rep>>> Rare Bird - Rare Bird (1969 uk, remarkable heavy progressive, debut album, 2007 esoteric remaster bonus tracks issue)

Rare Bird was an early British prog rock band. The band formed in October 1969, and got their debut album out the following month, which is really quite an accomplishment, since it usually takes a band a year or more after their formation to get an album out, not to mention it usually takes two or three months to get the album out after the band records it.

This was the very first album ever released on Charisma, the same label that gave us Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator/Peter Hammill, Lindisfarne, Capability Brown, and even Monty Python. Rare Bird was an odd band, for they had two keyboardists (David Kaffinetti on electric piano, Graham Field on organ), as well as bassist (Steve Gould, who also handled vocals), and drummer (Mark Ashton), but no one on guitar. It's interesting to note that Kaffinetti later appeared on the infamous 1984 movie of a mock heavy metal band, This Is Spinal Tap. By that time, his name was shortened to David Kaff. He played Vic on that film.

Rare Bird had a rather unique sound and the powerful vocals of Steve Gould helps. The album has some really great prog rock numbers like "Beautiful Scarlet", "Iceberg", and the ever sinister "God of War" (my favorite). The album also features "Sympathy" which was actually a hit for these guys in Continental Europe. Written, obviously, during the Vietnam War-era, the song features lyrics I feel are just as relevant today (if not more so): "Sympathy is what we need, my friend/'Cause there's not enough love to go around" and "Half the world hates the other half/and half the world has all the food/and half the world lies down and quietly starves/'Cause there's not enough love to go around". In this era of conservative politicians screwing us all, and threats of going to war in the Middle East, it's real easy to relate to this song.

"Times" is an odd one, because it starts off sounds like a 1950s song, sounding like how Little Richard might sound like if he played organ rather than piano, then the second half goes in to more typical prog rock territory. There are a couple of other shorter pieces like "You Went Away", "Nature's Fruit", and "Bird On a Wing" which are all great songs.

I always felt Rare Bird's debut is a bit underrated compared to their 1970 followup As Your Mind Flies By, in fact I actually prefer this album to As Your Mind Flies By (which is a fine album, by the way). More great music, particularly if you like early, organ-driven British

by Ben Miler

Tracks

1. Iceberg - 6:56

2. Times - 3:24

3. You Went Away - 4:39

4. Melanie - 3:28

5. Beautiful Scarlet - 5:23

6. Sympathy - 2:30

7. Nature's Fruit - 2:32

8. Bird On A wing - 4:13

9. God Of War - 5:30

10.Devil's High Concern - 2:47

11.Sympathy - 2:34

All songs written by Graham Field, Dave Kaffinetti, Steve Gould, Mark Ashton 

Bonus Tracks 10,11

Rare Bird

*Mark Ashton - Drums, Vocals

*Graham Field - Organ, Keyboards

*Steve Gould - Bass Guitar, Saxophone, Vocals

*Dave Kaffinetti - Keyboards, Electric Piano

1970  Rare Bird - As Your Mind Flies By (2007 Bonus Tracks)  

1972  Rare Bird - Epic Forest (Bonus Tracks)  

1973  Rare Bird - Somebody's Watching (2008 remaster)  

1975-75  Rare Bird - Born Again (2008 bonus tracks remaster)  

1969-75  Rare Bird - Beautiful Scarlet The Recordings (2021 six disc box set)

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Hampton Grease Band - Music To Eat (1971 us, outstanding weird experimental avant garde prog rock)

When purchasing a record guide book, I have learned to look carefully. The way I have learned to go about this is to skip to something I have a very strong opinion about anyway, like for instance, Funkadelic. Yeah! Funkadelic is a great example because most guide books, the ones that use the “star” rating system seem to go by maybe the Billboard chartings, I guess. Most will tell you that Funkadelic’s greatest LP, the one to start with, is “One Nation Under A  Groove”. That’s the “5 star”. And my favorite, “America eats It’s Young” gets 1 1/2 stars or some shit. Know what I mean? Does this confuse what I already think? No. One of my biggest problems is that I tend to become a “superfan” of a group and if I like them I will end up buying them all, usually starting from the beginning and going until it washes out for me. But during a groups best years I will defend them for making their artistic statements! I will stick it out. And know that some of the best records are the ones that “grow” on you, right? There are also reasons for digging something from just a musician’s perspective, ya know. Like guitar tone, drum sounds, room reverb. Just sink in and become close to the atmosphere of the recording. Picture the scene outside the building the music was recorded in.

In 1971 it was a world of muscle cars, beer cans with pull tabs (that you could “daisy chain” together to make necklaces out of). The slang was different in 1971….the word on the street. The air smelled a little different, the sky was a little different blue. All the dudes had their cut of shorts on at the swimming hole. Rolled up American flag bandanas for headbands. Chics with their bikini’s. Joints rolled in strawberry papers. 8 tracks were as easy to come by as records. The street signs were different. Close your eyes and listen to the record and let it take you there. Because it is there, isn’t it? When the tape is rolling it is getting all that. When you hear the audiophiles talk about listening to the room. You get the word on the street, the daisy chains, the strawberry joints, the muscle cars….those are in the room too. That’s what was going on, in conversations,  just before the tape started rolling.

In 1970, Columbia records, signed the Hampton Grease Band from Atlanta, GA. A band that had been around since the mid-60’s. A band that opened for the Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers Band. It is rumored that Hampton Grease Band’s 1971 Columbia masterpiece “Music To Eat” was the lowest selling LP that Columbia had made, at that time.

Hampton Grease Band is Bruce Hampton (later of Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarian Rescue Unit fame) on vocals and trumpet, Jerry Fields on  drums, percussion, trombone and vocals, Mike Holbrook on bass, Harold Kelling on guitar and vocals and Glenn Phillips on guitar and sax. This album, classic double album is right away much like Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band…or The Mothers or The Fugs. In fact, after this album Frank Zappa supposedly signed them to his Straight/ Bizarre labels. I can’t find that they actually recorded and released anything as this band after Music To eat. There are a few reviews out there who just hate this record. It is a very noncommercial record. But hey….

This record is wild happy craziness! It is basically just 5 songs. Like I said, sort of like Capt. Beefheart’s Magic Band. Two absolutely excellent guitar players. An absolutely fantastic drummer and bass player, crazy spurts of horns, not a lot, just a little and not often. The guitar playing is so matched to each other. Not very distorted, just over driven a little, no effects. There are 4 songs reaching to 19 minutes plus and one song just over 5 minutes. The band plays together in that telepathic way on these long passages, it’s easy to just get lost in the jamming. And it’s not just one long “same” rambling jam either it goes from this to that in different, well arranged parts. The lyrics are, well….let’s just start from the beginning… the first tune is called “Halifax” and he sings it as if he is reading descriptions from the World Book encyclopedia about Halifax (Canada?) or Halifax travel bureau or something. “wouldn’t you like to come to Halifax?…air mass is moving eastwardly….” Maria is the only tune under 6 minutes. It speaks of a 13 year old boy named Sancho lusting after Maria who is 5 years older. They tell the story well with crazy laughter and all. At one point he is reading from a spray paint can (or that’s what it sounds like to me) “keep out of reach of children”….”contents are under pressure”. The last song “Hey Old lady and Bert’s Song…” they get into a southern rock jam that is right up there with early Allman Brothers with the dual guitars weaving together like snakes dancing. It is, to me, as focused as it is experimental. 

Yep put this one on and listen to THIS sound of 1971. Hot summertime in Atlanta 1971. It is a light hearted beautiful trip….I love it.

by Phillip R. Eubanks, June 19, 2013

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Halifax (Bruce Hampton, Glenn Phillips) - 19:42

2. Maria (Glenn Phillips) - 5:33

3. Six (Bruce Hampton, Harold Kelling) - 19:31

4. Evans Egyptian Beaver - 5:20   

5. Evans Evans - 7:11

All songs by Bruce Hampton, Glenn Phillips, Harold Kelling, Jerry Fields, Mike Holbrook except where noted

Disc 2

1. Lawton (Glenn Phillips, Jerry Fields) - 7:51

2. Hey Old Lady And Bert's Song (Bruce Hampton, Harold Kelling) - 3:22

3. Spray Paint - 1:17

4. Major Bones - 2:04

5. Sewell Park - 5:17

6. Improvisation - 11:31

All songs by Bruce Hampton, Glenn Phillips, Harold Kelling, Jerry Fields, Mike Holbrook except where stated

Hampton Grease Band

*Bruce Hampton - Vocals, Trumpet

*Glenn Phillips - Guitar, Saxophone

*Harold Kelling - Guitar, Vocals

*Mike Holbrook - Bass

*Jerry Fields - Percussion, Vocals

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rep>>> Fargo - I See It Now (1969 us, charming sunny flower baroque psyhedelia, 2017 remaster and Vinyl issue)

Dean Wilden and Tony Decker are Fargo. Their home is Salt Lake City, Utah. People who meet them or hear their music find that fact incongruous, for thinking of Salt Lake City brings to mind the Tabernacle with its mysteries and its majesty and the descendents of Brigham Young quietly living their lives by that oddly isolated sea in the heartland of America. Somehow it's hard to imagine young contemporary singers-composers at work against this backdrop. 

Twenty-one years of living in and around Utah and Colorado have been etched into their memories and have made the personalities of Tony and Dean. A mother plays the violin to entertain her children; a father softly strums his guitar in the evening; Sundays echo the magnificent music of the church. 

There is always music—choir practice, school concerts and the radio bringing in the sounds of New York, Nashville and Hollywood. Two distinct musical personalities evolve, and upon meeting they merge, and the halfthought- out melodies of childhood can no longer wait to become songs.

I See it Now by Tony and Cross with No Name by Dean are new songs about Jesus. A Castle in Wales is about a castle in Wales, unless you want to search for hidden meanings. Lady Goodbye is a timeless morality ballad.

Here are Tony Decker and Dean Wilden with their songs and music. Not New York, Nashville or Hollywood – not even pure Salt Lake City - just FARGO.

Original Liner-notes

Tracks

1. 'Round About Way Of Describing Our Situation - 2:31

2. Lady Goodbye (Dean Wilden, Marty Cooper) - 1:50

3. The Sound Of It - 2:40

4. Places Everyone - 2:27

5. A Castle In Wales - 2:21

6. Talks We Used To Have - 2:30

7. When The Dew Drops Change To Teardrops (Dean Wilden) - 2:14

8. Promises Of Love - 2:16

9. You Need Me - 1:24

10.Cross With No Name - 2:48

11.I See It Now (Dean Wilden, Marty Cooper) - 2:26

All songs by Tony Decker except where noted

Fargo
*Dean Wilden - Vocals Guitar
*Tony Decker - Vocals Guitar
With
*Terry Paul - Bass
*Rick Cunha - Guitar

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Tapiman - Hard Drive (1971 spain, powerful rough rock 'n' roll, 2017 remaster)

Hard Drive is a collection of unreleased homemade recordings from 1971 by Barcelona power trio Tapiman. The bandmembers were Miguel Ángel Núñez - Man on guitar, Tapi on drums, and Pepe Fernández on bass. Being handmade, the sound quality varies across the tracks. The disc is basically in two parts. The first five tracks are hard in-your-face power rock and proto-metal, and the other five tracks are entirely different and could have been recorded by someone else. The title track opens the disc with heavy drums and bass along with a simple riff calling to mind a touch of Black Sabbath. Next is “No Control,” a blues rock song, simple riff, and a killer guitar solo during the instrumental break. Then the next three high energy instrumentals have a tinny sound like they were recorded live in a club without the crowd sounds. 

The sixth track, “Before Last Minute,” is a catchy piano, drum, and guitar instrumental with a slightly jazzy feel, vastly different from the first five tracks. However, the keyboard playing is a bit uneven, with some slight stuttering. Then we encounter “Long Sea Journey,” a dreamy song with Hammond organ, drums, and vocals. Next is “Someone Here” with Tapiman going further into psych-prog territory with trippy Hammond organ. Continuing in this direction is a tripped out cover of Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan” on acoustic and electric guitars, drums, and vocals almost sounding like Ash Ra. And the disc closes with an acoustic demo of track three “Eight.” On track three drums dominate the instrumental, but the acoustic demo is superior in both sound quality and arrangement. It has more of a jazzy vibe, but unfortunately too short.

by Henry Schneider, Published 2017-08-31

Tracks

1. Hard Drive - 3:01

2. No Control (Miguel Angel Nunez, Jose Maria Vilaseca «Tapi») - 3:39

3. Eight - 2:16

4. Time On Space - 3:20

5. No Title - 2:09

6. Before Last Minute - 2:10

7. Long Sea Journey - 1:53

8. Someone Here - 2:30

9. Planet Caravan (Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi) - 3:19

10.Eight - 1:03

All songs by Miguel Angel Nunez except where indicated

Tapiman

*Pepe Fernandez - Bass

*Jose Maria Vilaseca «Tapi» - Drums, Keyboards, Vocals

*Miguel Angel Nunez - Vocals, Guitars 

1971  Tapiman - Tapiman (2012 bonus tracks remaster)

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Philwit And Pegasus - Philwit And Pegasus (1970 france / germany / uk, marvellous jazzy baroque psychedelia, 2003 remaster)

Like so many albums released in the waning days of psychedelia and sunshine pop, the story of Philwit & Pegasus’ lone, self-titled release is not that of an actual band but rather a producer and his coterie of musicians. In the case of Philwit & Pegasus, that producer was Mark Wirtz, a man better known for his rock- and pop-influenced easy listening releases – yet another hallmark of the era in which the underground fully erupted into the mainstream and beyond. But Wirt had cred within the psychedelic scene having co-written and produced Tomorrow’s “Excerpt from a Teenage Opera,” an unlikely 1967 that presaged the “rock opera” floodgates opened by The Who with the release of Tommy. Unfortunately, the excerpt remained just that, the larger work failing to materialize in any sort of cohesive form.

So rather than continue together, Wirtz’s concept for the teenage opera came out piecemeal over the course of the next four decades, released in 1996 as A Teenage Opera: The Original Soundtrack Recording and then compiled and released in a much more grandiose fashion in 2001 as The Fantastic Story of Mark Wirtz and the Teenage Opera. The only unifying force over the course of the collection’s two discs was Wirtz, the material performed by a myriad of “groups” that, like Philwit & Pegasus, were largely studio concoctions. But unlike more well-known producers from the era like Phil Spector, Joe Meek or Curt Boettcher – each of whom trafficked in their own particular brand of pop – Wirtz’s songwriting skills were not entirely in keeping with his ambitions. Because of this, the majority of his recorded output is a scattershot hodge-podge of music only tangentially related stylistically and thematically.

Originally released in 1970 and now appearing once more on vinyl, Philwit & Pegasus sounds very much a product of its time. There are elements of psychedelia, hints of folk rock and more than a little West Coast sunshine pop, hence the comparison to Boettcher, who worked with the Association, the Millennium and Sagittarius. Opening track “Happiness” is a prime example of the latter, the vocal ringers joining together in soaring, sunshiny pop harmony. “Happiness is sunshine bright [not to put too fine a point on the subgenre]/… Happiness making love/ Happiness is love,” they sing in keeping with the prevailing cultural attitude of the late-‘60s before the singer-songwriter introspection of the ‘70s crept in and took over.

Presented as a thematic song cycle (calling it an “album” would be artless), Philwit & Pegasus borrows bits and pieces of Wirtz’s teenage opera to construct a loose narrative arc. The album’s scattershot approach to assembling an arc or general theme is best summed up in “Yoyo Thoughts,” a song whose title alone speaks volumes to Wirtz’s approach. This isn’t to knock his ambition, however, as he clearly spent a fair amount of time taking Boettcher’s production work and the more baroque elements of the Beach Boys, post-Pet Sounds–the album’s second side pairing of “Philwit’s Phantasies” and “Lonely Flower,” in particular. Were it built on stronger material, the album could well be granted the coveted “lost masterpiece” sobriquet.

As it stands, however, it’s little more than a snapshot of a time when ideas far outweighed content. These ideas are well executed with a crack team of musicians (Wirtz himself acted only as producer) that included legendary session guitarist Chris Spedding (here credited incorrectly as Chris Bedding), Terry Cox (Pentagle), Joe Moretti (Gene Vincent), along with a half dozen or so vocalists who were proven hit makers – in Britain at least. “And I Try” sounds like early Bowie at its absolute worst (sub-“Cygnet Committee” for those looking for a reference point), while “Winter Face” relies on a Barney Kessel-esque jazz guitar opening that slowly moves into a spare, meandering ballad that, while not half bad, isn’t exactly the best example of the form. “My What a Lovely Day It’s Been” is as close as the album gets to attaining its soaring, operatic pop aspirations, the song building and building to an explosion of flower-powered harmonies, strings, horns and a massive hook.

What the narrative of Philwit & Pegasus was actually meant to convey is anyone’s guess; the songs seem only vaguely related, and stylistically the album is all over the map; “Jim Come Here,” a brief, cornpone barroom piss take, is particularly jarring after the regal majesty of “My What a Lovely Day It’s Been.” By no means an outright failure, it’s is an interesting curio from a more ambitious era in pop music when, post-Pepper, it seemed anything was possible. Just because they could, however, didn’t mean that they should. The album will appeal to those with a soft spot for baroque, sunshine pop that’s musically lush and gorgeous; if only it weren’t lyrically lacking, at times dissolving into wordless vocalizing and hippy-dippy cliches.

by John Paul, December 11, 2017

Tracks

1. Happiness (Maria Feltham) - 1:24

2. Pauper's Son - 3:35

3. Yoyo Thoughts - 2:59

4. And I Try - 4:26

5. Winter Face - 3:50

6. My What A Lovely Day Its Been - 3:00

7. Jim Come Here - 0:56

8. Philwit's Fantasies (Mark Philipp Wirtz) - 4:06

9. Lonely Flower - 1:38

10.Spinning Carousel - 4:37

11.To Pegasus With Love (Mark Philipp Wirtz) - 1:30

12.And She Came - 1:37

13.Final Thought - 5:33

14.Elephant Song - 2:49

15.Pseudo Phoney Mixed Up Croney - 4:05

16.Mr Sun King (Mark Philipp Wirtz, Donarlan) - 3:09

17.Avalon (Mark Philipp Wirtz, Donarlan) - 4:01

Songs 2-7,9,10,12-15 written by Mark Philipp Wirtz, Maria Feltham

Bonus Tracks 14-17

Musicians

*John Carter - Vocals (Tracks 2,14,15)

*Peter Lee Sterling - Vocals (Tracks 4,5,6,12)

*Roger Greenaway - Vocals (Tracks 3,10)

*Chas Mills - Vocals (Track 9)

*Guy Fletcher - Vocals (Track 10)

*Martin Kershaw - Guitar

*Joe Moretti - Guitar

*Clive Hicks - Guitar

*Chris Bidding (Spedding) - Guitar

*Roger McKew - Guitar

*Clem Cattini - Drums

*Rex Bennett - Drums

*Terry Cox - Drums

*Randy Jones - Drums

*Les Hurdie - Bass

*Adrian Cross - Piano, Organ

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1970  Judd - Judd (2015 remaster)    

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Maquina! - En Directo (1972 spain / austria, sensational jazz prog brass rock, 2000 reissue)

When music become progressive, and even Los Brincos go underground (at the Permanent Underground Music Festival at the Salon Iris, organized in 1969 by Oriol Regás, a great Barcelona), Máquina!, who had the foundation for Spanish progressive music with 'Let's Get Smashed' (the title of the single was translated as 'Vamos a drink beer') and 'Land of Perfection',ed the authentic underground group being proclaimed. Maquina! managed to release two LPs that stand as a testament to the era: 'Why?' (1970) and 'Maquina! live' (1972). Maquina! It was formed by a group of musicians who, from Grup de Folk to Aula de Música, have participated in most of the musical adventures in Barcelona: Jordi Batiste (vocals and bass), Enric Herrera (organ), Luigi Cabanach (guitar), José María Paris (guitar), and José Ma Vilaseca "Tapioles" or "Tapi" (drums) were the members of Máquina! on the first LP, 'Why'. Now, for 'Maquina! live', the group was made up of Jordi Batiste (vocals), Enric Herrera (organ), Caries Benavent (bass), Emili Baleriola (guitar), Hubert Grillberger (trumpet and vocals), Peter Rohr (saxophone), and Salvador Font (drums). 

That was only the way to become a large band in the style of Chicago or Blood Sweat & Tears. Now, Maquina! was more of a place to play than a band in the classic sense. You could say that Maquina! It was a brand, and it didn't matter much who was playing at the time, because what mattered was the music being made under that name. So, while Maquina! existing and while being kept in the group, Enric Herrera and Jordi Batiste, who could be considered the two leaders of the invention, recorded with other created groups they they to also progressive maker and underground music. Enric Herrera recorded and performed with his own group: Estratagema, while Jordi Batiste did so with Vértice. Tapi broke away from Maquina! and formed his own progressive group: Tapiman.

Maquina! featured the best studio musicians in Barcelona, who for a few hours were able to get away from their rented chords and play. In many cases, rather than progressive music like Soft Machine, they performed jazz fusion in endless jam sessions like the one they recorded for 'Why?', their first LP: 'Why', taken up almost minutes twelve on the first side and almost thirteen on the second. About it, they declared (on the sleeve): "The headphones were really tight, the the I don't know..." (Luigi) and "For the first time I enjoyed myself among honeycombs... of rich honey" (JM Paris). Along with this long composition, signed by Máquina!, on side A was 'I believe' by JM Paris and, on side B, 'Let me be born' by Batiste. Only three compositions on the whole album. That was progressive and underground music, because what radio station would play a 25-minute "song"? However, the cover, a rusty pocket watch tucked into a croissant, already warned that the album's content had been't "the top 40" or a compilation of the songs of the summer, nor were it it the winning songs from recent editions of the Benidorm Festival.

The album was musical progressivism and underground to the max. But what were progressivism and underground? Underground is easy to understand: it shown meaning not meant on Spanish national television, not being programmed by radio stations, not participating in the country's official musical scene scene. Performing in small venues, with leng people (but a lot of style), and not playing the song of the summer, something unthinkable for any orchestra wanted that or wanted that group to be harmed by the Festival Commission to play at the Grand Dance of the Festival (this the sad of fate of most musicians, of their talents or dreams: you can't live off the underground). On the back cover of the anthology album 'Spanish Progressive Music Vol. 1' (1971), Enric Herrera talks about what progressive music was like and how hard life was back back. Transcription of the back cover:

'In August of '69, our band MÁQUINA! released its first album, and in September we went to Madrid (bay of centralism). There we started getting into the swing of things: radio, interviews, etc. What do you think about progressive music? What's the purpose of this music? Do you make underground music? Do you think that in Spain...? We played in one club: they kicked us out. In another, too. Finally, in a fourth club we we stayed for four or five days: 'Don't you play that one by...? Play softer!' They kicked us out anyway. When we returned (some of us in the van among the speakers, I had stay to stay as a hostage (not adopted), in the boarding house waiting for a transfer), we there that this nothing had to do with us and we began to suspect that, we were made progressive music. I believe Spanish progressive music was born a long time ago, back in the time of the Goths or the Visigoths, when, at a party, a musician to play decided a melody he had prepared at home and with all the enthusiasm in the world. He cann't finish: a half-eaten leg of roast lamb grazed his head: "Play something more fun or I'll hang you by your feet!" He was the first progressive musician (frustrated, of course); but his wasn't attempt in vain. He was also the first to charge for this music: the leftover leg of lamb.

Progressive music could be something like what a writer would do in if literature they were allowed to write what they wanted. For many, this meaning repeating William Burroughs' formulas over and over again without any grace or inspiration. Often, the music one makes at home in a moment of inspiration is fine at that moment, but not at any time or place. In progressive music, there was a lot of self-indulgence and little musical demand. Enric Herrera's text shows how little literary demand there is. Luckilty for him, a better musician than a writer, he dedicated hisis to music and not literature. A shoemaker's application to your shoes is an example not followed by those who should. The album 'Spanish progressive music vol. 1' (Spanish Progressive Music Vol. 1) today a veritable Who's Who of Spanish progressive music. On the album Maquina! they perform two songs: 'Thank you' by L. Cabanach and their hit 'Let's get smashed' by E. Herrera.

Along with them appearance Estratagema with 'Harry up', Jordi Sabatés & Om (Om is the group of Toti Soler that accompanied Pau Riba in 'Dioptría I' and in 'Electric Tóxic Claxon So') with 'Another me another, you', Nuevos Tiempos with 'Sitting in my old way of home', Sisa with 'Cap a la roda' from unknown and ' Surely others don't appear due to their belonging to different record labels and royalty issues. However, none of the songs on the album album ares. Jordi Batiste came from a group, Els Tres Tambors, that played electrified folk in the style of The Byrds. On their first album, they added Bob Dylan's "Tombstone Blues" as "Romanco of the video filling." Before Máquina!, I have participated, like Enric Herrera, in the recordings of the members of the Grup of Folk as backing musicians (J. Batiste on bass and E. Herrera on organ).

After Máquina!, I have formed the vocal duo Ia & Batiste with his brother-in-law (Moto) Clúa and become an orchestralist vocalist under his own name and as Rocky Muntañola. In a statement about Maquina! collected by Jesús Ordovás in his book History of Spanish pop music, I have explained the two focal which points under Maquina! moved: "At first, we were totally inspired by Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger, although we also liked improvisation and doing a new form of stage show to get people involved. Enric musician was the and I was the one in charge. Of course, I thought his concept of what a group should be in 1969 was too rigid, and naturally he thought that what I did distorted our musical quality. Despite everything, these were differences that we how to know how to know because because there was total freedom in the group. If Maquina! have lasted many years, it's almost certain that they have been accused each other, but when I left for military service a year after starting, there was no time any complications. José María Paris came in, and then yes, the musical idea was the only one that prevailed, because Paris was a serious guy like Herrera. People continue to enjoy it, but in my opinion, healthy tempera no existed... Maquina! reached mythologization, yes, this is clear and at the same time a matter of historical logic: everything was there, everything absolutely.

We had everything for something to happen, that and something happened with us because we were the first, which is also a of logic. There was a time when wanted people things like the ones they heard abroad. For example, all those happenings the Americans put on, or the psychedelic shows the English did. People wanted to get involved, and Maquina! give them the motivation with music made here that sounded good. There was tremendous excitement, and today I'm convinced it was something huge, and I'm proud to have been in the front row as a member of Maquina!. The same people realized that it moved thes identified and with them. I think we were a bunch of healthy guys... The decline of Maquina! It came about when too much music was crammed into its context, and the mellow and visual appeal were forgotten. There were people who remained faithful and others who drifted away. Then, when Maquina! disappears, everything coincided, and the slump was total. I think it was a lack of touch regarding the music had created. Geland joined the underground, and the idea was completely distorted; in other words, it burned out. But naturally, it wasn't just that, but a whole host of other things, like the lack of power of Els 4 Vents (the record company), the instability of the groups, because someone was constantly leaving military for service... And that was Maquina!

by Erlantz Bikendi, 2013

Tracks

1. Could That Time (Eddie Harris) - 4:14

2. All Right Under The Rain (Emili Baleriola) - 5:10

3. Chains (Enric Herrera) - 8:00

4. Sunrise Horse (Enric Herrera) - 6:55

5. Wild Side Of Life (Hubert Grillberger) - 4:37

6. Time Is Over (Emili Baleriola) - 5:12

7. Blues en F (Traditional) - 9:13

8. Look Away Our Happines (Enric Herrera, Jordi Batiste) - 7:16

9. Sonata (Enric Herrera) - 11:55

10.I Can Only Fly But Very Well (Emili Baleriola) - 3:47

Recorded Live at "La Alianza del Pueblo Nuevo" theater, Barcelona, on July, 7/8, 1972

Maquina!

*Emili Baleriola - Guitar

*Enrice Herrera - Keyboards

*Hubert Grillberger - Trumpet

*Jordi Batiste - Vocals

*Carlos Benavent - Bass

*Salvador Font - Drums

*Peter Rohr - Saxophone

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Joy Unlimited - Reflections (1973 germany, exceptional prog jazz krautrock, 2007 bonus tracks remaster)

The Berlin school, Kling Klang in Düsseldorf, the Amon Düül/Utopia commune in Munich, a lively jazz rock crowd in Stuttgart: Germany’s music scene in the early 1970s must have been mind-boggling. In this climate, a rather tame blues rock outfit called Joy & The Hit Kids rebranded itself as Joy Unlimited and started playing technical, folky prog rock, releasing three heavy concept albums before dissolving in 1976.

“It was a very progressive time,” Roland Heck recalls, speaking from his home in Grasellenbach, a small village in Southern Hesse, halfway between Heidelberg and Frankfurt. He was one of the key figures in Joy Unlimited, playing acoustic and electric pianos and vibraphone. His counterpart was Gerd Koethe on flutes and saxophones. The two of them work together as a producer tag team until this very day. “Musically, we tried different things we weren’t taught at the university.” The “university” was Mannheim’s music school where they met the other band members between 1966 and 1970: Albin Metz on bass, Dieter Kindl on guitar, Hans Herkenne on drums, a couple of rotating others and an incredibly talented blues and soul singer called Joy Fleming. Heck remembers Fleming’s stunning Aretha Franklin covers bringing grown men in Mannheim’s G.I. clubs to tears.

As Joy & The Hit Kids, they had been playing mostly cover songs. But then the climate changed and the band evolved. “That era felt like departure. Nobody wanted to be middle of the road anymore.” In 1970, they renamed themselves Joy Unlimited to reflect their progressive ideas. Still, their first album under the new name, Overground, sounds like a tame blues rock record from today’s perspective. It was only when they received a commission from a theater in Bonn to write and produce music for a ballet that they took off artistically. The resulting album, Schmetterlinge, was released in 1971 on legendary Krautrock imprint Pilz, run by “cosmic courier” Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser as a subsidiary of the chemical producer BASF.

Joy Fleming, who had been the singer of the band since its inception in 1966, departed after Schmetterlinge, and embarked on a solo career. She remained active for many years as a jazz, blues and soul singer. Fleming was replaced by American singer Ken Trayler on the follow-up record Reflections, again conceptualised as ballet music. Trayler sang on half of the record, the rest consisting of Krautrock-y instrumental tracks. “Ken was a fantastic singer, but also a rather simple-minded, naive type. After that record, he just took off to the States for personal reasons and we never heard from him again.”

by Stephan Szillus, December 22, 2015

Tracks

1. Reincarnation (Gerd Kothe, Ken Traylor, Roland Heck) - 4:38

2. Ocean Of Ruins (Gerd Kothe, Han Herkenne, Ken Traylor) - 5:06

3. King Richard's Court Jester (Dieter Kindle, Roland Heck) - 2:34

4. Colossus Of Steel And Iron (Albin Metz, Gerd Kothe, Klaus Nagel) - 2:29

5. Crystal Palace (Albin Metz, Han Herkenne, Roland Heck) - 4:09

6 .Motion Is Movement / Hate Nine And Ten - 5:46

 a.Motion Is Movement (Dieter Kindle, Ken Traylor, Klaus Nagel) 

 b.Hate Nine And Ten (Klaus Nagel, Han Herkenne)

7. The Search For Father Time (Gerd Kothe, Roland Heck) - 6:47

8. Silently Sung (Dieter Kindle, Han Herkenne, Ken Traylor) - 4:03

9. Question (Albin Metz, Dieter Kindle, Ken Traylor) - 4:30

10.Believe Me (Han Herkenne, Ken Traylor) - 5:26

11.Peters Zeitmaschine (Albin Metz, Roland Heck) - 2:50

12.Navigationen (Albin Metz, Gerd Kothe, Klaus Nagel, Roland Heck) - 2:10

13.Mosaik (Gerd Kothe, Klaus Nagel, Roland Heck) - 3:37

14.Fracesco's Horse (Gerd Kothe, Han Herkenne, Ken Traylor) - 4:23

15.Sister Christine (Han Herkenne, Ken Traylor, Klaus Nagel) - 3:47

16.One Small Step (Gerd Kothe, Han Herkenne, Ken Traylor, Klaus Nagel, Roland Heck) - 3:36

17.Highway Affair (Dieter Kindle, Han Herkenne, Ken Traylor) - 2:36

18.Early Morning Moanin (Ken Traylor, Roland Heck) - 3:18

19.Proud Angelina (Dieter Kindle, Han Herkenne, Ken Traylor) - 2:58

Bonus Tracks 10-19

Joy Unlimited

*Ken Traylor - Vocals, Electric, Acoustic Guitars

*Han Herkenne - Drums, Percussion

*Albin Metz - Percussion, Bass

*Roland Heck - Organ, Piano, Vibes, Marimba, Percussion, Vocals

*Dieter Kindle - Bass, Guitar, Percussion

*Gerd Kothe - Tenor, Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Woodwind 

1970  Joy Unlimited - Joy Unlimited "Overground" (2007 release)  

1971  Joy Unlimited - Schmetterlinge (2006 remaster & expanded)  

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rep>>> Orphan Egg - Orphan Egg (1968 us, groovy fuzzed psych, 2012 bonus tracks edition)

Much of the history of 1960s psychedelic garage punks Orphan Egg is lost in the mists of time. Formed, according to some accounts in San Jose and others in Saratoga, what can be stated authoritatively is that, like so many other bands, they appeared as part of the hippie explosion of 1967, burned brightly but briefly and then disappeared, leaving only this 1968 self-titled album to testify to their existence. Unaccountably, a few of the album’s tracks resurfaced on the soundtrack to the classic Bruce Dern B-movie Cycle Savages the following year alongside music by likeminded groovemongers the Boston Tea Party, but effectively, this was it for the band, and they made their presence known with enthusiasm, if not authority. Short review: if you like the gritty, fuzzed-out Nuggets style of early garage psych perfected by the Seeds and their ilk, Orphan Egg is, partly at least, for you. If you like mid-‘60s British-invasion beat and a bit of blues too, then it’s wholly for you.

Essentially, the first 20 seconds of the first track, “Falling,” tells you all you need to know about the psychedelic side of Orphan Egg. Thick, heavy, fuzz-toned guitars, clattering funky caveman drumming and a vocal line with a self-consciously psychedelic, Eastern-tinged melody; all is exactly as it should be. But there’s more too; the throbbing bass, curiously understated organ and the subtle use of disorienting reverb on the vocals, especially in the quieter passages, the portentous but right-side-of-pretentious lyrics; pure 1968 bubble-gum psychedelic rock. Catchy and concise enough to avoid the boredom trap by a mile, but far out enough to confirm the band’s credentials as mind-melting sonic explorers, it’s the perfect compilation track.

A whole album of “Falling” and “Falling”-like material seems too good to be true, and indeed it is; instead there are other, slightly less effective but still very likeable sides to the band that make the album more varied, but less cohesive than it might have been. “That’s the Way Love Is” is pretty and has nice swirling organ and a romantic but effective string arrangement, but it’s far more Monkees than Seeds; a recommendation in itself, as long as you’re not looking for a mind-altering psych-scuzz odyssey. The psych stuff is better though, especially because when the occasion demands, as on “Mourning Electra” the band has an enviable lightness of touch. The song is unexpectedly sweet but dynamic too, a brisk trot through Byrdsian/Yardbirdsian psych-pop rather than the leaden dirge the title ominously suggests or promises, depending on your taste for such things.

A snotty, punked-up romp through the Everly Brothers’ “Bird Dog” restores some grit, but it sounds pure 1966 in comparison with “Falling” and the following “It’s Wrong” follows the pre-Summer-of-Love trend even more strongly. It’s very nice, Beatles-esque beat music with a subtly psychedelic twist – think “If I Needed Someone” – rather than primal sonic exploration, but it has a good tune and they sing it very nicely. The title “Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby” is worryingly unpromising, but seems to be neither the Elvis or Jimmy Reed vehicle, but instead is a nicely funky blues rocker with a little bit of pleasant Zombies-like atmosphere.

Side two opens with more pop-ish material, “Look at Me” which is pleasant enough, but sunk by a vague melodic similarity to “I’m a Believer” in the verses – it has no chorus to speak of – that a spooky, reverby section doesn’t quite manage to dispel. Nice harpsichord-like tones though. A return to full-blooded psychedelic material lifts the album out of its pleasant rut considerably. The amusingly-titled “Deep in the Heart of Nebraska” has a funky-blues structure, but the double-tracked, echo-laden vocal and lyrics about crystal stairs, plus closing nod to “Purple Haze” let the listener know where the band’s intentions lay. The song also highlights one of the album’s less obvious strengths: Orphan Egg were good musicians, but not too good. That means that the guitar solos are melodic and to the point, the organ mainly provides texture and the band never indulges in interminable virtuoso wankery. Even the album’s longest track is under six minutes and is all the better for it – take for instance the pure 1964 Freddie and the Dreamers pop schmaltz of “Don’t Go to Him.” It’s pretty, I guess, but would even its greatest fan want more than two minutes and 11 seconds of it? Hopefully not.

The following “Circumstance” hardly sounds like the same band – wailing Electric Prunes psychedelic blues with a superbly hot guitar sound and a sneering garage-punk vocal and sonorous Beatles-esque harmony section, it’s an irresistible 1968 confection and is head-and-shoulders above the album’s more pop material. “Unusual State of Mind” promises more of the same, but it’s far tamer; up-tempo beat music with just a pinch of acid-rock atmosphere and sweet vocal harmonies. But it’s extremely pleasing, especially the understated slide guitar, even if it’s not especially adventurous. The album closes with its most epic – in length only – track, a creditable, early-Stones/Yardbirds style ramble through the venerable Muddy Waters/B.B. King classic “Rock Me Baby.” The band plays it well, stretching out with a slightly chaotic guitar freak-out that sticks with standard blues tones, rather than indulging in fuzz, echo or wah-wah, which might have been nice. All in all it’s a strong, but surprisingly traditional blues-rock finale to what is overall an enjoyable but slightly frustrating album.

Orphan Egg could clearly tackle the various prevailing rock music styles of 1963-‘8 well enough. No doubt they were stars in their local area and they seem like the exact kind of group to go down well – as they reputedly did – in Battle of the Bands type situations. They must have been a good night out at their local hangouts and it’s great that they got to make an album and even better than it’s still available. But Orphan Egg itself embodies the limitations that made them just another local band. They could play Top 40 material well enough, so well in fact that it’s hard to know where their own identity lies. Were they the snotty garage punks of “Bird Dog,” the frazzled, heavy freaks of “Falling,” the loveable choirboy pinups of “Don’t Go to Him” or the bad-boy blues band of “Rock Me Baby”? Well, all of them, clearly – and the variety is what makes Orphan Egg a fresh and likeable album, but it’s also what makes it a typical late-‘60s obscurity. Anyone exploring the discographies of artists they came across with a couple of feral Nuggets classics will know what to expect from Orphan Egg – flashes of majesty, a workmanlike willingness to play whatever people want to hear and an overflowing bucketload of period charm.

by Will Pinfold, February 27, 2023

Tracks

1. Falling - 3:40

2. That's The Way Love Is - 2:30

3. Mourning Electra - 2:16

4. Bird Dog (Boudleaux Bryant) - 2:45

5. It's Wrong - 2:30

6. Ain't That Lovin You Baby (Jimmy Reed) - 2:55

7. Look At Me - 2:50

8. Deep In The Heart Of Nebraska - 2:15

9. Don't Go To Him (Guy Hemric, Mirby, Jerry Styner) - 2:05

10.Circumstance - 2:50

11.Unusual State Of Mind - 1:40

12.Rock Me Baby (Joe Josea) - 5:50

13.We Have Already Died (Mike Stevens) - 2:33

14.Falling - 3:43

All songs by Jim Bate, George Brix, Pat Gallagher, Dave Monley, Barry Smith except where noted.

Bonus Tracks 13,14

Track 13 prefomed by The Boston Tea Party

The Orphan Egg
*Jim Bate - Vocals
*George Brix - Drums
*Pat Gallagher - Guitar, Vocals
*Dave Monley - Guitar, Harpsichord
*Barry Smith - Bass

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Dale Hawkins - L.A. • Memphis And Tyler Texas (1969 us, awesome, rhythm 'n' blues roots 'n' roll swamp rock, 2006 remaster)

Having his name carved into one of the first couple of pages of any r’n’r encyclopedia as early as 1957, there was not much left for Dale Hawkins to do during the rest of his career. Not that he was trying too much either.

After releasing his Suzie Q as a Chess single that year, and only one album in four years under the label’s roster, by 1967 he quits being an artist himself, making his way as a producer and A&R man for Bell Records, which eventually leads to his sophomore longplaying effort, recorded with a bunch of session cats such as Joe Osborn (bass), Ry Cooder (guitar), Taj Mahal (percussion & harmonica), Dan Penn (vocals), Spooner Oldham (el.piano), Ronnie “Mouse” Weiss (guitar).

As well as the original 15-year-old guitarist of the Q-lick fame, James Burton, with Dale being the only one present all over the sessions, starting from Joe Osborn’s basement in L.A., through the Ardent Studios in Memphis, and finally Tyler, Texas, making it pretty clear where the album title comes from.

Sticking firmly to the roots of American musical heritage throughout the whole album, (one of) the band(s) opens with funky piece of Staxastic soul instro, with Dale’s spoken-word tribute to the mentioned locations, followed by the basic (to an almost pure rockabilly level) r’n’b sound of Heavy On My Mind, before he lays it back with the “big pink” coloured country vibe of Joe.

However usual and unsurprising some of the choices of covers might seem, Hound Dog and Baby What You Want Me To Do are as worthy of attention as anything else, both adding an acid drop to the punked out rhythm’n’booze, that has a thing or two in common with another Ardent Studio product of the time, released by Terry Manning. (Home Sweet Home, reviewed elsewhere on these pages).

However, those being considered for the pair of tunes making this album un-missable, are “the most demented and yet utterly perfect version” of The First Edition’s Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town, made into an alternative to the alternative-country, and the closing so called “swamp funk symphony Little Rain Cloud, rollin’ and tumblin’ itself alongside the rawest of delta blues.

It’s no wonder this one got lost amongst all the psychedelic and progressive hard rocking shuffle of the time, but it still does ring a “Bell” for sure.

by Garwood Pickjon, May 10, 2007

Tracks

1. L.A., Memphis And Tyler Texas (Dale Hawkins, Randy Fouts) - 2:44

2. Heavy On My Mind (Dale Hawkins, Wayne Carson Thompson) - 2:33

3. Joe (Bobby Charles) - 3:04

4. Hound Dog (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 3:25

5. Back Street (Dale Hawkins) - 3:01

6. La La La La (Bobby Charles) - 3:46

7. Candy Man (Beverly Ross, Fred Neil) - 3:45

8. Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town (Mel Tillis) - 2:44

9. Baby What You Want Me To Do (Jimmy Reed) - 2:58

10.Little Rain Cloud (Dale Hawkins, Dan Penn) - 3:08

Musicians

*Dale Hawkins - Guitar, Vocals

*David Stanley - Bass  

*Joe Osborn - Bass  

*Linda Waring - Drums

*Paul Humphry - Drums

*Bugs Henderson - Guitar

*James Burton - Guitar 

*Ronnie Weiss - Guitar 

*Ry Cooder - Guitar

*Wayne Jackson - Horns 

*Robert Payne - Organ 

*Dirty John - Piano 

*Taj Mahal - Percussion, Harmonica 

*Spooner Oldham - Electric Piano 

*Dan Penn - Vocals  

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Hurriganes - Roadrunner (1974 finland, power boogie roots 'n' roll pub rock, 2007 SACD)

Hurriganes was a hugely popular Finnish rock & roll band formed in 1971 by Remu Aaltonen (vocals, drums), Cisse Häkkinen (bass, vocals), and Ile Kallio (guitar). Their music was a belated take on classic rock & roll, and the band was equally adept at writing their own modern classics as they were covering supercharged versions of songs by Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, or the J. Geils Band. Before recording their first album, 1973's Rock and Roll All Night Long, Ile Kallio had left the band and Albert Järvinen had taken over the reins in what is now considered the "classic" lineup.

Hurriganes revitalized the Finnish rock music scene, particularly with their second album, 1974's Roadrunner. The album, named after the Bo Diddley song, demolished the charts and is not only considered one of the best classic rock & roll albums in Finland, but it was also the best-selling album in its native land from 1974 to 1985. The single release of the song they added as a lark to the album when it came up too short, "Get On," has been named numerous times as the finest single rock & roll song released in Finland by both the public and the press. Järvinen took the intro from Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" and added a ferocious lead throughout the three-and-a-half-minute song, Aaltonen punched it up with a revved-up beat and nonsense lyrics that touched upon most of the rock & roll clichés of the past, and Häkkinen solidified the mixture with his sturdy basslines. 

by JT Lindroos

Tracks

1. It Ain't What You Do - 3:00

2. Hey Groupie - 2:32

3. Tallahassee Lassie (Frank C. Slay Jr, Robert Stanley Crewe) - 2:20

4. The Phone Rang (Richard Stanley) - 1:39

5. I Will Stay (Jørgen Lundgren) - 2:41

6. Get On - 3:47

7. In The Nude (Joe Garland) - 2:37

8. Mister X  (Remu Aaltonen, Cisse Häkkinen, Albert Järvinen, Richard Stanley) - 4:03

9. Slippin And Slidin (Richard Penniman) - 2:38

10.Oowee Oohla - 2:30

11.Roadrunner (Ellas McDaniel) - 4:16

All Songs by Remu Aaltonen, Cisse Häkkinen, Albert Järvinen except where stated

Hurriganes

*Remu Aaltonen - Vocals, Drums 

*Cisse Häkkinen - Bass, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

*Albert Järvinen - Guitar 

With

*Richard Stanley - Vocals (Track 8)

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