This 25-song compilation includes the entire contents of his two 1966 LPs, as well as a 1967 single and two previously unreleased tracks. This period piece is highlighted by "Elusive Butterfly," the original versions of "Counting" and "Cheryl's Goin' Home," "Mr. Zero" (covered by Yardbird lead singer Keith Relf on a flop single), and the previously unreleased, gorgeous baroque rock song "English Afternoon."
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Elusive Butterfly - 2:46
2. Mister Zero - 3:43
3. You Should Have Seen It - 2:55
4. Counting - 2:54
5. Drifter's Sunrise - 3:26
6. Unlock The Door - 4:06
7. Truly Julie's Blues (I'll Be There) - 2:51
8. Dale Anne - 3:01
9. The World Is Just A “B” Movie - 3:57
10.Cheryl's Goin' Home - 2:06
11.It Wasn't Just The Morning - 2:50 -
12.I Can't Walk Roads Of Anger (Unedited Version) - 4:28
13.San Francisco Woman - 2:54
14.A Nameless Request - 2:15
15.West Virginia Summer Child - 2:12
16.Go Ask Your Man - 2:30
17.Remember The Rain - 2:47
18.I Just Let It Take Me - 2:35
19.The World Is Just A “B” Movie Meets Reno, Funtown, U.S.A. - 2:48
20.We've Never Spoken - 2:09
21.Oh Babe Take Me Home - 3:34
22.Eleanor - 3:33
23.It's Just My Love - 2:44
24.I Fall To You - 2:02
25.English Afternoon - 2:37
All songs by Bob Lind
The roots of the original Motherlode can be traced back to some of Toronto's hottest club acts in the late '60s. Despite the rave reviews and loyal following, The Soul Searchers were spinning their wheels. Steve Kennedy (sax & harmonica) and William Smith (keyboards), who's resume also included some time with David Clayton Thomas's bands prior to BST, decided to go out on their own, and joined another hot commodity on Yonge Street, Grant Smith & The Power.
But that band was mostly playing everyone else's material, and the majority of the 9-piece ensemble was growing restless, and parted ways in 1968. Kennedy and Smith, along with guitarist Ken Marco and drummer Wayne Stone, decided to go out on their own. They packed up their gear and their bongs, and moved to London to escape the pressures and rat race of living in Toronto.
They began playing on the local circuit there while writing their own material, and barely scratching out a living, when they caught the attention of Mort Ross, president of Revolver Records. He signed them to a deal and the band spent the spring of '69 in the studios with producers Doug Riley (Dr Music) and Terry Brown, who would later be producer of Rush, among a million other credits.
With US distribution through Neil Bogart's (KISS, Donna Summer) Buddha Records, the debut album, WHEN I DIE, was released that summer. But amid a considerable amount of hype, the title track eventually climbed in the top 10 in Canada and went gold, and pleasantly surprising, peaked at #18 Stateside. The follow-up single "Memories Of A Broken Promise" stalled at #25, but with a heavy tour schedule to back the product, record execs were happy, and paid for some recording time that fall.
For some reason RPM Magazine, based out of Toronto coincidentally, decided to declare them Canada's first 'supergroup' ... perhaps a bit premature, as they split up only a couple of months later, in January 1970 with eveyone except Smith became Dr Music's revised backup band. But Mort Ross and Revolver Records owned the name 'Motherlode,' And since he hadn't yet recouped the vested financial investment he'd made in the group, Ross decided to produce and release a second album. TAPPED OUT was in the stores that spring, but only in the US, and unfortunately not many copies left those store shelves.
Although following the same basic funk/soul rock to it, the record was generally perceived as disjointed, sounding incomplete. Because there was minimal material to work with, the songs had to be extended as much as possible, and only seven made the album. With the songs too long for radio play and station PDs not all that interested, it went nowhere.
But ever the opitimist, Ross installed revolving doors in the dressing rooms and studio, and over the next year several incarnations of Motherlode came and went. He convinced Smith to come back on board for one version that played a few smaller dates together, and released a pair of singles, "Dear Old Daddy Bill" and "I'm So Glad You're You." Neither song lit up the charts, and since it was a makeshift marriage destined to fail anyway, everyone went their separate ways.
Another version of the group centred around singer Breen LeBoeuf (ex of Chimo, Soutchote, Studebaker Hawk) and guitarist Gord Waszek (ex of Leigh Ashford), which released the single "All That's Necessary." With no money to back the project, that too didn't fare well. Interestingly, the b-side to that song was "The Chant," a reworking of "Hiro Smothek" from the second album. That version split up, and LeBoeuf retreated to mostly studio work over the years, as well as working on some French projects, then later joining Offenbach and then April Wine.
Bassist Mike Levine (later of Triumph) was among the remnants when a third lineup was formed only months later, this time centering around singer Wayne St John (THP Orchestra, Domenic Troiano Band). The final lineup to bear the name 'Motherlode' came in the spring of '71, the shortest lived version yet, which featured George Olliver on vocals.
The original lineup reunited in '76 to record and tried to release the song "Happy People" under the Motherlode monikor. Mort Ross still owned the name, and therefore naturally vetoed the idea, and the song was released as a Kenny Marco solo project. The name stayed dead until a reunion was scheduled for Club Bluenote in Toronto in late 1989. This sparked a renewed interest in recording some new material, but those sessions have yet to be released.
Tracks
1. When I Die (Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith) - 3:18
2. Oh! See The White Light (Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith) - 2:38
3. You Ain't Lookin' In The Right Place Baby (Ken Marco, Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith) - 3:47
4. Help Me Find Peace Of Mind (Ken Marco) - 3:20
5. Hard Life (Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith) - 4:00
6. Child Without Mother (Ken Marco, Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith) - 3:50
7. Dear Old Daddy Bill (Ken Marco, Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith) - 2:51
8. Memories Of A Broken Promise (Dianne Brooks) - 2:26
9. Soft Shell (Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith) - 4:59
10.Living Life (Ken Marco) - 3:54
11.What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) (Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol, Vernon Bullock) - 2:20
12.Can't You Find Love (Steve Kennedy) - 2:37
13.Quality Of Leadership (Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith) - 2:41
14.Righteous Land (Ken Marco) - 3:45
15.Been So Long (Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith) - 5:43
16.Robert E. Lee (Louis Muir, Wolf Gilbert) - 1:51
17.Black Cat (Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith) - 3:26
18.Hiro Smothek (Steve Kennedy, William Daniel Smith, Ken Marco, Wayne "Stoney" Stone) - 6:20
19.Lilac Wine (James H. Shelton) - 8:52
Motherlode
*Ken Marco - Electric Guitar, Vocals
*William Daniel Smith - Organ, Piano, Harpsichord, Vocals
*Wayne "Stoney" Stone - Drums
*Carol Kaye - Bass, Acoustic Guitar
*Steve Kennedy - Tenor Saxophone, Harmonica, Vocals
*Dave Young - Bass (Track #11)
*Paul "Mickey" MacCallum - Congas (Track #11)
*Andy Cree - Percussion (Track #7)
Tommy Li Puma, Dave Mason's coproducer at Blue Thumb, has notified by mail various radio stations and record distributors across the country to go ahead and promote Headkeeper, in spite of the fact that Mason has brought a lawsuit against the label. For those of you who do not boycott the album, Headkeeper has plenty of moments to justify your purchase, and yet leaves you feeling that it is an incomplete, unfinished album.
Each of all the five songs on side two is a live recording of material Mason had recorded elsewhere. "Pearly Queen," a song that here is attributed to Mason and on the Traffic album is credited to Winwood and Capaldi, got itself a better treatment the first time around, simply because Winwood's vocal was funkier, grittier, more edged with irony.
The song itself has enough propulsion in it that it doesn't need the extra added bit of soul that Winwood gives it, but then why not? Mason's interpretation here of "Feelin' Alright" is different from the one he delivered on Traffic. Then he sang with a whimpering, quaveringly insecure voice which, when joining the chorus, instantly picked up sarcastic strength. The change was always sudden and dramatic as Clark Kent leaping out of a broom closet dressed as Superman.
In the present version, latin jazz rhythms open the song and right from the beginning all the way through, Mason sings with extroversion and authority. Now he even takes a supposedly humbled line like "Well, boy, you sure took me for one big ride," and turns it inside out to read like a gorgeous put-down. Whatever Chris Wood offered in the way of bluesy saxophone on the first version, Mark Jordan matches well with his jazz electric piano on this.
Maybe if Headkeeper had had two sides of new material rather than just one, Mason as an artist to our view would have been standing less like "a mist upon the shore." He never has been an easy one to figure out, in his public life or in his music. With Headkeeper he by no means has painted his masterpiece, but instead has left us with some fine sketches and life studies.
by David Lubin, Rolling Stone, 4-13-72.
Tracks
1. To Be Free - 3:19
2. In My Mind - 3:19
3. Here We Go Again (Solomon Burke, Cass Elliot, Bryan Garo, Jerry Gray) - 1:56
4. A Heartache, A Shadow, A Lifetime - 3:35
5. Headkeeper - 4:39
6. Pearly Queen (Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood) - 3:32
7. Just A Song - 3:01
8. World In Changes - 4:47
9. Can't Stop Worrying, Can't Stop Loving - 3:04
10.Feelin' Alright - 5:40
All titles by Dave Mason, except where noted.
Musicians
*Dave Mason - Electric, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
*Mark Jordan - Piano, Keyboards
*Lonnie Turner - Bass
*"Dr." Rick Jaeger - Drums
*Felix Falcon aka "Flaco" - Conga, Percussion
Special thanks to:
*Rita Coolidge - Vocals
*Spencer Davis - Vocals
*Graham Nash - Vocals
*Kathi McDonald - Vocals
Like Traffic's album "John Barleycorn Must Die", former Traffic member Dave Mason's Alone Together is a good album -- careful, well played, occasionally brilliant and well-conceived -- but like John Barleycorn, Alone Together never breaks its vinyl bonds and soars. The songwriting talent of Mason remains undiminished on Alone Together, and his easy fluid voice, long in Traffic vocalist Stevie Winwood's giant shadow, is used to maximum effect.
This is, of course, the marbled LP, a brilliant burst of color spinning on the turntable, the grooves barely discernible so the needle seems to be floating across the record. Maybe the next step could be a little cartoon around the edge of the record, like those flip-the-pages funnies, or a slow inward spiral so you could be literally hypnotized by the record.
The music is vintage Mason, veering here and there towards commercialism but never quite getting there, slick but not offensive. Falling in line with the rest of Great Britain, Mason chose old Delaney and Bonnie sidemen for the session, including Leon Russell, Jim Keltner, Carl Radle and Rita Coolidge, plus old Mother Don Preston. Russell, as always, is much in evidence, and his piano (if it is him -- the album doesn't say and we have only internal evidence), particularly on "Sad and Deep As You," is masterful.
The high point of the album is clearly "Look at You Look at Me," a song Mason wrote with Trafficker Jim Capaldi, whose tight, urgent drumming on the cut moves the song along with descretion and skill. Mason's singing is simply superb. The other exceptional cuts are "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave" (Mason is not, between you and me, a great song titlist), which features the best wah-wah guitar since Clapton's initial exposition on "Tales of Brave Ulysses"; and "World in Changes," with Mason's deceptively simple lyrics pulled along by some brilliant organ work.
High commercial potential on the album is represented by "Only You Know and I Know," which has a rick-ticky rhythm reminiscent of "You Can All Join In." It's really a trivial song (like others on the album, particularly "Waitin' On You" and "Just A Song"), but it will sound great on a tinny AM radio at 60 miles an hour.
by Jon Carroll, Rolling Stone, 9/3/70.
Tracks
1. Only You Know and I Know - 4:05
2. Can't Stop Worrying, Can't Stop Loving - 3:02
3. Waitin' on You - 3:05
4. Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave - 6:00
5. World in Changes - 4:30
6. Sad and Deep as You - 3:35
7. Just a Song - 2:59
8. Look at You, Look at Me - 7:22
All songs by Dave Mason except track #8 co-written with Jim Capaldi
A seminal figure in the evolution of West Coast pop, singer/songwriter P.F. Sloan composed and produced some of the most enduring records of the 1960s. While his solo efforts remain folk-rock cult classics, they were barely promoted by longtime label Dunhill, and his subsequent exit from the company was the start of a fall from grace that culminated in a three-decade absence from the studio. Born Philip Gary Schlein in New York City on September 18, 1945, he spent the lion's share of his adolescence in Los Angeles. While browsing the Sunset and Vine music store Wallich's Music City, the 12-year-old met Elvis Presley, who agreed to an impromptu introductory guitar lesson. Within a year Sloan signed to Aladdin Records, issuing his debut single, "All I Want Is Loving," to little notice.
The Mart label effort "She's My Girl" met a similar fate, but in 1961 he resurfaced as a staff songwriter with Screen Gems, which teamed him with fellow composer Steve Barri under the supervision of producer Gary Usher. As the Fantastic Baggys, Sloan and Barri capitalized on the budding surf craze with "Tell 'Em I'm Surfin'." They also co-wrote the Round Robin hit "Kick That Little Foot, Sally Ann," and when Screen Gems exec Lou Adler broke ranks to found his own label, Dunhill, he brought Sloan and Barri with him to write and produce. Throughout the mid-'60s, the Sloan/Barri partnership proved a hitmaking force to rival the likes of Bacharach/David or Goffin/King. Smashes like Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man," the Turtles' "You Baby," and the Grass Roots' "Where Were You When I Needed You" were instrumental in defining the sound of Southern California rock 'n' roll.
Sloan's most influential composition was the Bob Dylan-inspired "Eve of Destruction," a number one hit for Barry McGuire in the fall of 1965. The song, which drew fire from conservatives and liberals alike, nevertheless became one of the defining protest anthems of the growing counterculture movement, and its success spurred Sloan to renew his own recording career in full. His comeback effort, "Sins of a Family," a bleak, poignant tale of teen prostitution, spent less than two weeks on the pop charts in late 1965, and the LP Songs of Our Times suffered backlash from a folk-rock community that dismissed Sloan as little more than a studio hack jumping on the latest commercial trend. Moreover, Dunhill execs blanched at the thought of losing their most successful songwriter, and spent virtually nothing on promoting his solo career.
A 1966 follow-up set, Twelve More Times, fared no better, and a frustrated Sloan demanded release from his contract. Dunhill finally agreed, but forced him to sign away all songwriting royalties past, present, and future. Sloan's talent and integrity inspired fellow pop tunesmith Jimmy Webb to write a glowing tribute, "P.F. Sloan," but he remained persona non grata on the pop charts. His 1968 Atco debut, Measure of Pleasure, tanked, and he relocated to New York City, moving in with his parents and plotting his next move. Sloan did not resurface until 1972, releasing the much-maligned Raised on Records on the tiny Mums label. In the decade to follow, he battled depression and catatonia, finally resurfacing in 1985 with a handful of New York club dates. Sloan nevertheless resisted overtures to cut a new LP until 2006, teaming with producer Jon Tiven and guests including Lucinda Williams and Frank Black to record the Hightone release Sailover.
by Jason Ankeny
Tracks
1. This Precious Time (P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri) - 2:41
2. Eve of Destruction - 3:08
3. The Sins Of A Family - 3:01
4. Here's Where You Belong (P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri) - 3:02
5. This Is What I Was Made For (P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri) - 2:17
6. What Exactly's the Matter With Me - 2:27
7. I Get Out Of Breath - 3:13
8. From A Distance - 3:04
9. The Man Behind The Red Balloon - 2:15
10.What Am I Doin' Here With You (P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri) - 2:41
11.Take Me For What I'm Worth - 2:45
12.Lollipop Train (You Never Had It So Good) (P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri) - 3:08
Electric urban blues, particularly of the hard-hitting Chicago variety, became big news in Britain in the middle of the 1960's, not so much as performed by its American originators, but rather like the beat music and R&B which preceded it - via home grown interpretation by enthusiasts who began as fans and developed their enthusiasm as musicians.
Among the initiates on this post-R&B scene were Dr K's Blues Band, formed in Muswell Hill, North London (Kinks country!) by Ashley Hutchings, who was destined to find his folkier roots and considerably more success a couple of years later with Fairport Convention. When Hutchings moved on, the line up eventually stabilised as Mick Haase on vocals and harmonica, the enigmatic Dr. K. on piano, Geoff Krivit on lead guitar, Roger Rolt on slide and rhythm guitar, Harold Vickers on bass and Eric Peachy on drums.
Dr. K's Blues Band played the London/home counties circuit initially, but soon started to move around the country as the blues circuit spread and eventually even found himself playing gigs abroad in Italy and Denmark. Their original forte was the small club and music-featuring pub - the natural homes as it were, of an electric blues quintet in their transatlantic equivalents (honky tonk/dive). After a couple of years, however some of these smaller venues were supplanted by the university and college circuits which became very much their spiritual home.
Their successful career on the live circuit did not translate automatically into a recording deal for the band until 1968. Espying a growing musical boom. Spark Records decided to board the bandwagon by signing up some of the non-contracted groups on the blues circuit and approached Dr. K's manager, Roger Simpson. But Spark Records lacked the experience and expertise in promotion and distribution to ensure widespread press coverage, media exposure or high street stocking of their albums.
Eventually and inevitably, the original band started to break up as the decade drew to a close. Eric the drummer was the first to leave, being replaced by Jeff Alien. By the middle of the 1970's, only Mick Haase and Roger Rolt remained of the original members. The whole team decided to call it a day and split up.
Tracks
1. I Can't Lose (Geoff Krivit) - 2:50
2. Walking (Geoff Krivit, Mick Hasse) - 3:26
3. Key To The Highway (Eric Peachey, Richard Kay, Geoff Krivit, Mick Hasse, Roger Rolt) - 6:26
4. Crippled Clarence (Richard Kay) - 2:45
5. Pet Cream Man (Roger Rolt) - 2:09
6. Messin' With Kid (Richard Kay, Geoff Krivit, Mick Hasse, Roger Rolt) - 2:02
7. Don't Quit The Man You Love, For Me (Mick Hasse, Richard Kay) - 2:24
8. Rolty's Banjo Shuffle (Geoff Krivit, Richard Kay, Roger Rolt) - 2:10
9. Strobe Lemming's Lament (Richard Kay) - 1:46
10.Long Distance Call (Richard Kay) - 4:30
11.I Feel So Bad (Richard Kay) - 2:49
Dr K's Blues Band
*Mick Hasse - Harmonica, Vocals
*Geoff Krivit - Bass, Guitar
*Eric Peachey - Drums
*Roger Rolt - Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Slide Guitar, National Steel Guitar
*Harold Vickers - Bass
*Richard Kay - Piano
Julian's Treatment is yet another forgotten and obscure gem of progressive and psychedelic rock. Not very often does a sci-fi author involve himself with music. Michael Moorcock's involvement with Hawkwind is one of the best examples. And Julian Jay Savarin is another author who involved himself in music, with this band Julian's Treatment. Savarin played the organ and he had an Australian named Cathy Pruden to handle the vocals, with some other guys to handle the guitar, bass, drums, and flute (no liner notes were included, unfortunately).
A Time Before This, released in 1970, was the one and only album by this band (Savarin released an album under his own name called Waiters on the Dance, which varying sources say was released in 1969, 1971, or 1973). Unsurprising, the album is a sci-fi concept album, a bit difficult for me to follow when a lyric sheet wasn't even included, but it seems to involve the destuction of the Earth in which a Terran ends up on a planet inhabited by strange, blue-skinned people, and an evil megalomaniac. Musically, it's late '60s sounding psychedelic with progressive rock with great spacy organ and a cosmic feel to the whole album. Great female vocals as well with the occasional spoken dialog. Highlights include "Phantom City", "The Black Tower", "Altarra, Princess of the Blue Women", "Twin Suns of Centauri", "Alkon, Planet of Centauri", "The Terran", "Fourth From the Sun", and "Strange Things".
All the music sounds like it should belong on some campy sci-fi film from the late 1960s, but that should not come as any surprise. One band that Julian's Treatment gets compared to is The United States of America, the American band that released an self-entitled album in 1968 that featured Joe Byrd and Dorothy Moskowitz. Also comparisons to such prog rock bands lead by female vocalists like Analogy, Sandrose, and Holland's Earth & Fire are pretty common as well. Which is safe to say, if you're a fan of any of these groups, chances are you'll like Julian's Treatment, a great lost gem that sure to grow on you. The original LP (released in Britain by Young Blood and in the U.S. on Decca) isn't exactly easy to come by, but regardless, this album is another excellent obscure gem to add to your collection.
All the Young Dudes actually brought Mott the Hoople success, but you wouldn't know that from its sequel, Mott. Ian Hunter's songs are a set of road tales fraught with exhaustion, disillusionment, and dashed dreams, all told with a wry sense of humor so evident on Mott's earlier work. This is no ordinary road album where a band whines about the perils of traveling -- it's more of a wry commentary on rock 'n' roll itself, which, as Hunter notes, is a loser's game. Mott doesn't sound that way, though -- it's as winning and infectious as rock 'n' roll gets.
Even with the undercurrents of ironic despair and restrained hostility, this is a fun record (partially because of that despair and hostility, of course). This sounds better, looser, than All the Young Dudes, as the band jives through All the Way from Memphis and Honaloochie Boogie, beats the living hell outta Violence, swaggers on Whizz Kid, and simply drives it home on Drivin' Sister.
Apart from the New York Dolls (who, after all, were in a league of their own), glam never sounds as rock as it does here. To top it all off, Hunter writes the best lament for rock ever with Ballad of Mott the Hoople, a song that conveys just how heartbreaking rock & roll is for the average band. If that wasn't enough, he trumps that song with the closer I Wish I Was Your Mother, a peerless breakup song that still surprises, even after it's familiar. It's a graceful, unexpected way to close a record that stands as one of the best of its era.
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracks
1. All the Way from Memphis - 5:02
2. Whizz Kid - 3:25
3. Hymn for the Dudes (Verden Allen, Ian Hunter) - 5:24
4. Honaloochie Boogie (Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs) - 2:43
5. Violence (Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs) - 4:48
6. Drivin’ Sister - 3:53
7. Ballad of Mott the Hoople (26th March 1972, Zurich) (Ian Hunter, Dale Buffin, Peter Watts, Mick Ralphs, Verden Allen) - 5:24
8. I’m a Cadillac/El Camino Dolo Roso (Mick Ralphs) - 7:51
9. I Wish I Was Your Mother - 4:52
10.Rose (Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Peter Watts, Dale Buffin) - 3:56
11.Honaloochie Boogie (Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs) - 3:07
12.Nightmare (Verden Allen) - 3:36
13.Drivin' Sister (Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs) - 4:30
All songs written by Ian Hunter, except where indicated
Track 10 B-side of Honaloochie Boogie; produced by Mott The Hoople
Tracks 11-12 Demo recordings
Track 13 Live 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon; produced by Dale Buffin Griffin Mott The Hoople
*Ian Hunter - Vocals, Piano, Guitar
*Mick Ralphs - Vocals, Guitar
*Pete Overend Watts - Bass Guitar, Vocals
*Dale Buffin Griffin - Drums, Vocals, Percussion Additional Personnel
*Paul Buckmaster - Electric Cello
*Morgan Fisher - Backing Vocals, Piano, Synthesizer
*Mick Hince - Bells
*Andy MacKay - Saxophone
*Graham Preskett - Violin
*Thunderthighs (Karen Friedman, Dari Lalou, Casey Synge) - Backing Vocals
Redeye's second album "One Man`s Poison" released in 1971, is an extension of the first, with swamps and west coast folk-rock elements, but with more laid-back and mature music than the debut work.
Includes the hit single ‘Redeye Blues’, was issued in the spring of 1971, although it was banned in many radio markets owing to its lyrical content - some programmers objected to the song’s story-line about a person getting stoned and then unable to find his drug stash.
Nevertheless, the single charted at number #78. The group was unable to follow it with another hit and split up in 1972.
The Common People are perhaps the greatest remaining enigma in 1960s US rock music. Their sole album has belatedly been acclaimed as one of the most distinctive recordings of its time, but - despite the best efforts of fans and journalists- none of the musicians involved has yet been found.
Led by Denny Robinett, who is remembered as a deeply charismatic figure, they are known to have originated in California (some say in Baldwin Park, others Fontana), where they are thought to have been bikers.
Having recorded two ultra-rare garage singles for the local Flodavieur label (which indicate the morose, brooding direction their music would take, and make their CD debut here), they fetched up on LA's famed Sunset Strip at the end of the decade.
By then they'd taken to wearing white robes and carrying Biblical staffs, and soon attracted the attention of legendary rock opportunist 'Sir' Tim Hudson, manager of garage heroes the Seeds and the Lollipop Shoppe.
Hudson had the prescience to recognise the uniqueness of Robinett's moody songwriting, and in 1969 he landed them an album deal with Capitol.
With a considerable budget to play with, he hired the legendary David Axelrod to score the material, and set about planning an ambitious fusion of the experimental pop of the Beach Boys, Love and The Velvet Underground with modern classical strings.
To this end he hired some of LA's top session musicians, several of whom were longtime Axel rod collaborators.
Cellist Jesse Ehrlich and violinist William Kurasch were both members of the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra, and had recently contributed to albums including Love's Forever Changes and Frank Zappa's Lumpy Gravy, amongst others, while viola player Philip Goldberg was a veteran of sessions for Zappa, the Monkees, Van Dyke Parks and others.
Double bassist and tuba virtuoso Red Callender had played with jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole and Charlie Parker, while prolific trumpeter Tony Terran had contributed to recordings by Lou Rawls, Randy Newman and Linda Ronstadt, and went on to work with Tim Buckley, Tom Waits, Madonna and others. Rounding off the credits were engineers Rex Updegraft, Doc Siegel and Joe Polito, fresh from working with the Band, Buffalo Springfield and Glen Campbell respectively.
The stage seemed set for a masterpiece - but then disaster struck. With stunning work completed on just three songs, Axelrod's wife was badly injured in an accident and he had to pull out, effectively killing the project in the process.
Today those shimmering, ethereal masterpieces (Soon There'// Be Thunder, / Hove Been Alone and Those Who Love) are not only regarded as pinnacles of Axelrod's career, but of orchestrated pop in general - all the more remarkable given that they are said to have been recorded without charts.
Certainly their conductor, Sid Sharp (perhaps best-known for his work on the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds), regarded them as astonishing achievements.
One can only conjecture how magical the album would be had every track been thus treated, but Axelrod's departure gave Capitol cold feet, and they cut off their support, meaning that the remaining songs had to be rushed.
Though they're at odds with the opening trio, most are treasures too. Go Every Way, Why Must I Be?, Take From You, Feeling and Land Of A Day are all impeccable pop songs, delivered in Robinett's unique growl and imbued with the same wistful, suggestive atmosphere of the album's openers.
The record is only compromised by one or two less distinguished hornrock tracks, and Hudson's sole contribution, the wonderfully-titled but woefully-misbegotten novelty number They Didn't Even Go To The Funeral, a strong contender for the worst song ever to appear on a fine album.
When it crept out in late 1969, Of The People, By The People, For The People flopped, and it is assumed that the band folded soon afterwards.
The record, however, stands as a small masterpiece of brooding, late-night psychedelia, and it is to be hoped that Denny Robinett will surface one day, and tell the full story of his glorious, one-shot contribution to rock and roll.
Liner-Notes
Tracks
1. Soon There'll Be Thunder (D. Robinett, J. Robinett) - 2:21
2. I Have Been Alone - 3:09
3. Those Who Love - 3:14
4. Go Every Way - 2:22
5. Why Must I Be? - 2:20
6. Take From You - 2:51
7. They Didn't Even Go To The Funeral (Hudson, Hill) - 2:47
8. Feeling - 2:18
9. Girl Said (Know) - 1:36
10.Land Of A Day - 3:51
11.This Life She Is Mine (D. Robinett, J. Robinett) - 2:09
12.Oh My My (Bonus Track) - 1:57
13.Days On My Mind (Bonus Track) - 2:53
14.Look Around (Bonus Track) - 2:28
15.Dawn Of My Life (Bonus Track) - 2:44
All compositions by Denny Robinett except otherwise written.
The Common People
*Denny Robinett - Lead Vocals And Guitar
*John Bartley III - Guitar
*Michael Mccarthy - Bass Guitar
*William Fausto - Keyboards
*Jerrald Robinett - Drums
Motown’s Rare Earth imprint intended to bring the sound of rock to the home of The Supremes, The Miracles, Martha and The Vandellas, The Temptations, and Four Tops. The imprint was named after a white rock band from Detroit and its artists were both home-grown and licensed from other parties. In the latter category was Toe Fat, a U.K. psych-rock band built around the talents of Cliff Bennett, formerly of the beat group Cliff Bennett and The Rebel Rousers. Both of Toe Fat’s albums – issued on Rare Earth in the U.S. and EMI in the U.K. – are newly collected on Bad Side of the Moon: An Anthology 1970-1972, a 2-CD set from Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint. It gives a welcome opportunity to reevaluate the music of the band that yielded two future members of Uriah Heep, one member of Jethro Tull, and a key collaborator of The Bee Gees.
Toe Fat’s self-titled debut arrived on Rare Earth in 1970 following albums from Rare Earth (the band), Love Sculpture, U.K. import The Pretty Things, Rustix, and Messengers. Cliff Bennett was encouraged by EMI, with whom he’d been under contract leading the Rebel Rousers, to form a band reflecting the heavier sound of rock at the turn of the decade. When Bennett learned that Motown was interested, as well, he set out to form the oddly-monikered Toe Fat. (Malcolm Dome’s liner notes reveal that “Bollocks” and “Shit Harry” were two other options, so maybe Toe Fat wasn’t such a bad name, after all.) The core line-up was poached from the ashes of band called The Gods: guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Ken Hensley, bassist John Glascock (incorrectly credited during his time in the band as John Konas), and drummer Lee Kerslake. Pianist-lead vocalist Bennett tapped Mox Gowland on flute and harmonica as a guest musician. Recording took place with producer Jonathan Peel at Abbey Road.
Bennett’s efforts to modernize his sound were largely successful; Toe Fat was steeped in blues, rock, and soul and wrapped up in a rather frightening Hipgnosis sleeve depicting toe people. (Two of the four nude toe people were too much for Motown and were incongruously replaced with a sheep.) Bennett penned most of the material on the eponymous LP, sometimes in collaboration with Hensley (uncredited due to publishing rights issues).
Some notable outside compositions were brought in, too, including Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “Bad Side of the Moon.” Bennett tells Dome that he’d known John as a young fan of the Rebel Rousers, so he gladly accepted the chance to record the rising star’s song. (Elton’s rendition appeared as the B-side of his “Border Song” in 1970.) Bennett’s deep, resonant, and gutsy vocals – which at times resemble those of Blood, Sweat and Tears’ David Clayton-Thomas – were well-suited to the guitar-dominated heavy soul approach to material such as “Bad Side” and “(Ain’t That) Just Like Me,” the Hollies oldie-but-goodie. Ernie Shelby and Dick Cooper’s “Nobody” (introduced by Larry Williams and Johnny Watson with The Kaleidoscope and covered by Three Dog Night) showcased Hensley with ample soloing and scorching fuzz guitar.
But the album primarily consisted of melodic but aggressive Bennett originals including the strong opener, “That’s My Love for You,” the attractive midtempo harmony ballad “The Wherefors and the Why,” the Tull-esque “Just Like All the Rest” (with Mox Gowland in place of Ian Anderson on flute as well as bluesy harmonica), the powerfully-rocking “I Can’t Believe,” and boogieing “You Tried to Take It All.” Hensley’s riffs complemented and added an edge to Bennett’s straightforward, hook-laden songs.
Despite lackluster sales upon the album’s May 1970 release, Toe Fat was poised for success with an opening slot on Derek and the Dominos’ U.S. tour. But it wasn’t without drama. Before the tour, the band’s management fired Hensley and Kerslake, much to Bennett’s surprise. They landed in Uriah Heep and were replaced in Toe Fat by future Bee Gees band member Alan Kendall on guitar and John Glascock’s brother Brian on drums. Once the tour was completed, this line-up, again joined by Mox Gowland, reunited with Jonathan Peel at Abbey Road for the sophomore LP sought by Rare Earth. The simply-titled Two was more eclectic than its predecessor but for consistency’s sake was adorned with another creepy-crawly Hipgnosis cover.
The opening “Stick Heat” established Alan Kendall’s bona fides. With its spiky, abrasive guitar and foreboding atmosphere, the tune announced that Kendall was more than ready to pick up where Ken Hensley left off. He also took Hensley’s place as Bennett’s primary co-writer, albeit with full credit. The duo co-wrote seven of the eight songs on Two, with Kendall sole author of the moody prog instrumental “Indian Summer.” The eight songs veered from driving hard rock (“Since You’ve Been Gone,” “Idol,” “Three Time Loser”) to a straight blues workout (“There’ll Be Changes,” boasting uncredited guitar from Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green and harmonica from Mox Gowland) with psychedelia and prog flourishes laced throughout as on the slow-burning, two-part anthem “A New Way.” The band might not have settled on a firm direction, but they played in the manner of a tight-knit unit.
While singles had been issued from Toe Fat (“Bad Side of the Moon” in both the U.S. and U.K., and then a U.S. pressing with “Bad Side” relegated to the flip of “(Ain’t That) Just Like Me”)), neither Rare Earth in the U.S. nor EMI/Regal Zonophone in the U.K. released a 45 from Two. Before giving up the ghost, Toe Fat recorded one more single which was released in 1972 on the indie Chapter Two label. These have been included as bonus tracks on the second disc here. The A-side, “Brand New Band,” channeled a more rootsy sound, with barroom piano and a singalong chorus. “Can’t Live Without You,” on the B-side, also had a lighter sound than the two albums, pointing Toe Fat in a pub-rock vein.
Bassist John Glascock would join Jethro Tull in 1976, remaining with the band until his untimely death in 1979. Alan Kendall would form a crucial component of the Bee Gees’ band for two separate stints (1971-1980 and 1987-2001). Brian Glascock returned to session work for a number of high-profile artists including Dolly Parton and Heart’s Nancy Wilson. Cliff Bennett and Ken Hensley remained friends until Hensley’s death in 2020.
Esoteric’s collection is housed in a six-panel digipak containing a 20-page booklet. In Malcolm Dome’s notes, Bennett candidly and affectionately reflects on the band’s small but potent discography. Ben Wiseman has remastered all of the tracks here from master tapes other than the Chapter 1 sides which were sourced from a clean vinyl copy of the original single. Toe Fat has long been a mere footnote in the histories of Cliff Bennett and The Rebel Rousers, Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, The Bee Gees, Elton John, and Motown/Rare Earth. Bad Side of the Moon: An Anthology 1970-1972 enjoyably places the music front and center.
by Joe Marchese, February 25, 2021
Tracks
Disc 1 Toe Fat 1970
1. That's My Love For You (Frank Allen, M. Roberts) - 4:02
2. Bad Side Of The Moon (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 3:25
Gospel Truth, Hipster Image, The Velvet Chords were all band names emblazoned across posters in the mid 60s. Hipster Image were impressing a lot of people in the Stafford, England area in the early 60s under the leadership of Colin Cooper on guitar, sax and vocals.
Decca were impressed by Hipster Image and a single was released, produced by Alan Price. It did very poorly, and in fact marked the end of the road. Returning to Stafford, Colin formed Gospel Truth with a very young Peter Haycock, still at school but already proving to be a sensational guitarist, and John Cuffley on drums who had already featured on a hit 45 with Emile Ford’s Checkmates.
Gospel Truth picked up where Hipster Image left off, and in the late 60s, Cooper and Haycock pointed the band in that direction and the Climax Chicago Blues Band was formed with guitarists Peter Haycock and Derek Holt; keyboardist Arthur Wood; bassist Richard Jones; drummer George Newsome; and vocalist and harmonica player, Colin Cooper.
Prior to the release of 1969's Plays On, Jones left the group, prompting Holt to move to bass. In 1970 they moved to the Harvest label, at the same time shifting towards a more rock oriented sound on A Lot of Bottle. Around the release of 1971's Tightly Knit, Newsome was replaced by John Cuffley; upon Wood's exit in the wake of 1972's Rich Man, they continued on as a quartet, also dropping the "Chicago" portion of their name to avoid confusion with the American band of a similar name.
‘Rich Man’ in 1973 also saw the nucleus of the band settle down to Cooper, Haycock, Holt and the addition of John Cuffley on drums. The album was released in America on the Sire label and made a dent into the lower regions of the Billboard chart.
It was an ambitious album and in keeping with the general progressive output on Harvest. However, like the band’s second album, it does come over as sounding disjointed, the political attitude and the humour of the tracks ‘Rich Man’ and ‘Mole On The Dole’, for instance, seem a little lost in time, and contrived. ‘All The Time In The World’ became the live set opener for many years. Tagged on the end of the album, almost as an afterthought, but to me the gem of the album is the sensitive slide & harmonica blues ‘Don’t You Mind People Grinning In Your Face’, long on title but brief and heartfelt succinct.
Tracks
1. Rich Man - 5:50
2. Mole On The Dole - 5:04
3. You Make Me Sick - 3:52
4. Standing By A River - 5:29
5. Shake Your Love (Climax, Gottherer) - 5:28
6. All The Time In The World - 6:03
7. If You Wanna Know - 5:30
8. Don't You Mind People Grinning In Your Face (Sonhouse) - 2:31
9. Mole On The Dole (Single Version) - 3:59
All songs by Climax Chicago except where stated.
Climax Blues Band
*Colin Cooper - Vocals, Alto, Tenor Saxes, Guitar, Harmonica
*Pete Haycock - Vocals, Lead Guitar
*Derek Holt - Vocals, Bass Guitar, Electric Piano
*John Cuffley - Drums, Percussion
