Rockasteria

Monday, May 26, 2025

Monument - Vol. 1 (1970 france, weird strong hammond organ sounds, tight rhythm section and sharp guitar licks, 2015 reissue)

Monument is a legendary French band from the 1970s, who came into their own with the release of their eponymous album in 1970. The sound of the Hammond organ is positively superb, and the rhythm section is impressive, making this rare opus one of the crème de la crème of French progressive rock.

The band's English lyrics are sung by Michy Vals, who also plays rhythm guitar, followed by Patrick Famechon on bass, Tony Laguerre on beet, Joël Averbouch as lead guitarist, and Lou Lou Laguerre on organ and piano. They were signed to the AFA label (Artistes Français Associés).

Tracks

1. Are You Dizzy (Joël Averbouch) - 3:40

2. The Norway Girl (Michy Vals) - 3:29

3. The Sun Is Rising (Michy Vals) - 3:30

4. With No Success (Joël Averbouch) - 3:31

5. Don't Cry Clown (Joël Averbouch) - 4:56

6. You Look Funny (Michy Vals) - 4:54

7. Because You're Mine (Michy Vals) - 3:00

8. I Love You (Joël Averbouch) - 4:19

Monument

*Michy Vals - Vocal, Rhythm Guitar

*Lou Lou Laguerre - Organ, Piano

*Joël Averbouch - Lead Guitar

*Patrick Famechon - Bass Guitar

*Tony Laguerre - Drums

1968 The Hello People - Fusion (2013 remaster)

Saturday, May 24, 2025

rep> Listening - Listening (1968 us, solid heavy psych, , 2000 Akarma and 2014 Flawed Gems reissues)

Michael Tschudin led the Boston-based band Listening, but it is the contributions by former Velvet Underground bassist Walter Powers and guitarist Peter Malick which make this album historic. Powers performed over the years with keyboardist Willie Alexander as members of Capitol Recording Artist the Lost, the aforementioned Velvets, and on Autre Chose, a live album from Alexander released on New Rose in Paris. Peter Malick is best known for being Otis Spann's guitarist and a member of the James Montgomery Band on Capricorn.

Their legendary status in Boston rock & roll history brings positive notoriety to the fine music on this Vanguard release. "So Happy" is the poppiest tune, a cross between the Monkees and the Mojo Men, which is quite misleading. The album runs the gamut from pop to blues to jazz. "Baby Where Are You" is some strange fusion of Motown and the Spencer Davis Group which then veers off in a frenzy of effects and musical jam. Eight of the 11 tracks are written by keyboard/vocalist Michael Tschudin, with three titles attributed to the group. "See You Again," one of the group efforts, is another jam with riffs the Who would greatly appreciate. Phish's success validates how ahead of its time Listening truly was.

There is certainly an identity here as Tschudin takes the boys through all sorts of styles inside the tune "Laugh at the Stars." Elements of Jimi Hendrix, the Band, and the Vanilla Fudge swirl around in the pretty decent production by Michael Chechik. Listening has punch and creativity which deserved a better fate.

by Joe Viglione

Tracks
1. You're Not There - 4:06
2. Laugh at the Stars - 4:15
3. 9/8 Song - 4:28
4. Stoned Is (Michael Tschudin, Walter Powers, Peter Malick, Ernie Kamanis, Gilbert Moses) - 4:51
5. Forget It, Man! - 3:24
6. I Can Teach You - 2:23
7. So Happy - 2:33
8. Cuando (Michael Tschudin, Walter Powers, Peter Malick, Ernie Kamanis) - 2:51
9. Baby: Where Are You? - 6:23
10. Fantasy - 1:02
11. See You Again (Michael Tschudin, Walter Powers, Peter Malick, Ernie Kamanis) - 3:45
All songs by Michael Tschudin except where stated.

Listening
*Michael Tschudin - Vocals, Vibes, Keyboards, Conga Drum
*Walter Powers - Bass
*Peter Malick - Guitars
*Ernie Kamanis - Vocals, Drums

Related Act

1970 Cynara - Cynara

Just Paste
Free Text
Text Host

Thursday, May 22, 2025

rep> Cynara - Cynara (1970 us, spectacular hard prog psych with jazz elements, 2011 kismet edition)

Michael Tschudin is taking his new group, Cynara, on me road to play rock clubs and music festivals free as a trailer for his debut record for Capitol. The free dates are part of Capitol's over-all promotion campaign for Cynara, as well as part of Tschudin's plan to get as wide an audience as possible 'into the group', and to give the group a chance to 'get it together'.

Among the free dates played by Cynara are Ungano's in New York and the upcoming Harmony Music Festival in Atlantic City beginning Tuesday. Touring with Tschudin, who composed the songs for Cynara's first Capitol LP, are Jeff Watson (lead singer), Cal Hill (bass), Les Lumley (guitar) and Chip White (percussion). The album, which was produced by Tschudin and Capitol A&R staffer Ken Cooper, is the first all-New York production to go into release.

It's scheduled for an August 24th shipment. Tschudin, who has studied with Rudolf Serkin and E. Power Biggs, and who says that "Johann Sebastian Bach is my greatest teacher," has three one-year options with Capitol and a guarantee of two album releases a year. Capitol's New York office will be keeping tabs on Cynara as they go into the free situations, and the company's men in the territory will be alerted to make these dates pay off in potential album sales'

Bil/rd, August 1st 1970

Tracks
1. Life Stories - 5:55
2. Hello You - 3:56
3. Stoned Is (Gil Moses, Michael Tschudin) - 4:07
4. Religious Song - 5:20
5. Mermaid Song - 7:59
6. Lullaby For CIA - 11:21
All songs by Michael Tschudin except where noted.

Cynara
*Jeff Watson - Lead Vocals
*Cal Hill- Bass
*Michael Tschudin - Keyboards, Drums
*Les Lumley - Guitar
*Chip White - Percussion
Guest Musician
*Elvin Jones - Drums

Just Paste
Free Text
Text Host

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

rep> Eugene Carnan - Eugene Carnan (1972 uk, hard raw power rock, 2011 release)

In September 1971 Eugene Carnan entered a UK -wide competition for "Best New Band" run by the famous Melody Maker magazine. The competition took place in regional venues all over the UK and the South Wales heat was held in a Club in Caerphilly - a town famous for it's ancient Castle, it's Cheese and later to be the home of the Manic Street Preachers.

Each band was asked to play 3 numbers. We decided to perform our own compositions rather than covers and so we played : "I Found Out", "Blues Thing" and '"Mountain". We took care in the choice of songs to balance the pace and feel to try to capture the essence of a Eugene Carnan live gig in a 12 minute slot. We had even written 'Blues Thing' especially to play at this competition because we hadn't up to then had any original slow numbers.

When the results of the heat were announced we were very disappointed not to have been selected to go though to the final. However, as we were packing up we were approached by a guy who introduced himself as Wayne Williams and said he had a small recording studio and he was interested in recording us. Wayne's offer was to record a demo of the band for free then he said he would try to get some record companies interested. If he did we could discuss terms then. Of course our initial reaction was sceptical and wary because there were so many stories of bands getting ripped off.

However, what made us change our mind was that Wayne mentioned that he was backed by a gentleman called Major Arthur Kenny. This name meant nothing to the other band members but it did to me. Major Kenny was the musical director of The Cory Band, one of the UK's top league brass bands, which was based in the Rhondda . My father played cornet in Cory Band for many years and I had also played a number of sessions with the band and had been a member of the Cory junior band. Because of this connection we agreed to go along with Waynes suggestion. However, it was many months later that Wayne contacted us again and we went over to his studio in Risca, Monmouth on Sunday 26th March and the following Friday 31st March which was Good Friday and Bank holiday.

These few weeks in March were one of the busiest ever for the band. I have an accounts book that shows we had gigs in Teorchy on both the 24th and 25th and in Crumlin on the 30th March. Wayne's studio was in a converted stand-alone garage set away from any houses. Inside a small control room had been built in one corner and the rest of the space was the recording area. The walls were covered with cardboard egg boxes - a popular do-it-yourself form of sound proofing. Wayne's recording equipment consisted of a Sony Stereo 2-track tape recorder and a small mixer.

The band set up and we had a two microphone to record the guitars - one for each amplifier and there were 3 mics for the drum kit - for the kick, snare and an overhead mic. Very simply we played the tracks live – exactly as we did in gigs with Adrian signing along as well but without microphone so that Wayne could recorded the instruments on one channel without any vocals. Then Adrian would 'overdub' the vocals onto the second track. Of course with this equipment there could be no post-production editing or effects added afterwards. So what you hear is what we really did play and sound like in that place in 1972.

The recordings have all our mistakes, some duff notes, I even hit a microphone while aiming for the hi-hat in one of the songs and you can hear this on the record. You can hear some echo on the vocals – but again this was recorded live using the tape loop echo effect we used for gigs. We recorded 8 tracks during the two days. The missing track was called -"Camburoo" - a song with an African-type drum beat inspired by Osibisa a band we admired at the time. The name was a made-up joke word - sounding to us, part Welsh (Cambrian) and part Africa (Uroo came from Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek).

After we did the recordings several things happened at the same time. Wayne had a falling-out with Major Kenny and said that he was packing-in the studio. But he offered to give us the tapes. Second, our bass guitarist Mickey Williams started to get very unreliable and eventually decided to leave the band. I met up with Wayne in June 1972 and he gave me a tape reel that he said had all our tracks on it. Unfortunately, one track was missing - and when I contacted him, he said that it has been on another tape reel, but he thought he had recorded over it - so we never did get to hear "Camburoo". Despite the break-up of the band I decided that we should at least get some IP's made for our own collections and also to have the songs available for a new replacement bass guitarist to learn.

With this in mind on 28th July 1972 I went to London by myself on the train and took the tapes to J Eden Studio in Kingston-upon-Thames who offered a tape-to disc service. I found about about them though an advert in the back pages of Melody Maker. At the studio they cut 4 copies of the 7 tracks on the tape direct to Acetate LP.

The process was of course analogue and live - the guy played the tape through and a stylus cut the grooves in the plastic. He did this 4 times to get the 4 discs, stopping to turn the disc over half way though the duplication so we ended up with 4 tracks on one side and 3 on the other. I came back to the Rhondda with the 4 IP's and gave one to each of the band and the other to one of our roadies. Later I was able to make some Cassette copies for friends from my copy, and several years later I loaned the original reel-to-reel tape to my then brother-in-law Colin Benjamin to whom I am grateful for its recent return.

The Eugene Carnan tracks capture the live raw sound of a young band with very limited resources and equipment who played with enthusiasm and passion because they enjoyed what they did. Of course we dreamt of making it big, but really never expected to and so I suppose our fate was that of the many over the few. These were the tracks that got away, that we didn't get to play on The Old Grey Whistle Test' or Top of the Pops'. Now, I hope that almost 40 years later - others will enjoy them and smile.

by Mike Evans, Sheffield , February 2011

Tracks

1. Confusion - 4:33
2. I Found Out (Adrian Llewellyn) - 3:27

3. People In the City - 5:12
4. Black As Night (Adrian Llewellyn) - 3:22

5. Blues Thing - 4:07
6. On Your Mind - 4:16
7. Mountain - 5:05
All songs by Adrian Llewellyn, Michael Williams, Mike Evans except where indicated

Eugene Carnan
*Adrian Llewellyn - Guitar, Vocals
*Michael Williams - Bass Guitar
*Mike Evans - Drums

Just Paste
Free Text
Text Host

Sunday, May 18, 2025

The Hello People - The Hello People (1968 us, spectacular psych rock, 2016 korean remaster)

One of the most unique rock groups of the 1960s, The Hello People, was created during late 1967 in New York by producer Lou Futterman. There is precious little information on this group that is available on the Internet. This is an attempt to fill that void.

The idea for creating the group stemmed from Marcel Carné's film Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis). Etienne De Crux, the father of French mime, plays the part of Bapties's father in the film. During the sixties De Crux taught painting to a group of musicians. Since these musicians learned to paint so quickly, De Crux reasoned that musicians could also learn mime and apply it in some new way to create a new form. The manager of the musicians De Crux taught, Lou Futterman, decided he would implement this new concept. He then put together a new group of musicians who would perform in mime makeup and do mime routines between songs, never speaking a word to the audience.

The group recorded for Philips Records, performed at the Café Wha? in Greenwich Village in 1968 and at The Players Theater, upstairs above the Café Wha? Although the group didn't have a hit record they were often seen on major network television shows such as The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and the controversial Smothers Brothers Show.

"They say I was born in the land of the free but the home of the briefcase is all I can see." W. S. Tongue.

Cool-Groove

Tracks

1. It's A Monday Kind Of Tuesday (Nancy Reiner) - 3:29

2. Sunrise Meadow - 6:09

3. A Stranger At Her Door - 2:40

4. Movin' And Growin' - 3:41

5. Paisley Teddy Bear - 2:55

6. (As I Went Down To) Jerusalem (W. S. "Sonny" Tongue) - 4:18

7. Lamplight, Nightlight - 4:32

8. Mr. Truth Evading, Masquerading Man - 2:21

9. Paris In The Rain - 4:54

All songs by Greg Geddes, Bobby Sedita, Wrightson Samuel Tongue Jr., Larry Tasse except where noted

The Hello People

*W. S. "Sonny" Tongue "Country" - Vocal, Guitar

*Greg Geddes "Smoothie" - Bass, Vocal

*Bobby Sedita "Goodfellow" - Guitar, Vocal

*Larry Tassi "Much More" - Keyboards, Vocal

*Michael Sagarese "Wry One" - Flute

*Ronnie Blake "Thump Thump" - Drums

1971 Hello People - Have You Seen The Light (2016 korean remaster)

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Baxter - Baxter (1973 us, delicate art soft prog rock, 2025 remaster)

Baxter were one of those early-'70s US bands who can only really be described as 'rock': not heavy enough to be 'heavy', prog enough to be 'prog' or soft enough to be 'West Coast'. Their sole, eponymous album from '73 displays a mixture of styles, from the twin-guitar hard rock of '51 through the near-country balladry of Gentle Arms to the almost-prog of Renaissance Woman and Moonfire II, the two main tracks that save this album from mediocrity and gain it an extra half star. There are other progressive moments, not least in Doctor Doctor and 197Three, but too much of this album is mid-paced third-division material, which explains why you've probably never heard of them before.

Mellotron from both Doug Arioli and Steve Kirshenbaum, though I've no idea who played what and where. Renaissance Woman marks the first entrance of the Mellotron, with a cello part that couldn't be anything else, with a more 'normal' string part on Gentle Arms, leaving the album's major Mellotron interjection to side two's Moonfire II, with some very upfront strings and less of the same on closer 197Three. So; Baxter is a game of two halves, the band's proggier material being dragged down by their more straightforward stuff. However, I'm quite sure that the latter went down better on stage and, since I'm sure they relied on live work to pay the bills, who can blame them for recording some of it? Anyway, not bad, not great, with a surprising amount of Mellotron work.

Planet-Mellotron

Tracks

1. By The Gates (Steven Kirshenbaum) - 3:55

2. Give It All (John Linde, Peter Antell) - 2:56

3. Renaissance Woman (Steven Kirshenbaum) - 7:36

4. "51" (Steven Kirshenbaum, Lawrence Di Natale, Steve Belgrade, Edwin Damus Perry) - 4:32

5. Gentle Arms (Doug Arioli) - 3:02

6. Moonfire II (Lawrence Di Natale, Steven Kirshenbaum) - 7:32

7. Can't Find The Time (Doug Arioli) - 4:07

8. Doctor, Doctor (Steven Kirshenbaum) - 5:29

9. 197three (Lawrence Di Natale) - 4:16

Baxter

*Steven Kirshenbaum - Keyboards, Synthesizer

*Lawrence Di Natale - Drums, Percussion

*Edwin Damus Perry - Bass, Vocals

*Steve Belgrade - Electric Guitar, Vocals

*Doug Arioli - Electric Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals

1973 John Martyn - Solid Air (2009 double disc)

Friday, May 9, 2025

John Martyn - Sweet Little Mysteries • The Island Anthology (1971-87 uk, adventurous jazzier folk, combined with chilled-out moodscapes and slick, adult-oriented pop rock ballads, double disc issue)

John Martyn debuted as a fresh-faced teenage folky with 1967's London Conversation, he soon embarked on a restless musical odyssey. Built on a foundation of folk, blues, and jazz, Martyn's music has ranged from effects-laden experimentation, through rock, to fusion-influenced pop. This overview of Martyn's Island recordings ignores his first two albums and two releases with then-wife- Beverley, picking up with Bless the Weather (1971). Although ornate love songs from that record like "Head and Heart" remain close to Martyn's traditionalist roots, the instrumental "Glistening Glyndebourne" shows he was keen to distance himself from the Donovan-Cat Stevens orbit of twee folk-pop.

Solid Air, 1973's sublime follow-up, is well represented here. On it, Martyn moved effortlessly among light acoustic tunes ("Over the Hill"), darker numbers ("Solid Air," his ode to friend Nick Drake), and gizmo-enhanced excursions (his rendering of Skip James' "I'd Rather Be the Devil"). Martyn pursued his experimental inclinations further with the jazz-folkadelic Inside Out (1973). By the gently droning "Eibhli Ghail Chiuin Ni Chearbhaill," which reworks a 19th century Celtic folk tune with such late 20th century rock tools as a fuzzbox and phase-shifter. Sunday's Child (1974) returned to a more focused song format, as demonstrated by mournful "Spencer the Rover." Martyn's next studio venture, One World (1977), combined chilled-out ("Small Hours"), ("Dancing"), the latter tendency even more prominent on Grace & Danger (1980) and exemplified by the delicate "Sweet Little Mystery." While Martyn's later Island releases were less memorable, those mid-'80s numbers collected here hold up well.

by Wilson Neate

This album provides a great introduction to John Martyn; its only weakness is the omission of his earliest efforts, a sampling of which would give a fuller sense of his work's evolution. There's no doubt what so ever that Martyn himself must have suffered his fair share of hangovers. You can hear it in his voice when those crooning, slurring tones eventually degenerated into something like a wino's rasp- Before his untimely death at the age of 60 in 2009, a few weeks after he was awarded an OBE.

by Greg Freeman

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Bless The Weather - 4:32

2. Head And Heart - 4:55

3. Glistening Glyndebourne - 6:34

4. Solid Air - 5:46

5. Over The Hill - 2:52

6. Don't Want To Know - 3:01

7. I'd Rather- Be The Devil (Skip James) - 6:21

8. May You Never - 3:44

9. Fine Lines - 3:50

10.Eibhli Ghail Chiuin Ni Chearbhaill (Traditional) - 3:09

11.Make No Mistake - 5:58

12.One Day Without You - 3:00

13.Lay It All Down - 1:52

14.Root Love - 4:36

15.Sunday's Child - 3:17

16.Spencer The Rover (Traditional) - 4:13

17.You Can Discover - 3:44

18.Call Me Crazy - 7:30

Lyrics and Music by John Martyn except where indicated

Disc 2

1. Couldn't Love You More - 3:07

2. Certain Surprise - 3:51

3. Dancing - 3:56

4. Small Hours - 8:44

5. Dealer - 4:56

6. One World - 4:02

7. Some People Are Crazy - 4:19

8. Lookin' On - 5:13

9. Johnny Too Bad (Derrick Crooks, Roy Beckford, Trevor Wilson, Winston Bailey, John Martyn) - 3:57

10.Sweet Little Mystery - 5:27

11.Hurt In Your Heart - 4:59

12.Baby Please Come Home - 3:54

13.Sapphire (Alan Thompson, John Martyn) - 5:16

14.Fisherman's Dream - 4:18

15.Angeline - 4:45

16.Send Me One Line - 4:45

Words and Music by John Martyn unless as else written

Musicians

*John Martyn - Guitar, Electronic Drums, Vocals, Synthesizer, Clavinet

*Alan Thompson - Bass, Keyboards, Electronic Drums

*Danny Thompson - Double Bass, Vocals

*Al Anderson - Bass

*Andy Lyden - Drums

*Andy Newmark - Drums

*Arran Abmun - Drums

*Barry Reynolds - Guitar

*Bruce Rowlands - Drums

*Colin Tully - Saxophone

*Danny Cummings - Percussion

*Dave Lawson - Synthesizer

*Dave Mattacks - Drums

*Dave Pegg - Bass

*David Ball - Bass

*Foster Paterson - Keyboards, Vocals

*Hansford Rowe- Bass

*Harry Robinson Strings

*Jack Waldman - Keyboards

*James Hooker - Keyboards

*James Prime - Keyboards

*Jeff Castle - Keyboards

*John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Piano, Organ, Clavinet

*John Giblin - Bass

*Jon Field - Flute

*Kesh Sathie - Tabla

*Morris Pert - Percussion

*Neemoi Acquaye - Congas

*Phil Collins - Drums, Vocals

*Richard Thompson - Mandolin

*Rico - Trombone

*Robin Rankin - Keyboards

*Simon Nicol - Autoharp

*Steve Winwood - Multi Instruments

*Steven Stanley - Drums

*Sue Draheim - Violin

*Terry Nelson - Harmonica

*Tommy Eyre - Keyboards, Synthesizer

*Tony Coe - Saxophone

*Tristan Frye - Vibraphone

*Uziah "Sticky" Thompson - Percussion

1970 John And Beverley Martyn - The Road To Ruin (2005 bonus track remaster)

1970 McGuinness Flint - McGuinness Flint (2016 japan SHM bonus tracks remaster)

Monday, May 5, 2025

McGuinness Flint - C'est La Vie (1974 uk, nice bluesy country rock, 2020 korean remaster)

Dropped by Capitol, the band were enticed back by Gerry Bron who had managed the Manfreds in the years before their demise. They recorded two albums for Bron's label, Bronze, 'C'est La Vie' and 'Rainbow' and in spite of recapturing their former sound (with new members Jim Evans on guitar and Lou Stonebridge, ex Palladin, on keyboards and vocals) they finally called it a day in 1975 after Hughie Flint suffered a collapsed lung and it was clear he would be convalescing for some time.

Tracks

1. Catfish (Tom McGuinness) - 3:32

2. C'est La Vie (Tom McGuinness) - 3:07

3. Ride That Horse (Tom McGuinness) - 5:05

4. (I Don't Like Your) Country Music (Dixie Dean, Mike McGann) - 3:46

5. Please Give Me (Dixie Dean) - 3:39

6. Fast Eddie (Tom McGuinness) - 4:28

7. Siren Sadie (Dixie Dean) - 5:12

8. Union Hall (Lou Stonebridge) - 3:03

9. Rabbitt Isle (Lou Stonebridge) - 7:24

McGuinness Flint

*Dixie Dean - Vocals, Bass Guitar, Guitar, Horns, Harmonica

*Tom McGuinness - Vocals, Guitar, Resonator Guitar, Mandolin

*Hughie Flint - Drums, Percussion

*Lou Stonebridge - Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Harmonica, Accordion

*Jim Evans - Vocals, Guitar, Steel Guitar, Fiddle

With

*Keith Nelson - Banjo

*Big Jim - Mandolin

*John Weider - Violin

1971 McGuinness Flint - Happy Birthday Ruthy Baby (2016 japan SHM)

1972 Coulson • Dean • McGuinness • Flint - Lo And Behold (2007 remaster and expanded)

1964-71 John Mayall - Thru The Years

1965 John Mayall - John Mayall Plays John Mayal (2008 japan SHM)

1966 John Mayall Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton (Japan SHM double disc set)
1967 John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers - A Hard Road (Double Disc Set)