rep>>> Peter Bardens - The Answer (1970 uk, psychedelic/progressive rock, 2010 esoteric remaster with extra tracks)

Reading the liner notes of this recent reissue of Peter Bardens’ 1970 debut The Answer, reveals a prolific artist kept busy prior to his finding fame as the keyboardist with progressive rock group Camel. Aside from the psychedelic Ladbroke Grove act, The Village, he played in a whole host of bands during the British “Blues Boom” of the mid-sixties, alongside future household names such as Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green and Premier League rogerer, Sir Rodney of Stewart.

And there’s an element of blues rock bubbling away beneath the psychedelic/progressive mix that forms The Answer, particularly with regards to Bardens’ vocal delivery, which is a full-bodied blues drawl and, on occasion, remarkably similar in sound to another royal lady-roisterer, a certain Michael Jagger.

The title-track, first up on the album, is awash with energetic blues guitar licks, in this case provided by an uncredited Peter Green, which is bolstered throughout by Bardens’ elaborate organ artistry and pseudo-philosophical lyricism, popular in progressive and underground rock circles of this era.

The blues guitar continues through the eerie mire that is ‘Don’t Goof With a Spook’, where the Jaggerisms are possibly at their strongest, and the excellent acid-soaked freak-rock of ‘I Can’t Remember’, with its hedonistic tribal undercurrent in addition to the masterclass of swirling keyboard extravagance.

‘I Don’t Want to Go Home’ and ‘Let’s Get It On’, both of which also feature an uncredited Peter Green on lead guitar, are more in the standard blues-rock vein and as such a little more formulaic, but following on from something as undeniably strong as the three aforementioned tracks that open The Answer, is always going to be a thankless task.

Which brings us nicely to the B-side spanning closing track of the original album. Running just shy of 14 minutes, ‘Homage to the God of Light’ is a spectacular journey into the outer reaches of psychedelic-prog, bringing to mind the early instrumental excursions of Pink Floyd and the exalted voyagers of space rock, Hawkwind. Bardens really gives the organ a punishing workout on this captivating, and lengthy, illustration of finest, ye olde underground gallivanting. A worthy highlight to an all round worthy album.

The reissue also throws in The Village’s excellent psychedelic single ‘The Man in the Moon’ and its instrumental B-side, ‘Long Time Coming’.

by Nick James

Tracks
1. The Answer - 5:25
2. Don’t Goof With A Spook - 7:21
3. I Can’t Remember - 10:41
4. I Don’t Want To Go Home - 5:13
5. Let’s Get It On - 6:36
6. Homage to the God of Light - 13:32
7. Man In The Moon (Bonus Tracks as Village) - 4:13
8. Long Time Coming (Bonus Tracks as Village) - 2:33
All compositions written by Peter Bardens.

Musicians
*Peter Bardens - Keyboards, Vocals
*Steve Ellis - Vocal
*Andy Gee - Guitar
*Reg Isadore - Drums
*Linda Lewis - Vocal
*Alan Marshall - Vocal, Percussion
*Bruce Thomas - Bass
*David Wooley - Vocal
*Rocky - Congas
*Bruce Thomas - Bass Guitar (Village)
*Bill Porter - Drums (Village)

1971  Write My Name In The Dust (Japan remaster)

1979  Peter Bardens - Heart To Heart (Japan remaster)

Related Act
1973  Camel - Camel (2013 japan SHM remaster)  

1974  Camel - Mirage (2013 japan SHM)

1975  Camel - Music Inspired By Snow Goose (2009 japan SHM double disc remaster)

1976  Camel - Moonmadness (2009  Japan SHM double disc)

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rep>>> Whistler Chaucer Detroit And Greenhill - The Unwritten Works Of Geoffrey, Etc. (1968 us, astonishing folk psych rock, 2006 reissue)

Whistler, Chaucer, Detroit and Greenhill's only album was a minor but decent late-'60s folk-rock-psychedelic record, at times (but not always) reflecting the influence of California groups of the period like Buffalo Springfield. Certainly a few of the tracks, especially "The Viper (What John Rance Had to Tell)" (written by a young T-Bone Burnett, who produced) and "House of Collection" sound much like the folkier things Neil Young was writing and singing in the Springfield's later days and his early solo career.

They're also competent at integrating both psychedelia ("Days of Childhood") and country-rock ("Just Me and Her") into that Springfield-esque palate, though at times the songs aren't particularly rootsy. "Upon Waking from the Nap," for instance, goes for a more baroque orchestrated mood, and Burnett's "Street in Paris" seems like an attempt to craft an eccentric throwback to '30s European cabaret. There's an understated mood to the record that makes it a cut above many similarly derivative albums of the time, as it doesn't seem to be straining as hard to ride the trends of the day as if they're cloaks to be worn for the duration of the recording sessions. 

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. The Viper (What John Rance Had To Tell) (Joseph Burnett) - 2:24
2. Day Of Childhood (Edd Lively, Scott Fraser) - 3:01
3. Upon Waking From The Nap (David Bullock) - 1:59
4. Live Til' I Die (David Bullock) - 3:11
5. Street In Paris (Joseph Burnett) - 2:58
6. As Pure As The Freshly Driven Snow (Joseph Burnett) - 1:38
7. Tribute To Sundance (David Bullock) - 2:55
8. House Of Collection (Edd Lively, Scott Fraser) - 1:43
9. Just Me And Her (Edd Lively, Scott Fraser) - 2:23
10.On Lusty Gentleman (Joseph Burnett) - 2:40
11.Ready To Move (David Bullock) - 3:18

Whistler Chaucer Detroit And Greenhill
*John Carrick - Guitar, Vocals
*Scott Fraser - Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
*Eddie K Lively - Guitar, Vocals
*Philip White - Bass, Keyboards, Vocals

Related Act
1970-78  Space Opera - Safe At Home (2010 Issue) 
1972  Space Opera - Space Opera (2014 korean remaster) 

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rep>> Black Oak Arkansas - X-Rated (1975 us, hard southern boogie rock, 2021 remaster)

In 1975 BOA signed a contract with MCA and release their tenth album “X-Rated”. We’re in the mid 70’s and Hard Rock sounds more than ever at the high peeks, Jim Dandy and his band doing that they can do best, Southern high energy Rock ‘n Roll, raunchy  dirty up tempo ballads.  

From the front  cover  to the back cover the sins of Jim Dandy and his gang are everywhere diffuse, soaked with plenty of bourbon . Overall the album stands  quite well with the band tight-knit and the voice of Jim fits exactly between the music and the lyrics parts. 

Tracks

1. Bump 'n' Grind - 3:55 

2. Fightin' Cock - 4:37 

3. Highway Pirate - 4:05 

4. Strong Enough To Be Gentle - 5:28 

5. Flesh Needs Flesh - 4:14

6. Wild Men From The Mountains - 3:25 

7. High Flyer - 3:00 

8. Ace In The Hole - 3:41 

9. Too Hot To Stop - 4:02

All songs by Tommy Aldridge, Pat Daugherty, James Thomas Henderson, Stanley Knight, Jim Mangrum, Ricky Reynolds

Black Oak Arkansas
*Tommy Aldridge - Drums
*Pat "Dirty" Daugherty - Bass, Vocals
*James Thomas Henderson - Guitar
*Stanley "Goober" Knight - Guitar
*Jim "Dandy" Mangrum - Vocals, Washboard
*Ricky "Ricochet" Reynolds - Guitar, Vocals

The Black Oak Arkansas heights
1971  Black Oak Arkansas (Debut album)
1973  High On The Hog
1973  The Complete Raunch 'N' Roll (Live)
1976  Balls Of Fire

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rep>>> Various Artists - Sing Me A Rainbow • A Trident Anthology (1965-67 us, marvelous sunshine psych folk garage beat, 2008 double disc set)

Previous volumes in the Nuggets From The Golden State series devoted to the late Frank Werber’s Trident Productions have been enthusiastically received, and Big Beat is proud to issue the best of the rest in this double CD package, “Sing Me A Rainbow: A Trident Anthology 1965-67”.

Werber formed Trident Productions in 1964 and dissolved it in late 1967. As manager and ‘fourth member’ of the incredibly successful Kingston Trio, he had taken the act’s profits and invested them on their behalf in a range of intellectual properties, such as publishing, and physical ones, such as the Trident Restaurant in Sausalito and, most significantly, the flat iron Columbus Tower building in San Francisco’s North Beach district. With the production company, Werber wanted to apply his proven management abilities to a new wave of artists, but he didn’t bargain with how different, and contrary, that next generation might be. Based as it was in the San Francisco of the mid-1960s, Trident was at once in the vanguard of rock’s next phase, and a victim of it. The organization only foundered because, after ten years at the top of his profession, the man driving the whole shebang didn’t want to play the game anymore.

Based on a thorough investigation of his catalogue, this collection documents Werber’s attempts to create a Brill Building-like production line of writers, producers and acts, though focused on the new folk-rock San Francisco sound. His flagship artist in this regard was the hugely popular We Five, and the comp includes rare mono single and album mixes not previously on CD. Cuts by the Mystery Trend, Sons Of Champlin and Blackburn And Snow are also previously unissued rarities that are not featured on their respective anthologies.

Werber believed in nurturing his handpicked acts, and we have included his best examples here, such as the Justice League, the San Franciscans, the Front Line and the Tricycle. Outside of We Five, none of Trident’s acts had any success. Yet, although Sing Me A Rainbow contains 95% unissued material, it is a surprisingly strong and accomplished set of folk rock, pop and garage band sounds with a San Francisco flavour. There is also a rare folk rock experiment by Kingston Trio member John Stewart and selected demos by hopefuls who auditioned for Trident, including Thorinshield, The All Nite Flight and The New Tweedy Brothers.

by Alec Palao 

Artists - Tracks - Composer

Disc 1

1. We Five - You Were on My Mind (Sylvia Fricker) - 2:36 

2. Randy Steirling, John Stewart - Leave Me Alone (Randy Cierley, John Stewart) - 2:52 

3. Front Line Assembly -  Need You No More (Dennis Lanigan) - 2:00 

4. San Franciscans - I Love You So (Jack Fischer) - 2:16 

5. Blackburn And Snow - Stranger in a Strange Land (Samuel F. Omar) - 2:41 

6. Herb Jackson Group - She's Mine (Herbert Jackson) - 1:55 

7. Front Line Assembly - I Don't Care (Dennis Lanigan) - 2:58 

8. San Franciscans - If You Lie (Jack Fischer) - 2:25 

9. We Five - You Let a Love Burn Out (Randy Steirling) - 2:11 

10.Front Line Assembly - Got Love (Dennis Lanigan) - 1:51 

11.Randy Steirling - Green Monday (Randy Steirling) - 3:10 

12.Blackburn And Snow - It's So Hard (Jeff Blackburn) - 2:10 

13.Justice League Featuring Kwame - Love Me Not Tomorrow (John Stewart) - 2:12 

14.We Five - Five Will Get You Ten (Frank May) - 2:19 

15.Thorinshield - Brave New World (Bobby Ray) - 2:04 

16.Randy Steirling - Places I've Been (Randy Cierley) - 2:29 

17.The Mystery Trend - Carrots on a String (Bob Cuff) - 2:01 

18.Frank May - I'll Make You Happy (Frank May) - 2:08 

19.Justice League Featuring Kwame - I Really Want You (Ron Cornelius) - 2:11 

20.The Sons of Champlin - Sing Me a Rainbow (Estelle Levitt, Lou Stallman) - 3:06 

21.New Tweedy Brothers - Letters (Steven Ekman) - 3:27 

22.Jeff Blackburn, Randy Cierley, John Lennon, Estelle Levitt, Paul McCartney, Rob Moitoza, Lou Stallman - MGM Verve Presentation Medley: Green Monday/Sing Me a Rainbow/Fat City/ - 5:27 

Disc 2
1. Blackburn And Snow - Stranger in a Strange Land (Samuel F. Omar) - 2:28
2. We Five - There Stands the Door (Herbert Jackson) - 2:25
3. New Tweedy Brothers - Time (Steven Ekman) - 4:01
4. The Mystery Trend - Johnny Was a Good Boy (Bob Cuff) - 2:37
5. Justice League Featuring Kwame - Thinkin' It Over - 2:12
6. Thorinshield - Wrong My Friend (Bobby Ray) - 2:03
7. All Nite Flight - Here I Stand (Jack King) - 2:39
8. We Five - What's Goin' On - 2:16
9. Ron Davies - This Time (Ron Davies) - 3:45
10.The Mystery Trend - Mambo for Marion (Bob Cuff) - 2:04
11.Justice League Featuring Kwame - Can't Get Over How You Left Me (Ron Cornelius) - 2:59
12.The Sons of Champlin - Go and Hide (Bill Champlin) - 2:13
13.Tricycle - All the Time (Mason Williams) - 2:20
14.Ron Davies - Pleasant Avenue (Ron Davies) - 1:45
15.Tricycle - Not a Single Word (Debbie Burgan, Jerry Burgan) - 2:33
16.Crystal Set - She's on My Mind (Ron Cornelius) - 2:34
17.Blackburn And Snow - Time (Jeff Blackburn) - 2:47
18.Ron Nagle - 61 Clay - 1:33
19.Crystal Set - Peaceful Times (Ron Cornelius) - 2:50
20.Tricycle - Somewhere (Ron Davies) - 2:25
21.Blackburn And Snow - See More Tomorrow (Jeff Blackburn) - 3:32
22.The Sons of Champlin - Shades of Grey (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) - 3:13

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rep>>> Colosseum - Colosseum Live (1971 uk, fascinating heavy fusion prog rock, 2016 double disc set remaster)

A remarkable feature of Colosseum Live was the inclusion of one of the more unusual numbers in the band's repertoire, namely Michael Gibbs's outstanding composition "Tanglewood '63." This was a brave piece for a six piece jazz rock band to tackle since the original version (aside from a version recorded by Gary Burton's quartet in 1982) was made by Gibbs for his second big band album for Deram in 1971. But Gibbs plus Colosseum members Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Dave Clempson had also performed this track, as members of the New Jazz Orchestra, at the Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre, London on 26 May 1970 (a CD of the concert eventually being released on the Dusk Fire label in 2008 and going under the title of Camden '70). The version of "Tanglewood '63" heard on this re-mastered Colosseum Live album meticulously reflects the labyrinthine and complex arrangement of the piece. The Colosseum version also utilises vocal harmonies to replace some of the original instrumentation and most notably the voice of Chris Farlowe, whose ability to sing intricate melody lines proves beyond doubt that he was not merely an impressively powerful rhythm and blues singer.

The original Colosseum Live LP was released in 1971 on the Bronze label, the content gleaned from concerts recorded in the United Kingdom. Tracks included Jack Bruce's "Rope Ladder To The Moon" and Graham Bond's "Walking In The Park" which was Colosseum's hugely popular signature tune. Then there were some frenetic blues tracks, "Skellington" and the blistering "I Can't Live Without You" (not included on the original 1971 Bronze label double vinyl release but included as a bonus track on the 1992 Sequel CD reissue). The mood was taken down a little with the classic T-Bone Walker number "Stormy Monday Blues," Farlowe's barnstorming vocals positively shining through. The Greenslade, Heckstall-Smith and Farlowe-penned "Lost Angeles" is another genuine highlight of the album, a fifteen minute tour de force proving that the band could write effective and dynamic numbers when they set about it.

This Esoteric release includes an extra CD of bonus tracks recorded in Brighton, Bristol and Manchester. Significantly there is the addition of several tracks not included on the original release including a full length version of "The Valentyne Suite," a very rare treat to hear live. Also, sandwiched between "I Can't Live Without You" and "The Machine Demands A Sacrifice" is "Time Machine," a stupendous twelve minute drum solo—where Hiseman, egged-on by a increasingly hysterical audience, proves what a technically brilliant drummer he is; towards the climactic ending of his solo he kicks his twin bass drums at almost superhuman speed. His drumming far outstripped the capabilities of the average rock drummer, which he most certainly was not. The bonus CD on this release makes this an absolutely essential purchase for all Colosseum fans, who will undoubtedly already possess a version of the original Colosseum Live.

Those who haven't heard this band before will be mightily impressed at the virtuosic talent of all the members of the group and the timeless quality of the music presented here. Therefore this is a very welcome reissue indeed from one of the pre-eminent pioneering British jazz rock outfits and one of the genre's most well-loved bands.

by Roger Farbey

Tracks
Disc 1 (Original Album)
1. Rope Ladder To The Moon (Jack Bruce, Pete Brown) - 9:45
2. Walking In The Park (Graham Bond) - 8:22
3. Skelington (Dave "Clem" Clempson, Jon Hiseman) - 14:57
4. I Can't Live Without You (James Litherland) - 7:49
5. Tanglewood '63 (Michael Gibbs) - 10:13
6. Stormy Monday Blues (Aron T. Walker) - 7:29
7. Lost Angeles (Chris Farlowe, Dave Greenslade, Dick Heckstall-Smith) - 15:48
Tracks 1-7 recorded at Manchester University, Manchester, UK (March 18, 1971) and the Big Apple, Brighton, UK (March 27, 1971), on the "Daughter of Time" tour.

Disc 2
1. Rope Ladder To The Moon (Jack Bruce, Pete Brown) - 10:56
2. Skellington (Dave "Clem" Clempson, Jon Hiseman) - 14:41
3. I Can't Live Without You (James Litherland) - 21:39
.a.Time Machine (Jon Hiseman)
.b.The Machine Demands A Sacrifice (Jon Hiseman, James Litherland, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Pete Brown)
4. Stormy Monday Blues (Aron T. Walker) - 5:12
5. The Valentyne Suite - 21:20
.I.January's Search (Jon Hiseman,  Dave Greenslade)
.II.Theme Two - February's Valentyne (Jon Hiseman,  Dave Greenslade)
.III.Theme Three - The Grass Is Greener (Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith)
Tracks 1-2 recorded at The Big Apple, Brighton, 1971
Track 3 recorded at Manchester University, March 1971
Track 4 recorded in Bristol, 1971
Track 5 recorded at Manchester University, March 1971.

The Colosseum
*Mark Clarke - Bass, Vocals
*Dave "Clem" Clempson - Guitars, Vocals
*Chris Farlowe - Vocals
*Dave Greenslade - Organ, Vibes
*Dick Heckstall -Smith - Saxophones
*Jon Hiseman - Drums

1969 Colosseum - Valentyne Suite (2004 deluxe expanded edition) 
1969  Colosseum - Those Who Are About To Die Salute You (2004 remaster and expanded)
1970  Colosseum - Daughter Of Time (remaster with bonus track)
Related Acts
1969  Sweet Pain - Sweet Pain
1969  Jack Bruce - Songs For A Tailor (expanded edition)
1970  Keef Hartley Band - Overdog (extra track remaster edition)
1970  Mogul Thrash - Mogul Thrash
1970 Chris Farlowe With The Hill - From Here To Mama Rosa (2010 Flawed Gems extra tracks remaster)
1972  Dick Heckstall Smith - A Story Ended (2006 Japan Remaster)
1973  Tempest - Tempest
1973-82  Bob Theil - So Far...

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rep>>> Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown (1973 canada, brilliant folk rock, audio fidelity vinyl issue)

Sundown is a fine album which weaves conventional folk and pop strands into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The polish of Lightfoot's singing has tended in the past to undermine the seriousness of his songs, inviting the listener to appreciate his records mainly as aural artifacts rather than explore their contents. But most of Sundown's 12 songs are so evocative that they prohibit such easy perusal.

Lightfoot's singing is almost crooning—a style which under-states and redeems the rhetorical and sentimental conventions intrinsic to all formal songwriting. Producer Lenny Waronker has outdone himself helping Lightfoot achieve a balance between surface and substance, by providing a varied instrumental palette, richly acoustic and adorned by some excellent string charts from Nick DeCaro.

Lightfoot's reflections are those of a mature man, capable of strong romantic and political emotions, tempered by a suave sexuality and an elegiac mysticism. "Somewhere U.S.A." is a lovely evocation of romantic complications experienced during the daze of travel. "High And Dry" also celebrates travel and uses the image of a ship and its different skippers to affirm continuities. The six-minute "Seven Island Suite" is the album's most ambitious cut, and presents an elusive apocalyptic vision. More incisive are "Sundown," an ominous assertion of sexual jealousy, and "Circle Of Steel," a protest song about the antagonisms of welfare and poverty.

The album's last and most powerful cut, "Too Late for Prayin'" is perhaps Lightfoot's finest creation. A modified hymn, somewhat reminiscent of Paul Simon's "American Tune," "Too Late" is both a prayer for our spiritual restoration and a lament for its absence. It is the work of a master craftsman whose endurance and prolificacy have yet to receive just recognition in the United States.

by Stephen Holden

Tracks
1. Somewhere U.S.A. - 2:55
2. High, Dry - 2:17
3. Seven Island Suite - 6:03
4. Circle Of Steel - 2:49
5. Is There Anyone Home - 3:19
6. The Watchman's Gone - 4:20
7. Sundown - 3:37
8. Carefree Highway - 3:45
9. The List - 3:10
10.Too Late For Prayin' - 4:15
Words and Music by Gordon Lightfoot

Musicians
*Gordon Lightfoot - Lead, Backing Vocals, Six, Twelve String Acoustic Guitars, Chimes, Bells, High String Guitar
*Terry Clements - Acoustic Guitar
*Nick De Caro - Accordion, Horns, Orchestration, Piano, Strings
*Jim Gordon - Percussion, Drums
*Rick Haynes - Bass Guitar
*Milt Holland - Percussion, Congas
*Gene Martynec - Moog Synthesizer
*Red Shea - Dobro, Electric, Acoustic, Classical Guitars, Slide Dobro
*Catherine Smith - Harmony Vocals
*John Stockfish - Bass Guitar
*Jack Zaza - English Horn, Recorder

more Gordon Lightfoot
1965-84  Complete Greatest Hits
1966-67  Lightfoot! / The Way I Feel
1976  Summertime Dream  

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rep>>> Sweet Pain - Sweet Pain (1969 uk, stunning blues rock, 2018 korean remaster)

  

The now highly sought after Sweet Pain sessions (1969) featured the precursor line-up to the Bluesblasters and Mainsqueeze, representing a truly fundamental collaboration of musical protagonists.

 

Members of Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers assembled to record some impromptu blues sessions, released on Mercury.

 

The Melody Maker summarised Sweet Pain as simply a, “Hot and heavy blues set from British musicians Dick Heckstall-Smith, John O’Leary, Keith Tillman and Annette Brox.”

 

An air of competence pervaded the LP and reviews received, but the consensus was undoubtedly that these aficionado blues musicians at this stage lacked a degree of commercial appeal, utilising rather raw and ‘primitive’ rhythms.

 

Like an experienced vintage the line-up continued under further guises, evolving to The Famous Bluesblasters, whom provided Dick with a semi- professional unit playing as he recalls mainly at weekends, thus caught in the rather lack lustre cultural climate of the time towards cutting edge blues

Grahambond.net

Tracks
1. The Steamer (Annette Brox) - 2.27
2. Changin´ Your Mind (John O´Leary, Keith Tilman, Stuart Cowell, Annette Brox) - 2.25
3. Rubbin´ And Scrapin´ (John O´Leary, Keith Tilman, Stuart Cowell, Annette Brox) - 5.40
4. Sick And Tired (Annette Brox) - 2:50
5. The Rooster Crows At Midnight (Annette Brox) - 2.28
6. Troubles Trouble (Annette Brox) - 3.52
7. Don´T Break Down (John O´Leary, Keith Tilman, Stuart Cowell, Annette Brox) - 5.17
8. It´S A Woman´S Way (Annette Brox) - 2.52
9. General Smit (John O´Leary, Keith Tilman, Stuart Cowell, Annette Brox) - 6.44
10.Trouble In Mind (Richard M. Jones) - 5.27
11.Song Of The Medusa (Brian Shepherd) - 1.40

Sweet Pain
*Annette Brox - Vocals
*Stuart Cowell - Guitar
*Sam Crozier - Perc, Vocals, Keyboards, Trumpet
*Junior Dunn - Drums
*Alan Greed - Vocals
*Dick Heckstall-Smith - Sax
*John O'leary - Harmonica
*Keith Tillman - Bass

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rep>>> Duffy - Just In Case You're Interested (1972 uk, exceptional hard psych prog rock, 2010 remaster)

Duffy were formed in London in the early 1970s by five guys in their late twenties: Stuart Reffold, vocalist, Barry Coote, guitarist, Joe Nanson, keyboardist, Patrick Sarjeant, bassist and Will Wright , drummer, they met in the university circuits of Cambridge and London.

In the essays, their music had clear influences from the early sonority of Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Humble Pie and Jethro Tull, the kind of sound that was in vogue among early British youth of the era. It did not have the heavy mark of the Birmingham scene, which was already outlining the primitive heavy metal, not as progressive as the London scene, which was beginning to see the fuse of Pink Floyd and Yes. It was a sound of convergence.

They often played in university circuits, pubs and nightclubs across the central north-central axis of England, such as the Marquee, Fishmongers Arms and Eel Pie Island in London, The Star Hotel in Croydon, The Mothers in Birmighan, among others.

After getting a name in the local scenes, they were invited to attend major rock festivals, even opening for Deep Purple at the Pop Monster in 1971, until they met, -during one of those shows-, the Swiss producer Stephen Sulke, who had already worked with Santana, Melanie, Aretha Franklin and Buddy Miles.

Sulke became interested of their songs and invited them to record their debut album in Switzerland, where he had contacts with studios, sound engineers and others connected to the music industry, anyone who could be interested in the work of the group. The result was the album "Just in Case You're Interested", originally released by the German label Mabel Records in 1971. At that time they did not manage to release their LP in UK, but only in some European countries, South Africa and South America.

Tracks
1. Matchmaker - 2:42
2. Long Lost Friend - 3:00
3. Judgement Day - 4:21
4. Amie - 2:30
5. It's My Life - 2:50
6. Rock Solid - 3:13
7. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott, Sol Marcus) - 5:49
8. Tell Me - 3:03
9. Riverside - 2:58
10.Place To Die - 2:13
All songs by Patrick Sarjeant, Will Wright, Barry Coote, "Leslie" Joe Nanson, Stuart Reffold except track #7

Duffy
*Patrick Sarjeant - Bass
*Will Wright - Drums
*Barry Coote - Electric Guitar
*"Leslie" Joe Nanson - Keyboards
*Stuart Reffold – Vocals

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Stackridge - Stackridge (1971 uk, exceptional baroque folk prog, 2006 bonus tracks and 2023 remaster and xpanded)

Among the most legendary names of the British folk rock movement, this Bristol-based band were formed in 1969 by Andy Creswell-Davis and James Warren as Stackridge Lemon, soon to be named simply Stackridge. 1970 finds the band having an intense live activity, playing at the first Glastonbury Festival and, a year later, supporting Wishbone Ash on their UK tour and signing with the MCA Records.

“Stackridge” is actually a mixed bag of short Beatles-esque pop tunes and longer arrangements played in some sort of symphonic/folk style. Even the short accesible tunes are well-played with rich instrumentation and good multi-vocals, blended nicely with folsky violins, tracks which even The Beatles would be proud of creating. But it is these long arrangements which make this album so special like the great “The Three Legged Table”, starting off like Phillips-era Genesis, pastoral acoustic-driven musicianship later to become a catchy brass/violin-rock heaven with perfect vocal lines. “Essence of Porphyry” is another instrumental highlight with complex instrumentation featuring violin and cello in a medieval style and excellent acoustic passages with fantastic flute work, always under a classical nature, like a cross between Genesis and Gentle Giant…or the 14-minute long “Slark”, which closes the album, a beautiful composition split between folk ballad, medieval music and symphonic rock with again some superb vocals. A real treasure.

Stackridge’s debut is more than simply a great album. Even the easy-listening side of the band contains unbelievable professionalism and unmet personality, marking this effort as one of the most significant and impressive debut’s in UK’s prog history. 

Jive-Time

Tracks
1. Grande Piano (Andrew Davis, James Warren) - 3:20
2. Percy The Penguin (Andrew Davis, James Warren) - 3:41
3. The Three Legged Table (James Warren) - 6:49
4. Dora The Female Explorer (Andrew Davis, James WarrenMichael Evans, Michael Slater, Billy Bent) - 3:46
5. Essence Of Porphyry (James Warren) - 8:07
6. Marigold Connection (James Warren) - 5:00
7. 32 West Mall (Andrew Davis, James Warren) - 2:27
8. Marzo Plod (James Warren) - 3:07
9. Slark (Jim Walter, Andrew Davis) - 14:10

10.Let There Be Lids (Traditional) - 3:18

11.Slark (Jim Walter, Andrew Davis) - 4:41

Bonus Tracks 10-11

Bonus Tracks 2023 Esoteric

10.Everyman (Andrew Davis, James Warren) - 4:25

11.Let There Be Lids (Traditional) - 3:19

12.The Three Legged Table (Part Three) (James Warren) - 3:05

13.Slark (Jim Walter, Andrew Davis) - 14:48

Track 10 Single B-Side, May 1971

Tracks 11-13 Live, BBC Radio One, John Peel Top Gear Session, 21 September 1971

The Stackridge
*Andy Cresswell-Davis - Electric, Acoustic Guitars, Lead, Backing Vocals, Piano, Harmonium
*James Warren - Electric, Acoustic Basses, Lead, Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
*Michael Evans - Violin, Backing Vocals
*Michael "Mutter" Slater - Flute, Backing Vocals
*Billy "Sparkle" Bent - Drums, Triangle

1972  Stackridge - Friendliness (2006 remaster and expanded)
1973  Stackridge - The Man In The Bowler Hat (2007 remaster)

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rep>>> Stu Nunnery - Stu Nunnery (1973 us, wide range of country rock, Vinyl edition)

If you’ve never heard of Stu Nunnery, you’re probably not alone, but it would be your loss. Nunnery is a singer/songwriter who released one self-titled album on the short-lived Evolution label in 1973. The nine-song LP showcased a heady talent, playing a mix of folk-rock that fans of Dan Fogelberg, James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot and Jackson Browne should connect with immediately. 

Yet, Nunnery sounded like no one else. And if you’ve never heard him, read and listen on, for there’s plenty of great music to discover here.

Stu Nannery

"My story is a simple one. I did one album in 1973-74. Over the next couple of years, two of the cuts from that album“Madelaine” and “Sally From Syracuse”reached the Top 100 on the American charts. And in 1976 after I had left the company I was with“Lady It’s Time To Go,” which is on the flip side of the album, became the #1 Record in Rio de Janeiro and San Paulo, Brazil. 

And it was my recording of it, sold to a label called Copacabana Records, which was part of the RCA stable. And in 1976, I got a phone call after I had left the record company I was with, telling me I was a big star in South America, and, “Can you come down here and perform?”

Tracks
1. The Isle Of Debris - 5:30
2. And That's Fine With Me - 3:35
3. Sally From Syracuse - 3:58
4. Madelaine - 3:30
5. Lady It's Time To Go - 3:30
6. Your Rise - 2:51
7. Diminished Love - 3:23
8. The Lady In Waiting - 3:28
9. Roads - 5:10
All songs by Stu Nunnery

Musicians
*Andy Muson, Kirk Hamilton, Stu Woods - Bass
*Alan Schwartzeberg, Rick Marotta - Drums
*Eric Weissberg, Ken Kosek - Fiddle
*Al Gorgoni, David Spinozza, Elliot Randall, Hugh McCracken, John Tropea - Guitar
*Buzzy Feiten - Bass
*Paul Griffin - Keyboards, Synthesizer
*Stu Nunnery -  Guitar, Vocals

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