Plain and Fancy: 03/03/26

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Hanson - Now Hear This (1973 uk, fascinating groovy funk rock, 2007 remaster and japan remaster)

Guitarist Junior Marvin is largely known for his work with Bob Marley. While there's nothing wrong with such recognition, it ignores a decade of work under a wide array of alias, supporting an impressive collection of groups with difference musical styles, as well as his work fronting this short-lived entity.

Hanson was apparently a post Keef Hartley band project, as well as serving as the debut of his new stage name - Junior Hanson. The group's original line up consisted of Hanson, bassist Clive Chapman, drummer Conrad Isadore and keyboard player Jean Roussell. After being signed by Emerson, Lake, & Palmer's Manticore Records, the quartet survived long enough to release one LP - 1973's Mario Medious produced "Now Hear This".

Anyone expecting to hear a continuation of Kerr's (nee Hanson's) blues-rock work with Keef Hartley was going to be surprised. There wasn't a single blues-rocker on this collection. Instead, on tracks like 'Traveling Like a Gypsy', 'Take You Into My Home', and 'Rain' Hanson unveiled his latent Hendrix influences. I won't go as far as describing these tunes as plagiarism, but the Hendrix sound was distinctive. On the other hand, don't let that turn you off. Hanson had a likeable voice, was a fantastic guitar player and the fact of the matter is there wasn't a bad tune on the album. Well worth tracking a copy down.

by Scott Blackerby