Thursday, June 11, 2026

rep>>> Donovan - Breezes Of Patchouli His Studio Recordings (1966-69 uk, outstanding folk jazzy bluesy pychedelia, 2013 four discs remaster)



Despite a title that suggests, to the uninitiated, a mocking comedy sketch by Chris Morris, this box of delights comprising Donovan Leitch’s late 60s output, is a glorious snapshot in time. No other British singer did as much to merge folk sensibilities with mainstream pop, and the results are here across 90 remastered tracks.

Ostensibly a collection of five full albums, plus a disc of period B-sides and bonus tracks (where we find the Patchouli song of the title), it represents a prolific output of material that struck a chord with traditionalists and teenyboppers alike. 1966’s Sunshine Superman was the eye-opening calling card, where leftfield psychedelia rubbed shoulders with whimsical folk. The following year’s Mellow Yellow broadened the canvas further to include sassy brass and Beat-style poetry.

1968’s The Hurdy Gurdy Man dabbled in drug references while producer Mickie Most added heavier rock hues, but 1969’s Barabajagal arguably suffered from being too scattergun. Most intriguing, though, is A Gift From A Flower To A Garden, the 1968 double set that could be the work of two artists, Donovan dividing himself between fey folkie and earthy bluesman.
by Terry Staunton
Tracks
Disc 1
Sunshine Superman 1966
1. Sunshine Superman - 3:16
2. Legend Of A Girl Child Linda - 6:54
3. Three Kingfishers - 3:18
4. Ferris Wheel - 4:15
5. Bert's Blues - 4:00
6. Season Of The Witch - 4:58
7. The Trip - 4:38
8. Guinevere - 3:42
9. The Fat Angel - 4:14
10.Celeste - 4:13
Mellow Yellow 1967
11.Mellow Yellow - 3:44
12.Writer In The Snow - 4:31
13.Sand And Foam - 3:21
14.The Observation - 2:25
15.Bleak City Woman - 2:26
16.House Of Jansch - 2:46
17.Young Girl Blues - 3:48
18.Museum - 2:58
19.Hampstead Incident - 4:44
20.Sunny South Kensington - 3:50
All songs by Donovan Leitch
Disc 2
The Hurdy Gurdy Man 1968
1. Hurdy Gurdy Man - 3:18
2. Peregrine - 3:39
3. The Entertaining Of A Shy Girl - 1:43
4. As I Recall It - 2:10
5. Get Thy Bearings - 2:54
6. Hi It's Been A Long Time - 2:39
7. West Indian Lady - 2:19
8. Jennifer Juniper - 2:43
9. The River Song - 2:17
10.Tangier - 4:14
11.A Sunny Day - 1:58
12.The Sun Is A Very Magic Fellow - 2:48
13.Teas - 2:41
14.Jennifer Juniper (Italian Version) - 2:43
Barabajagal 1968
15.Barabajagal - 3:26
16.Superlungs My Supergirl - 2:50
17.Where Is She - 2:49
18.Happiness Runs - 3:28
19.I Love My Shirt - 3:19
20.The Love Song - 3:16
21.To Susan On The West Coast Waiting - 3:14
22.Atlantis - 5:01
23.Trudi - 2:25
24.Pamela Jo - 4:27
25.A Poor Man's Sunshine (Nativity) - 5:17
All compositions by Donovan Leitch
Bonus Track 14
Track 25 From The Barabajagal Sessions
Disc 3
A Gift From A Flower To A Garden 1967
1. Wear Your Love Like Heaven - 2:30
2. Mad John's Escape - 2:24
3. Skip-A-Long Sam - 2:30
4. Sun - 3:21
5. There Was A Time - 2:06
6. Oh Gosh - 1:52
7. Little Boy In Corduroy - 2:38
8. Under The Greenwood Tree - 2:00
9. The Land Of Doesn't Have To Be - 2:33
10.Someone Singing - 3:09
11.Song Of The Naturalists Wife - 2:48
12.The Enchanted Gypsy - 3:23
13.Voyage Into The Golden Screen - 3:18
14.Isle Of Islay - 2:25
15.The Mandolin Man And His Secret - 3:36
16.Lay Of The Last Tinker - 1:55
17.The Tinker And The Crab - 2:56
18.Widow With Shawl (A Portrait) - 3:04
19.The Lullaby Of Spring - 3:29
20.The Magpie - 1:33
21.Starfish On-The-Toast - 2:49
22.Epistle To Derroll - 5:47
Words and Music by Donovan Leitch
Disc 4
1. Breezes Of Patchuli - 4:36
2. Museum (First Version) - 2:53
3. Superlungs (First Version) - 3:17
4. The Land Of Doesn't Have To Be - 2:43
5. Sunshine Superman (Original Longer Stereo Version) - 4:44
6. Epistle To Dippy - 3:12
7. Preachin' Love - 2:41
8. Good Time - 1:55
9. There Is A Mountain - 2:36
10.Superlungs (Second Version) - 3:17
11.Epistle To Dippy (Alternative Arrangment) - 3:13
12.Teen Angel - 2:18
13.Poor Cow - 2:58
14.Lalena - 2:55
15.Aye My Love - 2:08
16.What A Beautiful Creature You Are - 2:45
17.Colours - 4:19
18.Catch The Wind - 5:05
19.The Stromberg Twins - 4:41
20.Snakeskin - 2:41
21.Lauretta's Cousin Laurinda - 4:18
22.The Swan (Lord Of The Reedy River) - 3:10
23.New Years Resolution (Donovan's Celtic Jam) - 3:15
All titles by Donovan Leitch
Tracks 1-5 "Sunshine Superman" Associated Recordings
Tracks 6-11 "Mellow Yellow" Associated Recordings
Tracks 12-16 "Hurdy Gurdy Man" Associated Recordings
Tracks 17-21 "Barabajagal" Associated Recordings
Track 22 "Hurdy Gurdy Man" Associated Recording
Track 23 "Barabajagal" Associated Recording

Musicians
*Donovan - Vocals, Guitar, Organ, Harmonica, Whistling
*Bobby Ray - Bass Guitar
*Eddie Hoh - Drums
*Shawn Phillips - Sitar
*Jimmy Page - Electric Guitar
*Eric Ford - Electric Guitar
*John Cameron - Keyboards, Arrangement
*Spike Healey - Bass Guitar
*Bobby Orr - Drums
*Tony Carr - Percussion, Bells, Congas, Finger Cymbals
*John Paul Jones - Bass Guitar
*Danny Thompson - Bass Guitar
*Spike Heatley - Bass Guitar
*Phil Seamon - Drums
*John Mclaughlin - Rhythm Guitar
*Joe Moretti - Rhythm Guitar
*Danny Moss - Saxophone
*Ronnie Ross - Saxophone
*Big Jim Sullivan - Electric Guitar
*Eric Ford - Electric Guitar
*Shawn Phillips - Sitar
*Pat Halling - Violin
*Harold Mcnair - Flute
*Eric Leese - Electric Guitar
*Cliff Barton - Bass Guitar
*Jack Bruce - Bass Guitar
*Ken Baldock - Double Bass
*Mike O'Neill - Keyboards
*Keith Webb - Drums
*Mike Carr - Vibraphone
*"Candy" John Carr - Congas
*John Bonham - Percussion
*Clem Cattini - Drums
*Jeff Beck - Guitar
*Madeline Bell - Backing Vocals
*Ronnie Wood - Guitar
*Lesley Duncan - Backing Vocals
*Aynsley Dunbar - Drums
*Alan Hawkshaw - Piano
*Nicky Hopkins - Keyboards
*Rod Stewart - Backing Vocals
*James Kehn - Percussion, Drums
*Gabriel Mekler - Keyboards

1965  Donovan - Fairytale (2001 expanded deluxe edition)
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Wednesday, June 10, 2026

rep>>> Derek And The Dominos - Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs (1970 uk/us, classic treasure, 2013 platinum SHM edition)



In 1970, the recording engineer Tom Dowd brokered one of the most auspicious meetings in rock history -- between guitarist Eric Clapton and the slide-guitar master Duane Allman. Clapton was working with Dowd at Miami's Criteria Studios, attempting to shake off the bitter demise of Blind Faith with a new group that included keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock. After a few days of what Dowd describes as "getting sounds and breaking ice," Allman called, curious to see the British guitar legend in person. Clapton's group went to watch the Allman Brothers play instead, and afer the concert, the musicians partied all night, eventually repairing to the studio the next afternoon. Dowd: "We turned the tapes on, and they went on for fifteen, eighteen hours like that. I went through two or three sets of engineers."

Those jams -- furious marathons based loosely on blues songs (Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor") and simple riffs -- set the stage for Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, a multidimensional rock landmark. Clapton was, according to legend, at loose ends durng this time: He'd fallen in love with Patti Boyd, the wife of his best friend George Harrison, and was deeply troubled -- a pain evident not just on the celebrated title track he wrote with Jim Gordon, but also such apt covers as Freddie King's sorrowful blues about messing with a friend's wife, "Have You Ever Loved a Woman."

Fueled by cocaine, heroin, and Johnny Walker ("It was scary," Whitlock recalls, because "we didn't have little bits of anything....We had these big bags laying out everywhere"), the group went from open jamming to developing actual songs, among them the beseeching "Bell Bottom Blues." The basic concept was rock, pitched at the whiplash frequency of Memphis soul. The band worked up nontraditional approaches to old blues (this "Key to the Highway" has a searing energy that far outstrips Clapton's more scholarly later blues), and then recorded the masterpiece "Layla" as a suite, in stages.

Inspired by the Persian poet Nizami's romantic fable The Story of Layla and Majnun, Clapton wrote lyrics that expressed a worshipful devotion, and surrounded the verses with a guitar phrase, authored by Allman, that endures as a rock and roll anthem. Then, when things can go no higher, comes the postcoital cigarette -- in the form of a reflective elegy, written on piano by Gordon, that allows Allman and Clapton to have a more leisurely discussion. Their combined mojo takes everyone to church, where the impassioned whirling-dervish embrace of two swooning, imploring guitars leads to a state of illuminated bliss. Transcendence-wise, this is as close as rock gets to Coltrane's quartet collectively hitting the rafters at the Village Vanguard, or Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan singing in an unshakable trance, or... 
by Tom Moon
Tracks
1. I Looked Away  (Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock) - 3:05
2. Bell Bottom Blues  (Clapton) - 5:02
3. Keep On Growing  (Clapton, Whitlock) - 6:21
4. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out  (Jimmy Cox) - 4:57
5. I Am Yours  (Clapton, Nizami) - 3:34
6. Anyday  (Clapton, Whitlock) - 6:35
7. Key To The Highway  (Charles Segar, Willie Broonzy) - 9:40
8. Tell The Truth  (Clapton, Whitlock) - 6:39
9. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?  (Clapton, Whitlock) - 4:41
10.Have You Ever Loved A Woman  (Billy Myles) - 6:52
11.Little Wing  (Jimi Hendrix) - 5:33
12.It's Too Late  (Chuck Willis) - 3:47
13.Layla  (Clapton, Jim Gordon) - 7:05
14.Thorn Tree In The Garden  (Whitlock) - 2:53

Derek And The Dominos
*Eric Clapton - Lead, Rhythm, Slide, Acoustic Guitars, Lead Vocals
*Duane Allman - Slide, Acoustic Guitars
*Jim Gordon - Drums, Percussion, Piano
*Carl Radle - Bass Guitar, Percussion
*Bobby Whitlock - Organ, Piano, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Related Acts
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Tuesday, June 9, 2026

rep>>> Thunderduk - Thunderduk (1972-74 us, fine heavy guitar jamming psych with jazz elements, 2007 Footprint issue)



Spawned from the fertile musical grounds of Cleveland, Ohio, Thunderduk was part of a local scene that included the likes of The James Gang, Glass Harp, Bang and Dragonwyck. Their desire to play original music and their on stage antics made them one of the top draws on the club circuit in the early 70's. The combination of Phil Hilow's folk background and the versatility of Jeff Ulmicher produced a sound that included intricate rock ballads and long complicated concert pieces.

The foundation of their sound lied within the Bass work of Gary Wallis who spend many hours working on the band's equipment and developing new sound techniques to enhance the band's overall presentation. Rounding out the band was Bob Turchek on Drums who was later replaced by ex-Catscradle drummer Rick Fischer. Most of the material heard on this album was played by the band on two Agency Studio live broadcasts carried by local radio station WNCR. 

These recordings span a period from 1972-74 and we think you will agree that some forty years later they stand strong amongst the tradition of Cleveland Kick Ass Rock and Roll!!
by Rockadelic-recs
Tracks
1. Why Don't You Love Me? (Jeff Ulmicher) - 3:56
2. Mountain By The Moon (Phil Silow) - 3:28
3. Something To Look At (Phil Silow) - 3:35
4. Time And Again (Jeff Ulmicher) - 6:17
5. The Collector (Jeff Ulmicher) - 3:12
6. Keep On Comin (Phil Silow) - 2:58
7. Number One (Phil Silow) - 3:23
8. Once Again Darkness (Jeff Ulmicher) - 9:23
9. Take 26 (Jeff Ulmicher) - 2:36

Thunderduk
*Gary Wallis - Bass, Vocals
*Bob Turcheck - Drums, Congas
*Rick Fischer - Drums, Percussion
*Jeff Ulmicher - Guitar, Vocals
*Phil Silow - Guitar, Vocals

Just Paste
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Monday, June 8, 2026

rep>>> Santana - Welcome (1973 us, fusion rock masterpiece, 2023 SACD)



The choice of “Welcome,” a John Coltrane composition from Kulu Se Mama, as the title tune of the new Santana album is a natural follow-up to Carlos’ album with Mahavishnu John McLaughlin. Coltrane pioneered the direct rendering of spirituality through music in performances like “A Love Supreme” and “Welcome,” and the recent resurgence of interest in his work by spiritually inclined rock musicians is scarcely surprising.

But Welcome covers more territory than Love Devotion Surrender, which was simply a series of ecstatic jams on Coltrane and Coltrane-influenced material. Unlike the latter album, it refers explicitly to its various inspirations. Carlos has apparently been impressed by Airto’s Fingers, Chick Corea’s Light as a Feather and recent recordings by Leon Thomas, Alice Coltrane and Lonnie Liston Smith. In fact, Welcome begins with an Alice Coltrane arrangement, and both Leon Thomas and Airto’s vocalist, Flora Purim, make brief appearances. None of these is integral to the album, suggesting an intended tribute to sources of musical enlightenment rather than an all-star session or a round of hip name-dropping.

The two outstanding qualities which have separated Santana’s music from that of its competitors—Carlos’ expressive abilities as a guitarist and the talents of the band’s various percussionists—are much in evidence throughout Welcome. The qualities which characterize the “new” Santana are the keyboard work of Tom Coster and Richard Kermode and the broad range of the material. As examples of the latter, “Yours Is the Light” is similar in both design and execution to Airto’s current style of hot, neo-samba percussion with jazz keyboard solos, while “Mother Africa” departs considerably from Herbie Mann’s original with a kalimba introduction, thundering Afro-percussion, and a boiling, post-Trane soprano saxophone solo by Jules Broussard. “Going Home,” the Alice Coltrane arrangement, is a sea of organ sounds: “Samba De Sausalito” is a meeting of Brazilian and Puerto Rican rhythmic thrusts with an extended electric piano solo by Coster riding over the top, and “Love, Devotion and Surrender” sets words to the theme of the Santana/Mahavishnu album and builds to an impassioned, gospel-inflected chorus by Leon Thomas.

Carlos himself has never played better. On “Flame” and “Welcome,” he displays a resourceful guitar adaptation of the flutter-tonguing techniques introduced by Coltrane on the soprano sax; there is now more content and less effect in his solos, without the slightest diminution of the delicate touch and bell-like tone which make his work so unmistakable. The rhythm section is at its loosest and best; veteran Afro-Cuban powerhouse Armando Peraza and the much younger Jose Areas interact beautifully, and Michael Shrieve is developing a bag of his own out of directions laid down by Airto and Elvin Jones. There is more use of suspended time, different rhythmic structures and percussive colorations, making Welcome the most rhythmically satisfying rock recording since Professor Longhair’s.

Conceptually, the album sprawls somewhat, due to the occasionally divergent pulls of its various inspirations. But Carlos’ devotion to the musical substance of the Coltrane legacy is admirable, and he seems less inclined toward the superficial treatments which marred Love Devotion Surrender. There may not be another “Black Magic Woman” here, but there is enough of the old Latin fire to satisfy the fans, as well as a promising expansion of sources and resources.
by Bob Palmer, January 3, 1974 
Tracks
1. Going Home - 4:11
2. Love Devotion And Surrender (Carlos Santana, Richard Kermode) - 3:38
3. Samba De Sausalito (Jose "Chepito" Areas) - 3:11
4. When I Look Into Your Eyes (Maitreya Michael Shrieve, Tom Coster) - 5:52
5. Yours Is The Light (Maitreya Michael Shrieve, Richard Kermode) - 5:47
6. Mother Africa (Carlos Santana, Tom Coster, Herbie Mann) - 5:55
7. Light Of Life (Carlos Santana, Richard Kermode, Tom Coster) - 3:52
8. Flame-Sky (Doug Rauch, Carlos Santana, Mahavishnu John McLaughlin) - 11:33
9. Welcome (John Coltrane) - 6:35

Santana
*Carlos Santana - Electric, Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Kalimba, Percussion, Vocals
*Tom Coster - Yamaha Organ, Hammond Organ, Electric, Acoustic Piano, Organ, Marimba, Percussion, Strings Arrangements 
*Richard Kermode - Hammond Organ, Mellotron, Electric, Acoustic PianoMarimba, Shekere, Percussion
*Douglas Rauch - Bass 
*Michael Shrieve - Drums 
*José "Chepito" Areas - Percussion, Congas, Timbales 
*Armando Peraza – Percussion, Congas, Bongos, Cabasa
*Leon Thomas - Lead Vocals, Whistling
With
*Alice Coltrane - Piano, Organ, Farfisa 
*Wendy Haas - Vocals
*Flora Purim - Vocals
*John McLaughlin - Guitar 
*Joe Farrell - Solo Flute 
*Bob Yance - Flute 
*Mel Martin - Flute 
*Douglas Rodriguez - Rhythm Guitar 
*Tony Smith - Drums
*Jules Broussard - Soprano Saxophone 
*Greg Adams - Strings Arrangements 

1971  Santana - Santana III (2016 mobile fidelity and 2006 double disc edition)  

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Sunday, June 7, 2026

rep>>> Kensington Market - Aardvark (1969 canada, great psych fusing folk with baroque, prog and jazz elements, 2008 remaster)



By the end of the 1960s, the psychedelic-rock revolution was peaking. Dream-laced lyrics and trippy effects, including distortion, tape-loops, echoes, delays and phase shifting, were rampant. Adventurous musicians were busy employing a new array of instruments to conjure up kaleidoscopic sounds. The Beatles, leaders in the new music, had already introduced the sitar on Sgt. Pepper’s and the Mellotron on “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The year 1969 saw numerous bands tripping out with delightfully freaky albums, including Skip Spence’s Oar, Jefferson Airplane’s Volunteers and The Moody Blues’ On the Threshold of a Dream.

During the winter of ’68, the members of Toronto’s Kensington Market were dreaming up their next psych-rock move. The band had already garnered praise for its debut album, Avenue Road, both at home and in America and Japan, where a picture sleeve of “I Would Be the One” had been issued. And several of its songs featured sitar. But now the group was looking to expand its horizons with new songs by singer-guitarists Keith McKie and Luke Gibson and guitarist-keyboardist Gene Martynec. Help would come from a close encounter with a Moog Synthesizer, a futuristic piece of equipment that had made its debut appearance that year on a classical album called Switched-On Bach, by electronic composer Wendy Carlos.

The Market’s members were introduced to the land of Moog and its strange and wondrous sounds by their road manager, Bart Schoales, who was an enthusiastic fan of Intersystems. An experimental, mixed-media Toronto group, Intersystems was comprised of sculptor Michael Hayden, architect Dick Zander, poet Blake Parker and musician John Mills-Cockell, whose instrument of choice was the Moog. Excited by the prospect of adding a synthesizer to its next album, the Market—including bassist Alex Darou and drummer Jimmy Watson—invited Mills-Cockell to join them in the studio. The marriage of the Moog’s alien sounds with the group’s latest songs would prove to be a freakishly fruitful partnership.

Avenue Road had been recorded in New York’s Century Studio, which suited producer Felix Pappalardi at the time. The New York-based Pappalardi had just finished recording Cream’s best-selling Disraeli Gears and had quickly become one of America’s hottest producers. But for the Market’s next album, Pappalardi liked the idea of setting up shop at Toronto’s Eastern Sound studio, right in the heart of the Yorkville hippie district. “For Felix, it was a real adventure,” recalls Bernie Finkelstein, the Market’s manager. “Everyone in the band was living around the village, just a few hundred yards from the studio. And we could record a little, walk down the street, drop in at a coffee house, have a drink, talk to friends and just hang out. Felix loved the whole neighborhood vibe of it.”

Sessions for the new album at Eastern began in earnest. All three of the Market’s principal songwriters brought forward strong new material. McKie had several fully formed songs, including “Is It Love,” “Think About the Times” and “Half Closed Eyes,” a Renaissance-style ballad with imagistic lyrics about a winter’s day. McKie, Martynec and Gibson all co-wrote songs, either with each other or with Pappalardi, who was bringing his skills as an arranger and multi-instrumentalist to the sessions. And even Finkelstein got in on the act, co-writing the technicolor feel-good number “Cartoon” with Martynec. Experimentalism—not to mention the group’s hallucinogenic diet—fuelled everything. “It may sound arrogant today,” says Martynec, “but at the time we felt we were pursuing art rather than trying to fixate on making hits. The music world was a bit more experimental then and you really could try new things.”

A distinctive Sgt. Pepper influence showed up on several tracks, including the psychedelically-enhanced “Side I Am.” For the song, an epiphany about a stoned-out chess game, Pappalardi added some distinctly Pepper–ish trumpets to Martynec’s piercing guitar and the mellifluous harmonies of Gibson and McKie. Martynec, meanwhile, created a medieval mood on “If It is Love,” by conjuring up a harpsichord-like sound on his keyboard. And “Said I Could Be Happy,” with its skipping, ? beat, is a gentle daytime reverie with Beatle-esque lyrics: “She’s all free fall lately on the moon,” sings McKie, “Sunshine on my mind above the afternoon.”

The recording sessions took their most adventurous turns on tracks featuring the Moog. Mills-Cockell extracted a slow, unearthly groan from the instrument to compliment Gibson’s plaintive cry on “Help Me.” The oscillating synthesizer creates an almost vertigo-inducing thrum on the track, as Gibson sings about climbing and slipping and needing a helping hand. And it added a haunting swirl of sound on “Half Closed Eyes.” Some of its most other-worldly sounds showed up on “Cartoon,” where Mills-Cockell crafted a mind-boggling assortment of spacey effects.

Having the analog Moog in Eastern Sound Studios was like having a proverbial elephant in the room. “It’s not like today, where equipment is digitized and small and you just have to push a button and there’s sound automatically,” explains McKie. “The Moog was this huge monstrosity, with large, modular components and all kinds of plug-ins. It looked like one of those old telephone switchboards. And John would plug in various jacks and eventually he’d draw out the most extraordinary sounds.” Added McKie: “Sometimes the sounds were absolutely gorgeous and almost impossible to describe—like angels dancing on a skating rink.”

Mills-Cockell’s $18,000 Moog made its historic live debut on March 22, 1969 at Toronto’s Rockpile, where the Market premiered the newly recorded songs from its forthcoming album, Aardvark. Opening for the band was Leather, a Yorkville group that featured the Market’s roadie Schoales. More than 900 people gathered in the former Masonic Temple to hear the Market perform both familiar songs and its latest material. Unfortunately, the sound mixing at the Rockpile failed to capture the Market’s thrilling new sound with the Moog. “Much of its effect was lost in poor sound balance,” wrote Globe and Mail reviewer Ritchie Yorke, who noted that some people in the audience, baffled by the new electronics, left before the concert ended.

The Market had greater success when it returned to the Rockpile two months later, in May, to coincide with Aardvark’s release. Appearing with Edward Bear in between dates by supergroup Rhinoceros and just two days before The Who made its Rockpile debut, the Market thrilled its audience with a triumphant showcase. The band played the Rockpile once more that month, appearing with Grand Funk Railroad, along with Milkwood and Leather. Then, in June, the Market performed before the largest audience of its career in June at the city’s Varsity Stadium, in front of over 50,000 people at the Toronto Pop Festival, joining a lineup that included Steppenwolf, The Band, The Byrds, Tiny Tim and Blood Sweat & Tears.

All of these appearances with the band’s secret weapon, Mills-Cockell’s dazzling Moog, helped to promote the group’s daring new album, which featured the avant-garde work of celebrated graphic artist Bruce Meek. Why did the band choose to call it Aardvark? “We liked the fact that the word was high up in the alphabet,” chuckles Martynec. “Avenue Road got listed near the top of the Warner Bros. catalogue. We thought with Aardvark it’d be right at the pinnacle.”

Ultimately, the Market’s heavy use of hallucinogens, LSD and MDA in particular, took its toll. Another attempted tour of the U.S. ballrooms proved a disaster. “It’s all a bit of a blur now,” admits Gibson. “Everyone was pretty stoned in those days and we didn’t live anywhere. We were just in hotels and on airplanes constantly, so that was hard. But, mostly, people were just doing a lot of drugs and that causes a lot of confusion.” Finkelstein agrees. “I think the drug culture got the best of the band,” he says, “and it got the best of me to some degree as well.” Within a year of Aardvark’s release, the band was disintegrating.

Finkelstein and Gibson left Yorkville and moved out to the country to live on a commune in Killaloe, Ont., 200 kilometers north of Toronto. McKie carried on performing as a solo artist. Martynec, who’d been inspired by Pappalardi’s musicianship and studio skills, set his sights on production work. Watson and Darou disappeared from the music scene altogether, with the former going AWOL while the latter met a tragic end. Darou retreated to his Yorkville crash pad, plunged into an apparent deep depression and never came out. He was later found dead of starvation.

The Killaloe dropouts eventually returned to Toronto. Finkelstein formed True North Records and launched the recording careers of Bruce Cockburn, Murray McLauchlan and Gibson, who reunited his band Luke & the Apostles briefly, before releasing a fine solo album, 1972’s Another Perfect Day. Martynec went on to become one of Canada’s most successful record producers, working on albums by Cockburn, McLauchlan and others. Mills-Cockell formed the electronic rock band Syrinx and released two groundbreaking records on True North and scored a cult hit with “Here Come the Seventies.” Schoales, meanwhile, became an award-winning designer of True North album covers.

Kensington Market made its mark as Canada’s quintessential psych-rock group, a band of hippie musicians from Yorkville with lysergic dreams of greatness. Born during the Summer of Love in 1967, the Market released two classic albums before dissolving as the Sixties gave way to the Seventies. Aardvark, one of the first rock recordings to embrace the sonic possibilities of the Moog, is the sound of a band venturing deep into pop music’s outer limits. It’s a significant legacy to have left behind: an album that takes the listener on a journey to the far-off corners of the mind, a place as wild and wonderful as any fantasy novel or Fellini film. So sit back, slip on the headphones and roll ’em if you got ’em. The Aardvark adventure is about to begin.
by Nicholas Jennings
Tracks
1. Help Me (Gene Martynec, Felix Pappalardi) - 2:48
2. If It Is Love (Keith McKie) - 2:42
3. I Know You (Gene Martynec, Keith McKie) - 1:58
4. The Thinker (Gene Martynec, Luke Gibson) - 2:29
5. Half Closed Eyes (Keith McKie) - 2:29
6. Said I Could Be Happy (Gene Martynec, Luke Gibson) - 2:20
7. Ciao (Gene Martynec, Luke Gibson) - 1:14
8. Ow-Ing Man (Gene Martynec, Keith McKie) - 2:37
9. Side I Am (Keith McKie, Gene Martynec) - 3:18
10. Think About the Times (Keith McKie) - 2:53
11. Have You Come to See (Keith McKie, Gene Martynec) - 3:02
12. Cartoon (Gene Martynec, Bernie Finkelstein) - 2:31
13. Dorian (Luke Gibson, Felix Pappalardi) - 6:51

Kensington Market
*Keith McKie - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
*Gene Martynec - Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards
*Luke Gibson - Guitar, Vocals
*Jimmy Watson - Percussion, Drums
*Alex Darou - Bass
Guest Musicians
*Felix Pappalardi - Organ, Trumpet, Piano, Bass

Related Acts
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rep>>> Felix Pappalardi - Don't Worry Ma (1979 us, excellent amalgam of rhythm 'n' blues and classic rock, 2004 edition)



The late 1970s were a strange time. Many of the movers and shakers of the previous decade and a half had believed the press releases, and taken the ‘Year Zero’ impact of punk as being real, rather than a creation of various record company marketing departments. Punk was supposed to have cleaned out the Augean stables of the music industry, sweeping away all the old rockers of the '60s and early '70s with a cleansing tide of three chord noise.

Of course it didn’t happen like that but it is amazing how many people still believe that it did. Most of the famous musicians of previous years carried on regardless, often becoming more successful post-punk than they were before, albeit with shorter haircuts and less references to Middle Earth. However, others made a definite attempt to change their MO. One such was famous bassist and producer Felix Pappalardi.

As a producer, Pappalardi is perhaps best known for his work with British psychedelic blues-rock power trio Cream, beginning with their second album, Disraeli Gears. Pappalardi has been referred to in various interviews with the members of Cream as "the fourth member of the band" as he generally had a role in arranging their music. He also played a session role on the songs he helped them record. He also produced The Youngbloods' first album.

As a musician Pappalardi is widely recognized as a bassist, vocalist and founding member of the American hard rock band/ heavy metal forerunner Mountain, a band born out of his working with future bandmate Leslie West's soul-inspired rock and roll band The Vagrants, and producing West's 1969 Mountain solo album. The band's original incarnation actively recorded and toured between 1969 and 1971. Felix produced the band's albums, and co-wrote and arranged a number of the band's songs with his wife Gail Collins and with Leslie West.

In 1978 there were rumours that Pappalardi was reuniting with former Mountain drummer Corky Laing and joining Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson in a new supergroup. If that had happened it would have been fantastic but sadly it was pure rumour. Instead he did something completely unexpected: he made a soul album.

William Ruhlmann writes: '1979's Don't Worry, Ma was a Pappalardi solo effort, the follow-up to his 1976 album Felix Pappalardi & Creation, in which he teamed with a Japanese rock quartet. This time, he employed a bunch of New York super-session musicians, only acting as singer with a basic band consisting of guitarist Eric Gale, keyboardist Richard Tee, bassist Chuck Rainey, and drummer Bernard Purdie (who also, amazingly, was the credited producer instead of Pappalardi), plus a collection of strings, reeds, and horns, as well as a trio of female backup singers.

'Nor had Pappalardi, as he usually did, co-written original material with his wife and lyricist, Gail Collins. Instead, this is a collection of covers including the leadoff track, the folk-blues standard "Bring It with You When You Come," the folk standard "Water Is Wide," Tommy Tucker's 1964 R&B hit "Hi-Heel Sneakers," and, in a funk arrangement, Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" (for which Pappalardi produced the original recording). The arrangements are in a bluesy, funky style, for the most part, suggesting Memphis soul or James Brown's band”.'
Tracks
1. Bring It With You When You Come (Traditional) - 3:43
2. As The Years Go Passing By (Deadric Malone) - 4:11
3. Railroad Angels (Marty Simon, Mylon LeFevre) - 4:35
4. High Heel Sneakers (Robert Higginbotham) - 4:45
5. The Water Is Wide (Felix Pappalardi, Gail Collins) - 3:00
6. Sunshine Of Your Love (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Pete Brown) - 4:34
7. Caught A Fever (W. Kane) - 4:35
8. White Boy Blues (Panama Red) - 3:59
9. Farmer's Daughter (Gib Guilbeau, Mickey McGee, Thad Maxwell) - 4:12

Musicians
*Felix Pappalardi - Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
*Eric Gale - Guitar
*Chuck Tainey - Bass
*Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - Drums, Tambourine, Timpani
*Chuck Rainey - Bass
*Richard Tee - Keyboards, Piano
*Sanford Allen - Violin
*Julien Barber - Viola
*Al Brown - Viola
*Doreen Callender - Violin
*Norman Carr - Violin
*Jack Cavari - Guitar
*Arthur "Babe" Clarke - Clarinet 
*Selwart Clarke - Viola
*Burt Collins - Trumpet
*Eddie Daniels - Clarinet, Flute, Tenor Saxophone
*Noel de Costa - Violin
*Peter Dimitriades - Violin
*Corky Hale - Harp
*Hilda Harris - Background Vocals
*Kathryn Krienke - Violin
*George Marge - Oboe, Piccolo
*Irvin "Marky" Markowitz - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
*Yolanda McCullough - Background Vocals
*Kermit Moore - Cello
*Pancho Morales - Congas
*George Opalisky - Flute 
*Gene Orloff - Violin
*Horace Ott - Arranger, Conductor
*Victor Paz - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
*Maretha Stewart - Background Vocals
*David Tofani - Flute, Tenor Saxophone
*Robert Tozek - Violin
*Frank Wess - Flute, Tenor Saxophone
*Wilmer Wise - Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone
*George Young - Flute, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone

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Saturday, June 6, 2026

rep>>> Show Of Hands - Formerly Anthrax (1970 us, extraordinary prog jazz, psych rock, 2008 edition)



The roots of San Diego jazz-rock trio Formerly Anthrax lie in the psychedelic band the National Debt, formed in 1967 by singer/guitarist/flutist Jerry McCann, keyboardist Jack Jacobsen, and drummer Rick Cutler. When McCann exited later that same year to join Framework, which later issued the underground classic "I'm Gonna Give," Jacobsen and Cutler continued collaborating as Anthrax, moving toward an instrumental fusion approach that earned the notice of Elektra Records producer Russ Miller. 

The duo recorded an LP for the label in 1969, but Elektra president Jac Holzman declared the project too uncommercial for release, allowing that the addition of vocals could change his mind. So Jacobsen and Cutler lured McCann back to the fold, which spelled the end of Framework -- the album was reworked, but Elektra also objected to the name Anthrax, although inexplicably Holzman deemed "Formerly Anthrax" an acceptable moniker. 

The revamped LP finally appeared in 1971 as Show of Hands, a title many listeners mistook for the name of the band -- perhaps not surprisingly, the record went nowhere, with the single "Stanley's Theme" generating little interest even on progressive radio. A planned concert LP, Live at the New Orleans House, never made it past the acetate stage, effectively bringing the curtains down on Formerly Anthrax's career -- while McCann later pursued solo projects, Jacobsen eventually resurfaced as a member of Huey Lewis & the News, while Cutler enjoyed fleeting success as a member of Tommy Tutone, the one-hit wonder behind the '80s classic "Jenny (867-5309)." 

All three members of  Formerly Anthrax reunited in 2000, albeit this time officially collaborating under the Show of Hands aegis.
by Jason Ankeny
Tracks
1. No Words Between Us (Jack Jacobsen) - 4:16
2. Stanley's Theme (Jack Jacobsen) - 3:12
3. Moondance (Van Morrison) - 3:46
4. These Things I Know (Jerry McCann) - 3:21
5. I Want To Fly (Jack Jacobsen) - 6:45
6. No Oppotunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Richie Havens) - 3:40
7. May This Be Love / One Rainy Wish (Jimi Hendrix) - 3:26
8. Mount Olympus Breakdown (Martin Lanham) - 2:11
9. Like A Child (Jerry McCann) - 5:10
10.Toy Piano (Jack Jacobsen) - 5:00

Show Of Hands
*Rick Cutler - Drums, Percussion
*Jack Jacobsen - Keyboard Bass, Keyboards, Organ, Piano
*Jerry McCann - Flute, Guitar, Vocals

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Friday, June 5, 2026

rep>>> Barry Goldberg - Two Jews Blues (1969 us, classic blues rock)



This is one of those late-'60s collaborations where I expected the world to explode when I put it on, and felt disappointed when it didn't. However, when you get past looking at players in the band, and listen to the music, there are a number of wonderful cuts. Enough of them for me to replace the vinyl with the CD. "Blues for Barry And..." is Bloomfield at his best with a solid band behind him cranking out this slow blues you wish wouldn't end. Barry Goldberg has always played a solid organ, whether with Harvey Mandel. Charlie Musselwhite, or out on his own.

This is his chance to be the leader of an all-star lineup. My regrets are that it is only 35 minutes, and most importantly I would have liked to put all the guitar players together for a cut or two; they never get to play off one another. 
by Bob Gottlieb
Tracks
1. You're Still My Baby - 3:31
2. That's Alright Mama (Arthur Crudup) - 2:47  
3. Maxwell Street Shuffle - 2:35
4. Blues For Barry And... - 10:15
5. Jimi The Fox (Dedicated To Jimi Hendrix) - 3:27
6. A Lighter Blue - 2:45
7. On The Road Again (John Sebastian) - 2:00  
8. Twice A Man (Barry Goldberg, Roy Ruby) - 4:25    
9. Spirit Of Trane - 4:00
All songs by Barry Goldberg except where stated

Personnel
*Barry Goldberg - Organ, Piano, Vocals
*Eddie Hoh - Drums
*Charlie Musselwhite - Harmonica
*Mike Bloomfield - Guitar (Tracks 2-5)
*Harvey Mandel - Guitar (Tracks 6,9)
*Duane Allman - Guitar (Track 8)
*Eddie Hinton - Guitar (Track 1)
*David Hood - Bass (Tracks 1,-5,8) ,
*Don MacCallister - Bass (Tracks 7,9) ,
*Art - Bass (Track 6)
*Great - Horns (Tracks 7,9)
*Soulville Horns - Horns (Tracks 2,3,6)
1967  Electric Flag - The Trip
1968-69  Electric Flag - An American Music Band / A Long Time Comin'  
196?-7?  The Electric Flag - Live
1968  Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield - The Lost Concert Tapes, Filmore East
1969  Mike Bloomfield And Al Kooper - The Live Adventures
1969  Michael Bloomfield with Nick Gravenites And Friends - Live At Bill Graham's Fillmore West
1969  Nick Gravenites - My Labors
1973  Bloomfield, Hammond, Dr.John - Triumvirate (Japan remaster)
1976  KGB - KGB
1976-77  Michael Bloomfield - Live at the Old Waldorf

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Wednesday, June 3, 2026

rep>>> C.A. Quintet - Trip Thru Hell (1968 us, impressive psychedelic rock with experimental prog touches, Sundazed bonus tracks edition)



The C.A. Quintet’s Trip Thru Hell is one of the most unique LPs from the 60s. It was a small indie pressing of under 500 from the Candy Floss label, making it a very rare 1968/1969 release. Originals will set you back a pretty penny (possibly over $1,000) but are worth it considering the CD version does not faithfully recreate the back side of the LP.

Prior to this LP, the Minneapolis-based C.A. Quintet had released a few respectable, though restrained, garage rock singles. Then something tweaked in the mind of Ken Erwin, the mastermind behind the Quintet, and the band’s frat rock would become infused with a dark, weird edge.  The Trip came housed in a classic, striking jacket and was a truly original acid concept album chronicling the hells of earth. It’s an album that takes you into another world, another mind, and there are some deep, lysergic excursions to behold.  

The title track is a 9-minute instrumental with a prominent bass groove, angelic and eerie background vocals, shimmering organ, a suprisingly effective phased drum solo, and demented guitar distortions. The track may not sound as demonic as its title implies, but  it was unlike anything recorded before or since, and certainly worth the trip.  ”Cold Spider” has Ken Erwin screaming his lungs out over some nice whacked out raga leads and Hendrix-style feedback. They bust out the brass for “Colorado,” “Sleepy Hollow Lane,” “Smooth As Silk,” “Trip Thru Hell (Part 2)” and “Underground Music,” which are dark oddities and compelling highlights.

Listening to this record may be an overwhelming experience for some, so in one sense it’s definitely an acquired taste. It’s pure psychedelia with a strong vision, and does not fit the ‘incredibly strange music’ tag at all. The C.A. Quintet were an engmatic band that was full of life but by the end of the 60s they faded into obscurity. 
by Jason Nardelli
Tracks
1. Trip Thru Hell, Pt. 1 (Ken Erwin, Doug Reynolds) - 9:09
2. Colorado Mourning - 2:31
3. Cold Spider - 4:41
4. Underground Music - 4:43
5. Sleepy Hollow Lane - 2:04
6. Smooth As Silk - 2:12
7. Trip Thru Hell, Pt. 2 - 3:40
8. Dr. Of Philosophy - 2:09
9. Blow To My Soul (David Stuart Sandler) - 1:59
10.Ain't No Doubt About It - 2:31
11.Mickey's Monkey (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland) - 2:26
12.I Put A Spell On You (Screamin' Jay Hawkins) - 2:47
13.I Shot The King - 2:22
14.Fortune Teller's Lie - 2:09
15.Sadie Lavone - 2:49
16.Bury Me In A Marijuana Field - 2:11
17.Colorado Mourning - 2:13
18.Underground Music - 2:08
19.Smooth As Silk - 3:20
All titles by Ken Erwin except where indicated
Bonus Tracks 8-19

C.A. Quintet
*Rick Johnson - Drums
*Jimmy Erwin - Vocals, Bass
*Ken Erwin - Vocals, Trumpet, Guitar, Bassm Keyboards
*Toni Crockett - Vocals
*Tom Pohling - Guitar
*Doug Reynolds - Keyboards
*Paul Samuels - Drums
*Rick Patron - Drums, Percussion
*Larry Honhart - Lead Guitar
*Tom Reid - Keyboards
*Donny Chapin - Drums
*Tony Wright - Keyboards
*Dan Zamanski - Bass

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rep>>> The Magicians - An Invitation to Cry...The Best of the Magicians (1965-67 us, fabulous jangly folk-rock to roots 'n' roll, Sundazed issue)



Both sides of their four 1965-1967 singles on Columbia, plus five previously unissued tracks from the same period. The possibility of an album's worth of Magicians' material has long intrigued collectors of '60s music, most of whom are only familiar with their "An Invitation to Cry" single from Nuggets. 

At times it's Lovin' Spoonful-like folk-rock (they cover two songs from the debut album by minor Greenwich Village folk-rocker David Blue); sometimes it's Young Rascals-ish soul-rock, with a poppier bent; sometimes it's journeyman blues-rock (covers of "Back Door Man" and "Who Do You Love"); sometimes it's fair period 1966 pop/rock. 

The Gordon-Bonner songwriting collaboration had not yet been cemented; in fact, there are only two Gordon-Bonner compositions here, although on some of the other tracks, one or the other wrote with other partners. In retrospect, it's unfortunate that the Magicians didn't hold together longer, until the Gordon-Bonner team had matured, but fate plays its own cards. 
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. An Invitation to Cry (Alan Gordon, James Woods) - 2:55
2. Rain Don't Fall on Me No More (arr. J. Townley, B. Wylde, A. Polhemus) - 2:25
3. About My Love (David Blue) - 2:04
4. I'll Tell the World About You (A. Gordon, A. Jacobs) - 2:52
5. Lady Fingers (Garry Bonner, Alan Gordon) - 2:45
6. Angel on the Corner (A. Jacobs) - 2:18
7. I'd Like to Know (David Blue) - 2:34
8. Back Door Man (Chuck Berry, Chester Burnett, Willie Dixon) - 2:16
9. That's What Love Is Made Of (Warren Moore, Smokey Robinson, Robert Rogers) - 2:38
10.Double Good Feeling (G. Bonner, Alan Gordon) - 1:58
11.I Won't Be Here Tomorrow (G. Bonner, A. Jacobs) - 2:32
12.You're So Fine (Lance Finnie, Willie Schofield, Bob West) - 2:35
13.Who Do You Love (Ellas McDaniel) - 3:54

The Magicians
*Garry Bonner - Bass
*Alan Gordon - Drums
*Allan "Jake" Jacobs - Guitar
*John Townley - Guitar
Additional Personnel
*Rod Bristow - Vocals

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