Bob Tench (also frequently credited as Bobby Tench) is a talented journeyman singer and guitarist who has worked with some of the biggest and best-respected names in British rock during a career that has spanned six decades. Born on September 21, 1944, Tench got his start as a bass player, working with a variety of acts on the London club circuit before forming his first band, Gass.
Gass cut singles for Parlophone and CBS between 1965 and 1967, and in 1969, when impresario Jack Good presented his rock & roll stage adaptation of Othello, Catch My Soul, Gass were recruited to serve as the backing band and later appeared on the original cast album. Gass cut an album of their own in 1970, Juju, which featured a guest appearance by British blues legend Peter Green, but the group broke up in the summer of 1971.
by Mark Deming
Tracks
1.Kulu Se Mama - 7.14
2.Holy Woman - 5.29
3.Yes I Can - 6.51
4.Juju - 3.39
5.Black Velvet - 3.50
6.House For Sale - 3.47
7.Cold Light Of Day - 4.13
8.Cool Me Down - 6.10
All songs by G. McClean, D. Harper and R. Tench
UK supergroup from such origins as The Herd, Amen Corner and the Mindbenders, branching out to the beyond, with a more progressive direction, as was de rigueur at the fag end of the 60's. Despite a fair amount of promotion and a contract with the Beatles label: Parlophone, they only made this one great album and 2 singles, but failed to click with the public.
With Amen Corner's Alan Jones they were able to augment their sound with brass and woodwind, and listening today you can see some parallels with contemporaries Chicago and BST, but most of all the flavour is British and puts you in mind of a Traffic/Spooky Tooth groove, with some Jethro Tull thrown in for good measure - yet their pop roots were not deserted, which is what sets this album apart from so many others that line my shelves from the 1969/1970 period.
In common with many contemporaries at this time, Judas Jump were keen to throw of the shackles of the pop success they'd previously enjoyed with their Top 40 bands. Judas Jump was their collective attempt to "go progressive". Luckily for us they avoid the pitfalls of many of their bombastic pretentious contemporaries and retain a poppy, rocky edge which permeates the whole album. "Scorch" kicks off with "John Brown's Body", a great lurching ballsy opening statement as ever you'll hear, with a nice wailing harmonica backdrop.
The pace hardly lets up with "Rocking Chair" and "Beer Drinking Woman", but slows a little for the closing percussive dressed "Bossa Jump". Following by "Cry De Cry", an acoustic part, and then we get the tasty single, Trevor Williams' "Run For Your Life". It's not all wonderful though as towards the end of the album, it runs out of steam, and like a disappointing fizzy drink • goes slightly flat.
Ending with the thoroughly awful Ye-Olde-Musical- Hall-Romp "Private Holiday Camp" - this dated piece of nonsense is not on the US copy - be thankful my American cousins! Alan Jones, Trevor Williams and Andy Sown all contribute material, but Bown deservedly gets the lion's share • as it's at that point where the others kick in, that downward trend is marked. Unbelievably, these days Andy Bown sessions for the boogie stalwarts Status Quo, so he's still around, and still doing it.
A strange place for him to be? Maybe not so strange when you consider Status Quo and The Herd were Pop Contemporaries in the late 60's, which is no doubt where they must have met up and down the proverbial swinging circuit. In fact the Quo were a formidable pop combo back in the days before they discovered the 12 bar ad nauseum and their early albums: "Picturesque Matchstickabie Messages", and "Spare Parts are full of charming youthful and naive psychedelic whimsy.
Tracks
1. John Brown's Body - 3:24
2. Rockin Chair - 2:57
3. Beer Drinkin' Woman - 3:33
4. 49 Fingers - 1:02
5. Purple God - 3:09
6. Bossa Jump - 4:30
7. Cry-De-Cry - 2:36
8. Run For Your Life - 3:39
9. Cully - 2:34
10.Mississippi Turnpike - 2:57
11.Primrose Lady - 4:33
12.Scorch (instrumental) (Alan Jones, Andy Bown) - 1:30
13.Private Holiday Camp - 3:29
All songs by Andy Brown except where noted.
Judas Jump
*Andy Bown - Keyboards, Guitar
*Charlie Harrison - Bass
*Alan Jones - Woodwind
*Henry Spinetti - Drums
*Adrian Williams -Vocals
*Trevor Williams - Guitar
Only a few copies were sold of this 1970 LP by the Knocker Jungle. At the time of the release, the duo had already split, and the shops didn’t take it, perhaps also because of a photograph with a finger gesture by one of the members. The problem now was that almost no information could be found about the duo, Tony Coop and Keith Jones.
The participants surely made it look interesting. Involved were Dave Mattacks on drums (of folkrock band Fairport Convention), Phil Pickett on keyboards (of Sailor fame ; -not to confuse with Philip Picket from Albion Band-), and with no less than Tony Cox producing (at that time of Magna Carta and Tir Na Nog, besides he also had produced records later from Family, Caravan, Gringo, Françoise Hardy,…). In search of the master tapes they also found another 4 tracks of the session which have not been chosen to be included on the original LP, so they have been added now to complete this recording session.
We hear clearly attempts -especially on the early tracks- by Tony Cox to make the bluesier and simple busker-like guitar and song moments more sweeter, like on “Caught a cold last night” by a flute intro or with band arrangements like some conga and sitar-like guitar arrangement in an attempt to make this different.
The light sunshine hippie-like folk-blues mode (a comparable area to Keith Christmas for instance, also because of the slightly hippie-feminine aspects in the vocal tensions), in several tracks, like also on the bonus tracks, is in fact rather attractive and distinctive, despite it’s simple core, while the busker-like tendency on other moments keeps the songs on the edge of making it still able to develop into something arranged more subtely. When going towards the American way of lyrically driven songs, or sometimes ballads, some of associated, slightly Westcoast sort of style in the vocal arrangements fit with those songs rather well, without that they ever go towards a real Americana influence, they rather chose folk-blues instead.
Two of the tracks of the album, namely the first and the eight track, “I don’t know why” and “You’ve lost your love for me” and slightly also the second track, in the same vein, through its sort of catchy simple and light form, are easily comparable for the creative song melodies to some of those 70s Nigerian Afrorock songs, in a more acoustic version arrangement instead of with fuzz, and slightly bluesy, a fitting comparison thanks to its charming way of being playful-repetitive with the main lyrical song themes during the song.
This is an album which can be regarded as a song-album with its own, sometimes a bit more hidden charm.
Psych Folk
Tracks
1. I Don't Know Why (Keith Jones) - 3:14
2. Oh To Be Free (Tony Coop) - 2:50
3. Caught a Cold Last Night (Keith Jones) - 2:40
4. I've Got Time (Keith Jones) - 2:17
5. Not Even a Letter (Keith Jones) - 3:14
6. Ecclesiastes (Keith Jones) - 2:16
7. Reality (Tony Coop) - 1:44
8. You've Lost Your Love For Me (Tony Coop, Keith Jones) - 2:38
9. Amanda (Keith Jones) - 3:19
10.Sunburnt Virgin Trousers (Tony Coop, Keith Jones) - 2:04
11.Impossible You (Keith Jones) - 2:48
12.Where I Belong (Tony Coop) - 2:45
13.It Ain't Necessarily So (George, Ira Gerschwin) - 3:35
14.Oh My (Tony Coop, Keith Jones) - 1:59
15.Shadow On Your Shoulder (Tony Coop, Keith Jones) - 3:50
16.You By My Side (Tony Coop, Keith Jones) - 1:55
17.I'm Losing My Mind (Tony Coop, Keith Jones) - 1:49
18.Rosemarie (Tony Coop, Keith Jones) - 2:24
Musicians
*Keith Jones - 12 String Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
*Tony Coop - 6 String Acoustic Guitar, Mouth Organ, Vocals
*Phil Pickett - Piano
*Tony Cox - Piano
*Owen Finnegan - Congas
*Dave Mattacks - Drums
*Dave (Not one for corrections) - Electric Bass
The British psych-pop outfit known as Orange Bicycle evolved from a Beat group, Robb Storme & the Whispers, also known as the Robb Storme Group. They had recorded a handful of harmony pop singles for Pye, Piccadilly, Decca, and Columbia Records during the early '60s, but with little success. In 1966, the Robb Storme Group covered the Beach Boys' "Here Today."
It was arranged by the band's own multi-talented keyboardist/producer Wilson Malone and produced by Morgan Music's co-owner Monty Babson at Morgan Studios in the Willesdon area of London. With psychedelic music at its zenith, the group decided to change its name change and, in 1967, re-emerged as Orange Bicycle. Over the next few years, they released a half-dozen singles; their first single -- "Hyacinth Threads" -- remains the band's best-known track, appearing on numerous compilations.
In late August/early September 1968, Orange Bicycle -- wearing matching black and orange suits -- performed at the Isle of Wight music festival, reportedly covering songs by Love and the Rolling Stones. In 1970, already somewhat past its prime, Orange Bicycle recorded its only album, The Orange Bicycle. It was comprised largely of covers, including Elton John's "Take Me to the Pilot," Bob Dylan's "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You," and Denny Laine's "Say You Don't Mind." A few tracks were produced by John Peel. Psychedelic pop music, however, was on the wane, or transmogrifying into heavier prog or hard rock, so the group decided to call it a day, breaking up in 1971.
Wilson Malone's self-titled solo album (as Wil Malone) for Fontana was released that same year. Meanwhile, drummer Kevin Currie joined Supertramp, then Burlesque, before becoming a session drummer. Malone went on to form the heavy psych-prog trio Bobak Jons Malone with celebrated engineer/producer Andy Jons and guitarist producer Mike Bobak. They recorded one album, Motherlight. Malone also collaborated with bassist John Bachini on singer/songwriter Robert MacLeod's 1976 solo album Between the Poppy and the Snow.
That same year, they covered the Beatles' "You Never Give Me Your Money" for All This and World War II. Malone then went on to become a top producer/arranger on his own, working with many successful groups and solo artists. His string arrangement for the Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" (which appropriated the symphonic arrangement from the Rolling Stones' "The Last Time") caused a ruckus that resulted in Andrew Loog Oldham suing the Verve for songwriting royalties. In 1988, the Morgan Bluetown label issued an Orange Bicycle compilation, Let's Take a Trip On..., which contained all of the band's Columbia singles but no Parlophone-era recordings.
by Bryan Thomas
Tracks
1. Lady Samantha (E. John, B. Taupin) - 3:34
2. Country Comforts (E. John, B. Taupin) - 3:15
3. The Sweetest Thing Is (W. Malone) - 2:17
4. Make It Rain (John Dove) - 4:07
5. Say You Don't Mind (Denny Laine) - 2:58
6. Hallelujah Moon (W. Malone) - 3:29
7. Jelly on the Bread (John Dove) - 3:52
8. Take Me to the Pilot (E. John, B. Taupin) - 3:05
9. Come to Tomorrow Morning (Alan Hawkshaw, Ray Cameron) - 4:12
10.Back (J. Bachini) - 3:37
11.Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You (B. Dylan) - 4:32
12.Hyacinth Threads (W. Malone) - 2:56
13.Amy Peate (W. Malone) - 2:09
14.Laura's Garden (W. Malone) - 3:17
15.Lavender Girl (W. Malone) - 2:22
16.Jenskadajka (Doug Hodson, Des John Cox) - 3:33
17.Sing This Song All Together (M. Jagger, K. Richards) - 2:42
18.Trip on an Orange Bicycle (W. Malone) - 3:36
Bonus Tracks from 12-18
Orange Bicycle
*Wilson Malone - Keyboards and Vocals
*John Bachini - Bass and Vocals
*Bernie Lee - Vocals and Guitar
*R. J Scales - Vocals
*Kevin Curry (later Supertramp) - Drums
*John Povey - Organ and Sitar
The band, Mama's Pride, was originally from St. Louis, Missouri USA. In their hometown, they were fondly referred to as "The Pride of St. Louis". The group was formed by brothers Pat and Danny Liston. Members of the original band were: Pat Liston - vocals, slide, electric and acoustic guitars, organ, Danny Liston - vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, Kevin Sanders - drums, percussion, back ground vocals, Max Baker - lead electric guitar, 12-string and acoustic guitars, background vocals, Joe Turek - bass, background vocals, Frank Gagliano - keyboards and synthesizer.
Mama's Pride signed with Atco Records (a division of Atlantic Records) in 1974. They recorded and released their first album a short time later. According to Frank Gagliano, the Muscle Shoals tapes are still the highlight of the band then and now! The reason being is those recordings actually sounded live and in concert! Ten tunes--rhythm tracks--vocals--and overdubs recorded and mixed down in "THREE DAYS"!! David Johnson the engineer recorded all the tracks and we had been playing six nights a week for some time and the band was smoking hot!! All the labels that heard those tracks came to Atlanta to make a bid. Atlantic Records and the whole staff flew down to Tampa, Florida to see the group at a club called the PAC--Performing Arts Center. They offered us a major deal after the first show!! We actually met Amet Ertugen the CEO of Atlantic and he offered us a deal we couldn't refuse!
Frank Gagliano auditioned for Pat Liston in one of the first groups he had in St. Louis. At the time Frank was 14 years old and played accordian. Pat liked the way Frank played but told him to get a Wurlitzer electric piano and the gig was his! Well Frank picked up a used Wurlitzer and called Pat back and he had already hired somebody else, Ten years later Kevin Sanders---Kevin and Frank played together in bands since they were kids-- joined the group in December of 1973 in Tucson, Arizona and Frank hooked up with the group in April of 1974 in Kearny, Nebraska.
Tracks
1. In The Morning (Danny Liston, Max Baker)
2. Who Do You Think You're Foolin' (Gagliano, Turek, Liston) - 3:27
3. Blue Mist (Pat Liston) - 4:03
4. Laurie Ann (Pat Liston) - 4:21
5. Missouri Sky Line (Sanders, Baker, D. Liston, P. Liston) - 4:06
6. Ole St. Lou (Sanders, Baker, Turek, D. Liston) - 6:09
7. Kind Lovin1 Woman (Max Baker, Danny Liston) - 4:33
8. Where Would You Be (Pat Liston) - 6:21
9 Young And Free (Pat Liston) - 3:43
Billy Hallquist was born Oct. 19, 1949 in Sioux Falls, SD, USA. In 1951, He was stricken with Polio, but survived after several months in the hospital. His family moved to Minneapolis, MN in 1962. Billy graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1967 and briefly attended the University of Minnesota. He withdrew from college to pursue a career in music.
Like most teenagers, Billy was swept up in the Beatlemania phenomenon of the early '60s. Formed in 1965, his first band, The Transgressors, played the usual high school dances, talent shows and teen clubs of the day. His next group, The Other Guys, began to add original material to their repertoire of Beatles, Stones, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Animals, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Tommy James and other Top 40 hits.
His brief college career came to an end when Biliy replaced the guitarist of a pioneering Christian Rock band, Good Idea. They had just completed recording an original piece titled "1225", the traditional Christmas Story told from a Pop/Rock perspective. This recording landed the grouo a contract with Roulette Records. Prior to finishing the album, the original vocalist/lyricist left the group to pursue a solo songwriting career.
The addition of a new bass player and vocalist caused the group to abandon its Christian roots in favor of a more traditional Rock/Pop sound. The album was completed and Good Idea became Thundertree. If you listen to the album, there are distinctly different sounds on each side of the disc. The Thundertree side of 5 Rock songs is quite different from the Good Idea recording, which is a long suite of multi-themed musical movements.
During the sessions, the album producer asked Billy if he would become lead vocalist in order to complete the project. But, Billy lobbied for another singer who eventually took over the vocal duties. However, Billy did agree to sing lead on one track, "Summertime Children". The album was completed and de ivered to Roulette for national and international (on Vogue) release in 1970.
Thundertree toured briefly. They shared the bill with national acts like The Box Tops, (Ted Nugent and) The Amboy Dukes, Rotary Connection (featuring future superstar Minnie Riperton) and The Johnny Winter Band before typical band politics and personal issues led to Hallquist's departure in 71 from the group he helped create.
Billy began to write and perform songs that were primarily acoustic vs the electric rock he had grown up with. For the next few years, he became a fixture on the Minneapolis folk scene that had launched the careers of such notables as Bob Dylan, Koerner, Ray and Glover, Leo Kotke and others. When time/money permitted, Billy would book sessions at Sound 80 studios, which was a state of the art facility, attracting such luminaries as Cat Stevens. (Several years later, Bob Dylan would utilize Sound 80 to rerecord much of his legendary "Blood On the Tracks" LP.) These sessions culminated in the release of "Persephone" by Billy.
"Persephone" did much to establish Billy as a solo artist and was followed up by a 2nd solo release in 1976, "Travelin"' on Mill City Records. During this period Billy appeared with such major acts as Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Johnson, Barefoot Jerry and comedian Jimmy Walker ("Good Times"). In 1976 Billy Hallquist helped form "he K.O. Band and performed with them throughout the Mid-West U.S. for a brief period. K.O. band alumni include Bobby Rivkin Bobby Z. of Prince and The Revolution), Jeff Dayton (Nashville songwriter and guitar player for the likes of Glenn Campbell, Lee Greenwood and Kenny Chesney) and Kevin Odegard (K.O.) (one of the Minnesota musicians on the "Blood OntheTra:ks" sessions).
Billy also performed in a bar band '-ailed Cimmaron following his stint as a K.O. In 1979, Billy traded in his musician career for the life of a dad and husband. While no longer a husband, he remains a proud dad of sons BJ. and Dan and daughter Megan. His corporate career included many years as Broadcast and Creative Director for Lieberman Ent. a music/video rackjobber, and Marketing Director for the iconic label, K-tel.
Billy remains active musically. Throughout the '90s, and until very recently, he performed in a group called Perfectly Loud which featured a set list of nearly 1/3 Hallquist originals. The K.O. Band has reunited several times in the past several years to significant critical and public acclaim. His solo appearances at Three Crows in Delano MN helped establish it as a viable music venue that currently attracts numerous national and regional acts.
"I enjoy performing now as much, or more, than I ever did when I was doing it for a living" Billy often repeats to anyone who will listen. "I can't stand the booking end of the music business. I never had a desire to promote myself, which is an absolute necessity. But, if somebody asks me to play, I'll be there."
CD Liner-notes
Tracks
1. Desert Rats - 2:07
2. For The First Time - 2:40
3. You And I - 4:20
4. Blanche - 4:54
5. Smiling Lady - 7:05
6. Help You Now - 2:54
7. Buddah's Rosary - 3:22
8. Smiley - 5:23
9. Middle Lothian Folk Ballad - 1:45
10.Persephone - 8:36
Music and Lyrics by Billy Hallquist
Musicians
*Billy Hallquist - Guitar, Vocals
*Tom Hatcher - Acoustic. Electric Guitar
*Neil Iverson - Guitar, Vocals
*Jerry Johnson - Guitar, Vocals
*Rick LiaBraaten - Drums, Vocals
*Rich Miller - Bass
*Karl Ausland, Beckey Borchardt, Debbie Barton - Vocals
*Steve Crawford, Kim Hines, Dan Melford, Lee Sterner - Vocals
*Kathy Weingarden, John Holmquist, Tom Byrd - Vocals
The Fool were a Dutch quartet transplanted to London in the middle ’60s, whose original impact on the rock world was visual rather than musical. They were two women, Marijke Kooer and Josje Leeger – who designed clothes for people like Patti Boyd Harrison (George Harrison’s first wife) – and with Marijke’s husband, Seemon (Simon) and their friend, Barry Finch they became collectively known as “the Fool,” exemplifying the hippie ethic of the mid-’60s.
They had a shop off London’s Montague Square, where John Lennon was an early visitor. Brian Hogg’s CD liner notes quote Seemon from the Granada TV documentary, It Was Twenty Years Ago Today: “He walked into our place, and saw our stuff – furniture and posters as well as clothes – and he said ‘This is where I want to live.’” That established the Fool. They did concert posters for Brian Epstein’s Saville Theatre, decorated Lennon’s piano and his Rolls Royce and painted the exterior of the Apple building. They flourished at the height of “flower power” and their distinctive images helped define the era.
As artists they did several album covers, starting with the Hollies’ 1966 Evolution and the Move’s debut album, and perhaps culminating in 5000 Spirits On The Layers Of The Onion by the Incredible String Band – all in an instantly identifiable style. In 1968 they recorded their only album, for Mercury Records.
I remember that while my friends were getting excited about the Incredible String Band, I – never very fond of folk music – kept telling them, “Yeah, sure, but have you heard the Fool?” When I played the album for them I made a lot of converts for it.
The Fool is an album with some of the same English folk elements – including bagpipes! – but it is not a folk music album. So what is it? Good question. In an odd way it reminds me of George Harrison’s very under-appreciated Wonderwall Music: both are early precursors of “World music.” But The Fool is much more.
The album opens with spacey psychedelic effects that lead us directly into “Fly,” which has a naοve folksy quality but in turn leads (in a direct segue) to a rippling piano, banjos, and a deep organ accompaniment to the second track, “Voice On The Wind.” Hogg states that Graham Nash, whom they’d met when he was in the Hollies, “acted as producer and he doubtlessly helped sculpt the textured opening two tracks … which served as an atmospheric introduction to the album. The use of bagpipes and other exotic instruments signaled a wish to create something both adventurous and folksy.” (I might add that I rarely enjoy the sound of bagpipes – as they are traditionally played – but they work well for me on this album. Seemon is pictured playing bagpipes on the album’s cover.)
“‘Cry For Me,’ with its plaintive banjo, proved the Fool’s grasp of melody, a feature enhanced by their confident vocals and atmospheric seashore sound effects. ‘No One Will Ever Know’ blends pop with a jugband feel feel before a now familiar [bagpipe] skirl grabs the casual listener.
“A trumpet, whistles and almost gospel-styled singing inhabit ‘Reincarnation.’ ‘Hello Little Sister’ plays with the riff from ‘Walk Don’t Run’ and more faintly choral voices before ‘Keep On Pushin’ hits a bluesy vein. The piece is underpinned by a Hammond organ, prompting scholars to suggest the presence of R&B veteran Graham Bond who was often photographed with the Fool around this time. The eastern-styled [tenor] saxophone break would seem to confirm it. ‘Inside Your Mind’ is another track hewn from Episcopalia, while ‘Lay It Down’ [which concluded the original album] is full blown intoxicated psychedelia.”
When I first got this album I was struck by the nature of its melodies. They seemed to derive in part from old English church hymns – blended with blues, boogie and rock. “Episcopalia” is another way to describe it. Oddly Calvinistic, I thought then. But original: nothing else, before or since, sounds very much like it. And that “eastern-styled saxophone break” turns into a quote from Rahsaan Roland Kirk playing with Charles Mingus (as recorded in 1962) – a nice touch.
This album dates to the days before “progressive rock” existed, but prefigures it in its adventurousness and wide-ranging musicality. I always wondered why there was no second album to follow up on this one, but Hogg says, “Unfortunately for the Fool, flower-power was wilting in 1968 [when the album was released] and their efforts herein went largely unrecognized, despite cover art typical of their work. Their designs were now deemed passι – the Apple building was repainted at the behest of residents, and the collective split up at the end of the decade.” Frankly, I was never impressed by their style of artwork – the cover of the Move’s first album never did anything for me – and I miss that aspect of the Fool much less than I do their music.
In the early ’70s Seemon and Marijke came to America and made an album for A&M Records, Son Of America (SP 4309). Graham Nash again was the producer (and contributed vocals), and Seemon plays bagpipes in a few spots, but the music is rather pedestrian and ordinary, perhaps the result of using American musicians (including Booker T. on organ), or perhaps the desire for greater commercial success – which eluded it. This album was not a continuation of the Fool. Then the couple returned to Amsterdam and split up. Hogg says that Barry and Josje also returned to Amsterdam, “and, last heard, were still together.”
by Dr. Progresso and Brian Hogg
Tracks
1. Fly - 2:43
2. Voice On The Wind - 5:08
3. Rainbow Man - 2:21
4. Cry For Me - 3:52
5. No One Will Ever Know - 2:53
6. Reincarnation - 4:07
7. Hello Little Sister - 2:00
8. Keep On Pushing - 6:00
9. Inside Your Mind - 2:43
10.Lay It Down - 4:51
All compositions by Fool
The Fool
*Simon Posthuma
*Marijke Koger
*Barry Finch
*Josje Leeger
And now, here it comes, Grand Funk in all their slick rag-tag glory, where roughness and toughness in the essence have been overshadowed by gloss and, well, shining on the surface. Yeah, it took Todd Rundgren and even a second try at that to bring out the very best in Grand Funk, but believe me, the result was worth it; Shinin' On is a brilliant 'guilty pleasure' and the one "late period" Grand Funk album to buy if you're only gonna buy one, far better than any of those stupid hit packages that are all busy incorporating dreck like 'I'm Your Captain' and 'Heartbreaker' instead of showcasing the band's driving, energetic, boozy rock'n'roll sound as neatly combed and fleshed out by Mr Todd "Pop Is More Than Just A Pretty Chorus" Rundgren.
And Shinin' On certainly has a lot of that - a bit too much, even, perhaps, but heck, since it's the only true style I can easily tolerate from Farner and his dudes, it's all right in the end. The album is remarkably short, with none of the songs stretched out to ultra-epic length (well, many of them feature extended codas, but they're not epic codas - rather like unpretentious dance grooves), and six of the eight tracks are in-yer-face rock, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, but almost always ballsy and gruff, with a lot of energy and, occasionally, wonderful lead work from Farner. Of course, six years of work still haven't managed to teach Mark the skill of writing something at least halfway memorable, but I did close my eyes on that a long long time ago - we all know that Grand Funk Railroad thought themselves above such a primitive idea as 'hook'. I know. They must be progressive.
Only one tune has any signs of gospel ('Carry Me Through'), and, of course, it's one of the longest and the most boring numbers on the entire record, but still, it's interesting how Todd cleverly applies all those production devices to transform a routine gospel throwaway into a strange 'cosmic' weird chanting complete with electronic voice processing and otherworldly wah-wah solos. Whenever I check the lyrics sheet, I feel like pukin' ("help me find the hand that knows where I've been" - isn't that part a little bit too ambiguous?), but apparently, Rundgren felt that way, too, because he cleverly laid all these "voice screens" on Mark's delivery so he sounds like some Andromedan guy from far, far away, with a bunch of "space synth loops" confirming that idea.
Likewise, 'Mr Pretty Boy' is a very strange and exciting interpretation of a straightforward blues original, with atmospheric Mellotrons roaming in the background and weird underwatery guitars underpinning Farner's vocals. It's not that I'm actually saying these tunes are great or anything like that - but you gotta understand, for a band so unimaginative as GFR these arrangements are top of the game indeed. Subtract them, and you'll be left with basic derivative structures that do nothing, except for reminding you of several dozen identic performances from several dozen generic Southern rock bands. Whoever said production doesn't really matter? Oh, I did. Would you please get into your time machine, move five years back and shoot me?
And the rest just R-O-C-K-S. Rocks well, rocks hard, despite all the sheen, and even if you forget every single note as soon as the album's over (and you will, unless you grew up with this stuff under your pillow or something), that doesn't mean you won't have a real good time while the music's on. The title track is again the biggest highlight, with a classy 'dry' guitar tone employed by Farner as he bases the song on a phased funky riff, with booming, echoey vocals on top, more of a caveman than of a Christian. Craig Frost comes to the forefront here, getting involved in the same kind of driving interplay with Mark as he did on 'Flight Of The Phoenix' - but this here thing is rather funky than bluesy, meaning it actually gets hot during the performance.
The band's take on the golden oldie 'Loco-Motion' is funny; not great but essentially saved by the fact that it's the most lightweight tune they ever did up to that moment - in the context of this album, it functions akin to the Traveling Wilburys' 'Wilbury Twist', well, you know the score. Hardcore fans were probably disappointed hearing GFR do such blatant pop-rock, but hey, thank the Lord they're not doing generic bubblegum, and I suppose that Farner's (or is that really Rundgren? my commentators seem to be split on that one) blazing solo will put everybody to their senses anyway.
'Please Me' is the strangest thing on here lyrically, since I can't figure out who or what is the 'she' of the song supposed to symbolize. 'Five million guys have tried to reduce her to another girl on the street?' What the heck is that? That's a bit too few if they mean the world, and way too many if... well you know. The song rocks anyway, and so does the funky 'Gettin' Over You' and the socially biting 'Little Johnny Hooker', the latter apparently GFR's analog of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Saturday Night Special' (only where the Skynyrders condemned hand guns, the Funkers condemn switchblade knives).
I don't know why, but they even manage to come out with enough sincerity on that track. Maybe it's the poison emanating out of Farner's guitar that drives me berserk, but I am perfectly ready to perceive 'Johnny Hooker' as a sincere, emotional, powerful anthem directed against... ah, well, all the anthems that are directed against something are directed against one thing all the time. It works, anyway, and even the vocals aren't overdriven this time.
by George Starostin
Tracks
1. Shinin' On (Don Brewer, Mark Farner) - 5:59
2. To Get Back In (Mark Farner) - 3:56
3. The Loco-Motion (Gerry Goffin, Carol King) - 2:46
4. Carry Me Through (Don Brewer, Craig Frost) - 5:34
5. Please Me (Don Brewer, Mark Farner) - 3:37
6. Mr. Pretty Boy (Don Brewer, Mark Farner, Craig Frost) - 3:08
7. Gettin' Over You (Don Brewer, Craig Frost) - 3:59
8. Little Johnny Hooker (Mark Farner) - 4:59
Paul & Barry Ryan were identical twin pop stars of the mid-'60s, but when Paul bowed out due to stress, Barry carried on, at least for a while, singing Paul's songs. The best (only?) known of these is the baroque orchestral pop classic Eloise, memorably covered by The Damned in the early '80s. It was a massive hit for Ryan in '68, too, selling over three million copies and completely overshadowing anything else he did. He made two albums, '68's Sings Paul Ryan and an eponymous '69 follow-up, before retiring from the biz himself.
Stuffed full of material in a similar vein (if not quite the quality) of Eloise, both albums are well worth hearing, although it's only the former that interests us here. Opening with Theme To Eutopia, a kind-of overture to the album as a whole, as well as the obvious, it features songs of the quality of Crazy Days, My Mama and the Beach Boys-esque I Will Bring You Love, although, in truth, there's not a single clunker to be heard here.
An anonymous session muso adds overt MkII strings to the intro of Love Is On The Way, in direct contrast to the orchestra utilised on the rest of the album, making it likely it was used specifically for its sound (hurrah!), rather than as a cheap orchestral substitute.
You almost certainly know Eloise, if only The Damned's version (which doesn't differ that much from the original, anyway), so if you'd like to hear more of the same, you could do an awful lot worse than to buy Rev-ola's Singing the Songs of Paul Ryan, 1968-69, containing both of Barry's albums and a couple of bonuses. Sings Paul Ryan's a great album.
Planet-Mellotron
Tracks Barry Ryan Sings Paul Ryan 1968
1. Theme to Eutopia - 3:36
2. Why Do You Cry My Love - 3:30
3. The Colour of My Love - 2:48
4. Crazy Days - 2:29
5. Eloise - 5:52
6. My Mama - 3:51
7. I Will Bring You Love - 2:34
8. Love Is on the Way - 2:30
9. What's That Sleeping in My Bed? -. 2:20
10. You Don't Know What You're Doing - 3:35
11. Kristan Astra Bella - 2:52 Barry Ryan 1969
12. The Hunt - 3:03
13. Sunday Theme - 2:41
14. Look To The Right, Look To The Left - 2:59
15. Sunrise In The Morning - 3:03
16. Isn't That Wild - 3:27
17. Man Alive 2:28
18. Makin' Eyes - 2:57
19. Oh For The Love Of Me 3:03
20. Sea Of Tranquility - 3:22
21. I See You - 2:52
22. Feeling Unwell - 2:56
23. Where Have You Been - 3:03 Bonus Tracks
24.Look to the Right, Look to the Left - 2:28
25.Oh for the Love of Me - 3:00
One of the most mysterious albums of the late Sixties, British singer/songwriter Philamore Lincoln's US-only release The North Wind Blew South has attracted plenty of conjecture over the years, much of it concerning the alleged involvement of the Yardbirds.
Philamore Lincoln was born Robert Cromwell Anson on 20th October 1940 in Sherwood, Nottingham. He started playing drums in his mid-teens before joining the RAF, where he played in a band that also featured alto saxophonist Trevor Watts, later of Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Amalgam.
It was at this juncture that Anson began to call himself Phil Kinorra in honour of his three favourite jazz drummers - Phil Seamen,Tony Kinsey and Bobby Orr. After leaving the RAF, Kinorra worked in summer shows and variety acts before coming down to London at the beginning of 1960 as part of an R&B band run by Heather Logan (the sister of jazz singer and actress Annie Ross).
By early 1967, Julien Covey and the Machine had settled down to a line-up of Phil Kinorra on vocals, John Moorshead on guitar, Pete Solley on keyboards, John Holliday on bass and Keith Webb on drums. (NB. It may be that John Holliday was a pseudonym for Johnny Spence, who is known to have been a member of the Machine around this time. Spence had recently quit the Pirates, where he had briefly played alongside Moorshead.) Linking up with Island label producer Jimmy Miller, Covey and the Machine cut a great single, 'A Little Bit Hurt' b/w 'Sweet Bacon'.
Released in May 1967, 'A Little Bit Hurt' attracted a lot of support from the pirate radio stations and was popular in the club discotheques, but didn't quite make the transition to national chart success. Nevertheless, it was an extremely influential record; not only did it become a big favourite on the Northern Soul circuit, leading to Island re-releasing it in 1978, but the A-side was clearly the template for a track on the debut Soft Machine album, 'We Did It Again'.
According to press reports at the time, Julien Covey and the Machine were offered a five-year deal by Island, but the group split in the autumn of 1967, at which juncture John Moorshead joined the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation. After a brief reunion with Graham Bond, Anson/Kinorra/Covey then underwent yet another musical metamorphosis and change of name, reinventing himself as Donovan style psychedelic folk troubadour Philamore Lincoln.
Using this name, he released a September 1968 single for the NEMS label, 'Running By The River' b/w 'Rainy Day'. Sadly unavailable for this anthology, 'Running By The River' was a beguiling slice of folkadelia that deserved a better fate than to sink into oblivion. But Lincoln wasn't finished (just as well, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this sleevenote). When NEMS collapsed in 1969, a number of its acts transferred to CBS, who had distributed the label.
The excellent 'Rainy Day' was resurrected from the B-side of 'Running ByThe River', but there were plenty of new songs that attained the same heights. 'You'reThe One' pursued a similar direction but with the added attraction of a fierce lead guitar break from Jimmy Page, while the oddly-structured montage 'Early Sherwood' saw Anson/Kinorra/Covey/Lincoln reminiscing about his Nottingham childhood.
Sadly, though, The North Wind Blew South failed to garner much attention, and Lincoln's next act was to produce the self-titled, May 1971 debut album for the progressive rock band Paladin, who included two of his former Julien Covey and the Machine colleagues, keyboardist Pete Solley and drummer Keith Webb. After that, though, the Philamore Lincoln trail goes cold. Perhaps he adopted yet another alias and became some glam rock or punk superstar. Maybe he threw in the towel and returned to Nottingham to work in a glue factory.
Who can say? Meanwhile, the title track of The North Wind Blew South has attracted a cover version from studio collective Headless Heroes, who recently released it as a single as well as including it on The Silence Of Love, an album of covers that also includes songs originally recorded by the Jesus & Mary Chain and Nick Cave.
Coupled with his inclusion on such collector-type compilation series as Rubble and Fading Yellow, clearly there's more interest in Philamore Lincoln's small but impressive body of work than there was some four decades ago. Hopefully this reissue will add to his re-evaluation.
by David Wells
Tracks
1. The North Wind Blew South - 3:10
2. You're The One - 3:02
3. Lazy Good For Nothin' - 2:29
4. Early Sherwood - 3:16
5. Rainy Day - 2:27
6. Temma Harbour - 2:59
7. The Plains Of Delight - 3:16
8. The Country Jail Band - 2:36
9. When You Were Looking My Way - 3:15
10.Blew Through - 5:18
Words and Music by Philamore Lincoln
Musicians
*Philamore Lincoln - Vocals, Flute, Guitars, Strings Arrangement.
*Clem Cattini - Drums
*Les Hurdle - Bass
*Jimmy Page - Guitar on "You're The One"
As Bar Mitzvah presents, Jerry Dobb receives an Acetone electronic organ with Kalamazoo Amplifier and Scott Julian receives an Epiphone electric guitar and amp. The friends decide to form a band in the archetypal New York City suburb of Colonia, New Jersey. First band is named the Marc 5 (for no reason that I can now remember - no one named Marc in the band). The band consists of Jerry and Scott, Bob Briendel on bass (he had no idea how to play. Scott showed him where to put his fingers), Phil Mazuski on drums and the only real musician, Joe "Musky" Muscolino on saxophone.
The band had a repertoire of about 10 songs, including "Summertime," "Tequila" and "The Batman Theme." Playing a private pool party and someone requested "Moon River." Musky knew it, so we faked it behind him. It was pretty awful, but the guests were too drunk to care and actually gave us an extra tip for playing it! The thirteen year olds in the band hook up with a seemingly much older, 17 year old singer named Pete (don't remember his last name) and change the name of the band to the Sonix. Pete is an R&B enthusiast and the song list changes to include "I Got You," "Mustang Sally" and other soul songs. Pete performs James Brown style with spins, splits and yelps.
The hand uniform is pointy-toed black shoes, black pants, pink Italian high-roll collar shirts and burgundy button front sweaters. The band decides that they'd like to follow a more hip and hippy style of music. Pete departs and the group reforms as Six Feet Under. Phil is replaced by Ritchie on drums. Bob, who never really took to music, is replaced by Duanc Ulghcrait on bass. Joe leaves for an established soul band. A girl singer (name unknown) briefly comes and goes. Ritchie, while an excellent drummer, proves to be volatile and is replaced by Hector "Tico" Torres fromSayerville N.J. Where did the name Six Feet Under come from? Well after the Sonix, the hand wanted a new hipper name.
The first thing decided was that the name shouldn't begin with "The." After some brainstorming, someone mentioned that the British band Ten Years After didn't start with "The" and was kind of cool. So we started coming up with phrases that fit that pattern; a number, a noun, and an adverb. We also wanted a name that was kind of dark and slightly threatening, like the Grateful Dead. Ultimately someone came up with Six Feet Under, and we immediately realized that it was the perfect moniker. Later, when Nannette joined the band the sound softened a bit, but the name stuck until the end.
When the dust settles it's Jerry on organ and vocals, Scott on guitar, Duane on bass and Tico on drums. Tico plays a drum set that belonged to his dad, circa the mid-1940s. The bass drum was oversized and the tom-toms were nailed onto the bass. A friend of Tico's paints a beautiful oil painting of a woman's head floating above a grave with ghostly hands reaching up, trying to retrieve it. This is cut out and inserted into the front of the bass drum. A simplified line drawing of the painting is used as a promotional hand-out.
The band plays at least one night most weekends and improves. Gigs include dances, Rutger's University fraternity parties, battle of the band competitions and local festivals in and around Northern New Jersey. The songs now include a lot of Doors material, Cream, Hendrix, and the signature song, a relatively faithful rendition of the complete "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida." The First original songs appear, including "The Six Feet Under Theme" and "Karen." Around this time the opportunity to record appears.
Fifteen year old Nanette DeLaune joins the band as "chick singer" a la Grace Slick. Jay Crystal begins as drummer. While preparing to record the band continues to play gigs, many times two a weekend. The material now includes songs by the Jefferson Airplane, Rolling Stones, Santana, Ten Years After and Blind Faith. Show stoppers include a rousing version of "Soul Sacrifice" and a 15 minute set of songs from the Who's "Tommy." Original material is written by Jerry and practiced.
The band records at the Scepter Studios. Jerry uses a Hammond B-3 with Leslie tone cabinet for the first time. "Inspiration In My Head" is "released." The band is angry because the extended instrumental break at the end of the song is edited out. Friends and relatives convince a local record shop to order the single and buy a few dozen copies. A local radio station plays it once on the air. The band listens in a car and can't believe that they're on the radio. Nothing else happens. The band goes back to the studio to record more songs.
By late fall of 1970 the band decides to split up. Jerry, Scott and Duane head to college. Jerry assembles an ad-hoc band and records some solo songs. These are never released. Nanette does some further recording also, but nothing comes of it. Jerry studies filmmaking at college and ultimately becomes a corporate video manager. Scott ends up as a chef in a prestigious hotel. Duane becomes a candy salesman. Musky lands in Utah where he plays and books local bands. Don't know what became of Nanette, Jay, Bob, Phil, Ritchie, or Pete. But Hector "Tico" Torres, the guy who wasn't good enough to record, hooked up with a younger boy from Sayerville named Jon Bon Jovi and the rest, as they say...
by Jerry Dobb
Tracks
1 Inspiration in My Head - 2:28
2 Freedom - 4:07
3 What Would You Do? - 3:43
4 Baby I Want to Love You - 8:08
5 In Retrospect - 4:04
6 Fields - 3:04
7 Running Around in the Sun - 3:28
8 Black Movies - 3:20
9 Six Feet Under Theme - 2:46
10 Suzy Q - 6:18
11 City Blues - 5:12
12 In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (D. Ingle) - 11:52
13 Basement Jam - 0:47
14 Sonix Commercial - 0:58
15 Inspiration in My Head - 2:51
16 Freedom - 4:30
17 What Would You Do? - 5:53
18 Fields - 3:05
19 Boogie Man Bash - 0:44
Geoff Twigg and Brian Rodgers first met in Frank Terenzi's music shop in Maidstone, Kent in September 1973. There was instant musical rapport, and they did their first gig together a mere? days later. Both had been musically active in the area for years: Geoff had played in a teenage band called Wyndmsh, and in a duo with Penny Connor, and was a member of the Concord Singers, a Kent-based choir; Brian, meanwhile, had been a member of a folk-rock outfit (name long forgotten}, and worked with another band, Bacchus, and as a solo folkie.
Geoff's main influences were Lennon and McCartney, Paul Simon, Melanie, Judy Collins. Joni Mitchell, and others in the singer-songwriter vein, underpinned by a keen interest in the classical guitar repertoire by contrast. Brian's enthusiasm was for the current British folk scene - Ralph McTell, Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Steeleye Span. Tir Na Nog, John Renbourn, John James, and others.
The crossfertilization between their separate enthusiasms and previous musical experience goes a long way toward explaining the uniquely distinctive blend to be heard on Amalgam. Just Others worked in most of the folk venues around the southeast of England, and secured a residency at the Faversham Folk Club. Keen for wider acclaim, they entered the annual Melody Maker contest, but, in Brian s words, "played abysmally, go nowhere".
Amalgam was recorded, making the utmost of the most basic equipment in the spring and summer of 1974. Just 250 copies were pressed (500 were ordered, but the pressing plant was in financial difficulties), and the record was sold only at gigs. Enough songs were written for a second album and record companies were duly approached, including such obvious candidates as Rocket and Chrysalis, but without success. Chappell Music were prepared to take on the publishing, and even to underwrite the recording of the follow-up, but it was not to be .. . The songs remain unrecorded, and sadly, for the most part forgotten.
The need to pursue their individual careers was to force the eventual demise of Just Others. Geoff worked as a peripatetic music teacher and achieved academic distinction atthe Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Kings College, where he studied composition. He later moved to the United States, where he currently works as the musical director for a church. Brian, meanwhile, became a full-time teacher (art design and technology); he also took up sailing, and has raced small sailing craft at international level. He returned to university in 1986. and taught in Australia throughout 1993, where he began playing music once more. Since returning to the UK in 1994 he has regularly performed solo, and has recently farmed a duo, No Vacancies, with Bernard Quenby, playing ragtime/blues, folk, and other material including at least one song from the Just Others days, Close Your Eyes to the Sun.
What kind of album did Just Others make? Every listener wi|! make up their own mind, for sure, but to my ears, there are songs on Amalgam that manage to convey striking post-Swinging London melancholy (Ballad of a Londoner), soft-focus summer laziness (Close Your Eyes to the Sun), yearning romanticism (Question of Emotion. I Do Not Know Your Name), Lost love lamented (Dialogue Between a Young Man and the Night), and universal agnosticism I Where Is He?), and they do it more effectively than most albums that cost many megabucks to record; there are flashes of true inspiration, like the crumhorns which frame the stunning Ballad to Lady Ann (a trackwhose hallucinatory neo-medieval vibe is, in today's parlance, pure acid-folk), and the distant string quartet on Where is He.
There are anthemic melodies that won't let go (At The End of the Rainbow, Siny For me). And there is an all-pervading feeling, part optimism, part melancholy, that makes this a uniquely interesting addition to any serious collection of acoustic music of the period. At the time of writing these notes, I am fairly certain that no other copies of Just Others/Amalgam have been found, or offered on the collectors' market. Just Others “Amalgam” is indeed something rather special.
by Andrew Hawkey
Tracks
1. I Do Not Know Your Name - 3:09
2. Question Of Emotion - 2:59
3. A Ballad To Lady Ann - 4:50
4. We Are Not Alone - 2:49
5. Close Your Eyes to the Sun - 2:28
6. Concerning A Lost Love - 3:28
7. I Miss You - 2:50
8. Song For All Seasons - 2:30
9. Ballad Of A Londoner - 3:50
10.Where Is He? - 2:48
11.A Dialogue Between A Young Man And The Night - 4:32
12.At The End Of The Rainbow - 2:55
13.Sing For Me - 4:16
All songs by Geoff Twigg except track #6 by Brian Rodgers
This two-fer compiles the only two albums by Michigan's Terry Knight & the Pack; its self-titled 1966 debut and 1967's Reflections. Rock 'n' roll collector's and Michigan rock aficionados have given these albums semi-legendary status simply because the lineup included the roots of Grand Funk Railroad -- Knight was the band's manager and producer until 1972, and both guitarist Mark Farner and drummer Don Brewer came from its ranks.
These two recordings were originally issued on the Lucky Eleven imprint and were distributed by Cameo/Parkway who had scored a number one hit with "96 Tears" by ? and the Mysterians, another Michigan act. Knight's gift wasn't so much as a singer, but as a songwriter capable of aping the hitmakers of the day, and he knew how to arrange. This is born out on the first album's covers of Sonny Bono's "Where Do You Go," "You're a Better Man Than I" (a hit for the Yardbirds), and a particularly strange reading of the Rolling Stones' "Lady Jane." The single from the album was a reading of the Lieber & Stoller nugget "I (Who Have Nothing)."
Knight's own tunes include the fuzz guitar-drenched album-opener "Numbers" was reminiscent of the Seeds, while "What's on Your Mind" walked a line between Georgie Fame and the Zombies. The band's second album, Reflections, opens with the whitest cover of Joe Tex's "One Monkey (Don't Stop No Show)" ever.
There are some real rockers here, too, in "Love, Love, Love, Love, Love," that's reminiscent of the Standells, the soul-inflected-cum-Association-influenced "This Train," and a unique garage psych cover of the Stones' "(I Can't No) Satisfaction." This is an integral part of Michigan Rock history.
by Thom Jurek
Tracks
1. Numbers - 2:30
2. What's on Your Mind - 1:48
3. Where Do You Go (Sont Bono) - 3:08
4. You're a Better Man Than I (B. Hugg, M. Hugg) - 2:53
5. Lovin' Kind - 3:00
6. The Shut-In - 3:37
7. Got Love - 3:12
8. A Change On The Way - 3:42
9. Lady Jane (Jagger, Richards) - 2:56
10.Sleep Talkin' - 3:00
11.I've Been Told - 2:41
12.I (Who Have Nothing) (Leiber, Stoller, Mogol) - 3:25
13.One Monkey Don't Stop No Show (Joe Tex) - 2:35
14.Love, Love, Love, Love, Love - 2:54
15.Come with Me - 2:41
16.Got to Find My Baby - 2:49
17.This Precious Time (P. Sloan, S. Barri) - 2:48
18.Anybody's Apple Tree - 2:33
19.The Train - 2:11
20.Dimestore Debutante - 4:22
21.Dirty Lady - 3:13
22.Love Goddess of the Sunset Strip - 3:35
23.Forever and a Day - 3:06
24.(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Jagger, Richards) - 3:57
All songs by Terry Knight except where indicated.
Terry Knight And The Pack
*Don Brewer - Drums, Vocals
*Bob Caldwell - Bells, Vocals
*Mark Farner - Bass, Vocals
*Herm Jackson - Bass
*Curt Johnson - Guitar, Vocals
*Terry Knight - Harmonica, Harpsichord, Piano, Vocals
Steppenwolf have their origins in a Canadian band called The Sparrow, who released two singles in 1966 with little success. The Sparrow broke up in some acrimony but it wasn't long before constituent parts of it re-formed when an ABC Dunhill staff producer called Gabriel Mekler heard some tapes they had recorded and suggested to their guitarist/ vocalist John Kay that they make some demos. Sparrow guitarist Dennis Edmonton declined to participate in the reunion: he was recording an album of his own compositions, one of which was a song called 'Born To Be Wild'. However, Sparrow drummer Jerry Edmonton (his brother) and keyboardist Goldy McJohn were game. In addition, Kay took on teenage prodigy guitarist Michael Monarch and bassist Rushton Moreve.
The band started rehearsing in a garage beneath Kay's apartment. Kay remains convinced that the dark, distorted and menacing style the band emerged with was the result of the battered and borrowed equipment their impoverishment forced them to use at the time. That style was, by coincidence, similar to the music several different groups were making at the time: Led Zeppelin, The Jeff Beck Group, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and, later, even the Beatles (the electric version of Revolution) were coming up with booming, distorted sounds never heard in rock up to this point.
That form of music was given a name by the lyric of 'Born To Be Wild which Kay and co decided to record after Edmonton (who wrote it under his new pseudonym of Mars Bonfire) dropped off a demo. Edmonton had been inspired by a motorcycle poster bearing the legend "BORN TO RIDE". The phrase he used to convey the sensation of riding a powerful motorcycle - "heavy metal thunder" - was recognised by music journalists as an equally apt description for this new style of distorted music and quickly passed into the language. However, Born To Be Wild was always bound to be remembered for more than providing a label.
Everything about it was perfect, from its intoxicatingly hedonistic sentiment to its soaring melody to its superb ensemble playing. A timeless classic, it became a number two US hit for the band in August 1968 under the name Steppenwolf. The name had been suggested by Mekler who had been impressed by Herman Hesse's celebrated novel of that title. The perception of the song - which climbed to number 30 in the UK the following year - as one which defined the free-spirited age was cemented when it appeared in the movie Easy Rider in 1969. However, Steppenwolf's eponymously titled debut album, released in January 1968 in the US and three months later in Britain, proved that they were more than a heavy metal band.
A Girl I Knew is a piece of vaguely psychedelic pop bookended by harpsichord playing that could not be a greater contrast to Born To Be Wild's growling guitar riffs. In addition, the band's cover of Willie Dixon's Hoochie Coochie Man underlined their blues roots, and Berry Rides Again saw them affectionately pastiching the style of one of the first rock and roll stars. The Pusher, meanwhile, illustrated how Kay had a perspective that was often very different from other radicals of the time: what other rock musician in the LSD-soaked year of 1968 would cover Hoyt Axton's emphatically anti-drugs culture composition? As someone who had had to risk his life at the age of four fleeing from East Germany to the West, Kay was always going to have a slightly different view of the world to North Americans who, while genuinely angry about societal iniquities, had only ever known privilege compared to the inhabitants of Kay's home country.
This propensity to think for himself would later lead Kay to do the unthinkable for a heavy rock band member when he wrote strongly feminist songs for Steppenwolf's 1971 album 'For Ladies On/y'. That, though, wouldn't have come as a surprise to those who concentrated on the lyric of Lost And Found, one of the highlights of the album 'Steppenwolf The Second', which appeared in the US a mere ten months after its predecessor. (Britain would have to wait until January 1969.)
by Sean Egan
Tracks
1. Sookie Sookie (Don Covay, Steve Cropper) – 3:12
2. Everybody's Next One (John Kay, Gabriel Mekler) – 2:53
3. Berry Rides Again (John Kay) – 2:45
4. Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon) – 5:07
5. Born to Be Wild (Mars Bonfire) – 3:28
6. Your Wall's Too High (John Kay) – 5:40
7. Desperation (John Kay) – 5:45
8. The Pusher (Hoyt Axton) – 5:43
9. A Girl I Knew (Morgan Cavett, John Kay) – 2:39
10.Take What You Need (John Kay, Gabriel Mekler) – 3:28
11.The Ostrich" (John Kay) – 5:43
Steppenwolf
*John Kay - Guitars, Harmonica,Lead Vocals
*Rushton Moreve - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
*Michael Monarch - Guitars, Backing Vocals
*Goldy McJohn - Hammond Organ, Piano, Electric Piano
