Ι've seen this obscurity listed under the name 'Thunderfoot' with the album entitled "Joy", but it's actually the other way around. There's also at least one on line reference that has these guys peed as playing jazz! Regardless, this early 1970s five piece is pretty obscure. I've looked through various references, but there simply isn't much information to be found on them. Based on the fact their album was recorded in Shreveport, Louisiana I'm guessing they were from the area, but who really knows.
With a line up consisting of drummer Ralph DeSimone, lead guitarist Bob Di Piero, bass player Don Di Piero, singer Billy Joe Shina and keyboardist Ralph Vitello, the group was signed by the Louisiana based Paula label, debuting with the single 'Get Outta My Mind' b/w 'Your Mama'.
Self-produced, 1970's "Thunderfoot" is interesting for a couple of reasons, least of all that fact it's unlike anything else I've heard on Paula Records. While most Paula associated acts I've heard sport a pop or blue-eyed soul sound (John Fred, The Uniques), Joy are out and out rockers. Featuring all original material, tracks such as 'Cross Country Woman', 'Things Are Gonna Be Alright' and the three section suite 'Hasufel' offered up a mix of hard rock and progressive moves.
Shina had a nice voice and the band's guitar and keyboard attack generated more than its share of successes. Highlights included the opener 'Mother Nature', 'Cross Countty Woman' and 'Brothers'. On the down side, nothing here really jumped out at you and after awhile it all began to blend together.
At least two of the members seem to have stayed in music. Bob Di Piero's a well known country songwriter and was a member of the short lived country band Billy Hill. Vitello became a sessions player working with the likes of Nanci Griffith. He's also done production work.
Probably from New York, this short-lived outfit named Julius Victor, release their sole album "From The Nest" in 1970. Hard-rock/psychedelic elements, recorded at the famous Record Plant Studios and produced by jazz musician Ahmad Jamal. Organ-dominated, hard-progressive sound with powerful and soulful vocals, hot lead guitar and atmospheric, swirling Hammond. Next to Child, Valhalla, Atomic Rooster, Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly, H.P. Lovecraft, Day Blindness, Arthur Brown. Superb cover artwork.
Tracks
1. Stubborn Kind Of Woman - 3:39
2. Legend Of The Indian Boy (Kimball Lee, Lawrence Engstrom) - 4:57
3. Black Knife - 3:55
4. Circus Lady - 4:49
5. Break Song - 1:24
6. Judiann (Kimball Lee, Lawrence Engstrom) - 2:59
7. Fall Of Days - 12:44
8. Slide Rule - 3:37
All compositions by Lawrence Engstrom except where noted
Beautiful and well-produced chamber/psych folk lp from Nashville. The music is soft and often melancholic, especially when driven by the small string section. The result is less psychedelic than the liner notes and the laconic and direct Hoover talking would suggest at first.
The LP is one of the few produced by Chuck Glaser from the band Tompall Glaser & The Glaser Brothers. Also worth mentioning the album front cover and his photographer, Bill Grine, who took many iconic cover photos for artists such as Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Waylon Jennings…
“Willis Hoover was born in Jackson County, Missouri and raised in Lamoni, Iowa and Shenandoah, Iowa. After starting out as a coffeehouse folk singer as a teenager, Hoover moved to Nashville in the 1960s and became a songwriter. Later he became a recording artist for Monument Records, Epic Records, and Elektra Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s.”
by Witanfols, November 23, 2017
Tracks
1. I'll Say My Words - 4:34
2. Leave That For Memories - 3:11
3. Kommst Du Doch Mit Mir (Come With Me) - 2:55
4. That's How A Woman's S'Posed To Be - 2:59
5. Free To Run Free - 3:42
6. All That Keeps Ya Going - 2:25
7. I'm Not That Kind Of Man - 3:13
8. One Man's Family - 2:06
9. Games - 3:04
10.Theme From "Tick Tick Tick" (Set Yourself Free) - 6:40
Wailers "Outburst" 1966 album for United Artists. By this time in the band's history, they had honed themselves into a tough-as-nails combo, more than capable of slugging it out toe to toe with any British beat group. Tracks like the opener "You Won't Lead Me On," "I Want to Walk With You," and "Out of Our Tree" show a band with an ability to update their sound and still have some guts in the process. Even though it's toward the end of the reign, here's another important chapter in the band's history worth picking up.
by Cub Koda
Tracks
1. You Won't Lead Me On - 2:23
2. I Want To Walk With You - 2:35
3. Think Kindly Baby - 2:55
4. Out Of Our Tree (Buck Ormsby, Kent Morrill, Ron Gardner) - 3:30
5. It's You Alone - 2:41
6. Bad Trip - 2:26
7. Hold - 2:30
8. My Girl - 2:36
9. Turn And Run (Kent Morrill, Ron Gardner) - 2:13
10.Sit In My Room - 2:32
11.Tears Don't Have To Fall - 2:50
12.I'm Looking Down At You - 1:55
All songs by R. Wayne Davies except where indicated
Somewhat confusingly the third album ‘Lifeblood’ included a song called ‘You Can’t Beat Your Brain For Entertainment.’ Says Elmer: “It was contractual obligations stuff. I just didn’t want to be there anymore. It was kind of sad, because it was a good band.”
Says Kirby: “We had initial success but there was a limit on how far we could go without anymore. ‘Can’t Beat Your Brain’ and ‘Lifeblood’ were not successful albums and when Punk came in there was no place for a band like Stretch.”
Tracks
1. End Up Crying (Kirby Gregory) - 4:02
2. Knives In Their Backs (Kirby Gregory) - 3:55
3. Rock 'n' Roll Hoochie-Coo (Rick Derringer) - 3:08
4. Right Or Wrong (Kirby Gregory) - 4:04
5. Show Biz Blues (Peter Green) - 5:33
6. You Can't Beat Your Brain For Entertainment (Elmer Gantry) - 3:09
7. Jonah And The Whale (Kirby Gregory) - 4:48
8. Living On The Highway (Don Nix, Leon Russell) - 3:07
9. Take You Down (Kirby Gregory) - 4:00
10.Let's Spend The Night Together (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 5:56
This was the second (and final) album recorded by the US singer songwriter who spent the sixties based in London, it's comparable to someDonovan, although slightly more psychedelic, with eerie effects and a ghostly other-wordly feel. Also includes contributions from fellow psychedelic traveller Tim Hollier with Fairport Convention's Dave Pegg on bass duties.
Tracks
1. Evolution (Amory Kane, Rick Cuff) - 6:48
2. Llanstephan Hill (Amory Kane, Rick Cuff, Tim Hollier) - 4:18
3. Four Ravens (Amory Kane) - 4:10
4. Golden Laces (Amory Kane, Rick Cuff) - 7:57
5. Get Together (Dino Valente) - 4:41
6. After Vytas Leaves (Amory Kane, Larsen, Phillippet) - 3:15
In the late 1960s, Elektra Records was rapidly expanding from its folk base into folk-rock, psychedelia, pop, and combinations thereof all at once. As exciting a time as it was for the label, almost inevitably, some artists in its cluster of new signings got somewhat lost in the shuffle. Few of its albums from the time are as obscure as the sole LP by Diane Hildebrand, Early Morning Blues and Greens. A low-key cross between folk-rock, pop, and the emerging singer-songwriter movement, it made little impact upon its release. Hildebrand remains most known not for this album, but for the material she wrote in the same era for the Monkees, who covered the title song of the LP.
Prior to recording the album, Hildebrand had been working as a staff writer at Screen Gems Music Publishing. Screen Gems supplied much of the material covered by the Monkees, generating songs from composing teams like Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and Carole King and Gerry Goffin. Another Brill Building veteran at Screen Gems was Jack Keller, co-writer (with Howard Greenfield) of Connie Francis's huge 1960 hits "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own," Jimmy Clanton's "Venus in Blue Jeans," and the themes for the television series Bewitched, Gidget, and Hazel. Keller was involved with the Monkees virtually from the group's inception, co-producing several songs on their debut album.
For their follow-up LP More of the Monkees, Keller teamed up with Hildebrand to write "Your Auntie Grizelda," and the pair also penned "Early Morning Blues and Greens" for the third Monkees LP, 1967's Headquarters. Outside of the Monkees' orbit, Hildebrand and Keller were responsible for the theme to The Flying Nun; working independently of Keller, Diane contributed lyrics to the Monkees' collective group composition "Goin' Down," which originated as a studio jam and (as the B-side of their chart-topping "Daydream Believer") would become one of their hardest-rocking and best recordings. Though she was just one of numerous names on Monkees songwriting credits, such was the group's fame in 1967 and 1968 that she didn't escape attention from the band's more devoted fans. "Diane was always getting calls from Monkees fans who wanted to know all about Peter [Tork] or Micky [Dolenz]," says Colin Cameron, Hildebrand's boyfriend of the time. "I really learned the value of an unlisted phone number!"
On bass, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar (as well as the co-writer of one track), Cameron was also an important contributor to the Early Blues and Greens album, which showed a fuller and more serious side of Hildebrand than the Monkees' interpretations of her compositions had. Cameron had met Hildebrand while working as a session musician on Screen Gems demos, and the two were soon living together in the heavily musician-artist-populated Beechwood Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles. Early Blues and Greens came about when Diane got a one-album deal for an LP of her own on Elektra, to be co-produced by David Anderle (who was producing fellow notable Elektra singer-songwriters Judy Collins and David Ackles in the same era) and Russ Miller. Cameron's friendship with Anderle, in fact, led to work for the musician as a bassist on Collins's "Chelsea Morning" single and Scott McKenzie's Stained Glass Morning album.
"The choice of musicians for the sessions was Diane's," remembers Cameron. "I was doing demo sessions for Screen Gems writers, Diane among them, as well as other recording projects; my reputation as a session musician was on the rise; and Diane and I were a couple at the time, so it seemed logical" for him to play on the LP as well. Colin was already well acquainted with one of the other musicians, Tony McCashen (who contributed electric guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo, bass, and harmonica), as they'd been friends in San Diego before relocating to Los Angeles. In fact McCashen and another San Diego buddy, Don Dunn, were also Screen Gems staff writers.
As for the other musicians, adds Cameron, "Tony, me, Russ [Russell White, piano and harpsichord], Mac [Malcolm Eisensohn, drums], and a young gangly lead guitarist who later became quite famous had an eclectic little band known as Mobius which played various venues in Southern California. The guitarist was Kenny Loggins. We weren't able to use Kenny on the sessions (I'm not sure why), but Diane invited the rest of us to take part in the recordings. We were all very good friends at the time. Later on when Tony and Don got their own contract to record for Capitol Records, I offered to back them up just as a sideman so that I could continue to pursue my session man ambitions. The band, Dunn & McCashen, put out two albums, some of which I played on, and we were the opening act for Sly & the Family Stone and the Rascals at various major concerts."
Another sideman of note on Early Morning Blues and Greens was autoharpist David Dawson from the early country-rock group Hearts & Flowers, several of whose members Cameron jammed with around this period. Organist Fred Myrow also handled the horn arrangements (and arranged and conducted the second album by David Ackles, Subway to the Country, around the same time). Myrow had been a composer-in-residence under Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic, but by the late 1960s was scoring an experimental movie for former UCLA film student-turned-rock-star Jim Morrison, Highway. Myrow would go on to discuss a creating a musical with Morrison, with Myrow doing the music and Morrison the text and lyrics, although those plans were scrapped after the Doors' singer's death in 1971. Fred subsequently scored several movies, most famously Phantasm, before dying in 1999.
While Hildebrand wrote about half of the material on Early Morning Blues and Greens on her own, she also continued to work with songwriting partners. The title track was a reprise of the song she'd composed with Jack Keller for the Monkees, of course, and Keller was also the co-writer on another of the LP's tracks, "Come Looking for Me." Jim Horn, who'd played saxophone on some Monkees records, co-penned "Thumbin'," and Don Lottermoser got the co-credit for "And It Was Good." The album closer, "Given Time," was the only songwriting collaboration between Hildebrand and Cameron.
"We were a couple and I think Diane wanted to involve me as much as possible in her life and work," reflects Colin. "It was the only song I ever completed with her. I've written only a handful of published songs since then, and don't regard myself as a songwriter. Truthfully, when Diane asked me if I'd like to write with her she chose a song that was probably 50% complete, and my contribution was just a few words and notes here and there. We played our two guitars in the living room of our cottage home in Beechwood Canyon one afternoon and finished the song pretty much that day. She was very generous to offer me co-writer credit. I will say this about her— she wrote from the heart and with a clarity that I don't see in many other writers to this day." Plus, Cameron adds, "Just like she did with the musicians, Diane chose the songs that she liked for the recordings. As far as I know, she had free rein in artistic choices like this when it came to the album."
Surveying the LP as a whole, Colin muses, "I don't believe that Diane ever made a conscious attempt to be a part of any songwriter or musical movement. She was a thoroughly liberated and independent person who could write songs on assignment for projects given her, or write just for her own pleasure. I think the album was more of the personal pleasure sort. I know she admired other singer/writers like Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell, but I never saw her attempt to emulate their style or sound. The greatest possible weakness might be that the recordings were not geared to be 'commercial' or fit a particular radio format, and radio programmers probably had a difficult time deciding where it fit in (if at all). The great strength was, as I mentioned, the honesty and purity of her songs, and also of her voice and the band's performance."
Early Morning Blues and Greens, however, did not find a wide audience, perhaps because it was neither too "underground" nor too pop. It wasn't heavily promoted by either the label or the artist, either. "Our collaboration with several friends resulted in a pleasant 'folkie' record that was probably bought mostly by family, friends, and Monkees fans," summarizes Cameron. "I don't believe much was done to promote her album. Actually, Elektra had a pretty big roster at the time—many of their artists were commercial successes and probably got the big push from the company, but there were other lesser-knowns whose records were mostly relegated to low visibility catalog and word-of-mouth promotion. Diane didn't seem to have aspirations to do concerts or clubs, at least not in the time I knew her. As time has proven, maintaining a high visibility with the public through live performances can sustain and build a music career."
Cameron went on to tour and record with dozens of notable artists, his lengthy career including work with Burt Bacharach, Joan Baez, Cher, Jackie DeShannon, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Charlie Rich, the Righteous Brothers, Tina Turner, and many others (for more information on his past and present activities, see his website, www.colincameronbass.com). Hildebrand did not record another LP for Elektra or anyone else, though she did have a big success with another Hildebrand-Keller composition, "Easy Come, Easy Go," which was a Top Ten hit for Bobby Sherman in 1970. "I can't honestly say for sure why there were no other albums forthcoming," observes Cameron. "Whatever she's doing now, I would expect her to be involved with the same warmth, kindness, and concern for others that I saw in the time I knew her."
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Jan's Blues - 2:56
2. Thumbin' (Diane Hildebrand, Jim Horn) - 2:22
3. From Rea Who Died Last Summer - 2:14
4. There's A Coming Together - 2:43
5. And It Was Good (Dan Lottermoser, Diane Hildebrand) - 3:01
6. Gideon - 1:56
7. Early Morning Blues And Greens (Diane Hildebrand, Jack Keller) - 3:10
8. The Reincarnation Of Emmalina Stearns - 3:21
9. You Wonder Why You're Lonely - 3:51
10.Come Looking For Me (Diane Hildebrand, Jack Keller) - 2:10
11.Given Time (Colin Cameron, Diane Hildebrand) - 3:17
All Music and Lyrics by Diane Hildebrand except where indicated
New York's songwriter Chip Taylor began recording melodic rock tunes under his real name, Wes Voight, brother of actor Jon Voight, uncle of Angelina Jolie and composer of the 1960s Troggs classic “ Wild Thing”. Adopting his new name, Chip Taylor turned to ballads such as Here I Am - 1961. He then recorded an album with Al Gorgoni, credited to Just Us, I Can't Grow Peaches On A Cheery Tree - 1965, and two albums with Al Gorgoni and Trade Martin, Gorgoni, Martin & Taylor - 1971 and Gotta Get Back to Cisco - 1972.
The debut LP by Chip Taylor, is an album with pop, folk rock and country influences, was originally released on Buddah Records and featured collaborations with guitarist John Platania - a collaborator with Van Morrison ), bassist John "Skinny" Regan and drummer Billy Carruthers. It opens with the single “Londonderry Company”, an acoustic American -style ballad with strings and flute sounds set in a city - Londonderry) in Northern Ireland.
Tracks
1. Londonderry Company - 3:30
2. Angel Of The Morning - 4:14
3. Home Again (Carole King) - 2:55
4. Lady Lisa - 3:05
5. Oh My Marie - 4:02
6. Gasoline - 2:15
7. Lightning (Don't Stay Mad With Me) - 3:39
8. Dirty Matthew - 3:09
9. You Didn't Get Here Last Night - 3:35
10.Swear To God, Your Honor (Chip Taylor, Al Gorgoni) - 4:32
The Colwell-Winfield Blues Band. A nice enough, nondescript name for what would seem to be a nice enough nondescript white blues band, a somewhat fashionable commodity these days. But here is where the listener is suddenly surprised, for, as was evidenced at the Supermarket this weekend, the band comes complete with a pair of saxophone players.
Until the group gets warmed up to the prospect of playing as a group they manage to maintain the audience's interest with a succession of very well done sax solos, done in the jazz vein. The combination of an electric rock-blues band and pair of jazz saxophonists' is extremely well-blended, creating a feeling not of a rock group attempting a jazz piece, but the impression that these guys really were jazz musicians disappointed with the undefined ramblings of the 'new Jazz' musicians and searching for a new outlet, in rock. The influence upon them is obviously Coltrane and Coleman, yet there is occasionally soft and gentle (Shorter)? influence for balance. It's very gratifying to know that there is a group associated with the rock legions that uses a saxophone for what it is, not a member of the 'sock-it-to-me' rhythm section, but a solo lead instrument.
As a blues band, Colwell-Winfield is a fine representation of the musicl works of BB. King, Muddy Waters, Skip James et.al. both in presentation and style, but that is not enough. The problem involved with being a good blues band is one of identity. Too many good blues bands exist today, not enough groups have something else. For this reason (their ability to combine horns with a basic heavy blues background) Colwell-Winfield should be heard. Easily the most impressive number of the night was their overwhelming handling of "Dead End Street" a sometimes slow, sometimes rapid creative structure of sounds.
Starting like another of their saxophone based jazz-influenced numbers the song proceeded to catch everyone up in its magnitude. In much the same manner that the Cream has been known to play, i.e. a desire by each individual to outdo the next, the song soared through guitar solos, sax solos, electric piano phrasings, electric bass, horns, and drum breaks in continuing excellence. And amazingly enough they accomplished it all while remaining together as a unified whole, to the delight of the audience, which finished the twenty minute outburst on its feet applauding and cheering, the group seemed unable or, more likely unwilling to quit. This group should make it very big, very soon. If you can't hear them live (by far the best way) get their 'Cold Wind' album. It is a better than average studio production of an often times inspiring group…why couldn't this have been the 'Boston Sound'?
by Randy Hawthorne
Tracks
1. Free Will Fantasy (Mike Winfield) - 4:18
2. Mind To Give Up Living (Got A Mind) (Bill Colwell) - 6:49
3. Dead End Street (Ben Raleigh) - 7:54
4. Cold Wind Blues (Bill Colwell, Bruce Sweeney, Charles "Moose" Sorrento) - 4:45
5. Whole Lot Of Lovin' (Joe Josea, Maxwell Davis) - 3:33
6. Going Down Slow (St. Louis Jimmy) - 4:40
7. Govinda (Collin Tilton) - 6:00
8. Wind Is Singing (Bill Colwell) - 4:10
9. Cold Wind Blues (Version 2) (Bill Colwell, Bruce Sweeney, Charles "Moose" Sorrento) - 4:00
10.Whole Lot Of Lovin' (Version 2) (Joe Josea, Maxwell Davis) - 3:49
Recorded live and released by Deroy record label in a pressing of 100 copies (of which apparently only two are now said to exist) in 1972, this self-titled work is the sole album of UK psychedelic prog jazz rockers Motiffe. Revolving around brothers John and Mark Pasterfield, the group’s personnel changed a fair bit during its short life and by the time the album was released, the band had already broken up and the various members had gone their separate ways to find fame and fortune. The most outstanding ex-member was guitarist John Grimaldi who formed Flux and various other bands playing jazz rock, and wrote and played music until his early death from multiple sclerosis at age 28 years in 1983.
There are five tracks of mostly instrumental music featuring guitar, piano, saxophone, drums and flute, starting with the shortest, most structured and pop-friendly pieces “Grotesque Piece” and “Analogy”, where the melodies are most clear and listeners can even predict what’s going to happen over the next ten seconds, to longer, more meandering and less structured tracks. While the music is energetic and even soulful at times, the long tracks do suffer from a lot of self-indulgent guitar and any interaction from guitar and saxophone, or from guitar and flute, or even from flute and saxophone, tends to be more meandering and less spitfire competitive. The home-studio production quality level perhaps blunts the sound so that it is less sharp and vibrant than it should be, and there are long passages where the music seems flat due to the poor quality sound. On the upside, the production quality adds a dark, forlorn mood to the music, especially in the last few moments of “Life Reciprocal” where the sax-dominated music with the meandering bass acquires a smoky flavour.
Virtuoso guitar playing is highlighted across all tracks, the long loose ones like “To George” and “Mind & Body” in particular. There’s less flute and saxophone than I would have expected on a prog jazz rock album like one – I’d have thought the sax would be the lead instrument right across one track. The music on the vocal parts on “Mind & Body” has a slight energetic Latino feel – this is where the production quality really lets down the track, the energy and zest and the hard edge of the music being less than what they should be.
Even though there’s considerable filler here, Motiffe’s one and only album makes for quite good listening. If you happen to be in the mood for some (perhaps unintentionally) slightly dark progressive jazz rock.
The Sound Projector
Tracks
1. Grotesque Piece (Mike Avery) - 5:13
2. Analogy - 6:16
3. Life Reciprocal - 10:34
4. To George - 8:26
5. Mind And Body - 15:24
All compositions by John Grimaldi except where indicated
The bare facts about the California-based band People! are known to every long-time follower of Christian rock as the '60s band that launched the music career of The Father Of Christian Rock, Larry Norman.
People! were signed to Hollywood's Capitol Records (the label that made countless millions with the Beatles and repeated the trick with The Beach Boys) in 1966. After two unsuccessful singles, the band, consisting of singers Larry Norman and Gene Mason, along with guitarist and founder Geoff Levin, his brother Robb Levin on bass, Albert Ribisi on organ and Denny Fridkin on drums, had a hit with the single "I Love You" - a cover of a flipside by Britain's The Zombies. The single made number 14 in the US charts and went on to become a number one hit in Japan, Italy and Israel, with People! going on to play gigs alongside the top names in rock and pop. But People!'s debut album didn't sell. And there were no more hits for the band, who parted company with Larry shortly after most of the band embraced the Scientology cult.
by Tony Cummings
Tracks
1. 1000 Years B.C. (Larry Norman, Robb Levin) - 3:05
2. Nothing Can Stop The Elephants (Albert Ribisi, Denny Fridkin) - 2:59
3. Ashes Of Me (Albert Ribisi) - 3:18
4. Crying Shoes (Denny Fridkin) - 2:43
5. I Love You (Chris White) - 4:32
6. What We Need Is A Lot More Jesus (And A Lot Less Rock 'n' Roll) (Wayne Raney) - 2:02
As Glenn A. Baker put it, Doug Parkinson (b. 1949) is recognised as one of the great, distinctive Australian voices and one of the country's most respected musical mainstays. Indeed, Parkinson conveyed considerable charisma with his imposing presence, `Lucifer' beard and gruff, raspy voice. He also surrounded himself with mature, seasoned musicians who added to his appeal. Yet between 1966 and 1997, Parkinson only scored six hit singles.
Parkinson's first amateur band was Strings and Things, which he formed in 1965 while still at high school. By the end of the year, the band had evolved into amateur folk group The `A' Sound. The line-up comprised Parkinson, David Lee (guitar), Helen Barnes (bass) and Syd Barnes (drums). Syd (junior) and Helen were the son and daughter of cricketer Syd Barnes. In 1966, The `A' Sound issued one pleasant folk single (in The -Seekers vein) for Festival `Talk About That'/ `Tomorrow I Meet You' before breaking up at the end of that year. Parkinson went on to join The Questions which comprised Duncan McGuire (bass), Billy Green (guitar), Rory Thomas (Hammond organ) and Bill Flemming (drums; ex- Midnighters, Roland Storm and the Statesmen, Max Merritt and the Meteors). McGuire had started out in the late 1950s in The Phantoms before joining Roland Storm and the Statesmen in 1963.
McGuire first teamed up with Green in instrumental band The Epics during 1964. Peter Maxworthy (drums) completed the line-up. As well as backing singer Roland Storm on the single `Zip a Dee Doo Dah'/`Shakin' All Over' and Peter Wright on `I Couldn't Keep Your Heart'/`Once I had Your Love', The Epics recorded two singles for HMV `Caravan'/`Around and About' (September 1964) and `Too Late'/`Please Tell' (June 1965). By the end of 1965, McGuire and Green had moved on to The Questions. The Questions were a musically substantial bunch, but their one album, What is a Question?, and single, `Karelia'/`Wheels' (October 1966), were sub-Herb Alpert pastiches and failed to chart. Parkinson joined in early 1967. With his facility for soul and blues, he immediately lifted The Questions into the premier league of Australian mid-1960s pop alongside the likes of Max -Merritt and the Meteors and The Groop. In July 1967 The Questions were placed second to The Groop in the Hoadley's National Battle of the Sounds final.
The Questions with Parkinson issued three singles that remain minor psychedelic pop classics, `Sally Go Round the Roses'/`Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)' (#14 in Sydney, July 1967), `And Things Unsaid'/`I Can't Hear You' (October) and `Something Wonderful'/`We Got Love' (February 1968), plus the EP `Sally Go Round the Roses' (`Sally Go Round the Roses', `Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)'/`Deep Purple', `How High the Moon') (all on Festival). In January 1968, Ray Burton (guitar; ex-Delltones) and Les Young (bass; ex-Chessmen) replaced Green and McGuire respectively. The new, short-lived Questions line-up toured as support band to the `Big Show' tour of UK visitors The Who, The Small Faces and Paul Jones. By February 1968, The Questions had disbanded; a month later, Parkinson, Green, McGuire, Thomas and newcomer Doug Lavery (drums; ex-Andy James Asylum, Running Jumping Standing Still) relaunched themselves as Doug Parkinson In Focus.
The band swiftly issued the psychedelic-tinged `I Had a Dream'/`Advice' single (May 1968), and then came in third at the 1968 Hoadley's National Battle of the Sounds final (behind The Groove and The Master's Apprentices). Doug Parkinson In Focus Mark I fell apart in August 1968; Thomas joined The Affair and Lavery joined The Valentines. By September 1968, Parkinson had In Focus Mark II on the road with Green, McGuire and Johnny Dick (drums; ex-Max Merritt and the Meteors, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs). Fired by Green, McGuire and Dick's superb musicianship, the new In Focus was perfectly in sync with the tempo of the times. The band became one of the most popular outfits on the Melbourne suburban dance/ inner-city discotheque circuit.
Doug Parkinson In Focus signed a new deal with EMI/Columbia, and the band's version of The Beatles' `Dear Prudence'/`This Must Be the End' (May 1969) shot to #5 on the national chart in June. A month later, the band took out Australia's premier pop prize as first placegetters in the Hoadley's National Battle of the Sounds final. EMI deemed the band's proposed new single, `Today (I Feel No Pain)'/`Theme from Twelfth House', to be non-commercial and withdrew it from release. `Today (I Feel No Pain)' was an inventive slice of psychedelia replete with Green's backwards guitar, and it duly appeared on the rare Doug Parkinson In Focus EP alongside `Dear Prudence' and the band's next single, `Without You'/`Hair'. `Without You' returned the band to #5 on the chart in October. A month later, just as the band was riding the crest of a wave of popularity, Green and McGuire left to form short-lived `supergroup' Rush with Malcolm McGee (vocals; ex-Wild Cherries, Python Lee Jackson, Virgil Brothers), Steve Yates (keyboards) and Kevin Murphy (drums; ex-Wild Cherries).
In December 1969, Parkinson and Dick recruited two guitarists, Englishman Mick Rogers (ex-Procession) and Melbourne legend Les Stacpool (ex-Chessmen, Merv Benton and the Tamlas, Levi Smith's Clefs, Rockwell T. James and the Rhythm Aces, Browns), for a new line-up. With Rush having unceremoniously folded, Green returned to the fold in January 1970 and the reconstituted In Focus line-up appeared at Australia's first rock festival, Pilgrimage for Pop at Ourimbah (NSW). In February, McGuire also returned, and Rogers and Stacpool duly departed. The band issued another excellent slice of psychedelic pop as its next single, `Baby Blue Eyes'/`Then I Run', but it only reached #36 on the national chart during May 1970. In June, guitarist Vince Melouney (ex-Aztecs, Bee Gees) invited Dick and Parkinson to join his new band, Fanny Adams, in the UK. Green and McQuire joined Leo De Castro in King Harvest.
When the ill-fated Fanny Adams fell apart in February 1971, Parkinson recalled Green and McGuire for a new In Focus line-up. McGuire brought in drummer Mark Kennedy (ex-Spectrum, King Harvest), and the band picked up where it had left off the previous August. Fable Records issued a new In Focus single, the adventurous hard rock outing `Purple Curtains'/`Pour Out All You've Got', which had already been in the can for a year and featured the previous line-up. The Fanny Adams break-up meant that Parkinson was unable to record for two years. This effectively hampered In Focus's progress, and in December 1971 McGuire and Kennedy left to join Friends and Green joined Gerry and the Joy Band. Parkinson spent the next two years attempting to get his solo career off the ground. He issued one single in August 1972, `Lonely'/`Taking It Easy'. In March 1973, he appeared in the Australian stage production of The Who's rock opera Tommy alongside Billy Thorpe, Daryl Braithwaite, Colleen Hewett, Broderick Smith, Jim Keays and Keith Moon.
With the help of John Capek (piano; ex-Carson), drummers Graham Morgan, Peter Figures and Russell Dunlop, Tim Partridge (bass), guitarists Kevin Borich, Billy Green, Ross East and Jimmy Doyle, Roger Sellers (percussion), Don Reid (flute, sax) and Terry Hannagan (vocals), Parkinson completed his debut solo album, No Regrets (May 1973). Parkinson also formed Life Organisation to play 1940s-styled big band jazz. The line-up included the likes of Teddy Toi, Graham Morgan, Peter Martin (guitar; ex-SCRA), Warren Ford (guitar, piano), Bill Motzing (trombone, keyboards) and briefly Wendy Saddington (vocals). The Life Organisation single `In the Mood (Forties Style)'/`Beyond the Blue Horizon' (June 1973) reached #36 in Sydney. The second single, `Boogie Woogie'/`Little Brown Jug' (November), was not successful. Life Organisation also backed Parkinson on his second solo single (lifted from No Regrets), `Love Gun'/`Dear Prudence' (April 1973). Parkinson also worked as A&R; manager for WEA during this period.
In 1974, Parkinson contributed vocals to two songs, `Cosmic Flash' and `Do Not Go Gentle' (based on a Dylan Thomas poem, and a song In Focus had also played), on Billy Green's film soundtrack to Sandy Harbutt's cult Oz biker film Stone. Parkinson's 1974 touring band comprised Mick Liber (guitar; ex-Python Lee Jackson), Ray Vanderby (keyboards), Rod Coe (bass) and New Zealander Bruno Lawrence (drums, ex-Max Merritt and the Meteors, BLERTA). Lawrence later earned acclaim as an actor in such films as The Quiet Earth and The Delinquents, plus television series Frontline. Parkinson enjoyed his first solo hit single with a cover of Love Affair's `Everlasting Love'/`All I Need is a Song' (November 1974). The single peaked at #22 in Sydney and #14 in Melbourne during March 1975. He issued two singles in 1975, a cover of Vanda and Young's `Love is Like a Cloudy Day'/`One Track Mind' (May) and `Raised on Rock'/`I'm Gonna Get You' (September), but neither charted. Doug Parkinson passed away suddenly at home, on March 1st,2021,
Based in San Benardino, Califorinia this short lived early 1970s band traced its roots to The Torquays. Under the guidance of record label owner/producer/writer Bill Bellman, The Torquays released a series of five singles during their 1964-1967 lifespan. Though they enjoyed some regional success, The Torquays never broke nationally and by 1968 they were history.
A year later band members Ron Casdin, Eddie Perez, Danny Rentz, and Lance Sanvik reappeared as Travellers Aid. Produced by Bill Bellman (he also wrote, or co-wrote four of the ten songs), 1970's "Corduroy Roads" was originally released on the small Rock label. The first couple of times I listened to this one I couldn't figure out what all the excitement was about. Frequently described as The Torques-go-psychedelic, that tagline was complete misleading. In fact the closest this came to be psychedelic were Casdin's fuzz guitar on 'Makin' Tracks'.
nstead the overall feel was a mixture of bar band and country-rock moves. Coupled with low-fi production and basic songwriting skills, I was thoroughly put off by the results. Why would anyone pay mega dollars for this one? Well I can't answer that, but I'll admit that the album's subsequently grown on me. No way I'd ever shell out the asking price for an original, but for the reissue - sure.
Perez and Sanvik provided a steady and uncomplicated base throughout. Casdin's rough hewn voice wasn't fantastic, but he had a gritty edge that was quite likeable and well suited for the rockers like 'Bad Sign'' and 'Deep Water'. Similarly he wasn't the fanciest lead guitarist you've ever heard, but he made the most of his time, turning in solos that were consistently entertaining, but simple enough that you could probably figure out the patterns. Casdin's solo on 'Moonlight' was a perfect example of his telent and limitations. Casdin's rough hewn voice wasn't fantastic, but he had a gritty edge that was quite likeable and well suited for the rockers like 'Bad Sign'' and 'Deep Water'. Similarly he wasn't the fanciest lead guitarist you've ever heard, but he made the most of his time, turning in solos that were consistently entertaining, but simple enough that you could probably figure out the patterns. Casdin's solo on 'Moonlight' was a perfect example of his telent and limitations.
Bad-Cat
Tracks
1. Slow Freight (Bill Bellman) - 3:58
2. Barefoot Boy (From Bearfoot Creek) (Ron Casdin, Bill Bellman) - 2:34
3. Bad Sign (Lance Sandvik) - 3:24
4. Rock And Roll Is Spoken Here(Lance Sandvik) - 2:45
5. Makin' Tracks (Bill Bellman) - 2:45
6. Electric Blues (Gerome Ragni, Galt MacDermot, James Rado) - 2:39
Camel's classic period started with The Snow Goose, an instrumental concept album based on a novella by Paul Gallico. Although there are no lyrics on the album -- two songs feature wordless vocals -- the music follows the emotional arc of the novella's story, which is about a lonely man named Rhayader who helps nurse a wounded snow goose back to health with the help of a young girl called Fritha he recently befriended. Once the goose is healed, it is set free, but Fritha no longer visits the man because the goose is gone. Later, Rhayader is killed in battle during the evacuation of Dunkirk.
The goose returned during the battle, and it is then named La Princesse Perdue, symbolizing the hopes that can still survive even during the evils of war. With such a complex fable to tell, it is no surprise that Camel keep their improvisational tendencies reined in, deciding to concentrate on surging, intricate soundscapes that telegraph the emotion of the piece without a single word. And even though The Snow Goose is an instrumental album, it is far more accessible than some of Camel's later work, since it relies on beautiful sonic textures instead of musical experimentation. The Snow Goose reached 22 in the UK charts
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracks
Disc 1
1. The Great Marsh - 2:04
2. Rhayader - 3:02
3. Rhayader Goes To Town - 5:20
4. Sanctuary - 1:05
5. Fritha - 1:19
6. The Snow Goose - 3:12
7. Friendship - 1:44
8. Migration - 2:01
9. Rhayader Alone - 1:50
10.Flight Of The Snow Goose - 2:41
11.Preparation - 3:54
12.Dunkirk - 5:25
13.Epitaph - 2:07
14.Fritha Alone - 1:30
15.La Princesse Perdue - 4:56
16.The Great Marsh - 1:15
17.Flight Of The Snow Goose - 2:05
18.Rhayader - 3:11
19.Rhayader Goes To Town - 5:07
20.The Snow Goose/Freefall - 11:02
Tracks 1-16 Original Album, released 1975
Bonus Tracks 17-20
Disc 2
1. Rhayader Goes To Town - 5:08
2. Sanctuary - 1:12
3. The Snow Goose - 3:03
4. Migration - 3:31
5. Rhayader Alone - 1:43
6. Flight Of The Snow Goose - 2:56
7. Preparation - 2:04
8. Dunkirk - 5:10
9. Epitaph - 1:16
10.La Princesse Perdue - 4:40
11.The Great Marsh - 1:57
12.Selections From "The Snow Goose" (A. The Snow Goose, B. Friendship, C. Rhayader Goes To Town)
Written by Peter Bardens, Andrew Latimer
Tracks 1-11 Recorded Live For BBC Radio One "In Concert" 1975
Track 12 From BBC 2 "The Old Grey Whistle Test" 1975
From Denver, Colorado, this outfit started out as a fine punk band releasing four 45s for Tower. Amongst these are the frantic garage-punker You'll Come Back, plus excellent covers of I'm All Right and Baby, Please Don't Go. The flip to their fourth 45 was also a cover of The Guilloteens' folk-rocker.The Moonrakers evolved out of surf act The Surfin' Classics, when vocalist/guitarist Doug Dolph was replaced by Denny Flannigan. As The Surfin' Classics, they'd performed a lot of Beach Boys/Ventures material, but their name change came about when they got matched in a Battle of The Bands with Colorado's Astronauts and needed a more 'with-it' name.
Bob MacVittie thus renamed themselves after the book he was reading at the time, Ian Fleming's novel "Moonraker".The band obtained their deal with Tower through their manager Roger Christian, a well-known L.A. disc jockey. Christian (who co-wrote Little Deuce Coupe and Don't Worry Baby with Brian Wilson), had 'connections'... The Moonrakers thus got to open for many major groups in Denver, including The Dave Clark Five, the Righteous Brothers and Sonny and Cher. The even got to meet The Beatles and Bill Haley and The Comets when they played for 50,000 screaming fans at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, in the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
The band also helped promote a Denver concert with The Byrds around the time of Mr. Tambourine Man in the Ballroom at Lakeside Gardens Amusement Park, home of one of the greatest old-time rollercoasters in the world. Veeder Van Dorn:- "The Byrds parked their tour bus at the Moonraker's bass player's parents house for a few hours while they prepared for the concert, but when they all arrived at the Amusement Park, Joel's hair was dyed orange and he was mumbling 'the colors are flowing.... can you see them... can you see them?' about all the rainbow colors flowing around the Concert Hall!"With the onset of the psychedelic era came a dramatic charge of style in The Moonrakers music which is apparent on their album. Full of psychedelia with religious overtones, the cover shows the group below an altar and there is some good psychedelic guitar work plus great lyrics on The Pot Starts To Boil.Veeder Van Dorn, also claims to be the first person to play an electric banjo in a rock band:- "I purchased a steel-rimmed Ode banjo at the Denver Folklore Center from the owner Harry Tufts, and installed a simple magnetic pickup under the wooden bridge. It was used on the Moonrakers' Tower release Time And A Place, which was selected by the radio stations in Colorado Springs, sixty miles South of Denver, as the A side instead of Trip And Fall, and went to No. 1 there".During the recording of the album, Webber (ex-The Soul Survivors) and MacVittie left being replaced by Randy Walrath and Bob Sauner.
Van Dorn also quit to join The Poor, where he got to know Bruce Palmer at a gig with Buffalo Springfield at Hollywood's 'Whisky A-Go-Go'. Shortly afterwards, Van Dorn, MacVittie, Corbetta and Webber formed Sugarloaf, although Van Dorn left after a few months (he wrote one song Things Gonna Change Some on their debut album Spaceship Earth). He then formed Mescalero Space Kit with Sam Fuller and Kip Gilbert (both ex-Rainy Daze), and Mark Kincaid (ex-Electric Prunes). Van Dorn:- "Kip Gilbert's brother Tim, who'd had a songwriting hit with Incense And Peppermints, arranged a demo session with Saul Zaentz at Fantasy Records in Berkeley. At the time Fantasy was having a huge success with Creedence Clearwater Revival. One of the original songs we recorded Earth Ain't A Jail was soon translated into I'm Just A Singer In A Rock And Roll Band by the Moody Blues...".Joel Brandes later went on to manage Eric Burdon and War.
Tracks
1. Talk To The Soldier's Son (Veeder Van Dorn) - 4:08
2. He Knows Why (Veeder Van Dorn) - 3:37
3. Not Hidin' Anymore (Veeder Van Dorn, Bob Webber) - 3:00
4. He's A Comin' My Lord (Veeder Van Dorn) - 2:52
5. The Pot Starts To Boil (Veeder Van Dorn) - 3:50
6. No Number To Call (Denny Flannigan, John Collingwood Phillips) - 3:14
7. Look Outside At The Sun (Veeder Van Dorn) - 3:52
8. Take A Friend (Veeder Van Dorn, John Collingwood Phillips) - 3:54
9. Love Train (Veeder Van Dorn, John Collingwood Phillips) - 2:48
10.Find Me (Veeder Van Dorn) - 3:36
11.Together With Him (Denny Flannigan) - 3:48
The Moonrakers
*Denny Flannigan - Piano, Organ, Vocals
*Joel Brandes - Bass
*Randy Walrath - Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica
*Veeder Van Dorn - Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Harmonica
