Skin Alley - Skin Tight (1973 uk, fine classic rock)

After a live gig and a TV show in Memphis, we were introduced to Don Nix who had just been doing work at Muscle Shoals and with the Joe Cocker entourage.  He was keen to produce our next album and agreed to come to England to do this.  Hence the misinformation that we were an anglo-american band, no we were not, if anything, we were an anglo-polish band!

The resultant album was "Skin Tight" which was recorded at Chipping Norton and was done in a direct almost live-recording style, at that time unusual in England. Musically it was close to the work of many of the American bands we admired and certainly a hemisphere away from our first albumalbum.

After the release of this album we were forced to face the reality that there would be no money coming from our record deal and the live gig scene was going the David Bowie, Mott the Hoople and Marmalade way, so, reluctantly, we disbanded.

by Krzysztof Juszkiewicz

Tracks
1. If I Only Had The Time (Bob James) - 3:50
2. At A Quarter To One (Bob James) - 3:51
3. How Long (Nick Graham) - 3:28
4. Surprise Awakening (Nick Graham) - 4:14
5. Broken Eggs (James, Juszkiewicz, Knight) - 4:05
6. Maverick Woman Blues (Don Nix) - 3:55
7. The Heap Turns Human (Nick Graham) - 3:50
8. What Good Does It Do? (Bob James) - 5:02
9. Mr Heavy (Bob James) - 3:28
10.Instermental (Nick Graham) - 3:41

Skin Alley
*Bob James - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Lead Vocals
*Nick Graham - Bass, Vocals
*Tony Knight - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
*Krzysztof Juszkiewicz - Piano, Organ, Vocals
Additional Musicians
*Dave Coxhill - Baritone Saxophone
*Phil Kenzie - Tenor Saxophone
*Geoff Driscoll - Tenor Saxophone
*Martin Drover - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
*Bud Parkes - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
*The  Lounge Lizards - Brass

1970  Big Brother Is Watching You

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Tramline - Somewhere Down the Line (1968 uk, power blues rock, 2008 remaster)

Somewhere Down The Line' is the first of two albums by a group that was a contemporary of fellow Island Records' signing Free and created a similarly, powerful blues sound. Micky looks back on his early adventures with Tramline in an exclusive new interview with Repertoire’s Chris Welch for the informative liner notes: 'On the blues tunes we sounded like 60-year-old black guys from the Mississippi, which is odd when you’re only 17 and from North Yorkshire!'

Signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records (A&M acquiring US distribution rights), Tramline featured the talents of singer John McCoy, lead guitarist Mick Moody, drummer Terry Popple and bassist Terry Sidgwick. Produced by Blackwell, 1968's "Somewhere Down the Track" showcased the band's intense commitment blues genre. The only non-blues selection was a strange cover of Stephen Stills 'Rock and Roll Woman'.

Still in his teens, Moody was certainly a talented slide guitar player though the band's full hearted devotion to the blues didn't exactly give him a platform to showcase those talents. Similarly, as lead vocalist/harmonica player McCoy was a decent, if somewhat anonymous performer.

by Adamus67

Tracks
1. Harpoon Man (McCoy, Atanbridge, Butler, Wilburn) - 4:05
2. National Blues (Moody, Thomas) - 3:25
3. Sorry Sorry (Moody, McCoy, Sidgwick, Popple) - 9:00
4. Look Over Yonder Wall (Moody, McCoy, Sidgwick, Popple) - 4:39
5. Rock And Roll Woman (Stills) - 4:01
6. Somewhere Down The Line (Taylor) - 3:35
7. Mazurka (Popple, Sidgwick, Moody) - 2:45
8. Statesborough Blues (Taj Mahal) - 3:36
9. Killing Floor (Burnett) - 4:50

Tramline
*John McCoy - Harmonica, Vocals
*Micky Moody - Guitar
*Terry Popple - Drums
*Terry Sidgwick - Bass, Vocals

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