British Folk pop soft rock duo of Paul Vigrass and Gary Osborne, come together here with a wonderful harmony sound – a mode that's somewhere between the A&M work of Lambert & Nuttycombe, and maybe the best America albums of the 70s – set to these great arrangements that feature lots of cool keyboards from sound library genius Alan Hawkshaw! Jeff Wayne arranged and produced the set – and his touches here clearly make him the third member of the group – as the care of presentation really makes the album way different than it might be otherwise – one of those really unique, really special little 70s records that never got its due at the time. Titles include "Men Of Learning", "Virginia", "Sail Away", "Forever Autumn", and "Don't You Worry".
D.G.
Tracks
1. Men Of Learning - 3:18
2. Don't You Worry - 3:48
3. Ballerina - 3:35
4. Mississippi Lullabye - 2:43
5. Virginia - 3:27
6. Sail Away - 3:23
7. Forever Autumn - 2:50
8. An Invitation - 5:30
9. Remember - 2:35
10.The End - 4:40
11.Mr. Deadline - 2:50
12.Remember Pearl Harbor - 3:32
Music by Jeff Wayne, all Lyrics by Paul Vigrass, Gary Osborne
Personnel
*Paul Vigrass - vocals
*Gary Osborne - vocals
*Jeff Wayne - Moog synthesizer
With
*Chris Spedding, Caleb Quaye, Clive Hicks, Martin Kershaw - Guitars
*Alan Hawkshaw - Keyboards
*Pete Morgan - Bass
*Barry Morgan - Drums
*Ray Cooper, Terry Emery, Alan Graham - Percussion
*Barry St. John, Doris Troy, Harry Vokales, Jimmy Thomas, Judith Powell, Liza Strike, Rob Freeman - Backing Vocals
Quartz is an English heavy metal band from Birmingham. They came to prominence during the initial rise of the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal), but their origins can be traced back to the mid-1970s.
The band had strong ties to Black Sabbath, with one of Quartz’s prominent members in the 1970s being Geoff Nicholls (who was a member and off-stage musician with Sabbath between 1979-2004). Tony Iommi was a friend of the Quartz members from their early days playing in bands, and ended up producing their first and self-titled album Quartz in 1977, bringing in friends like Brian May and Ozzy Osbourne to give the project some further star power.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s go back and start at the beginning. Quartz dates back to 1974, when they saw the light of day under the moniker Bandy Legs. Prior to the founding of Bandy Legs, Geoff Nicholls played lead guitar for the Birmingham bands The Boll Weevils, The Seed, Johnny Neal and the Starliners, and played keyboards for World of Oz.
Guitarist Mick Hopkins had played in Wages of Sin, a short-lived Birmingham band that toured as a backing band for Cat Stevens in 1970. After that band’s dissolution, he followed his Canadian bandmates Ed and Brian Pilling to Canada to form the band Fludd, but left less than a year later after they were dropped from their original record label.
At that point, Hopkins went back to Birmingham and co-founded Bandy Legs, later known as Quartz, with guitarist/keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, vocalist Mike “Taffy” Taylor, bassist Derek Arnold, and drummer Malcolm Cope.
Bandy Legs became a very popular live band in their wider regional circuit. Their members were already well known to their audiences through their previous bands, and as they were well connected and friends with others in the business, they often supported bands like Black Sabbath and AC/DC. On a tour with AC/DC, Sabbath’s tour manager Albert Chapman agreed to take them under his wing, further positioning them for a wider breakthrough.
They were signed to Jet Records in 1976, and only changed their name to Quartz in time for the release of their 1977 debut album, Quartz.
Most of the band had been close friends with the guys in Sabbath since the sixties, growing up in the same area. Tony Iommi knew them well as early as the 1960s, and they had stayed connected through their recent bouts of supporting Sabbath on tour. In fact, Iommi insisted on producing their album, as he’d become a huge Quartz fan, which the guys were thrilled about.
In an interview with MetalMouth in 2012, guitarist Mick Hopkins said “[Working with Iommi] was great fun, we learned a lot from him.” Geoff Nicholls, who would soon end up working longer with Iommi than just about anyone, added “Working with Tony on our first album was an eye opener as he showed us a lot of technical stuff which helped us with future things we did.”
There were some surprises as well. Malcolm Cope (drums) still sounded shellshocked when he said during the 2012 interview “I couldn’t believe it when he added flute to the track Sugar Rain.”
One song from these album sessions would turn out to provide some inspiration for a later Black Sabbath song. Mainline Riders had a droning, atmospheric build with a steady bass line. When Geoff Nicholls was called in to help out the band during the early sessions for Heaven & Hell in 1979, he found himself playing bass and went back to the Mainline Riders riff. It quickly built from there, turning into the framework for the Heaven And Hell song.
“They already had Children of the Sea [when I arrived],” said Nicholls of those Sabbath sessions. “Geezer wasn’t there by that point so I had to play bass at first to start getting the songs worked up. The very first song we did was Heaven And Hell – not bad for a first go, eh? Tony had a riff which he put over my bass line. I had used a very similar chugging bass line in Quartz for the track Mainline Riders so I just did that. I was just messing about with this bass riff and suddenly everything started to build up from there. It was very, very simple but it really worked.”
Iommi was (and is) a close friend of Queen’s Brian May, so he invited him to the Quartz sessions. He ended up making a guest appearance on the track Circles. May was keen to do his Queen-style layered guitar editing on the track, so the band left it to him and Iommi to get it done. “We left him in the studio,” Malcolm Cope told MetalMouth, “and returned a few hours later from the pub to find piles of recording tape on the studio floor.”
The layered approach wasn’t as natural a fit as May first thought, and in the end he gave up, agreeing that it sounded better as Quartz was already playing it.
At one point, the song also featured Ozzy Osbourne on backing vocals, but his contribution was cut from the final mix by Iommi. “As I remember,” Mick Hopkins said, “I don’t think Tony really wanted Ozzy on the track.”
In any case, the song did not make it onto the final track selection. “I think Tony thought the song was a bit too commercial for the album,” Geoff Nicholls shrugged. Dropping the song wasn’t a big bone of contention within the band. Mick Hopkins said, “We had used Circles as a b-side when we were still Bandylegs, so it hadn’t occurred to us to use it on the album.”
The track seemed destined to forever remain a b-side, as Quartz used it as a b-side again on the Stoking Up the Fires of Hell single. It finally got an album inclusion as a bonus track when their second album Stand Up & Fight (1980) was reissued on CD in 2004 by Majestic Rock.
Right up until his death in 2022, Bob Neuwirth was known to cognoscenti as a songwriter (“Mercedes Benz,” famously recorded by Janis Joplin), painter, recording artist, and onetime member of Bob Dylan’s inner hipster circle. The last thing he was known for was being famous, which his longtime partner, music executive Paula Batson, says was intentional. “He was very self-effacing in a way,” she says. “He didn’t believe in blowing your own horn. He loved promoting other people and helping them, but he wasn’t good at self-promotion.”
Two years after he died of heart failure at age 82, Neuwirth’s profile is about to increase beyond his appearance in D.A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back. In December, actor Will Harrison (who played Graham Dunne, the lead guitarist in the streaming series Daisy Jones & the Six) will be seen playing Neuwirth in A Complete Unknown, the Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet. A documentary on Neuwirth’s life, co-produced by Batson and currently in the works, will incorporate footage from a posthumous 2022 tribute concert that featured covers of his songs by Eric Clapton, T Bone Burnett, Maria Muldaur, the late Happy Traum, and many others.
On the next edition of Joni Mitchell’s rarities boxes, Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980), Neuwirth will be heard introducing Mitchell on several performances recorded during the Rolling Thunder Revue. Over 1,000 pieces of his paintings and artwork have been catalogued. And Neuwirth’s own debut album, first unveiled 50 years ago, has been remixed and will be re-issued next month, accompanied by a new lyric video featuring rare footage, most of it shot in the Sixties by Neuwirth himself.
An art student at the School of the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, the Ohio-born Neuwirth wound up in the Cambridge and then New York folk scenes. “Right from the start, you could tell that Neuwirth had a taste for provocation and that nothing was going to restrict his freedom,” Dylan wrote admiringly in Chronicles: Volume One; indeed the two shared a love of a cynical putdown. But Neuwirth could also be supportive, encouraging Patti Smith to write songs and not just poems and suggesting Joplin record his friend Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” when the song was largely unknown.
Eventually leaving the Dylan orbit (although returning for Rolling Thunder), Neuwirth moved to L.A. There, he fell in with the Troubadour crowd and wound up being signed to David Geffen’s Asylum label alongside Dylan and fellow Laurel Canyon regulars Mitchell, the Eagles, Jackson Browne, David Blue, and Judee Sill. Arriving a decade after he’d first played clubs in New York, his first and only Asylum album, Bob Neuwirth, was the definition of a long-delayed debut.
But with Geffen’s financial encouragement, Neuwirth made up for lost time. Attesting to his stature, Neuwirth recruited a veritable denim-clad army to join him on the songs, including Kristofferson, Cass Elliot, Don Everly, the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, Rita Coolidge, then-Poco member and future Eagle Timothy B. Schmit, folk legend Geoff Muldaur, steel player (and Neil Young compadre) Ben Keith, then-Doobie Brother Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, and Dusty Springfield. Neuwirth, McGuinn, and Kristofferson cowrote “Rock and Roll Time,” a boozy slice of Seventies music life, and Neuwirth also finally was able to release his version of “Mercedes Benz,” which he never considered much of a song, and with a new verse.
Befitting the times, the album sessions were reportedly carousing affairs. “He said it was just a drunken alcohol fest,” says recording engineer and Neuwirth friend John Hanlon. “It was the Seventies. The label gave him a lot of money, and you could tell. Nobody questioned budget with them. It was just about making great art.”
But according to Batson, Neuwirth was never happy with the end result, which was overloaded with guests and layers of instrumentation that swamped Neuwirth’s voice. The album also reflected his own indulgences at the time. “As long as we were together, Bob would mention how amazing it was to have Don Everly and Mama Cass and Kris’ band and Booker T. Jones at those sessions,” Batson says. “But he knew that the end result was not what it could have been. He wasn’t happy with it because he felt that, not being sober, he didn’t deliver what he could have. It was a regret.” In fact, Neuwirth stopped drinking three years after the album’s release.
Shortly before his death, Neuwirth thought about revisiting and tweaking the album and reached out to Hanlon, who has worked for notorious audio perfectionist Neil Young for decades. “I said, ‘How do you want me to approach this?’” Hanlon recalls. “And Bob said, ‘I know what you do. Just do what you do.’ He was a man of few words about music, but he knew what was good and what sucked.”
Working painstakingly with the tapes, Hanlon was able to pare down some of the horns and orchestration and declutter the recordings. “These were A-list players, all playing great licks, but everyone was playing constantly,” he says. “You had to figure out the lick that accentuated the melody and what the melody line was. I wanted to find the song in the song and bring it out.”
With the help of the remix, Bob Neuwirth sounds even more like an early alt-country record, especially on “Kiss Money” (which is getting the lyric-video treatment), the waltz “Hero,” and Neuwirth’s takes on country songs by Don Gibson (“Legend in My Time”), Donnie Fritts, and Troy Seals (“We Had It All”). The reissue, which will be released on CD and vinyl on Sept. 27 and then on streaming services on Oct. 31, will also include “Ohio Mountain Blues,” an outtake that finds Neuwirth singing about leaving “a little old country town” for, ultimately, New York City.
Neuwirth passed away any of this renewed interest was in the air. The bulk of the work on A Complete Unknown didn’t start until after his death. (Batson says she hasn’t seen any of the movie yet but adds, “I’m happy to see Bob included and I hope it’s wonderful.”) The same goes with the revamped Bob Neuwirth album; sadly, Neuwirth was never able to hear a note of his dream project. But Hanlon feels his friend is aware of it, somehow. “I know he’d be proud of it,” he says. “As far as I’m concerned, he has heard it in his own way. He’s heard a bit of it in heaven.”
by David Browne, Rolling Stone, August 14, 2024
Tracks
1. Rock 'n' Roll Time (Kris Kristofferson, Roger McGuinn, Bob Neuwirth) - 3:21
2. Kiss Money - 3:14
3. Just Because I'm Here (Don't Mean I'm Home) - 5:36
4. Honky Red (Murray McLauchlan) - 3:46
5. Hero - 3:51
6. Legend In My Time (Don Gibson) - 1:51
7. Rock 'n' Roll Rider - 3:00
8. We Had It All (Donnie Fritts, Troy Seals) - 3:08
9. Country Livin' - 3:50
10.Cowboys And Indians (Bobby Charles, Ben Keith) - 4:48
11.Mercedes Benz (Janis Joplin, Bob Neuwirth) - 2:48
Millard and Dyce was a folk-rock band formed in the 1970's and based in Baltimore. They toured on the east coast for several years and recorded one album. The album has since become a rare collector's item, recently selling for as much as $449.
It's a custom pressing on the Century - Kaymar label by this Maryland trio. On a whole it’s a modest album, highly influenced by the likes of Tim Hardin though with a mix of electric and acoustic guitars of the folk blues nature. As with most private vanity pressings little effort went into the production and engineering, leaving a weakness in both the vocals and the instrumentation, though as of late folks are embracing this sound and calling it earthy.
It’s a strange album for sure, especially lacking a drummer, two guitars and a bass, with all three members singing lead at one point or another, laced with smooth soft though hardly compelling harmonies.
To anyone not from England, or not part of the baby boom generation, it's a bit difficult to explain the significance of Marvin, Welch & Farrar as a group -- not that they were lacking in any way; far from it, their music speaks (or, more properly and significantly, sings) volumes, and they made some superb vocal pop, very much influenced by Crosby, Stills & Nash, among other harmony vocal music of the early '70s. But that's the hard part to explain -- to anyone who doesn't know Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch as core members of the Shadows, a quartet renowned since 1958 for their instrumental music, or to anyone who does know them that way. It's as though members of the New York Philharmonic string section decided to form a choral outfit and ended up being really good at it.
The key to understanding what Marvin, Welch & Farrar were about is to recognize that the Shadows didn't just make instrumental music, and that's not merely referencing their work with vocalist Cliff Richard. Rather, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch did occasional vocal numbers, and while these never "took" with the public, the critics and more discerning listeners all approved of what they'd heard. Cut to 1968 -- after ten years of success as a rock & roll outfit, most of it quite immense during the first four and a lot of the rest receding gradually amid the rise of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, et al., the Shadows, consisting then of Marvin, Welch, bassist John Rostill, and drummer Brian Bennett, decided to put the band on hiatus. Rostill and Bennett went their separate ways in music, while Welch took some time off and Marvin kept his hand in music with a series of solo releases and a record cut in tandem with Richard. But by 1970, Welch was ready to pursue a new musical venture, and he and Marvin decided that this would be as un-Shadows-like as possible -- a harmony vocal outfit. Rejecting the idea of a new band, or reestablishing the Shadows identity, they decided to go out as themselves, using simply their names. But a third voice and player seemed called for, and that was when Welch's Australian fiancée -- Olivia Newton-John -- took a hand, reminding them of their favorable impression of a guitarist they'd seen on a tour of Australia a couple of years before, named John Farrar; and contacting him was not half the problem it might normally have been, as Newton-John had not long before worked with singer Pat Carroll, who happened to be Mrs. John Farrar. By the end of the summer of 1970, Farrar was in London and the trio was recording, assisted by Clem Cattini on the drums and Dave Richmond on bass.
The group's debut single, "Faithful" b/w "Mr. Sun," issued in early 1971, was a stunner vocally, with some of the most beautiful harmonies heard on a record that year. And it was totally unexpected to Shadows fans expecting a certain kind of sound from Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch. It got good press and lots of exposure but failed to chart, though the self-titled debut album that followed did better, reaching number 30. It was a total break from the sounds with which Marvin and Welch had previously been associated, and they took the bull by the horns, even remaking an old Marvin-authored Shadows track called "Throw Down a Line" in distinctly new terms in their new musical surroundings. And as testimony to the craftsmanship that went into the compositions, two of the new songs on the album -- and they were all originals -- were covered by Cliff Richard, who got a Top 30 hit out of "Silvery Rain" that same year. The resulting album was impressive on just about every level, especially the vocals, something that Marvin and Welch were simply not known for doing -- indeed, a lot of the record came off as what might have resulted if the Hollies, widely known for their three-part harmonies, had done an unplugged or low-wattage album.
This flurry of activity was complicated by the fact that the Shadows, now reactivated as a recording outfit, had an album of their own out at the same time. In one of those peculiar coincidences, Marvin, Welch & Farrar and the new Shadows album each peaked within weeks of each other at the identical chart position, number 30, in England. Meanwhile, a somewhat abbreviated U.S. release of the Marvin, Welch & Farrar album went unnoticed on the far side of the Atlantic. A brace of follow-up singles and an album, Second Opinion, followed, but by mid-1972 personal situations -- most notably the breakup of the engagement between Welch and Newton-John -- had begun to take their toll. And by the time of the second album's release, the trio was effectively reduced to a duo of Hank Marvin and John Farrar.
The group did a tour alongside Cliff Richard that drew enough people to be a success on paper, but they were never able to break away entirely from the expectations of the Shadows' audience. People expected the rock & roll instrumentals, and the absence of that material from their set disappointed concertgoers in droves. In 1973, Marvin, Welch & Farrar were effectively folded into the fully reactivated Shadows, with Brian Bennett resuming his place in the drummer's slot. According to Hank Marvin, in an interview quoted by David Wells in his notes for a reissue of the trio's albums on Beat Goes On, they were able to incorporate some of the Marvin, Welch & Farrar vocal numbers very well into the Shadows' sets. The vocals continued to figure in their work until the departure of John Farrar -- he went on to collaborate with Olivia Newton-John and followed her to America. Meanwhile, Welch enjoyed a highly successful second career as a producer, and Marvin released the occasional solo effort -- and the Shadows went on playing and recording right into the 21st century, clocking in more than 40 years as stars. Eventually, however, someone did remember their attempt to redefine their music as a vocal trio -- in 2006, the two Marvin, Welch & Farrar albums were reissued on CD by Beat Goes On.
by Bruce Eder
Tracks
Disc 1 Marvin, Welch, Farrar
1. You're Burning Bridges - 4:02
2. A Thousand Conversations - 2:16
3. Brownie Kentucky - 2:33
4. My Home Town - 3:15
5. Silvery Rain - 2:32
6. Throw Down A Line - 3:19
7. Baby I'm Calling You - 2:47
8. Faithful - 2:21
9. Mistress Fate And Father Time - 3:14
10.Take Her Away - 1:58
11.Wish You Were Here - 3:23
12.Mr. Sun - 2:47
Songs 1,3,5,6 written by Hank Marvin
Songs 2,7,10,11,12 written by Bruce Welch, Hank Marvin
Songs 4,8 written by Bruce Welch, Hank Marvin, John Farrar
Song 9 written by Hank Marvin, Paul Ferris
Disc 2 Second Opinion
1. Black Eyes - 3:21
2. Tiny Robin - 2:36
3. Simplify Your Head - 2:47
4. Ronnie - 3:06
5. Far Away Falling - 2:15
6. Let's Say Goodbye - 2:38
7. Lonesome Mole - 3:16
8. Thank Heavens I've Got You - 2:33
9. Lady Of The Morning - 3:39
10.The Time To Care - 2:26
11.Come Back To Nature - 2:55
12.All Day, All Night Blues - 3:05
13.Marmaduke - 3:00
14.Strike A Light - 2:57
15.Music Makes My Day - 3:46
16.Skin Deep - 4:25
17.Galadriel (Spirit Of Starlight) - 6:05
18.Small And Lonely Light - 3:12
Songs 1,11,15, written by John Farrar
Songs 2,3,5,8,18 written by John Farrar, Peter Best
Songs 4,7,12 written by Bruce Welch, Hank Marvin
Songs 10,16,17 written by Hank Marvin, John Farrar
Songs 6,9 written by Bruce Welch, Hank Marvin, John Farrar
The exact origins of the performance on this recording remain a mystery, more than 40 years after its release. It was almost certainly not a Tokyo show, nor a performance anywhere in the Far East, which makes the title even more of a mystery -- one imagines it just sounded more impressive to somebody than the European venue that it almost certainly was from. What is equally clear, and even more mystifying, in view of the abysmal studio album Bad Dreams that preceded this release, is that Amazing Blondel (or "Blondel," as they'd rechristened themselves after the departure of John Gladwin from their three-man lineup) were still a fine performing unit.
When Terry Wincott and Eddie Baird stick to their earlier style and repertory, they can do little wrong -- they harmonize beautifully, and the haunt-count on pieces like "Leaving of the Country Lover" and "Young Man's Fancy," mixed with their acoustic playing, is all one could have hoped for. And even when they embrace their more contemporary sound, as on "Love Must Be the Best Time of Your Life" -- where they come off vocally like a watered-down U.K. version of England Dan & John Ford Coley -- they aren't bad; what this album avoids, that Bad Dreams didn't, was some impossible contemporary music accompaniment that didn't sound natural around these two voices. As it is, uncertain origins and all, this album can be recommended to anyone who liked the Amazing Blondel of 1972 and beyond, and shows what the two-man version of this group could do, probably better than any other record they ever issued. One still misses Gladwin's contribution, and it's a shame that live recordings of the trio didn't surface for decades, but this record is not to be missed by longtime fans.
by Bruce Eder
Oddly enough, this release was recorded in Scandinavia since the band never went to Japan. This set represents a band at the peak of it's' powers and shows what a fine and accomplished live set the band could play. The Amazing Blondel, due to continual touring in the '70s, became established in the British live scene with a large fan base and became one of the biggest underground "cult" bands. Their zany and unique sound appealed to the entire Folks scene.
As much myth as musician, singer/songwriter Shelagh McDonald seemed poised to emerge as a major voice in British folk music when she abruptly vanished mere months after the release of her breakthrough LP. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, McDonald arrived in London sometime in the late '60s. While performing at the Troubadour, she befriended fellow singer/songwriter Keith Christmas, who would prove instrumental in landing her a record deal with the B&C label. Album followed in 1970 to decent reviews but mediocre sales, but 1971's Stargazer was a far different story. With McDonald dubbed "the new Sandy Denny" by the U.K. music press, the record was a critical smash and sold respectably.
But after recording a handful of tracks for a proposed third LP, McDonald suddenly disappeared, leaving no clues to her rationale or her whereabouts. While many friends and fans speculated she returned to Scotland, unhappy with her life and career in London, others believed she fled to either the U.S. or Canada in an attempt to recover from a failed relationship or to cure a drug problem. In truth, it was a life-altering LSD trip that sent her into seclusion and also ruined her voice. After a time spent putting her life back together, she married a Scottish bookstore owner and drifted away from society again, only this time happily.
With the CD re-release of Album and Stargazer, her music was embraced by a new generation of fans, and in 2005 Castle/Sanctuary released Let No Man Steal Your Thyme, a compilation of McDonald's complete recorded output, including outtakes and demos. 2005 also was the year McDonald finally resurfaced. After reading a story about herself in The Scottish Daily Mail, she submitted to an interview that cleared up much of the mystery behind her disappearance.
by Jason Ankeny
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Hullo Stranger (Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter) - 2:27
2. Street Walking Blues (Traditional) - 2:44
3. Mirage - 4:03
4. Look Over The Hills And Far Away (Gerry Rafferty) - 5:13
5. Crusoe - 3:52
6. Waiting For The Wind To Rise (Keith Christmas) - 4:57
7. Ophelia's Song - 2:50
8. Richmond (Andy Roberts) - 2:47
9. Let No Man Steal Your Thyme - 3:25
10.Peacock Lady - 3:29
11.Silk And Leather - 3:00
12.You Know You Can't Loose (Keith Christmas) - 5:05
13.Ophelia's Song - 2:09
14.Jesus Is Just All Right (Malvina Reynolds) - 3:00
15.Book Of Rhyme - 2:54
16.What More Can I Say? - 2:55
17.The City's Cry - 2:35
18.The City's Cry - 2:46
19.Rod's Song - 3:11
20.Stargazer (False Start) - 0:42
21.Stargazer - 4:12
All words and Music by Shelagh McDonald except where stated
Tracks 1-2 originally released on "Dungeon Folk", an LP spin-off from the BBC Radio One show Country Meets Folk, released in January 1969 on BBC's own label.
Tracks 3-13 originally comprised The Shelagh McDonald Album 1970
Tracks 14-21 demos from mid-december 1970
Disc 2
1. Rod's Song - 3:10
2. Liz's Song - 2:50
3. Lonely King - 6:01
4. City's Cry - 2:32
5. Dowie Dens Of Yarrow (Traditional) - 6:53
6. Baby Go Slow - 3:54
7. Canadian Man - 2:48
8. Good Times - 3:25
9. Odyssey - 6:11
10.Stargazer - 4:11
11.The Road To Paradise - 3:44
12.Sweet Sunlight - 2:27
13.Spin - 5:25
14.Rainy Night Blues - 3:31
15.Spin - 3:21
16.Dowie Dens Of Yarrow (False Start) (Traditional) - 0:25
17.Dowie Dens Of Yarrow (Traditional) - 7:40
All words and Music by Shelagh McDonald except where noted
Bad Dreams came out 1976 ιn record stores. The album achieved critical acclaim and the band continued recording and playing for two years after Bad Dreams. Certain tracks became standards in the live set from Bad Dreams including "Give me a chance" and "Call it a night".
Tracks
1. Give Me A Chance - 3:10
2. Big Boy - 3:42
3. One Bad Dream - 4:05
4. Until I See You Again - 2:55
5. It's Got To Be A Girl - 3:37
6. I'll Go The Way I Came - 3:19
7. Wait For The Day - 3:12
8. Liberty Belle - 5:03
9. The Man That I Am - 2:40
10. Call It A Night - 3:04
All songs by Eddie Baird except track #8 by Terry Wincott
Although they would become better known for smooth AOR ballads like "How Much I Feel," Ambrosia first made their name with this album of progressive rock with a pop music twist. Its songs skillfully blend strong melodic hooks and smooth vocal harmonies with music of an almost symphonic density. Good examples of this crossbreeding are "Drink of Water," which sounds like the Beach Boys tackling a Pink Floyd space rock epic, and "Nice, Nice, Very Nice," which utilizes a combination of stately close-harmony vocals and dynamic instrumental breaks to put forth a clever lyric derived from a Kurt Vonnegut novel.
The complexity of the music is further highlighted by its crystal-clear sonic landscape, mixed by Alan Parsons, which highlights unique touches like the use of a Russian balalaika ensemble and 300-year-old Javanese gongs on "Time Waits for No One." Despite this prog rock ambitiousness, the group is smart enough to avoid letting their instrumental chops take precedence over their music's melodic content: They keep their songs succinct and punchy (nothing extends over six-and-a-half minutes) and they infuse tunes like "Lover Arrive" and the radio favorite "Holdin' on to Yesterday" with a delicate sense of pop songcraft that makes the group's cinematic sound easy for listeners to assimilate. The end result is an album that is intricate enough to please prog rock addicts but catchy enough to win over a few pop fans in the process. Though Ambrosia would go on to score bigger hits later in their career, this is definitely their most cohesive and inspired album.
by Donald A. Guarisco
Tracks
1. Nice, Nice, Very Nice (Burleigh Drummond, Christopher North, David Pack, Joe Puerta, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) - 5:55
2. Time Waits For No One (Burleigh Drummond, Christopher North, David Pack, Joe Puerta) - 4:53
3. Holdin' On To Yesterday (David Pack, Joe Puerta) - 4:19
4. World Leave Me Alone (David Pack) - 3:18
5. Make Us All Aware (Burleigh Drummond, Christopher North, David Pack, Joe Puerta) - 4:29
6. Lover Arrive (David Pack) - 3:11
7. Mama Frog (Burleigh Drummond, Christopher North, David Pack, Joe Puerta) - 6:05
8. Drink Of Water (Burleigh Drummond, Christopher North, David Pack, Joe Puerta) - 6:29
The fact that this was Nektar's first tour of the USA, and that this show was broadcast over the radio thanks to New York's WNEW (then THE radio station for rock music), helped make this show all the more memorable, but how about the music? Well, many of their early classics were played, and even some tunes from the just released Down to Earth album, and the soon to be released Recycled.
The first CD contains a scorching rendition of part one of "Remember the Future", perhaps the best ever live version available of this song, with Roye Allbrighton's guitar work really shining throughout, as well as Taff Freeman's keyboard playing. There's the bouncy and fun "Astral Man" from the Down to Earth album, as well as the proggy tunes "Marvellous Moses" and "It's All Over", both in their early incarnations before they made their album debuts the following year on Recycled. Fans of the hard rock sounds heard on ...Sounds Like This will enjoy the bombastic riffs of "Good Day" (aah, that classic guitar & organ combo) , powerfully performed here, and including an especially passionate vocal delivery from Allbrighton. This disc closes with two more numbers from the Down to Earth album, "That's Life" and "Show Me the Way", the former an aggressive rocker that is fueled by Allbrighton's insistant guitar riffs and the driving rhythm section of bassist Mo Moore and drummer Ron Howden, the latter a more melodic piece that uncovers many layers and styles of the band.
CD 2 kicks off with the heavy rock of "A Day in the Life of the Preacher", a song from the ...Sounds Like This album that hints at a slight nod to contemporaries like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep with its muscular guitar work, raging Hammond organ, and wailing vocals. A Tab in the Ocean's brilliant "Desolation Valley" follows, echoing all sorts of powerful and majestic nuances, only to segue into part two of "Remember the Future", with Freeman ripping into a nimble solo that starts on the Moog, and then moves to Hammond, while Allbrighton lays down some funky rhythm guitar licks. Closing out this disc is the mind-numbing "Crying in the Dark/King of Twilight", which kick off the encores that also include "Woman Trouble" and a 50's medley that also has Down to Earth's "Fidgety Queen" thrown in for good measure. It's an exhaustive and exhilarating experience, and with the exception of missing out on Mick Brockett's light show, you feel as if you were there in attendance back in 1974.
Quite simply, this is one of the best live albums you can get your hands on, and if you have a SACD Surround Sound player, I'm sure the experience can be even more fulfilling. A mandatory, must-have release for Nektar fans and lovers of hard-driving prog rock.
by Pete Pardo, November 6th 2004
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Introduction / Astral Man - 4:01
2. Remember The Future (Part One) Start - 9:56
3. Remember The Future (Part One) Conclusion - 7:44
4. Marvelous Moses - 8:36
5. It's All Over - 5:26
6. Good Day - 6:47
7. That's Life - 6:30
8. Show Me The Way - 6:28
All songs by Roye Albrighton, Ron Howden, Alan Freeman, Derek Moore
Disc 2
1. A Day in the Life of a Preacher - 15:42
2. Desolation Valley - 9:57
3. Remember The Future (Part Two) - 8:14
4. I Can See You - 7:43
5. King of Twilight - 10:01
6. What Ya Gonna Do? (Woman Trouble) - 4:06
7. Medley: Johnny B. Goode / Sweet Little Rock & Roller / Blue Suede Shoes / Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (Chuck Berry / Carl Perkins / Dave Williams) - 6:54
8. Fidgety Queen - 5:49
All songs written by Roye Albrighton, Ron Howden, Alan Freeman, Derek Moore except where noted
Recorded live at The Academy of Music, New York City on September 28, 1974
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Introduction - 1:02
2. Astral Man - 2:57
3. Remember the Future, Part One - 16:14
4. Marvellous Moses - 8:35
5. It's All Over Now / Good Day - 12:13
6. That's Life - 6:28
7. Show Me the Way - 6:27
All compositions by Roye Albrighton, Ron Howden, Alan Freeman, Derek Moore
Disc 2
1. A Day in the Life of a Preacher - 15:42
2. Desolation Valley - 9:57
3. Remember The Future (Part Two) - 8:14
4. I Can See You - 7:43
5. King of Twilight - 10:01
6. What Ya Gonna Do? (Woman Trouble) - 4:06
7. Medley: Johnny B. Goode / Sweet Little Rock & Roller / Blue Suede Shoes / Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (Chuck Berry / Carl Perkins / Dave Williams) - 6:54
8. Fidgety Queen - 5:49
All songs written by Roye Albrighton, Ron Howden, Alan Freeman, Derek Moore except where noted
Recorded live at The Academy of Music, New York City on September 28, 1974.
Because Joe Walsh has never been a critic’s darling, we sometimes forget he holds a lofty place in the eyes of fellow musicians. Rock royalty like Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, and Eric Clapton have all heaped praise on what they call Walsh’s intelligent, fluid, and melodic guitar style. And there’s no better example of his instrumental eloquence than The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get. From his slide-guitar mastery and early adoption of the Heil Talk Box effect on “Rocky Mountain Way” to the lilting twelve-string figures and soaring solos of “Wolf,” Walsh proves he possesses the chops for fiery flash as well as seductive subtlety. The album’s only notable flaws: Occasional corny and awkward lyrics on tracks like “Dreams” and “Happy Ways.” Yet in spite of Walsh’s legendary on- and off-stage craziness, he retains a discipline in the studio and allows his colleagues plenty of room to shine here. This well-balanced record satisfies from beginning to end.
While advertised by ABC-Dunhill as a Walsh solo effort, The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get remains very much the work of Walsh and his talented band, Barnstorm. His previous outings with the James Gang garnered good notices, but Walsh meshes better with drummer and long-time friend Joe Vitale, bassist Kenny Passarelli, and keyboardist Rocke Grace. On this, the ensemble’s second LP, producer Bill Szymczyk and the band recorded at three locations: Caribou Ranch Studios in Nederland, Colorado, the Record Plant in Los Angeles, and Criteria Studios in Miami.
After several months, they netted a sonically outstanding effort. Szymczyk and Walsh provide a stellar example of how to apply just enough spit and polish at the mixing console without sacrificing the live impact of a four-piece rock band. The soundstage seems appropriately big on expansive cuts (“Meadows”) while mellower numbers (“Days Gone By”) harbor a rich midrange that glows with fire-side warmth. Vitale’s drum kicks and Passarelli’s bass runs rattle the walls just like they would in a small club, but the judicious isolation and careful microphone placement ensure Grace’s keyboards and Walsh’s guitar fills never get lost in the mix. The original pressing of The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get was mastered by Sterling Sound’s Lee Hulko.
by Vance Hiner, 2016
Tracks
1. Rocky Mountain Way (Kenny Passarelli, Joe Vitale, Joe Walsh, Rocke Grace) - 5:03
Joe Walsh is one of those artists that will always be remembered for classic rock radio hits Funk #49, Rocky Mountain Way, and Life’s Been Good. Then of course was his memorable stint in the Eagles, which yielded the highly successful Hotel California album. He was one of the prime architects of the classic rock sound and his radio smashes are stilled played every day at the top of each hour. Prior to the Eagles and Rocky Mountain Way, Joe Walsh made great music with the James Gang (Rides Again is one of the great classic rock LPs) and this, his first solo album from 1972, Barnstorm (the group is often referred to as the Barnstormers).
The Barnstorm group was put together shortly after Walsh left the James Gang. The songs were recorded in Nederland, CO with the help of bassist Kenny Passarelli and drummer Joe Vitale, the latter had played with Walsh in 60s garage band the Measles. The trio recorded an album that rocks hard at times but also has a strong roots/country flavor. It’s a unique disc in Walsh’s varied discography, as he would never record anything like Barnstorm again. Turn To Stone, the hardest rocker on the album, holds up pretty well and is similar to something the James Gang might have recorded in 1970. Walsh would revisit this excellent track on 75’s So What but I feel the version heard here sounds best. Most of the album is earthy roots rock that retains powerful classic rock-like hooks, just listen to the album’s closing cut Comin’ Down. Here you have just Walsh’s vocals, guitar and harmonica but moving stuff nonetheless. My favorite cuts on the album are Home, I’ll Tell The World About You, the psychedelic country rocker Midnight Visitor and the classic Americana of Birdcall Morning. The latter is truly amazing, highlighted by sparkling acoustic guitars and some rustic slide work - it should have been a radio anthem.
Barnstorm contains imaginative music, wonderful guitar solos, unique songwriting, great ensemble playing and sharp humor “ really Joe Walsh at his best. Some songs have synth and hit a more experimental vibe but they work well in the context of this album. Barnstorm is a masterpiece, a must hear for fans of country influenced hard rock. Every track is worth multiple spins and listeners will immediately identify with the amount of thought and care put into each song and guitar solo. It goes without saying that this record is a lost classic.
by Jason Nardelli, April 19th, 2010
Tracks
1. Here We Go - 4:58
2. Midnight Visitor - 3:13
3. One and One - 1:15
4. Giant Bohemoth (Joe Vitale, Joe Walsh) - 4:19
5. Mother Says (Kenny Passarelli, Joe Vitale, Joe Walsh) - 6:14
6. Birdcall Morning - 3:42
7. Home - 2:53
8. I'll Tell the World (Alan Gordon, Allan Jacob) - 3:54
9. Turn To Stone (Terry Trebandt, Joe Walsh) - 5:16
10.Comin' Down - 1:54
All songs by Joe Walsh except where noted
Personnel
*Joe Walsh - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesizer
In 1977, armed with an additional brand new guitarist named Brian Greenway, April Wine signed a worldwide deal with Capitol-EMI.
Myles Goodwyn, who produced First Glance, decided that this would be a true "rock" record, with no soft rock or easy listening music on it.
The album's third single, Roller, was considered too heavy to be released as a single, but in an extremely unusual move, the programmers at a radio station in Flint, Michigan, took it upon themselves to play the song anyway. Roller immediately became a top request number, and the song eventually became a Top 30 hit in the U.S.
First Glance became April Wine's first gold record outside Canada, and this album is credited with bringing "Canada's best kept secret" out into the open.
Although no official cause of death has been announced Stephen Keith Lang reportedly suffered from Parkinson's diseaseand died on February 4, 2017, at the age of 67. Myles Francis Goodwyn died at age 75 on December 3, 2023, in Halifax. No cause of death was officially announced.
Tracks
1. Get Ready for Love - 3:14
2. Hot on the Wheels of Love (Myles Goodwyn, Steve Lang) - 4:25
A staple of Canadian classic rock, April Wine was one of the most popular and commercially successful Canadian rock bands of the 1970s and early 1980s. They had 5 platinum or multi-platinum albums in Canada, 21 Top 40 singles, and received 10 Juno Award nominations, including 7 for group of the year between 1975 and 1983. Their radio-friendly arena rock sound was characterized by strong melodies, catchy, muscular guitar riffs, and sentimental pop ballads. They have been inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.
April Wine was formed in Halifax in 1969 and moved to Montreal in early 1970. Original members were Myles Goodwyn (vocals, lead guitar), brothers David Henman (guitar, vocals) and Ritchie Henman (drums), and their cousin Jimmy Henman (bass, vocals). They chose the name April Wine because they liked the way it sounded. The band went through numerous configurations over the years, and Goodwyn — who was also the main songwriter — was the only consistent member.
April Wine had a minor Canadian hit off of their self-titled 1971 debut album with “Fast Train.” Jim Henman left the band and was replaced by bassist and vocalist Jim Clench.
