Kusudo And Worth - Of Sun And Rain (1969 us, brilliant folk psych rock, 2019 remaster)

Every so often, along comes a disc on a small or obscure label which is a first-time CD release for what’s claimed to be a long-lost classic, gem of its kind or masterpiece of its genre, one that was only ever issued in a privately pressed, very limited vinyl edition in (say) the late ’60s. Such is this artefact. And even as a self-confessed enthusiast with an insatiable thirst for discovery and a taste for such curios, I tend to be inordinately suspicious of all such extravagant claims.

The biggest surprise, then, was that I’d never even heard of this album, whose original (and only) release was in December 1968 on the Custom Fidelity label. Nor of its protagonists, Ken Kusudo and Jeff Worth, who came together in Riverside, California in the mid-’60s and, partly through their siblings, discovered a shared love of folk music – notably Peter, Paul & Mary, Donovan, Simon & Garfunkel, Tim Buckley, Dylan and Ian & Sylvia. Jeff was drawn to Ken’s song of adolescent angst, Elizabeth (written in his mid-teens and inspired by the movie A Patch Of Blue), and the two soon began writing together, the next logical step was performing as a duo, basing their complementary-twin-guitar sound and style on the Peter & Paul model but also taking inspiration from the finger-picking of Paul Simon and Donovan. Their subsequent meeting with Richard Krieb led to his engagement as lyricist (one with a special instinct for “aligning lyrics with the most compatible musical sensibility”), and this collaboration, in turn, produced a white-heat outpouring of songs, which – alongside a small handful of songs Ken had written independently – ended up forming the album Of Sun And Rain.

The story goes that from late 2013, four of the album’s songs had appeared on Youtube – one of which, the abovementioned Elizabeth, had been happened upon by Jason Smith of Slipstream Records. After hearing the other three songs (and undeterred by the knowledge that the original vinyl LP commanded a ludicrous four-figure price tag), Jason embarked on an obsessive mission to research the album and its origins, and eventually, in 2017, managed to publish the story of Kusudo & Worth in his fanzine Fantastic Expedition, subsequently gaining permission from the artists themselves to re-release their album in a proper CD edition. Glory be!

For much of the time, the album’s songs don’t conform to, or even necessarily observe, conventions of folk-song, but it’s more that their poetical spirit enables them to unfold with each part or element fitting and shaping around the others. In this regard, there’s no easy comparison to be made although the closest approximation would seem to be early Tim Buckley, or perhaps some of the more complex ISB manoeuvres (but not in terms of “sectional” song structure). But then, “something in the water” of several of the songs also conjures up Nick Drake: perhaps it’s the dominant spirit of often aching, torn-apart romanticism, the delicate longing and yearning…

But it’s undeniable that the obliquely freeform nature of many of the album’s songs tends to preclude an instant appreciation, but each song has a peculiarly insistent individual drawing power. All the same, curiously, the songs come together over time to form a strange, skewed kind of unity. Not an easy impression to convey, and one that’s only really vindicated by detailed listening and a more prolonged, even concentrated exposure to the songs.

One might, therefore, take Of Sun And Rain as a considered sequence, a kind of song-cycle in all but name, but only part of its flavour can be conveyed by a discussion of the individual tracks. The LP opens with the tellingly fragile yet sensuous ballad Elizabeth, which powerfully conveys the contrasting emotions recalled in relative tranquillity with a concomitant display of conflicting emotional responses to the memories involved. Then follows For You, a thinly veiled expression of unrequited love that really hits home with its sparse yet mellifluous setting. The Donovan-like Song For A Pelican builds from a softly strummed majesty to a soaring with the quickened pace of the bird’s depicted flight. Mystical and philosophical concerns illuminate the despondency of Love Is Naught, propelled into a clinical but distant balance by the spacing of Ken and Jeff’s two voices across the magical delicacy of the twin-guitar soundscape; this is another song where soft picking gives way to a fiercer, more hammered thrumming (shades of Richie Havens?) as the emotional content builds. 

Even more so on one of the album’s standout tracks, the adventurous and complex Side-1-closer I Would Like To Hear Your Story, whose eerie, spacey slide-guitar embellishments finally yield to a discordant folk-freakout-style cacophony in its thrashing crescendo climax.  In contrast, the intensely personal song The Gull is a masterly slice of metaphor-driven loner-folk, succeeded by the more elliptical patchwork of observations on the wistful, lullaby-like Something From Nowhere and the cautionary, if warmly, melancholy literary narrative of Bittersweet. The halcyon ambience of Mill Valley Woodlands is by contrast almost pastoral in feel, a harmonica-bedecked homage to a local beauty spot maybe (who knows?), but enticing nevertheless. The album’s title song (and closing track) is at a tad over 6½ minutes its longest item, and despite its compelling writing and sombre mood doesn’t quite hang together, as it feels less well executed and edited – maybe a result of their limited studio time (just three hours which was funded by friends).

This CD reissue appends to the above LP three additional tracks. Settle Ya Down is a fairly recent reworking of a song from a distinctly Donovan-esque side-project album of Jeff and Richard’s (The Coming Of Captain Glee) which was released in November 1970 and is slated for future re-release by Slipstream. Pau Hana is a pleasing, melodic, ambling instrumental that recalls early Ralph McTell filtered through the American Primitive styling of John Fahey. A mellower and less edgy revisit of album track Love Is Naught that the back cover dates as originating from 2012.

Of Sun And Rain proves an inordinately fascinating album, a privileged glimpse into a creative maelstrom that still after several playthroughs promises to reveal even more delights. It certainly deserves the “lost classic” tag and fully vindicates the care lavished on this reissue, not least in the production of the CD’s exemplary 32-page booklet, which fastidiously chronicles the duo’s life and times and the genesis (and revelatory nature) of the album and its songs. The booklet’s front and back cover reproduce the original LP sleeve, the latter usefully providing the song lyrics in commendably readable high-resolution.

by David Kidman 29 July, 2019

 

Tracks

1. Elizabeth (Ken Kusudo) - 4:07

2. For You (Jeff Worth, Richard Krieb) - 3:00

3. Song To A Pelican (Ken Kusudo, Richard Krieb) - 3:38

4. Love Is Naught (Ken Kusudo, Jeff Worth, Richard Krieb) - 4:43

5. I Would Like To Hear Your Story (Ken Kusudo, Richard Krieb) - 6:06

6. The Gull (Ken Kusudo, Jeff Worth) - 3:01

7. Something From Nowhere (Ken Kusudo) - 3:12

8. Bittersweet (Ken Kusudo) - 3:14

9. Mill Valley Woodlands (Jeff Worth, Richard Krieb) - 4:43

10.Of Sun And Rain (Ken Kusudo, Richard Krieb) - 6:41

11.Pau Hana (Ken Kusudo, Jeff Worth) - 4:03

12.Settle Ya Down (Jeff Worth, Richard Krieb) - 3:00

13.Love Is Naught (Ken Kusudo, Jeff Worth, Richard Krieb) - 4:51

Personnel

*Ken Kusudo - Vocals, Guitar

*Jeff Worth - Vocals, Guitar

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rep>>> Nancy Priddy - You've Come This Way Before (1968 us, impressive jazzy baroque folk psych vibes, 2005 remaster)

Although better known to the public at large as an actress, Nancy Priddy also enjoyed a sporadic recording career, in 1968 releasing her lone LP, You've Come This Way Before, a minor classic of psychedelic folk. Born and raised in South Bend, IN, Priddy later studied liberal arts at Oberlin College, eventually graduating from the Northwestern School of Drama. Her fledgling theatrical career included a stint doing cabaret, and in 1964 she relocated to Greenwich Village, joining the folk combo the Bitter End Singers and making her recorded debut on the 1964 Mercury release Discover the Bitter End Singers. Priddy exited the group a year later to resume her acting career, eventually returning to the Chicago area. There she began writing her own songs, recording a series of now-lost demo sessions; upon landing back in New York City in 1967, she also contributed backing vocals to the classic Songs of Leonard Cohen.

At the end of 1967, Priddy and aspiring producer Phil Ramone initiated work on You've Come This Way Before, a dreamy, far-reaching acid-folk effort featuring contributions from jazz arranger Manny Albam and funk drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. Issued with virtually no fanfare on Dot Records in late 1968, the album quickly disappeared. During a subsequent visit to Dot's Los Angeles headquarters, Priddy met her future husband, staff producer Bob Applegate. (The couple's daughter Christina Applegate later co-starred in the long-running television sitcom Married...with Children before mounting a feature film career.) During her SoCal stay Priddy also cut a single with producer Harry Nilsson, the 1969 release "Feelings." After contributing to composer Mort Garson's multi-volume opus Signs of the Zodiac, she effectively retired from music, renewing her focus on acting and later appearing in films (Short Walk to Daylight, The Aliens Are Coming) and television (Bewitched, The Waltons, and Barnaby Jones). Following a lengthy but triumphant battle with breast cancer, Priddy returned to music in the early '90s, self-releasing a series of LPs including Can We Talk About It? and Mama's Jam. 

by Jason Ankeny

Nancy Priddy's sole, obscure solo album is the kind of idiosyncratically weird effort that could have only been made in the late '60s, when all sorts of pop and underground influences were combining with a naïveté unreplicated ever since. In some ways it's an off-the-wall singer/songwriter album drawing from both folk-rock and psychedelia. The trippy lyrics are often Through the Looking Glass-like dreamy jottings from a woman who's just gone to the other side of reality, overawed and only slightly intimidated. The sense of a child let loose to romp in the fields is amplified by Priddy's oft-girlish vocals, as heard on cuts like "Ebony Glass," and trendy psychedelic-style echo and high-pitch modulations are added to some of the instruments and vocals on various tracks.

Structurally, the songs -- written by Priddy with several collaborators, including John Simon, Manny Albam, and Everett Gordon, all of whom contributed arrangements to the album -- zigzag all over the map, shifting tunes, meters, and moods unpredictably, and sometimes with little rhyme or reason. Yet at the same time, it's sometimes dressed up in unabashedly late-'60s commercial pop/rock and pop-soul production and orchestration, even to the point of employing trumpets that sound fresh off a Dionne Warwick session. It's often as if the creator and her coconspirators couldn't quite decide whether they were aiming for the pop market or the freaks. Sometimes the result's haunting and enticing, yet on the whole it's an uneasy mix that doesn't cohere, the songwriting not being quite up to the apparent far-out ambitions of the project. 

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. You've Come This Way Before (Everett Gordon, Nancy Priddy) - 2:52
2. Ebony Glass (Bobby Whiteside, Nancy Priddy) - 2:22
3. Mystic Lady (John Simon, Nancy Priddy) - 6:33
4. Christina's World (Everett Gordon, Nancy Priddy) - 2:46
5. We Could Have It All (Manny Albam, Nancy Priddy) - 2:42
6. My Friend Frank (Manny Albam, Nancy Priddy) - 3:03
7. O' Little Child (Manny Albam, Nancy Priddy) - 3:17
8. And Who Will You Be Then (Everett Gordon, Nancy Priddy) - 3:14
9. On The Other Side Of The River (Manny Albam, Nancy Priddy) - 2:35
10.Epitaph (John Simon, Nancy Priddy) - 1:22
11.Take Care Of My Brother (George Tipton, Art Podell) - 2:53
12.Feelings (George Tipton, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) - 2:36

*Nancy Priddy - Vocals

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rep>>> Six Feet Under - In Retrospect (1969-70 us, chilling, spooky garage psych)

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 (Dale Hawkins, Eleanor Broadwater, Stanley Lewis) - 6:18
11 City Blues - 5:12
12 In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Doug 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

All songs written by Jerry Dobb except where stated

6 Feet Under
*Jay Crystal -  Drums
*Nanette DeLaune - Vocals
*Jerry Dobb - Keyboards, Vocals
*Scott Julian - Guitar
*Hector Torres - Drums
*Duane Ulgherait  - Bass
*Richie - Drums (only on track #9)

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rep>>> Infinity - Collected Works (1969-70 uk, splendid garage beat psych, 2009 issue)

Legendary UK psych outfit Infinity formed in 1969 from the ashes of "Chocolate Soup" psych faves the Flies and Cymbaline. The mission: to develop a heavy psychedelic/pop sound, and express it through complex original songs. Thanks to some funky Hammond organ, punchy guitars, and the band’s unique harmonies, Infinity were no run of the mill outfit. 

Upon their return to mainland England from a residency in Jersey, they joined the high-profile NEMS agency, alongside heavy hitters like Pink Floyd, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Soft Machine, and Pretty Things. In late 1969 and early 1970, following support slots with The Searchers and Marmalade, Infinity recorded original material for a proposed album, which was meant to explore "time, space, matter, energy and chicken phal, said in some circles to be so hot in a culinary sense that it's temperature approached infinity," or so they have said, with tongue-in-cheek, we have to believe. 

Sadly, they broke up soon after the sessions. The good news is that the band left behind the recordings presented on this disc, which can now be enjoyed in the digital format after the passage of more than four decades! Comes with a 24-page booklet which includes band history, photos, and more, printed on FSC recycled, chlorine-free, 100% post-consumer fiber paper manufactured using biogas energy.

Light In The Attic

Tracks
1. Time Keeper - 4:02
2. Venetian Glass - 1:53
3. Space Shanty - 5:41
4. Taxman (George Harrison) - 2:59
5. (I'm In Love With) A Girl Like You - 2:28  
6. Same Girl - 3:02
7. Pattern People (Jim Webb) -  2:35
8. Venetian Glass (Instrumental) - 1:54  
9.  I've Got You Under My Skin (Instrumental) (Cole Porter) - 2:34
10.(I'm In Love With) A Girl Like You (Mono) - 2:27
11.I've Got You Under My Skin (Cole Porter) - 3:33
12.Taxman (Instrumental) (George Harrison) - 2:59
All songs written by The Infinity except where indicated.

Infinity
*Ian Baldwin - Bass Guitar, Vocals
*Phil Chesterton - Drums, Vocals
*Brian Gill - Guitar, Vocals
*John Da Costa - Organ, Vocals
*Stu Calver - Guitar, Vocals

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rep>>> 49th Parallel – 49th Parallel (1967-70 canada, outstanding garage beat psych, 2005 bonus tracks edition)

Calgary's torch bearers in the great sixties garage punk sweepstakes were the 49th Parallel, whose 1969 chart success 'Twilight Woman' garnered them a few deserved rays of limelight. Unfortunately, plagued by personnel changes since their inception in 1966 (as the Shades of Blond), the lads were unable to capitalize on their minor hit, and by 1970, not long after the release of this self-titled LP, had decided to pack it in.

Starting off as a six-piece, the Shades of Blond landed a record deal with Ontario-based RCA subsidiary Gaiety Records, re-christened themselves the 49th Parallel and released a couple of mildly successful forty-fives, the spry 'Labourer' (RCA 3428) and the sunshine pop of 'She Says' (RCA 3447). A switch to the Venture label in 1968 saw more success with the curious 'Blue Bonnie Blue' b/w 'Missouri' (the former penned by a then unknown Delaney Bramlett about his equally obscure muse, Bonnie). 

At this point keyboardist Dave Petch left to be replaced first by Alf Cook and then by Dennis Mundy, with bassist Mick Woodhouse yielding to Dave Downy. By the time of their second Venture seven-incher, the radio-friendly pop-rocker 'Twilight Woman', the band's fortunes seemed to be lifting with some chart activity south of the border. With MGM affiliate Maverick agreeing to handle US distribution, the band recorded their sole full-lengther The 49th Parallel, an oddly schizophrenic mix of sunshine pop, Anglo lysergia and the gruffer acid-rock sounds of the era.

The gentlest and ultimately most successful tracks on The 49th Parallel were written by a mysterious D. Hockett, like the blithe and sugary opener 'Now That I'm a Man', with shades of Curt Boetcher at work in the summery orchestration, or the blurry Tomorrow-esque psych of 'Lazerabder Filchy'. The lysergic 'Missouri' showcases a breezy farfisa that sallies along behind a more caustic - and at times intrusive - guitar solo. Add to these the soulful AM fare of 'Twilight Woman'. Unfortunately, these tracks lie buried somewhat amidst some rather hefty acid-rock riffs. The record heats up on these tougher tracks when driven by Danny Lowe's caustic guitar or, especially, Mundy's abrasive Hammond B-3 licks (as on 'People') but often founders when the machismo is left unchecked.

The disparate The 49th Parallel often comes off more like a cobbled-together collection of singles than a unified album - hardly a surprise given the cachet of LPs back in the days of free-form radio. 

by Michael Panontin

Tracks

1. Now That I'm A Man (Don Hockett) - 2:22

2. Get Away (Jim Stallings) - 2:26 

3. Eye To Eye (Dennis Abbott) - 2:45 

4. Missouri (Dennis Abbott, Bob Carlson) - 3:17

5. Lazerander Filchy (Don Hockett) - 2:52

6. (Come On Little Child) Talk To Me (Dan Lowe) - 3:00

7. (The) Magician (Don Hockett) - 3:33

8. Twilight Woman (Dennis Abbott) - 2:23

9. Close The Barn Door (Alf Cook, Dan Lowe, Dennis Abbott, Bob Carlson, Terry Bare) - 3:11

10.The People (Dan Lowe, Jack Velker, Terry Bare) - 2:45

11.All Your Love (Dan Lowe, Dennis Abbott) - 2:10

12.Laborer (Bob Carlson, Dan Lowe, Dave Petch, Dennis Abbott, Mick Woodhouse, Terry Bare) - 2:25

13.You Do Things (Bob Carlson, Dan Lowe, Dave Petch, Dennis Abbott, Mick Woodhouse, Terry Bare) - 2:23

14.She Says (Bob Carlson, Dan Lowe, Dave Petch, Dennis Abbott, Mick Woodhouse, Terry Bare) - 1:57

15.Citizen Freak (Bob Carlson, Dan Lowe, Dave Petch, Dennis Abbott, Mick Woodhouse, Terry Bare) - 1:36

16.Blue Bonnie Blue (Delaney Bramlett, Morris Mac Davis) - 2:30

17.Up To No Good (Delaney Bramlett, Morris Mac Davis) - 2:19

18.I Need You (Dan Lowe, Dave Downey , Doran Beattie, Jack Velker, Terry Bare) - 4:21

19.Goodtime Baby (Dan Lowe, Dave Downey, Doran Beattie, Jack Velker, Terry Bare) - 2:46

20.Missouri (Dennis Abbott, Bob Carlson) - 2:20

21.Blue Bonnie Blue (Delaney Bramlett, Morris Mac Davis) - 2:24

Track 11 as The Shades Of Blond

49th Parallel 
*Dennis Abbott - Vocals
*Dan Lowe - Guitar
*Bob Carlson - Guitar
*Dave Petch - Organ
*Mick Woodhouse - Bass
*Terry Bare - Drums
*Dave Downey - Bass
*Alf Cook - Bass
*Dennis Mundy - Organ
*Jack Velker - Organ
*Dorn - Doran Beattie - Vocals

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rep>>> Zakary Thaks - It's The End The Definitive Collection (1966-69 us, magnificent tight garage rock, 2015 remaster)

Although our hometown Corpus Christi is somewhat isolated on the Texas coast, in the 1960s it had a very active local music scene, which turned out to be the proving ground for the Zakary Thaks to develop a unique style and sound. From the outset, we were hell-bent on growing a reputation of being one of the rowdiest yet tightest bands around.

It’s hard to imagine it has been almost 50 years since the nucleus of the Zakary Thaks was formed. What is equally notable is in that time we have seen over a half-dozen compilations of our vintage recordings. Still, there were a number of tracks which had never been sourced from the original master tapes. When we briefly reunited in 2005 and found ourselves back in Sugarhill Studios inHouston, chief engineer Andy Bradley played us a song we had totally forgotten about recording – ‘A Passage To India’. We were shocked!

Even more exciting was the news Alec Palao had unearthed several more lost Thaks masters, in addition to those missing tape reels. With their discovery, Alec felt the time had come to put out a definitive anthology of our material – and we couldn’t agree more! It feels as though new life has been breathed into our songs, now that they’ve been professionally presented from the original sources.

We have never been more proud than with the release of this collection. The new discoveries, the title track, ‘It’s The End’, along with ‘She’s Got You’, have elevated the Thaks brand to the next level, and hopefully cemented our legacy in the annals of garage rock. The Zakary Thaks raison d’etre was and always will be making unabashed yet well-executed music. And now finally, Ace Records has captured that.

by Chris Gerniottis

Tracks
1. She's Got You (Chris Gerniottis, John Lopez, Pete Stinson, Rex Gregory, Stan Moore) - 2:18
2. Bad Girl (Chris Gerniottis, John Lopez, Pete Stinson, Rex Gregory, Stan Moore) - 2:08
3. Face To Face (Chris Gerniottis, John Lopez) - 2:45
4. Won't Come Back (Chris Gerniottis, John Lopez) - 2:46
5. It's The End (Chris Gerniottis, John Lopez, Pete Stinson, Rex Gregory, Stan Moore) - 2:58
6. I Need You (Ray Davies) - 2:28
7. Please (Mike Taylor) - 2:06
8. A Passage To India (Chris Gerniottis, Pete Stinson) - 2:34
9. Mirror Of Yesterday (Mike Taylor, Rex Gregory) - 2:57
10.My Door (John Lopez, Rex Gregory, Stan Moore) - 3:33
11.Can You Hear Your Daddy's Footsteps (Mike Taylor) - 2:33
12.Green Crystal Ties (John Lopez, Rex Gregory, Stan Moore) - 3:30
13.Outprint (Chris Gerniottis, John Lopez, Rex Gregory, Stan Moore) - 2:12
14.Weekday Blues (Chris Gerniottis, Dennis Rasmussen, John Lopez, Stan Moore) - 3:01
15.Everybody Wants To Be Somebody (Chris Gerniottis, John Lopez, Rex Gregory, Stan Moore) - 2:55
16.Face To Face (Chris Gerniottis, John Lopez) - 3:04
17.Please (Mike Taylor) - 2:10
18.Mirror Of Yesterday (Mike Taylor, Rex Gregory) - 3:07
19.Can You Hear Your Daddy's Footsteps (Mike Taylor) - 2:39
20.I'd Only Laugh (Mike Taylor) - 3:05
21.People Sec. IV (Mike Taylor) - 3:01
22.Gotta Make My Heart Turn Away (Lofton Kline, Mike Taylor) - 2:42

Tracks 20-22 by Michael

The Zakary Thaks
*Mike Taylor - Vocals
*Rex Gregory - Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
*Stan Moore - Drums
*John Lopez - Lead Guitar, Vocals
*Chris Gerniottis - Lead Vocals (Tracks 1 - 9, 11, 13 - 19)
With 
*Pete Stinson - Rhythm Guitar (Tracks 1 - 9, 11, 13 - 19)

Related Acts

1967-70  Bad Seeds • Liberty Bell - Bad Seeds • Liberty Bell 

1969-70  Demian • Bubble Puppy - Demian • A Gathering Of Promises (2008 digipak remaster)

1969/84  Bubble Puppy - Hot Smoke

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rep>>> Ebo Taylor - Life Stories (1973-80 ghana, spectacular jazzy funky soul psych afrobeat, 2011 Strut two disc set release)

Following his recent studio album with Afrobeat Academy, ’Love And Death’, his first international release, Ghanaian highlife guitar legend Ebo Taylor teams up again with Strut for a long overdue definitive compilation of his seminal 1970s recordings, ‘Life Stories’. 

During Ghana’s highlife explosion during the 1950s and ‘60s following wartime highlife pioneers like E.T. Mensah, Ebo Taylor made his name as a prolific composer, arranger and frontman leading two of Ghana’s greatest big bands - Stargazers and Broadway Dance Band. Moving to London to study music in 1962 alongside West African luminaries like Fela Kuti and Peter King, Taylor formed the Black Star Highlife Band and began incorporating jazz elements into traditional highlife forms. 

Returning to Ghana, Taylor became an in-house arranger and producer for Dick Essilfie-Bondzie’s Essiebons label, working with other major Ghanaian stars like C.K. Mann and Pat Thomas. Through the ’70s, he then recorded a number of solo projects, exploring unique fusions and borrowing elements from regional Ghanaian folk music, Afrobeat, jazz, soul and funk. 

This compilation revisits this heyday of Taylor’s work, focusing on his solo albums and some of his lesser known side projects including the dynamite Apagya Show Band and short-lived Taylor-led combos Assase Ase, Super Sounds Namba and The Pelikans. The selection also touches on his writing and production work for C.K. Mann and a collaboration recording with fellow member of early ‘70s nightclub band Blue Monks, Pat Thomas. 

Tracks include the anthemic ’Heaven’, sampled by Usher on his hit with Ludacris, ’She Don’t Know’, the original version of the poignant ’Love And Death’ and the rare 15-minute nugget, ’Aba Yaa’. The package features rare photos, original album artwork and sleeve notes by Soundway Records’ Miles Cleret.

Strut-recs

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Heaven - 6:04 

2. Atwer Abroba - 8:14 

3. Victory (feat. Uhuru-Yenzu) - 4:20 

4. Ohiani Sua Efir (Traditional) (with Assase Ase) - 4:02 

5. Kwaku Ananse (with The Apagya Show Band) - 3:11 

6. Peace On Earth - 7:45 

7. Aba Yaa - 14:59 

8. Ene Nyame Nam 'a' Mensuro (feat. Pat Taylor, Pat Thomas) - 6:16 

Disc 2
1. Tamfo Nyi Ekyir (with The Apagya Show Band) - 3:57
2. Love and Death (feat. Uhuru-Yenzu) - 8:19
3. Ohye Atar Gyan - 6:07
4. Yes Indeed (with Super Sounds Namba) - 4:56
5. Mumude (The Apagya Show Band) - 3:04
6. What is Life (feat. Uhuru-Yenzu) - 4:38
7. Etuei (with C.K. Mann) - 6:28
8. Egya Edu (feat. Pelikans) - 6:51
All compositions by Ebo Taylor except where indicated.

*Ebo Taylor - Guitars, Vocals

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rep> David Kubinec's Mainhorse Airline - The Geneva Tapes (1969-70 swiss/uk, fine prog rock with jazz flashes, 2007 remaster)

It has always been said that the origins of the Patrick Moraz debut recording group “Mainhorse” are not well documented. Now, with the discovery after 37 years of ‘The Geneva Tapes’ all that has changed.

These tapes provide a unique insight into how the band was formed and what its original aims and personnel were. In the late summer of 1969, Moraz and his friend, bass player and cellist Jean Ristori came over to England in search of an English rock drummer and singer. After putting an advertisement in Melody Maker they hired a rehearsal room in Shepherds Bush, London for 2 days.

On the first day they auditioned drummers and chose a then unknown 17 year old Bryson Graham. The 2nd day was spent listening to singers and finally the choice was reduced to 2. The singer from that great band “If” and cult rock figure David Kubinec aka ‘Kubie’ from pop-psych band “The World of Oz”. Finding it impossible to decide between them, they were given an exam in which they both had to write lyrics for ‘Pale Sky’ in 10 minutes but Kubinec raced through it in 3 or 4 and they can be heard here in their entirety for the 1st time. And so Kubie was chosen.

These 4 guys then flew over to Switzerland and joined up with Auguste De Antoni the renowned French jazz guitarist and Swiss jazz drummer Arnold who were part of The Patrick Moraz Quartet which had already played to great acclaim at The Montreux Jazz Festival, forming a 6 piece group with 2 drummers with differing styles which Moraz named “Integral Aim”.

An innovative project of free jazz, rock, psychedelia and classical fusion (which filled the gap between the Underground and Progressive-Rock and which would have taken the world of music by storm) was over, but it makes the recent emergence of these original tapes all the more exciting. This album is a must for any fan of what became known as Prog- Rock, laying down as it did one of the foundation stones for that genre and yet these particular recordings have never been heard before.

A truly fabulous and unexpected find that shines a light into the dark corners of late-sixties and early-seventies experimental music. Moraz went on to play with Refugee, Yes and The Moody Blues, recording several albums of his own when he left them after fifteen years. David Kubinec, a wonderful songwriter in his own right, recorded solo material and also albums with The Rats and John Cale of Velvet Underground. Bryson Graham teamed up with Gary Wright, Spooky Tooth and The Paul Kossoff Band and was with Paul when he died on the flight returning from the United States.

He rejoined Kubie in David Kubinec's Excess in 1978 to promote the A&M album "Some Things Never Change" with Chris Spedding, Ollie Halsall and John Cale. In 1979, Kubinec went to the former Yugoslavia to watch his only child Emily growing up, and he joined "Stijene" a rock band which enjoyed great national success before the Balkan Wars. After the war, it was rumoured that he had been killed in a crossfire between the Serbs and Croats. This has never been confirmed, but it's certain that he hasn't released a record since.

In 1997, Rick Davies of Supertramp, who had always been a big fan of Kubinec's songwriting talent, paid him the compliment of titling the Supertramp album released that year "Some Things Never Change".  A fitting tribute.

by Louise Campbell

Tracks
1. Overture and Beginners - 3:36
2. Blunt Needles - 6:28
3. Passing Years (David Kubinec, Patrick Moraz) - 3:28
4. Make It the Way You Are - 5:01
5. Pale Sky (David Kubinec, Jean Ristori) - 6:54
6. What the Government Can Do for You - 4:26
7. Daybreak of Eternity - 4:11
8. Directions for Use - 4:18
9. Very Small Child - 4:29
10.God Can Fix Anything - 11:27
All songs by David Kubinec except where stated

David Kubinec's Mainhorse Airline
*Patrick Moraz - Keyboards
*David Kubinec - Vocals
*Bryson Graham - Drums
*Jean Ristori - Bass, Cello
*Auguste De Antoni - Guitar
*Arnold Ott - Drums

Related Act
1969  World Of Oz - The World Of Oz

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rep> Horses - Horses (1969 us, impressive psych rock, 2001 re-release)

As a radio personality in Los Angeles whose show, The Diamond Mine, became wildly popular in the 1960s. I had the opportunity to become friends with and hang out with many rock groups who were just starting out and had not yet signed record contracts. The Doors, Love. Iron Butterfly, The Black Sheep, Peanut Butter Conspiracy, The Seeds, and the Rainy Daze all joined the Dave Diamond High School Revue. It became famous for presenting noon shows, after-school shows, and evening shows throughout Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and the entire San Fernando Valley. 

The most I ever paid any band was $175 - to the Doors. (The receipt still hangs on my wall.) Once these groups signed record deals, my show was the only show in L.A. that would play this new "psychedelic" rock. The show was heard on a small station, KBLA, out of Burbank, then going through a format change from Top 40 to Country. 

I had two years left on my contract and the new owners said, "Just do whatever you want to do -- we are applying for more power and a call letter change (KBBQ), so we have no idea when the changeover wil take effect." I had never had this much freedom presented to me and I took advantage of it, playing far-out album cuts, some Top-40. acid rock, mainstream pop - even a couple country tunes now and then. Think of this: The Doors "Light My Fire." followed by a tight segue to George Jones' "The Race Is On." It was the first time new groups got exposure on the radio. And this was the true beginning of underground radio. It lasted a little over two years. 

The kids tuned in The Diamond Mine nightly and took the elevator to the "stoned fume room," lit by the one-eyed cufflink. Each level of The Diamond Mine required another joint. Frank Zappa called me one night and said, "I like the show so much tonight. Dave. I'm smoking my radio." Some of the music The Diamond Mine played first that became hits: "Light My Fire" (after I suggested to Morrison, Robbie, and John that the long guitar ride be edited out for Top-40 radio): "Acapulco Gold" by the Rainy Daze, a disguised but blatant ode to marijuana, The Seeds' "Pushin1 Too Hard": Love's "DaCapo" LP, "In-a-gadda-da-vida," by the Iron Butterfly.  "Boots Are Made for Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra, and Linda Rondstat's "A Different Drum." I was the first to play the Rolling Stones' 17-minute "Goin’ Home" on the radio -- and I played it twice, back to back. 

What does this have to do with the Horses CD you just purchased? Plenty, and most of it relates to the Rainy Daze. I met the group in Denver in 1964. I was doing a popular evening radio and TV show. We booked the Rainy Daze, and they played live on the TV show. This was 1964. They did three of their own original songs. I signed on as their manager and through Black Hills Music as publisher of all of their songs. Tim Gilbert, the lead singer, and John Carter, the lyric writer, became my best friends. In 1965, I moved to LA and the Rainy Daze went with me. 

I had been hired to kick off a new rock radio format called "Boss Radio," a very tight Top-30, grind-out-the-hits machine, which has become legendary in radio history. I didn't last long and landed at KBLA, which turned out to be a lightning stroke of luck for me and the many artists and groups that mainstream radio would not touch. I started doing a talent show at The Trip on the Sunset Strip -  kind of a 1960s American Idol - and for some reason this amateur contest became the place to be on Tuesday nights. It's where I met Phil Spector, Elvis, etc. I played tapes of the Rainy Daze for Phil, but he seemed on the borderline. 

So I worked a deal with Russ Regan at UNI Records (Universal Movie Studios), and we released Acapulco Gold, written by Carter-Gilbert. The song took off and started climbing the charts. It was headed for number ONE when Time magazine, Esquire, and other big time media outlets figured out the lyrics and that led to most major-market radio stations dropping the record. Acapulco Gold is, however, the best-selling single in the history of San Fransisco - over 150,000 45's sold. 

The Rainy Daze did an LP for UNI with some great psychedelic tunes on it along with "Acapulco Gold." One of my favorites was "Snow, Ice, and Burning Sand." Carter and Gilbert then wrote "Incense and Peppermints," and we found a band out in the Valley with the unlikely name "The Strawberry Alarm Clock." I owned the song and sold half of it to Frank Slay at Claridge Music and we produced it with the Alarm Clock and released it on our own label, then sold the master to UNI Records. It hit number ONE in the fall of 1967. 

The Rainy Daze were unhappy at UNI and asked me to find them another label that might do a better job promoting their records. I signed them to White Whale Records, the "Turtles" label. The Turtles were burning up the charts with "It Ain't Me Babe", "Happy Together", "You Baby", etc. We released several Rainy Daze singles on White Whale, but nothing happened. By this time KBLA had gone country and I was doing the 6-9 PM show on KFRC, San Francisco, one of the hottest, best sounding rock 'n' roll radio stations in the U.S.A. Carter and Gilbert still lived in L.A., although both would move to San Francisco. 

The Rainy Daze broke up. But Carter and Gilbert had written an album (what you hear now as Horses), and so we needed a band. We had decided that the 60s would be the only decade we could write and produce a "tongue 'n cheek" song about a 69 sex act. I formed my own production company, Glitter Gulch Productions, to produce the album and Black Hills Music to publish the songs. 

We recorded the project at LaCosta Recording Studios at LaCosta and Ventura in Hollywood and also recorded part of it at Pacific Sound Studios in San Francisco. We had few people in mind, but we held auditions and put the following personnel together: Dave Torbert - who after Horses played with New Riders of the Purple Sage and Bob Weir's breakaway band from the Grateful Dead, Kingfish. Torbert is dead. Scott Quigley - later played for the Sammy Hagar Band. Quigley is dead from an overdose of drugs. Matt Kelly - went on to play in Kingfish. Destiny unknown. Chris Herold - drummer - also ended up on Grateful Dead records with Kingfish. Destiny unknown. Tim Hovey - a co-writer on Asia Minor. 

Hovey was a huge child-star in the movies. Biggest role was Little Beaver in the Red Rider Series. Also starred with Charleson Heston and many other famous names. Dead - drug overdose. Don Johnson - lead singer - we started this group with Rich Fifefield as the lead singer. Fifefield was the star of the Astronauts, an early 60s band. Midway during the sessions, we decided Rich wasn't right for the sound we wanted on the Horses LP. We held auditions, and this young kid. Don Johnson, showed up and sang like hell. We hired him and finished the LP. Johnson was 18. Was this the actor Don Johnson? We don't claim it unless you do. The Horses LP was this kid's first professional gig, and I never saw him again after the sessions.

by David Diamond, 2003

Tracks

1. Freight Train -  3:00

2. Class Of '69 -  2:34

3. Birdie In A Cage (John Carter, Tim Gilbert, Dave Diamond) -  2:47

4. Nothing At All -  2:22

5. Cheyenne -  2:26

6. Run Rabbit Run (Jump For Joy) - 3:36

7. Country Boy (John Carter, Tim Gilbert, Dave Diamond) -  2:38

8. Overnight Bag -  2:31

9. Horseradish -  3:10

10.Asia Minor (John Carter, Scott Quigley, Tim Gilbert, Tim Hovey) -  3:33

11.Wind (Dave Torbert) -  1:40

All songs by John Carter, Tim Gilbert except where noted

Horses
*Matt Kelly - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
*Don Johnson - Vocals
*Chris Herold - Drums
*Dave Torbert - Bass
*Scott Quigley - Guitar

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