided we  didn't really need a rhythm guitarist so we let Bob Holmes go I  felt bad about this for a very long time Bob was a great guy  and his personality contributed to the early success of the  group. Our bass guitarist, Kenny Roberts, left because our  Friday night gigs conflicted with his high school football games  This was realty OK, because we had our eye on another bass  player. Dudley "Bird" Sharp. Dudley was in a band called The  Syndicate, an excellent band. We asked him to join and after  some soul searching he said yes. All the pieces were now in place almost.  This four piece version of The Hustlers was doing very well.  We were booked every weekend for what, at the time, was very good-money. Then Dudley came to us with the news that he was going to be named and would have to leave the band to work in the family business Enter Steve Hicks. I knew Steve from school. He was a pretty good bass player and was very excited about joining. He had been playing with a band called The Reactors, ft was actually with this lineup of myself, Gray on drums, Butch on organ and Steve on bass that we would make our first recording Enter illegal substances.

OK, it was 1969 and all of those nasty things were available to us Being teenagers, we had to try them all and with this experimentation came a dramatic change in our tastes in music as well as our approach to our own music We decided that "The Hustlers" was just not a fitting name for a band playing original music. Instead of doing the obvious thing and going with "Hustler", we came up with  "Short Cross". Even now I cant tell you the origin of the name, but I'm pretty sure illegal substances were involved. Our  influences were wide ranging, but we leaned toward heavy rock. We were listening to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple. ELP, King Crimson, Grand Funk Railroad. The Band, Santana. Free, James Gang, all the biggies of the day, and a new band that had started to play around Richmond from time to time. When they first came to town they were called Child, but they soon changed their name to Steel Mill. Their guitarist  was named Bruce Springsteen. The first time we saw Child perform was at a place called Free University in Richmond. A small, second floor club that was packed shoulder to shoulder. I walked up the steps and craned my neck around the PA stack to see this skinny guy with a Les Paul slung to his knees, nearly waist length hair, naked to the waist, absolutely sweating buckets, singing a song called "I'll Be Your Jesus Christ. I’ll Be Your Savior" with an intensity that I had never felt  before I was floored!! Several years later, after seeing  Springsteen perform, Jon Landau would write, "I've seen the  future of Rock & Roll".

We saw it that night in 1969 We  attended every show that we could get to after that. Steel Mill  became our new role models, our heroes. They had a Hammond organ, Marshall amps and they played really loud. We aspired to rock as hard as they did. About this time I was asked to join The Barracudas who were (sorry guys) on their way down. After much gnashing of teeth and some not-so-gentle persuasion from friends and family, I turned them down. Fortunately for this CD that you are holding, Short Cross continued intact One Sunday in 1970. we forced our way onto the bill of a free concert in Monroe Park In the very heart of Richmond hippiedom, VCU When I say forced*, that's not exactly true. The way these concerts happened was that somebody would bring a PA system and bands would just show up and play for free. It's kind of amazing that it worked at all. but that was indicative of the era, I think. We had never played for this crowd before and we waited all day in hopes of sneaking on at the end. As we were going on stage I heard a member of another band say with a smirk, "Now we're gonna hear some soul music". I was 15 years old and being the cocky little SOB that I was. I realty wanted to blow ail of these older guys away. We opened with our version of "Baby Please Don't Go" and an hour later 3,000 people were on their feet screaming for an encore, which we gladly gave them. We were the talk of the town and local underground radio We had come to the point where we thought that a record was our next step We took some of our home recordings to a local booking agent in hopes of finding a way to make a record One of those 3.000 people in Monroe Park that day had been a fellow named Joe Sheets (I told you he would turn up again ) who was a guitarist and the brother-in-law of a local record producer named Nick Colleran Joe had told Nick about us and it happened that Nick was in that booking agents office that evening and heard our tapes. He told us that he could produce a 45, but we would have to go to Sigma Sound in Philadelphia to do it, because the proper facilities were not yet available in Richmond, Nick had been the leader and guitarist of the top band in Richmond, The Escorts. (These were the Escorts that recorded on TEO Records and recorded the album -Bring Down the House'.)

We were very happy to have his attention and we considered his credentials impeccable. Nick ran us through all of the pre-production and had us rehearse the songs until he thought that we could cut them very quickly. Joe Sheets was scheduled to play slide guitar on one side of the record, but fell ill and couldn't make the trip to Philly. Nick stepped in and played slide on the single version of "On My Own". The B side was "Marching Off to War" They were recorded 8-track at Sigma Sound and both are included on this CD. The 45 was released got some local air play, and disappeared, but we got to hear ourselves on the radio. That was pretty exciting. By the way. the 45 was mastered by a young engineer named George Massenburg. for those of you who are interested in such things Sometime in early 1971, Dudley Sharp let it be known to us that, if asked, he would rejoin the band. Truthfully, we all knew that Dud was a much better bass player than Steve Hicks, so we let Steve go. We were also closer friends with Dud and that was important to us. so Dud was back in. In the course of doing the 45, we teamed that Nick Colleran had plans for building his own sixteen track studio in Richmond. He moved his studio into a building at 2049 W. Broad St. in Richmond and called it Alpha Audio The Short Cross LP was the first LP recorded there in December of 1971, before the studio officially opened Nick knew that Short Cross wanted to do an LP and in the fan of 1971 a guy named Dave Herren approached Nick about possibly producing an LP on a local band Nick introduced us to Dave and preparations began for the "Arising" LP Pre-production included song selection, a lot of rehearsal and I'm not sure, but illegal substances were probably involved We went into the studio on December 26, 1971 to begin cutting tracks. All the basic tracks were done on the 261h and 27th with Joe Sheets as the tracking engineer and Dave Herren and Nick Colleran producing. We did all of the overdubs in one day,  (I had the flu that day) and the record was probably mixed in two or three days. A week's work and it was finished, I must say that the sessions were not a happy experience for us.

We constantly butted heads with the producers about sound, especially during the final mix stage, at one point we walked out. Like I said, we were a cocky bunch. This put a dark cloud over what should have been a great experience. With that said, I must add that we learned a great deal about how we sounded and how to play together we came out of the studio a much tighter band with a good basic knowledge of the technical side of recording. Since I have continued to work in the recording studio as a session musician/vocalist and now an engineer/producer, I guess you could say that these recording sessions are the foundation on which I have built my career. Our album release party was held in March, 1973 at The String Factory, formerly Free University. The very room where, three years earlier, I had first seen Bruce Springsteen with Steel Mill. It was sold out and the feeling that night was incredible!, We felt successful. All these people came to see us play our songs from our record! Incredible!. We continued to play a lot, opening shows for Black Sabbath, Trapeze, Black Oak Arkansas and others. The LP received some airplay in Virginia, but just didn't sell. I tend to think it was a combination of poor distribution and the fact that it didn’t sound like the band sounded live. Plus, we thought that it was un-cool to sell them at our gigs. (Kinda stupid, huh?) The final tally was about 300 copies sold out of a pressing of 1,000. The failure of the record did not deter us from the desire to record. We went back into Alpha Audio in late 1972 to cut two new songs. "Before it Rains" and "Bomb". Included on this CD are the basic tracks with a scratch vocal that was to be replaced at a later date. That date never came. Butch got married and quit the band.

Things were changing. We jammed with a bunch of keyboard players, but nobody "felt" right. Not because they weren't good players, just because the band had grown up together, learned how to play together. We weren't missing a keyboard player, we were missing a friend, a vital piece of the equation, Our individual tastes in music were also changing. We were growing apart. We limped along as a power trio for a while, but we all knew a dead horse when we beat one. By the end of 1973, Short Cross was no more. Gray McCalley went on to play with a big swing band called The Continentals and is still playing music today in his spare time. He got interested in blues harmonica while Short Cross was still together and has become a world class blues harp player He works for the County installing and repairing electronics at schools. He still lives in Sandston. VA. and I see him now and then. I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much Gray McCalley helped me through those years. In the early days, I didn't have much of an ear, so Gray would pick out guitar parts from records and teach them to me. He introduced me to so much great music that I would have otherwise overlooked. His energy and inventiveness were inspiring. His sense of humor was infectious and sustained us through many crazy situations. I sometimes think about where I might be if Gray had not called me that day in 1966 and said, "Hey man, wanna practice?" I'm pretty sure that I would be a washed up ex-minor league baseball player. Thanks Gray.

Dudley "Bird" Sharp still plays Top 40 and Country musk:. He works for a potato chip company. Even though he lives about a mile from me, I had not talked to him in over ten years when I finally contacted him about this CD release We had a nice conversation and vowed to keep in touch. Butch Owens eventually went back to playing music and spent some time in Memphis and Nashville playing for various artists. He's back in Richmond now, doing carpentry Steve Hicks continued to play music for a while after we let him go. In fact, he played with the band that opened for us at our album release party. Sadly. I must report that Steve is no longer with us He died a few years ago from chronic stomach problems. This news hit me pretty hard, I had known Steve since 5th grade. I continued to play for a living. In 1974, after the demise of Short Cross, I joined up with Steve Bassett a R’n’B singer. I played on several of his records, not including his self titled 1984 Columbia Records release, in 1977, Steve Bassett's band went on tour with Robbin Thompson in support of his self titled Atlantic Records release. I stayed with Robbin when the Robbin Thompson Band was formed in 1978. We recorded an album in 1979 called Two B's Please" that sold about 150,000 copies and had a song that topped out on the Billboard charts at #61 called "Bright Eyes". We toured until December 1983. I still record with Robbin and I am currently co-producing his new CO, in 1987, the rhythm section from the Robbin Thompson Band Joined up with singer Billy Ray Hatley to forma band called Big City. We have released two independent label CD's and have a third on the way. Throughout all of this, I have been doing session work on radio, TV and film music.

Chances are very good that you've heard me playing on some stupid commercial. Several of the people from Alpha Audio, including my old friends Joe Sheets and Robbin Thompson, formed a new company in 1990 called In Your Ear Music and Recording. I joined their staff in 1996 as assistant engineer/musician/vocalist/producer/tape  librarian/etc /etc I love it A few years ago I started getting calls from all over the country inquiring about copies of the Short Cross LP Being a record collector myself, I asked around and discovered that, not only were clean copies of the LP changing hands at S200-K but that it had been bootlegged (very badly) in Europe! i was very flattered to be on a bootleg, as silly as that might seem, it meant that suddenly, for some reason, there was a demand for this album that I hadn't listened to in at least 10 years. Weil, I politely told all of those inquiring that at toast five hundred copies had been destroyed and the other 200 were unaccounted for, but probably no longer existed. Thus were planted the seeds of this CD release. Roger Maglio of Gear Fab contacted me. we struck up a deal and the ball was rolling. I cant properly express my thanks to all the record collectors who created this interest and to you who have plunked down your hard earned money for this CD. I hope you enjoy It! I would like to express my sincere thanks to Roger Maglio at Gear Fab for making it happen. Finally, to Gray and Dud and Butch I want to say that re-mixing these old songs and helping to assemble this package has been a labor of love. With this CD, I found all those memories still alive. We spent a lifetime together in a few short years.  Jeez! We were just children....and we were the best of friends.
by Velpo Robertson

Tracks
1. Nothin' But A Woman - 5:25
2. Wastin' Time (Gray McCalley, Velpo Robertson) - 3:46
3. Suicide Blues - 7:01
4. Just Don't Care - 4:27
5. On My Own - 4:56
6. Till We Reach The Sun - 4:55
7. Ellen - 5:50
8. Hobo Love Song - 4:46
9. On My Own (Stereo mix of A-side of 45*) - 2:50
10.Marching Off to War (Stereo mix of B-side of 45') - 2:57
11.That's Her Train (Unreleased stereo mix) - 2:54
12.Bomb (Unfinished demo  mono) - 4:04
13.Before It Rains (Unfinished demo mono) - 3:28
All compositions by Velpo Robertson except where stated

Tracks 1-8 Recordings made at Alpha Audio Studios, Richmond, VA. 
Dec. 24, 25,1971. Originally Released March 1972 

Tracks 9-11 Recorded at Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, PA. on August 

Tracks 12-13 Recorded at Alpha Audio Studios, Richmond, VA. in June 1972.

Short Cross
*Dudley "Bird" Sharp - Electric Bass Guitar, Harmony Vocals
*Velpo Robertson - Lead, Rhythm, Bottte-Neck, Acoustic, Lead Guitar , Harmony Vocals
*Butch Owens- Organ, Piano, Moog, Vocals
*Gray McCalley - Drums, Percussion, Lead Vocal on "Wastin' Time"
*Butch Owens - Hammond Organ (Track 13)
*Steve Hicks - Bass (Tracks 9-11)
*Nick Colleran - Slide Guitar on "On My Own
Guest Musicians
*Tommy Mitchell - Trumpet
*Skeeter Glenn - Trumpet
*Tommy Anderson - Trombone
*Tommy Clarke - Tenor Sax
*Howard Awad- Trumpet
*Buzz Montsinger- Tenor Sax
*Peter Zaret - 1st Violin
*Coraiie Zaret - 2nd Violin
*Yong Sam Kim - Viola
*Gisela Depkat - Cello

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Bell And Arc - Bell + Arc (1971 uk, excellent colorful classic rock)

Bell 'n' Arc’s one and only record is a prime cut of early 1970s British rock and roll. Born out of the psychedelic ashes of Skip Bifferty, Bell 'n' Arc saw a reunion of sorts between singer Graham Bell and his former band mates, keyboardist Mick Gallagher and guitarist John Turnbull. Anyone delving into this record expecting the underground freak-beat of that earlier band, however, is in for a rude surprise. This band is an entirely different beast, and even Graham Bell’s singing has undergone some serious evolution since Skip Bifferty sank in 1969.

Heavy threads of American soul music, as well as tasteful touches of gospel and country, are what inform this record more than anything. From the insistent groove of “High Priest of Memphis” to the rollicking banjo rolls in “Keep A Wise Mind,” it is clear what musical traditions these cats are mining. Graham Bell’s vocals here are so soulful it almost hurts, with the obvious reference point being the shredded-throat testifying of fellow countryman Joe Cocker.

Turnbull’s guitar is also on fire, whether he’s indulging in tight wah-pedal workouts in “Let Your Love Run Free” or keeping things beautifully restrained in the band’s sizzling, slow-burn workout of Leonard Cohen’s “So Long, Marianne.” In the meantime, I would assert that it is Gallagher’s rhythm piano which seems to be the bedrock of the band’s sound. Each cut displays inspired playing that really seals together the spirit of the band. His concluding improvisations on “Yat Rock” are particularly enjoyable, where he compliments his driving rhythm playing with the occasional Jerry Lee Lewis run.

Side A of this record is one of those rare cases where every song is absolutely killer, and the energy just does not let up. The opening three song punch blows me away every time. By the second side, things start to lose a little steam, but only barely. In fact, “Dawn,” the one acoustic track on the album, is a pleasant, hazy respite from the high-octane rave-ups that surround it. In fact, the guitar dynamics and subdued atmosphere might actually make it a highlight. “Children of the North Prison” draws the band back, and throws out one of the catchiest hooks on the record against a great ascending piano line.

In the years since I first happened on this record, it has slowly but surely become one of my absolute mainstays. It’s hard not to be drawn in to Arc’s tight grooves and Bell’s cosmic rock and roll songs, and I dare say it makes some fantastic road music. Check out the (out-of-print, but easy to find) Rock and Groove Records reissue, or keep your eye peeled for one of the original copies. I should probably note that it looks as though the British and American copies of this one have different artwork; the British record has a bright red cover, with what looks like layered fists.
by Nik Rayne

Tracks

1. High Priest of Memphis (Graham Bell) - 3:30

2. Let Your Love Run Free (Graham Bell, Tom Duffy, Michael Gallagher, John Turnbull) - 6:00

3. Keep a Wise Mind (Colin Gibson, Graham Bell, John Turnbull) - 3:19

4. So Long Marianne (Leonard Cohen) - 3:44

5. She Belongs to Me (Bob Dylan) - 4:29

6. Yat Rock (Graham Bell) - 6:08

7. Dawn (Graham Bell) - 3:00

8. Children of the North Prison (Graham Bell) - 4:15

9. Everyday (Graham Bell, Tom Duffy, Michael Gallagher, John Turnbull) - 3:53

Bell And Arc

*Graham Bell - Vocals, Harmonica, Acoustic Guitar

*Tom Duffy - Bass

*Michael Gallagher - Piano, Organ 

*John Turnbull - Guitars

*John Woods - Percussion

With

*Rob Tait - Drums

*Ken Craddock -Guitars, Piano, Organ

*Alan White - Drums, Percussion, Vibes

*Steve Gregory - Tenor Saxophone

*Buddy Beadle - Baritone Saxophone

*Jeff Condon - Cornet

Related Acts
1966-1969 Skip Bifferty - The Story of Skip Bifferty

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Hot Poop - Does Their Own Stuff (1971 us, great experimantal acid psych)

The band hailed from California whose moniker was inspired by a Zappa tune, and this was their sole output in Jan 1971, an edition of 500 copies (with orange paper lyric insert) on their own label (HPS 3072). The band had 5 members however the forces behind this project were Thomas Burke and Lawrence Praissman.

“Hot Poop Does Their Own Stuff. Why? Cause nobody else would dare! This private pressing is so brain numbingly strange that its almost impossible not to like it! Frenzied falsetto vocals, omnipresent fuzz, and deranged subject matter (with such songs as "Wing Wang", "Screamin", "I Always Play With My Food", and the eerie, slow last dance "My Babys Dead") make for an album that cannot be comprehended by a sober mind! This is what happens when hippies forsake LSD for nitrous oxide!”

This album is famous for its cover. The front shows the band in a barn, with three of them shooting up, one passed out (or dead), and another taking a dump. On the back theyre all nude, except that the woman has a dick and the guys dont. Unsurprisingly, the lyrics are mostly about sex and cars. The music is more like a combination of surf and bluesy rock. A falsetto vocal on a couple of songs sends it into novelty territory (anyone remember the Goons?).

As a result this album has, in the past, received some bad press musically, however this mainly undeserved. There are hints of the Deep and Capt. Beefheart and there is enough in here for both garage and psyche fans. Almost every track drips with fuzz guitar and despite the sometimes dodgy lyrics musically it works as a whole.

Tracks
1. Let Me Loose - 4:01
2. Cruisin Ford - 3:28
3. Hard Rock - 4:55
4. Wing Wang - 3:46
5. Fast Cars And Chicks - 2:24
6. Dance To The War - 2:58
7. Get It In - 3:56
8. A Always Play With My Food - 2:50
9. Screamin - 2:34
10.My Babys Dead - 3:58
All songs by Tom Burke, Larry Praissman

Hot Poop
*Gwendolyn Glopenstein (Lisa Hebbard) - Keyboards
*Flash Hammer (Bruce Lyson) - Drums, Percussion
*Larry Honyock (Lawrence Praissman) - Guitars, Vocals
*Gabor Kovats (Jim Anderson) - Bass, Vocals
*Johnny Rockaway (Thomas Burke) - Vocals, Guitars

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Harumi - Harumi (1968 japan, acid psych folk masterpiece produced by Tom Wilson)

Recorded by Tom Wilson (who else?) for Verve in 1967 and 1968 in New York, this set originally appeared on a double LP (which has been reissued on both vinyl and CD by Fallout). This is one of the wildest and most unbelievably ambitious recordings to come from the psychedelic era. Harumi (a mystery man who recorded one more album before vanishing into the ether) could write pop songs and sing them.

He also sounds like he did a lot of acid. Harumi (who sings and speaks in English), Wilson, arrangers Harvey Vinson and Larry Fallon, and engineer Gary Kellegren assembled a tripped-out collection of pop, Eastern folk, and experimental music and production techniques, with sounds, textures, and atmospheres that incorporated everything from strings and horns to Japanese folk instruments to vibraphones and (of course) plenty of guitars and drums and organ. Of the 13 cuts here, 11 are of conventional length and are utterly seductive in their hypnotic power and pop brilliance.

The last two, "Twice Told Tales of the Pomegranate Forest" and "Samurai Memories," are 24 minutes and 18 minutes long, respectively. These two have plenty of cosmic spoken word by Wilson (Rosko) and Harumi, and on the past by his parents and his sister. The first of these, the longer one, is a bit difficult to take with its slow pace, minimal orchestration, and nearly nonsensical story (that's what the remote is for). The second one, with its discotheque go-go boots beat and orchestration, phased sounds, and Japanese language, is an exotic masterpiece.

It grooves throughout, especially when the electric guitars and strings play counterpoint to one another. Simply put, there is nothing at all like this record in the known universe. It has been compared to the adventurousness of the Mothers of Invention, but only insofar as its wide range. The music here, while a huge compendium of sources, is unlike anything you have ever heard when it is put together. Harumi's self-titled album is simply a classic from the underground brought back into the light.
by Thom Jurek

Tracks
1. Talk About It - 4:10
2. First Impressions - 3:10
3. Don't Know What I'm Gonna Do - 3:09
4. Hello - 4:02
5. Sugar In Your Tea - 3:22
6. Caravan - 3:05
7. Hunters Of Heaven - 2:52
8. Hurry Up Now - 3:51
9. What A Day For Me - 2:47
10.We Love - 2:17
11.Fire By The River - 3:35
12.Twice Told Tales Of The Pomegranate Forest - 24:00
13.Samurai Memories - 19:15
All songs written by Harumi

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Fifth Order - Bonfire! The Return Of (1966-67 us, awesome garage psych)

Their 1966 garage classic Goin' Too Far b/w Walkin' Away was a tremendous regional success, at the time becoming the biggest selling seven-incher from Columbus, Ohio. Their second local hit, A Thousand Devils (Are Chasing Me) b/w Today I Got A Letter, was picked up by Laurie for national release. These two records have long been recognized as sterling examples of Ohio's vibrant mid-60s garage rock scene. But the story of the Fifth Order has remained untold, until now. Digging into the band's history, a few welcome surprises emerged: a third 45 that collectors were not aware of, and - even better - a cache of unreleased recordings of exceptional quality.

"I'm truly amazed and flattered that anybody is still interested in the Fifth Order after all these years," says Bill Carroll, lead singer of the band from its beginning to the end. Bill now lives in California, as a regular, anonymous middle-aged guy and enjoys his life as a husband and father. He reminisces about the old days: "I had the greatest adolescence that a guy could have. My own car, money in my pockets, everybody knew who I was and I had more girls than any guy should have in a lifetime. It was a major blast!"

Jim Hilditch, the Fifth Order's lead guitarist, describes the heyday of the band in a similar way. "Life at that point was great. What a way to go through high school! Needless to say we had more girls than we could handle and it was surprising to figure out that you can make money too." As with most local '60s bands, the Fifth Order got started mostly for kicks. Billy Carrol, an aspiring drummer, met guitar player Jim Hilditch in 1963. Both were 14 or 15 years old and went to the same junior high. There was no real talk about putting a band together until February 7th, 1964, when the two saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. "After that, all hell broke loose," says Bill of this defining moment for a generation of teens. "We knew we wanted to do what those guys were doing."

Bill and Jim found two guys from another junior high with similar ideas, and the first incarnation of the band was in place: Jim Hilditch (lead guitar), Mike Berand (bass guitar/vocals), Gary Steger (rhythm guitar/vocals) and Billy Carroll (drums/lead vocals). They named themselves the Electras, after the popular Buick sedan of the period.

The four started practising, alternately in Billy's living room or Jim's basement, where they quickly graduated from no-frills instrumental workouts to British Invasion-style vocal tunes. They improved rapidly, and in short order were ready to play out. The young band appeared at school events, weekend dances and private parties. The kids dug their sound, so the band kept rehearsing, and played as many gigs as they could. It wasn't long before they cultivated a loyal following.

It got to the point where they found themselves performing weekend engagements all over the state - "Much to the consternation of our parents", laughs Bill. Word about the new group spread, popularity grew and the first manager, Mike Leonard, came - and went. But before getting fired, Leonard introduced the band to Dick Murgatroyd and Jack Sender.

Dick was the producer and director of the popular local TV show Dance Party; Jack, a 22-year-old college student and songwriter, worked for the same program as a floor director. "I met the band at WLW-C TV4 in Columbus for the first time," he remembers. "Mike and Dick Murgatroyd got me involved. Dick was always trying to help everyone." While Dick became the Electra's manager, Jack Sender turned out to be the perfect songwriter for the band, coming up with a number of tailor-made songs for the boys.

Around this time the Electras had to reorganize themselves into a new band. "I always felt a little restricted being behind the drums and trying to do almost all of the singing. So we decided to bring me out front full time," says Bill. Mike Berand left, because his parents felt the band was taking too much time away from his schoolwork.

Jeff Johnson, another school chum, came in to play bass and Mike "Muff" Comfort replaced Billy on the drums. Jack Sender has another reason why Billy should have been featured more as a vocalist, "On stage Billy was an animal that the girls loved - the crowds went nuts for him and the band." It was also Jack who suggested the name Fifth Order to the band - car names like "the Electras" were considered old hat.

The Fifth Order became regulars on the Saturday afternoon TV show Dance Party, hosted by Jerry Rasor. This led to more popularity, more gigs - and the first record. In late 1966, the band travelled to a studio in Louisville, Kentucky and recorded two Jack Sender compositions: Goin' Too Far and Walkin' Away. Dick Murgatroyd placed the master tapes with a Cincinnati label named Counterpart, run by Shad O'Shay. Upon release, the record exceeded all expectations - it made it to No. 1 in Columbus where it sat for about four weeks, and charted all over Ohio and the Midwest. Bob Harrington, the top DJ for local radio station WCOL, told Jack that the 18,000 copies the band sold on Goin' Too Far made it the biggest selling local single ever in Columbus.

Diamond Records licensed it for national release, giving the band airplay in other states, but they turned out to be the wrong partner for a national break. Another problem was the lack of promotional effort the band could provide. "We were all still in high school at that time," explains Bill. "There was no way our upper-middle-class parents were going to let us quit school at 16 and 17 to wander around on the road all the time. This made it difficult to go out and push a record. So we really banged it only during the vacation breaks."

Shortly after the release of the record another line-up change occurred. Gary Steger left and Jeff Fenholt came in. "Billy and I saw Jeff play at a gig one night and flipped over his voice", recollects Jim Hilditch. "We approached Jeff and asked him to join the Fifth Order and, after a couple of days, he agreed. Jeff played guitar better than Gary and had a killer voice." Bill confirms this point of view. "Gary was a good guy, but Jeff really took the band to another level. He and I harmonized really well." The band now played the Dance Party show every three weeks and was busy working the local and regional live circuit with other local groups like the Dantes or the Grayps.

In the spring of 1967, it was time to release another 45. The group went again to Ray Allen's studio in Louisville and recorded a total of five Jack Sender songs: Bonfire, I Was A Fool, The Moment I Saw You, Today I Got A Letter and A Thousand Devils. The latter two were chosen as having the most hit-potential for the second single - although it has to be said that they are all terrific examples of mid-60s folk-rock, and any of the others would probably have served just as well.

Upon hearing the final product, Jack found that the recordings had been… "tweaked" somewhat. "The original version of Today I Got A Letter we recorded is 2:17 in length, the 45 version instead runs 2:30, and begins with a chorus instead of a guitar opener." How's that? Jack believes that it was done by Ray Allen in conjunction with the label. Something similar happened to The Moment I Saw You, which features a mysterious harmonica that wasn't part of the

In any event, the 45 did extremely well throughout the region as before, hitting the top spot on most of the local charts. While Bill says that it sold as strongly as the first 45 locally, Jim Hilditch thinks it sold even more; but no one's really sure. "There was so much about the business dealings that I was not privy to or wouldn't have understood if I was," explains Bill, "You have to remember that this whole thing started as a group of young guys just looking for fun and girls. All that arcane stuff and minutiae I never paid real attention to. It might have gotten in the way of my good time!"

This time, the influential Laurie label picked up the single for national release. Unluckily, it only managed to reach "bubbling under" status. Bill believes that Laurie didn't put much promotional effort into the release. "I think their attitude was 'it's a regional hit, let's pick it up cheap and see what happens. If it hits, it hits. If it doesn't, we're not out much. No harm, no foul'". The record's success certainly did boost the band's local reputation and bankability.

As Jim reflects, "We didn't play with any national acts until after the second record. Then we played with the Four Tops, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Neil Diamond and Question Mark & The Mysterians. We played gigs as far as Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Maryland. Also TV shows in Chicago and Baltimore. Later we appeared on Upbeat in Cleveland, a nationally broadcasted show."

There was talk about doing another single for Laurie Records, but by then it seemed the band had pretty much run its course. Bill puts it this way: "The less serious of us wanted to chuck it in and go off to college. I was pretty hardcore and wanted to keep going. Anyway, the band kinda faded away in late '67, early '68". Jim agrees. "At one point we simply let it go. I wanted to have people remember the band the way it had been, instead of trying to keep it going with different players. There was a certain chemistry with all the guys in the Fifth Order. We clicked; we had our own style and sound. By changing one person, that would have changed the band."

In 1968 Counterpart Records came out with a third, now very rare and virtually unknown 45 of two earlier recordings: I Was A Fool b/w The Moment I Saw You. This happened after the Fifth Order had already split and without anybody's knowledge. Very few copies were pressed. And like the band, they quietly disappeared.

The ex-members went their separate ways. Billy and Jeff Fenholt were the only ones to continue in the rock business as musicians. Due to serious vocal chord problems that didn't clear up, Billy returned to the drums. He moved to California where he played in a number of rock bands until the '80s. Today he lives with his family in Los Angeles. Jeff Fenholt moved to Broadway and performed in the title role in Jesus Christ Superstar; he subsequently joined a later incarnation of Black Sabbath.

Today he runs a Christian TV show on TBS. Jim Hilditch went to college and returned to the music business as a manufacturers' representative, first for Gibson Guitar Co., then for Akai Musical Instruments. He's currently with the Fender Guitar Co. The traces of all other members are lost in the ether. But the Fifth Order were never entirely forgotten, and today we celebrate them for their brilliant songs and superb performances - gathered together for the first time!

CD Liner-Notes

Tracks

1. Goin? Too Far - 2:44

2. Walkin? Away - 2:48

3. A Thousand Devils (Are Chasin` Me) - 2:15

4. Today (I Got A Letter) - 2:33

5. I Was A Fool - 2:30

6. The Moment I Saw You - 2:16

7. Today I Got A Letter - 2:18

8. Bon Fire - 2:12

9. Follow Like The Wind - 2:37

10.Little Black Egg (Chuck Conlon) - 2:43

11.Walkin? Away (Demo version) - 3:01

12.I Was A Fool (Demo version) - 2:35

13.Medley: Hit The Road Jack/Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis, Percy Mayfield) - 6:56

All songs written by Jack Sender except where indicated

The Fifth Order

*Jim Hilditch - Lead Guitar 

*Jeff Johnson - Bass Guitar, Vocals 

*Gary Steger - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals (Tracks 1-2)

*Billy Carroll - Lead Vocals 

*Jeff Fenholt - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals (Tracks 3-13)

*Mike "Muff" Comfort - Drums

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The Barbarians - Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl (1965 us, cool garage rock with one-handed drummer!)

Formed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in 1963, The Barbarians got their big break in 1964, when they scored a slot on the T.A.M.I. Show. The band's barbaric, nonconformist image was a big part of their appeal. They grew their hair longer than most of their contemporaries and wore leather sandals instead of Beatle boots. And then there was their drummer Moulty, who had a hook for a left hand.

Deciding to capitalize on Moulty's disability, The Barbarians' producer, Doug Morris, talked our hook handed hero into recording this "autobiographical" soliloquy in early '66 using Dylan's group, The Hawks (aka The Band), as accompanists. The song's simple message - never give up no matter what the odds - was sincere enough, and it tugged enough heart strings to become a minor hit. But the single was an embarrassment for the group. Moulty was so furious when he found out that the track had been released that he flew straight to New York and chased the president of Laurie Records around his office, breaking copies of the single over his head. Not surprisingly, the band parted company with the label soon afterwards.
--Richard Patterson

The song "Moulty" from the 1966 Barbarians single "Moulty"/"I'll Keep On Seeing You" (Laurie 3326) was added to the songs from the original LP on the CD re-release of this Barbarians album. In interviews with members of the Barbarians, they claim that the Hawks (minus the departed Levon Helm) played on the track "Moulty". This has later been confirmed by the Barbarians' one-handed drummer Victor "Moulty" Moulton, through his friend, artist and producer Joe Viglione (who in 1998 released the compilation Boston Rock and Roll Anthology #20 on his own label Varulven Records, with two previously unreleased tracks credited to Moulty & the Barbarians.)

Tracks
1. Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl - (Jeff Morris, Doug Morris) 2:17
2. Mr. Tambourine Man - (Bob Dylan) 2:12
3. House of the Rising Sun (Traditional) - 2:48
4. Maria Elena - (Russell-Barcheleta) 2:23
5. Bo Diddley - (Ellis McDaniel) 3:11
6. Memphis - (Chuck Berry) 2:31
7. What the New Breed Say - (Doug Morris) 2:13
8. Take It or Leave It - (Clark, Morris) 2:45
9. I'll Keep on Seeing You - (Marecsa, Morris) 2:29
10.Linguica - 1:34
11.Susie-Q - (Broadwater, Hawkins, Lewis) 1:47
12I've Got a Woman - (Ray Charles) 3:16
13.Moulty - (Greenberg, Morris, Baer, Schwartz) 2:33
14.Hey Little Bird - (Kaye) 2:24
15.You've Got to Understand - (Goehring, Kuntz) 2:08

The Barbarians
* Bruce Benson - Guitar, Vocals
* Jerry Causi - Lead Vocals, Bass
* Victor Moulton - Drums, Vocals
* Jeff Morris - Guitar, Vocals

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