Roger Morris’ First Album, released by Emi/Regal Zonophone in 1972, stakes a claim as one of the most American sounding British-folk albums of the seventies. Along with the painfully obscure solo album by Ernie Graham, First Album is one of a handful of rustic singer-songwriter lps of the era that landed unjustly under the radar.
Owing much to the back-to-the-roots sound and vibe of The Band, Bobby Charles, and Hungry Chuck, and falling somewhere in between the British folk of the late 60s, the British country-rock of the early 70s, and the pub rock renaissance that would follow several years later, this album features contributions from a host of talented British musicians, including: the popular De Lisle Harper; Glen Campbell of Juicy Lucy and The Misunderstood; Family’s John Weider; Rod Coombes of Strawbs and later, Stealer’s Wheel; Chris Mercer; Terry Stannard of Kokomo; and Bruce Rowlands of the Greaseband. Obviously, the playing on this album is top notch. Furthermore, Morris comes across as a surprisingly accomplished songwriter.
On album opener “Taken for Granted” Morris mourns the loss of past loves to the tune of a folky country-rock number that calls to mind the early work of Help Yourself, as well as Ian Matthews. “Golightly’s Almanac” has a funky Bearsville ragtime feel, complete with a Tuba holding down the low end and a catchy horn part, sounding very similar to The Band’s “Rag Mama Rag” or Hungry Chuck’s “Hats Off America.” Morris’ vocals, which can sometimes be hit or miss, really excel on “Showdown”, one of the standout tracks of the set. “Northern Star” features some tasty pedal steel and fiddle riffing courtesy of talented multi-instrumentalist John Weider, while “Livin’ On Memories” sounds similar to “Orange Juice Blues” off of The Basement Tapes, with Morris taking a cue from Richard Manuel’s vocal phrasing.
Morris’ account of one man’s experience in the years after the Civil War ,“All My Riches,” is his equivalent to The Band’s epic “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” Morris’ tune, while not a total failure, never comes close to reaching the heights of The Band’s legendary song. If there’s any complaint to be made about First Album, it would be that Morris’ influences are worn right on his sleeves. However, this was in fact his first album, so you’ve gotta give the guy a break for letting his influences show a little bit.
Needless to say, First Album is essential listening for fans of the rustic Americana The Band perfected on their first three records, as well as fans of Silver Pistol era Brinsley Schwarz, early McGuiness Flint and Help Yourself, and Matthews Southern Comfort. Simply one of the best obscure British folk/Americana flavored singer-songwriter lps of the era, this one is worth tracking down.
Although this, his first lp, was virtually ignored upon its initial release, Roger would later find his audience when he went on to achieve international recognition as the guitarist in The Psychedelic Furs. In 2009 Bella Terra Presents released a tastefully remastered limited edition cd reissue featuring four previously unreleased bonus tracks that were recorded just a year after First Album, as well the original album artwork and a lyric sheet insert.
by D.A. Glasebrook
Tracks
1. Taken For Granted - 2:59
2. The Vigil - 4:10
3. Golightly's Almanac - 3:11
4. Showdown - 3:11
5. All My Riches - 3:14
6. The Trail Of Tears - 3:08
7. Northern Star - 3:13
8. Livin' On Memories - 2:43
9. Poor Lucy - 4:53
10.First Snow - 2:42
11.Let The Four Winds Blow - 3:58
12.Idaho - 4:39
13.Mississippi Story - 4:10
14.Down The Meadow - 3:27
15.The Number I Need - 3:11
16.Copenhagen Moon - 4:15
Words and Music by Roger Morris
Musicians
*Roger Morris - Piano, Guitars, Vocals
*Lisle Harper - Bass
*Bruce Rowlands, Terry Stannard, Rod Coombes - Drums
*Tommy Eyre - Piano, Organ, Piano Accordion
*Keith West - Guitar, Vocal Harmonies
*Glen Campbell - Pedal Steel Guitar
*Johnny Almond, Chris Mercer - Saxes
*John Weider - Guitar, Fiddle
*John Tuck - Vocal Harmonies
Beyond The Ox was the second Swegas album and again shows that Nick, with tracks like Into The Ox and Said But Never Heard, to his credit as a writer and arranger, was guiding the band in the right direction. John Macnicol's playing is a welcome addition to the band's sound and Billy Hogan's tight drumming has knitted the band together in a manner that wasn't quite achieved on Child Of Light.
Things started to go wrong in mid 1971. The band bus (a blue transit) suffered a collision in Hamburg and it was a virtual write-off. The writing was on the wall and Barry Class and First Class Management pulled the plug when the band returned from Germany. Swegas played its final gig on 9th September 1971 at The Granary, Bristol.
Swegas
Tracks
1. Into The Ox (Nick Ronai) - 3:34
2. Said But Never Heard (Nick Ronai) - 4:56
3. Dawning (Keith Strachan, Nick Ronai) - 3:27
4. Morning (Keith Strachan, Nick Ronai) - 3:32
5. Evensong (Keith Strachan, Nick Ronai) - 2:50
6. Tomorrow (Keith Strachan, Nick Ronai) - 2:53
7. 1776 Fantasia (John Legg, Ron Shillingford, John MacNicol, Keith Strachan, Nick Ronai, Roy Truman, Billy Hogan, Stewart Wilkinson) - 6:49
Scottish blue rock act Stone the Crows were dealt more than a few blows as they attempted to record their third album in 1971. Bassist/vocalist James Dewar had jumped ship to be the sole vocalist in Robin Trower's band, and keyboard player John McGinnis had enough of life on the road and became a teacher. This left vocalist Maggie Bell, guitarist Leslie Harvey, and drummer Collen Allen to look for replacements, and in came bassist Steve Thompson and keyboard player Ronnie Leahy. With Maggie now as the main focal point from a vocal perspective, the sound of the band changed slightly, and things got even more dicey when Harvey was electrocuted on stage in 1972, before the band had even finished their soon to be fourth album. In would come ex-Thunderclap Newman (and soon to be Wings) guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. However, things were never the same, and the band split soon afterwards with four albums in just over two years. This 2CD Angel Air Records set collects the two long out of print albums Teenage Licks and Ontinuous Performance, and while they are perhaps not quite as impressive as the band's first two releases, they are still prime examples of fiery early '70s blues rock.
Teenage Licks features a host of hot tunes, including the smoldering rocker "Mr Wizard", the slow blues piece "Don't Think Twice" (featuring an emotional, Janis Joplin styled vocal from Bell), the heavy rocker "Big Jim Salter", and Harvey's sizzling hard rock licks on the raucous "Keep On Rollin' ". A blistering live "Let It Down", originally written by the first incarnation of the band, is an outstanding bonus surprise here. Leahy contributes more piano on Teenage Licks than we saw on the first two Stone the Crows albums, as opposed to McGinnis' reliance on the Hammond organ, so there is a bit of a different feel here to be sure. With Harvey's death, the band had not completely finished the Ontinuous Performance, so McCulloch put the finishing touches to the songs "Good Time Girl" and "Sunset Cowboy", but Les can still be heard on the crunchy blues rocker "On the Highway", an old school blues number "Penicillin Blues", the upbeat "Niagara", and the atmospheric "King Tut". None of these songs carry the power of anything from Stone the Crows or Ode to John Law, as the band seemed to be going through the motions by this point, delivering solid but unspectacular honky tonk blues. By 1972, it was all over, and Maggie Bell's solo career would begin.
Thanks must be made to Angel Air for making sure these recordings are once again available for fans to either discover for the first time or finally get a CD copy of their old vinyl versions. Though their first albums are the cream of the crop, there's still plenty of exciting blues rock here to enjoy, featuring the amazing skills of one Maggie Bell.
by Pete Pardo
Tracks
Disc 1 Teenage Licks 1971
1. Big Jim Salter (Maggie Bell, Colin Allen, Leslie Harvey) - 4:38
2. Faces (Steve Thompson, Maggie Bell, Colin Allen, Ronnie Leahy, Leslie Harvey) - 4:41
Strawberry Window hailed from the San Francisco Bay Areas East Bay music scene in the mid 60’s and were truly one of the “early birds” and innovators who made their own distinct brand of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
They played in a heavypsychedelic- garage style, sounding somewhat reminiscent of the Jefferson Airplane, (early) Mad River, Buffalo Springfield, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Frumious Bandersnatch. These previously unreleased recordings have survived for the last four decades in a box on a shelf in a band member’s closet. Meticulous care and detail has been taken to master these recordings with a fresh, open approach, while ensuring that the sound and integrity of the vintage songs remained intact.
The amazing music of this guitar based quartet ranges from catchy electric folk tunes and “West Coast” garage rock to raw energetic acid jams lasting over 10 minutes. You’ll be impressed by the great stereo sound quality throughout their ten original cuts not to mention their freaky cover version of J D Loudermilk’s Tobacco Road. It’s an out right shame that this talented bunch were not signed to a record deal back then.
Then again, that’s okay with us because it has allowed World In Sound the opportunity to proudly present for the first time ever, the music of and the history behind this talented group of songwriters and wild performers known as the Strawberry Window. The Strawberry Window CD and LP releases contains 65 minutes of intense but melodic performances and also comes with a 16 page color booklet that will take you on a trip back to the halcyon days of the Summer of Love.
In 1968 they switched guitar players, added a girl singer and changed their name to the Dandelion Wine. They recorded several songs and also released a private pressing of a 4 song 7 inch EP. Truly a masterpiece!!!
Anyone who has ever seen Tom Pacheco perform knows that they have been in the presence of greatness, watching a singer/songwriter who is a master of his craft and who, if there were any justice in the world (even though we know such a commodity is in desperately short supply in the 21st Century), would be as well-known as Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan.
Tom has lived the life of a troubadour since the mid-1960s, and has now made around 20 original albums which have been released on a variety of labels in the USA (his earliest recordings and several more recently) and Europe (mainly in the last 20 ears). Yet Tom is not - yet - a household name, and one cannot avoid thinking that there are parallels between this often brilliant and always engaging artist and another artist in a different field, the celebrated painter Vincent Van Gogh.
The latter is now recognised s a genius, yet in his lifetime, he famously failed to sell a single painting. Tom's fate has not been quite so desperate. He has managed to sell small quantities of is amazing albums over the past 35 years, but never as many as his artistry deserved.
Tom was born on 4th November 1946, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. His father, Tony Pacheco, was a jazz guitarist who played with Django Reinhardt as well as solo in clubs in Europe before returning to the US to raise a family and open a music store, where he also taught guitar.
Tom began playing guitar at the age of 10, studying both Flamenco and classical styles, and in 1965, as a 9 year old, released his first solo album, “Turn Away rom The Storm”, a collection of original folk songs he had written two or three years before. It was made for a small local label known as Witchgreen Records, and Tom thinks they probably only pressed 500 copies. He also notes that he now owns that album and could be leased to license it if anyone's interested. The Van Gogh comparisons continue: that solo album could soon be reissued, and now the Euphoria album.
Tom left Massachusetts to study at Hofstra niversity in New York City, where he formed a band called The Ragamuffins, which supported Jimi Hendrix in a number of occasions and also released two singles on Seville and London Records. These singles are extremely obscure; no doubt, if Tom had become a superstar, they would have been reissued on many occasions, but as it is, hunting through oldies shops probably provides the only solution if anyone feels that owning them is important.
In 1969 Tom joined forces with The Beckets which actually were Roger and Wendy Penney, they started their entertainment careers as actors, working with Boston's Theatre Company. Using the stage name Roger and Wendy Beckett, by the mid-'60s the pair had turned their attentions to music, becoming fixtures on New York's Greenwich Village folk club scene. By the time they released their 1967 debut collection, they'd followed the crowd into a more electrified folk-rock sound with Roger jammin' on electric autoharp, while Wendy had picked up electric bass. After splitting Euphoria the couple toured and released records as Roger and Wendy and later -in mid seventies- as The Bermuda Triangle.
Back to Euphoria, Tom recalls: 'Thirty years later, I listened to Eurphoria album and realized it was not as bad as I thought it was, considering the times. If it weren't for that album at that point in my life I might have quit playing music professionally and become an English teacher, something I had gone to University to study".
Which explains why Tom's lyrics are so impressive. He could have been a great teacher... The sleeve picture of Euphoria is curious, to say the least. A very tall female standing with a male dwarf. Tom explained: "That was a picture of a relative of mine, who was dreadfully poor, but very attractive, and she married a rich dwarf who lived on an island in The Azores, and lived happily ever after with him. The female head has half of Sharon's face and half of Wendy Becket's and the dwarf has half Roger's face and half mine".
Tom now has a band in Norway with whom he recorded 'The Long Walk', released by Playground Music Scandinavia, which is an album full of his songs, while Jim Welder produced and performed instrumental tracks on
Tom's newest album, 'Year Of The Big Wind (Bare Bones III)', recorded at Moonhaw Studios in Woodstock and released by Frog's Claw Recordings.
by John Tobler, Washington, 2004
Tracks
1. There Is Now (Tom Pacheco) - 4:17
2. What a Day (Tom Pacheco) - 2:09
3. Seldom Seen Slim (Tom Pacheco) - 4:27
4. Sun and Shadow (Tom Pacheco) - 2:19
5. Sitting In a Rocking Chair (Rowland Barter) - 3:35
6. Ride the Magic Carpet (Mark Barkan, Ritchie Adams) - 2:51
7. You Must Forget (Tom Pacheco) - 3:36
8. Tucson (Tom Pacheco) - 3:02
9. Calm Down (Tom Pacheco) - 2:23
10.Sleep (Tom Pacheco) - 2:25
11.Walkin' Through the City (Tom Pacheco) - 1:59
This short-lived trio was led by Michael DeGreve, who’d been a rock critic for the Los Angeles Times as of 1966. when he was only 19, bringing him into contact with legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison.
In 1968 he decided to switch his focus to music-making, forming a band named The Lid As of early 1970, DeGreve and bassist John Latin! were recording the cult album The Visit with their friend Bob Smith, as well as playing with their own band, Truth, along with a couple from New York who were also trying to make it as actors.
They soon signed to the tiny People label (based at 6430 Sunset Boulevard), run by former Motown A’n’R director Mickey Stevenson, who had recently moved to Los Angeles and was apparently curious to dabble in hippie music. Truth made their sole album with three different producers - Stevenson, Clarence Paul (a former Motown producer) and Leon Ware (a songwriter for Ike & Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and many others).
Despite these strong connections to black music, the album's sound is closer to straight pop, with folk and occasional country and psychedelic influences, rich harmony vocals and words that reference Eastern religion. Perhaps too eclectic to strike a chord with audiences, it was released with no fanfare, and sold in tiny quantities.
As Latini has since recalled, 'We did a promo concert at the Palladium in Hollywood, with Blue Cheer and Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids. Unfortunately, the husband and wife split from each other and the group went by the wayside.' As for People, only one other record is known to have appeared on it - soul singer Kim Weston's Big Brass Four Poster. It has since been stated that this was the same People label that James Brown ran, but this seems to be inaccurate, as Brown's label wasn't founded until 1971.
CD Liner-notes
Tracks
1. Have You Forgotten (Mike DeGreve) - 3:05
2. Being Farmed (Bob Doran) - 3:21
3. Anybody Here Know How To Pray (Mickey Stevenson) - 2:53
4. Wise Old Fool (Mike DeGreve, Tom Jacobson) - 2:23
Listening to my early albums, there seems to be a progression from ballads to uptempos that took place over the years. My first album is all ballads, my second album, Primordial Lovers, has a few rnidtempos and uptempos, and my third album is half ballads and half uptempos. This album, my fourth, is very different from the ones before it in that there are only two ballads: “Summersong” and “Hello Winter”. I seem to have switched gears from ballads to uptempos as though I were gaining some kind of momentum. On the original vinyl release, "Summersong" appeared on one side of the record and "Hello Winter" was on the other side, just like winter and summer are opposite seasons.
"People Will Talk" appears twice (two different versions), the serious version began side one and the album ended with the sitly version. One day in the studio while recording my vocals, I spontaneously began cutting up just for laughs and when I looked up through the window to the control room, I couldn't see the producer (Jerry Ragavoy) or the engineer (Bruce Terguson). That's because they had dropped out of sight while they were rolling around on the floor laughing uncontrollably!! We all had such a good laugh over it, we decided to pat that version on the album as well and let everyone in on the joke. Laughter is good for body and soul!
"Holy Trinity" is a song about diversity and how all of the various kinds of people who make up this world could benefit each other with the special and unique qualities that each brings into the mix. I particularly like the line, "It's happening slowly but surely. Pessimists, you prophesize so poorly."1 I have always believed optimism functions much better than pessimism. Imagine a captain determined to save his ship. If he didn' t believe he could keep it from sinking, would the ship have any chance of staying afloat? We kept my original reference vocal on the ride-out of "God Help It". Even I was amazed by the notes I reached that day! The band was smoking thanks to the amazing musicianship of bassist Richard Davis and Bernard Purdy on drums! My voice joined in rising to the occasion.
Some of you might’ ve seen me sing “Appointment With A Dream” on TV when I Appeared on the Gong Show in 1977. No, I wasn’t gonged, thank goodness. In Fact, I scored a “23”, my lucky number, but I came in second to a guy who played two saxophones at once! Reruns of the show are still getting aired. Look for it!
Although "Don't Be Afraid" was recorded with the rest of the tracks for this album, it didn't make it on the original release. Fortunately, thanks to the fact that CDs are longer playing than the vinyl LPs, it can now be included as a bonus track. I wrote and sang it with my favorite male singer songeriter, Alan Gerber. We were almost in a band together. I was asked to join Rhinoceros when Paul Rothchild and Barry Friedman (Frazier Mohawk) were putting the superband together. Unfortunately, my manager at the time wouldn't let me join. Alan Gerber did join the band and I always hoped that one day we'd get another opportunity to do something together. Several years later we erote and recorded this song, but as I said it didn't make the album. Now finally, thanks to Air Mail, it is being rteleased and one of my fondest dreams gets to come true.
by Essra Mohawk
Tracks
1. People Will Talk - 3:52
2. I Wanna Feel Ya (Essra Mohawk, Duke Williams) - 4:35
3. Summersong - 2:53
4. Time To Start (Essra Mohawk, Harve Mann) - 2:13
5. Holy Trinity - 4:19
6. God Help It - 5:11
7. Appointment With A Dream (Essra Mohawk, David Stone) - 2:07
8. Hello Winter - 2:44
9. Hallelujah, I've Been Released - 3:24
10.People Will Talk - 3:37
11.Don't Be Afraid (Alan Gerber, Essra Mohawk) - 3:19
Blue Cheer’s second album, Outsideinside, fully matches its predecessor’s primal power. The last Blue Cheer release to feature the beloved lineup of Stephens, Peterson and Whaley, Outsideinside is a bracing orgy of volume, distortion and aggression, with such highlights as “Just a Little Bit,” “Come and Get It,” the instrumental “Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger” and the band’s distinctive take on the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.”
Sundazed’s compact disc edition is sourced from the original Philips reels, complete with the unique original cover design and features a new essay by Doug Sheppard of Ugly Things magazine.
Blue Cheer looms large in the annals of hard rock, laying down the sonic foundations of heavy metal and serving as a crucial influence on the birth of punk, grunge and stoner rock. While the rest of the rock world was mellowing out and embracing the spirit of the Summer of Love, the seminal San Francisco power trio was churning out ballsy blues-rock anthems whose fuzz-heavy, adrenaline-charged intensity helped to alter the course of contemporary music.
Tracks
1. Feathers From Your Tree (Dickie Peterson, Leigh Stephens, Peter Wagner) - 3:33
2. Sun Cycle (Dickie Peterson, Leigh Stephens, Peter Wagner) - 4:14
3. Just A Little Bit (Dickie Peterson) - 3:29
4. Gypsy Ball (Dickie Peterson, Leigh Stephens) - 3:00
5. Come And Get It (Dickie Peterson, Leigh Stephens, Peter Wagner) - 3:17
6. Satisfaction (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 5:10
7. The Hunter (Booker T. Jones) - 4:32
8. Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger (Dickie Peterson, Leigh Stephens) - 1:35
9. Babylon (Dickie Peterson) - 4:20
Blue Cheer
*Leigh Stephens - Guitar
*Dickie Peterson - Bass Guitar, Vocals, Guitar
*Paul Whaley - Drums With
*Ralph Burns Kellogg - Keyboards, Organ, Reeds
Cowboy's third album, 1974's Boyer & Talton, found the Florida-bred, Georgia-based combo pared down to its original creative core of founding singer-songwriter-guitarists Scott Boyer and Tommy Talton, after the group's original six-man line-up disbanded. The duo rose to the occasion, writing an effortlessly likable set of tunes and recruiting a set of talented new players to create a consistently strong album that many fans rate as the band's best.
On its first two albums, 1970's Reach for the Sky and 1971's B'll Getcha Ten, Cowboy had introduced its gently soulful brand of country-rock songcraft, distinguished by Boyer and Talton's thoughtful, introspective songwriting and the band's easygoing instrumental rapport. Their laid-back approach allowed Cowboy to stand out from the other Southern rock acts on Capricorn Records' roster.
By the end of 1972, though. Cowboy's roster, which had originally come together casually and organically, had begun to splinter, leaving Boyer and Talton to pick up the pieces.
CD Liner Notes
It's difficult, if not impossible, to understate the distinction Cowboy brought to Capricorn Records. At the height of the Southern rock movement launched by and spurred on through the success of the Allman Brothers Band, Phil Walden's artist roster, including the Marshall Tucker Band and Wet Willie, was also populated with bands like Grinderswitch that borrowed heavily and without reservation from ABB's style (perhaps not so surprisingly, that group was co-founded by Joe Dan Petty, one of the Allmans' roadies).
But the ensembles led of Scott Boyer and Tommy Talton were earmarked not just by a reliance on vocal harmonies-an element of style missing from all the aforementioned groups-but also an emphasis on formal song structure that not only stood them in good stead over four albums of their own, but also in collaborations with Gregg Allman and Duane Allman: Skydog, the founder of ABB recommended the signing of Cowboy and reaffirmed his advocacy by playing slide on the original version of "Please Be With Me" (subsequently covered by Eric Clapton on 461 Ocean Blvd.
Quotes from interviews with Tommy Talton, combined with photos from his personal archive are more value-added than the bonus tracks here, both of which also appear on The Gregg Allman Tour (Capricorn, 1974). Yet real style and substance remains in the mellifluous blend of the co-leaders' singing, which suitably decorates a dozen songs, like "Everyone Has A Chance to Feel," as unaffected as the authors' voices. Played and recorded with a crew of collaborators still within the Capricorn family-at the time of this recording prior to the dynasty's decline-there are no pretensions to profundity or innovation on this record, but only an honest reaffirmation of the natural charm of Boyer and Talton's music.
The duo consent to honor more stylized Dixie rock overtones, but wisely relegate their act of homage to a pair of instrumentals, "Road Gravy Chase" and "Houston Vamp," the combination of which elevates the warm informality of the sessions described in Scott Schinder's liner notes; the accuracy of his essay, in conjunction with this reissue label's wise decision to replicate the original cover graphics, adds to the overall authenticity of this release.
by Doug Collette, June 23, 2018
Tracks
1. A Patch And A Pain Killer - 3:27
2. Coming Back To You (Scott Boyer) - 3:10
3. Everyone Has A Chance To Feel (Scott Boyer) - 4:42
4. Where Can You Go? - 2:21
5. I Heard Some Man Talking - 4:04
6. Love 40 - 3:37
7. Road Gravy Chase (Chuck Leavell, Johnny Sandlin, Scott Boyer, Tommy Talton) - 3:20
8. Something To Please Us - 3:02
9. Long Ride (Scott Boyer) - 3:58
10.Message In The Wind - When I'm Listening (Scott Boyer) - 4:24
11.Houston - 3:00
12.Houston Vamp - 2:52
13.Time Will Take Us - 6:03
14.Where Can You Go? - 8:11
All songs by Tommy Talton except where indicated
The story goes that Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance were formed after he walked into a bar after the last ever Faces show in June of 73 and shouted at Marc Bolan asking if he had an opening for an unemployed bass player. Bolan did not take him up on the offer and he retreated to his farm in Wales to begin putting together a new band called Slim Chance. The sound was mainly acoustic driven over flowing with warmth and quality and revealed the heart and soul of one of Britain’s most under rated songwriters. During his time with The Faces, Lane’s talents shone with songs he penned like ‘Just For A Moment’, Ooh La La and ‘Debris’.
Eschewing the rock sound of his era, Lane created a personal organic sound, propelled by melody and mandolins, violins and squeeze boxes, the sound that conjures up the sun at dawn and the beauty of the fading afternoon horizon.
Lane would record four solo albums with Slim Chance plus albums with Ronnie Wood, Mahoney’s Last Stand & Pete Townshend Rough Mix. In 1976 he briefly joined a re-formed Small Faces but quit after two weeks and again teamed up with Steve Marriott in 1981 to cut an album called the Magic Mijits album.
Contracting MS in 1982, he kept going and in a massive showing of affection by his musical contemporaries a benefit show for MS charity was put together featuring Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Steve Winwood, Jimmy Page, Charlie Watts, and Andy Fairweather Low and raised millions for the charity.
Ooh La La: An Island Harvest looks at Ronnie and Slim Chance’s time with Island Records where Ronnie released two albums – Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance and One for The Road. This collection features highlights from those albums as well as covers of classic tracks delivered in the inimitable “Plonk” style. Tracks such as ‘Tin and Tambourine’ , ‘One For the Road’ and ‘Burnin’ Summer’ showcase Ronnie’s beautiful melodies and imaginative lyrics.
It is easy to see why Lane was and still is admired by so many. The collection also unearths some previously unreleased alternate takes of classic Ronnie compositions such as Ooh La La, The Poacher and Anniversary. Also included is the BBC concert Ronnie performed in 1974 which features Faces classics as well as a rip roaring version of How Come and a cover of Gallagher and Lyle’s I Believe In You who were part of the original Slim chance line up and incidentally perform alongside Ronnie at this concert.
Ronnie passed on June 4th, 1997 at the age of 51 . He had stars in his eyes and love in his smile.
by Paolo Hewitt
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Ooh La La (Ronnie Lane, Ron Wood) - 3:18
2. Don't Try And Change My Mind - 3:06
3. One For The Road - 4:47
4. Buddy Can You Spare Me A Dime (Jay Gorney, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg) - 4:10
5. Steppin' And Reelin' - 6:26
6. Harvest Home (Charlie Hart, Ronnie Lane) - 5:52
7. 32nd Street - 4:36
8. Give Me A Penny - 3:01
9. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself A Letter) (Alternate Studio Take) (Fred E. Ahlert, Joe Young) - 3:10
10.You Never Can Tell (Chuck Berry) - 6:59
11.Back Street Boy- 4:57
12.Snake - 3:30
13.Burnin' Summer - 4:07
14.Anniversary - 3:00
15.Country Boy (Marshall Barer, Fred Brooks) - 3:34
16.What Went Down (That Night With You) - 3:29
17.Tin And Tambourine (Kathy Lambert, Ronnie Lane) - 4:12
18.Little Piece Of Nothing - 2:26
Disc 2
1. The Poacher - 3:51
2. Street Gang (Ronnie Lane, Ruan O'Lochlainn, Steve Simpson) - 4:08
3. Nobody's Listenin' - 3:57
4. Stone - 4:10
5. G'morning - 4:02
6. Bottle Of Brandy (Isaacs Family) - 2:50
7. Single Saddle (Arthur Altman, Hal David) - 2:03
8. Lovely - 3:29
9. Ain't No Lady (Kathy Lambert, Ronnie Lane, Ruan O'Lochlainn) - 4:26
10.Blue Monday (Dave Bartholomew) - 4:09
11.Anniversary - 3:07
12.Last Orders- 4:26
13.Done This One Before - 3:58
14.Flags And Banners (Ronnie Lane, Rod Stewart) - 4:06
15.Tell Everyone - 3:40
16.How Come - 3:55
17.I Believe In You(Bernard Gallagher, Graham Lyle) - 4:53
18.Debris - 6:29
19.Ooh La La (Ronnie Lane, Ron Wood) - 3:48
All songs written by Ronnie Lane unless as else noted.
Overall an uneven album, In Concert's highest moments are sublime. The collection is culled from concerts with Big Brother and the Holding Company and Full Tilt Boogie. "All Is Loneliness," with Big Brother, was an improvisational vehicle for Joplin unlike any other, and no other performance of this tune, which conveys a terrifying loneliness, is even remotely similar. The version here was recorded at a 1970 reunion with Big Brother, and Joplin at one point--"There ain't no TV, no radio, no nothin', man"--simply rips your heart out.
We're also treated to the impromptu 12-bar blues of "Ego Rock," wherein Nick Gravenites and Joplin toss blues lines back and forth in an affectionate but competitive repartee. Joplin was looped during the outdoor gigs with Full Tilt. A lot of tequila went down the hatch on the festival train that puffed its way across Canada in July of 1970. It was four months before Joplin died, and her Calgary performance of "Ball and Chain" is inspired, brilliant, drunk, uncanny, and frightening. It's like work from the other side.
by Myra Friedman
About half of this two-record set features Janis Joplin with Big Brother & the Holding Company in 1968, performing songs like "Down on Me" and "Piece of My Heart." The rest, recorded in 1970, finds her with her backup group, Full Tilt Boogie, mostly performing songs from I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! Joplin puts herself out on-stage, both in terms of singing until her voice is raw and describing her life to her audiences. Parts of this album are moving, parts are heartbreaking, and the rest is just great rock & roll.
by William Ruhlmann
Tracks
Disc 1 - Janis Joplin With Big Brother And The Holding Company 1968
1. Down On Me (Arranged By Janis Joplin) - 3:05
2. Bye Bye Baby (Powell St. John) - 3:54
3. All Is Loneliness (Louis Hardin "Moondog") - 6:21
4. Piece Of My Heart (Bert Berns, Jerry Ragovoy) - 4:09
5. Road Block (Janis Joplin, Peter Albin) - 2:58
6. Flower In The Sun (Sam Andrew) - 3:04
7. Summertime (DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin) - 4:45
8. Ego Rock (Nick Gravenites, Janis Joplin) - 8:00
Tracks 1 and 4 Recorded March 2, 1968, at The Grande Ballroom, Detroit, MI
Track 2 Recorded April 12, 1968, at Winterland, San Francisco, CA
Tracks 3 and 8 Recorded April 4, 1970, Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA
Tracks 5-7 Recorded June 23, 1968, The Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
!Some distortions on track #8 may be from the source.
Disc 2 - Janis Joplin With Full Tilt Boogie 1970
1. Half Moon (Johanna Hall, John Joseph Hall) - 5:15
2. Kozmic Blues (Janis Joplin, Gabriel Mekler) - 5:45
3. Move Over (Janis Joplin) - 5:07
4. Try (Just A Little Bit Harder) (Chip Taylor, Jerry Ragovoy) - 9:26
5. Get It While You Can (Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Shuman) - 7:04
6. Ball And Chain (Willa Mae "Big Mama' Thornton ) - 8:02
Tracks 1-3 Recorded during the Canadian Festival Express Toronto, Ontario, on June 28, 1970.
Tracks 4-6 Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, on July 4, 1970.
With the Big Brother and The Holding Company
*Janis Joplin - vocals
*James Gurley - Guitar
*Sam Andrew - Guitar
*Peter Albin - Bass
*Dave Getz - Drums
*Nick Gravenites - Vocals (Track 8)
With the Full Tilt Boogie Band
*Janis Joplin - vocals
*John Till - Guitar
*Richard Bell - Piano
*Ken Pearson - Organ
*Brad Campbell - Bass
*Clark Pierson - Drums
A pioneering group from the nation of Zambia, Witch (the name was an acronym, standing for We Intend To Cause Havoc) were one of the defining acts of Zamrock, a fusion of Western rock and rhythm & blues with traditional African sounds; they were among Zambia's most popular and influential bands in the 1970s as a wave of psychedelic and hard rock gained an audience in Africa.
A landlocked nation in the South of Africa, Zambia was formerly Northern Rhodesia until gaining its independence in 1964, and as Zambia established its own national identity, local musicians began embracing the progressive influences of artists such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Jimi Hendrix, as well as the forward-thinking soul and funk sounds of James Brown.
By the mid-'70s, Zambia was falling into political chaos as the nation's once profitable mining industry ran dry, and many Zamrock bands reflected this with a darker, more psychedelic-influenced sound that suggested a familiarity with the likes of Deep Purple and Grand Funk Railroad.
Witch included vocalist Emanyeo "Jagari" Chanda, guitarists Chris Mbewe and John Muma, bassist Gedeon Mulenga, and drummer Boidi Sinkala, who were veterans of Zambian cover bands of the late '60s; Chanda (whose nickname "Jagari" came from his fascination with Mick Jagger, one of his strongest influences) had worked with the Red Balloons and the Boyfriends (the latter group would evolve into another key Zamrock outfit, Peace), while most of the other members were members of Kingston Market. In 1971, Chanda sang with Kingston Market at a school function, and he was soon invited to join the group; they soon changed their name to the Mighty Witch, and then simply Witch, using the acronym they'd coined as explanation. Fueled by marijuana and Western rock and soul, the group's debut album, Introduction, was released in 1972, and was among the first commercially released LPs issued in Zambia.
Witch's third album, 1975's Lazy Bones!!, is generally regarded as their finest work; while they were hampered by the primitive recording technology available in Africa, they developed a large following in Zambia and were playing stadium-sized shows throughout the continent.
After Witch toured as an opening act for Osibisa, the U.K.-based Afro-rock band, they began including more local influences on their final two albums, Lukombo Vibes and Including Janet (Single), but in 1977 the group began to splinter when Chanda left the band to return to school and become a teacher, and the rise of disco and loss of venues for live music did the rest.
Chanda also became a born-again Christian, which he cites as one of the reason he avoided the fate that befell his bandmates; as the AIDS epidemic swept through Africa, the Zambian musical community was hit especially hard, and like most key Zamrock musicians of the 1970s, Mbewe, Muma, Mulenga, and Sinkala all succumbed to the disease.
In the 21st century, crate diggers interested in idiosyncratic rock sounds from around the world rediscovered Witch, and the German reissue label Shadoks brought out new CD editions of Introduction and Lazy Bones!! In 2012 the American label Now Again Records released a comprehensive Witch box set that featured their five studio albums plus a bonus collection of single tracks and unreleased material.
by Mark Deming
Witch's five albums and rare 7" tracks presented as a 4CD box set, restored and remastered from the original tapes. Contains a twenty-four page booklet with never before seen photos and ephemera; extensive liner notes and annotation; an interview with bandleader 'Jagari' Chanda. By the mid 1970s, the Southern African nation known as the Republic of Zambia had fallen on hard times: self-imposed, single party rule; a decline in prices for the country's largest natural resource, copper; conflict in other countries on Zambia's borders.
This is the environment in which the Zamrock scene that flourished throughout that decade emerged... fuzz guitars were commonplace, driving rhythms as influenced by James Brown's funk as Jimi Hendrix's rock predominated, musical themes were often bleak and bands largely sang in the country's constitutional language, English. Although Witch is the best known Zamrock ensemble and although they succeeded in releasing five albums in Zamrock's golden years -- they never made an impact on the global scale in, say, the way afro-beat maestro Fela Kuti did. Travel to and within Zambia is expensive, and the markers for the Zamrock scene are now few.
Only a small number of the original Zamrock godfathers survived the AIDS epidemic that decimated this country. Witch's musical arc is contained to a five year span: The band's first two, self-produced albums, released in unison with the birth of the commercial Zambian recording industry, are exuberant experiments in garage rock, and are as influenced by the Rolling Stones as they are James Brown; their third albun, Lazy Bones!! is the band's masterpiece, a dark, brooding psychedelic opus that makes equal use of wah-wah and fuzz guitars, that relies as heavily on the stomping feel of hard rock as it does the syncopation of funk; the band's last two albums, recorded after the band toured with Osibisa, make use of traditional Zambian rhythms and folk melodies and are the most 'afro-rock'of Witch's oeuvre."
Tracks
Disc 1 Introduction and In The Past
1. Introduction (Chris Mbewe) - 3:45
2. Home Town - 4:21
3. You Better Now (John Muma) - 3:29
4. Feeling High (Emanyeo Jagari Chanda) - 3:37
5. Like A Chicken (John Muma) - 3:10
6. See Your Mama (Emanyeo Jagari Chanda) - 4:34
7. That s What I Want (John Muma) - 3:01
8. Try Me - 4:23
9. No Time (Emanyeo Jagari Chanda) - 4:33
10.Living In the Past (Gedeon Mulenga, John Muma) - 5:44
11.Young Lady (Chris Mbewe) - 3:51
12.Chance (Emanyeo Jagari Chanda, John Muma) - 3:10
13.It s Alright (John Muma) - 3:29
14.I ve Been Away (B. Mvula, John Muma) - 2:39
15.I Like The Way I Am (Chris Mbewe) - 4:52
16.The Only Way (Emanyeo Jagari Chanda) - 3:58
17.Smiling Face (Chris Mbewe) - 3:45
18.She Is Mine (B. Mvula, John Muma) - 3:31
19.Mashed Potato (Emanyeo Jagari Chanda, John Muma) - 4:05
Disc 2 Lazy Bones!! and Bonus Tracks
1. Black Tears (Emanyeo Jagari Chanda, Shaddick Bwalya, Chris Mbewe) - 4:54
