Blue Cheer - Oh! Pleasant Hope (1971 us, impressive classic rock with folk and blues traces, japan 2007 and 2017 SHM remasters)

It's hard to imagine what would prompt someone to suggest the band that recorded Vincebus Eruptum should get in touch with their pastoral side, but for their sixth album in only four years, Blue Cheer decided to explore something close to folk-rock and they sounded a lot more comfortable with the stuff than anyone had a right to expect. 1971's Oh! Pleasant Hope featured the same lineup as the previous year's The Original Human Being (the first time since Outsideinside that the band had the same musicians for two albums in a row), and while the previous album found Blue Cheer trying to buff off some of their rough edges, this one is loose, laid-back, and playful; if it doesn't hit very hard, it's one of the most organic and natural-sounding recordings to carry the group's name. 

The album opens with "Hiway Man," an updated variant on old folk ballads with acoustic guitars and a magisterial organ dominating the arrangement; Oh! Pleasant Hope upends traditional expectations about this most heavy band, and while their tough, blues-centered rock is still present on songs like "Believer" and "Heart Full of Soul" (not the Yardbirds hit but a Dickie Peterson original), most of the time the music is simpler and quieter, and "Traveling Man," "Money Troubles," and "Ecological Blues" come off like jams cut live in the studio rather than stuff the group labored over for days. And the band flies their freak flag high on the tale of a mythic, mean-spirited cop "Lester the Arrester" and the title track, a likably goofy singalong in which a guy looking for reefer in the midst of a cannabis drought imagines a day when "grass will flow like wine." 

Oh! Pleasant Hope was recorded at a time when Blue Cheer's fortunes were at a low ebb, and it was the last album they would cut before breaking up for several years; it's hard to imagine anyone thought this was a shrewd commercial move, and at heart, this is an album Blue Cheer made because they felt like doing this, and the relaxed attitude and sense of fun is what makes this album work. 

by Mark Deming

Tracks
1. Hiway Man (G.R. Grelecki, G.L. Yoder, N. Mayell) - 4:21
2. Believer (G.R. Grelecki, G.L. Yoder) - 3:42
3. Money Troubles (Dr. Richard Peddicord) - 4:08
4. Traveling Man (G.R. Grelecki, G.L. Yoder) - 3:09
5. Oh! Pleasant Hope (Dr. Richard Peddicord) - 2:39
6. I'm The Light (K. Housman, N. Mayell) - 5:45
7. Ecological Blues (Norman Mayell) - 2:26
8. Lester The Arrester (Ralph Burns Kellogg) - 3:09
9. Heart Full Of Soul (Dickie Peterson) - 4:35

Blue Cheer
*Dickie Peterson - Bass Guitar, Vocals
*Norman Mayell - Guitar, Sitar, Drums
*Gary Yoder - Acoustic And Electric Guitars, Harp, Lead Vocals (Tracks 1-6)
*Ralph Burns Kellogg - Organ, Piano, Synthesizer, Bass Guitar

1968   Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum (2007 Japan remaster)
1968  Blue Cheer - OutsideInside (2012 edition)
1969  Blue Cheer - Blue Cheer (Japan 2007 remaster and expanded)
1969  Blue Cheer - New Improved! (2007 japan remaster)
Related Act
1967  Mint Tatoo - Mint Tatoo

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The Butterfield Blues Band - East-West (1966 us, classic influential blues psych rock, 2014 audio fidelity hybrid SACD limited edition)

The legendary Butterfield Blues Band, led by vocalist/harmonica player Paul Butterfield, was a launching pad for many aspiring electric blues musicians back in the mid/late 1960s. East-West has long been considered one of their classic albums, originally released in 1966, and contains some stellar performances from two of the bands breakout stars, guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop. 

Along with keyboard player Mark Naftalin, bassist Billy Davenport, and drummer Jerome Arnold, The Butterfield Blues Band at this point were really peaking, this set containing 9 songs of blistering electric blues and a smattering of pop and jazz for good measure. Reissued here by Audio-Fidelity on the Hybrid SACD/CD format, you get sparkling clarity of this classic album that can be enjoyed on your SACD or standard CD player.

Comprised of shorter, upbeat blues/pop numbers as well as more extended, jammy tracks, East-West has something for everyone. "Work Song" is a blistering display of instrumental virtuosity, as Naftalin's smoky, Jimmy Smith inspired organ passages drift alongside some sizzling licks from Bloomfield and Bishop, with Butterfield's husky harmonica punctuating things quite nicely. The slow blues of "I Got a Mind to Give Up Living" displays the power and emotion of this band, while the heavier "Mary, Mary" sees them taking on some of the rock 'n' roll influences that were popping up all around them at the time. 

Upbeat, shuffling blues can be heard on "Walkin' Blues", "Get Out of My Life Woman", and the rousing "Two Trains Running" (stinging guitar work on this one), while the 13-minute title track combines blues, jazz, Middle Eastern themes and Latin rhythms for an exciting adventure that again shows the talents of the band as soloists. Some truly remarkable guitar solos from Bloomfield and Bishop on this one. 

East West is an album that influenced a whole generation of bands and musicians who came after it. Amazing audio clarity to go along with some sensational guitar playing makes for an impressive combination! 

by Pete Pardo

Tracks
1. Walkin' Blues (Robert Johnson) - 3:21
2. Get Out Of My Life, Woman (Allen Toussaint) - 3:16
3. I Got A Mind To Give Up Living  (Traditional) - 5:01
4. All These Blues (Traditional) - 2:25
5. Work Song (Nat Adderley, Oscar Brown) - 7:56
6. Mary, Mary (Michael Nesmith) - 2:53
7. Two Trains Running (Muddy Waters) - 3:57
8. Never Say No (Traditional) - 3:01
9. East-West (Mike Bloomfield, Nick Gravenites) - 13:15

The Butterfield Blues Band
*Paul Butterfield - Harmonica, Vocals
*Mike Bloomfield – Guitar
*Elvin Bishop – Guitar, Vocals
*Mark Naftalin – Keyboards
*Jerome Arnold – Bass
*Billy Davenport - Drums

Paul Butterfield's mosaic
1964  The Original Lost Elektra Sessions
1965  The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
1966  East West
1966-68  Strawberry Jam
1967  The Resurrection Of The Pigboy Crabshaw
1968  In My Own Dream
1969  Keep On Moving
1970  Live 
1971  Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin'
1973  Paul Butterfield's Better Days
1973  It All Comes Back (Japan Edition)
1976  Put It In Your Ear

Elvin Bishop
1969-70/72  Party Till The Cows Come Home
1974  Elvin Bishop - Let It Flow
1977  Live! Raisin' Hell (2012 remaster)

Mike Bloomfield's tapestry
1967  Electric Flag - The Trip
1968-69  Electric Flag - An American Music Band / A Long Time Comin'  
196?-7?  The Electric Flag - Live
1968  Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield - The Lost Concert Tapes, Filmore East
1969  Mike Bloomfield And Al Kooper - The Live Adventures
1969  Michael Bloomfield with Nick Gravenites And Friends - Live At Bill Graham's Fillmore West
1969  Nick Gravenites - My Labors
1973  Bloomfield, Hammond, Dr.John - Triumvirate (Japan remaster)
1976  KGB - KGB
1976-77  Michael Bloomfield - Live at the Old Waldorf
1977  Prescription For The Blues

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The Siegel Schwall Band - The Complete Vanguard Recordings And More (1966-70 us, astonishing blues rock, three disc box set)

Corky Siegel was born in Chicago in 1943 and musically influenced by Elvis, Chuck Berry, little Richard, Fats Domino, and everything eke on '50s and '60s radio. He had played tenor sax in a high school band that also featured Russ Chadwick, Siegel-Schwall's first drummer. Jim Schwall was also born in Chicago, a year earlier than Corky. He had started playing guitar in high school, influenced by the Weavers and other mainstays of the late '50s folk revival. He played in bluegrass bands, but also took on the influences of folk blues players including Big Bill Broonzy, Lightnin' Hopkins, Robert Pete Williams, lonnie Johnson, and Brownie McGhee. Siegel was barely 21 in 1964 when he met his fellow Roosevelt University music student in an elevator. Schwall was studying composition, Siegel was majoring in classical saxophone. That year, however, Siegel was introduced to the blues by a couple friends who played Dylan-style harmonica (one was Bob Buchanan, of the hit folk group the New Christy Minstrels).

While both played in the school's jazz band, Siegel hadn't noticed Schwall until he saw the guitar slung around his future partner's neck in the elevator. Siegel played a Wurlitzer electric piano with a makeshift bass drum and high hat cymbals underneath. Schwall had the same '50s era blond Gibson B-25 acoustic guitar—with an electric pickup literally bandaged over the sound hole—which he still uses to this day (though it's been rebuilt a couple times since he first acquired it in 1959). As The Two Man Blues Band, Siegel and Schwall auditioned for Johnny Pepper at Chicago's famed South Side blues club Pepper's Show Lounge.

They were then, and still are, unique instrumentalists. An extraordinarily inventive harmonica player with a broad vocabulary of inimitable riffs and tones, he would alternate chunky folk-blues chords with Chicago blues single notes and throw in vocal groans and yips (listen to "Angel Food Cake," from final Vanguard album Siegel Schwall 70). His piano playing was likewise unorthodox: "Down In The Bottom," the Howlin' Wolf classic which opened the band's 1966 self-titled debut album, prompted a puzzled Wolf, who used to sit in with the band frequently and was Siegel's favorite blues Founding Father, to point out that he was playing the key piano part "backwards."

Schwall, who stayed with his sturdy acoustic Gibson because its "boxy" neck could withstand his punishing hard play, was similarly incomparable. His guitar lines attacked from all directions: up, down, sideways, diagonally predictably and from out of nowhere. His slide work, as on the heretofore unreleased "Easy Rider" or the slow blues buzz of Slim Harpo's "I'm A King Bee" from the band's second album Say Siegel- Schwall, was utterly dazzling; so was his mandolin play on that album's "Bring It With You When You Come." (His use of the mandolin as a blues instrument, incidentally, put him in the company of the late Yank Rachell and very few others in using the mandolin as a blues instrument.)

After a few months at Pepper's, the band moved to Big John's on the North Side, where they took the slot previously occupied by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Now called The Siegel-Schwall Band, it had solidified a lineup also including bassist Jos Davidson-another Roosevelt student and Mike Bloomfield's bassist-and drummer Chadwick. Within weeks of their first Big John's gig, The Siegel-Schwall Band was discovered by Sam Charters, talent scout (or Vanguard Records, the venerable folk music label.

The author of The Country Blues and producer of such blues greats as Lightnin' Hopkins, Charters was immediately struck by the group's commitment, excitement, and innovative take on the traditional blues genre. He produced the songs on The Siegel- Schwall Band-a mix of covers by major influences like Howlin' Wolf and jimmy Reed with originals in a similar stylistic vein—in one take at Universal Recording Studios in Chicago. he album was released in 1966, just as the San Francisco music explosion was getting underway. Siegel Schwall soon became a big draw in the Frisco scene, sharing stages with virtually every major act from that period including Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. hey also mode inroads on the East Coast, at clubs like the Bitter End, and Steve Paul's Scene, where Tiny Tim used to open their shows and where the over of Say Siegel Schwall was shot. That album, released in 1967, as recorded in Vanguard's New York studio, using the downstairs washroom for an echo chamber. Jack Dawson, who had played bass in a Detroit band, had replaced Davidson, who left to pursue a career in social work.

Once again, the contents came from the band's set list and continued its founders' use of traditional blues as a base for contemporary expression. One tune, the slow blues "My Baby Thinks I Don't Love Her," would soon be embellished by composer William Russo in "Three Pieces for Blues Band And Symphony Orchestra." (Siegel Schwall would later record it with prominent fan Seiji Ozawa and The San Francisco Symphony for release on the Deutsche Grammophon label in 1973. Ozawa had conducted The Chicago Symphony in the late '60s and, like Charters, fell in love with the band after stumbling upon them at Big John's. They first performed with Ozawa and The Chicago Symphony in 1968, and would later appear with other orchestras; they even joined Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops in a concert televised on PBS.)

Say Siegel Schwall is followed in this set with four previously unreleased tracks. "Easy Rider" and "I Like The Way You Rock" are demo versions of late '60s earty '70s concert favorites, while "Don't Want No Woman" and "Sneaky Pete" are outtakes from the first Vanguard sessions. The third Vanguard album, Shake!, was also cut in New York, mainly as a collection of song demos. After its 1968 release, the band, which had toured heavily for two and a-half years, took a year off, returning in 1969 with a new rhythm section in Rollo Radford, who had played with Dinah Washington and Martha and the Vandellas, and the great Chicago blues drummer Sam Lay, who had played in Siegel's interim band along with guitarist Jim McCarty of Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels fame. Drummer Shelly Plotkin was in place when Siegel Schwall recorded its final Vanguard album, Siegel- Schwall 70, at Paragon Studios in Chicago.

Whereas the preceding studio albums could only hint at the exhilarating roller coaster ride of the Siegel- Schwall Band live, Siegel- Schwall 70 fully captured it in two concert performances: "Angel Food Cake" and Seawall's guitar masterpiece "A Sunshine Day In My Mind." They were recorded live at Chicago's premiere showcase dub The Quiet Knight, where the band now held court every Tuesday. To use a term evocative of the time, they had by now become a "boogie band" second to none, and almost every track on the album was a concert favorite.

Siegel, who currently fronts Corky Siegel's Chamber Blues, a Chicago-based blues-classical hybrid also featuring four string players and a tabla player. Schwall now lives in Madison, working as a high school teacher and part time social services worker when not planning a run for mayor. Radford, who went on to play bass with the likes of Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, and Sun Ra, is a special education teacher in Chicago, and also plays in jazz groups.  Plotkin, a master drummer, died of heart failure in 1990. 

Yet The Siegel Schwall Band remains "a bond in perpetuity," to use Siegel's designation. A reunion concert recorded in 1987 and released on Alligator Records returned Sam Lay to the fold, and found the group in lop form-and up-to-date, as the "Find yourself another hippie" line in "I Don't Want You To Be My Girl" was contemporized to "Find yourself another yuppie." They still get together occasionally, more than 35 years after their historic first Vanguard album.

And so the Siegel-Schwall magic lives on, and with it, that special Siegel Schwall induced smile. It's all there in Siegel- Schwall's The Complete Vanguard Recordings and More, a deserved commemoration of the timeless talents of two immensely influential musicians-and more. Much more.

by Jim Bessman

Tracks

Disc 1

The Siegel Schwall Band  1966

1. Howlin' For My Darlin' (Chester Burnett, Willie Dixon) - 2:41

2. I've Had All I Can Take (Instrumental) (Mark Siegel) - 3:20

3. Down In The Bottom (Chester Burnett) - 2:27

4. I've Had All I Can Take (Mark Siegel) - 3:16

5. Boot Hill (Jimmy Witherspoon) - 2:57

6. When I Get The Time (Jos Davidson) - 3:00

7. I've Got To Go Now (Mark Siegel) - 2:49

8. Mama/Papa (Jim Schwall) - 1:41

9. I'll Be The Man (Mark Siegel) - 2:41

10.Little Babe (Chester Burnett) - 2:49

11.Going To New York (Jimmy Reed) - 3:24

12.Mary (Mark Siegel) - 2:07

13.So Glad You're Mine (Arthur Crudup) - 3:46

14.Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon) - 6:50

15.Break Song (Jim Schwall, Mark Siegel, Russ Chadwick) - 2:20

Disc 2

Say Siegel Schwall  1967

1. I'm A King Bee (James Moore) - 5:32

2. Slow Blues In A (Jim Schwall) - 5:23

3. You Don't Love Me (Jim Schwall) - 2:48

4. I.S.P.I. Blues (Illinois State Psychiatric Institution) (Corky Siegel) - 8:58

5. Bring It With You When You Come (Traditional Arr. By Jim Schwall) - 4:19

6. My Baby Thinks I Don't Love Her (Corky Siegel) - 4:38

7. That's Why I Treat My Baby So Fine (Corky Siegel) - 11:52

8. I Like It Where We Walked (Corky Siegel) - 2:58

9. Easy Rider (Huddie Ledbetter) - 4:03

10.I Like The Way You Walk (Betty James) - 6:50

11.Don't Want No Woman (Don Robey) - 2:30

12.Sneaky Pete (Take Two) (Hendler, Rogers) - 2:01

Disc 3
Shake!  1968
1. Shake For Me (Willie Dixon) - 4:50
2. My Starter Won't Start (Jim Schwall) - 4:49
3. Jim Jam (Jim Schwall) - 2:25
4. Louise, Louise Blues (J. Mayo Williams, Johnny Temple) - 2:48
5. Wouldn't Quit You (Mark Siegel) - 3:10
6. You Can't Run That Fast (Jim Schwall) - 3:03
7. Think (Mark Siegel) - 2:39
8. 334-3599 (Jim Schwall) - 2:34
9. Rain Falling Down (Jim Schwall) - 2:40
10.Get Away Man (Mark Siegel) - 3:12
11.Yes, I Love You (Mark Siegel) - 2:52
Siegel Schwall  1970
12.I Don't Want You To Be My Girl (Corky Siegel) - 6:23
13.Do You Remember (Corky Siegel, Jim Schwall) - 3:03
14.Geronimo (Charles De Meyer, Jim Schwall) - 3:07
15.Angel Food Cake (Corky Siegel) - 5:34
16.Walk In My Mind (Corky Siegel) - 2:35
17.Song (Corky Siegel) - 4:22
18.Tell Me (Chester Burnett, Howlin' Wolf) - 3:50
19.A Sunshine Day In My Mind (Jim Post, Jim Schwall) - 8:08

The Siegel Schwall Band
*Corky Siegel – Piano, Harmonica, Vocals
*Jim Schwall – Guitar, Vocals
*Jos Davidson – Bass, Vocals (1966)
*Russ Chadwick – Drums (1966-68)
*Jack Dawson – Bass (1967-68)
*Rollo Radford – Electric Bass, Upright Bass (1970)
*Shelly Plotkin – Drums (1970)

more from Siegel Schwall
1971  The Siegel-Schwall Band
1972  Sleepy Hollow
1973  953 West
1974  R.I.P. Siegel-Schwall (Vinyl issue)

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Stillrock - Stillrock (1969 us, awesome folk country psych, 2014 korean remaster)

A rock album released on Stax's Ernterprise subsidiary that was produced by Donald Duck Dunn and Don Nix, and featuring material by Nix and Don Preston ...   sounds like an interesting way to spend a couple of hours ...

Before recording as Stillrock (I've also seen it referenced as Still Rock'), guitarist/singer Don Preston, guitarist Bobby Cochran, bassist Casey Van Beek, and drummer Bob Young had recorded and album as Don Preston and the South ("Hot Air Through a Straw"). 

Perhaps because the name wasn't particularly cool, by 1969 the group had reinvented themselves as Stillrock, signing a contract with Stax's short-lived Enterprise subsidiary.   Co-produced by Donald Duck Dunn and Don Nix, the album showcased some real talent though much of the impact was lost across the eclectic mixture of genres that graced the eleven tracks.  As lead singer, Preston had an extremely likeable voice.  He was far from a great singer, but seemed to know his limitations and made the most of his range and capabilities.  The rest of the band were also pretty impressive with bassist Van Beek turning in a series of impressive performances.  

The band was also willing to experiment with some interesting musical mash-ups - check out the country-meets-psych ' Lost City Child'.   And too a large extent that was the big problem here.  It was simply hard to figure out who these guys were.  Bouncing around between country, pop, psych, rock, etc. left you wondering if they were simply auditioning as a wedding act.   That's not to take away from the album's strengths.  A couple of these tunes were really good with lots of mid-'60s radio potential.    'So Hard to Say Goodbye', 'Hiway Fever' and 'Waiting for the Door to Open'.   Unfortunately those tracks were offset by way too many bland, MOR-ish ballads ('I Can Remember') and equally irritating country moves ('Wedding Parade').   Worth hearing especially if you can find a reasonably priced copy.

Bad-cat

Tracks
1. So Hard To Say Goodbye (Don Nix, Don Preston) - 2:18
2. The Reach Of My Memory (Don Preston) - 3:05
3. Mighty Time (Don Nix) - 3:08
4. Rolling In My Dreams (Don Nix) - 2:47
5. Hiway Fever (Don Preston) - 2:20
6. Waiting For The Door To Open (Don Preston) - 2:54
7. Wedding Parade (Don Nix) - 3:11
8. I Can Remember (Don Preston) - 2:47
9. Lost City Child (Don Preston, Don Nix) - 2:48
10.When Something Is Wrong With My Baby (Issac Hayes, David Porter) -  3:37
11.She Was A Long Time Ago (Don Preston) - 2:42

Stillrock
*Bobby Cochran - Guitar,  Vocals
*Don Preston - Vocals, Guitar
*Casey Van Beek  - Bass,  Vocals
*Bob Young - Drums,  Vocals

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Knowbody Else - Soldiers Of Pure Peace (1967 us, fascinating psych rock, pre-Black Oak Arkansas, 2012 release)

The band formed in Monette, Arkansas from the remnants of local bands the Surfs and the Epsilons, with members coming and going including Ricky Copeland on drums. Terry Cullen on guitar and Danny Knuckles on bass. By early 1966 they had coalesced as Knowbody Else with the lineup: ]im Mangrum, lead vocals, Rick Reynolds, 12-string guitar, Artis "J.R." Brewer, Jr., six-string guitar. Keith McCann, drums, Danny Reynolds, bass (shortly replaced by Pat Daugherty), and Ronnie Smith, organ and tambourine (shortly replaced by Harvey Jett). They were not The Knowbody Else, lust Knowbody Else. By not using the article their name became extremely cool. And they exuded cool.

What made them so exceptionally good? Their medium was performance and they took it to the level of fine art. Their live shows were enhanced by the visual aspects of each member's unique appearance and demeanor as well as the atmosphere provided by the lights and venue. Blend that visual image with the audial stimuli of their words and music, and you had an artistic presentation of exquisite melodic and visual excitement. It was performance art at its best: sound and sight fusing into pure poetry. Your emotions and intellect were thrilled to the bone. And, like all who achieve such levels of artistic creation and expression, they emitted the aura of the exotic, the magical. 

The band lived together in an isolated house on farmland owned by ].R.'s father near Manilla, Arkansas. This arrangement allowed the band to focus completely on their art, free from normal societal strictures. Their art came first, and their goal was nothing less than perfection. They practiced rigorously every day, leaving all else to fall wherever it may. And if this meant that on many days the only food available would be popcorn and Kool-Aid, then so be it. It was through Knowbody Else that I first learned about total dedication to one's art, and the importance of self-discipline, which greatly influenced my own life as an artist. Knowbody Else was the most unique band I had ever heard. Every member had a microphone, and sang beautiful harmonies. 

The band assimilated a lot of the music that was going on around them, yet came up with a very distinct style. There is a strong folk-rock feel to some of the material ("White, Mix And Smith"), while other tracks ("On A Busy Day") recall a mod psychedelic sound not unlike the Who. Some of their psychedelic excursions ("Ten Till Five") pushed the boundaries of the day, incorporating studio effects and eastern-inspired guitar riffs over a single-chord drone. Although in performance they played so loudly that your ears would still be ringing the next day, their studio work shows their skill to cover a wide dynamic range.

In addition to their original songs, they played many of the standard covers of the day, reinventing them to fit their sound. A sample of their repertoire includes: "Turn Turn Turn," "The Bells Of Rhymney," "My Little Red Book," "A Message To Pretty," "It Was A Very Good Year," "Could You, Would You," "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" (Them's version), "Don't Talk To Strangers," "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," "You're A Better Man Than I," "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," "I Don't Believe," "For My Own," "Leave Me Be" and "All Day And All Of The Night."

There was a contradictory air about the band, because they looked like outcasts, or criminals, or mad men. They looked dangerous, yet never hurt a thing. They practiced honesty, respect for others' property and beliefs, and peace. They did not enter your world. But through their performances you could enter their's. They did not compromise. They played at the same high quality every time they performed, whether to an audience of one, or to an crowd of hundreds. They were like gypsies. Not of this society, yet moving in it.

As I found out many years later, renowned Memphis musician, engineer and producer Jim Dickinson heard Knowbody Else, and was very impressed. He asked if he could produce and record their original compositions.  The band had been turned away by other recording engineers who did not know how to record a band that played as loudly as they did. Dickinson knew how to do it, and believed that the resulting album would make them all famous, and rich. 

Throughout I 967, whenever they were close enough to make the drive to Memphis after completing a Saturday night gig, the band would spend the rest of the night in Ardent Studios working with Dickinson. At shows, they began to announce that they were recording an album to be called Soldiers of Pure Peace, and that it would be released by the summer of 1968. However, it was not to be. Shortly after the completion of the recording sessions, something occurred that caused the band and Dickinson to mysteriously and completely put the project aside. No one seems to know exactly what happened; maybe it was due to a mishandling of publishing rights, or the rejection of the album by Atlantic Records' Jerry Wexler.

The band created new songs for their repertoire and the songs from Soldiers of Pure Peace were never performed again. I, though, could not abandon those first songs of Knowbody Else. They are works of musical art which 1 had heard performed spectacularly on several occasions, and I had been eagerly awaiting the release of the album. It was very difficult to accept the fact that I would never hear these songs again. As the years went by I searched for anyone who might know something about what had happened to the tapes, hoping that recordings still existed.

In the early 1990s I was told that Jim Dickinson, who was also an authority on music recorded in Memphis, might have information about these recordings. I called him and we started a discussion and friendship based on our mutual love and respect for that phenomenon: Knowbody Else. Dickinson had once possessed the tapes of the songs for Soldiers of Pure Peace, but believed that they had been destroyed due to improper storage.  In a happy twist of fate, in 2005, Dickinson discovered the master tapes to 10 of the 15 songs he had recorded in 1967. Dickinson burned a CD of the songs for me, and after 38 years of searching  for the music, I was able to hear it again.

A couple of years later, I played the CD for Erik Lindgren who was visiting me in Oxford. Mississippi. Erik was blown away by what he heard. As with all performance art, its occurrence happening on the canvas of time, passing even as it is created, the art of Knowbody Else occurred, was experienced by those present, and is gone. But, we are lucky to have the soundtrack to their art. And now, 45 years after it was created, this musical masterpiece is presented to the world.

by Glennray Tutor, May, 2012

Tracks
1. MRB - 2:31
2. On A Busy Day - 2:23
3. Your Big Brown Chair - 2:48
4. The Circus Song - 2:54
5. Free Singers' Island - 2:21
6. Secret Storm - 3:09
7. The Cowboy Song - 2:25
8. Ten Till Five - 2:40
9. Until I'm Like Uncle Hugh - 2:49
10.White, Mix And Smith - 2:48
All songs writen by Rick Reynolds, Jim Mangrum

Knowbody Else
*Jim Mangrum - Lead Vocals
*Rick Reynolds - 12 String Guitar, Organ, Bass, Vocals
*Artis Brewer Jr. -  6 String Guitar, Vocals
*Keith McCann - Drums, Vocals

The Black Oak Arkansas heights
1971  Black Oak Arkansas (Debut album)
1973  High On The Hog
1973  The Complete Raunch 'N' Roll (Live)
1975  X-Rated (Vinyl issue)
1976  Balls Of Fire

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Blue Cheer - New Improved! (1969 us, superb rough blues tinged acid rock, 2007 japan and 2016 SHM remasters)

Like a musical tsunami swallowing everything in sight, San Francisco’s Blue Cheer submerged all of those happy-go-lucky denizens of the Age of Aquarius with the chaotic soundwaves, howling feedback and sheer deafening volume produced by their seismic 1968 debut album, ‘Vincebus Eruptum.’

But after extensive touring and recording their sophomore album, ‘OutsideInside,’ founding guitarist Leigh Stephens abruptly quit. His bandmates, Dickie Peterson and Paul Whaley, responded by hiring not only a six-string replacement in Bruce Stephens (no relation) but a full-time keyboardist in Ralph Burns Kellogg.

As a result, the first half of the retooled band’s third album, ’New! Improved! Blue Cheer,’ which was released in March 1969, bore little resemblance to the eardrum-rupturing, amplifier melting power trio of old. Although astonishingly civilized new offerings like ‘When it All Gets Old’ (featuring Latin percussion), ‘As Long as I Live’ (swerving into country-rock) and ‘I Want My Baby Back’ (which anticipated the Allman Brothers Band’s southern rock) were anything but subpar, they were nonetheless unrepresentative of previous sonic holocausts.

In fact, far more confusing than these unexpected musical developments was the fact that the second half of ‘New! Improved! Blue Cheer’ dispensed with both Stephens and Kellogg so that Peterson and Whaley could renew their power trio formation — now with the help of another guitar wizard named Randy Holden (formerly of the Other Half). This arrangement still didn’t entail a return to more familiar, bruising form on the leisurely tripped out ‘Peace of Mind,’ but they came close on the heavy and foreboding ‘Fruits & Icebergs.’

Sadly, most fans did not know what to make out of so much musical experimentation and Holden’s passage through Blue Cheer would also prove frustratingly brief. After touring in support of ‘New! Improved! Blue Cheer’ he moved on to record his cult masterpiece, ‘Population II,’ with the help of drummer/keyboard player Chris Lockheed, leaving Peterson and Whaley in a lurch, once again.

Seemingly, the duo’s best recourse was to bring back Kellogg, find yet another six-string replacement (first Tom Weisser, then a returning Bruce Stephens) and attempt to carry on. But their persistent lineup instabilities and increasingly unfocused musical direction did the Blue Cheer brand no favors, and, by 1972, the band had officially disintegrated (though future reunions would follow).

Still, for all its musical inconsistencies and almost unprecedented “tale of two halves” recording scenario, ‘New! Improved! Blue Cheer’ at least managed to deliver some ingredients of the gale-force proto-metal originally conjured up by this influential rock combo.

by Eduardo Rivadavia

Tracks
1. When It All Gets Old (Ralph Burns Kellogg) - 3:01
2. West Coast Child Of Sunshine (Bruce Stephens) - 2:41
3. I Want My Baby Back (Bruce Stephens) - 3:19
4. Aces 'N' Eights (R. Kellogg, Dickie Peterson, B. Stephens) - 2:47
5. As Long As I Live (D. Peterson, B. Stephens) - 2:20
6. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Bob Dylan) - 3:16
7. Peace Of Mind (Randy Holden) - 7:22
8. Fruit And Iceburgs (Randy Holden) - 6:05
9. Honey Butter Lover (Randy Holden) - 1:16

Blue Cheer
*Dickie Peterson - Bass Guitar, Vocals
*Paul Whaley - Drums
*Bruce Stephens - Guitar (Tracks 1-6)
*Ralph Burns Kellogg - Keyboards (Tracks 1-6)
*Randy Holden - Guitar (Tracks 7-9)

1968  Blue Cheer - OutsideInside (2012 edition)
1969  Blue Cheer - Blue Cheer (Japan 2007 remaster and expanded)

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Joey Gregorash - North Country Funk (1971 canada, amazing classic rock with folk psych tinges, 2014 korean remaster)

A native of Winnipeg, Joey Gregorash grew up in a musical family, where his first interest was the violin, which his father played. But as he got older, his interests turned more to rock and roll and the drums, fuelled by seeing The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

As the drummer and eventually the lead singer, he formed The Mongrels with childhood friend John Nykon in 1965. They became one of the province's hottest bands, recording a string of singles for local label Franklin Records, including "My Woman" and "Sitting In The Station" written by Randy Bachman. Their first album followed a year later, which resulted in another pair of singles, and then one more for RCA/Victor in 1970, and they even got a mention for "Funny Day" (also penned by Bachman) by Dick Clark on "American Bandstand."

1968 also saw Gregorash's debut as a TV host. After seeing his performance on the weekday afternoon program "Music Hop," Bob Burns of CJAY-TV in Winnipeg saw his potential, and offered him the job of hosting a show of his own called "Young As You Are." This led to two other programs after its demise - "Teen Dance Party," and then "Joey and the Hits."

But looking for new musical direction, he left The Mongrels and formed the short-lived group Walrus, but by 1970 opted instead for a solo career. He signed with Polydor who released a pair of singles - "Stay" and "Tomorrow Tomorrow." The flip-side to "Stay" - "I'm Easy Come Easy Go" was then released as a single on its own before the end of the year. All three combined to give him hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary charts, with "I'm Easy Come Easy Go" peaking at #25 on the country chart, while "Tomorrow Tomorrow" reached the same plateau on the AC chart.

Seeing promise, they shipped him off to Memphis to do some studio work with producer Ron Capone at Stax Volt Studios. His debut album, NORTH COUNTRY FUNK, was released in the spring of '71, and the lead-off first single, "Jodie," shot up the pop charts, settling at #3. The single was also a hit in Japan, Australia, Germany, and along with the traditional marketing of releasing the 45, a Latin American-only 7" 33 RPM was also released, which also contained the b-side "The Key," as well as two tracks from The Mongrels, "Tomorrow Tomorrow" and "It Won't Last Long."

The follow-up, "Don't Let Your Pride Get You Girl" didn't fare as well as "Jodi," but the third single, a shortened version of his five-minute cover of Neil Young's "Down By The River" (a song that almost didn't get recorded and featured Bobby Manuel from Isaac Hayes' band on lead guitar) became his first US hit. Although it failed to make the top 100 south of the border, it was a top 40 hit at home, and did time in the top 20 in pockets throughout the Maritimes. His cover of the song also earned him a Juno Award the following spring for Outstanding Male Performance. His trip to the podium made him the first native Manitoba solo act to win a Juno, and he was also nominated for Best Male Vocalist, but lost out to Gordon Lightfoot by a single vote.

Although nothing peaked as high as "Jodi," his follow-up album a year later, TELL THE PEOPLE, still produced moderate cross-chart hits. "My Love Sings" peaked at #16 on the pop chart, while "Take the Blindness" and the title track both charted on both the pop and adult contempary charts. The album also contained a re-released version of "Down By The River." He embarked on a cross-Canada tour that kept him on the road for the better part of the next year, making stops in the US, as well.

He continued recording for the next few years, releasing a string of singles - "Liza," "You've Been Wrong," and "I Know We'll Make It Together," although none made the top 40 on either the pop or AC charts. He left the music business later in the decade and became a radio commercial writer, winning 14 national and international awards for individual jingles and full-blown promotional campaigns in the first few years alone.

As the '80s progressed, Gregorash turned his attention to other areas of broadcasting, hosting a pair of morning shows on local Winnipeg radio. In 1986 he hosted a family noon hour TV show called "S'Kiddle Bits," which led to a kids' album entitled S'KIDDLE BITS BOP N' ROCK. A couple of years later he then hosted a new program called HI NOON, in which country living and music was the focus. Although it only ran for one year, he counted Jann Arden and Garth Brooks as his guests. Although he was in talks with The Nashville Network, this was during the emergence of CMT Canada, and a possible show that had been pitched to TNN ended up getting scrubbed...

He returned to music in '86 after scoring a deal with Attic, releasing the TOGETHER album the next year. Ironically it was then that he finally received a gold record for the song "Together (The New Wedding Song)." It went down in the annals of history as a staple at weddings and is considered by critics to be one of the greatest wedding songs ever written. The song's melody was actually taken from "Tomorrow Tomorrow" from 1968, and the lyrics weren't written until the mid '70s, and was also first released in 1983 as a fundraiser for a local charity. The single's b-side was another ballad entitled "Love Will Keep It Together," originally released in '84 as a single on its own.

He spent the '90s returning to commercial writing and promotions, where he continued to win national awards. He also remained on the stage, performing now and again. As a side project, he invented a Guess Who covers band called Sham Alien and The Dispersions for a tribute album, and also contributed to a local charity album with a knock-off of "Together," called "I Just Want To Play Hockey," written when the Winnipeg Jets announced they were leaving for Phoenix.

Continuing in the '00s as a freelance performer and promotions/commercial writer, Gregorash also began studying Bel Canto voice stylings, winning rave reviews as a tenor with an impressive vocal range, in the styles of Pavarotti and Bocelli.

Canadian-Bands

Tracks
1. Jodie (Joey Gregorash, Norm Lampe) - 2:53
2. Down By The River (Neil Young) - 5:14
3. Night Ride To Memphis (Joey Gregorash, Ronald Risko) - 2:48
4. Make A Better Place (Joey Gregorash, Ronald Risko) - 3:03
5. The Key (Ronald Risko) - 3:07
6. Don't Let Your Pride Get You Girl (Joey Gregorash, Norm Lampe) - 3:38
7. Freedom Means Love (Joey Gregorash) - 3:33
8. Bye Bye Baby (Joey Gregorash, Ronald Risko) - 3:34
9. Sugar Ride (Joey Gregorash, Ronald Risko) - 3:13
10.Dollar Bill (Joey Gregorash) - 2:26

Personnel
*Joey Gregorash - Vocals, Guitar
*Dick Hedlund - Bass, Vocals
*Dick Bortolucci - Drums, Percussion
*Bobby Manuel - Guitar
*Bob Sabellico - Guitar
*Ron Risko - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
*Marvelle Thomas - Keyboards

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The Byrds - Sweetheart Of The Rodeo (1968 us, masterpiece, two disc set remaster and expanded)

Recorded in Nashville, Sweetheart of the Rodeo was indeed a huge bust for the once-massively popular band, peaking at a dismal Number 77 on the album charts, and yielding not one hit single. A classic example of a timeless album that nobody appreciated at first, the record is a real treasure. Every track, save for Parsons’s two compositions, is a cover of either a contemporary song or an arrangement of a traditional country piece. 

The Byrds had always been known by some as Bob Dylan’s unofficial cover band (they recorded 12 Dylan songs between 1965 and 1968), and although Dylan was holed up in Woodstock, New York, recording his now-legendary Basement Tapes with The Band, he made two demos from those sessions available to McGuinn and Hillman, and they rank as some of the greatest covers of Dylan’s material ever recorded. Featuring some incredible pedal steel guitar by session musician Lloyd Green, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” has a deceptively sunny feel, as it masks some of Dylan’s most foreboding lyrics to date: “Strap yourself/To the tree with roots/You ain’t goin’ nowhere.” Meanwhile, the equally dark “Nothing was Delivered” features a tiny hint of rock in its stirring, 4/4 chorus, as it bursts to life with those vocal harmonies The Byrds were known for.

The cover of The Louvin Brothers’ “The Christian Life” is beautifully done, its lyrics incredibly square for a Sixties rock star to sing, but it’s delivered with full sincerity (“Others find pleasure in things I despise/I like the Christian life”). McGuinn goes on to sing terrific renditions of “You Don’t Miss Your Water”, Merle Haggard’s “Life in Prison”, and Woody Guthrie’s ballad “Pretty Boy Floyd”, while Hillman sings on “Blue Canadian Rockies” and the traditional hymn “I Am a Pilgrim”, but it’s Parsons who steals the show. Parsons’s smooth country croon, injecting a heaping dose of heartbreak into “You’re Still on My Mind”. However, it’s his own songs, “One Hundred Years From Now” (sung by McGuinn and Hillman), and especially the gorgeous “Hickory Wind”, that stand out the most, the latter a stunningly beautiful look back at his own childhood in the South.

Of course, with this edition, it’s all about the bonus tracks, and this album is loaded with them. Aside from the McGuinn/Hillman arrangement of the traditional folk song “Pretty Polly” and some previously unreleased takes of “All I Have are Memories” and “Blue Canadian Rockies”, the focus of the tracks for the most of the set is on Parsons. On the first disc, after the album portion, it’s rounded out by a helping of non-album tracks that were originally unearthed on the 1991 Byrds box set: the more rock-oriented J.T. Hardin song “Reputation”, which Parsons had been performing solo since 1966, as well as Parsons’s original vocal takes of the propulsive “Lazy Days” (a Parsons original that didn’t make the album), a terrific version of “The Christian Life”, “You Don’t Miss Your Water”, and “One Hundred Years From Now”.

Disc Two starts off with selections from Parsons’s International Submarine Band, including the straight-ahead rock songs “Sum Up Broke” and “One Day Week”, from their 1966 debut single for Columbia, and the country road song “Truck Drivin’ Man”, released the same year by Ascot records, which artfully swipes the melody from “Act Naturally”. Three of Parsons’s best songs from the ISB’s 1967 album Safe at Home are included: the sprightly country tunes “Blue Eyes” and “Strong Boy”, as well as the stupendous “Luxury Liner”, a flawless blend of rock and country that was years ahead of its time. The rest of the tracks on the second disc are all previously unreleased demos and outtakes, and while it gets a bit repetitive, as several takes of the same songs are included, there are some real revelations, the best of them all being an alternate take of “Hickory Wind”, which features just Parsons’s voice, and no harmony vocals, making it all the more spare and emotional.

By the time Sweetheart of the Rodeo came out in August 1968, Parsons had already left The Byrds, angry about a scheduled tour of South Africa, not to mention his bitterness at having most of his lead vocals taken off the album. By the end of that year, Hillman would leave the band as well, going on to form the Flying Burrito Brothers with Parsons. In 1973, after two classic albums with the Flying Burrito Brothers and two more phenomenal solo albums, Parsons overdosed on morphine and Tequila, passing away at the age of 26. 

He might have only been in the Byrds for an incredibly short time, but the importance of what Gram Parsons accomplished with that band is still felt today, as Sweetheart of the Rodeo had a direct influence on countless artists, including The Eagles, R.E.M., and Wilco, not to mention the entire alt-country community from the past decade. It’s never too late for new listeners to discover Parsons’s work for themselves, and this exhaustive edition of the classic album gives both longtime fans and curious newcomers a detailed, rewarding look at one of the most important albums in rock history.

by Adrien Begrand 

Tracks

Disc 1

1. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (B. Dylan) - 2:38

2. I Am A Pilgrim (Traditional) - 3:42

3. The Christian Life (Charlie Louvin, Ira Louvin) - 2:33

4. You Don't Miss Your Water (William Bell) - 3:51

5. You're Still On My Mind (Luke Mc Daniel) - 2:26

6. Pretty Boy Floyd (Woody Guthrie) - 2:37

7. Hickory Wind (Bob Buchanan, Gram Parsons) - 3:34

8. One Hundred Years From Now (Gram Parsons) - 2:43

9. Blue Canadian Rockies (Cindy Walker) - 2:05

10.Life In Prison (Jelly Sanders, Merle Haggard) - 2:47

11.Nothing Was Delivered (Bob Dylan) - 3:24

12.All I Have Are Memories (Kevin Kelley) - 2:48

13.Reputation (Tim Hardin) - 3:09

14.Pretty Polly (Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn) - 2:55

15.Lazy Days (Gram Parsons) - 3:28

16.The Christian Life (Charlie Louvin, Ira Louvin) - 2:29

17.You Don't Miss Your Water (William Bell) - 3:49

18.One Hundred Years From Now (Gram Parsons) - 3:01

19.Radio Spot: Sweetheart Of The Rodeo Album - 0:58

Disc 2
1. Sum Up Broke (Gram Parsons, John Nuese) - 2:13
2. One Day Week (Gram Parsons) - 2:16
3. Truck Drivin' Man (Terry Fell) - 2:34
4. Blue Eyes (Gram Parsons) - 2:47
5. Luxury Liner (Gram Parsons) - 2:53
6. Strong Boy (Gram Parsons) -  2:01
7. Lazy Days (Alternative Version) (Gram Parsons) - 3:18
8. Pretty Polly (Alternative Version) (Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn) - 3:37
9. Hickory Wind (Alternative Version Take 8) (Bob Buchanan, Gram Parsons) - 3:40
10.The Christian Life (Rehearsal Take 7) (Charlie Louvin, Ira Louvin) - 3:26
11.The Christian Life (Rehearsal Take 8) (Charlie Louvin, Ira Louvin) - 3:05
12.Life In Prison (Rehearsal Takes 1, 2) (Jelly Sanders, Merle Haggard) - 3:16
13.Life In Prison (Rehearsal Takes 3, 4) (Jelly Sanders, Merle Haggard) - 3:16
14.One Hundred Years From Now (Rehearsal Takes 12, 13) (Gram Parsons) - 3:58
15.One Hundred Years From Now (Rehearsal Takes 14, 15) (Gram Parsons) - 3:59
16.You're Still On My Mind (Rehearsal Take 13) (Luke Mc Daniel) - 2:53
17.You're Still On My Mind (Rehearsal Take 48) (Luke Mc Daniel) - 2:38
18.All I Have Are Memories (Instrumental Take 17) (Kevin Kelley) - 3:13
19.All I Have Are Memories (Instrumental Take 21) (Kevin Kelley) - 3:07
20.Blue Canadian Rockies (Rehearsal Take 14) (Cindy Walker) - 2:59
Tracks 1-6 performed by The International Submarine Band

The Byrds
*Roger McGuinn - Acoustic Guitar, Banjo, Vocals
*Chris Hillman - Electric Bass, Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
*Gram Parsons - Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Organ, Vocals
*Kevin Kelley - Drums
Additional Personnel
*Lloyd Green - Pedal Steel Guitar
*Clarence White - Electric Guitar
*John Hartford - Banjo, Fiddle, Acoustic Guitar
*Roy Husky - Double Bass
*Earl P. Ball - Piano
*Barry Goldberg - Keyboards
*Jay Dee Maness - Pedal Steel Guitar

1964  The Byrds - Preflyte (2012 Edition)
1971  The Byrds - Live At Royal Albert Hall
1973  Byrds - Byrds
1973  Roger McGuinn - Roger McGuinn (2013 Edition) 

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Shiloh - Shiloh (1969 us, amazing country folk rock with "the Eagles" Don Henley, 2014 korean remaster)

In the  mid sixties Richard Bowden, Don Henley, Jerry Surratt and Freddie Neese formed a band called the Four Spreeds. Freddy Neese replaced by Joey Brown and they change their name to Felicity around 1965, In 1969 Joey Brown left Felicity and Richard Bowden took over the guitar duties from him. Mike Bowden, the cousin of Richard Bowden came in to play the bass.

Later the same year Felicity wanted to augment their line-up by adding another guitarist. When they attended a concert by a group called Foxx they found the musician they were looking for: The guitarist of Foxx was a guy who also played a pedal steel guitar. This was exactly the person they were looking for, so they asked that musician, he was a certain Al Perkins, whether he was interested in joining Felicity. Perkins came over to jam a little bit with the group and he really liked the group's approach to music. So he decided to join. Now Felicity changed their name to Shiloh.

Shiloh had been formed at a time, when the members were still at college. When they were out of college they were in the lucky situation that the popularity of their group already was big enough to earn a living out of music. They were able to concentrate on writing and performing. In 1969 they met Kenny Rogers, who encouraged them to go to Los Angeles. There they recorded an album, which was produced by Kenny Rogers. Out of the recording sessions they released two singles. The first single, presenting two tracks that were not included on the later album, was a regional hit but the album and the second single were unnoticed by the record buying public.

In April 1971 Shiloh disbanded. Don Henley explained the reasons for the break up: We had no work, we had a bad management and the record company didn't do anything for us. Al Perkins replaced Sneaky Pete Kleinow in the Flying Burrito Brothers and Jim Ed Norman became a producer. Soon after the Shiloh break up, Richard Bowden, his cousin Mike Bowden and Don Henley together with Glenn Frey from the Longbranch Pennywhistle formed the Linda Ronstadt Band.

Starclub-music

Tracks
1. Simple Little Down Home Rock 'N' Roll Love Song For Rosie (Michael McGinnis) - 3:30
2. I'm Gone (Don Henley) - 4:55
3. Left My Gal In The Mountains (Traditional) - 3:08
4. It's About Time (Richard Bowden) - 2:06
5. Swamp River Country (Jim Norman) - 5:13
6. Railroad Song (Traditional) - 4:02
7. Same Old Story (Don Henley) - 2:41
8. Du Raison (Jim Norman) - 3:13
9. Down On The Farm (Richard Bowden) - 2:25
10.God Is Where You Find Him (Don Henley) - 5:55

Shiloh
*Richard Bowden - Guitar, Vocals
*Don Henley - Drums, Vocals
*Michael Bowden - Bass
*Jim Ed Norman - Keyboards
*Al Perkins - Pedal Steel Guitar

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Nick Garrie Hamilton - The Lost Songs (1968-2002 uk, wonderful baroque folk psychedelia, 2006 remaster)

Nick Garrie is renowned in psychedelic collectors' circles for his 1970 debut, The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas, a Baroque pop masterpiece effectively buried by nonexistent distribution and promotion. Born June 22, 1949, in Yorkshire, England, to a Russian father and Scottish mother, Garrie spent the majority of his adolescence at a French boarding school. He began writing songs while attending Warwick University, but his interests primarily lay in surrealist literature and poetry and he did mount a performing career until 1968, playing bars and restaurants while backpacking through the south of France.

After playing several high-profile Amsterdam gigs, Garrie returned to St. Tropez, where he signed to cut an LP in Brussels. The project remains unreleased, and in late summer of 1969 he finally returned to Warwick to resume his studies. A few months later a friend of his mother arranged for Garrie to meet with the Paris-based label DiscAZ, which extended a contract offer. After recording the never-released single "Queen of Spades" with American-born producer Mickey Baker (of "Love Is Strange" fame), he teamed with producer Eddie Vartan to begin work on The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas. Against Garrie's wishes, Vartan hired a 56-piece symphony for the sessions, and the artist (if not the record's admirers) later bemoaned the detrimental effects of such lush orchestration on his delicate, uncommonly literate songs. Far more damaging, DiscAZ president Lucien Morisse committed suicide within days of releasing The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas, guaranteeing the album never even left the starting blocks.

A crestfallen Garrie returned to school, abandoning the music business for several years. Under the alias Nick Hamilton (a nod to his mother's maiden name), he resurfaced in 1976 with "Un Instant de Vie," a collaboration with Francis Lai, but again retired from performing to manage a ski resort in the Swiss Alps. Oblivious to the growing notoriety of The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas, he retained the Nick Hamilton name for his 1984 comeback effort, Suitcase Man, recorded with former Cat Stevens sidemen Alun Davies and Gerry Conway. The album topped the Spanish pop charts, and earned its creator an opening slot on Leonard Cohen's Spanish tour later that year.

When the Stanislas track "Wheel of Fortune" appeared on Phil Smee's influential psychedelic pop obscurities compilation Circus Days, the legend of Nick Garrie grew, and with so little concrete information on his career the fanzine 117 published a fabricated biography as a prank. However, the gag was lost on many and the bio was accepted as fact in many quarters, further muddying the waters. While operating a ballooning company, he released a second Nick Hamilton LP, 1994's The Playing Fields, and in 2002 -- after returning to France to teach at a comprehensive school -- released Twelve Old Songs. Finally, in late 2005 the British reissue label Rev-Ola released The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas to much critical acclaim, adding the "Queen of Spades" single as well as several unreleased Belgian demos for good measure. 

by Jason Ankeny

Tracks
1. Cambridge Town - 2:26
2. Stone And Silk - 3:19
3. Close Your Eyes - 2:49
4. The Nightmare Of J. B Stanislas - 5:01
5. Can I Stay With You - 2:38
6. Wheel Of Fortune - 3:44
7. The Street Musician - 3:29
8. Back In 1930 - 3:13
9. Little Prince - 3:09
10.Smile (N. Garrie, Francis Lai) - 3:10
11.Freda M Garrie - 2:15
12.All Of The Time - 3:29
13.Chateau D'Oex Blues - 3:11
14.I'm On Your Side (N. Garrie, Peter John Vettese) - 5:02
15.Deeper Tones Of Blue - 2:59
16.Wild Wild Hair - 2:45
17.Love In My Eyes (N. Garrie, Francis Lai) - 3:25
18.Bungles Tours - 2:54
19.When The Cold Wind Blows - 4:21
20.I Dream Of Africa - 2:29
All songs by Nick Garrie Hamilton except where noted

*Nick Garrie Hamilton - Vocals

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Wally Tax - Love In (1967 holland, fabulous orchestrated jazzy folk tunes, 2012 edition)

Wally has sung. Wally has sung very well, with his whole personality. Mysteriously, he hits something deep within. Bert Paige has written the arrangements. Bert has written very well. He feels exactly what it's all about, as though he were no more than 18. And what an expert! Albert Kos has engineered. Albert has engineered very well. He knows the technical possibilities and uses them. You look and he has done it already, precisely in the right mood. It's terrific to work with such men. Thanks, lads!' – 

by Tony Vos, producer

In the summer of 1967, at the height of The Outsiders' success in Holland, Wally Tax decided to record a solo album. Far from containing the heavy R’n’ B that his band specialized in. Love In showcased a softer side to the singer, consisting of string-laden ballads with birdsong between the tracks. Its title was inspired by an American-inspired Love-In that had taken place in Amsterdam's Vondelpark earlier in the year, attracting 40,000 people, and it was produced by saxophonist Tony Vos, who also worked with Cuby and The Buzzards, Ekseption and other local acts.  Tax later commented: "I am a romantic, and I love the orchestra; I loved recording those romantic songs." 

The LP was released in Holland that September, and on the 30th the American trade publication Billboard announced: 'Phonogram has released an LP by Wally Tax, the lead singer with The Outsiders, who signed for Philips last year. The album is selling well in Holland and Belgium and a single from the LP, Let's Forget What I Said, entered the Dutch Top 20 this week. The album will be released in Germany by Philips.' The German issue, which appeared in October, had some slight differences to the Dutch issue: its sleeve was laminated, Tax's name on the front was in purple and not red, and the notes on the back cover were by the writer Heike Doutine, and not TV producer Rob Touber (whose contribution to the Dutch issue Tax was unhappy with). 

Sales were mediocre, but Tax - who passed away in 2005 - stood by the album in subsequent years, stating in 1987 "I loved doing these songs. They had been in my heart for such a long time when Philips said "You can do 'em". I loved it (still proud of 'em). The other Outsiders were opposed, but since I never let somebody tell me what to do, I told them to play with me or go f*ck themselves."

CD Liner-notes

Tracks
1. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me - 2:33
2. Let's Forget What I Said - 3:33
3. The Dream - 2:38
4. I'M Not Important to You - 2:22
5. Last Night - 2:03
6. You Didn't Call Me - 2:48
7. I'Ve Been Too Good to You - 2:53
8. Feeling So Fine - 2:26
9. I'M Not to Blame - 2:59
10.Standing at the Crossroads - 2:41
11.Can't Forget About You - 2:56
12.The Games We Play - 2:37
All songs by Wally Tax

*Wally Tax - Vocals, Guitar

With The Outsiders
1965-68  The Outsiders - Thinking About Today Their Complete Works (2013 remaster)
1965-69  The Outsiders - Strange Things Are Happening The Complete Singles 
1966-67  The Outsiders - The Outsiders
1968  The Outsiders - CQ (remaster and expanded)
1967-94 The Outsiders - Singles A's And B's
With Tax Free
1970  Tax Free - Tax Free

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