I like the way how Marc Ellington approaches his songs and choices, Sandy Roberton's flawless production, great song adaptations, excellent musicians, and beautiful sound collages, which makes it possible for Marc Ellington to embody and interpret the songs perfectly by smartly slipping from traditional country to folk and blues into straight rock tunes.
His 5th album titled "Marc Time" released 1975, -with contributions from some of the U K's top session players-, stands out the powerful "Ad Man", the self penned (along with Sandy) guitar acid funk "You Just Can't Believe What You See", the blues killer "Stealin" and the beautiful country song "Streets Of Baltimore", written by Harlan Howard, Tompall Glaser -first covered by Bobby Bare-, in any case the whole album moves in high level
.
Tracks
1. Wild About My Lovin' (Traditional) - 3:29
2. The Answer Is You (Marc Ellington, Sandy Roberton, Paul Kent) - 3:16
3. Stealin' (Traditional) - 2:43
4. Streets Of Baltimore (Harlan Howard, Tompall Glaser) - 2:46
5. Ad Man (Marc Ellington, Sandy Roberton) - 2:11
6. I Miss The Mississippi And You (Bill Halley) - 2:46
7. Shady Lies (Richard Thompson) - 2:34
8. Borrowing Time (Chris Hillman, Joe Lala) - 2:14
9. Close The Door (Sandy Roberton, Paul Kent) - 2:49
10.You Just Can't Believe What You See (Marc Ellington, Sandy Roberton) - 3:46
11.Anyday Woman (Paul Siebel) - 2:11
12.Peggy Gordo (Traditional) - 3:18
Hailing from Gravesend in Kent, Fantasy formed in 1970 and were originally known as Chapel Farm, after their rehearsal space. The original line-up was Dave Metcalfe (keyboards), Paul Lawrence (guitar / vocals), Bob Vann (guitar), Dave Read (bass) and Brian Chatham (drums). Initially they focused on cover versions, then began to develop their own material, and decided to enter themselves in Melody Maker's annual 'Search' talent contest. On the day of their heat at a hotel in nearby Cliftonville, the band became concerned when they lost sight of Vann, who had been celebrating his 18th birthday with various drinks. To their horror they realized that he had fallen off a cliff and was lying on the beach below. An ambulance was summoned, but he died on the way to hospital.
Following that blow Chatham also departed their ranks, but the band decided to persevere with new members Pete James (guitar) and Jon Webster (drums), both recruited from a local band named Joy. With a new name of Firequeen, they rehearsed hard and scored support slots with bands including
the Pink Fairies and the Edgar Broughton Band. When they sent a demo tape to numerous labels, Polydor expressed an interest, on the understanding that they changed their name to Fantasy – a name they never liked, but decided to put up with.
A contract was duly signed in the spring of 1973, and the band set about recording their LP in Chipping Norton Studios, Oxfordshire, with producer Peter Sames (who'd recently overseen another cult favourite, Bored Civilians by Cross & Ross, as well as collaborating with hitmaker Peter Skellern).
The album they cut was a superb piece of Moody Blues-inspired prog rock, featuring beautifully textured songs with strong melodies and sublime Mellotron flourishes. Especially notable was The Award', a tribute to their late guitarist Vann. Trailed by an equally rare brass-laden 45, 'Politely Insane' / 'I Was Once Aware' (Polydor 2058 405), which appeared in October (and features a non-LP B-side), the album appeared that winter as Polydor 2383 246, clad in a colourful gatefold sleeve. Its working title was Virgin On The Ridiculous, but fortunately they ended up retitling it. It could have done very well, but Polydor chose not to promote it - perhaps because the band had not committed to music full-time (they still had day-jobs).
Following its release they played a few gigs, including one at the Marquee supporting Queen, but momentum failed to build. Nonetheless, they remained upbeat, returning to the studio with Sames in July 1974 The sessions, The tracks finally emerged two however, did not go smoothly, decades later, as Beyond The and when Polydor rejected the Beyond, confirming that justice is tapes, Metcalfe decided to quit, rarely done in the music business...
CD Liner Notes
Tracks
1. Introduction - 2:12
2. Beyond The Beyond - 5:38
3. Reality - 2:59
4. Alanderie - 9:01
5. Afterthought (David Metcalfe, David Read, Geoff Whitehorn, Paul Petley) - 5:52
6. Worried Man - 2:57
7. Just A Dream - 3:34
8. Winter Rose - 3:29
9. Church Clock - 3:51
10.Fire-Fire (Geoff Whitehorn) - 6:47
11.Vacuum (David Read) - 4:09
12.Alone (David Read) - 4:38
13.Afterthought(David Metcalfe, David Read, Geoff Whitehorn, Paul Petley) - 7:30
14.Church Clock- 3:38
All songs by David Metcalfe, David Read, Paul Lawrence except where stated
Bonus Tracks 10-14
Fantasy
*Paul Lawrence - 12 String Guitar, Lead Vocals
*David Read - Bass, Double Bass, Vocals
*David Metcalfe - Keyboards, Clarinet, Vocals
*Peter James - Lead Guitar, Vocals
*Jon Webster - Drums, Vocals
*Geoff Whitehorn - Lead Guitar (Tracks 10-13)
*Paul Petley - Lead Vocals (Tracks 10-13)
*Brian Chattam - Drums (Tracks 10-13)
Humble Pie endured their share of turbulent times early in the band's existence, overcoming the early departure of guitarist Peter Frampton through a steady diet of regular album releases and a seemingly never-ending series of tours arranged by manager Dee Anthony. By the mid-'70s, they'd attained a measure of commercial success, sending a string of LPs into the American Top 40 and notching a handful of hit singles along the way -- but they were also flat broke, tired of life on the road, and coming apart at the seams.
The band's eighth studio LP, Street Rats, captures Humble Pie mid-implosion; in fact, according to the group's members, it wasn't even supposed to be a Humble Pie record at all. Bandleader Steve Marriott, burned out after one too many tours, wanted to take a break from making the band his top priority, and although their label, A&M Records, was impatient for more Pie product, he opted instead to begin work on three LPs -- a solo album, a duo record with the group's bassist Greg Ridley, and a proper Pie release. Unsurprisingly, between this scattershot creative approach and the musicians' overall burnout, the results weren't exactly coherent.
"Everything was so self-destructive at that point," pointed out drummer Jerry Shirley years later in Dan Muise's book, Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower: Their Lives and Music. "Everybody was doing everything in a dozen different directions and nothing was getting done." Adding to the band's dire financial straits was their ironclad contract with Anthony, who, as Shirley put it, "had us truly locked up ... it was a nightmare of a time."
Marriott, who ultimately ended up writing or co-writing five of the 11 tracks on Street Rats, dealt with the drama through overindulgence. "Steve's way of dealing with things was buying an ounce of coke every other day and burying himself in his studio," Shirley continued. "When you've got nothing but carte blanche studio time and all the coke in the world, all you do is record." Quantity doesn't necessarily constitute quality, however, especially when you're too addled to make sound decisions about the stuff coming out of the speakers, and so it was with the Street Rats sessions. "There were great bits here and there," argued Shirley, "but there was no one focus on one record."
Ridley, who described himself and Marriott in Muise's book as "two lonely souls," looked back on that period as a sort of sleepless musical haze. "We'd just sit there for almost a week at a time without sleeping," he recalled. "He and I would just go through different things. He'd say, 'Let's try this chord,' and then we'd go off from that."
Eventually, A&M execs grew tired of footing the bill for what appeared to be an increasingly aimless trio of projects and mandated that Marriott and the band bring in a producer to help shepherd the sessions. Their choice, flamboyant former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, had name value -- and experience with wrangling drugged-out musicians -- but he wasn't really the rough hand that Humble Pie needed at that point. Although he ended up doing a lot of work salvaging the recordings, Street Rats -- and the band itself -- was probably already a lost cause before he even walked through the door of the studio.
"The rot had long since set in," admitted Shirley. "He tried, he failed, let's put it like that. There was all kinds of nonsense going on."
Not that the band were the only parties guilty of nonsense. Insistent on releasing a Humble Pie album and steadfastly disinterested in Marriott's other plans, the label ultimately commandeered the tapes, demanding that an LP's worth of tracks from the period later dubbed the Scrubbers Sessions be cobbled together into the "band's" next effort. Under duress and fairly shady circumstances, Street Rats was born.
In the months after the album's February 1975 release date, Marriott and his bandmates would publicly disavow the results, with Marriott going so far as to insist that the label "stole" the tapes for the title track, which was played with people outside the band and had "nothing to do" with Humble Pie. Prior to the album's completion, however, the members of the group were more resigned than angry.
"No one cared. No one was talking. We'd already broken up," shrugged Shirley. "We'd agreed to allow the album to be released and to do a farewell tour. Other than that we were pretty much done."
And that's essentially the way it went down for Humble Pie during the Street Rats period. When a last-ditch effort to get Marriott and Ridley to clean up and redouble their commitment to the group failed -- along with an attempt to lure Who manager Bill Curbishley into their camp and ditch Anthony -- Shirley and guitarist Clem Clempson felt there was no choice but to walk away.
While Street Rats fared poorly in comparison to its predecessors, peaking at an unimpressive No. 100 on the Billboard albums chart, there was still plenty of demand for Humble Pie -- something that became abundantly clear during the farewell tour, which drew healthy crowds even if Shirley and Clempson were playing with one foot out the door. And although Marriott and Shirley would revive the band name in later years, both together and apart, the group's glory years were firmly behind them. After Marriott died in a house fire in April of 1991, all hopes for any kind of real reunion were permanently quashed.
Although it's easy to paint Humble Pie's story as another tragic tale of bad behavior and financial tomfoolery splitting up a once-promising band, not all of the group's former members agreed with that point of view. Years later, Clempson gave Muise a more philosophical take on what drove the Pie apart, speculating that the lineup might have dissolved no matter what.
"There are hundreds of Humble Pies and they may all have their personal reasons that they attribute to their downfall," he mused. "But it's usually just because they have a creative period and they get popular. They get some hit songs and everybody wants to hear them. And they just fail to live up to it for whatever reasons. The pressures of touring, the internal conflicts of egos, believing their own hype -- all these things are contributing factors."
by Jeff Giles, February 13, 2015
Tracks
1. Street Rat (Steve Marriott) - 2:51
2. Rock And Roll Music (Chuck Berry) - 2:31
3. We Can Work It Out (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 3:20
4. Scored Out (Clem Clempson, Steve Marriott) - 2:34
5. Road Hog (Steve Marriott) - 3:09
6. Rain (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 4:02
7. Funky To The Bone (Fred Gowdy, Larry Wilkins) - 4:12
8. Let Me Be Your Lovemaker (Betty Wright, Clarence Reid, Willie Clarke) - 5:57
9. Countryman Stomp (Clem Clempson, Greg Ridley, Tim Hinkley) - 2:20
10.Drive My Car (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 3:42
11.Queens And Nuns (Unknown) - 3:05
12.Big Black Dog (Peter Frampton) - 4:05
13.Mister Ring (Greg Ridley) - 4:24
14.The Outcrowd (Jerry Shirley) - 2:51
15.I Don't Need No Doctor (Single Version) (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Jo Armstead) - 3:58
The Floating Opera is into a Blues-Rock sound made unique by guitarist Steve Welkom's persuasive singing in "Vision", he's joined by Gary Munce on bass, and Artie Alinikoff on excellent drums/vocals, while Carol Less provided driving keyboard counterpoint which consistently defined their sound.
The Floating Opera Self-Titled Original 1971 Embryo Records SD-730, has some real moments where the guitar takes off into the stratosphere. They do a nice job with the ballads, and it's cleanly produced. The album is packaged in a nice looking gatefold cover with the lyrics inside, and the group's picture on the front.
Tracks
1. Song Of The Suicides - 4:54
2. The Vision - 6:09
3. Midnight - 3:25
4. Buckwheat Gal - 3:56
5. Fever Day (Carol Lees, John Nemerovski, Steve Welkom) - 4:32
6. Age Of Onan - 4:33
7. Crack On The Wall - 2:46
8. Back On The Street Again - 4:06
9. Angelfood Cake Song (Gary Munce, John Nemerovski, Steve Welkom) - 4:21
10.Soulful Feeling - 5:14
All songs by John Nemerovski, Steve Welkom except where stated
The Floating Opera
*John Nemerovski - Piano
*Steve Welkom - Vocals, Guitar
*Artie Alinikoff - Drums, Vocals
*Carol Lees - Keyboards, Vocals
*Gary Munce - Bass
When the Hollies -- one of the best and most commercially successful pop/rock acts of the British Invasion -- began recording in 1963, they relied heavily upon the R&B/early rock & roll covers that provided the staple diet for countless British bands of the time. They quickly developed a more distinctive style featuring three-part harmonies (heavily influenced by the Everly Brothers), ringing guitars, and hook-happy material, penned by both outside writers (especially future 10cc member Graham Gouldman) and themselves, eventually composing most of their repertoire on their own. The best early Hollies records evoke an infectious, melodic cheer similar to that of the early Beatles, although the Hollies were neither in their class (not an insult: nobody else was) nor demonstrated a similar capacity for artistic growth. They tried, though, easing into somewhat more sophisticated folk-rock and mildly psychedelic sounds as the decade wore on, especially on their albums (which contain quite a few overlooked highlights).
Allan Clarke (lead singer) and Graham Nash (vocals, guitar) had been friends since childhood in Manchester, and they formed the nucleus of the Hollies in the early '60s with bassist Eric Haydock. In early 1963, EMI producer Ron Richards signed the group after seeing them at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool. Guitarist Vic Steele left before the first session, to be replaced by 17-year-old Tony Hicks. Drummer Don Rathbone only lasted for a couple of singles before being replaced by Bobby Elliott, who had played with Hicks in his pre-Hollies group, the Dolphins. The lineup changes were most fortuitous: Hicks contributed a lot to the group with his ringing guitar work and songwriting, and Elliott was one of the very finest drummers in all of pop/rock. Although their first singles were R&B covers, the Hollies were no match for the Rolling Stones (or, for that matter, the Beatles) in this department, and they sounded much more at home with pop/rock material that provided a sympathetic complement to their glittering harmonies. They ran off an awesome series of hits in the U.K. in the '60s, making the Top 20 almost 20 times. Some of their best mid-'60s singles, like "Here I Go Again," "We're Through," and the British number one "I'm Alive," passed virtually unnoticed in the United States, where they didn't make the Top 40 until early 1966, when Graham Gouldman's "Look Through Any Window" did the trick. In 1966, Eric Haydock left the group under cloudy circumstances, replaced by Bernie Calvert.
The Hollies really didn't break in America in a big way until "Bus Stop" (1966), their first Stateside Top Tenner; "On a Carousel," "Carrie Ann," and "Stop Stop Stop" were also big hits. Here the Hollies were providing something of a satisfying option for pop-oriented listeners that found the increasingly experimental outings of groups like the Beatles and Kinks too difficult to follow. At the same time, the production and harmonies were sophisticated enough to maintain a broader audience than more teen- and bubblegum-oriented British Invasion acts like Herman's Hermits. Their albums showed a more serious and ambitious side, particularly on the part of Graham Nash, without ever escaping the truth that their forte was well-executed pop/rock, not serious statements.
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Bus Stop (Graham Gouldman) - 2:55
2. The Very Last Day (Paul Stooky, Peter Yarrow) - 2:57
3. Hard Hard Year (Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, Graham Nash) - 2:17
4. Sweet Little Sixteen (Chuck Berry) - 2:25
5. That's How Strong My Love Is (Roosevelt Jamison) - 2:47
6. Oriental Sadness (Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, Graham Nash) - 2:39
7. I Am A Rock (Paul Simon) - 2:52
8. Stop Stop Stop (Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, Graham Nash) - 2:50
9. I Can't Let Go (Chip Taylor, Al Gorgoni) - 2:27
10.Fifi The Flea (Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, Graham Nash) - 2:09
11.Stewball (Traditional) - 3:07
12.I've Got A Way Of My Own (Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, Graham Nash) - 2:15
13.Take Your Time (Buddy Holly, Norman Petty) - 2:23
14.Don't You Even Care (Clint Jr Ballard) - 2:28
15.If I Needed Someone (Saturday Club 13th December 1965) (George Harrison) - 2:18
16.He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (Top Of The Pops Tv 2nd October 1969) (Bob Russell, Bobby Scott) - 4:11
During the British Invasion years, a Cleveland, Ohio band called The Choir ploughed a Brit-focussed furrow from late 1964. Initially and tellingly, they were named The Mods. Their prime mover, Dann Klawon, was a subscriber the switched-on UK monthly Rave, had missed a Mods show to hitch-hike to a Rolling Stones concert and was the first Clevelander to own a copy of “Purple Haze”. His band became The Choir in 1966, played on Who and Yardbirds’ bills, and went through continuous line-up changes. Even so, they issued three singles over 1966 to 1968 beginning with the classic “It’s Cold Outside”. Their music had a moody, minor-key, Zombies-leaning slant.
In February 1969, with founder Dann Klawon gone but his brother Randy on board and with the ethos of the band intact, The Choir recorded an album’s worth of material in the hope of securing a contract with Mercury Records. The new CD Artifact: The Unreleased Album is the first-ever release of this album. Some of its tracks – “Anyway I Can”, “Boris Lament”, a cover of The Kinks’ “David Watts” and “If These Are Men” – have come out before in varying grades of fidelity but Artifact is sourced from recently unearthed masters found in the archive of the late Ken Hamman () - best known for his work with Pere Ubu, the owner of the Ohio studio Suma.
Artifact is a major release and helps fill out the narrative in a figurative chapter of the story of America’s popular music: one dedicated to late-Sixties bands drawing from the hard-edged side of British pop rather than a Band-inspired rootsiness, blues-influenced heaviness or other au courant templates. Similarly minded fellow travellers included Todd Rundgren’s The Nazz and California’s Powder. Artifact places The Choir as central to this narrative.
At this point, The Choir were on the their fifth. The presence of two keyboards acknowledges a Procol Harum influence but the recordings reveal the band as having, to varying degrees, ears open to The Bee Gees, The Kinks, Small Faces and The Who. They did not score a deal with Mercury and, after another couple of line-up changes and a further single, packed it in during June 1970. Bonfanti soon went on to The Raspberries, whose leader Eric Carmen was also from Cleveland and had been in other local bands while The Choir were active.
The Choir were important not just because they were a great band in their own right but also as they impacted on The Raspberries, one of America’s greatest Seventies bands. Eric Carmen has long acknowledged his enthusiasm for The Choir. Some of Artifact could pass for early Raspberries recordings.
Track one is “Anyway I Can”, which first surfaced in murky quality on a 1976 EP issued by the Bomp label and reappeared in slightly better fidelity on CD in 1994 . Though it is the same recording, the new version is a revelation. It is pin-sharp, sports edgy dynamics and is thrillingly immediate. Practically, whether intentionally or not, “Anyway I Can” is the core essence of The Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renee” made over by enthusiasts for the 1968 Small Faces. While possible to detect the ingredients, the track sounds like nothing else. In part, this is due a sturdiness and drumming so powerful it’s as if Bonfanti is trying to hammer his kit through the studio floor.
If that were not enough to make the case for the 1969 Choir as one of America’s great bands, the excitement continues with the driving mod-rocker “If These Are Men” () - more amazing drumming and the fantastic “Ladybug”, a rolling ballad suggesting Procol Harum’s “She Wandered Through the Garden Fence” but infused with power chords and even more of that assertive drumming. On the relatively subdued yet intense ballad “Have I no Love to Offer”, the band get close the emotive force of Robin Gibb in full flow. The powerful “It’s All Over” also brings The Bee Gees to mind.
This configuration of The Choir, though, was more than the sum of it what it drew from. The unique identity shining through seamlessly melds high-pitched, yearning vocals, minor-key melodies and a lacerating power-pop attack. Exactly what The Raspberries took into the American charts in 1972.
Unfortunately, although the booklet with Artifact includes a couple of short reminiscences and a note on the source tape it lacks a contextualising essay. Thankfully, the extraordinary music says it all. This is one of the Sixties’ great lost albums and its appearance is to be greeted with, as The Raspberries sang in 1973, ecstasy.
by Kieron Tyler, Sunday, 18 February 2018
Tracks
1. Anyway I Can (Phil Giallombardo) - 3:30
2. If These Are Men (Denny Carleton) - 2:58
3. Ladybug (Phil Giallombardo) - 3:21
4. I Can't Stay In Your Life (Kenny Margolis) - 3:44
5. David Watts (Ray Davies) - 2:42
6. Have I No Love To Offer (Phil Giallombardo) - 5:42
7. For Eric (Kenny Margolis) - 6:39
8. It's All Over (Kenny Margolis) - 4:30
9. Boris' Lament (Phil Giallombardo) - 2:50
10.Mummer Band (Denny Carleton) - 2:38
Seldom in rock history have four guys who seemingly couldn’t stand each other sounded so good together as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young did on their 1971 double live album 4 Way Street. There have been plenty of great bands that thrived on creative and personal conflict, from the Kinks to the Ramones and beyond, but in most cases the battles were mainly between two of the members, usually the ones occupying the front line. But with CSNY there were four frontmen, and at various points during their time together, they apparently longed to defenestrate each other.
For a band of SoCal hippies, they sure were a fractious bunch; there were feuds between just about every member at one point or another. All these years later, Graham Nash dropped the F-bomb in reference to David Crosby during an interview, declaring the walrus-mustached balladeer persona non grata. So it’s amazing the extra-fragile four-man version of the lineup stayed together long enough to play the concerts captured on 4 Way Street, let alone the fact that they contain some of the strongest music any of them ever made, alone or together.
Against the odds, CSN had managed to improve upon the wheel by adding Y for the follow-up to their debut album. Déjà Vu managed to up the ante considerably thanks to Neil Young’s contributions. Three months after that record’s release, the quartet was out on tour playing the dates documented on 4 Way Street. Songs from shows at New York’s Fillmore East and Los Angeles' Forum in June 1970 and one at the Chicago Auditorium in July ended up on the album, capturing the band in all its fringe-jacketed glory as they opened up the throttle on album cuts and trotted out some still-unrecorded material.
With Young on board, everything got ratcheted up a notch or two. The vocal harmonies went from glistening and pristine to a more ragged-but-right feel, and songs that felt like friendly folk-rockers gained some serious edge and electric bite.
Stephen Stills and Young had been rivals ever since their time together in Buffalo Springfield, but they had always spurred each other on to greater creative heights. That’s the way it worked out here too. The epic six-string firefights they get into on tunes like “Southern Man” (which wouldn’t be heard on a studio record until Young’s After the Gold Rush was released in September) and “Carry On” were unlike anything on either of the band’s first two albums.
It’s the Bay Area bands of the era -- like the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Moby Grape -- who are always credited with the mightiest guitar firepower, but when Stills and Young started swinging their axes around onstage, they gave their friends to the north a run for their money.
Half the material on this record would never see the inside of a CSN(Y) studio album at all, such was the roll the members were on at that time; and a number of those cuts were among the strongest in the repertoire, not to mention on the record. Young’s heart-stopping ballad “On the Way Home,” Crosby’s lecherous but hypnotic tale of instigating a ménage a trois, “Triad,” and Nash’s indignant broadside “Chicago” all fall under that category.
The band was at its most politically charged at that point too, which was only natural considering the turmoil the country was in at the time. It was late 1969 when Bobby Seale was bound and gagged in a courtroom during his trial for inciting a riot at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, an event that inspired the aforementioned Nash song. And the horrific Kent State University killings of four students by National Guardsmen had just occurred in May 1970, moving young to pen the raging “Ohio.”
Stills gets his political licks in too, if a little less specifically, with the crowd-pleasing, piano-pumping clap-along medley “49 Bye-Byes/For What It’s Worth/America’s Children,” name-checking Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew and Chicago mayor Richard Daley and shifting the Springfield-era “For What It’s Worth”’s focus from the Sunset Strip to something more all-encompassing.
4 Way Street was a huge hit, topping the album charts and earning an even bigger audience for the band. But it was also the beginning of the end, at least for a while. By the time the tour was over, the foursome had had enough of each other, splitting to pursue various solo and duo projects. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young didn’t perform together again until 1974, and it wasn’t until 1977 that another studio album (minus Young) was released.
But for all the acrimony fouling the band’s artistic ecosystem, there’s no denying the fact that they followed one of the finest studio albums of the era with a live album that was arguably even better, setting a high bar for the many double-length concert albums to come over the course of the decade.
by Jim Allen, April 5, 2016
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Stephen Stills) - 0:34
2. On The Way Home (Neil Young) - 3:48
3. Teach Your Children (Graham Nash) - 3:02
4. Triad (David Crosby) - 6:55
5. The Lee Shore (David Crosby) - 4:29
6. Chicago (Graham Nash) - 3:11
7. Right Between The Eyes (Graham Nash) - 3:37
8. Cowgirl In The Sand (Neil Young) - 3:59
9. Don't Let Bring You Down (Neil Young) - 3:30
10.49 Bye-Byes-America's Children (Stephen Stills) - 6:35
11.Love The One You're With (Stephen Stills) - 3:25
12.King Midas In Reverse (Graham Nash, Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks) - 3:43
13.Laughing (David Crosby) - 3:36
14.Black Queen (Stephen Stills) - 6:45
15.Medley: The Loner-Cinnamon Girl-Down By The River (Neil Young) - 9:42
Disc 2
1. Pre-Road Downs (Graham Nash) - 3:05
2. Long Time Gone (David Crosby) - 5:59
3. Southern Man (Neil Young) - 13:45
4. Ohio (Neil Young) - 3:34
5. Carry On (Stephen Stills) - 14:19
6. Find The Cost Of Freedom (Stephen Stills) - 2:22)
This is an outstanding collection of contemporary folk-style art-songs by the late great arpeggio-style finger picking guitarist and songwriter Ron Davies...Those who appreciate classics from artists like Donovan, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Bert Jansch, and Don McLean, will find in UFO a rare glimpse of a unique American artist-the Louisiana born Ron Davies.
by Charles Anderson
Tracks
1. I Wonder - 3:42
2. Long Hard Climb - 3:12
3. Flapjack - 3:22
4. Misty Roses - 2:54
5. It's A Lie - 3:53
6. Can I Count On You - 3:24
7. It Ain't Easy - 4:17
8. Lay Down Your Burden - 3:03
9. Shadows - 5:37
All compositions by Ron Davies except Track #4 by Tim Hardin
With Kim Simmonds and Chris Youlden combining their talents in Savoy Brown's strongest configuration, 1969's A Step Further kept the band in the blues-rock spotlight after the release of their successful Blue Matter album. While A Step Further may not be as strong as the band's former release, all five tracks do a good job at maintaining their spirited blues shuffle. Plenty of horn work snuggles up to Simmonds' guitar playing and Youlden's singing is especially hearty on "Made up My Mind" and "I'm Tired."
The first four tracks are bona fide Brown movers, but they can't compete with the 20-plus minutes of "Savoy Brown Boogie," one of the group's best examples of their guitar playing prowess and a wonderful finale to the album. This lineup saw the release of Raw Sienna before Lonesome Dave Peverett stepped up to the microphone for Looking In upon the departure of Youlden, but the new arrangement was short lived, as not long after three other members exited to form Foghat. As part of Savoy Brown's Chris Youlden days, A Step Further should be heard alongside Getting to the Point, Blue Matter, and Raw Sienna, as it's an integral part of the band's formative boogie blues years.
by Mike DeGagne
Tracks
1. Made Up My Mind (Chris Youlden) - 2:57
2. Waiting In The Bamboo Grove (Kim Simmonds) - 3:38
3. Life's One Act Play (Chris Youlden) - 6:31
4. I'm Tired-Where Am I (Chris Youlden, Harry Simmonds) - 5:05
5. Savoy Brown Boogie (Kim Simmonds, Chris Youlden) - 22:06
`Feel So Good (Chuck Willis)
`Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On (David Williams)
`Little Queenie (Chuck Berry)
`Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix)
`Hernando’s Hideaway (Richard Adler, Jerry Ross)
Savoy Brown
*Chris Youlden - Vocals
*Kim Simmonds - Guitar
*Bob Hall - Piano
*Lonesome Dave Peverett - Guitar
*Roger Earl - Drums
*Tone Stevens - Bass
Janis Joplin’s time in the San Francisco blues crew Big Brother and the Holding Co. was relatively short, only a couple of years — just long enough to record two albums and become an era-defining flashpoint at the Monterey Pop Festival. Their second album, 1968’s Cheap Thrills, became an acid-rock landmark thanks to the barnburner “Piece of My Heart,” a sultry cover of “Summertime” and the crushing, epic cover of Big Mama Thornton’s “Ball and Chain.” It went to Number One and was certified gold and within a few months of its release, Joplin quit to become a solo star.
The new compilation, Sex, Dope & Cheap Thrills, takes its title from the band’s original pitch for the name of the LP (the squares at the record label weren’t having it) and contains nearly two-and-a-half hours of alternate takes and live recordings from the Cheap Thrills era. Most of them are previously unreleased. The live recording of “Ball and Chain” sports a heavier beat and Joplin’s double-fried vocals — a stunning performance — followed by unreasonably polite applause. The three alternate takes of “Piece of My Heart” have a similar energy to the more familiar version, but show just how vibrant Joplin was at the sessions. And the second disc’s first take of “Summertime” captures a brilliant performance that would have been a thing of legend if the band hadn’t fallen apart at the end.
Other standouts include the foot-stomping “How Many Times Blues Jam,” an extended, wailing take on “I Need a Man to Love” and a charging, soulful take of “Combination of the Two.” There’s also studio banter, like Joplin cackling gloriously and saying, “I knew it was gonna take us all night,” before the ninth take of the oddball “Harry” and three takes of “Turtle Blues” on which Joplin talks out the feel of the song.
Also notable are the liner notes. The Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick remembers Joplin as a vivacious, joyful force and the Big Brother band as having a “down home” vibe. Meanwhile, drummer Dave Getz offers lively accounts of making the album and working with illustrator Robert Crumb on its problematic, iconic cover – and how the latter was stolen only to be sold at auction for a quarter of a million dollars. It’s the Janis Joplin bonus content you never knew you wanted.
by Kory Grow
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Combination Of The Two (Take 3) (Sam Andrew) - 5:33
2. I Need A Man To Love (Take 4) (Janis Joplin, Sam Andrew) - 8:06
3. Summertime (Take 2) (Dorothy Heyward, George Gershwin) - 4:11
4. Piece Of My Heart (Take 6) (Bert Berns, Jerry Ragovoy) - 4:56
5. Harry (Take 10) (Dave Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew) - 1:12
6. Turtle Blues (Take 4) (Janis Joplin) - 4:47
7. Oh, Sweet Mary (Janis Joplin) - 4:24
8. Ball And Chain (Live) (Big Mama Thornton) - (7:29
9. Roadblock (Peter Albin, Janis Joplin) - 5:43
10.Catch Me Daddy (Take 1) (Dave Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew) - 5:34
11.It's A Deal (Take 1) (Dave Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew) - 2:42
12.Easy Once You Know How (Take 1) (Dave Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew) - 4:35
13.How Many Times Blues Jam (Dave Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew) - 5:27
14.Farewell Song (Take 7) (Sam Andrew) - 5:03
Disc 2
1. Flower In The Sun (Take 3) (Sam Andrew) - 3:14
2. Oh Sweet Mary (Janis Joplin) - 6:55
3. Summertime (Take 1) (Dorothy Heyward, George Gershwin) - 3:14
4. Piece Of My Heart (Take 4) (Bert Berns, Jerry Ragovoy) - 4:07
5. Catch Me Daddy (Take 9) (Dave Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew) - 3:16
6. Catch Me Daddy (Take 10) (Dave Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew) - 4:22
7. I Need A Man To Love (Take 3) (Janis Joplin, Sam Andrew) - 7:09
8. Harry (Take 9) (Dave Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew) - 1:11
9. Farewell Song (Take 4) (Sam Andrew) - 4:28
10.Misery'n (Takes 2, 3) (Dave Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew) - 3:58
11.Misery'n (Take 4) (Dave Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew) - 4:58
12.Magic Of Love (Take 1) (Mark Spoelstra) - 3:19
13.Turtle Blues (Take 9) (Janis Joplin) - 4:00
14.Turtle Blues (Last Verse Takes 1, 3) (Janis Joplin) - 4:35
15.Piece Of My Heart (Take 3) (Bert Berns, Jerry Ragovoy) - 4:32
16.Farewell Song (Take 5) (Sam Andrew) - 5:13
Big Brother And Holding Company
*Peter Albin- Bass, Vocals
*Sam Andrew - Guitar, Vocals
*David Getz - Drums
*James Gurley - Guitar, Vocals
*Janis Joplin - Vocals
Sandra Rhodes was a country girl who landed in Memphis rather than Nashville, which means she ended up singing a lot more than just country music. Rhodes, along with her sister Donna Rhodes and husband Charlie Chalmers, did session work with some of the biggest names in both soul and country music, from Conway Twitty to Al Green, and as a singer and songwriter she walked a tightrope between the two sides of Southern music through the '60s and '70s (which were never as different as people liked to believe). Rhodes' love of both country and soul is evident on her first and only solo album to date, 1973's Where's Your Love Been, which was cut at the Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis; while this music is clearly informed by country music, with pedal steel guitar, lonesome harmonicas, and massed vocal choruses playing into the arrangements, there's a deeply soulful note in Rhodes' vocals and melodies that suggests the average C&W radio station wasn't going to play this stuff, no matter how much "No Such Thing as Love" and "No One Else Could Love You More" sound like great country singles.
When Rhodes felt like showing off her soulful side, she did it right; "The Best Thing You Ever Had" and the title track cut a top-notch groove, suggesting classic Hi Records sides, and the gospel feel that permeates "Never Grow Old" is clearly not of the bluegrass variety. If Rhodes didn't easily fall into a generic category, this record sounds like Memphis through and through, with its easy fusion of styles and potent yet comfortable grooves delivered by a crack session band. Where's Your Love Been isn't quite a lost classic, but it shows Sandra Rhodes was a gifted vocalist who could have had a great solo career with better breaks and a more supportive label, and it's a pure product of a city where soul comes as easily as breathing. [In 2014, Omnivore Records gave Where's Your Love Been an expanded and remastered reissue, with seven excellent outtakes from the original sessions included as bonus tracks, and fine liner notes from Bill Dahl. Fans of country-soul will clearly enjoy this set, and it's a splendid tribute to an overlooked talent.
by Mark Deming
While Sandra Rhodes made a name for herself singing behind Al Green on his classic Hi Records sides and writing songs including Conway Twitty’s #1 single, “The Clown,” her best work missed the public eye. And ear.
Where’s Your Love Been was Sandra’s 1972 album, recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis and originally released on Fantasy Records. Just as her backing vocals (usually performed with sister Donna and then husband Charlie Chalmers) appeared on recordings of every genre, Where’s Your Love Been moved from Country to sweet Memphis Soul. The same reason her songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as Skeeter Davis to Isaac Hayes.
Co-Produced by Sandra and Chalmers, the ten tracks on Where’s Your Love Been include originals like the title cut to a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” To make this album’s CD debut even more special, seven bonus tracks from the sessions have been unearthed—all previously unissued!
With liner notes from Bill Dahl in a full color booklet, Where’s Your Love Been is ready for the audience that missed out on it over four decades ago. Like many other great “unheard” albums, Omnivore Recordings is proud to tell everyone that the question of Where’s Your Love Been has finally been answered.
Tracks
1. No One Else Could Love You More (Sandra Rhodes, Charles Chalmers) - 4:01
2. I Think I Love You Again (Irwin Levine, Toni Wine) - 2:41
3. No Such Thing As Love (Sandra Rhodes, Charles Chalmers) - 3:08
4. Sho' Is Rainin' (Sandra Rhodes, Charles Chalmers) - 4:12
5. It's Up To You (Sandra Rhodes) - 2:45
6. Where's Your Love Been (Sandra Rhodes, Donna Rhodes) - 4:28
7. You Can't Always Get What You Want (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 4:17
8. Never Grow Old (Sandra Rhodes, Donna Rhodes) - 3:11
9. The Best Thing You Ever Had (George Jackson) - 3:13
10.Sowed Love And Reaped The Heartache (Dickey Lee, Allen Reynolds) - 3:10
11.Double Dealing Woman (Sandra Rhodes, Charles Chalmers, Morris Tarrant) - 2:20
12.Someday Sweet Baby (Donna Rhodes) - 3:23
13.Baby Don't Go (Sonny Bono) - 3:50
14.I'd Rather Hurt You Now (Sandra Rhodes, Charles Chalmers) - 3:03
15.Linda Was A Lady (Sandra Rhodes, Charles Chalmers) - 3:37
16.Jingo (Sandra Rhodes, Donna Rhodes, James Brown) - 4:04
17.I Don't Play The Game (Sandra Rhodes) - 3:09
Synergy opens with two of Keaggy’s heaviest guitar statements on record: ‘One Day At A Time’ (which begins as a baroque acoustic melody before transitioning into hard rock), followed by the blistering Pecchio track ‘Never Is A Long Time’. ‘Special Friends’ and ‘Dawn Of A New Day’ also have convincing rock-and-roll energy. Some of Keaggy’s best songwriting is featured here, including the moody textured classic rocker ‘Song Of Hope’ (strongly propelled by Pecchio’s bass), the bright acoustic ‘The Answer’ (again revealing classical influences) and the lighthearted ‘Mountains’. The latter is one of the few Keaggy compositions that didn’t make it onto the later Song In The Air compilation.
Keaggy’s guitar drifts into dreamy spaced soft-psych realms on the beautiful mesmerizing Sferra ballad ‘Just Always’. Also on the quieter side is Pecchio’s ‘Child Of The Universe’. Very little outside help listed in the credits for this effort – and as the title suggests the album truly does capture the “synergy” of three members at their best. Comes in a very attractive gate-fold cover with lyrics and photo of the band in concert on the inside.
by Ken Scott
Tracks
1. One Day At A Time (Phil Keaggy) - 3:39
2. Never Is A Long Time (Daniel Pecchio) - 3:26
3. Just Always (John Sferra) - 5:02
4. Special Friends (Daniel Pecchio, John Sferra, Phil Keaggy) - 2:43
5. Coming Home (Daniel Pecchio, John Sferra) - 3:32
6. Song Of Hope (Phil Keaggy) - 4:23
7. Child Of The Universe (Daniel Pecchio) - 3:01
8. Mountains (Phil Keaggy) - 4:01
9. The Answer (Phil Keaggy) - 2:40
10.Dawn Of A New Day (Daniel Pecchio, Phil Keaggy) - 2:58
11.Look In The Sky (Dan Pecchio, John Sferra, Phil Keaggy) - 10:34
12.Never Is A Long Time (Daniel Pecchio) - 3:39
13.Do Lord (Phil Keaggy, Daniel Pecchio, John Sferra) - 4:19
14.Changes (John Sferra) - 6:23
15.Let The Bells Ring (John Sferra) - 6:47
Bonus Tracks 11-14 Live 1971
Bonus Track 15 Demo recording
The Glass Harp
*Phil Keaggy - Guitars, Vocals
*John Sferra - Drums, Vocals, Guitars, Tambourine
*Daniel Pecchio - Bass, Vocals, Flute With
*Ralph MacDonald - Percussion, Congas, Bells, Triangle
*Mary Smith - Vocals
The second great album from the duo of Roger Salloom and Robin Sinclair – issued by Chess Records like the first one, but much more of the kind of album you'd expect to hear coming from the south – on labels like Capricorn, Ardent, or Enterprise! Like some of the best on those, the approach here is a mixture of rock and roots, served up with plenty of soul – recorded down in Tennessee with some great help from Charlie McCoy – whose harmonic and strong basslines really help shape the sound of the record, and who also produced the whole thing too.
There's a few currents of psych around the edges, and the mixture of the two singers is great – on titles that include "Violence Blam Blam I'm Sorry", "Lesson At The Delicatessen", "Motorcycle", "One More Try", "I'm Comin Home Again", "Sleep", "Faith Has Been Given", and "Animal".
Tracks
1. Lesson At The Delicatessen - 2:39
2. Motorcycle - 3:47
3. One More Try - 3:42
4. I`m Comin Home Again - 3:02
5. Violence, Blam Blam, I`m Sorry - 4:03
6. Animal - 5:22
7. Faith Has Been Given - 3:24
8. Let`s Be Right - 4:06
9. Exhaustion - 2:06
10.Sleep - 2:21
All songs by Roger Salloom except track #9 by Robin Sinclair
Provo, Utah in March 1967 was not like the many other American towns during this period. While the air was a buzz elsewhere with new sounds of garage, psychedelic, and hard rock music and long hair was becoming the norm amongst rebellious youth, the small town of Orem remained staunchly Mormon and Conservative. Rocky Baum and Ralph Hemingway were buddies in High School and from time to time, Ralph would vocalize tunes to Rocky's accompaniment. But there was something missing; They sorely needed a beat and other instruments to complete their sound. By the summer of 1969, they enlisted the services of Alan Newell on drums, Kent Balog on bass, and Doug Hinkins on lead guitar. And they needed a name: Rocky tells me this came from flipping through countless pages of an unabridged dictionary until the name “Merkin” jumped out at the band; Rod conveys quite a different story; the name was derived from an obscure offbeat movie,"Can Huronyomous Merkin Succeed with Mercy Hump?".
As in the case in any developing band, someone's parents house became the rehearsal hall for the band; in this instance it was Doug's living room. Despite all the antics that teenagers would go through (like a friend sticking his head in the bass drum to hear better), it wasn't long before they realized playing original music was much more exciting than copying the popular songs of the day. It was soon after this that their high school friend Rod Olsen assumed the part of manager, getting them jobs at the local schools, colleges, bowling alleys, etc. He also got the band more structured by providing them business cards, posters, flyers, promo tapes, and all the other things to promote a band.
It was obvious as things progressed that Ralph was the consummate entertainer. As lead vocalist, he became the conduit between the band and the audience. His rapport with the audience was outstanding and engaging. He had an uncanny ability to entertain(and shocking with the ad lib song about Mary Ellen walking under a bridge at a Halloween dance). Ralph would swing the mic over his head wildly never losing control.One time he had himself auctioned off as a door prize and dressed up inside a wrapped box wearing leotards and big lips!!
In 1970, Al was replaced by Kent's twin brother Gary to continue on as their drummer and Doug was replaced by Robert Barney as their lead guitarist. They then added a sixth member, Richard Leavitt, on keyboards through a want ad. Merkin was now emerging with a new and fuller sound, and the close bond between the Balog twins gave them a stronger foundation. It was becoming evident that Robert, though youngest & smallest, was the best musician and Richard had been trained as a classical pianist. It was at this time the bonus and previously unreleased tracks "Maybe Someday" and "Cry On My Shoulder" were recorded at Brigham Young University Recording Operations Department on a 4 Track system.
By 1971,Rod felt it was time to get them more exposure, and soon after embarked on a project to record them live, and send out tapes to potential producers and record companies. In late January that year, they were contacted by gay Young of Kommittee Productions and were on their way to Los Angeles for a recording session at Walden Sound Recorders in Redondo Beach. It was an exciting experience tor them; all the instruments, recording gear, and talented engineers, etc. Rocky recalls an engineer by the name of Rolf who did an outstanding job on special effects. The sessions were completed in just 4 days and the band did their best to minimize the drug intake. The first documented airing of the LP came soon after in San Francisco. Sundaze Music arranged a tour of Colorado which included stops in Vail,and Leadville.
New Year's Eve 1972 was the crowning moment of their trip;20 below outside, bikers, local, tourists, and even a few friends from Utah showed up-the place was packed! Rocky thinks someone may have slipped something into the kegs of beer, as everyone was dancing wildly and the girls were climbing onstage to dance with the band. The band returned to Utah and began playing the ski areas (Snowbird), local colleges and clubs. In February 1973 the Merkin Manor album was finally released. When the band reviewed the song writing credits, it became apparent that the other members were upset that Rocky was solely given this credit.
To this day, Rocky believes he did nothing wrong; he had written the lyrics and melodies but never intended the other members to be left out. However the band's feelings were could not be changed, and Rocky was asked to leave the band. Rocky's pending prediction of this sentiment can be heard on Track 9 "We're all here together., through all this bad weather". The band played on for a few years under the name Merkin but broke up in 1974. Ralph, Kent and Gary started a new band, Robert started his own group. Rocky went back to school, Robert returned to the church, and Rod became a ski bum at a local ski resort. The final track on this record, "A Father's Song" was written by Rocky during the recording sessions but not included on the LP. Rocky recorded this in 1983 with "The Rocky Baum Project". It is a stunning recollection of his relationship with his father. Rocky put it very eloquently "A Father's Song" exemplifies some of the emotions that arose between fathers and their hippie sons during that very difficult time of social realignment.(i.e., long hair, loud music, differing political views, and recreational drugs).
by Roger Maglio, December 1997
Tracks
1. Ruby - 3:39
2. Take Some Time - 3:52
3. Todaze - 3:48
4. Sweet Country - 3:54
5. Goodbye - 4:59
6. Watching You - 4:00
7. Kind Of Down - 4:00
8. The Right One - 3:22
9. Here Together - 3:37
10.Walkin' - 3:45
11.Maybe Somebody (Kent Balog, Gary Balog, Richard Leavitt, Robert Barney, Ralph Hemingway, Rocky Baum) - 6:43
12.Cry On My Shoulder (Kent Balog, Gary Balog, Richard Leavitt, Robert Barney, Ralph Hemingway, Rocky Baum) - 5:10
13.A Father's Song - 2:48
All compositions by Rocky Baum except where indicated
