In the 70s, Krautrock was not only played in the big cities, not only in Berlin, Munich and Düsseldorf, but also in the provinces. Krautrock wasn't just Tangerine Dream, Amon Düül or Kraftwerk, it was also Dom, Electric Sandwich, Join In, Kalacacra, Mammut, Morpheus and whatever they were all called... There were young musicians all over Germany who were infected by the spirit of Krautrock and dared to create their more or less own version of progressive rock music.
Even though there was a Krautrock boom at the record companies in the early 70s, not every band was signed. This didn't necessarily have anything to do with musical quality. There were just a lot of bands. And some are still being unearthed...
One of these bands that simply didn't make it back then was Aqua from the provincial metropolis of Kassel in northern Hesse. The roots of Aqua go back to 1968. In 1972, musicians from the bands Inaction and Praeludium Magnum came together to form Aqua. In the 70s, Aqua were one of the most popular live acts in Kassel, alongside such illustrious names as Rattengift and Hugo's Rockhoppser. It wasn't enough to get a record deal, but Aqua recorded a demo tape with four songs on a 4-track tape recorder in their founding year. These form the core of this Garden of Delights release. In addition, the only single from 1978 is also included, although single does not mean that Aqua were represented in the charts with it, but that they sold it at their concerts. Finally, the CD also contains two tracks from the 1981 LP Sexy Boy. The band broke up in 1984.
However, these two songs from their 1981 LP are the least interesting for Krautrock fans. When the LP was released, the disappointment among Aqua fans was also quite big, as the sound - as with many other bands of those years - had become much flatter in comparison to the 70s and the jazz-rock, herbaceous, psychedelic elements of the Aqua sound had given way to a more pleasing, slightly proggy soft rock. However, the two tracks on the album represent the best of this “musical misstep”.
The single (released 1976) reflects the band's previous phase, which was characterized by organ-heavy hard rock and may bring to mind Uriah Heep. The band certainly gave this impression in their live performances towards the end of the 70s.
The real jewel of this CD, however, are the first four tracks, which are the complete demo from 1972! The sound quality here is a little muffled, but still easy to hear. And what you hear here is also musically convincing, not inferior to the more successful bands of the early 70s: a krautrock sound, sometimes dominated by organ, sometimes by guitar, with elements of jazz rock and psychedelic. Klaus Borucki's vocals come across as somewhat whiny.
Due to the different years of origin of the collected material, it is difficult to give a unanimous verdict. This CD colors another blank spot on the map of 70s Krautrock. For me personally, however, this release was a particular pleasure, as I had previously only known the LP Sexy Boy. Unfortunately, it presented a rather sterile picture of the band, which I personally got to know as a rousing live act at a few concerts at the end of the 70s. So it's all the more pleasing that Aqua's story has finally been edited in a way that is convincing both musically and in terms of the design of the booklet. Here, too, Garden of Delights remain true to their standard and provide detailed background information on the band's history, illustrate record covers and offer a successful selection of band photos. A recommendation for the collector!
by Christian Rode, 30-8-2008
Tracks
1. Bolero (Martin Ulrich, Martin Großkurth) - 5:24
2. Soul Of My Soul (Martin Ulrich, Martin Großkurth) - 7:09
3. Tempest (Martin Ulrich, Martin Großkurth) - 5:53
4. There Is A Place (Martin Ulrich, Martin Großkurth) - 9:37
5. Going My Way (Martin Ulrich, Klaus Borucki, Jörg Wiesner) - 3:20
When he was around 13, Robert Charles Guidry began singing with a band around his hometown of Abbeville, La., deep in the Cajun swamps. The group played Cajun and country music and, after he passed through town and played a show, Fats Domino's music. It was a life-changing experience for the young man, and he found himself with a new ambition: to write a song for Fats.
One night as he left a gig, Charles said to his friends, "See ya later, alligator," and one of them yelled back, "In a while, crocodile." Charles stopped in his tracks. "What did you say?" he asked. The friend repeated it. At that moment, as would happen countless times in the future, the song "See You Later, Alligator" came to him, fully formed.
Fats didn't want the song, and told the young man he didn't want to sing about alligators. Somehow, though, the kid wound up singing the song over the phone to Leonard Chess, whose Chess Records in Chicago was the hottest blues label in town. Chess didn't hesitate: He sent the kid a ticket, and when Charles showed up at his office, Chess said something I can't say on the air. The sentence ended with the word "white" and a question mark, though.
Chess recorded him, though, and put the song out, changing Guidry's name to Bobby Charles; almost immediately, Bill Haley grabbed it for himself. Haley's record was one of the best sellers of 1956, and both Chess and Charles made some decent money from it. They tried follow-ups called "Watch It, Sprocket," which wasn't something people actually said, and "Take It Easy, Greasy," which was, but the record was a little too, well, greasy to be too popular. Charles recorded for Chess until 1958, but his records only sold locally. Along the way, though, he seems to have pioneered a genre called swamp pop.
He also got to realize a dream. One evening, Fats Domino played Abbeville, and Fats invited Charles to a show in New Orleans. The young singer said he had no way to get there. "Well," the fat man said, "you'd better start walking." And sure enough, a song popped into Charles' head: "Walking To New Orleans."
Bobby Charles signed with Imperial, Fats' label, but again, nothing hit. He admitted freely that he was part of the problem. He didn't enjoy touring, and he had a jealous wife who didn't like him leaving town. He continued writing and selling songs, and recorded for some local Louisiana labels. He and his wife parted company, and then, in 1971, he got busted for pot in Nashville. Rather than risk jail, he disappeared; he wound up in upstate New York, and saw the name Woodstock on a map. He'd never even heard of the famous festival, but the name appealed to him.
Arriving in town, he asked a real-estate agent about a place to rent and wound up in a house shared with two other musicians. They introduced him around, and Albert Grossman, who'd managed Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and many others, got interested. The next thing he knew, Charles was back in the studio with members of The Band, Dr. John and lots of other Woodstock musicians. The resulting album has some truly memorable moments.
It didn't sell, though. Charles focused on songwriting, but he wasn't comfortable in Woodstock, and in the end he went back to Abbeville, where he disappeared from public view for an entire decade. He had a good income from his songs, but a run of bad luck: His house burned down, and then his next house blew away in a hurricane. He kept writing songs, and he entertained visitors who came to Abbeville to meet him — people like Bob Dylan and Neil Young and Willie Nelson. His record label, Rice 'N' Gravy, put out several homemade albums, which mixed his old and new songs.
At 70, Bobby Charles was diagnosed with cancer, and he died in January 2010, unknown to most of the world he'd enriched with his songs.
by Ed Ward
Reissued here as a wood-paneled box set with 25 bonus tracks, Louisiana singer Robert Charles' lone album from the 1970s, featuring four members of the Band as his backup group, is one of the most sublime Americana records ever cut.
On the third disc of this wood-paneled box set of Louisiana singer Robert "Bobby" Charles Guidry's lone album from the 1970s, there's a half-hour interview with radio disc jockey Barry Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento. They laundry-list the records released that week in 1972, ranging from a posthumous Jimi Hendrix LP to John Fahey, Tim Buckley, Bonnie Raitt, Nazareth, Wet Willie, and Martin Mull. To which Bobby Charles comments in his gentle, stoned Cajun drawl: "It's too bad, a lot of good ones just have to get lost. It's unexplainable, but they just do." To which Hansen replies: "Well... a lot of times they get picked up the second or third time around."
Warm and crackling as a campfire, easeful and understated, all of it suffused with Charles' nuanced blend of humor and empathy, this 1972 eponymous album was one of the "good ones" that got lost. Think of this as the second or third time around for the album to finally find its people-- and there should be plenty of them. Considering that 4/5ths of the Band served as Charles' back up group here (augmented by Dr. John and Neil Young pedal steel guitarist Ben E. Keith), this is-- simply put-- one of the most sublime Americana records ever cut.
Charles' story started two decades earlier, when he wrote and recorded R&B standards like "See You Later, Alligator" and "Walking to New Orleans". The story goes that Chess Records signed the then-14-year-old sight unseen after he sang them "Alligator" over the phone. When he arrived in their Chicago offices, though, Leonard Chess flipped out: Not because Charles was underage, but because he was white. After touring through a pre-integration South, he wound up in Nashville by the late 1960s. A marijuana rap led him to head further north, where he ultimately fell in with the musical community centered around Woodstock, N.Y., recording at Dylan manager Albert Grossman's Bearsville Studios.
From the opening twang and snare snap of "Street People", it's clear Charles' songwriting acumen had grown beyond his early R&B roots. Over the slinking beat, he details an itinerant life of what one would label a "bum." But rather than spin some tale of hard luck and woe, Charles makes drifting from town to town and panhandling for spare change sound idyllic. "Wouldn't trade places with no one I know/ I'm happy with where I'm at," he drawls. A cowbell accents the punchline: "Some people would rather work/ We need people like that."
Elsewhere, there are organ-gurgling numbers about new love and community gossip, lilting ballads about watching butterflies, honking barroom numbers about growing old, and gentle, country-tinged numbers about spending all day in bed with your honey. And then there's the ode to Jesus to save him from his followers. All of it gets delivered with a sly grin and at a pace with which you might sip a beer on a back porch, cast a fishing line into a creek, or barbecue a rack of ribs: slow, unhurried, a sunny afternoon ahead of you.
Some 25 previously unreleased tracks augment the original 10-song album, ranging from the pleasant to revelatory. There are differently mixed singles, three songs released only on a Japanese box set, some half-baked songs, but also the sound of Charles' shuffling toward a follow-up album that he never quite got around to finishing. Or, as he put his M.O. on one chorus: "(I'm) staying stoned and singing homemade songs." There's the Band's telltale funk on "Why Are People Like That?", Dr. John's piano commingling with Garth Hudson's gospel organ swells on the elegant crest of "You Came Along". Fans of Will Oldham's Arise Therefore will swoon for demos of Charles dueting with the Band's Rick Danko over a sputtering drum machine.
When this set was originally made available through Rhino Handmade back in August (it's in stores now via distribution partner Light in the Attic), mid-album track "He's Got All the Whiskey" was already an album highlight. So it's uncanny hearing both it and "Street People" in a post-Occupy mindset. About as loud as "Chappelle's Show"'s intro, Dixieland horns, Danko's bass, and a snare's pop skitter about as Charles gripes: "He got all the money." It, of course, follows that "The Man" also has all the "whiskey/ power/ women," the biggest crime of it being that "he won't give me none." It's a simple protest from Bobby Charles-- good-natured at its heart-- and hopefully it won't get ignored this time around.
by Andy Beta
Disc 1
1. Street People - 3:44
2. Long Face - 3:35
3. I Must Be In a Good Place Now - 4:10
4. Save Me Jesus - 5:16
5. He's Got All the Whiskey - 5:17
6. Small Town Talk (Bobby Charles, Rick Danko) - 3:29
7. Let Yourself Go - 4:12
8. Grow Too Old (Bobby Charles, Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino) - 4:04
9. I'm That Way - 4:03
10.Tennessee Blues - 5:01
11.Small Town Talk (Single Version) (Bobby Charles, Rick Danko) -3:31
12.Save Me Jesus (Mono Single Version) - 5:10
13.He's Got All The Whiskey (Long Version) - 6:45
14.New Mexico (Bobby Charles, Rick Danko) - 2:26
15.Homemade Songs - 3:44
16.Rosie - 2:51
17.Don't Be Surprised - 2:29
18.You Were There - 6:25
19.'Radio spot' (not listed on cover) - 1:03
All songs by Bobby Charles excepr where stated
Disc 2
1. He's Got All The Whiskey (Take 1) - 6:20
2. New Mexico (Demo) (Bobby Charles, Rick Danko) - 2:20
3. Homemade Songs (Long Version) - 7:56
4. Done A Lot Of Wrong Things - 8:17
5. Ain't That Lucky - 3:04
6. Better Days - 3:38
7. You Came Along - 6:21
8. Jealous Kind - 3:52
9. Whatever Happened - 3:27
10.Livin' In Your World - 3:40
11.Nickles Dimes Dollars - 4:01
12.Why Are People Like That - 3:43
13.Please Please - 2:49
14.Little Town Tramp - 2:58
15.Keep Cookin' Mama - 4:12
16.What Are We Doing? - 2:16
17.Cowboys And Indians (Bobby Charles, Ben Keith) - 3:01
All songs by Bobby Charles excepr where noted
Disc 3
1. The Bobby Charles Interview - 30:57
Musicians
*Bobby Charles - Vocals, Piano
*Jim Colegrove - Bass
*Rick Danko - Bass
*Dr. John - Keyboards
*Amos Garrett - Guitar
*Norman D. Smart - Drums
*Ben Keith - Guitar, Steel Guitar
*Billy Mundi - Drums
*Bob Neuwirth - Vocals, Guitar
*Bugsy Maugh - Bass
*David Sanborn - Alto Saxophone
*Garth Hudson - Keyboards, Accordion, Saxophone
*Geoff Muldaur - Guitar, Vocals
*Harry Lookofsky - Violin, Viola
*Hymie Schertzer - Saxophone
*Jim Colegrove - Guitar
*Joe Newman - Trumpet
*John Simon - Tenor Saxophone
*John Till - Guitar
*Levon Helm - Drums
*Norman Don Smart II - Drums
*Richard Manuel - Piano, Drums
There's nothing new in the idea that some of the best rock musicians of the last 15 or 50 years are not as famous as they ought to be; genuine talent has always counted for less than image, hype or sheer luck. Nick Gravenites (or if you prefer Nick da Greek) is a classic case; despite being a great guitarist, songwriter and producer, (as well as being in possession of one of the most powerful voices in the business) genuine success has always eluded him, which is a pity because few white people have the knowledge or feeling for the blues that he does; he's got so much of it, it's coming out of his ears.
Gravenites was originally part of a thriving folk and blues scene in Chicago in the early '60s but in 1962 he travelled out west to San Francisco.
The Beats had gone but folk was booming and Gravenites was able to gig regularly at places like The Fox and Hound and The Coffee Gallery, both in the city's North Beach district. Quite often sharing the bill was a young fresh in from Texas, called Janis Joplin. Many musicians, later to attract the attention of the world's press during the 'Summer of Love', were also on the circuit - pre-electricity and, largely pre-acid.
Within in a couple of years Gravenites was in Chicago running a blues club called the Burning Bush, amongst other things, however when '67 rolled around, with every musician in the States heading out to San Francisco, Nick did likewise. Things were different from '62 everywhere was peace, love and good vibes, for a couple of months at least. Gravenites was there primarily to join Mike Bloomfield's new band, known at the time as An American Music Band but shortly to change their name to The Electric Flag. The Flag became the definitive blues/funk outfit of the late '60s, albums like 'A Long Time Coming' were required listening for anyone remotely interested in the 'new rock'. Gravenites' amazing gravelly voice was heard on hi-fi's all over the western world. After a couple of years the band ground to a halt, he made a solo album 'My Labors' and joined a last gasp, post Janis version of Big Brother.
The '70s proved a lean time for Gravenites, until it became apparent that people in Europe still wanted to hear him play, especially as he'd teamed up with the ubiquitous John Cipollina, guitar picker extra-ordinaire, wolf fetishist and refugee from the pioneering acid-rock outfit, Quicksilver Messenger Service. QMS were the definitive proponents of the guitar-based San Francisco sound, who should have conquered the world but failed to, owing to a seemingly in-built self destruct mechanism. Their music owed much to Cipolllina's playing, at times menacingly growling, at other times hard edged and bluesy.
Quicksilver staggered on into the mid '70s but Cipollina wisely quit at the end of 1970, taking his distinctive playing into Copperhead and then on to various loose aggregations, notably Terry & the Pirates. The link up with Gravenites came in 1979 when it seemed that neither of them were likely to play live in Europe again. However, since then they have been fairly regular visitors, especially to Germany and Italy where they are able to fill concert halls night after night.
This album was recorded during a recent tour, when they were augmented by Marcus David on drums and Al Staehely on bass. Staehely is notable for having the distinction of having played in a bogus line-up of Spirit, he now doubles as a lawyer in L.A.
This album is, of course, blues based and displays Gravenites' interpretations of a couple of standards plus some fine new songs, not to mention a reworking of his own classic 'Buried Alive in the Blues'.
Staehely also contributes a couple of excellent originals and needless to say Cipollina's guitar is as fiery as ever, notably on 'Bad Luck Baby' which has echoes of the old Quicksilver and the reworking of 'Pride of Man', the Hamilton Camp number, which was an integral part of the old QMS set.
In terms of chart success this album is unlikely to compete with Soft Cell, which is a pity because music played with this kind of integrity and ability is all too rare these days. I, for one, am glad that these guys are still doing it.
by John Platt, (Editor, Comstock Lode magazine)
Nicholas George Gravenites passed away in Santa Rosa, California on September 18, 2024, at the age of 85.
Tracks
1. Blues In The Bottle (Sam Hopkins) - 4:07
2. Six Weeks In Reno (Nick Gravenites) - 4:33
3. I'll Pull The Trigger (Nick Gravenites) - 3:34
4. Trust Me (Al Staehely) - 3:52
5. Buried Alive In The Blues (Nick Gravenites) - 5:18
Born in September of what was, at the time I originally wrote this, an indeterminate year ("age is a personal thing - maybe someone will find it out for my obituary.") and brought up in Washington where he won the top music award at High School, Tim first came to prominence in 1967 with his first album on CBS (Columbia). Prior to that, he had trained for the priesthood (but got thrown out for inappropriate behaviour - smoking) and been a navigator for Strategic Air Command before becoming involved in the music business.
His first notable group was The Journeymen, along with John Phillips and Scott McKenzie, both of whom went on to musical fame. He then teamed up with fellow members of the New York folk scene, James Hendricks and Cass Elliott, to form The Big Three (not to be confused with the British group of the same name).
CBS, in the wake of their success with Bob Dylan, sought out artistes looking for record deals and the first solo album was born. The blues, folk and rock influences made it a classic, with session musicians of a high quality brought in by CBS to ensure their product was a success. However, the record company didn't seem to have a clue about how to market the album and Tim got lost amongst a host of new acts that had been signed. Jimi Hendrix picked up Tim's version of Hey Joe and made a hit out of it. Because Tim didn't actually write it, he never got a penny in royalties.
More successful in the UK and Europe than in his home country, Tim moved to England in the mid-seventies, performing occasionally in clubs around London, sometimes with fellow expatriate Tim Hardin. These appearances were often shambolic, probably because of the uncertain state that Hardin was in. His heroin and alcohol addiction meant that while he could sing brilliantly, he was unpredictable and therefore grossly unreliable.
The first CBS album was followed by several more excellent recordings, but the one elusive thing that Tim faced was chart success. This led to a variation in styles in the hope of capturing a different market, but no matter whether he rocked, sang ballads or played country, the record sales were getting less as the years went on. Meanwhile, he was messed around by people in the music business and he became soured by the way things were going.
After The Musician, Tim retired from the music business for a number of years before The Gambler was eventually released in 1991. During that time, he was involved in construction work, did some TV commercials that paid for his degree, did some geography teaching and was a Wall Street stockbroker.
In the late 1990s, encouraged by Nick Cave and Jacques Laureys, he started playing live again, supporting Cave at the Royal Albert Hall in London. This collaboration led to a new album, Haunted, a mixture of older material, recorded live, and new material produced by Cave. His older albums started being re-released as double CDs and a further album of new material came out in 2002. Tim had managed to get back to touring, with a substantial tour of England and European venues in 1999 and further sporadic gigs from then on. Another interesting development was that Brook Guitars of Exeter, Devon, designed and manufactured a Tim Rose guitar. Made of ebony and spruce, with rosewood sides and a mahogany neck, the guitar had Tim's autograph on it. The price? £1795. Not the kind of thing one would smash up on stage.
Tim went into hospital to have a bowel complaint investigated. His heart didn't survive the second of two operations and he died on 24 September 2002, his age now admitted as 62.
Crow formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. in August, 1967. Originally known as the "South 40", they were former members of the Rave-Ons and the Jokers Wild. The original band members were Dave Wagner (vocals), Larry Wiegand (bass/vocals), Dick Wiegand (guitar), Dave (Kink) Middlemist (Hammond organ/vocals) and Harry Nehls (drums/vocals). They released the "South 40 Live at Someplace Else" LP in 1968.
In 1969 they added Denny Craswell (Castaways) on drums/vocals, changed their band name to Crow, and released the album "Crow Music" on the Amaret label. They had a number of Top-40 hits from 1969 to 1972, including "Evil Woman", "Slow Down", "(Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie) On the King of Rock n' Roll" and "Cottage Cheese" among others.
They disbanded in 1972 but reformed again in 1988. They continue to play select concerts all over the United States and have released numerous CD's. All the members have won Minnesota Music Awards for their own individual instruments. In 2005 they were inducted into the Minnesota Rock/Country Hall of Fame and in 2009, the Iowa Rock & Roll Music Hall of Fame.
Tracks
1. Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games With Me) (Larry Wiegand, Dick Wiegand, David Waggoner) - 3:10
2. White Eyes (Larry Wiegand, Dick Wiegand) - 4:13
3. Thoughts (David Waggoner) - 4:48
4. Da Da Song (Dave Middlemist) - 3:19
5. Busy Day (Larry Wiegand) - 2:30
6. Time To Make A Turn (Larry Wiegand) - 2:47
7. Rollin' (Dick Wiegand, David Waggoner) - 3:20
8. Listen To The Bop (Larry Wiegand, Dick Wiegand, David Waggoner) - 3:07
9. Gonna Leave A Mark (Larry Wiegand) - 2:53
10.Sleepy Woman (Larry Wiegand) - 9:53
The Crow
*David Wagner - Lead Vocals
*Dick Wiegand - Lead Guitars
*Larry Wiegand - Bass
*Kink Middlemist - Keyboards
*Denny Craswell - Drums
Formerly known as The Method, they signed with CBS in London for whom they recorded three albums and several singles. Their stunning debut LP "Love & Poetry" (1969) is regarded as a psychedelic classic by many collectors around the world. Their name was shortened to Andwella in 1970 and their further long players "World's End" (1970) and "People's People" (1971) were issued under this moniker.
by Clark Faville
Tracks
1. Hold On To Your Mind - 3:50
2. Lady Love - 4:16
3. Michael Fitzhenry - 3:32
4. I'm Just Happy To See You Get Her - 2:57
5. Just How Long - 3:18
6. World's End Part I (Bobby Scott) - 3:00
7. World's End Part II - 2:25
8. Back On The Road - 3:24
9. I Got A Woman - 2:56
10.Reason For Living - 3:10
11.Shadow Of The Night - 3:39
All compositions by David Lewis except where stated.
Originally known as The Method, a heavy psych/blues trio led by David Lewis (and the band Brush Shiels first saw Gary Moore play with when Gary subbed for David when the Method played a Dublin club in 1967?).
The Method became Andwella's Dream when they moved from Belfast to London in 1968. They signed to CBS and recorded a stunning debut LP "Love & Poetry". The original drummer only plays on one track ("Felix") as he got homesick and returned to Belfast. Gordon Barton then joined the band.
"Love & Poetry" captures the moment when psychedelia was at the point of splintering into progressive and acid folk. There are various styles and moods across the record with consistently strong melodies and some killer Hendrix-esque guitar. It's rightly regarded as a psychedelic classic by many collectors around the world.
CBS released three singles including two non-LP A-sides "Mrs Man" and "Mister Sunshine" which are worth tracking down. These have not surfaced on CD reissues for some reason.
In 1970 Dave McDougall joined on keyboards, the band name was shortened to Andwella. They moved to CBS's Reflection imprint (home to Steamhammer & Dogfeet) for subsequent releases.
A gorgeous Hammond organ sound underpins the two albums released on Reflection. The first of these was "World's End", released in 1970, which is the better of the two. Though it is less psychedelic and less adventurous than the debut and doesn't revisit the same heights, it is more consistent, more measured and contains several outstanding songs. At times recalls the best work of Traffic and early Santana.
That same year, David Lewis produced another album on Reflection, hippie poet David Baxter's very odd "Goodbye Dave" album. All the music on this LP was written by Lewis and performed by Andwella.
In 1971 the original rhythm section was replaced by Dave Struthers (bass/vocals) and Jack McCulloch (ex One In A Million & Thunderclap Newman, drums). This lineup recorded the final album, "People's People" (1971) which is a step closer to the mainstream but still an enjoyable album. In 1974 a track from this album was released as a single credited to The Bridge.
After Andwella split, David Lewis released two solo albums on Polydor in the 70s.
Dave McDougall later worked with Speedy Keen (ex Thunderclap Newman). Nigel Smith was later in Khan (after their LP), Magna Carta and Pentangle.
Tracks
1. She Taught Me to Love - 3:16
2. Saint Bartholomew - 3:04
3. World of Angelique - 3:35
4. Mississippi Water - 3:28
5. I've Got My Own - 2:45
6. Are You Ready - 2:32
7. Four Days in September - 3:51
8. Lazy Days - 1:26
9. People's People - 3:27
10.Behind the Painted Screen - 3:30
11.All for You - 2:20
All compositions by David Lewis
Andwella’s Dream was a thrusting injection of freakbeat that could not be ignored. Their slicing riffs were high core psyche injected from guitarist / keyboardist David Lewis, bassist Nigel Smith and drummer Gordon Barton who started out as The Method that at one time included Gary Moore.They were regulars at the Maritime Club where Van Morrison had his early days with Them.
The Method evolved into Andwella’s Dream and were the primal Irish psyche next to Eire Apparent. Dave Lewis the soaring guitarist who wrote all the songs also recruited keyboardist Dave McDougall, ex McCullochs Struthers & Paterson bassist Dave Stuthers, Nigel Portman Smith and ex One In A Million/Andromeda drummer Jack McCulloch.The bamboo flute and sax was played by future Egg Bob Downes. When Andwella’s Dream moved to London they released their primal 1969 debut Love And Poetry with surging numbers like the thrusty opener “The Days Grew Longer For Love” and guitar razzling “Sunday”.
Dave’s throttling axe exerts fury on “Lost A Number Found A King” with its ancient Indian flute and ambient acoustic textures. The two finest numbers “Cocaine” with McDougall pushing hard and the soaring “Shades Of Grey” where ex Thunderclap Newman Jack McCulloch’s drums are best heard create a furnace of fusion.
Acoustic delights are “Midday Sun”, “Goodbye” and the Hammond rolling “Felix” which opens into crescendo breaks by Lewis. In 1970 they evolved into Andwella and launched a further two albums Worlds End (1970) and Peoples People (1971) plus a bounty of singles. World’s End although a lyrical romantic masterpiece did ignite the past as on the psyche “Michael Fitzhenry” exalting frenetic flute and Dave’s insatiable guitar riffs. The harmonies and melody that bend around the brassy I’m Just Happy To See You Get Her are creative marvels.
Future Bad Company definitely copped the riffs from “Just How Long” while the double linked “World’s End” is just so underplayed. Sterling jazz riffs trip through Steely Dan styled “Back To The Road” with Bob Downes giving it stick in the wind. There’s a bit of Billy Joel in the People’s People or even Tremeloes in the opener “She Taught Me To Love” which crystalises into the spiritual “Saint Bartholomew”.
Lewis was the songwriter extraordinaire having written the award winning film War and songs as varied as “Happy To Be An Island In The Sun”, #1 for ex Aphrodite Child Demis Roussos. David’s 1969 The Songs Of David Lewis remain a collector’s dream.
by Shiloh Noone
Tracks
1.The Days Grew Longer For Love - 3:55
2.Sunday - 3:13
3.Lost A Number, Found A King - 6:03
4.Man Without A Name - 2:41
5.Clockwork Man - 2:44
6.Cocaine - 4:59
7.Shades Of Grey - 3:36
8.High On A Mountain - 2:31
9.Andwella - 3:15
10.Midday Sun - 3:40
11.Take My Road - 3:22
12.Felix - 4:16
13.Goodbye - 2:17
14.Mrs. Mann - 3:59
15.Mister Sunshine - 3:17
16.Every Little Minute - 3:55
17.Michael FitzHenry - 3:42
18.Take My Road - 3:26
19.Man Without A Name - 2:38
20.Paradise Isle - 3:44
21.Miles Away From My Baby - 4:37
All songs by David Lewis
Bonus tracks from 14-21.
Andwella's Dream
*Dave Lewis - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
*Nigel Portman Smith - Bass
*Gordon Barton - Drums with
*Bob Downes - Flute, Percussion, Chinese Bells, Tam Tam
*Wilgar Campbell - Drums
Liverpool's Wimple Winch are best known to obsessive collectors of U.K. freakbeat for a handful of rare but potent singles, such as the malevolent "Save My Soul and "Rumble on Mersey Square South," a mini-rock opera that feels like a more compact contemporary to the Who's "A Quick One While He's Away."
But Tales from the Sinking Ship, which collects Wimple Winch's singles for Fontana along with recordings that came from earlier and later incarnations of the band serves best as an object lesson in how radically the British music scene would change between 1964 and 1968. The set opens with a dozen sides recorded when
Dee Christopholus (vocals and guitar), John Kelman (lead guitar), and Larry King (aka Lawrence Arendes, drums) were members of the beat combo the Four Just Men (who briefly became the Just Four Men), who start out playing pleasant but unremarkable instrumentals not unlike what the Shadows were doing and eventually moved on to pop vocal sides that make them sound like competent but unremarkable also-rans on the Merseybeat scene.
They improved as they went along, and the last of the Four Just Men sides here are the best, the moody but dramatic "In the Shelter of Your Arms" and a solid cover of the Bacharach/David classic "Trains and Boats and Planes." However, when bassist Stuart Sirrett left at the end of 1965 and Barry Ashall took over in early 1966, something kicked in with this band, which adopted the new name Wimple Winch and embraced a far more aggressive and compelling sound, with a crispness that suggested the mod sound that was coming into vogue, along with shades of psychedelia creeping into "Atmospheres" and a dash of Ray Davies-style wit informing "Typical British Workmanship."
None of the Wimple Winch singles were hits, and this collection closes out with eight demos that confirm the group was continuing to evolve and innovate even after it was dropped by Fontana, with the psychedelic influences moving comfortably to the forefront and pop-minded pastoral accents coloring the melodies.
Phil Smee's richly detailed liner notes tell more about Wimple Winch's story than most fans will ever need to know, and a family tree makes it easy to follow the many personnel shifts in the group; this is fascinating stuff for those enamored of the point where beat music fell under the lysergic influence, and reveals just how weird a seemingly ordinary, clean-cut band could get during the first era of acid.
by Mark Deming
Tracks
1. Ad-Ventures (Theme From Friday Night) (Unknown) - 1:00
2. Half Past Five (Dee Christopholus, John Kelman) - 1:58
3. Aggravatin' (Unknown) - 2:43
4. Colours (Unknown) - 2:38
5. Four Just Men Theme (Aka Laura Norder) (Unknown) - 2:16
6. Sorry Girl (Unknown) - 2:23
7. Don't Come Any Closer (Demo Version) (Dee Christopholus) - 2:17
8. I Just Can't Make Up My Mind (Dee Christopholus, John Kelman, Larry King, Pete Turner) - 1:45
9. Woman Needs A Man (Dee Christopholus, John Kelman, Larry King, Pete Turner) - 2:04
10.I Still Care (Unknown) - 2:06
11.Thinking About Your Love (Dee Christopholus, John Kelman, Larry King, Pete Turner) - 2:24
12.Tomorrow (Dee Christopholus, John Kelman, Larry King, Pete Turner) - 2:45
13.In The Shelter Of You Arms (Jerry Samuels) - 2:32
14.Trains And Boats And Planes (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) - 2:25
15.What's Been Done (Barrie Ashall, Dee Christopholus, John Kelman, Larry King) - 2:44
16.I Really Love You (Lawrence Arends, Dee Christopholus) - 3:41
17.Save My Soul (Dee Christopholus) - 3:06
18.Everybody's Worried 'Bout Tomorrow (Ashall, Christopher, Kelman) - 2:34
19.Rumble On Mersey Square South (Dee Christopholus) - 4:31
20.Atmospheres (Dee Christopholus) - 4:27
21.Typical British Workmanship (Barrie Ashall, Dee Christopholus, John Kelman, Larry King) - 2:59
22.Bluebell Wood (Demo Version) (Dee Christopholus) - 3:32
23.Lollipop Minds (Dee Christopholus) - 3:10
24.Marmalade Hair (Dee Christopholus) - 3:00
25.Coloured Glass (Barrie Ashall, Dee Christopholus, John Kelman, Larry King) - 2:17
26.Those Who Wait (Barrie Ashall, Dee Christopholus, John Kelman, Larry King) - 2:29
27.Three Little Teddy Bears (Barrie Ashall, Dee Christopholus, John Kelman, Larry King) - 2:45
28.Sagittarius (Dee Christopholus) - 2:47
29.The Last Hooray (Barrie Ashall, Dee Christopholus, John Kelman, Larry King) - 3:18
Tracks 1-14 performed as Four Just Men
Funkadelic, arguably the greatest "black rock" band ever...Actually, strike that, they are far and away the best black rock band ever. In fact, screw everything, they're one of the greatest rock bands period, up there with any classic rock dinosaur you care to name. And though it's tempting to launch an essay on the racism of rock radio-- or rock journalism for that matter-- I'll stick to the band. Even as they're revered as legends and purveyors of the some of the best funk of the 70s, I've read relatively few accounts on their greatness as a pure rock band. But they had it all: great players, great singers, a great look, a great concept, actual hits, great albums, great drugs, freaky sex, disputes over money-- everything Led Zeppelin (or Spinal Tap) taught us was necessary to make the world's greatest rock music.
They started small, backing up ringleader George Clinton's Parliaments in the late 60s. When Clinton got into arguments with his label Revilot over money and rights, he decided to start recording his backup band instead, using the original Parliaments singers (Clinton, Ray Davis, Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins-- and come on, dude's name is "Fuzzy"-- Calvin Simon and Grady Thomas) as "guests." Guitarists Eddie Hazel and Tawl Ross, bassist Billy Nelson, drummer Tiki Fulwood, and eventually, master keyboardist Bernie Worrell were the band that would turn this fairly traditional soul group into the intense live act that wowed Detroit's Westbound Records head Armen Boladian. He signed them, and from the get-go, their music cut through genres and money bullshit like neither had ever existed. Never mind that half the band quit and came back again during recording sessions for their first record, Funkadelic was destined for greatness. Ace's reissues of the band's Westbound catalog is long overdue-- they sound a world better than the terribly mastered original CD pressings, and contain a wealth of bonus tracks, alternate mixes, and liner notes.
Funkadelic from 1970 was a bomb dropped all over rock and soul. No matter Hendrix, no matter James Brown, no matter the MC5, nobody had ever heard anything like this. This music was slower than sludge, dirtier than the "raw funk" Herb "Sparky" Sparkman talks about in "Music For My Mother". It was a great big fucking mess, and a lot of people didn't know what to make of it. I remember reading a Rolling Stone review from the time that ended with "who needs this shit?" and a writer from the Blues & Soul 'zine from a year later admitted, "Funkadelic has never been one of my favorite R&B; acts". Still, the record sold (peaking at #16 on the Soul LPs chart), and planted the seed of a cult worship that would balloon in the latter half of the decade, making the P-Funk enterprise the most successful soul act on the planet.
"Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?" started out with the sound of Clinton's wet mouth and the best ever opening line for an album: "If you will suck my soul, I will lick your funky emotions." When the beat hits with Hazel's guitar line, there can be no doubt that Funkadelic were without peer as far as this stuff was concerned. This stuff-- hell, tunes like "Mommy" and "Good Old Music" are slams to the gut as powerful as anything Zep ever did, and with beats to spare. "Music For My Mother" is like a Southern myth, detailing a loner's travels through "Keep Runnin' Mississippi", hearing music he thought long dead, yet getting trapped by its sticky black allure. "What Is Soul?" drops more classic lines ("soul is a hamhock in your cornflakes," "Soul is chitlins foo young," "soul is a joint rolled in toilet paper") in seven minutes than most bands muster up in a career. Bonus tracks like the tight instrumental "As Good As I Can Feel" and several single versions of album cuts make this album one of the most indispensable of all indispensable Funkadelic records.
by Dominique Leone
Tracks 1. Mommy, What's a Funkadelic? (George Clinton) - 9:04 2. I Bet You (George Clinton, Patrick Lindsey, Sidney Barnes) - 6:10 3. Music for My Mother (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Billy Nelson) - 5:37 4. I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing (Clarence Haskins) - 3:52 5. Good Old Music (George Clinton) - 7:59 6. Qualify and Satisfy (George Clinton, Billy Nelson, Eddie Hazel) - 6:15 7. What Is Soul (George Clinton) - 7:40 8. Can't Shake It Loose (George Clinton, Sidney Barnes, Joanne Jackson, Rose Marie McCoy) - 2:28 9. I Bet You (George Clinton, Patrick Lindsey, Sidney Barnes) - 4:10 10.Music for My Mother (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Billy Nelson) - 5:17 11.As Good as I Can Feel (George Clinton, Clarence Haskins) - 2:31 12.Open Our Eyes (Leon Lumpkins) - 3:58 13.Qualify and Satisfy (George Clinton, Billy Nelson, Eddie Hazel) - 3:00 14.Music for My Mother (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Billy Nelson) - 6:14
Bonus Tracks 8-14
Musicians
*George Clinton - Vocals
*Eddie Hazel - Lead Guitar, Vocals (Tracks 1,9)
*Lucius "Tawl" Ross - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals (Tracks 3,10)
*Ray Monette - Guitar (Track 4)
*Billy "Bass" Nelson - Bass (Track 1), Vocals (Tracks 3,4,10)
*Bob Babbitt - Bass (Track 9)
*Mickey Atkins - Organ (Track 1)
*Bernie Worrell - Organ (Track )
*Earl Van Dyke - Keyboards (Track 9)
*Ramon "Tiki" Fulwood - Drums (Tracks 1,4,9,6,13)
*Brad Innis - Drums (Tracks 3,10)
*Gasper Lawal - Conga (Tracks 3,10)
*Herb Sparkman - Lead Vocals (Tracks 3,10)
*Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins - Lead Vocals (Track 4)
*Calvin Simon - Lead Vocals (Tracks 6,13)
*Ray Davis, Grady Thomas and some unknown Female Vocalists - Additional Vocals
