One of the world's greatest guitarists in the history of rock n' roll, Harvey Mandel was light years ahead of the competition when he first broke onto the scene in the mid 1960's with Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band, bridging the gap between blues and rock n' roll. A true innovator who sounded like no one else at the time, Mandel played with such notables as Canned Heat, The Rolling Stones, and John Mayall before starting a solo career. Presented here is Mandel's classic 1974 solo album Feel The Sound Of Harvey Mandel, featuring Ray Lester (bass); Victor Conte (bass); Danny Keller (drums); Paul Lagos (drums); Coleman Head (rhythm guitar); Mark Skyer (rhythm guitar) and the original Pure Food And Drug Act band.
Tracks
1. Got To Be Bad (Coleman Head, Victor Conte) - 3:50
Although several of their singles are coveted by collectors of '60s British rock, Les Fleur de Lys remain obscure even by cult standards. That's partly because they never came close to getting a hit, but also because their furious pace of lineup changes makes their history very difficult to trace, and also precluded any sense of consistent style or identity. The group did release a number of fine singles in the mod-psychedelic style that has become known as "freakbeat," with more of a soul music influence than most such British acts.
Les Fleur de Lys changed lineups about half-a-dozen times during their recording career, which roughly spanned 1965-1969. Drummer Keith Guster was the only constant member; some of the musicians passing through went on to commercial success with Journey and Jefferson Starship (keyboardist Pete Sears) and King Crimson (bassist Gordon Haskell). At the outset, they recorded a couple of singles for the Immediate label that were produced by Jimmy Page (there remains some controversy about whether he played guitar on these as well). A cover of the Who's "Circles" featured the fluid, slightly distorted guitar lines that would become Fleur de Lys' most distinguishing characteristic. The 45s made no commercial impact, however, and Fleur de Lys helped sustain themselves in the late '60s by backing relocated South African singer Sharon Tandy.
Sprawling 24-track comp of the rare recordings of this enigmatic band. Includes 14 songs issued under the Les Fleur de Lys name, singles that they issued under the Rupert's People, Chocolate Frog, and Shyster pseudonyms, and releases on which they backed Sharon Tandy, John Bromley, and Waygood Ellis. It goes without saying that such a manic hodgepodge is geared toward the hardcore collector market.
But if you like mid-to-late '60s mod-psych, it's a decent item to have around, with some sparkling (occasionally crazed) guitar work, unusually constructed tunes that sometimes meld soul and psychedelia, and nice harmonies. "Circles" and "Mud in Your Eye" are first-rate pounding mod guitar tunes; "Gong With the Luminous Nose" is pop-psych at its silliest; "Reflections of Charlie Brown" is pop-psych at its most introspective; and Sharon Tandy's "Daughter of the Sun" is a lost near-classic with witchy vocals and sinister psychedelic guitar.
Vanilla Fudge may not be progressive rock, or they might. Either way they have seriously influenced and impacted prog rock from the beginnings and I've always included them there. The group's incredibly powerful sound is unmistakable. From smoking organ sounds, crunchy guitar, soaring vocal medleys and a psychedelic texture to their extended creative arrangements, no one does it quite like The Fudge. One of the most influential things, in my opinion, that they did was their method of alternating softer and louder passages to create drama and power. I know that I've read interviews where they guys in Yes remark about that being one of the things that they have always worked with. Well, the Fudge were doing it before them. Actually one of the tracks here I see to be a definite influence on early Yes, but I have a hunch Vanilla Fudge in general had a lot to do with that band (and a lot of others') style. In any event, this album was one of the early ones from The Fudge's catalog and one that is very highly regarded. There is no weak material here and the Fudge's version of "Season of the Witch" (creating incredibly original versions of established songs is another Vanilla Fudge trademark) alone would make this a disc worth having. In my opinion that might be the best song they've ever done. The nice thing is, that is far from the only strong piece on the disc. This one is full of them.
by Gary Hill
Tracks
1. The Sky Cried-When I Was A Boy (Mark Stein, Tim Bogert) - 7:37
2. Thoughts (Vince Martell) - 3:31
3. Paradise (Mark Stein, Carmine Appice) - 6:02
4. That's What Makes A Man (Mark Stein) - 4:26
5. The Spell That Comes After (Essra Mohawk) - 4:30
6. Faceless People (Carmine Appice) - 6:04
7. Season Of The Witch (Donovan Leitch) - 8:56
8. All In Your Mind (Carmine Appice, Tim Bogert, Vince Martell, Mark Stein) - 2:59
9. Look Of Love (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) - 2:50
Nowadays one of the secondary, supplementary pleasures of music listening can be the background genealogy of those involved. The trail usually goes two ways: a forgotten or legendary one-off debut album, whereby context becomes archaeology rather than tracing current and ancestral lines; or else going on to form or augment more famous bands later known worldwide. A rare confluence of all these factors finds us in the territory of Bakerloo, a name which had as little to do with London’s public transport as their sole album’s distinctive cover image.
Their initial moniker was neat word-play: The Bakerloo Blues Line, formed in England’s West Midlands in early 1968 by David ‘Clem’ Clempson (guitar, piano/harpsichord, harmonica, vocals) and Terry Poole (bass, vocals), a graphic artist who handled their promo material. In the wake of Cream, they searched long for a drummer adept in different styles to complete a power trio, coming up trumps with the aptly-named Keith Baker. Their local area was a hotbed for up and coming bands that also saw young liggers like Robert Plant, John Bonham, Spencer Davis, Cozy Powell, The Move, Medicine Head, and Black Sabbath. Indeed, the Sabs in their first incarnation as Earth shared the same agency as Bakerloo, and later label-mates Tea & Symphony, so often gigged together and more; Bill Ward filled-in on drums a couple of times for the ’loo.
In the spirit of those times Bakerloo, with the later Black Sabbath manager Jim Simpson, started their own club. The legendary Henry’s Blueshouse (1968-1973) was located in the upstairs function room of the Crown Hotel (actually a pub) surrounded by music shops in central Birmingham. Bakerloo were the first headliners (supported by Earth) to open the venue that soon became famous for Tuesday jam sessions with Rory Gallagher, Zepp and many others and, like the Mothers club in nearby Erdington, featured touring blues legends like Arthur Big Boy Crudup, J.B.Hutto, Gary Davis, and Son House (supported by Stackwaddy!).
In September 1968 Bakerloo played London’s Roundhouse with the Small Faces, Barclay James Harvest and The Action, followed the next month as support at the famous Marquee for the debut of Led Zeppelin, a little-known band that saw fit to modestly advertise themselves as ‘The New Yardbirds’. Bakerloo played it so often as to be almost residents while crashing with local friends, including support for the last appearance there of Jethro Tull before headlining in their own right soon after. John Peel heard them at Mothers and put them on his Top Gear show (with the Bonzo Dog Band) that same October. There is a bootleg in existence which may be this BBC recording, featuring four songs later on their album. They reappeared on the BBC in January 1969 (with Alexis Korner) and for two songs on Top Gear the next month, perhaps a repeat of their debut appearance. Their first airing led to nationwide gigs throughout the next year and what seems their only foray abroad, a concert in Belgium for the princely fee of £100. Back in Brum they were seen by Tony Hall of EMI and became one of the first signings to its new prog label.
That same summer a single was released: Drivin’ Bachwards (an arrangement of Bach’s Bourrée In E Minor, soon adapted also on Jethro Tull’s second album) coupled with the non-album Once Upon A Time (HAR 5004). An unknown session drummer was used as Keith Baker had yet to join, and this is when their name was shortened to Bakerloo. There is some dispute, however, if the 45 even saw the light of day. An expert dealers’ forum has never seen one—certainly the exhaustive popsike website has no appearance—although a test pressing exists, once owned by Harvest label manager Malcolm Jones. Was it held back by the label awaiting the album then overlooked as the label gained momentum?
The self-titled album of seven tracks appeared as a gatefold in December 1969 on Harvest (SHVL 762) with band photos on the inner sleeves. Terry Poole kindly informed me that his cover design features a mining accident in the transalpine tunnel during the 1880s. The recording was one of the first produced by Gus Dudgeon (he’d engineered John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Zombies prior) before later fame with Bowie’s Space Oddity and the first LPs of Elton John and Michael Chapman. Recorded round the corner from the Marquee at Trident Studios, it what was their live set nailed in two or three takes (except, ironically, for the shortest track Drivin’ Bachwards) in just a few days—unsurprisingly as the studio cost £30 per hour, at a time when the Marquee paid exactly half that and many bands were on retainers of a fiver a week. They even squeezed sessions in-between gigs the same day. In spite of being featured on Harvest’s double sampler Picnic (This Worried Feeling) it has become one of the rarest vinyls of the Harvest catalogue. Unlike for smaller labels—the only way to get Incredible Hog’s album on Dart was to hotfoot it to Haymarket and buy in the label’s office I recall—the platter was in the shops but eluded sales. Incredibly, however, the line-up had already split by the time the album hit the shelves.
Now Esoteric/Cherry Red has digitally remastered it plus five bonus tracks. The sound is loud, sharp and full of body, each instrument in its own space for a listening delight. A jazzy fast-chord instrumental opens, Big Bear Ffolly named after their agency’s first tour, which appropriately leads into a tasty Willie Dixon standard of the 60s, Bring It On Home, mid-paced with understated mouth harp in the spirit of early Canned Heat. Driving Bachwards, the aforementioned take on Bach, is a harpsichord-led instrumental very much ’69 or an electric Amazing Blondel, with the lone guest Jerry Salisbury on trumpet. The pace drops for Last Blues, funereal-paced bass morphs into a Cream-like power trio blast with guitar effects and solo, before returning via shimmering cymbals to the original melody with wind effect. Laden with metaphors (“Take me to the train”…), its dark atmosphere clings like a coroner’s wet-suit beside a foggy lake. Imagine the Wuthering Heights’ moor round an old graveyard and you’re there.
The unfortunately titled Gang Bang closed side one, like the opener with a nod to jazz inflections overlaid by guitar solo. This group composition—no doubt the real intent of the title—showcases each musician, especially drummer Keith Baker’s rhythm patterns as pounding as those of his namesake Ginger. Surely one of the least boring drum solos on record: close your eyes and you’re on the Victorian loco rattling through the tunnel en route to the Crystal Palace. This Worried Feeling opens with a Peter Green ‘lonely style’ Fleetwood Mac blues but stays closer to the four-bar like Savoy Brown. The stronger vocals here are underpinned with bar-room piano, building up to some blistering guitar. The bonus of this drops the guitar intro in favour of piano which is more prominent in a variant, shorter take that’s still finished and interesting.
The album closes with a track that is impossible to avoid superlatives about. Extending to almost 15 minutes, Son Of Moonshine flies by like a single due to sheer energy and inventiveness. This is one helluva beast of a track, with enough horse-power to chuff a Genghis Khan who up to that point only had the heaviest Groundhogs on his walkman fed through a bank of pillaged cabinets. It is ’Hogs plus Mayblitz (live) or a tighter, heavier Mighty Baby jam. A total experience; live, you would have had to crawl out of the venue on your hands and knees afterwards—and forget to ask why the venue omitted to have a booze licence.
Its riffing, feedback opening, abrasive as asbestos, opens outs into a thumping fuzz-driven beat with more guitar styles and licks than a heaving music shop could cater for. The lyrics aren’t bad either, full of pithy wisdom, but bejeezus it’s darn hard to remember to listen out for them while such chords and rhythms are being committed to posterity. It is one of the greatest tracks of the period if you like driving, let-it-rip rock, a youth-filled bash that sums up the era, an Uncle Harry’s Freakout linking the Grove with Brum as if the M1 had never been built.
The bonus of this (Son Of Moonshine Part One) is a genuine alternate take, slightly less fuzzed but still an energetic nine minutes without the album’s post-blitz closing segment or vocals. The b-side of their only single, Once Upon A Time, is a swirling guitar example of the last flourishing of psych as we now know it in a paean to lost love. The three new bonuses are completed by the sore-thumb (Hoagie Carmichael’s Georgia) and a rumbling first take of Train, a hardy perennial subject back then that has some tasty bottle-neck slide. With 15 minutes plus of new bonuses, added to the two prior released 9 minutes, this issue is a 71 minute treat from start to finish.
The influences span genres: blues, hard rock, psych, jazz and progressive including classical elements for an experience rare as tunnel cleaners on the transport system of their name. There is no bloody gap to mind. Clearly the trio, versatile without being flashy, saw Bakerloo as a showcase for instrumental prowess and audiences lucky enough to catch them on the circuit during that brief 18 months. Reviewers compare them to Alvin Lee’s Ten Years After, Cream, Blue Cheer, Canned Heat, Juicy Lucy and Blodwyn Pig, but Bakerloo is a sticky amalgam of these great bands fired by the energetic joie de musique of stand-alone albums like Quatermass, T2 or Hackensack. One immediate post-album killer line-up featured Clem (a nickname from schooldays, he doesn’t like the name Dave) with Cozy Powell and Dave Pegg before they left for other name bands after one gig, while a later more jazzy 5-piece incarnation morphed into a renamed Hannibal (Chrysalis Records) but without any Bakerloo founder members.
It’s said that the original split was because Terry Poole wanted to move to London but not Clem. Bakerloo was their vinyl debuts, reproducing their stage sound with added keys: Clem studied piano at the Royal School of Music from an early age before taking up the guitar under the influence of blues and early rock ‘n’ roll. Incredibly, he has never released a solo album. Initially he left to form Colosseum, while Poole and Baker formed Mayblitz but again left before the Vertigo albums. The clear origins of the sound of that cult band appear on Bakerloo. And here the genealogy takes off, as the trio’s members went their own ways to Humble Pie, Graham Bond, Vinegar Joe, Judas Priest, Supertramp, Running Man and Uriah Heep—to name but a few! After more than ably replacing Peter Frampton, Clem worked in the 80s and 90s with Cozy Powell, Jack Bruce, Snafu, Rough Diamond, Ken Hensley, Jon Anderson, Bob Dylan and Chris De Burgh. After soon becoming Supertramp’s first drummer then Uriah Heep’s tubman for their second album but declining to tour, Keith Baker has worked as an in-demand sessionman. Terry Poole has had an equally glittering career as one of the best bassists in the business.
The founders are all still rightly proud of an album that has had laudatory reviews from day one for forty five years. It could have been the making of a major 70s band, rather than the safe-as-rock stepping stone it became. A more accomplished, confident debut could not exist; it would have to share the same plateau. Of course most debuts usually have their fair share of ideas—or should have—but here there is a consistent effort to add their own stamp to the event. Initially released on CD by Repertoire in 2000, with two bonus tracks, and then in 2013 on Belle (Japan) in mini cardboard sleeve, this Esoteric recording via Cherry Red in remastered glory is now definitive in concert-live sound like their recent issue of Quatermass. Even hoarders of the rare vinyl should check out its sound quality. No, not a lost gem, it has never gone missing and remains one of the cornerstones of heavy progressive rock without need of hype. Because it’s a masterpiece.
by Brian R. Banks, 2014
Tracks
1. Big Bear Ffolly - 3:57
2. Bring It On Home (Willie Dixon) - 4:18
3. Drivin' Bachwards (Johann Sebastian Bach) - 2:08
4. Last Blues - 7:07
5. Gang Bang (Clem Clempson, Terry Poole, Keith Baker) - 6:18
6. This Worried Feeling - 7:06
7. Son Of Moonshine - 14:58
8. Once Upon A Time - 3:39
9. This Worried Feeling (Alternative Take) - 5:46
10.Georgia (Hoagie Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell) - 4:04
11.Train - 2:54
12.Son Of Moonshine Part One (Alternate Take) - 8:46
All songs by Clem Clempson, Terry Poole except where indicated Bakerloo
*Dave 'Clem' Clempson - Guitars, Piano, Harpsichord, Harmonica, Vocals
*Terry Poole - Bass Guitar
*Keith Baker - Drums With
*Jerry Salisbury - Trumpet
The story of Flake began in late 1968 when drummer Wayne Thomas quit Sydney band Plastic Tears to form his own group. He recruited four other players he knew -- singer Geoff Gray and bassist Laurie Sinclair (ex The Eli) and organist Rob Toth and guitarist Lindsay Askew (ex The Seen). The new band rehearsed solidly for three months but Laurie Sinclair was forced to drop out before their first gig due to the fact that his father died, his house burned down, he split up with his girlfriend and he had been called up for the Army -- all in the space of one week!
Several changes of personnel during 1969. Mick Gaul left the band and was replaced by Denis Moore (recently returned from the USA) who was known to Thomas from his time with Sydney band Him & The Others. Not long after, Lindsay Askew and Rob Toth both left due to the difficulties of balancing work and band committments -- all the members somehow managed to hold down day-jobs -- and Toth subsequently joined Samael Lilith.
Flake now started looking for a record deal. They had preliminary discussions with EMI, who lined up the renowned David Mackay as producer, but EMI's offer was for two Singles, with the recording of an album dependent on both Singles being hits. At this point independent producer Martin Erdman made them a better offer -- he would sing them to his Du Monde label for two Singles, plus an album, providing Flake had reasonable success with at least one of the Singles.
In early 1970 Flake went to Erdman's World of Sound studio at Ramsgate. The tracks they recorded were the Jackie Lomax song, "You've Got Me Thinking" as the A-side, with as the flip. Unfortunately, although Sydney radio programmers liked the band, they didn't like the song, so Wayne Thomas (who had chosen the A-side) then approached 2UW programmer Gary Jaegear for help. 2UW had rejected the A-side -- but not the B-side, Dylan's "This Wheel's On Fire" -- so Jaegar generously slipped "This Wheel's On Fire" onto the 2UW playlist.
Fortunately for Flake, the single came out at the start of the Radio Ban, which began in May 1970. While this controversial six-month dispute between commercial radio and record companies raged, many major label recordings -- particularly UK hits released or distributed by EMI-- were banned from commercial radio, giving independent labels like Du Monde, Fable, Sparmac and Image unprecedented access to commercial radio playlists.
Before long it was picked up by 2SM and then by stations in other cities. It definitely became a major national hit, although sources differ about exact chart placings. According to Wayne Thomas' History of Flake, it made the Top 5 nationally and stayed on the Go-Set chart for 18 weeks and charts reproduced in the CD-ROM of Martin Erdman's Du Monde compilation confirm his report that it went to #1 in the Sydney Daily Mirror chart and #2 in the 2SM chart, and that it made the Top 30 on 5AD Adelaide. Ian McFarlane's Encyclopedia entry on Flake says that it went Top 5 in Sydney (#4, July) and reached #20 nationally, whereas Martin Erdman asserts that it "reached ... No 7 nationally". Vernon Joyson claims that it spent 25 weeks on the chart. Martin Erdman also reports that the single was originally released by Festival with an orange label, but this was interrupted by the Radio Ban, so Erdman's own World Of Sound company took over pressing and distribution, with Singles released with both gold and orange labels. The single also won the 1970 2SM Australian Talent Award.
In the wake of the single's success Flake toured extensively up and down the east coast, all the while balancing their music career with their day jobs. Inevitably the strain began to tell and the first to leave was Dave Allen. His replacement was Billy Taylor (ex Purple Vision), who took over on rhythm guitar aas well as adding an extra voice to the band's already powerful vocal lineup. Taylor soon became close friends with singer Geoff Gray and the band's roadie Paul Berry, and they soon moved into a flat together. During this period Flake recorded a performance of a song from their repertiore, "Midnight Train", for the ABC's GTK pop show, but it is not yet known whether this still survives in the archives.
Now a mere footnote in '60s rock history, Leicester, England's Pesky Gee! are perhaps remembered more for the band that they became -- notorious Satan-worshipers Black Widow -- than for their actual music. Taking their name from a song in another local group's repertoire, Pesky Gee! were originally formed as a soul band before constant gigging slowly pushed them toward a more experimental and progressive style of rock & roll.
By 1968, the band consisted of Kay Garrett - lead vocals, Kip Trevor - vocals, guitar, harmonica, Chris Dredge - guitar, Clive Jones - saxophone, flute, Alan Hornsby - brass, Bob Bond - bass, and Clive Box drums, and had signed a deal with Pye Records. A cover of Vanilla Fudge's "Where Is My Mind" was chosen as their first single in March 1969, but when it failed to chart, both Dredge and Hornsby flew the coop, being replaced by guitarist Jim Gannon keyboardist Jess "Zoot" Taylor.
Wasting little time, this "new and improved" lineup managed to record Pesky Gee!'s cleverly titled first album, Exclamation Mark, in a single, one-night, four-hour session. Issued in June of the same year, the record sadly fared no better than their single, and the impatient Pye soon showed them the door.
Feeling that this particular incarnation had run its course, and simultaneously observing the general populace's growing fascination with forbidden topics like black magic and the occult, Pesky Gee! decided to re-invent themselves as a theatrically Satanic outfit by assuming the fittingly conspicuous name of Black Widow.
by Eduardo Rivadavia
Tracks
1. Another Country (Ron Polte) - 7:37
2. Pigs Foots (Ben Dixon) - 4:39
3. Season of the Witch (Donovan Leitch) - 8:22
4. A Place of Heartbreak (Malcolm Rabbitt) - 3:00
5. Where is My Mind (Mark Stein) - 3:00
6. Piece of My Heart (Jerry Ragavoy, Bert Burns) - 2:50
7. Dharma For One (Anderson Bunker) - 4:02
8. Peace of Mind (John Whitney, Roger Chapman) - 2:19
9. Born To Be Wild (Mars Bonfire) - 4:20
Pesky Gee
*Jim Gannon - Guitar
*Jess Taylor - Organ
*Kay Garret - Lead Vocals
*Clive Jones - Saxophone
*Bob Bond - Bass
*Clive Box - Drums
*Kip Trevor - Vocals
Having previously released two favourably received, but commercially neglected, albums for Mercury under the name Eyes Of Blue in the late 60s, Welsh band Big Sleep recorded Bluebell Wood for the Pegasus label in 1971. Though Eyes Of Blue had started out playing Motown numbers, they’d expanded their range by covering Love’s 7+7 Is and opening themselves up to psych and progressive rock.
They’d split by the time of Bluebell Wood’s release, with drummer John Weathers joining Gentle Giant and keyboardist Phil Ryan decamping to Welsh prog rock legends Man. But the result of their Chappell Studios deliberations was an adept and stylistically diverse collection that explored the band’s progressive interests, while still leaning on the classical influences that Eyes Of Blue had followed.
The music ranges from the very 70s travelogue sounds of the title track, though the ludicrously baroque opening strings on Saint & Sceptic and on to the lively and marketable closing song, When The Sun Was Out. Never before available on CD, this is a pleasingly easy-on-the-ear album that effortlessly blends its warm and hazy sounds with contrasting downbeat lyricism.
by Ian Abrahams
Tracks
1. Death Of A Hope (John Weathers) - 5:35
2. Odd Song (Gary Pickford Hopkins) - 3:54
3. Free Life (John Weathers) - 6:29
4. Aunty James - 4:44
5. Saint And Sceptic - 6:36
6. Bluebell Wood - 11:26
7. Watching Love Grow -2:35
8. When The Sun Was Out - 3:42
All songs by Ritchie Francis except where stated
Big Sleep
*Phil Ryan - Organ, Piano
*Ritchie Francis - Bass, Piano, Vocals
*John "Pugwash" Weathers - Drums, Vocals
*Raymond "Taff" Williams - Guitar
*Gary Pickford Hopkins - Vocals, Guitar
Mandy Morton led much more the band away from the limitations in creativity of folk and even folkrock visions, but kept the whole typical linear heritage of England’s culture, with references to Renaissance and medieval times that brings an idea of magic, giving that way more colour and depth in background to the inspirations.
Sandy Roberton did the production. He produced before the early folk/folkrock albums of Steeleye Span. Especially on the opener “Dead Man’s Eyes” we can hear a comparable approach of an influence of folk mixed with a straight rock rhythm. The lush orchestrations on “All Before” by Robert Kirby* are comparable to some Sandy Denny tracks, while especially on the closing track, “Letter to a lady” the arrangements that confirm the old England blossoming days with bassoon and such, are most impressive.
Most arrangements are definitely making the best of a singer-songwriting vision, with tracks that have rather progressive or often crafted even at times with its own subtleness, heavy rocking arrangements. I must also mention how Mandy also has a beautiful coloured voice and singing and a personality and vision that give this album a masterly musically conceptual vision, which made this album an essential classic.
Psych-Folk
Tracks
1. Magic Lady - 2:28
2. Music Prince - 3:19
3. According to Mathew - 3:29
4. Little Inbetween - 1:35
5. Goodbye the Day - 4:25
6. Silence do the Rest - 3:00
7. The Lady - 3:12
8. White Ship - 2:44
9. Witchfinder - 3:41
10.Gypsy Glass - 3:48
11.Ghost of a Song - 2:59
12.Winter Storms (Bonus Track) - 2:58
13.Magic Lady Reprise - 0:52
Lyrics and Music by Mandy Morton
Mandy Morton And Spriguns
*Mandy Morton - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
*Tom Ling - Electric And Acoustic Violins, Harpsichord
*Byron Giles - Electric And Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
*Alex Cooper - Drums And Percussion
*Mike Morton - Bass Guitar Guest Musicians
*Tim Hart - Dulcimer, Vocals
*Graeme Taylor - Electric Guitar
*Gordon Folkard - Cello And Concertina
*Sarah Folkard - Viola
*Gaynor Roberts - Backing Vocals (On Track 2)
Breakthru were a powerful live act who never managed to "break through" into the record charts despite a talented and charismatic line-up.
Breakthru never managed to have an album released of their own which was unfortunate as their only record was a solitary single "Ice Cream Tree" that has since appeared on various 1960s compilations. The group were never happy with the single as it was not a good representation of their "sound", and particularly as the song was not composed by the band themselves.
All the group members were actively involved in song writing with some of this backlog occasionally committed to tape whenever time and money would permit. Now, decades later, the previously un-released recordings they made have been assembled into the one and only Breakthru album titled "Adventures Highway". This collection the band members say, represents how they would like the group to be best remembered.
"Adventures Highway" was assembled from a combination of unreleased-demos, BBC sessions, and surviving recordings from the results of various excursions into the studio by the group between 1967 and 1970. Side one kicks off with the high-energy group-composed Believe It from 1970. You can just imagine the band going all out on this one with its high-energy blues-driven attack.
Here Comes The End from 1967 is a lot more psychedelic sounding with abundant echo effects but still very powerful. The bluesy cover of Willie Dixon's Spoonful really gives an indication of what Breakthru were all about. Gary Aflalo's blues-harmonica playing on this one is exceptional against a backdrop of thundering hammond organ and distorted guitars. If you really hate your neighbours then this is the one to play loud!
Love Is Strange starts out with some crashing guitars/bass/drums highly reminiscent of The Beatles Rain. This one is supposedly based on the Everly Brother's version of the song and features both Gary Aflalo and Keith Abingdon doing a good job harmonizing on the vocals.
This is followed by the album's title track Adventures Highway from 1968 and what a number it is too! Menacing hammond organ joined by pounding drums and guitar build into a climax of sheer volume that soon becomes a backdrop for spaced-out lyrics; Oh let's get transmitted, there's no planet that's too far. We'll see Jupiter and Mars, we'll see strange and weird sights on our space bound trip tonight... (make of it what you will).
The melodic and hypnotic I Have A Dream composed by Geoff Garratley, reaches the height of social consciousness to include actual recorded excerpts from Martin Luther King's famous speech. Interestingly, this track was left off the vinyl version of the Breakthru album. Bob Booth's Growing Older is similarly laid-back but does include some wild hammond fingering towards the end. Troubleshoot co-written by Keith Abingdon and Richard Thomas is an excellent psychedelic rampage with lyrics to match. It has some great wah-wah guitar effects similar to what Roy Wood was doing at the time on many of The Move's records.
We then go right into The Story Of Peer Gynt with its opening riff taken directly from Hall Of The Mountain King (almost seems like a tradition amongst Brum bands to pay tribute to classical music at some time or another). This rocking track was considered for single release at the time but for some reason it never happened. A pity as it would surely have made a good follow up to Ice Cream Tree.
The remaining tracks on the album were recorded in 1970 at London's Piccadilly studios. Although the group were on the verge of splitting by this time, they recorded (ironically) what are regarded as some of their best tracks. Alice Dropped Out from these sessions, would have made a fine single. As one of several Breakthru tracks co-composed by Keith Abingdon and Richard Thomas, this one is a driving blues-rock number with guitars very much at the forefront and the trademark hammond absent. This would have been a powerful one when performed by the band live.
It is followed on the album by Happiness which shows the band could still be tuneful in a commercial direction when they wanted to. Shake Off That Lead is another such radio-friendly track that bounces along with a catchy keyboard-driven melody.
The final track on the Breakthru album is titled Sailor Song. A wonderfully harmonious partnership of keyboard and guitar, and as the title suggests, the lyrics tell of a seafaring character who would rather spend his life out on the ocean rather than be troubled by the problems experienced by those on land. Maybe it's meant as an expression of ultimate freedom (or freedom of expression) that seems to run through the groups music from start to finish on these collected tracks that make up the Breakthru album.
The Circle Records "Breakthru" album package serves as a fine tribute to one of the West Midlands great performing groups of the late 1960s. Breakthru were one of those bands who were at the leading edge of the pop music revolution at a time when innovation and the growth of new musical ideas was reaching its peak during the 1960s. "Adventures Highway" fulfills a dream they had back then and this time you can join them on their journey.
Breakthru
*Keith (Smoke) Abingdon - Guitar
*Gary Aflalo - Lead Vocal
*Bobby Booth - Bass Guitar (Left in 1968)
*Geoff (Gladys) Garratley - Hammond Organ (Left in 1968)
*Jim Leyland - Drums (Left in 1969)
*Frank Farrell - Bass Guitar (Joined in 1968, Multi-talented Frank played bass for Supertramp and later worked with Leo Sayer co-writing his no1 hit ‘Moonlighting’)
*Richard (Plug) Thomas - Drums (Joined in 1968)
*Bill Hunt - Hammond Organ (Joined In 1969, later joined 1st ELO line up and later Wizzard)
Since noone else seems to be doing it we continue our examination of overlooked British folk titles, based on the assumption that they some day will be reissued, as they must. Of four such folk obscurities I recently got to hear thanks to the generosity of a fellow country-man the unspeakably rare album by FOLKAL POINT was clearly the best. The LP came out on the hallowed (among less than 50 people) Midas record label, an operation masterminded by the same cunning gentleman that ran the Folk Heritage operation; his Midas £1000 stable also includes the slightly better known Gallery LP and a couple of less rare titles by Janet Jones, one of which I've heard and wasn't impressed by.
Bristol area outfit Folkal Point on the other hand is an obvious delight, with elements likely to attract almost anyone with an ear for gentle rural 1970s sounds with psych overtones. Sweet female vocals is the poison of many a folk fiend and this has an abundance of it, in fact the sounds emitting from Cherie Musialik are gorgeous to a point where I have to cast a wide net to come up with comparisons; but if you can imagine a warm tone halfway between the girl-child charms of Vasthi Bunyan and the lush village-beauty sound of early Mandy Morton, then I guess we're in the right shire. So appealing are these vocals that they become the defining characteristic of the album, and fortunately the Folkals seem to realize this as they play a selection of material that is absolutely right for the asset; haunting minor chord ballads with obvious debts owed to American 60s folk as well as the psychedelic sounds of subsequent years. If you expect a marvy "Scarborough Fair" from this description, you've got it. "Once I Knew A Pretty Girl"? Yes. Both are done in a manner closer to Shide & Acorn than Shirley Collins, with the arrangements displaying a clear bias towards the "rock" rather than "trad" side of the equation. The liner notes refer to the band playing electric on occasion and while this is an acoustic-oriented album, it's easy to imagine it being re-recorded with a full electric setting, the imaginary result recalling the Trees at their best.
Beginning at the beginning, there is a version of gospel tune "Twelve Gates Into The City", although there isn't much gospel left after Folkal Point have chased it through their enchanted forest. Then there's "Scarborough", which is followed by "Sweet Sir Galahad", whose artfully descending stair of minor chords may crown it my favorite on the whole album. Cherie's vocals are just stunning, it's like if one of those princess girls serenaded by Donovan suddenly started singing back. The hippie folkpsych takes on trad material progresses successfully through "Lovely Joan" before a contemporary note is introduced with "Circle Game" and its clever carousel metaphors. The footstomping US folk boom Pete Seeger sound of "Cookoo's Hollerin'" is less appealing, not because it's bad but because it fails to take advantage of the band's strengths. Luckily, it's the shortest track on the LP. Then there is a Spriguns-like take on "Edom O'Gordon" before the modern theme resurfaces in Tom Paxton's "Victoria Dines Alone", whose theme of female loneliness and depression seems highly poignant in 2003. It's a flawless performance, and likely to be the favorite track of listeners of a less folky persuasion. The Americanisms linger via a charming take on Dylan's "You ain't going nowhere", although it would have been more interesting to hear this one with female vocals -- but I guess the Folkal boys wouldn't settle for just picking guitar on ALL tracks.
Entering the last quarter the LP tightens its grip on the listener again, presenting the unorthodox chord structures and wave-like rhythms of "Anathea" which the liner notes credit to Lydia Wood, although the lyrical content is essentially the same as "Seven Curses" as done by young Bobby Dylan and others. This dark, despairing story is given a matching presentation by the band, opening doors to an eerie "downer folk" cellar not found elsewhere on the album. This is followed by the atmospheric, ensemble-sung "National seven", after which an excellent, folkrock-style take on "Once I Knew A Pretty Girl" closes the book on 40 minutes that are as impressive as anything you can hope to find within the genre. According to UK folk expert Ian at Ammonite, 500 copes were pressed of which half were lost in a flood. Let's hope it gets reissued ere the next millennium.
by Patrick the Lama
Tracks
1. Twelve Gates Into the City - 3:08
2. Scarborough Fair - 4:02
3. Sweet Sir Galahad (Joan Baez) - 3:43
4. Lovely Joan - 2:38
5. Circle Game (Joni Mitchell) - 5:23
6. Cuckoos Hollerin' - 1:46
7. Edom O'Gordon - 2:18
8. Victoria Dines Alone (Tom Paxton) - 4:23
9. You Ain't Going Nowhere (Bob Dylan) - 2:55
10.Anathea (Lydia Wood) - 4:00
11.National Seven (Cherie Musialik, Mark Steed, Paul Cook, Stuart Amesbury) - 2:29
