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Friday, August 30, 2024

Buckacre - Buckacre (1978 us, nice melodic country stadium rock, 2018 korean remaster)



Buckacre formed in Illinois River Valley, USA, in mid seventies, this is their second and final album. With the addition of a new keyboardist, they have shifted from the West Coast country rock of their previous album to a more edgy power pop/electro-pop sound. An excellent album that shows the band's true character, breaking away from the Eagles imitation. Grant Reeves, whose credits include Archie James Cavanagh's work, makes a guest appearance on alto sax.
Tracks
1. Star That Shines (Richard Hally, Les Lockridge) - 3:15
2. No Lover's Fool  (Richard Hally, Alan Thacker) - 3:52
3. Fire, Wind, Water (Skip Griparis, Robert K. Wilson) - 3:50
4. Same Old Song, Dance (Richard Hally, Alan Thacker) - 3:00
5. Here's A Stranger (Richard Hally, Alan Thacker) - 3:55
6. Night Driver (Skip Griparis, Robert K. Wilson) - 3:50
7. Tear Down The Walls (Richard Hally, Alan Thacker) - 3:32
8. Secrets (Richard Hally, Alan Thacker) - 3:20
9. Don't Be Blue (Les Lockridge, Alan Thacker, Richard Verucchi) - 3:35
10.Empty Nights (Tom Austin) - 3:18

Buckacre
*Alan Thacker - Guitar, Violin
*Darrell Data - Guitars, Pedal Steel, Vocals
*David Anson - Grand Piano, Keyboards, Vocals
*Dick Halley - Banjo, Bass
*Dick Verucchi - Drums, Percussion
With
*Grant Reeves - Alto Saxophone
*David Jackson - Strings Arranger, Conducter (except Track #2)

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

The Pete York Percussion Band - The Pete York Percussion Band (1972 uk, sensational jazz brass blues rock)



Pete was born in  Middlesbrough, England  on 15th August  1942. The Second World War was raging but he had nothing to do with it.

1950 He began to play on a toy drum and his mother’s cooking pots while listening to  American jazz on the radio; probably his first exposure to drum legend, Gene Krupa.Pete played drums throughout his school years and joined the Trent College Jazz Club, School Orchestra and Army Cadet Force Band. On leaving school in 1960 he had acquired some rudimentary technique on the drums and his enthusiasm was growing fast for a life in music. He went to Birmingham and soon got involved in the music scene there, playing everything  from Dixieland to modern jazz. In 1962 came his first TV appearance with an award-winning new jazz group.

Pete had also begun to play blues and R & B with Spencer Davis, Steve and Muff. Eventually the Spencer Davis Group would record in 1964. The record releases  that followed resulted in critical acclaim in many countries and ever-increasing chart success. “Keep On Running” reached Number One in 1965 to be followed in the next year by “Somebody Help Me”, “When I Come Home”, “Gimme Some Lovin’” and “I’m A Man”.

Pete appeared with the SDG in several films, countless TV shows around the world and is heard on all the million selling singles and albums. But there always comes that time to move on and Steve and Muff had already left.

In 1969 Pete left Spencer on friendly terms to form a unique duo with Eddie Hardin. Hardin and York were sometimes dubbed “the World’s Smallest Big Band” and released several albums with great success, especially in Europe. The duo often played as opening act for bands like Deep Purple and it is from this time that Pete’s friendship with Jon Lord and Ian Paice stems.

Pete York originally formed The Percussion Band back in 1971 as a solo project, and recorded a solitary studio album produced by Ian Paice. After that he maintained it on a part-time basis, roping in friends such as Paice and Jon Lord to take part in live shows.

'Sombrero Sam' is a second highly enjoyable jazz instrumental from the Percussion Band album. It's something of a percussion fest. The style rotation continues with the brass lead jazz of 'Moleshawk' , with busy drums and an even busier guitar solo. Good stuff. This is an enjoyable, and sometimes very exciting album, though much more successful in the jazz-rock rather than the r&b direction.
Tracks
1. Keep On Running (Jackie Edwards) - 4:34
2. Nothing Yet (Roger Munns) - 3:37 
3. Cold Night In The City (Steve Fearn) - 2:13 
4. Sombrero Sam (Charles Lloyd) - 10:32 
5. Mel's Blues (Mel Thorpe) - 3:02 
6. Moles Hawk (Bill Coleman) - 4:04 
7. Stroke (Bill Coleman) - 3:58 
8: The Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba (Georg Friedrich Händel) - 2:55 
9. Points (Roger Munns) - 4:14 
10.It's Over (Steve Fearn) - 2:47 

Musicians
*Pete York - Drums, Congas, Percussion
*Steve Fearn - Guitar, Vocals
*Roger Munns - Electric Piano, Trombone, Clarinet
*Bill Coleman - Bass Guitar, Electric Piano
*Mel Thorpe - Tenor, Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet
*Gordon Williamson - Drums, Percussion.
*Ian Paice - Congas (Track 4) 
*Barry Sutton - Trumpets

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Monday, August 26, 2024

Emergency - Emergency (1971 czechia / germany / uk, remarkable jazz brass prog rock, 2017 remaster)



Quite remarkably from today's view, Anglo-American beat and pop music did not just spread in the West, but beyond the „Iron Curtain" of the time. In the GDR, Poland, Czechoslovakia (today the Czech Republic and Slovakia), Hungary etc., many young musicians got themselves instruments and amplifier equipment, of- ten under difficult conditions and against the will of the ruling class. Their aim was to follow the electrifying "new music" that came from the West, and to play beat and later on rock music. This was particularly the case in former Czechoslovakia, where (quite in contrast to the GDR) a fairly liberal wind was blowing in the mid 1960 - considering it was under Soviet control - and where the ruling powers allowed the young generation to tailor themselves to the West both musically and with regard to their outward appearance.

The roots of Emergency date back to the beat band The Madators, originally founded in 1965 as "Fontana" by bassist Otto Bezloja (born on 04.07.1945, died 28.12.2001). The Madators from Prague were one of the leading beat bands in former Czechoslovakia, and also very popular in the GDR, since they often had gigs there. Their live program mainly consisted of cover versions of successful contemporaries like "The Who", "The Kinks", or the "Small Faces". The band released two singles, two EP's and a complete album, where they also played own titles. Singer Reddy Kirken (real name: Miloš Vokorka, born 28.05.1942) took over the vocals with The Madators from 1968-1969. Befo- re that, he had sung and played the guitar with the "Hell's Devils" (1963-1964) and with Komety (1967-1968). 

Keyboarder Jiří Matoušek (born 20.09.1942 in Prague) also played with The Madators from 1968-1969, together with sax player Hanuš Berka (15.12.1941, died on 14.04.1978). Before that, Jiří Matoušek had played the keyboard with "The Colour Images", the backing band of the Czech beat pioneer Pavel Sedláček. Hanuš Berka probably possessed the most impressive career until the foundation of Emergency. He had been instructed in classic piano since his early childhood, and had later on learned the guitar, clarinet, saxophone and flute. After his study at the conservatory in Prague he was honored best tenor saxophone player at the German amateur jazz festival.

In 1966 he worked as arranger for singer Karel Gott. Together they spent one year in Las Vegas, where he became honorary citizen and occasionally played with Ray Charles and Count Basie. Since Karel "made music I was no longer interested in", the jazz virtuoso and Coltrane fan separated from his partner. Back in Prague the former MBA and civil servant in the Ministry of Foreign Trade was part of the traditional jazz studio and played together with world renowned jazzmen Jan Hammer (keyboarder with the Mahavishnu Orchestra 1971-1973, and many others) and Miroslav Vitouš (bass, founding member of Weather Report). His "jazz mass❞ was successful at the jazz festival in Oslo.

Together with The Madators' colleagues mentioned he went to Munich in 1969 and became musical director of the German version of the musical "Hair". The Madators had been engaged as a band for this musical and also recorded the album "Haare". With that the beat- and pop era ended and the musicians obvious- ly wanted to broaden their musical horizon. Together with London guitarist Barry Newby and top session drummer Udo Lindenberg they founded Emergency. Technically top on their instruments they managed to establish a progressive brass rock alongside the funky krauty psychedelic- and electro rockers, which initially convinced a live audience. 

Manager Abi Ofarim, in whose cellar the band rehearsed, made contact with CBS and in no time a record contract for two albums was signed. Since the band had also caught the interest of the head of promotion of the American CBS, who was checking out Teutonic sound as a talent scout in Germany, the LP was released simultaneously in the USA and in Germany. Emergency's 1st album of the same name consisted of Reddy Kirken (Miloš Vokorka, aged 26 at that time), who had a black voice of rugged beauty and looked like a close (if beardless) relative of Rasputin. His parents were Red Indians, Sioux, who had landed in Prague. With his old friends Jiří Matoušek and Otto Bezloja he was companion of Hanuš Berka. Barry Newby, guitarist from London, who caressed the strings of his guitar as gently as Fred Glickstein from the "Flock", and eventually top drummer Udo Lindenberg from Hamburg intended to follow the Bohemian Berka on his path to the top of the world ranking list.

The record premiered in May 1971. Its rhythmic intensity and musical precision is by all means comparable to the earlier albums of the "Chicago Transit Authority” (I'm A Man). Cream of the crop! In January 1972 the second album Entrance was recorded and released shortly after. Guitarist Barry Newby had left for his home London, in order to produce T. Rex, resp. Marc Bolan. He was replaced by Frank Diez (Armageddon, Atlantis, and many others). Englishman John Redpath took over from Udo Lindenberg, who wanted to get his solo career started. In spite of excellent critiques the second album did not have the desired financial success; and so the band split up. Hanuš Berka continued with new musicians (for example Veit Marvos, Peter Bischof, Richard Palmer-James) and a more catchy sound. Another two regular albums were released on the brain label (Get Out Of The Country, 1973, and No Compromise, 1974), before the band finally dissolved in 1975. 

Hanuš Berka died in 1975 after a traffic accident. In 1991 Otto Bezloja reactivated The Madators (with whom he played until his death in 2001). The Madators had their last concert in 2008. The first legal rerelease of the Emergency CBS albums, which have been unavailable for a long time, is dedicated to the memory of Hanuš and Otto.
by Manfred Steinheuer, September 2016 
Tracks
1. Springtime (Hanus Berka, Schirrat) - 5:58
2. Jump Into Your Grave (Miloš "Reddy Kirken" Vokurka, Schirrat) - 5:02
3. Times Passed By (Hanus Berka, Schirrat) - 9:25
4. Love Is Here To Stay (Hanus Berka) - 6:12
5. My Woman's Gone Now (DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin) - 9:48
6. Gimme Some Lovin' (Spencer Davis, Steve Winwood) - 6:16

Emergency
*Miloš "Reddy Kirken" Vokurka - Vocals, Percussion
*Hanus Berka -  Tenor, Baritone Saxophones, Flute, Percussion
*Jiro Matousek -  Organ, Electric Piano, Piano, Percussion
*Otto Bezloja -  Bass
*Barrie Newby -  Guitar
*Udo Lindenberg -  Drums, Percussion
With
*Dusko Goykovic -  Trumpet

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Hotspur - Sweet Fortune's Darling (1974 us, elegant west coast country rock)



Ted Munda was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, mid to late sixties he was member of two local bands. Round 1964 he formed The Enfields they were highly influenced by the British Invasion and folk rock. In 1967 the band split and Ted formed Friends of the Family he also joined the Blues Magoos, in 1973 together with Gene Barkin, Russ Smith and Ted Longstreth they signed to Columbia Records under the name "Hotspur".

In 1974 this talented quartet release their debut LP titled "Sweet Fortune's Darling". Exquisite harmonies and powerful, driving rhythms highlight. "I Lost My Wings Ir Memphis" is a fabulous rocker with a steady, repeating chorus that gives it enough strength to be considered as a single. Throughout the collection, Hotspur effectively makes use of percussion, in much the same way as the Stones, using accents to bolster the feeling of the song. "I Wrote This Song," "The Best I Can Do," "Countryside Ride," "You Can't Lose (What You Never Had)," and "We Need A Captain" are all well worked pieces of music, showing promise for the band.
Tracks
1. I Wrote This Song - 4:43
2. The Best I Can Do (Gene Barkin) - 3:13
3. Wings Of A Dove (Russ Smith) - 3:59
4. No Place At All - 4:19
5. Constant Weather - 3:24
6. Countryside Ride - 3:00
7. You Can't Lose (Gene Barkin) - 4:08
8. We Need A Captain - 3:27
9. All Along The Lake - 4:20
10.I Lost My Wings In Memphis - 5:00
All songs by Ted Munda except where stated

Hotspur
*Ted Munda - Lead Vocals, Rhythm, Acoustic, Lead Guitars
*Gene Barkin - Lead Guitar, Vocals
*Russ Smith - Bass, Vocals
*Ted Longstreth - Drums

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Pandora - Measures Of Time (1974 sweden, warm energetic prog rock)



This is the only album by Pandora, a progressive rock group from Sweden that included Bertil Jonsson, who later played in Fresh Air, and Åke Rolf, formerly of H2O. The album is a clean and lyrical work with emotional vocals, focusing on classical phrases with prestigious harpsichord and piano, and beautiful twin lead guitar ensemble, backed by a neat rhythm section. Although it is a self-produced album, its melancholy melodies filled with Scandinavian-style sentimentalism are now attracting attention as a hidden gem that resonates with the heartstrings of the Japanese people as well.

Pandora was formed in 1971 by drummer Bertil Jonsson and guitarist Urban Götling in the southern Swedish city of Norrköping. In the same year, vocalist Peter Hjelm, bassist Björn Malmqvist, and keyboardist Jan-Erik Dockner joined the group under the name Pandora. They initially played hard rock influenced by the British Uriah Heep, but also progressive rock like Genesis, King Crimson, and Emerson Lake & Palmer, and became more popular in Sweden, they tried to changed their musical style to a more symphonic one. The band's guitarist, Arvind Arbuthnot, was also a member of the band. At this time, guitarist Urban Gottling left the band early and was replaced by Åke Rolf, formerly of the group H2O. Another guitarist, Leif Herkqvist, also joined the band to make it a twin-guitar formation. 

They played at a club in their hometown of Jönköping and reportedly attracted attention for their symphonic sound. 1974 they left their hometown and turned the top floor of the Bergaskolan school building in the sea-side town of Södersöping into a studio, where keyboard player Jan-Erik Dockner was the main force behind the composition and rehearsals by all members of the band. They then entered the Take-3 studio in October and November 1974 to record with producer and studio engineer Lars Finstrom. They would release an album in December 1974 under the title “Measures of Time” on the independent Swedish label of Scarlet Music AB (aka SMA). The album is a melancholic sound similar to that of Genesis, Greenslade, and Beggars Opera in the UK, with twin guitars that seem to fold in on classical harpsichord and piano phrases, and powerful, melancholic vocals that are sung emotionally. The album is a gem.

The first track on the album, “Measures of Time,” opens with a simple harpsichord melody overlaid with bass notes, and then builds into a lyrical ensemble with a neat rhythm section. The second track, “Dusty Ledger,” is a melancholy melody filled with sentimentalism in a classical setting, with emotional Peter Hjelm's vocals and melodic guitar interrupting, The second song, “Dusty Ledger,” has an impressive singing style reminiscent of Peter Gabriel of Genesis. Overall, the ensemble is flowing and centered around a lyrical Genesis-esque piano, with sharp drumming. The third track, “Queen,” is a bright pop tune with familiar melodies. The fourth song, “Life is Good, Life is Bad,” also has a classical rock feel with its impressive piano melody, but it is based on krautrock and blues. Very rhythmic in its heaviness, it can be described as easy listening blues rock, while the fifth track, “The Tailor,” is an iconic song with soft piano, guitar, and vocal ensemble. 

The beautiful arrangement is reminiscent of Beggars Opera or Camel. The second half of the album has a psychedelic development with energetic guitars, while the sixth track, “Turbulent Heart,” is a pastoral vocal piece with guitars and lyrical piano. The song takes a bluesy turn with heavy guitars in the middle, and is interspersed with slow and steady phrases along with flowing piano and beautiful sounding guitars. The emotional vocals continue to the end of the song before quietly fading out. Listening to the album as a whole, the melodic elements of the classical keyboards and bluesy guitars, along with the warm vocals, create a wonderful album with a grainy Scandinavian tone that is used throughout the songs. The arrangements are surprisingly complex, with heavy development by twin guitars and psychedelic keyboard work that folds in on itself. However, the production is favorable, with flowing harpsichord and piano leading the way until the end, and not losing the symphonic touch until the very end.

After the album's release, they played local clubs for a while, but guitarist Leif Herkqvist left the band in 1976. The reason was that his girlfriend said she could not dance to Pandora's music, and Björn was told by her to play in a dance group. In the same year, bassist Björn Malmqvist also left the band to enter a music college, they replaced by Uffe “Ulf” Stern (keyboards), Gunnar Hermelin (bass), formerly of the group Madira, as new members, and they appeared on Swedish radio Tonkraft on March 1, 1979.

 And in the same year, they recorded the single “Makten och Härligheten”. The single was said to have a strong jazz-rock sound, influenced by Uffe and Gunnar. Approaching Pandora was a group called Tribute, from the same hometown of Norsköping. They advocate progressive rock, and two of their members, Gideon Anderson and Per Rumsby, frequently visited Pandora's concerts. Ramsby, who became friends with Pandora, has filled in for Uffe Stern at some of their gigs. They used this opportunity to play concerts in Holsalen, Norrköping, fronting groups such as Trettio​å​riga Kriget and Kaipa , which were popular in Sweden, and were well received by progressive rock fans. Pandora also began operating a record store, Rockslag, in Norsheping at this time. 

Around 1979, the members began to work independently, and in 1980, Pandora almost spontaneously disbanded. After the breakup, keyboardists Jan-Erik Dockner and Uffe Stern, and later guitarists Ake Rolf and Gunnar Hermelin joined the group and continued playing in Floyd & the Boys, which had been active since 1975. Also, Björn Malmqvist, who was the bassist, is now playing as a member of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra.
Tracks
1. Measures Of Time 4:29
2. Dusty Ledger - 8:02
3. The Queen - 5:07
4. Life Is Good, Life Is Bad-  4:26
5. Tailor - 5:32
6. Mind Of Conclusion - 7:06
All songs by Åke Rolf, Bertil Jonsson, Björn Malmqvist, Jan-Erik Dockner, Leif Hellqvist, Peter Hjelm 

Pandora
*Björn Malmqvist - Bass
*Peter Hjelm - Vocals
*Ake Rolf - Guitar
*Jan-Erik Dockner - Acoustic Piano, Moog-Synthesizer
*Leif Hellquist - Guitar
*Bertil Jonsson - Percussion

Thursday, August 22, 2024

The Cyrkle - ‘The Minx’ Original Soundtrack (1968 us, nice sunny beat folk psych, 2003 remaster and expanded)



Here’s as unlikely a pairing as you’re likely to encounter, even within the context of 1960s pop culture. The Cyrkle were an American pop group whose greatest claims to fame were twofold: one, they recorded and released a single, “Red Rubber Ball,” written by one Paul Simon. Two, they were part of the package of opening acts on the Beatles’ final tour of the U.S.

Perhaps a third notable item should be added to that list (or perhaps not; that’s for you to decide). In 1969 a low-budget X-rated(!) film called The Minx was released to select theaters. The film featured original music by none other than The Cyrkle. Was this a bid for hip cred? Was the band forced to take part in this somewhat cheesy endeavor? Does their music fit at all with the movie? And is the music any good? Questions, questions.

Actually, the tunes are catchy enough, in a light, somewhat inconsequential way. Songs like “Murray the Why” (yes, it’s about whom you think it’s about, though that has not-a-lot to do with the film) are pleasant enough. The lyrics aren’t exactly deathless, but the arrangement is professional, and the vocal charts are lovely.

As with most any film soundtrack, some of the music is little more than filler, a kind of audio wallpaper to help set the scene. “The Minx” (vocal)” is such a tune. And when you spin the LP and hear the twangy, cowboy-flavored “Walter’s Riff,” your imagination will pretty much tell you what’s happening onscreen during the tune. “The Rigging” is little more than the most common of melodies, but it does feature some sorta-interesting keyboard fills.

“The Party” starts off with a riff lifted from Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen,” but quickly heads in a sub-”Theme from A Summer Place” direction. That said, it does feature some nice enough wordless harmonies with a Beach Boys flavor. “Nicole” features some too-earnest-by-half “exotic” trappings: sitar and off-key wooden flute. But it’s kinda cool nonetheless, despite its drone-y vocals. The instrumental track “The Chase” is pretty good in a poor-man’s Mission: Impossible sort of way.

“It’s a Lovely Game, Louise” is standard romantic scene fare, and “The Minx (instrumental)” features some incongruous Herb Alpert-wannabee brass work. But it has a catchy walking bass line. “On the Road” benefits from a catchy melodic line and some tasty electric 12-string guitar. “Something Special” is perhaps the cleverest and most original pop tune on the album, but it’s not strong enough to rescue the relatively faceless character of the music as a whole. Much about the music as a whole feels very “1967,” which makes sense: that’s when the film was shot and the soundtrack was recorded.

Never bad, not at all great but consistently okay-to-good, the Cyrkle’s soundtrack for The Minx is a curio, an artifact of its era. Andrew Sandoval’s liner notes are very on-the-nose when he writes “…by the time the X-rated version of The Minx finally hit screens in late 1969, the film had been in the can almost as long as the band’s chart career.”

One track on The Minx may come as a bit of a shock to aficionados of 1960 popsike, British edition. A beautifully orchestrated instrumental, “Kites” is actually a cover. The best and most well-known version of the tune is the 1967 recording by Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, a group whose members would go on to form Gentle Giant. The Minx‘s version of “Kites” is without a doubt the highlight of the entire package.

The new vinyl reissue is lovingly put together, perhaps affording more care and creativity than its contents deserve. A gatefold sleeve features lots of photos (none all too racy; sorry), and the record itself is – wait for it – hot pink.
by Bill Kopp On April 17, 2018
Tracks
1. Squeeze Play - 3:06
2. The Minx - 2:31
3. Murray The Why - 2:59
4. The Rigging - 1:14
5. The Party - 3:08
6. Nicole - 4:12
7. It's A Lovely Game Louise (Tom Dawes) - 2:15
8. The Minx - 2:51
9. Something Special - 2:27
10.On The Road - 3:28
11.Walter's Riff - 1:12
12.The Chase - 2:17
13.Terry's Theme - 2:09
14.Something Special - 2:29
15.Kites (Hal Hackady, Lee Pockriss) - 3:58
16.Squeeze Play - 3:14
17.Murray The Why - 3:00
18.Nicole - 4:09
19.Baxter's Dangerous Game - 2:41
20.Terry's Escape - 5:07
All songs by Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes except where stated

The Cyrkle
*Don Dannemann - Guitar, Vocals
*Tom Dawes - Guitar, Bass, Sitar, Vocals
*Marty Fried - Drums, Tambourine, Finger Cymbals, Triangle, Gong, Vocals
*Michael Losekamp - Keyboards


Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Chris Gantry - At The House Of Cash (1973 us, fascinating folk rock with blues and prog tinges, 2017 remaster)



“It was pretty far out there. When people heard it, they thought I’d lost my mind,” That’s original Nashville outlaw Chris Gantry, talking about his 1973 album At the House of Cash, adding, “which I had, thank God. Or else I never would have done it.” At a time when the biggest thing coming out of Music City was countrypolitan schlock, Gantry was holed up at his pal Johnny Cash’s place, cutting brilliantly strange-sounding, peyote-inspired tunes about UFOs and lizards.

At the House of Cash was too freaky for mid-’70s Nashville. It’s probably too freaky for 2017 Nashville. “Nobody would pick it up,” Gantry remembers. “It was just too off the map for around here. People were putting out eclectic, art-driven records in other places.” It’s taken four and a half decades for his left-field, nearly-lost masterpiece to finally see the light of day.

Informed by rock, urban folk, and Beat poetry, Gantry was an unlikely prospect for the Music Row publishing houses, but after getting kicked out of a college about 100 miles from Nashville in 1963, he made his way to the country music hub. “I realized there was a counterculture going on here,” he recalls, “but the music business was still the old guard. They were holding on for dear life, but the revolution was moving in and things were changing. If there was an outlaw movement down the road, I might have brought the seed of that with me, because eventually the songs I wrote with that vibe started to get recorded by other artists in country music.”

Somehow Gantry’s idiosyncratic, folk-influenced songs found a home in Nashville, and he became a staff writer at “Long Black Veil” co-songwriter Marijohn Wilkin’s upstart publishing company Buckhorn Music. “She put a quote out in Billboard at that time that they were signing Chris Gantry, and that he was Nashville’s answer to Bob Dylan,” Gantry says. “That gave me impetus to be even more individual and really seek my own voice.” About a year later, Kris Kristofferson arrived at Buckhorn, and though it was Kristofferson who really galvanized the outlaw movement in Nashville in the early ’70s, it was Gantry who got the ball rolling. “I know I influenced a lot of early Kris songs, and I was influenced by a lot of his stuff too,” says Gantry. “He and I were hanging out together every day for four years at Buckhorn, and then when we left we went to Combine Music and we were there for another two years, and we saw each other every day there too; we were around each other all the time—osmosis.”

Gantry’s big breakthrough came when Glen Campbell scored a hit with his song “Dreams of the Everyday Housewife,” which was included on the milestone 1968 album Wichita Lineman, preceding the legendary title track’s release as a single. That same year, Gantry released his debut album, Introspection, including his own version of the song alongside a batch of gracefully orchestrated, harmonically and lyrically sophisticated folk-rock tunes. Though there was no shortage of such sounds coming from either coast, it was still an anomaly in Nashville. “It was probably one of the first real singer/songwriter albums that was orchestrated like a Glen Campbell record, but Nashville-style,” Gantry assesses. “But it just did not catch on in the way that I thought it would.”

After Gantry fell under the spell of Charles Mingus’s jazz innovations, his muse led him even further afield, and his next album, 1970’s Motor Mouth, made its predecessor seem staid by comparison. ” I didn’t want to stay Mr. ‘Dreams of the Everyday Housewife’ for the rest of my life,” he says. “So I changed, and I got a lot of slack for it. I sang those songs when I was on the road with Kris. I was his opening act, and I would do all that wacky shit opening for Kris.”

By 1973, Gantry was befriended by Johnny Cash, who’d recorded Gantry’s “Allegheny” and brought him on his TV show to sing it himself. The Man in Black offered his fellow maverick refuge on a number of levels. “I had just been busted for growing pot on my farm,” remembers Gantry, “which back then was like a federal offense. And John called me up and said, ‘Just come out and live at the house until shit blows over.'”

Cash also signed Gantry to his publishing company, and while he was staying with him, he gave Gantry free reign to make his next record at his House of Cash home studio. But a crucial inspiration for the album came from outside of Nashville. “Right before I signed with Johnny, I went to Mexico,” explains Gantry, “and met up with a guy I had met some years before down there, and we ended up in a peyote ritual down in Oaxaca. Coming out of that peyote experience I wrote three songs down there that were on this Cash album. One was ‘The Lizard,’ one was ‘Different,’ and the other was ‘Away Away.’ I came back to Nashville with those three songs and everything else just fell out of that.”

When Cash heard the final results, Gantry says he told him, “’Chris, June and I listened to your record last night, and I don’t think even the drug people are gonna understand it.’” But Gantry wasn’t deterred. “I liked what he said, because it just let me know that I had achieved what I set out to do,” he says. “I was trying to defy genre, to create a genre.”

The album literally starts off in outer space, with Gantry singing about flying saucers amid otherworldly electronic sounds on the aforementioned peyote-inspired “Away Away.” The impressionistic lyrics, swooping vocal, and offbeat orchestrations of “Different” feel more like a Radiohead outtake than a mid-’70s Nashville product. “Tear” is a Beat-influenced spoken poem with abstract, Eastern-tinged backing from renowned folk-jazz band Oregon. “Flower of the Mountain” moves through a dizzying array of unexpected changes, framed by grandly plucked harp and angular woodwinds. And “The Lizard,” another product of peyote visions, is just downright freaky, starting off with the line “The lizard introduced me to the orange flying bird,” and getting progressively further out from there, as the narrator converses with the reptile, and then with the ghost of his own late grandfather.

“It was relatable to me,” says Gantry of his striking, surreal imagery, “because I was experiencing that. But as far as other people were concerned, I could have been Captain Beefheart.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, the album found no takers among the era’s Nashville-based labels. “It was pretty far out there,” he says. “Nobody would do anything for that. And then right after that, John sold his company and all that stuff got lost, including some of his stuff.”

Ready to try something different, Gantry moved to Key West for six years, pursuing prose as a novelist and playwright, winning the Tennessee Williams playwriting contest and hanging out with songwriter and author Shel Silverstein and celebrated novelist Thomas McGuane. He eventually returned to Nashville and resumed his music career, but the Cash sessions were basically forgotten.

“It got lost for 45 years,” Gantry says. “I had no idea where it was, until I got a call from John Carter [Cash, Johnny’s son]. He told me, ‘Chris, we’re looking around here and we found some tapes of yours with your name on it.’ They sent them to me and I sent them to [reissue producer] Jerry DeCicca.”

However belatedly, At the House of Cash has finally been released, with DeCicca playing midwife for Drag City, and even all these years later, it remains an astonishing piece of work. “My feeling is that I outlasted the 45 years that it took for this record to find ears that liked it and saw value in it,” says Gantry.

Despite the decades it took for the record’s time to come, the years have not diminished its arresting individuality. “I don’t like saying that anybody is ahead of their time,” says Gantry. “Everybody is in the exact time they’re supposed to be in. I was in the exact time I was supposed to be in musically when I did the House of Cash. I wasn’t 50 years ahead or 100 years behind, I was exactly where I should be, because I was doing what an artist is supposed to do, he’s supposed to keep progressing in his art, and keep moving forward.”

Today Gantry is still busy performing, writing, and recording, with a number of albums out over the last few years and a new solo acoustic record in the works. And he’s sanguine about the way things worked out with At the House of Cash. “I did the right thing by making that record,” he says. “I might not be a household name, and I might not have made the paychecks that a lot of the other guys have done, but I stayed true to artistic pursuit, and I’m still doing it, and that is my legacy. That is what I was born to do.”
by Jim Allen,· December 08, 2017 
Tracks
1. Away Away - 3:39
2. Different - 3:11
3. Tear - 4:05
4. Dreaming' Of A Leaving' Train - 4:06
5. Saddest Song Ever Sung - 2:45
6. Flower Of The Mountain - 4:06
7. Hatred For Feeny - 3:39
8. Clair Oh Clair - 3:25
9. Oobabalap - 2:54
10.The Lizard - 4:12
11.See Ya Around - 1:22
All Words and Music by Chris Gantry

Personnel
*Chris Gantry - Harmonica, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
*Spady Brannan - Bass
*Bergen White - Strings
*Irving Cain - Strings
*Shane Keister - Synth, Moog, Piano
*Chris Laird - Drums
*Bashful Brother Oswald - Jug 
*Jerry Smith - Dobro, Electric Guitar
*Buddy Spicher - Fiddle
*Bobby Thompson - Banjo
*Unknown - Harp Player
the band Oregon featured on track 3
*Paul McCandless - Oboe, English Horn 
*Glen Moore - Flute, Acoustic, Electric Bass 
*Collin Walcott - Violin, Guitar, Sitar, Tabla, Mridangam, Esraj, Percussion 
*Ralph Towner - 6, 12-String Guitars, Mellophone


Monday, August 19, 2024

Marshall Tucker Band - Carolina Dreams (1977 us, topflight southern rock with jazz and blues aspects, 2004 bonus track remaster)



Released in 1977, Carolina Dreams was a commercial breakthrough for the Marshall Tucker Band in large part due to a pair of hit singles -- "Heard It in a Love Song" and "Fly Like an Eagle." It was also the beginning of their transition from one of Southern rock's preeminent "boogie bands" to a unit that was equally versed in country, rock, blues, folk, pop, and jazz. 

The easy grace of Doug Gray's voice and Jerry Eubanks' reeds and woodwinds, juxtaposed with the edgy sting of Toy Caldwell's guitars, was a solid combination that is exploited here to its fullest. Paul Hornsby's production accents the ballads and midtempo rockers to fine effect. The band contributed heavily to the compositions on Carolina Dreams, and because Caldwell's singles are so transcendent, the other songs on the set are ratcheted up, as evidenced by the beautiful horn-drenched "I Should Have Never Started Lovin' You" or "Life in a Song," which successfully brought together hard country and Southern R&B in a tight, punchy, and bluesed-out mix. 

The remastered and expanded edition contains a smoking live version of George McCorkle's "Silverado." It's a bit thin in fidelity, but the performance more than compensates. 
by Thom Jurek 
Tracks
1. Fly Like An Eagle (Toy Caldwell) - 3:02
2. Heard It In A Love Song (Toy Caldwell) - 4:54
3. I Should Have Never Started Lovin' You (Doug Gray, Tommy Caldwell, George McCorkle) - 7:07
4. Life In A Song (Jerry Eubanks, George McCorkle) - 3:32
5. Desert Skies (Toy Caldwell) - 6:20
6. Never Trust A Stranger (Tommy Caldwell) - 5:24
7. Tell It To The Devil (Toy Caldwell) - 6:43
8. Silverado (George McCorkle) - 4:28

The Marshall Tucker Band
*Doug Gray - Vocals 
*George McCorkle - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, 12-String Guitar 
*Toy Caldwell - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Steel Guitar 
*Jerry Eubanks - Flute, Saxophone, Background Vocals 
*Tommy Caldwell - Bass Guitar, Tambourine, Background Vocals 
*Paul Riddle - Drums
With
*Charlie Daniels - Fiddle, Background Vocals 
*Dezso Lakatos - Tenor Saxophone 
*Paul Hornsby - Piano, Organ 
*Chuck Leavell - Piano 
*Jaimoe - Congas

1974  The Marshall Tucker Band - Where We All Belong (2004 remaster with bonus track)

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Blackhorse - Blackhorse (1979 us solid tough texas boogie rock pre stoner, 2013 remaster)



Blackhorse formed in A and released only this album in 1979. Heavy Southern Rock 'n' roll - very similar to early Blackfoot, early Molly Hatchet. Heavy guitar riffs all over! A fantastic Southern Rock album. Self-produced and pressed this album to use as a promotional item to secure live gigs and sell at shows, the sound is incredible for a self-produced album.  Sadly, the band was never picked up by a major label and this album remains their sole output. The album is utterly unbelievable in its rich and devilish guitar riffs and very unique as it fuses hard rock and southern flair. It is mentioned in celebrity rock critic Martin Popoff´s list of the ‚"100 Heaviest Albums of the Seventies‚".
Tracks
1. Fox Huntin' (Gary James, John Teague, Paul Middleton) - 3:36
2. Lucille (Albert Collins, Richard Penniman) - 2:53
3. Velvet Angel (Gary James) - 3:30
4. The Party's Started (Paul Middleton) - 1:50
5. Momma Gonna Love You Tonight (Paul Middleton) - 1:56
6. Cannot Find My Way Home (John Teague) - 3:15
6. Hell Hotel (Gary James) - 4:00
7. You've Got The Way (John Teague) - 2:56
8. Slow Down Tom (Gary James, John Teague) - 3:18
9. Dave's Song (John Teague) - 3:12
10.Spencer's Corner (Paul Middleton) - 4:30

Blackhorse
*Mr. Gary James - Guitar, Vocals
*Paul Anthony Middleton - Bass, Vocals
*John Teague - Drums, Vocals

Saturday, August 17, 2024

Cyrkle - Neon (1967 us, beautiful baroque folk psych, 2006 japan remaster and expanded)



"Neon", appeared in 1967, though the cover of that record depicted the band as a trio. Although it had some enjoyable cuts, Neon wasn't nearly as strong or accessible as its predecessor, and with no hit single to follow "Turn Down Day," the group's fortunes gradually ebbed. They did record some interesting and ambitious songs during their final year of work, including "Red Chair Fade Away," an early song by Robin and Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees; Dawes and Dannemann also proved themselves quite capable of writing good songs on their own. The death of Brian Epstein in the summer of 1967, however, interrupted whatever lingering interest there was in continuing with the group.

At around the same time that the group was collectively assessing its future, Tom Dawes happened to sell a jingle he'd written for a commercial to an advertising agency. The five-figure fee he collected for the sale (on top of any royalties from re-use) came a lot easier than a five-figure income from playing shows at that date, more than a year after their last hit. The chronology of the Cyrkle's final days is a little difficult to figure out because Dawes did quit in early 1968, followed byLosekam and Dannemann.

During the group's final days together, they contributed songs -- including some very spaced-out psychedelia to an independently financed dramatic film that was eventually released as a sexploitation vehicle under the title The Minx. Losekamp played for other groups, while Dawes and Dannemann both went on to major careers writing commercial jingles. Dannemann's company, Mega Music, also produced the scores to several top-rated children's shows of the '70s and '80s, while Fried became an attorney and Pickens a doctor. Dannemann briefly re-emerged as a recording artist in 1981 when he and his wife recorded a single, "I Did It for You," as a tribute to John Lennon. 

The Cyrkle actually got back together to play a benefit in 1986, in connection with Hands Across America, but have not been heard from since. Their music is still being reissued, especially their two hits and with the occasional psychedelic cut, such as "The Words," which ended up on Psychedelic Archives, Vol. 6. In the late '80s, Columbia Records accidentally released an alternate mix of "Red Rubber Ball" on one of its multi-artist compilations that left out the organ and moved the guitars to the front of the mix. The 1991 compilation Red Rubber Ball assembled most of the group's popular and easily accessible Columbia recordings on one CD. And in 2002, Sundazed Records licensed the complete Cyrkle catalog, unearthing numerous worthwhile unreleased tracks and finally giving this underrated band the respect and attention they deserved. 
by Bruce Eder
Tracks
1. Don't Cry, No Fears, No Tears Comin' Your Way (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 2:39
2. The Visit (She Was Here) (Bodie Chandler, Edward McKendry) - 2:16
3. Weight Of Your Words (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 2:23
4. I Wish You Could Be Here (Bruce Woodley, Paul Simon) - 2:51
5. It Doesn't Matter Anymore (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) - 2:00
6. Two Rooms (Marty Fried) - 1:43
7. Our Love Affair's In Question (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 2:23
8. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 1:58
9. Problem Child (Carole Bayer, Toni Wine) - 2:33
10.Please Don't Ever Leave Me (Susan Haber) - 1:57
11.I'm Not Sure What I Wanna Do (Chip Taylor) - 2:49
12.Don't Cry, No Fears, No Tears Comin' Your Way (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 2:46
13.You Can't Go Home Again (Unknown Artist) - 2:11
14.Terry's Theme (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 2:20
15.We Said Goodbye (And Went Our Separate Ways Or So We Thought) (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 1:28
16.Turn Of The Century (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) - 2:22
17.Friends (Don Dannemann) - 2:40
18.Where Are You Going (Don Dannemann) - 2:11
19.Red Chair Fade Away (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) - 2:11
20.Please Don't Ever Leave Me (Susan Haber) - 1:56
21.Money To Burn (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 3:05
22.I Wish I Could Be Here (Bruce Woodley, Paul Simon) - 2:44
23.The Visit (She Was Here) (Bodie Chandler, Edward McKendry) - 2:16
24.We Had A Good Thing Goin' (Howard Greenfield, Neil Sedaka) - 2:45
25.Two Rooms (Marty Fried) - 1:44
26.Penny Arcade (Denny Randell, Sandy Linzer) - 2:39
27.The Words (Tom Dawes) - 3:22
28.Reading Her Paper (Barbara Cooper, Frank Catana) - 3:02
29.Camaro (Louis Adessa, Vince Benay) - 3:12

The Cyrkle
*Don Dannemann – Guitar, Vocals
*Tom Dawes – Guitar, Bass, Sitar, Vocals
*Marty Fried – Drums, Tambourine, Finger Cymbals, Triangle, Gong, Vocals
*Michael Losekamp - Keyboards
With
*The International Brotherhood Of Brindle Makers Marching Band & Chowder Society - Brass, Strings, Woodwind


Text Host

Friday, August 16, 2024

The American Revolution - The American Revolution (1968 us, nice baroque psych blue eyed soul)



Wow, this was a weird one ... Showcasing the talents of rhythm guitarist Richard Barcellona, drummer Daniel Derda, singer/keyboardist Eddie Haddad and bassist John Keith, The American Revolution came off as an unsuccessful cross between bubblegum pop and more conventional rock. 

The band traced its roots to an earlier Los Angeles outfit known as The Band without a Name, which in turn traced part of it's heritage to the poorly named Scottie and The Tissues.  By 1966 The Band without a Name featured former Scottie and the Tissues rhythm guitarist Richard Barcellona and bass player John Keith, future Beach Boy and solo act David Marks, and singer/keyboardist Eddie Haddad.  The group found a manager in  dj/dance promoter Casey Kasem and found steady work playing L.A. dances and clubs.  Through Kasem and Mike Curb they were hired as house band for American International Pictures.  

The stuidio's original marketing plan was apparently to turn the group into an in-house version of The Monkees, but their film legacy was limited to a couple of cameo appearances in AIP biker flicks and having a couple of songs included on the accompanying soundtrack LPs (Thunder Alley (as The Band with No Name), Born Wild (?), The Glory Stompers, and Wild In the Streets).

Signed by MGM's short-lived Flick Disc subsidiary, the band's 1968 debut "The American Revolution" found them working with three separate producers (the team of Michael Lloyd and Mike Curb, Harley Hatcher (who contributed several tracks and was also a Mike Curb associate), and Larry Brown).  As was common at the time, much to the band's irritation most of the tracks were recorded by studio musicians - in this case Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine, guitarist James Burton, bassist Carol Kaye and keyboardist Larry Knechtel.  Adding to the band's frustrations, most of their original material was passed over in favor of outside tracks suggested by the producers.  

Only four of the ten tracks were group compositions with Hatcher responsible for three tracks, including the hideous 'Prelude To Love' (notable for one of the lamest guitar solos you'll ever hear) and the equally bad 'Come On and Get It'.  With such a disjointed 'birth', it was to be expected the resulting album was all over the musical spectrum, including haphazard stabs at Rascals-styled blue-eyed soul ('Come On and Get It'), seriously bad Mersybeat knockoffs ('Rainbow In the Rain' sported what had to be the worst mock English accents I've ever heard'), Beatles-styled psych (the hysterically Sgt. Pepper knockoffs 'In the Late Afternoon' and 'Opus #1') and even Buckinghams-styled horn rock ('Love Has Got Me Down').

The band undertook an extended national tour in support of the LP, but it failed to chart.  Following the tour Barcellona and drummer Dave Novorgoski (who'd previously replaced Daniel Derda) were fired for violating the morals clauses in their contract.   Keith subsequently quit reuniting with Barcelona and Novorgoski in The Edge. Haddad recruited a new American Revolution lineup, but the project quickly collapsed.  He then turned his attention to Max Frost and the Troopers. Keith eventually moved to Central California and went to work for the US Postal Service but remained active in music recording with The Loose Gravel Blues Band and the Beatles tribute group Revolver. 
Bad-Cat
Tracks
1. Cold Wisconsin Nights (Michael Lloyd)- 1:58
2. Rainbow In The Rain (Nancy August) - 2:23
3. Prelude To Love (Harley Hatcher) - 2:41
4. Show Me How To Cry (John Keith) - 1:59
5. Crying Eyes And An Empty Heart (Richard Barcellona,John Keith) - 2:55
6. Come On And Get It (Richard Barcellona, John Keith) - 2:55
7. In The Late Afternoon (Richard Barcellona,John Keith) - 2:52
8. Keeping Your Love (Richard Barcellona, John Keith) - 1:48
9. Opus # 1 (Harley Hatcher) - 2:20
10.Love Has Got Me Down (Harley Hatcher) - 2:27

The American Revolution
*Richard Barcellona - Vocals, Rhythm Guitar 
*Daniel Derda - Vocals, Drums, Percussion 
*Eddie Haddad - Vocals, Keyboards 
*John Keith - Vocals, Bass  
*Dave Novorgoski - Drums (Replaced Daniel Derda) 
With
*Hal Blaine - Drums
*Carol Kaye - Bass
*James Burton - Guitar
*Larry Knechtel - Keyboards

Related Acts

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

The Cyrkle - Red Rubber Ball (1966 us, wondrous light folk rock, 2001 remaster and expanded)



The Cyrkle didn't seem like much more than a two-hit wonder in 1966 when they charted with "Red Rubber Ball" and "Turn Down Day." Their pleasant, upbeat folk/pop/rock sound, coupled with the fact that they got to record two complete LPs, speaks volumes about how good music was in the years 1965-1967 as even second-tier groups like this were a delight to hear. Ironically, for a group remembered for just a pair of singles, the Cyrkle were considered a promising and choice signing, and were, to different degrees, wired into the management and creative circles surrounding the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel.

Brooklyn-born Tom Dawes, an ex-folky who had previously played in a group called the Ironwood Knights, and Albany, NY, born Don Dannemann were both attending Lafayette College in Easton, PA, in 1961 when they decided to form a frat band called the Rhondells (not to be confused with the Rhondels, of Bill Deal & the Rhondels fame who, oddly enough, later ended up signed to a label in Pennsylvania). The Rhondells mostly played covers of current pop/rock hits by the Four Seasons and other top groups of the era, as well as basic, dance-oriented rock & roll. They were a cut above most other frat bands, however, in the care they gave to those covers, which mostly grew out of Dawes' and Dannemann's respective ears for music. 

Though officially the group's bassist, Dawes could also analyze the interior structure of any vocal ensemble that he heard and also began writing songs after meeting Dannemann, who was already writing songs when they met. They were good enough to play some of the better rooms in Atlantic City (long before the legalization of gambling), which was then a popular but somewhat declining East Coast resort. While playing the Alibi Lounge during the summer of 1964, they were heard by Nat Weiss, an entertainment lawyer and would-be music entrepreneur who suddenly became very prominent in 1964 when he hooked up with British manager Brian Epstein. He played a key role in getting the Beatles some prime gigs, including their Carnegie Hall and Shea Stadium concerts in 1964 and 1965, respectively.

In late 1965, Weiss got seriously interested in the group -- which also included drummer Marty Fried and keyboardist Earl Pickens -- and brought them to New York to play some club dates in Greenwich Village. The name the Rhondells, with its early-'60s aura, was abandoned in favor of the Cyrkle -- a name supposedly suggested by John Lennon, whose advice was asked by Epstein -- which was as clever a play on spelling as the Byrds (who were burning up the charts at the time) or, for that matter, the Beatles. The group was heard there by Barry Kornfeld, a musician and a friend of Paul Simon, who was then belatedly enjoying a ride to the top of the charts with the Simon & Garfunkel single "The Sound of Silence." Just back from England and preparing to record an album, Simon had a full songbag and not a lot of time.

As 1966 dawned, there was some interest gathering around the Cyrkle based on word-of-mouth from their shows, where they delivered a tight folk-rock sound. Spending a couple of years of being a rock & roll band developing a tight sound, coupled with Dawes' prior stint in a folk band, paid off. Also helping was Weiss' hookup with Brian Epstein; at that time, any record label that could was trying to grab a piece of Epstein's action, based not only on the success of the Beatles but also that of Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, and Cilla Black, among others, all of whom were generating serious sales and major amounts of money.

Just at that moment, Don Dannemann was obligated to leave the band and civilian life for a short stint in the United States Coast Guard, which put the band on hiatus. What seemed like an interruption in their momentum, however, became the source of one of the biggest breaks imaginable -- Dawes, left with nothing to do and having hooked up peripherally with Simon & Garfunkel, signed on as bassist for Simon & Garfunkel on one of their tours. While playing with them, he got to hear just about all of Paul Simon's songs that Simon cared to utilize. 

The duo's repertory was fairly thin, owing to their sudden success, including two numbers that Simon had written in England with Bruce Woodley of the Seekers, "Red Rubber Ball" and "Wish You Could Be Here." "Red Rubber Ball" was recorded as soon as the quartet was back together, and with Epstein and Weiss exerting all of the pressure they could, got Columbia Records to sign the group and release the single. Issued in April of 1966, it rode the charts all that spring and got as high as number two, earning the group a spot on the Beatles' 1966 summer and subsequently, final scheduled, concert tour. The bandmembers themselves, who had started doing this as a lark in college and, as recently as six months earlier had been playing Greenwich Village folk clubs to audiences of a couple of hundred people, were astonished to find themselves suddenly thrust into the role of an arena act.

An LP, titled Red Rubber Ball, was recorded that spring under producer John Simon, utilizing the same lyrical folk-rock sound found on the 45 disc. It rose to number 47 on the charts and a second single, "Turn Down Day," was issued in the early summer of 1966, reaching number 16 and thus completing the group's stay in the pop chart annals. 
by Bruce Eder
Tracks
1. Red Rubber Ball (Bruce Woodley, Paul Simon) - 2:19
2. Why Can't You Give Me What I Want (Stephen Friedland, Tom Dawes) - 2:27
3. Baby, You're Free (Bob Crewe, Gary Weston) - 2:43
4. Big, Little Woman (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 2:22
5. Cloudy (Bruce Woodley, Paul Simon) - 2:12
6. Cry (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 2:37
7. Turn-Down Day (David Blume, Jerry Keller) - 2:32
8. There's A Fire In The Fireplace (Stephen Friedland) - 2:24
9. Bony Moronie (Larry Williams) - 2:31 
10.How Can I Leave Her (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 2:36
11.Money To Burn (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 3:05
12.Straighten Out My Messed Up Life (R.Morrison) - 2:02
13.Downtown Blues (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 3:32
14.How Can I Leave Her (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 2:34 
15.Money To Burn (Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes) - 3:17 
16.We Had A Good Thing Goin' (Howard Greenfield, Neil Sedaka) - 2:44
17.Reading Her Paper (Barbara Cooper, Frank Catana) - 3:01
18.Penny Arcade (Denny Randell, Sandy Linzer) - 2:38
19.The Words (Tom Dawes) - 3:21
Bonus Tracks 12-19

The Cyrkle
*Don Dannemann – Vocals 
*Tom Dawes – Guitar, Sitar, Bass, Harmonica, Castanets, Vocals
*Marty Fried – Drums
*John Simon – Organ 

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Marshall Tucker Band - Together Forever (1978 us, awesome southern rock, flooded with jazz and blues drops, 2004 remaster with bonus track)



The expanded reissue of Marshall Tucker's Together Forever, originally issued in 1978 and the follow-up to the platinum-selling Carolina Dreams, was not so much a change in direction, but a musical expansion of their various strengths. Working with veteran jazz producer Stewart Levine, the Tuckers looked outside the Southern rock paradigm a little farther for inspiration and sustenance. Jazz had always been a fringe element of the band's sound, and here, Levine brought it closer to the surface. That is not to say that Marshall Tucker abandoned their rock & roll aesthetic, far from it. 

They just deepened the open-ended nature of their tunes to include more improvisation and took a more textural approach to composing and recording. The set opens with Toy Caldwell's stellar "I'll Be Loving You." His stiletto-edged guitar is the catalyst for the song's drive, but the gorgeous suspended and major sevenths that created new harmonic vistas made Doug Gray's highly emotive vocals sound as if they were coming from the land itself. Likewise, "Love Is Mystery" was progressive country at its best in the 1970s. The jazzy stroll of "Dream Lover," with its lilting funk undertones, was something from outer space. 

The 2004 expanded remaster includes a live reading of "Bound and Determined," which is jazz-funk cowboy music. And if that sounds awful, its groove is over the top and riddled with knots and grease. The recording quality on the tune isn't so great, but the performance is so inspired it's a welcome addition here.
by Thom Jurek
Tracks
1. I'll Be Loving You - 5:31
2. Love Is A Mystery - 7:12
3. Singing Rhymes - 3:16
4. Dream Lover (George McCorkle, Jerry Eubanks) - 4:38
5. Everybody Needs Somebody (Doug Gray, George McCorkle, Jerry Eubanks) - 4:42
6. Change Is Gonna Come (Tommy Caldwell) - 6:29
7. Asking Too Much Of You - 6:31
8. Bound And Determined - 5:13
All songs by Toy Caldwell except where noted
Bonus Track 8 recorded live at Armadillo World H.Q., Austin, TX,  November 2nd 1975

Marshall Tucker Band
*Doug Gray - Lead Vocals, Percussion
*Toy Caldwell - Acoustic, Lead, Steel Guitar, Vocals
*George McCorkle - Rhythm, Acoustic Guitar
*Tommy Caldwell - Bass, Vocals
*Paul Riddle - Drums
*Jerry Eubanks - Alto Saxophone, Flute, Backing Vocals, Percussion

1974  The Marshall Tucker Band - Where We All Belong (2004 remaster with bonus track)

Sunday, August 11, 2024

Capability Brown - Voice (1973 uk, beautiful art prog rock, 2011 japan SHM remaster)



This album is probably the main reason why the band was branded with the genre "progressive".  While the first four songs are strongly in the direction of their first work, offering rather perfect and sophisticated arrangements in pop and mainstream rock, on the other side, the full-length "Circumstances" offers the band's  well-hidden prog splendor in its purest form. In over 20 minutes, echoes of the great works of bands such as Yes, Gentle Giant, Wishbone Ash, Queen and many more can be heard here in a highly original way.

Completely overlooked and undervalued, this is the 'magnum opus' of a band that I would at least grant the status of one of the pioneers of "ArtPop". As on their debut, the band also knows how to make cover versions of "I am so are You" (Affinity) and "Midnight Cruiser" (Steely Dan) their own. More than just "nice", you should definitely check it out. If the first 4 numbers are too sweet for you, you will at least get a 20-minute prog hammer of the upper category. Capability Brown had everything going for them - at least musically and it is a shame that this release caps their career and output. 
Tracks
1. I Am And So Are You (Alan Hull, Tony Ferguson, Dave Nevin, Kenny Rowe, Grahame White, Joe Williams, Roger Willis) - 3:56
2. Sad Am I (Tony Ferguson) - 3:51
3. Midnight Cruiser (Donald Fagen, Walter Becker) - 4:01
4. Keep Death Off The Road (Drive On The Pavement) (Dave Nevin) - 6:20
5. Circumstances (In Love, Past, Present, Future Meet) (Tony Ferguson, Dave Nevin, Kenny Rowe, Grahame White, Joe Williams, Roger Willis) - 20:49

Capability Brown 
*Tony Ferguson - Vocals, Acoustic, Electric, Pedal Steel Guitar, Bass, Flute, 
*Dave Nevin - Vocals, Electric, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Recorder, Mellotron, Synthesizer, Keyboards, Percussion, Vibraphone
*Kenny Rowe - Vocals, Bass, Percussion
*Grahame White - Vocals, Electric, Acoustic Guitar, Lute, Balalaika, Keyboards
*Joe Williams - Vocals, Percussion
*Roger Willis - Vocals, Drums, Piano, Harmonica

Related Act