In the Summer of 1970 Joe toured England and Scandinavia playing at the Bath and Bickershaw Festivals. Both were huge successes and we decided to stay in London and record some of the new songs that Joe had been writing. We booked De Lane Lea studio for a couple of weeks and started trying to find people we knew to play on the record.
Eventually we wound up with among others Peter Green and Danny Thompson and two songs Spencer Davis. Unfortunately we had a lot of problems once we got the tapes back to California. We had to go back into the studio and add some new drums-Chicken Hirsh from the Fish; and on "Hold On It's Coming II"; Greg Dewey and Ed Bogas on violin.
This album features a different style of songwriting than the 5 Country Joe and The Fish albums—it's more political—more to the point6 ("Mr. Big Pig" more topical)—("Air Algiers"). Joe spent some time in the South of France, and went to Algiers to see if he could find Eldrige Cleaver an important member of the Black Panther Party who had fled the USA to avoid being arrested. —He didn't run into him. The title song "Hold On it's Coming " was subject to much controversy in the press.
Many critics thought the hitchhiker was a reference to Christ—Joe won't say; and many different allusions about the song and it's meaning (if any) showed up in the press from time to time. The album itself got great radio play, but was confiusing to stores and buyers because of the cover. Many thought it was the soundtrack to a movie—since there was no movie, the records wasn't adequately stocked. Goes to show what art can sometimes do to an album release.
by Bill Belmont, Berkeley, June 2001
Tracks
1. Hold on It's Coming No. 1 - 3:52
2. Air Algiers - 2:31
3. Only Love Is Worth the Pain - 3:55
4. Playing With Fire - 3:20
5. Travelling - 4:27
6. Joe's Blues - 4:14
7. Mr. Big Pig - 3:31
8. Balancing on the Edge of Time - 3:11
9. Jamila - 3:26
10.Hold on It's Coming No. 2 - 3:52
Words and Music by Country Joe McDonald
Musicians
*Country Joe McDonald - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar
*Spencer Davis - Back-Up Vocal, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica
*Rockhead - Electric Guitar
*Richard Sussman - Piano
*Nick Buck - Electric Piano
*Alex Dmochowski - Bass
*Eric Weissberg - Bass
*Vic Smith - Bass, Electric Guitar, Back-Up Vocal
*Gary "Chicken" Hirsh - Drums
*Greg Dewey - Drums
*Mark Sidi Siddy - Talking Drum (Track 9)
*Ed Bogas - Fiddle (Track 10)
*Peter Green - Guitar (Tracks 2, 3)
*Danny Thompson - Bass
The Rotterdam based band started as The Swinging Soul Machine and changed to Machine. Their sound was a mixture of Psych, progressive, hard rock and brass rock. Nederbeat was one of the more healthy psych/garage scenes coming out of continental Europe and Machine were like the latter stages of those groups such as Q65 and Cosmic Dealer.
Singer John Caljouw came from the legendary dutch band Dragonfly. The strong Hammond organ presence adds a proto-prog sound similar to Deep Purple and Mainhorse. Horns were frequently inserted in those days to increase the odds of a chart appearance, given the wild success of Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears. And, as expected, there's also a strong blues influence throughout.
Machine existed from 1970 to 1972 but was also revived from 1973 to 1974 by Content and Warby.
by Tom Hayes
Tracks
1. Rainmaker (Machine) [3:23]
2. Virgin (Machine) - 4:29
3. Say goodbye to your friends (H. Sel, J. Caljouw) - 2:46
4. God's children (Machine) - 4:41
5. Old black magic (Machine) - 3:42
6. Spanish roads (Machine) - 5:23
7. Lonesome tree (F. Content) - 3:38
8. Sunset eye (F. Content) - 6:26
Skin Alley was formed in 1968 through a series of important personnel changes to finally stabilize around Thomas Crimble (keyboards, bass and vocals), Bob James (saxophone and guitar), Krzysztof Henryk Justkiewicz (keyboards) and Alvin Pope ( drums). Clearwater strategy to publicize Skin Alley with labels is their potential to play a maximum of free concerts in the London area. During one of these concerts in August 1969 with High Tide and Skin Alley, training unknown name Group X has squatter equipment and played his first concert: the audience has to know the future Hawkwind. The famous DJ John Peel attended the concert and Skin Alley allows to record a show broadcast in the legendary show on Radio One.
Some companies point the nose to sign Skin Alley and finally CBS offers the best deal. The band entered the studio in November 1969 and wax layer on what to do first album based progressive rock and jazz rock. Before the release of this album, CBS included the first song "Living in sin" on the compilation "Fill your head with rock" published in 1970. This little warm-up helps to know a little better Skin Alley, whose album was released in March 1970 with the single "Better be blind / Tell me" loaded to bait the public.
"Skin Alley" is a good album of progressive uneventful, with great moments like "Living in sin" or the beautiful and melodic "Tell me." Groundwater organ sounding and subtle flûtiaux introduce a "Mother please help your child"-like blues saint-Sulpician. Product of progressive jazz with great pomp recalls Graham Bond Organisation or Artwoods ("Marsha"). "All Alone" is a long slow sadness which would be perfect for a surprise party in a funeral home. The album ends with the honest boogie "(Going down the) highway" highly enriched saxophones and organs.
This first album was very well received by critics and Skin Alley promote share in France during the spring of 1970, a tour which also vying Kevin Ayers and the Edgar Broughton Band. CBS has enough confidence in his new protégé allow him to record a second album. The group enters the De Lane Lea studios in June 1970, with producer Fritz Fryer and sound engineer Martin Birch (who later produce Deep Purple, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Whitesnake and Iron Maiden legend) . It is precisely at this time that Thomas Crimble share in Hawkwind and is replaced by Nick Graham (ex-Atomic Rooster).
The album "To Pagham and Beyond" marks a more jazzy improvisation and more progressive than its predecessor. This second album contains three long jams that give a spatial aspect: "Big Brother is watching you", "The queen of bad intentions" and "Take me to your leader's daughter." The group also includes the "Walking in the park" by Graham Bond, leading to a more adventurous and more content released on the first album.
Skin Alley received shortly after the recording of her second album, an order for the soundtrack of a German documentary about the supermodel Verushka. The group has recorded songs like "Shower music", "First drug scene" and "Cemetery scene" in a funky style in their infancy. This film was to be called "Stop Verushka" is finally stillborn and the soundtrack that would accompany ends into oblivion CBS offices.
Big Brother is Watching You – The CBS Recordings Anthology brings together the first two albums from Skin Alley – their 1970 eponymous debut and it’s follow up (also 1970) To Pagham and Beyond – along with a single ‘Better Be Blind’ and the unreleased soundtrack album to the equally unreleased film, Stop Veruschka. A rare old package and no mistaking, Guvnor.
Skin Alley blended a formidable sonic stew, flavouring their musical melting pot with elements of psychedelia, folk and the occasional dash of jazz horns, played out against a snarling undercurrent of bluesy riffage. This was served to an eager audience of free-festival-dwelling counter culturites, on a sizeable platter of proto-progressive rock. Close your eyes for a second, while listening to Big Brother is Watching You, and witness the seething mass of barnets that their particular brand of underground stylings sailed across, undulating as a single consciousness on a summer’s afternoon in Dorset, 1969.
‘Living in Sin’ is a case in point of how the musical machinations of Skin Alley evoke a certain spirit of freedom, long laid to rest, that eschews cynicism in favour of swirling flute melodies. The kind that unwrap an exquisite picture box of late 60?s hippy imagery, as imagined callow young things spin like dervishes upon the hallowed soil of Olde England, giving “The Man” something to fill his next half-century’s worth of quietly anaemic nostalgia TV shows with.
As ‘Living in Sin’ kicks off the original Skin Alley album, so it does this anthology, which is split into two discs: the first presenting the self-titled debut, with the second disc showcasing To Pagham and Beyond. For understandable reasons, the aforementioned Stop Veruschka is spread across both discs, tail-ending the first two albums so as not to break up their continuity. It’s largely forgettable, apart from one ray of light in ‘Sun Music’, which would reappear on Skin Alley’s third release, Two Quid Deal.
Whereas Skin Alley is a tight collection of the socially conscious and the sinister (‘All Alone’ sounding uncannily similar Country Joe and the Fish’s spectacularly eerie ‘Bass Strings’), To Pagham and Beyond opts for a more laidback approach, with extended jams and a heavier acknowledgement of the jazz influences. The nine minute ‘Take Me to Your Leader’s Daughter’ illustrates this perfectly, as meandering instrumental passages intertwine with brief vocal departures; the type of thing that would easily have gone on for another 40 minutes when performed on stage.
Big Brother is Watching You, brings the two albums together nicely, with both discs having their fair share of high points. Those old HFoS favourites, the Mellotron and the Hammond Organ, are incorporated liberally throughout and there’s even room left for a Harpsichord on the medievally-flavoured folk instrumental ‘Country Aire’. The flute be the real star though, providing the thread that binds a great deal of this excellent anthology together. If you’re a fan of the rough-around-the-edges underground rock rawness demonstrated by High Tide, Mighty Baby, Edgar Broughton and Hawkwind, to name a small few, then this band of hirsute ne’er-do-wells could be right up your (Skin) alley.
by Adamus67
Tracks
Disc-1
Taken From The Album Skin Alley
1. Living In Sin - 4:41
2. Tell Me - 4:39
3. Mother, Please Help Your Child - 4:11
4. Marsha - 7:18
5. Country Aire - 2:16
6. All Alone - 8:13
7. Night Time - 5:32
8. Concerto Grosso (Take Heed) - 0:29
9. (Going Down The) Highway - 4:16
A and B Sides Of Single
10.Better Be Blind - 3:02
11.Tell Me (Single Version) - 3:58
Taken From The Unreleased Soundtrack Album Stop Veruschka
12.Shower Music - 3:34
13.Sofa, Taxi And Sand Themes - 5:10
14.Cemetery Scene - 4:40
15.First Drug Scene - 5:15
Disc-2 Taken From The Album To Pagham And Beyond
1. Big Brother Is Watching You - 6:47
2. Take Me To Your Leaders Daughter - 8:46
3. Walking In The Park - 6:41
4. The Queen Of Bad Intentions - 6:47
5. Sweaty Betty - 8:04
6. Easy To Lie - 5:17 Taken From The Unreleased Soundtrack Album Stop Veruschka
7. Russian Boogaloo - 4:09
8. Skin Valley Serenade - 5:30
9. Sun Music - 5:26
10.Bird Music - 4:16
11.Snow Music - 2:33
Skin Alley
* Thomas Crimble - Bass, Vocals, Keyboards, Harmonica
* Bob James - Saxophone, Flute, Guitar, Vocals
* Krzysztof Henryk Juszkiewicz - Organ, Piano, Harpsichord, Melotron, Vocals, Trumpet
* Giles 'Alvin' Pope - Drums, Percussion
* Nick Graham - Vocals, Keyboards, Bass, Flute
* Tony Knight - Drums, Vocals
Mesa, Arizona, hardly a psychedelic mecca but the roots of Bliss and their first incarnation “The Sect” began there. While students at Mesa High 1966, Brad Reed, Rusty Martin and Corky Aldred got together and formed The Sect, eventually adding Tom Smith on bass and J.R. Lara on tambourine and vocals. Influenced by the British Invasion (who wasn’t?) the band landed a gig at a local nightspot called the Dungeon and changed it’s name to the Henchmen to fit the ambiance. But this was short lived and soon the band changed back to The Sect and began playing around Maricopa County. Keep in mind Reed was just 15 at the time!. Interesting this were to come for the boys.
Later in the summer the band caught at the attention of legendary producer Hadley “Madley” Murrell who had an ear for local talent and did some of the biggest records to come out of the area. He immediately booked them time in the famous Audio Recorders to record the two bonus singles included here. By the end of 1968 all 5 members had graduated from Mesa High School and broke up for a while.
The band decided to reform as a trio with Martin, Reed and Aldred, now a little older and more accomplished on their instruments, the name was BLISS. They teamed up with Murrell again to record a full album which was released on Canyon Records later that year. Sadly though the Lp is a great one, it had little fanfare until years later when collectors began to re-discover it.
Now it is considered a classic and worth a hefty buck. Well the story would seem to end there but…there was another album recorded a bit later which is the one you have here. Murrel again wrote a couple brilliant songs, as did Reed and Aldred. Some of the details of this epic unreleased music are the sketchy but the lp is not. From start to finish it is a killer, vocally, musically and intellectually…wow!. At least 4 classic psychedelic rock tracks appears here, notably “Music train” and “Hippies, Cops and a Bunch of Rocks”. I have added the Sect 45 as bonus tracks here… Catch the Music Train and Return to Bliss
by Brian Hulitt, Hallucinations records.
Tracks
1. Hotche Blues - 4:18
2. Music Train - 3:22
3. Nothing In My Life - 1:53
4. Fear Of Fears - 4:04
5. Reach Out And Touch You - 5:01
6. City Woman - 3:19
7. Hippies, Cops And A Bunch Of Rocks (Hadley Murrell, Eddie Campbell) - 3:54
8. Sandbox Symphony (Forest Webb) - 2:25
9. Simply Sunday (By The Sect) (Brad Reed) - 1:40
10. Just Can’t Win (By The Sect) (Rusty Martin) - 2:10
All songs by Corky Aldred except where indicated
And that about covers it, except that in between he was half of a group called Peanut Butter ‘n’ Jelly, and then he was on his own again, and he met people who went wha? When he sang his songs. "I remember the first time Derek Taylor heard me, he was standing in the other room and I did this medley I had worked out back then - I did a lot of songs with this transition thing worked in between em - and suddenly he goes CRASH!, drops everything, falls against the wall, and then when I finished he comes over and he says, 'Well, I , oh - what good are words, anyway? I just wanted to say, I really enjoyed your... music.' And I'm saying 'Uh, right,' and the walls are going ka-choonga, you know? One of those mystical experiences."
Gordon met Clive Davis, the president of Columbia Records, who said something like 'yeah', and signed him, and Gordon finally made his album - something he'd waited for a long time, and while making it someone phoned in a bomb threat. "A bomb threat, can you imagine? But we kept on recording. Studio time is scarce at Columbia." One of the strange things about Gordon is the way he sings: hard to describe, one of those things you have to hear. He sings echo with himself, sends his voice around the corner, through a filter, brings it back again, sings echo with himself.
The music at first hearing may sound foreign, jarring, unapproachable - especially the more electronic space songs. Maybe you can't see it at first, but then later when you find it has all worked out, it is most accessible. The first album Buster, doesn't have too many really difficult electric space songs. "We thought we'd keep this one pretty basic," Gordon says. "But I certainly do try to remind people about life and death and those things."
Eye magazine, December 1968
Tracks
1. Looking For The Sun - 2:37
2. Letter To Baba - 2:44
3. Topanga - 2:29
4. Autumn Is A Bummer - 1:49
5. A Bunch Of Us Were Sitting Around A Candle In San Francisco Getting Stoned And I Hope You’re There The Next Time - 1:58
6. Waiting For The Time - 1:56
7. Thinking In Indian Again - 1:56
8. Puppet Theatre 23 - 2:08
9. One Real Spins Free - 2:24
10.Windy Wednesday - 3:47
11.Miss Mary - 2:55
All compositions by Gordon Alexander
‘What A Lovely War’ … is entitled to such a puzzling irony, the British band’s debut LP Colonel Bagshot does not rocked the Billboard list of the very rich musically 1971. What’s more, in their own country no one even thought about release their album. Debut took place only in the United States.
The next album, which was released for the first time on CD, thanks to the Swedish label: Flawed Games… album devoted to anti-war topics is a piece of excellent, soft – progressive music under the sign of the late Beatles, The Strawbs and early Moody Blues. And while fans of 10-minute solos on the Hammond organ and distorted guitars may feel disappointed, but fans of the good old play based on a clear and ambitious arrangements of tunes from the early 70′s – should be thrilled!
I’m a big fan of this album, but I needed a few hearings to bite deeply into her mood. Just one little thing … Over 10 years ago, an American DJ just took the tape from the first track (Six Days War), remixed it a bit, added a typical soul drums, made a clip of the starving people of Africa i .. so “borrowed” a piece has reached the very top of the U.S. charts and sold millions of copies!and was used for the soundtrack of “Phone Booth” starring Colin Farrell (no relation to Brian).
Funny story is that these facts at the time it was, not Internet (yes, yes meant that contemporary rock librarians ‘Colonel Bagshot’ filed under band from the USA.
No, but now that we have the internet … it turned out that the native British people of flesh and blood!
The group was formed in the late ’60s. They played a lot of concerts and recorded albums. Their work, we compare some of the achievements of The Beatles, The Moody Blues, or even The Strawbs. Album padded ro is the 3.4-minute intervals protest songami a strong anti-war message and already less librarians determine how this type of music: psychedelic rock, or so-called soft-progressive … It is important that arrangements are top notch, the board listened to with great pleasure, even after so many years, and “Colonel” can sometimes bump so that the heel is coming! …. Just great!
Colonel Bagshots toured with Slade and went through transitions with new band members before Brian Farrell Became a solo artist signed to Warner Brothers and Kenny Parry, Dave Dover, Terry McCusker went on to form ‘Nickelodeon’ tight and very popular rock / pop trio. Colonel Bagshot reformed in 2006 for the launch of a book about the 70′s music scene at the Cavern in Liverpool.
by Adamus67
Tracks
1. Six Day War - 3:58
2. Lay It Down - 3:07
3. Lord High Human Being - 3:00
4. Headhunters - 2:47
5. I've Seen The Light - 4:45
6. Dirty Delilah Blues - 4:15
7. Sometimes - 2:02
8. That's What I'd Like To Know - 4:00
9. Smile - 2:55
10.Tightrope Tamer - 2:50
11.Oh! What A Lovely War - 3:18
In the mid sixties, five football players from a local high school got together to Jam. The sounds blended and recorded an album for the Century label which was a late 60's early 70's Californian custom record label that pressed tens of thousands of small-run records for schools, church groups and obscure local bands. This was one of those delightful garage/psych jewels that occasionally cropped up on the label.
With its rustic mill cover this a a garage psych album consisting mostly of covers, delivered with lashings of fuzz guitar and heavy, spooky organ. The stand-out track surely is the jaw droppingly awesome cover of Neil Young's "Sugar mountain". What you are hearing on this album are moods, transitions and feelings of the Fifth Flight.
Tracks
1. Can't You See (Danny Knoedler, Steve Denny, Kenny Van Ordstrand) - 4:51
2. I'd Like To Make It With You (David Gates) - 3:29
3. Devil With A Blue Dress (Shorty Long, William "Mickey" Stevenson) - 4:09
4. Celebrate (Gary Bonner, Alan Gordon) - 2:06
5. Midnight Hour (Steve Cropper, Wilson Pickett) - 3:42
Axe did not make a lot of music, but they made some phenomenal music. Some of the best ever to emerge from the swamp of heavy British psychedelia, certainly some of the rarest, ft is heavy but luckily never takes either of the two usual wrong directions: dexterity leading to wanky prog noodling, or high volume leading to endless bludgeoning riffs and not much else.
Unlike most stuff hyped by dealers as "prog psych" or "heavy psychedelic', which all too often is merely mindless proto-heavy metal, Axe were something very special. They managed to pull off a ma|or coup: they could blend heavy guitar, fuzz-overloaded amps and plenty of silky ribbons of Raga moves with female vocals, Vivienne's pensive yet direct vocal delivery, and poetic lyrics which tend towards folk structures, into a form that is proudly psychedelic, and still avoids all the usual pitfalls of such a marriage of unlikely elements. Explosive and astounding, they demolish similar femme-lead efforts like Curved Air or Shocking Blue.
But this mix of styles is not to suggest that this is a 'happy medium', or a compromise. Yes, the heaviness is occasionally leavened with some occasional folkish inflections, but these do not predominate, and in many ways the mention of 'folk' does the music an injustice. Too much so-called "acid folk" is folk first and acid last. Axe were no lay-down-and-die "acid folk" weeds. There sound is first and foremost spine-tingling acid rock. They made use of imaginative and trippy fairyland lyrics, deeply immersed as they were in the whole hippie thing.
Here's a representative quote from their masterpiece 'Here From There': "Long ago in times of old / When knights were strong and bold, / When fairies lived beneath the trees /And flew about on bumblebees / They bathed and swam in moonlight shafts, (In toadstools large and small / Are tiny lights and chimneys tall, / Fiery dragons roar through caves / Sending out a mist-like haze, / Fat, stout trolls beneath bridges lie (Waiting to grab whatever comes by....'And yet, despite its unbridled musical brilliance and perhaps because of the hideously botched Kissing Spell "reissue", the Axe LP still languish in deepest obscurity. (The profile of the Axe LP is starkly contrasted with an album like Jesse Harper's "Guitar Absolutions" (or whatever you wanna call it), which is also "heavy", also "acetate-only", also "big bucks", also made "available on vinyl and CD formats").
But, Jesse gets a lot of glory and even some mainstream media attention, whereas Axe get pretty much sod-all and not even get a mention in something like RC's (comprehensive ha ha ha) "Psych Trip" series! I guess those hacks just didn't, couldn't, get it. Doubtless, in their Pigeon Hole World they'd automatically call the Axe recordings "Progressive" just because they're heavy and from 1970. Such folks have a tendency to compartmentalise "prog" and "psych" as it they are always totally separate, unrelated entities, even in the face of obvious over-laps.
Of course, yeah you guessed it Jesse Harper did gain inclusion in RC's 'Trip'...and he's a New Zealander! All this despite the fact that ol' Jesse's album isn't even a patch on Axe's! ( (Isn't it time that the world woke up to the fact that Axe were superb? Isn't it time that Tony Barford was recognised as one of British Psychedelia's greatest guitarists? "This Machine Kills" were the words Donovan had on his guitar, but never would they have been more appropriate than on Tony Barford's Gibson. Tony Barford is one of the truly great long lost psych-rock guitarists.
His playing could make paint blister, and piles of old newspapers to spontaneously burst into flame. It would cause retired Colonels to choke on their port & lemon, and it would strike maiden aunts stone cold dead.
by Paul Cross
Tracks
1. Another Sunset, Another Dawn - 4:08
2. Peace Of Mind - 3:08
3. A House Is Not A Motel (Arthur Lee) - 4:45
4. Here From There - 7:53
5. Crimson Nights - 6:15
All songs by Crystalline except where noted.
Axe Music (Line-Up Fll, 1968)
*John (?) - Vocals
*Mark Griffith - Guitar (Later Shadows Bass Man)
*Mick 'Zulu' Knight - Hammond Organ
*Roger Milliard - Bass
*Stevie Gordon - Drums
Axe (Line-Up #2, 1969)
*Vivienne Jones - Vocals
*Tony Barford - Guitar
*Graham Richards - Saxes & Flute
*Roger Milliard - Bass
*Stevie Gordon Drums
Axe (Line-Up #3, 1969-1971)
*Vivienne Jones - Vocals
*Tony Barford - Guitar
*Roger Milliard - Acoustic Guitar
*Mick Knobbs - Bass
*Stevie Gordon - Drums This line-up were for a short time known as Crystalline. Under which name they recorded the acetate demo tracks.
When Joe signed with Vanguard as a solo artist in-late 1969, after the Woodstock Festival, it was apparent that Vanguard wanted an album release as soon as possible. Joe had always wanted to do an album of Woody Guthrie songs he and Sam Charters worked out a schedule that got Joe to Nashville for the recording.
Sam booked a stellar collection of "players" from Nashville-Grady Martin on guitar, Norbert Putnam on bass (who later collaborated with Joan Baez on "Blessed Are" which featured the hit "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". When "Thinking of Woody Guthrie" (VSD 6546) was finished, a lot of studio rime remained, so Joe and Sam decided to record a collection of Joe's favorite country songs using the same "Nashville Cats" — who had been booked for the time anyway.
Joe grew up in El Monte California, in the Valley near Los Angeles. Country music was popular and some of the songs on this album were hits in the 50's and early 60s. Songs like "Six Days On The Road" and "Ring Of Fire" were all over the airwaves when Joe was growing up. Notable on three of the tracks are the Jordanaires, the gospel tinged group that recorded and sometimes toured with Elvis Presley.
This album coming from Joe in early 1970, confused many fans and critics, as the country music world was very supportive of the War in Vietnam and this collection coming from such a pivotal figure of the anti-war movement seemed rather incongruous. It was however a true representation of a portion of his musical roots and has for the most part stood the test of time.
by Bill Belmont, Berkeley, June 2001
Tracks
1. Ring Of Fire (Merle Kilgore, June Carter) - 2:31
2. Tennessee Stud (Jimmy Driftwood) - 3:20
3. Heartaches By The Number (Harlan Howard) - 2:45
4. Tiger By The Tail (Harlan Howard, Buck Owens) - 2:05
5. Crazy Arms (Ralph Mooney, Chuck Seals) - 2:58
6. You've Done Me Wrong (Ray Price, George Jones) - 1:46
7. All Of Me Belongs To You (Merle R. Haggard) - 2:22
8. Oklahoma Hills (Leon Jerry Guthrie, Woody Guthrie) - 2:42
9. Tonight I'm Singing Just For You (Billy Edd Wheeler, Jerry Lieber) - 3:26
10.Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife (Mac Davis) - 2:53
11.Six Days On The Road (Earl Greene, Carl Montgomery) - 2:18
This collection of songs represents the very first successful American attempt to use a record propaganda and promotion. In 1965 Joe McDonald was to have performed a a demontration to protest the draft in Oakland, California, to politicized his audience, he and his then (and sometimes current) associate Barry Melton and Ed Denson (Kicking Mule Records) decide to form a jug band to accompany them at this event. They asked along some musicians they knew through Chris Strachwitz (Arhoolie Records) to record two songs for this record, as he had recording equipment and a way to get the records pressed.
They recorded two songs, "Superbird" and "I Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag", a young songwriter from the Bay Area, Peter Krug recorded "Fire IN The City" and "Johnny's Gone Th The War" which were added as b-side.
This record was conceived as a "talking" edition of Joe's magazine RAG BABY. They called themselves Country Joe And The Fish, a name which was arrived at as compromise to Country Mao and the Fish (as in the Mao saying regading the "fish that swims in the sea of the people") since they were in effect to conceived as agit-prop group. This "record" and the appereance in Oakland led to requests for them to appear as a band and their emphasis slowly shifted from an acoustic jug band to an electric "Rock" band playing a brand of what later came to be called :Psychedelic Music".
To promote themselves as an "Electric Band" and maybe make some money, they again formulated and recorded another EP. This was recorded at Sierra Sound Studios in Berkeley, California and formally astablished the existence of the RAG BABY Label. This EP numbered 1002 with its distinctive cover (by Berkeley artist Tom Weller) became one of the most identiflable of the many locally produced items from the San Francisco Bay Area, in the late 1960's. It was released in June of 1966, sold for $1.00. It certainly achieved notably as a collector's item, for established the band in New York long before they ever appeared ther and was available in record and "head shops" as far away as London. It contained three songs "Section 43", "Thing Called Love" and "Bass Strings".
In 1971, Country Joe again decided to mix commerce with politics and EP's. Then working with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland in a political musical revue they did shows for GI's to draw attention to the war in Vietnam. This FTA (Free The Army) Show was presented at "alternative" coffee houses (with names such as "Oleo Strut") that became centers for ant-war activism.
One of these in Mountain Home, Idaho was burned to the ground after their appereance there. Joe made another record that would contain material relevant to this period and songs that performed in the show. The third EP (RAG 1003) contains "Tricky Dicky", "Free Some Day" and "Kiss My Ass". They were recorded at Jack Leahy's Funky Features Recording Studiuo in San Francisco. The record was to have sold for $1.50 to raise money for the show and the VVAW (Vietnam Veterans Against The War), but some were burned, some were lost in transit and others dissappeard. It was probably more political than the first one as it went directly to the point, it received considerable airplay, however on what were then known as "progressive" FM radio stations.
Tracks EP-1 10/1965
1. Who Am I? - 5:40
2. Dirty Claus Rag - 2:00
3. I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag (Takes 1,4,5)* - 8:02
4. Superbird (J. McDonald, B. Melton, D. Cohen, B. Barthol, J.F. Gunning) - 3:33
5. Fire In The City (Peter Krug) - 4:43
6. Johnny's Gone To War (Peter Krug) - 2:00 EP-2 06/1966
7. (Thing Called) Love - 2:33
8. Bass Strings - 3:57
9. Section 43 - 6:43 EP-3 05/1971 (Cover design by Jane Fonda)
10.Kiss My Ass - 3:00
11.Tricky Dicky - 3:54
12.Free Some Day - 5:29
All compositions by Country Joe McDonald except where indicated *Take 5 listed as track #8 *Take 4 listed as track #14
Musicians EP-1 10/1965
*Joe McDonald - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica
*Barry Melton - Vocals, Electric Guitar
*Carl Shrager - Washboard, Kazoo
*Bill Steele - Washtub Bass
*Mike Beardsleee - Vocal EP-2 06/1966
*Joe McDonald - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica
*Barry Melton - Vocals, Electric Guitar
*David Cohen - Electric Guitar, Farfisa Organ
*Bruce Barthol - Bass, Harmonica
*John Francis Gunning - Drums
*Paul Armstrong - Tambourine, Maracas EP-3 05/1971 (Free the Army Show)
*Joe McDonald - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
*Anna Rizzo - Vocals
*John Rewind - Electric Guitar
*Richard Sussman - Piano
*Nacho Dewey - Harmonica
*Vic Smith - Bass
*Greg Dewey - Drums
While at College Chris formed a folk band called "Hunter Muskett" with songwriter Terry Hiscock (writer of "Silver Coin" - voted as one of the best folk songs of 1973) and guitarist Doug Morter (later with Magna Carta, Richard Digance, Maddy Prior, Jerry Donahue etc.).
The trio gigged the folk clubs and released an album on the Decca label called "Every Time You Move" in 1970. Muskett then gained a bass player, Rog Trevitt, (later to gig with Doug Morter in the pub rock band Peco Orange and numerous country and western bands, most noticeably with pedal steel player Gordon Huntley of Matthew's Southern Comfort fame).
The now four piece, played George acoustics and electrics, toured at home and abroad for about four years and released a second album, produced by Keith Relf of the Yardbirds fame, simply titled "Hunter Muskett" on the newly formed "Bradleys" label.
This debut from little-known, but highly regarded folk trio Hunter Muskett is an underground gem. Packed full of earthy, original songs, it masterly skirts the boundaries of baroque pop and folk-rock. The opening title track lays out their stall perfectly: layers of acoustic guitars, a delicate beat and some lush vocal harmonising.
The songs are purposely poetic but it never sounds forced, even on the darker tracks, such as Midsummer Night’s Dream, where the melancholy just about hangs together without sounding passe. It’s a delicious balance.
by Jan Zarebski
Tracks
1. Every Time You Move (Hiscock) - 4:24
2. Hey Little Girl (George) - 5:01
3. Midsummer Night's Dream (Hiscock) - 4:06
4. Pres Gang (Hiscock, George) - 5:08
5. Storm On The Shore (Hiscock) - 4:06
6. Castle (Hiscock) - 3:39
7. I Have A House (Hiscock) - 4:14
8. Inside Mine (Hiscock) - 3:30
9. The Wait (Hiscock, George) - 2:37
10.Cardboard Man (George) - 2:18
11.Davy Lowston (Trad. Arr. Hiscock, George, Morter) - 5:09
12.Snow (Morter) - 2:05
Listening to Doug Sahm can be like unfolding a musical road map; taking a journey from Norteno Texas dust, through Gulf Coast big band R&B and honky tonk country, on to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury psychedelic heyday in 1967.
Doug Sahm had an amazing gift for embodying, just plain being, his musical roots. A child prodigy steel guitar player, he had achieved regional hit-record status by the time he was a teenager, scoring a national hit with “She’s About a Mover” not much later.
Mendocino, with its title song a top 40 charting single in 1969, is the Sahm-led Sir Douglas Quintet’s finest hour, the exhilarating record of a musical heart, mind, and soul in perfect accord. Long out of print, this 1960s milepost is at last available on CD.
The title song is teeny-bopper pop set to a bouncy Tex-Mex beat and shot through with a dose of soul. After that sweet start, the album finds one great groove after another, from twangy fiddle-driven road epics that move along like a slightly stoned Ray Price shuffle, to distorted blues guitar freak-outs, to wide-open white soul laments. But it’s all rooted in a tight musicality that is as far from self-absorbed as pop music can possibly be. Harvey Kegan and Louie Perez, on bass and drums respectively, are a rock-solid rhythm section; Frank Morin’s horns are at least as sweet and soulful as anything Jack Schroer came up with for Van Morrison in the 70s; and Augie Meyer’s trademark roller rink-accordion organ sound is precise and brilliant, adding a sort of dusty uplift to the proceedings.
The real miracle here, though, is Sahm’s voice: a coarse growl, sweet and warm around the edges, it sounded perfect on blues, country, soul, or even Dylan-esque folk balladry. Sahm’s voice and delivery would have made him an icon even if he’d not been such a pioneer of crossroads and borderland American music.
Mendocino was an early peak in a legendary career. One of the album’s themes is its slightly self-mocking look at what it means to be a country boy in a big, strange, confusing world. But the real message lies in the feeling of pure joy in making music that runs through every track.
I bought my LP copy of Mendocino in 1972 for .99 cents from a cut-out bin at a Mammoth Mart in New Hampshire. The same day, for the same price, I scored a copy of another essential Texas document, Live at Cain’s Ballroom by Ernest Tubb and his Texas Troubadours. Both records got played a lot; they helped shape my listening –and playing – from that time on.
In some ways, Texas and the Southwest were America’s greatest musical frontier. In Stetson hat, buckskin, or tie-dye, Doug Sahm always did that frontier proud.
by Kevin Macneil Brown
Tracks
1. Mendocino - 2:40
2. I Don't Want - 3:45
3. I Wanna Be Your Mama Again - 3:10
4. At The Crossroads - 4:30
5. If You Really Want Me To I'll Go (Delbert McClinton) - 2:35
6. And It Didn't Even Bring Me Down (D. Sahm, Frank Morin, Martin Fierro) - 2:30
7. Lawd I'm Just A Country Boy In This Great Big Freaky City - 2:45
8. She's About A Mover - 3:20
9. Texas Me (D. Sahm, F. Morin, M. Fierro, John Perez, Augie Meyer) - 2:35
10. Oh, Baby, It Just Don't Matter - 3:15
11. Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day - 3:26
12. Sir Doug's Recording Trip - 3:00
13. The Homecoming (T.T. Hall) - 3:20
14. Hello Amsterdam - 2:48
15. At The Crossroads (Alternative Mix) - 4:37
16. Texas Me (Alternative Mix) (D. Sahm, F. Morin, M. Fierro, J. Perez, A. Meyer) - 2:36
All songs by Doug Sahm except where noted. Bonus tracks from 11-16
Very few Minnesota rock 'n' roll bands, in the days before Prince and Grammy-winning producers Jimmy "Jam" Harris and Terry Lewis made the scene, managed to successfully steal even a slight serving of the nation's auditory attention. Among such acts were the Trashmen, the Gestures, the Castaways and Crow. Before their precarious perching on the charts, Crow was known as South 40: Dave Wagner (vocals), Dave "Kink" Middlemist (organ), Harry Nehls (drums) and the brothers Dick Wiegand (guitar) and Larry Wiegand (bass), a twin cities bar band known for playing hard edged R 'n' B.
The formation of South 40 can be credited to the merging of two of Minneapolis' favorite mid-sixties rock bands: the Rave-Ons and Jokers Wild. The album, South 40 Live At Someplace Else! (Metrobeat MBS-1000) contained such rock standards as "Fire," "You Keep Me Hangin' On," "Get Out Of My Life Woman" and "99 ½" as well as several excellent originals such as "I Want Sunshine," "If No Love," "What's Happenin'?" and "Goin' Someplace Else." Even then the group exhibited a very original style, combining the best of soul music, R 'n' B, straight-ahead rock 'n' roll. South 40 never received a lot of local airplay, so to speak, but did garner a bit of recognition in the outlying areas like Fargo, North Dakota and Duluth Minnesota.
The band's big break came when it took first place in a "contest for rock bands" sponsored by the National Ballroom Operators Association in Des Moines, Iowa on September 29th, 1968. The prize - a recording session with Columbia Records. Three judges presided over N.B.O.A. contest that night, one was Timothy Kehr, former booking agent of the Rave-Ons. It came down to South 40 and the Fabulous Flippers, split even, until Kehr cast the deciding vote.
On January 31st, 1969, Crow entered the Columbia Recording Studio in Chicago for the first time, to begin what would be a bittersweet roller coaster ride that would last the next two-and-a-half years. Several changes had occurred in the four-month interim since winning the N.B.O.A. deal. Most notably was the name change. The guys, as one, decided to make it on a national level, South 40 just wasn't going to cut it. But why Crow? "Well, a crow is a kind of funky bird," recalled Kink Middlemist. "It's a scavenger, a nasty hard-hitting kind of bird and our music is kind of that way. Also, it's a short name, one that's easy to remember." Enough said.
Along with the name change came a personnel one too. Harry Nehls had received a good offer to join the local Minneapolis group T.C. Atlantic, so he left. After searching through the Minneapolis Musician's Union entourage, Michael Malazgar was settled on. Denny Craswell (of the Castaways) had been the group's first choice, but he had to finish up a few prior commitments with Blackwood Apology, of which he was a member. He would join the other four in about a month. Mike Malasgar was on the five-song session in Chicago, however.
The five songs recorded during that cold January day were: "Time To Make A Turn," "Busy Day," "Gonna Leave A Mark," "White Eyes" and "Evil Woman." Columbia Records passed on Crow after hearing the demos. "Columbia had specked us the free time," said Larry, "but they never promised records would come of the deal. I'm sure they had visions of Dave being another Gary Puckett, who was big for them at the time. We were a little bit too funky for them though. I'm sure that's why they passed."
Mosaic produced by Bob Monaco, exemplified by material such as "Sky Is Crying" and "Keeps Me Runnin'" the album offers up another set of straight-ahead mid-western hard rock. With the exception of Larry Wiengand's atypical jazzy "Easy Street" (quite an interesting change of pace), and the weird, soul-ish "I Need Love", it's not particularly subtle or sophisticated, but then that isn't what Crow fans were looking for. Sure, the album may be somewhat limited in terms of scope, but Wagoner had a great set of pipes and the band were quite good at what they did.
Elsewhere, a remake of the oldie '(Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On the) King of Rock and Roll' b/w 'Satisfied' (Amaret catalog number 45-125) and 'Yellow Dawg' b/w 'Watching Can Waste Up Time' (Amaret catalog number 45-129) were pulled as modestly successful singles. Even though the band had begun to record material for a fourth album, by the end of 1971 the combination of growing unhappiness with their label and sheer exhaustion effectively spelled the end of the group.
Wagner was the first to give notice, but faced with a significant financial debt, the remaining members decided to soldier on, quickly replacing him with former White Lightening drummer/singer Mick Stanhope. The revamped band struggled on for roughly a year before finally calling it quits in 1972.
Tracks
1. (Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On the) King of Rock and Roll (Jeff Thomas) - 2:32
2. Easy Street (Larry Wiegand) - 5:03
3. Yellow Dawg (Larry Wiegand) - 3:01
4. Sky Is Crying (James, Robinson, Lewis) - 5:57
5. I Need Love (Larry Wiegand, Dick Wiedgand, Dave Middlemist) - 4:22
6. Keeps Me Runnin' (Larry Wiegand) - 3:00
7. Watching Can Waste Up Time (Larry Wiegand, Dick Wiedgand) - 3:58
8. Satisfied (Larry Wiedgand, Dave Middlemist) - 5:13
9. Watch That Cat (R. Wiegand, Dave Waggoner) - 5:30
10.Let's Not Say Goodbye (Dave Middlemist, Dave Waggoner) - 5:10
One of the least known and most underrated folk-progressive albums from Britain! Fronted by noted folk guitarist Andy Roberts (ex-Liverpool Scene) and organist Bob Sargeant (ex-Junco Partners) the band released his eponymous album in January 1971 on B'n'C label - home of Atomic Rooster, Steeleye Span, Ginhouse and Hannibal.
This quite varied, nicely arranged and very often simply stunning album contained plenty of interesting folk (or even country rock) ideas mixed with classic, progressive sounds - with changing moods, atmospheric instrumental piano/organ/mellotron passages, fine guitar leads and very complex and slightly jazzy rhythm section.
Tracks
1. Trouble At The Mill - 3:26
2. Sad - 7:02
3. Midnight Shift - 2:05
4. Don't Get Me Wrong - 4:27
5. Sitting On A Rock - 3:04
6. Too Much A Loser - 5:56
7. Radio Lady - 3:17
8. This Way Up - 5:20
9. Trio - 4:56
10.Too Much A Loser - 6:04 Tracks 9-10 unreleased bonus tracks from the BBC sessions
Everyone
*Andy Roberts - Vocals, Acoustic, Electric Guitars, Slide Guitar, Violin
*Bob Sargeant - Vocals, Organ, Piano, Mellotron,
*Acoustic Guitar, Vibes, Harmonica
*Dave Richards - Vocals, Bass, Organ
*John Pearson - Drums, Percussion Special Guest
*John Porter - Electric Guitar
In 1971, following the departure of his bandmate Jerry Cole, bassist Alan Henderson joined forces with US guitarist Jim Parker and drummer John Stark to make this lost power trio classic - the last to be issued under the legendary ‘Them’ moniker. It opens with a searing medley of the Them classics ‘Gloria’ and ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’, boasting superb interplay and savage psychedelic guitar throughout.
Elsewhere, Stark and Parker flex their songwriting muscles on a series of powerful compositions, and even an acid folk number. Like its equally overlooked predecessor, this lost classic is guaranteed to find favour with fans of top-end garage rock.
Tracks
1. Gloria (Van Morrison) - 6:05
2. Baby Please Don't Go (Joe Williams) - 4:50
3. Laugh (Paul Williams) - 3:00
4. Let My Song Through (Jim Parker, John Stark) - 2:37
5. California Man (Jim Parker, John Stark) - 2:12
6. Lessons of the Sea (Jim Parker, John Stark) - 3:46
7. Rayn (Jim Parker, John Stark) - 2:52
8. Back In the Country (Jim Parker, John Stark) - 3:34
9. Can You Believe (Jim Parker, John Stark) - 2:46
Them
*Alan Henderson - Bass
*John Stark - Drums, Lead Vocals
*Jim Parker - Lead Guitar, Vocals
Recognize those licks? Fans of Antenna Jimmy (Jeff Cotton’s) unmistakable slide guitar work will hear it off the bat. And this may be the record to clue the skills behind the Magic Band to those who ever thought Captain Beefheart’s troupe were overrated hacks. But Mu is really a Merrell Fankhauser project, the man behind a string of awesome albums including Fapardokly and HMS Bounty’s Things.
The band happened across a copy of James Churchward’s The Lost Continent of Mu, a book about the mythical “Hawaiian Atlantis.” This provided the band name and a set of ideals (the bands’ matching those of the lost civilization) for inspiration. The fascination grew to a point that the group moved to Maui to try and find the lost city themselves.
The sound of Mu is a wholly unique mix of psychedelic rock and rhythm and blues. The interlocking rhythms and primal pulse of the Captain’s music shows its influence, but Mu is a more radio-friendly affair, think the Magic Band Lite. The tunes are largely instrumental and mildly progressive suites, with just enough structure and restraint to entice more conventional listeners. Mu benefits from this, the rare even blend of experimental with consonant songcraft. Cotton turns in some excellent slide, but also bass clarinet, and contributes a good deal of the songwriting. The rhythms are undeniably good, the songs sound better and better, and the drum break on the 9 minute Eternal Thirst (the longest track by a while) nudges the album into the realm of the hypnotic.
After an unissued follow up record recorded in Maui (included on the Sundazed 2CD set). Jeff Cotton, along with Randy Wimmer, left Mu in 1975 to study the Christian Ministry. Merrell grew increasingly fascinated with the lost continent of Mu, recording more albums based on the Mu theme and continuing to play music in the Hawaiian islands. The record they created in 1971 is remarkably fresh, out-there, and absolutely one-of-a-kind.
by Brendan (The Rising Storm)
Tracks
Disc One, California 1971-72
1. Ain't No Blues (J. Cotton) - 4:03
2. Ballad Of Brother Lew (M. Fankhauser) - 4:30
3. Blue Form (M. Fankhauser, J. Cotton) - 4:03
4. Interlude (J. Cotton) - 1:56
5. Nobody Wants To Shine (M. Fankhauser, J. Cotton) - 4:08
6. Eternal Thirst (M. Fankhauser, J. Cotton) - 9:34
7. Too Naked For Demetrius (J. Cotton) - 2:32
8. Mumbella Baye Tu La (M. Fankhauser, J. Cotton) - 3:19
9. The Clouds Went That Way (M. Fankhauser) - 3:16
10. One More Day (M. Fankhauser) - 2:29
11. You've Been Here Here Before (M. Fankhauser) - 2:55
12. On Our Way To Hana (M. Fankhauser) - 2:15
Disc Two, Hawaii 1974
1. The Land Of Mu (M. Fankhauser) - 2:03
2. Make A Joyful Noise (M. Fankhauser) - 2:42
3. Haleakala (J. Cotton) - 2:29
4. Blue Jay Blue (M. Fankhauser) - 3:19
5. Showering Rain (J. Cotton) - 3:33
6. I Saw Your Photograph (M. Fankhauser) - 3:40
7. It's Love That Sings The Song (M. Fankhauser) - 3:26
8. You And I (M. Fankhauser, J. Cotton) - 2:46
9. Calling From A Star (M. Fankhauser) - 2:06
10. Waiting For The Sun (J. Cotton) - 2:40
11. Children Of The Rainbow (M. Fankhauser) - 1:07
12. Who Will Write This Song (M. Fankhauser) - 3:21
13. Daybreak Sunshine (M. Fankhauser, J. Cotton) - 3:49
14. Drink From The Fountain (M. Fankhauser, J. Cotton) - 4:41
15. The Love We Bare (M. Fankhauser, J. Cotton) - 2:33
16. In Mu (M. Fankhauser) - 3:04
17. You're Not The Only One (J. Cotton) - 2:59
18. End Of An Era (M. Fankhauser) - 3:07
19. Earth News Interview - 3:45
20. The Awakening (J. Cotton)- 2:59
