Plain and Fancy

rep>>> Quiver - Gone In The Morning (1972 uk, strong folk country rock, 2008 reissue)

Gone in the Morning is Quiver's follow-up to their self-titled debut, which was somewhat successful in the U.K., but invisible on American shores, as was this disc. It wasn't until three of the members hooked up with the Sutherland Brothers that the band got any recognition stateside. Cal Batchelor's contributions are what differentiate this group from the band that merged with Iain Sutherland and his brother Gavin, Batchelor having written or co-written eight of the nine tracks here. Tim Renwick's "Green Tree" is more laid-back and the only title not written by or with Batchelor. Renwick played the recorder on Jackie Lomax's Apple releases, and was a member of Junior's Eyes, and musically this Chris Thomas production sets the stage for what the three minstrels who carried the name on would do in the future.

There's a nice George Harrison guitar riff that begins the solo on "Love/No Boundaries," and the pop of that song works better than the pseudo-country which keeps seeping through, as on "I Might Stumble." The title track, "Gone in the Morning," is not a bad song, but at nine minutes, it descends into a jam before it re-emerges and concludes -- and that is perhaps the downside with Quiver and this record. There is more focus on riffs and pedestrian jamming than musical experimentation, and a song like "Fung-Kee Laundry," all 55 seconds of it, is a succinct and prime example of what transpires in the middle of the title track. "She's a Lady" is a weird combination of country/reggae/blues

It's competent, well-played, well-produced, but goes nowhere. The real magic is when the worlds of Quiver and the Sutherland Brothers collided, and this excellent group got to perform on some meaty material. Or maybe this quartet didn't translate well to record, the Warner Brothers hype around Quiver was that they were "one of England's best loved live groups" -- which begs the question, why not a live album to launch them? "Don't Let Go" is the most musical and exciting piece on this disc; eerie guitars and vocals conclude the record with some promise.

Cal Batchelor was from British Columbia, which might explain the heavy American music styles that permeate this British group; indeed, some of the material sounds like the Canadian offshoot of the Guess Who that was Brave Belt. Gone in the Morning is an interesting artifact, but the end result is a competent disc which doesn't beg repeated listening. Roger Daltrey sang "it's the singer not the song," and this album proves him wrong. It's definitely the song that matters.

by Joe Viglione

Tracks

1. Dorset, I Know You So Well - 3:05

2. I Know You So Well - 3:02

3. Green Tree (Tim Renwick) - 2:26

4. Love/No Boundaries - 3:39

5. I Might Stumble - 3:37

6. Gone in the Morning - 8:59

7. Fung-Kee Laundry (Terry Thomas, Cal Batchelor, Tim Renwick, John Wilson) - 0:58

8. She's a Lady - 3:09

9. Don't Let Go (Terry Thomas, Cal Batchelor, Tim Renwick, John Wilson) - 3:59

Akk songs by Cal Batchelor except where indicated

Quiver

*Tim Renwick - Guitar

*Cal Batchelor - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals

*Bruce Thomas - Bass

*John 'Willie' Wilson - Drums

1971 Quiver - Quiver (2008)

1968 Harvey Mandel - Cristo Redentor (2003 remaster and expanded)
1969-70 Harvey Mandel - Righteous / Games Guitars Play (2005 remaster)
1971 Harvey Mandel - Baby Batter (2016 remaster)
1972 Harvey Mandel - The Snake (2016 remaster)
1965-66 The Barry Goldberg Blues Band - Blowing My Mind ..Plus (2003 remaster and expanded)
1967 Charley Musselwhite - Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band
1968 The Barry Goldberg Reunion - There's No Hole In My Soul
1969 Barry Goldberg - Two Jews Blues (vinyl edition)
1967-73 Canned Heat - The Very Best Of (2005 issue with previous unreleased track)
1970 Canned Heat - Future Blues (remastered and expanded)
1971-72 Canned Heat - Historical Figures And Ancient Heads (extra track remaster issue)
1974 Love - Reel To Reel (2015 deluxe edition)

Thursday, June 18, 2026

rep>>> Don 'Sugar Cane' Harris - Fiddler On The Rock (1971-72 us, amazing avant garde jazz blues rock, feat. Harvey Mandel, 2007 digipak remaster with extra tracks)

Don “Sugarcane” Harris, from Pasadena, California was born in 1938, and by his teens was playing R&B guitar and violin with Dewey Terry under the name Don and Dewey. In the 60’s they separated, and Harris began to concentrate on electric blues violin. He made many appearances as a sideman, with artists such as John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Johnny Otis, John Lee Hooker and Little Richard. He is probably best remembered, though, for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970’s, notably the grinding, take-no-prisoners rocking blues “Weasels ripped my Flesh”. Here he makes the most of his raw, shredding sound, frequent “harmonica” trills, tremelo and double stops. His playing can be fast and fluent, but is most effective on slow numbers, where his distinctive thin tone and shaky vibrato come across as vulnerable and sensitive. After a lengthy battle with pulmonary disease, on December 1, 1999 he was found dead in his Los Angeles apartment at the age of 61.

David Lindley (It's A Beautiful Day) referred to Sugar Cane as a “force of nature”, while Dave Arbus, of East of Eden, said “there are quite a few violinist on the scene, but Sugar Cane is the only true rock fiddler. His feeling, his phrasing, his timing, unreachable!”

Guitarist Randy Resnick, who played with Don in the band Pure Food and Drug Act (PFDA)in the 1970’s had this to say; “I never got chills in any other band like the ones I got when Don took off alone in a cadenza or when he and Paul did violin-drums duets. It was tribal, it was primitive and it was real music with all the faults that make us human. Don had a swing to his playing, a groove, a soulfulness that you don't hear anywhere else. No one plays with such gut-wrenching rawness, because musicians are trained to play "better".

"Fiddler On The Rock", released 1971 is a tripped-out batch of funk rock tracks – one of the biggest crossover successes of the MPS lable! Don Harris sings and plays violin – and he gets some very heavy backing by a trio that includes Harvey Mandel on guitar, wailing away with those slow choppy riffs that made him the west coast equivalent of Dennis Coffey's east of the Mississippi fuzzed-out guitar groove. Features the slow funk classic "The Pig's Eye", plus "No Inspiration", "The Buzzard's Cousin", and "Eleanor Rigby".

Tracks

1. Eleanor Rigby (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 9:35

2. I'm Gonna Miss You - 4:48

3. The Buzzard's Cousin - 6:04

4. The Pig's Eye - 6:27

5. So Alone - 7:05

6. No Inspiration - 4:00

7. 'Till The Day I Die - 7:08

8. My Soul's On Fire (Victor Conte, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Paul Lagos, Harvey Mandel, Randy Resnick) - 4:12

9. Little Soul Food (Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Shuggie Otis) - 4:03

10.What Comes Around Goes Around (Victor Conte, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Paul Lagos, Harvey Mandel, Randy Resnick) - 4:214:21

11.Eleanor Rigby (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 11:51

All compositions by Don "Sugarcane" Harris except where stated

Tracks 1-6 from the original album "Fiddler On The Rock" 1971

Tracks 7-11 from "Pure Food And Drug Act - Choice Cuts" 1972, recorded live at " The Fresh Air Tavern ", Seattle, Washington

Personnel

*Don "Sugarcane" Harris - Violin, Vocals

*Harvey Mandel - Guitar

*Larry Taylor - Bass (Tracks 1-6)

*Paul Lagos - Drums

*Randy Resnick - Rhythm Guitar (Tracks 7-11)

*Victor Conte - Bass (Tracks 7-11)

1972 Charlie Daniels - Te John Grease And Wolfman (2008 issue)
1973 Charlie Daniels - Uneasy Rider "Honey In The Rock"

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

rep>>> Charlie Daniels - Charlie Daniels (1970 us, astonishing southern classic rock)

When Charlie Daniels released his eponymous debut in 1970, Southern rock was in its nascent stages. It had been a year since the Allman Brothers Band released their debut and Lynyrd Skynyrd wouldn't unleash its first record for another three years, so the genre was in the process of being born, and Charlie Daniels' debut plays a pivotal role in the genre -- not so much because it was directly influential, but because it points the way to how the genre could and would sound, and how country music could retain its hillbilly spirit and rock like a mother.

Where the Allmans were firmly grounded in the blues, especially on the first two records, Daniels was a redneck from the start, and all ten songs on his debut were country at their foundation, even if some of it is country via the Band, as Rich Kienzle points out in his brief liner notes to Koch's 2001 reissue of the album. The Band connections derive from Daniels' time as a session musician for Columbia in Nashville, where he played on many country-rock albums, including Dylan's Nashville Skyline, but there's a heavy dose of hard rock, often via the Allmans' extended jams, on this record. Daniels simply wails on his guitar here, most notably on the six-minute closer "Thirty Nine Miles from Mobile," but, apart from the ballads, he doesn't miss a chance to solo.

The heavy guitars give Charlie Daniels a real rock feel, and that vibe is continued through the loose rhythm section and a strong dose of counterculture humor, heard strongest on "The Pope and the Dope." That song also shows signs of Daniels' redneck sensibilities, which also surface in unpredictable ways throughout this wild, woolly album. He makes crude jokes, celebrates the South (particularly his home, "Georgia"), spits out bluesy leads, exaggerates his vocals, croons sweetly, and steals women. He's a redneck rebel, not fitting into either the country or the rock 'n' roll of 1970 with this record, but, in retrospect, he sounds like a visionary, pointing the way to the future when southern rockers saw no dividing lines between rock, country, and blues, and only saw it all as sons of the south. That's what he achieves with Charlie Daniels -- a unique Southern sound that's quintessentially American, sounding at once new and timeless.

Once he formed the Charlie Daniels Band, he became a star and with Fire on the Mountain, he had another classic, but he would never sound as wild, unpredictable, or as much like a maverick as he does on this superb album.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracks
1. Great Big Bunches Of Love - 3:23
2. Little Boy Blue - 4:10
3. Ain't No Way - 3:25
4. Don't Let Your Man Find Out - 3:00
5. Trudy - 3:50
6. Long Long Way (Back Home) - 4:00
7. Georgia - 4:15
8. The Pope And The Dope - 2:15
9. Life Goes On (Jerry Corbitt) - 2:00
10.Thirty Nine Miles From Mobile - 6:00
All songs by Charlie Daniels except where stated

Personnel
*Charlie Daniels - Guitar, Fiddle, Vocals
*Joel "Taz" Digregorio - Keyboards, Vocals
*Jerry Corbitt - Guitar, Vocals
*Billy Cox - Bass
*Ben Keith - Steel Guitar, Slide Guitar
*Bob Wilson - Keyboards
*Tim Drummond - Bass
*Earl Grigsby - Bass, Vocals
*Karl Himmel - Drums
*Jeff Myer - Drums

1974 The Charlie Daniels Band - Whiskey "Way Down Yonder" (2008 Wounded Bird)
1975 The Charlie Daniels Band - Nightrider

1970 Jerry Corbitt And Charlie Daniels - Corbitt And Daniels Live I (2011 korean issue)

1971 Jerry Corbitt And Charlie Daniels - Corbitt And Daniels Live II (2011 Korea)

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rep>>> Quiver - Quiver (1971 uk, fine psych folk rock, 2008 edition)

Quiver was formed round 1970 in Ladbroke Grove, London by Tim Renwick and Honk (bass) who'd formerly been with Junior's Eyes, together with Cal Batchelor. Honk soon departed and the line-up was completed by Pete Thomas (ex-Village) and John Wilson (formerly with Cochise) They were the first group to play at Rainbow Theatre in London (supporting The Who).

Their first album, Quiver, was completed with help from great sax player Dick Parry. An excellent album, it contains killer guitar duels (as in the great 'Killer man'), outstanding bass playing, and tight ryhthm on drums.

After their second release, in late 1973, the whole band decided merging with Sutherland Brothers, forming Sutherland Brothers and Quiver, but Cal Batchelor decided to leave.

Tracks

1. Glad I Came Around - 5:06

2. Down Your Way - 3:44

3. Killer Man (Tim Renwick) - 8:00

4. Take A Train - 5:15

5. Cool Evening - 4:07

6. Barnes County (Tim Renwick, Cal Batchelor, Bruce Thomas, 'Willie' Wilson) - 4:25

7. Back On The Road - 3:07

8. Just Loving You - 1:56

9. Reason For Staying (Tim Renwick, Cal Batchelor) - 7:00

All songs by Cal Batchelor except where noted

Quiver
*Tim Renwick - Guitar
*Cal Batchelor - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
*Bruce Thomas - Bass
*John 'Willie' Wilson - Drums
With
*Dick Parry - Sax

1967-70 Marcus - Original LP And Outtakes (2011 Double Disc)

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

rep>>> The Deep - Psychedelic Moods (1966 us, great fuzz garage psych, 2007 bonus tracks edition)

Recorded in a darkened Philadelphia studio in August 1966, this amazing album was the first to have the word ‘psychedelic’ in its title, and is well-established as an pioneering acid classic. Presented here in both its mono and stereo mixes (which have fascinating differences), it still sounds truly unique and is a must for all fans of true American psychedelia.

Despite having long enjoyed a high reputation amongst psych afficionados, to this day remarkably little is known of the Deep. The project was the brainchild of Rusty Evans (b. Marcus Uzilevsky), a New Yorker who’d already made a number of rockabilly singles and at least three unremarkable solo folk LPs (1962’s Showdown, 1963’s Songs Of Our Land and 1964’s Railroad Songs), as well as a 1964 LP for Reprise as part of the All Night Singers, before tiring of the Greenwich Village scene.

In 1965 he visited LA and made a rare 45 for the Musicor label 1983 / The Life Game (as Ry Cooper), before joining the New Christy Minstrels for a few months and then heading for Philadelphia. There he fell in with a group of musicians including David Bromberg, Mark Barkan and the enigmatically named D Blackhurst.

Together they recorded Psychedelic Moods over a couple of days in August 1966. An eccentric collection of brief pop and garage rock tunes, sound effects and studio trickery, it was released by the local Cameo-Parkway label, perhaps in a bid to crack the burgeoning hippy market. The label was also home to garage chart-toppers ? and the Mysterians, but did little to promote the Deep’s LP when it appeared in October 1966.

Perhaps they suspected it was too forward-looking to sell: for a start, it was the first album to include the word ‘psychedelic’ in its title (just ahead of the Blues Magoos' Psychedelic Lollipop and the 13th Floor Elevators' Psychedelic Sounds, both released in November). The anonymous group did not tour to support the LP, and soon after its release Barkan and Blackhurst relocated to Greenwich Village, where they produced a number of unreleased psych-pop cuts for teenage LSD nuts Hydro Pyro on April 24th 1967 (included here as bonus tracks).

Evans, meanwhile, had signed a deal with Columbia. Credited to the Freak Scene, his next effort, 1967’s Psychedelic Psoul, was very similar in mood and sound to the Deep. When it too missed the charts, he formed Eastern Productions with songwriter and producer Teddy Randazzo, and signed the Third Bardo and the Facts of Life. With the former he produced the all-time classic psych 45 I'm Five Years Ahead of My Time (Roulette, 1967) before moving back to LA and finding work with the Take Six label (including another garage 45, the Nervous Breakdown's I Dig Your Mind).

He also worked with the much-loved Matthew Katz for a while, participating in some It’s A Beautiful Day sessions. By 1969 he’d reverted to his original name, and released an album as Marcus for Epic subsidiary Kinetic. A syrupy blend of folk and pop, it sold no better than his previous efforts, and he chose to focus on painting thereafter, though he released a further album on Folkways a decade later, Life's Railway Heaven. He’s now a widely-respected and collected artist, and has also released ambient world music as Uzca, as well as working with his son in the popular Johnny Cash-inspired rockabilly band Ring Of Fire. It’s all a long way from a darkened studio in Philadelphia, forty five years ago.

Tracks

1. Color Dream - 2:36

2. Pink Ether (David Richard Blackhurst, Rusty Evans) - 2:21

3. When Rain Is Black (Caroline Blue, Rusty Evans) - 2:11

4. It's All A Part Of Me - 2:55

5. Turned On (David Richard Blackhurst, Rusty Evans) - 2:26

6. Psychedelic Moon (David Richard Blackhurst, Rusty Evans) - 2:42

7. Shadows On The Wall - 3:13

8. Crystal Nite (David Richard Blackhurst, Mark Barkan) - 1:41

9. Trip #76 (Mark Barkan, Lenny Pogan, Rusty Evans) - 2:37

10. Wake Up And Find Me - 2:20

11. Your Choice To Choose (Arthur Geller, Rusty Evans) - 1:53

12. On Off - Off On - 2:22

13. Color Dream - 2:36

14. Pink Ether (David Richard Blackhurst, Rusty Evans) - 1:57

15. When Rain Is Black (Caroline Blue, Rusty Evans) - 2:12

16. It's All A Part Of Me - 2:56

17. Turned On (David Richard Blackhurst, Rusty Evans) - 2:27

18. Psychedelic Moon (David Richard Blackhurst, Rusty Evans) - 2:42

19. Shadows On The Wall - 3:12

20. Crystal Nite (David Richard Blackhurst, Mark Barkan) - 1:39

21. Trip #76 (Mark Barkan, Lenny Pogan, Rusty Evans) - 2:16

22. Wake Up And Find Me - 2:20

23. Your Choice To Choose (Arthur Geller, Rusty Evans) - 1:54

24. On Off - Off On - 2:11

25. 1983 (Mark Barkan, Stanley J. Kahan , Rusty Evans) - 2:59

26. The Life Game - 2:20

Songs written by Rusty Evans except where noted

Tracks from 1-12 Stereo.

Tracks from 13-24 Mono

Bonus tracks 25-26 as Ry Cooper (Rusty Evans)

Personnel

*Rusty Evans - Guitars, Vocals

*David Bromberg - Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Vocals

*Mark Barkan - Percussion, Vocals

1967-68 Inner Sanctum • Sunset Love - Psychedelic Moods, Pt. 2: Journey Thru Inner Space

rep>>> Inner Sanctum • Sunset Love - Psychedelic Moods, Pt. 2: Journey Thru Inner Space (1967-68 us, impressive garage psych)

After releasing the “Psychedelic Moods” album, in October of 1966, Mark Barkan envisioned another psychedelic album for his next release. It was to be performed by a Greenwich Village band called “Inner Sanctum”. The theme of the album was to be a psychedelic journey into the various psyches of the mind.

The trip started with a journey into the past (The House Of Yesterday) then covered the inner workings of the mind (ID) then the descent into madness (Hydro Pyro) hallucination (Purple Floating) and finally culminating in nirvana (Snow Petals). Unfortunately, Barkan was unable to find a record company willing to lease the masters and so they languished for decades unreleased. Now, at long last the masters for this aborted album are mixed from the original four track tapes and forty plus years later the psychedelic sounds of “Inner Sanctum” are now ready, willing, and able to blow your mind.

“Sunset Love” was comprised of band members from New Mexico and Texas. In the fall of 1968, thirteen original songs and two covers were recorded for a potential album, but nothing was ever released. “Sunset Love’s” lush harmonies, soaring vocals, superior song writing, and flower power consciousness pervaded their songs with a depth and quality unheard of from most 60s’ bands. While their sound can be compared to such bands as “The Mamas and The Papas”, “The Peanut Butter Conspiracy”, “Spanky and Our Gang”, and “The Love Exchange”, “Sunset Love” had their own inimitable style that transcended a generic stereo-type.

Had Sunset Love released their album in the 60’s, there is no doubt it would have been an instant rarity of excellence. The “Sunset Love” tapes are sourced from the original stereo versions and reveal the great harmonies and surrealistic lyrics of an undeservedly overlooked and forgotten band from the late 60’s.

Cicadelic

Artists - Tracks
1. Sunset Love - Change - 2:04
2. Sunset Love - Tribute to Kay - 2:39
3. Sunset Love - Run to the Sun - 2:38
4. Sunset Love - Reach Out - 2:39
5. Sunset Love - Little Children - 3:08
6. Sunset Love - Winters Day - 3:58
7. Sunset Love - Sunset Love - 3:47
8. Sunset Love - Green Hippie - 2:44
9. Sunset Love - World of Pain - 2:38
10.Sunset Love - A Man in the Park - 3:29
11.Sunset Love - Father Paul - 3:35
12.Sunset Love - I Will - 1:43
13.Sunset Love - Wheels - 2:07
14.Sunset Love - Push - 2:26
15.Sunset Love - Innocence Dies Young on Our Street - 3:00

16.Inner Sanctum - The House of Yesterday - 1:56

17.Inner Sanctum - ID - 2:02

18.Inner Sanctum - Hydro-Pyro - 2:06

19.Inner Sanctum - Purple Floating - 1:53

20.Inner Sanctum - Snow Petals - 2:11

21.Inner Sanctum - Little Tin Soldier - 2:32

22.Inner Sanctum - The Man Who Shot Your Mother - 1:49

Tracks 1-15 written by William J. Stone II, Victor Kay Lindsay

Tracks 16-20 written by Mark Barkan, David Blackhurst

Tracks 21,22 written by Kevin Michael, Gerry Michael, Vince Taggart, Frank Thumhart

The Sunset Love

*Bruce Callich -Drums

*James Crenshaw - Guitar, Bass

*Greg Sadler - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards

*Victor Kay Lindsey - 12 String Vox Guitar, Vocals

*James William Stone II - 12 String Vox Guitar, Vocals

*Montie Carol Montgomery - Vocals

The Inner Sanctum

*Kevin Michael - Lead Guitar

*Gerry Michael - Drums

*Vince Taggart - Rhythm Guitar

*Frank Thumhart - Bass Guitar

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1974 Keith West - Wherever My Love Goes

Monday, June 15, 2026

rep>>> Tomorrow - Tomorow (1968 uk, excellent mod beat acid psych with Keith West and Steve Howe)

Tomorrow was one of the most innovative of the late 1960s British "psychedelic" groups." Keith West, Steve Howe and John Wood had all been in the In Crowd that had released a few singles while Twink joined from the Fairies.

Tomorrow was an exciting live act as the tracks on 50 Minute Technicolour Dream testify. They supported artists such as Jimi Hendrix who even jammed on stage with them at Brian Epstein's Saville Theatre. Pink Floyd had been a major influence on artists such as Twink who saw something different in the improvisation and light shows. Other influences came through Steve Howe's liking for jazz as well as the direction being supplied to everyone by the Beatles and the Byrds. The jazz influences can be heard on one of Tomorrow's earliest tracks, Why? At the same time vocalist Keith West had started writing his own material for the group.

Word got to Michaelangelo Antonioni that there was an exciting band around and he spoke to them about appearing in his forthcoming film, Blow Up. Although Antonioni said he liked the songs, the band was dropped to be replaced by the Yardbirds. However, they did appear in the film Smashing Time where they were billed as The Snarks.

Tomorrow's own material started simple but contained different sounds thus making the tracks sound far more complex than they actually were. Drugs such as acid may have played a role in tracks such as Real Life Permanent Dream and Hallucinations.

The group made two singles, one of which, My White Bicycle, is a British psychedelic classic. The other single was Revolution. These did not make an impact on the charts although the group did manage to build up a sizeable underground following. One of the group's earlier champions was disc jockey John Peel who played the first single extensively on his Perfumed Garden radio show. He also had a Night Ride session recorded early in 1968 which was broadcast although the tapes were subsequently lost or, in true BBC style, erased.

The strength of the band live belied their poor commercial success. They were playing gigs most nights and became one of the hottest brands of the London scene alongside Pink Floyd and the Soft Machine. However, this did not always translate into success outside the capital.

Keith West may be better known as a participant in the Teenage Opera project that gave him a solo hit single Excerpt from a Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack) and brief commercial success. This was part of an idea for all the members of Tomorrow to have parallel solo careers alongside tomorrow. However, the move to work on other projects pulled the group apart with Twink joining the Pretty Things and the Pink Fairies. Poor record sales did not help either.

An album was released called Tomorrow in early 1968. This was billed as Tomorrow featuring Keith West, hoping to cash in on his solo success. It was also released too late to benefit from the summer of love and had a compromise cover that did not do justice to the material within.

By spring 1968 the group was no more. Steve Howe later joined Yes. Incidentally, My White Bicycle was included on the Heavy Karma album by the Young Ones' Neil.

Making-Time
Tracks

1. My White Bicycle - 3:18

2. Colonel Brown - 2:53

3. Real Life Permanent Dream (Keith Hopkins) - 3:17

4. Shy Boy - 2:27

5. Revolution (Keith Hopkins, Steve Howe) - 3:50

6. The Incredible Journey Of Timothy Chase (Keith Hopkins) - 3:18

7. Auntie Mary's Dress Shop - 2:46

8. Strawberry Fields Forever (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 3:59

9. Three Jolly Little Dwarfs - 2:28

10.Now Your Time Has Come - 4:53

11.Hallucinations - 2:43

12.Claramount Lake - 3:02

13.Real Life Permanent Dream (Keith Hopkins) - 2:24

14.Why (David Crosby, Roger McGuinn) - 3:59

15.Revolution (Keith Hopkins, Steve Howe) - 3:50

16.Now Your Time Has Come - 3:05

17.10,000 Words In A Cardboard Box (John "Junior" Wood, John Charles Alder) - 3:27

18.Good Wizzard Meets Naughty Wizzard (John "Junior" Wood, John Charles Alder, Mark Wirtz) - 4:42

19.Me (John "Junior" Wood, John Charles Alder) - 3:12

20.On A Saturday - 3:13

21.The Kid Was A Killer - 2:31

22.She - 2:30

23.The Visit - 4:05

Songs 1,2,4,5,7,9,10,11,12,16 written by Keith Hopkins, Ken Burgess

Songs 20-23 written by Keith West

Songs 17-19 by The Aquarian Age

Songs 20-23 by Keith West

Tomorrow
*Keith West - Vocals
*Steve Howe - Guitar
*John "Junior" Wood - Bass
*John Adler "Twink" - Drums

1972 Dave Cousins - Two Weeks Last Summer (2019 remaster & expanded)

Sunday, June 14, 2026

The Strawbs - From The Witchwood (1972 uk, melodious and often magical folk prog rock)

On the whole the album has stood the cruel test of time pretty well. Perhaps one or two lyrics are a little overblown and a tad too romantic for the cynical 90s, but most lyrics stand up and the eclecticism of the instrumentation (Banjo with organ and dulcimer with clarinet) is a joy. The title track remains a true classic which evokes the enchantment of place and antiquity, a special quality for those of us who live in relatively new lands. "Glimpse of Heaven" is a great anthem (which I had played at my wedding and certainly want played at my funeral along with the live version of "Grace Darling") even if references to lambs that 'sweetly play' is a touch mawkish for someone living in a land with 45 million sheep [Tom's from Dunedin, New Zealand - DG] whose low grazing habits have caused a far bit of environmental damage.

"Hangman" and "Sheep" toughen things up a little (although I prefer the rip roaring live version of sheep) and "Canon Dale" is a Hudson Ford classic. "Thirty Days" and "Flight" are very Beatleish but still make for great listening. "The Shepherd's Song" is an amazingly exotic piece which few modern bands would ever dare to attempt. It is topped off by Rick's excellent moog-lines. "In Amongst the Roses" is still wonderful for its delicate, even fragile quality, while "I'll Carry on Beside You" and bonus track "Keep the Devil Outside" bring proceedings to a mellow and optimistic conclusion.

Overall this album is getting lots of time on the disk player but it is fun to compare it with some of the other reissues. Antiques and Curios scores better in its slight edgy quality and raw energy, while Grave New World has a little more power (Hero and Heroine and Ghosts deserve separate treatment as they are much more mainstream rock). I might be a heretic but I believe Grave New World's slight edge comes, in part, from Blue's playing which complements Dave's music better than Rick's more strictly classical approach. "Tomorrow" also has to be one of the band's best ever rock songs but I believe that "Ways and Means" (from Dave's solo album) should have been included instead of "Here It Comes" which is already on disk and fails because it is neither folk nor rock.

by Tom Brooking

Tracks

1. A Glimpse Of Heaven - 3:50

2. Witchwood - 3:23

3. Thirty Days (John Ford) - 2:52

4. Flight (Richard Hudson) - 4:24

5. The Hangman And The Papist - 4:11

6. Sheep - 4:14

7. Cannondale (Richard Hudson) - 3:46

8. The Shepherd's Song - 4:34

9. In Amongst The Roses - 3:48

10.I'll Carry On Beside You - 3:09

11.Keep The Devil Outside (John Ford) - 3:02

Songs written by David Cousins except where stated

Bonus Track 11

The Strawbs

*Dave Cousins - Vocals, Guitar, Banjo, Dulcimer, Electric Guitar, Tenor Recorder

*Tony Hooper - Vocals, Autoharp, Guitar, Tambourine

*Rick Wakeman - Organ, Celeste, Clarinet, Electric Piano, Piano, Moog, Harpsichord, Mellotron

*Richard Hudson Drums, Vocals, Sitar, Snare Drum

*John Ford - Bass, Vocals, Guitar