For the first time, the official release of the Black Shaheen album. It was recorded shortly after the Dedicate album, but unfortunately it was shelved by EMI. Only a handful releases was uncovered. Recorded in the late 70's in the legendary Muscle Shoals studio, this album represents some of the finest smoothest, funkiest blye eyed soul'n AOR ever committed to wax.
by Thomas Splett, Oct 24, 2020
The things were going well for the Rhead Brothers in the late 70s: Their debut album “Dedicate” had reached number 30 in the US-charts in 1977 and a few months later the brothers Steve and John Rhead were on their way to the Wishbone Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to record their second album. The result was a sublime mix of blue-eyd soul, jazzy Steely Dan inflected arrangements and latin flavored West Coast vibes – all refined with southern funkiness. Back in England the tide turned: EMI had printed 10,000 copies at the wrong speed. And after EMI was taken over, the Rhead Brothers were one of the bands, which had to go. So “Black Shaheen” was never officially released – till 2016, when Preservation Records rescued this lost masterpiece for music enthusiasts.
Tracks
1. Black Shaheen - 3:54
2. Strange Mercy - 3:55
3. Sweet Sweet Heartaches - 5:14
4. No Surprise - 4:02
5. Loves's A Crazy Game - 4:46
6. Dark And Quiet Walls - 3:29
7. Oh Darling - 3:18
8. Son Of A Sadder Side Of Town - 3:57
9. When The Seagull Flies - 4:39
All composditions by John Rhead, Steve Rhead
Musicians
*John Rhead, Steve Rhead - Lead, Harmony Vocals, Guitar
*Barbara Wyrick, Marie Tomlinson, Suzy Storm • Backing Vocals
*Bob Wray, Butch Ledsord • Bass
*Roger Clark - Drums
*Mel Collins - Solo Flute, Solo Saxophone
*Bill Hinds, Cracle Awhaii, Larry Byrom, Mac Macnally, Steve Read - Guitar
*Charles Rose, Harrison Calloway, Harvey Thompson, Muscle Shoals Horns, Ronald Eades - Horns
Adding a bit of Procol Harum's sound to the mix is exactly what the doctor ordered for this superior second outing from the decision by Jack Bruce and Leslie West to merge their talents. "Shifting Sands" and the Peter Brown co-written "November Song" are amazing expressions for these artists, who break out of what people expected from them to create something important. Bruce does his best Neil Young in this "Helpless" takeoff, and West's guitar adds the bite that was not part of Buffalo Springfield, but the album jacket is just plain terrible, like the Guess Who's Road Food taken to an extreme.
Had this album found its way into the sublime cover to their first effort, Why Dontcha, they might've been taken more seriously by the critical elite of the day. The underground comic art by Joe Petagno is not the beautiful stuff he has produced since, and is not the eye-catching Robert Crumb work that made Big Brother's Cheap Thrills so inviting. Perhaps you can't tell a book by its cover, but that's what marketing departments are for, and the debacle that is the packaging on Whatever Turns You On disguises the on-target music finally starting to jell. "Rock & Roll Machine" is West finding a groove and, yes, Mountain keyboard player Steve Knight could have improved this very good song and brought it to another level.
Andy Johns' production is a bit smoother, but he still lacks the finesse of a Denny Cordell or a George Martin. There's none of the sparkle that the Beatles' "Revolution" contained, an element that made hard rock radio-friendly. Jack Bruce, on the other hand, is delivering solid album tracks -- the Brown/Bruce/West/Laing composition "Scotch Crotch" could've fit nicely on Disraeli Gears or Wheels of Fire, but not as one of those discs' 45 RPMs. And that's the same problem faced by the Why Dontcha album -- great musicians jamming out, but failing to find their way around the maze, failing to write a "Can't Find My Way Home" or a "Tales of Brave Ulysses." "Slow Blues" is a fluid West/Bruce vocal combo with piano and slide guitar -- superb fun for these guys, but not expanding beyond what they've given in the past.
And while this album may be superior to the first, there's also a complacency, and maybe a feeling by the band that the world owed these journeymen something. For fans, it is a nice addition to the collection and great to listen to for a change of pace. For their careers, it sounds like men with a lot to give treading water. The nature of the record industry -- executives wanting three million units out of the box and artists wanting to record on their own terms -- wasn't the environment to allow a West, Bruce & Laing five or six more discs to catch a wave. It's too bad, because there was something there.
Compilation albums usually have few songs you can just throw away, but not this record. It's got a great version of Blue Öyster Cult's "Buck's Boogie", both Winter brothers, the best Mahavishnu Orchestra lineup, Mountain, West Bruce & Laing, Santana, one with his band and one with Buddy Miles It's gotta be one of the strangest, most eclectic compilations ever put out. It was very odd even back then, a bit of R&R history.
Track - Artist - Title - Composer
1. Carlos Santana And Buddy Miles - Marbles (John McLaughlin) - 4:19
2. Johnny Winter And - Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo (Rick Derringer) - 3:32
3. Mahavishnu Orchestra With John McLaughlin - The Dance Of Maya (John McLaughlin, Rick Laird, Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman) - 7:17
4. West Bruce And Laing - Pleasure (Corky Laing, Jack Bruce, Leslie West, Pete Brown) - 4:02
Eggs Over Easy? A band that few have heard of and even fewer have heard but who are one of the most influential bands of the ’70s, who not only contributed to the foundations of Americana but also created the environment for punk and new wave music to subsequently bloom. As with most great musical leaps there wasn’t a meticulously worked out master plan but simply a group of good musicians, being true to themselves and dealing with the challenges and opportunities that the music business threw at them.
Eggs Over Easy were American musicians Austin de Lone keyboards, guitar, vocals, Jack O’Hara guitar, bass, vocals and Brien Hopkins guitar, keyboards, bass, vocals with various drummers. Formed in 1969 and heavily influenced by The Band, by 1970 the group were beginning to make a few waves in New York when their manager put a deal together that included Chas Chandler producing the group’s first album in London. Recording for the debut album finished in early 1971 but contractual issues prevented the album’s release and their manager advised them to stay in London until he could get the situation resolved.
The group were living in a band house in Kentish town, just around the corner from The Tally Ho pub which had regular jazz nights. They were an experienced American bar band, so they blagged a gig at the Tally Ho despite its Jazz Only policy. Playing a mix of country rock, southern soul, blues and rock and roll, with a mix of originals and covers rumoured to total more than 100 songs, they started drawing more and more people to their gigs. By late 1971 their residency at The Tally Ho had increased to three nights a week and the Sunday Lunchtime slot. On other nights they played the Marquee and other venues in London. Musicians, including Graham Parker, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and Frankie Miller were now attending their gigs. Nick Lowe, bassist and lead songwriter with Brinsley Schwarz, was inspired to move away from the then current Brinsley Schwarz psychedelic style to a more roots-based sound. Their manager, Dave Robinson, saw the opportunity to develop a new audience from what was now the nascent pub rock scene.
Towards the end of 1971, Eggs Over Easy heard that the contractual issues preventing the release of their debut album could not be resolved and despite their success in London and playing a few provincial concerts no new record company had expressed interest in signing them and their manager advised them to return to America. Their last gig in the UK was on 7th November 1971, at the Tally Ho, but their influence was now undeniable as the Pub Rock scene became the force of mid seventies UK music, leading ultimately to Punk and New Wave. Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello also became major influences on key artists such as Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, who helped found the Americana movement closing the transatlantic circle.
Returning to America the band recorded their debut album with Link Wray producing. ‘Good ‘n’ Cheap’ had a great cover inspired by the Nighthawk by Edward Hopper and eleven easy rocking tunes not dissimilar to Brinsley Schwarz’s ‘Silver Pistol‘, the first Pub Rock classic album. Wray’s production gave a more rock and roll feel to the record, though it doesn’t capture fully their live sound. The songs are varied with many standout tracks, the songwriting being a cut above what you would normally expect from a bar band. ‘Party Party’ gets the album off on the right note recalling the fun of a good night-out at The Tally Ho, Hope and Anchor or other similar venue. The band’s ballad style is showcased by ’Pistol On The Shelf’ and ‘Arkansas’.
Unfortunately, while the group toured America supporting Yes and The Eagles, they never found an American audience nor did they return to the UK. There was an early ’80s album, ‘Fear Of Frying’, that sank without trace, again due to record label issues. Austin de Lone carved out a still flourishing 50-year career as a session musician and keyboard player to Bill Kirchen and Dan Hicks. He has also kept close musical contact with his old mates Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello, while Jack O’Hara and Brien Hopkins quietly retired from full time music.
For any reader who is interested in hearing more of this legendary band then ‘Good ‘n’ Cheap: The Eggs Over Easy Story’ was released by Yep Rec Records in 2017 and it includes both ‘Good ‘n’ Cheap’ and ‘Fear of Frying’. Unfortunately, we can only imagine what they were really like on a good night at The Tally Ho
by Martin Johnson, February 4, 2020
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Party Party (Austin De Lone) - 3:02
2. Arkansas (Jack O'Hara) - 4:00
3. Henry Morgan (Brien Hopkins) - 4:41
4. The Factory (Austin De Lone, Jack O'Hara) - 3:03
5. Face Down In The Meadow (Brien Hopkins) - 4:09
6. Home To You (Austin De Lone, Jack O'Hara) - 3:59
7. Song Is Born Of Riff And Tongue (Robert Fraker) - 4:20
8. Don't Let Nobody (Austin De Lone, Brien Hopkins) - 3:04
9. Runnin' Down To Memphis (Brien Hopkins) - 3:16
10.Pistol On A Shelf (Austin De Lone) - 3:35
11.Night Flight (Jack O'Hara) - 3:40
12.I'm Gonna Put A Bar In The Back Of My Car (And Drive Myself To Drink) (Austin De Lone, Brien Hopkins) - 2:39
13.Horny Old Lady (Austin De Lone, Jack O'Hara) - 3:48
14.Fire (Austin De Lone, Jay David) - 2:54
15.Scene Of The Crime (Jack O'Hara) - 3:12
16.Forget About It (Allen Chance) - 2:17
17.Louise (Austin De Lone) - 3:39
18.Lizard Love (Jack O'Hara) - 3:07
19.You Lied (Bob Spinner) - 3:01
20.Driftin' (Brien Hopkins) - 3:00
21.She Loves Me (Jack O'Hara) - 2:55
22.Action (Jack O'Hara) - 3:02
23.Mover's Lament (Brien Hopkins) - 3:05
24.Nonnie Nookie No (Brien Hopkins) - 2:12
Tracks 1-11 from "Good 'N' Cheap" LP 1972
Tracks 12-13 from "Buffalo Single" single 1976
Tracks 14-24 from "Fear Of Frying" LP 1981
Disc 2
1. Goin' To Canada (Allen Chance, Austin De Lone, David Henry) - 2:34
2. I Can Call You (Jack O'Hara) - 3:26
3. Right On Roger (Brien Hopkins) - 3:19
4. Country Waltz (Austin De Lone) - 2:03
5. Give Me What's Mine (Jack O'Hara) - 3:53
6. Across From Me (Brien Hopkins) - 3:36
7. Waiting For My Ship (Allen Chance, Austin De Lone) - 3:21
8. January (Jack O'Hara) - 4:20
9. Give And Take (Brien Hopkins) - 2:38
10.Funky But Clean (Austin De Lone, Jack O'Hara) - 3:29
11.I'm Still The Same (Robert Fraker) - 4:04
12.111 Avenue C (Austin De Lone, Brien Hopkins, Jack O'Hara) - 3:47
The bass player and vocalist for classical rock band, Electric Light Orchestra from 1973 to 1974, Michael D'Albuquerquehas continued to explore the furthest realms of his music. His two solo albums, We May All Be Cattle But We've All Got Names, released in 1973, and Stalking The Sleeper, released three years later, are masterpieces of early progressive rock.
D'Albuquerque's most ambitious outing may have been the short-lived group, Violinksi,featuring Electric Light Orchestra violinist Michael Kaminski, John Hodgson and John Marcancelo. Replacing founding bass player Baz Dunnery in 1978, D'Albuquerque was featured on the band's debut album, Discovery. A top twenty hit in the UK, the album was released solely as a promo in North America. The album was finally released in the United States, in 1982, under the title, Whirling Dervish. D'Albuquerque also played an important role on Violinski's second album, Stop Claning About, released in 1980. The lead singer on half of the tracks, he wrote three tunes on the album.
by Craig Harris
Tracks
1. Dribble Dribble - 5:22
2. Oh Woman - 6:12
3. Occasion - 5:04
4. We May Be Cattle But We've All Got Names - 4:22
The third album by the Boston-bred duo of singer/guitarists Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman is something of a retrenchment after their over-produced RCA debut, Second Step. In keeping with the stripped-down album title, producer Mark Abramson sets the songs in less-slick surroundings, keeping the duo's trademark harmonies front and center at all times with subtle piano, pedal steel, and percussion accents that never hog too much of the spotlight. Fowler and Shulman step up with a stronger collection of songs than before, highlighted by the rueful, almost Neil Young-like "Isn't It Sweet to Think So" and a soulful pop/rocker, "Loving Game," that wouldn't sound out of place on one of Todd Rundgren's poppier albums. Their debut is still their best effort, but Two's Company comes close.
by Stewart Mason
Tracks
1. Dance - 4:49
2. Finding Somebody New - 3:48
3. A Conversation In A Car - 4:00
4. Isn't It Sweet To Think So - 3:07
5. Pajama Party (Billy Mernit) - 2:22
6. Give It Away - 3:38
7. Penthouse (Jake Jacobs) - 2:19
8. Whiskey Man - 3:17
9. You've Got A Way (Neal Shulman) - 2:12
10.Loving Game - 2:50
11.Where'd Our Love Go (Jon M. Dermody, Rex Fowler) - 5:30
Sympathy is the name of the band from Deventer Holland, and started out in1972 with the single “Aint It Nice-Everday's Someday”. Consisting of Jan Pieter Boekhoorn, Organ-Piano he used to be part of the Tee Set and became known mainly for his hit composition 'Tea is Famous”, Will Matla, guitar player who comes from the accompaniment group of Marianne Nobel, Ruud v. Seventer on bass the hairy bassist who made his first steps in music with the formation The Zipps, Simon Matla, drums the 19-year-old benjamin of the group and comes from 'Daddy's Act' and thein singer and songwriter Geo Dijkhuis, with a very impressive voice
“Sympathy” a very hard-working group, recorded their only one LP “As Long As We Can See” in The Hague Sound, Haarlem Electronics, sometime between 18 and 28 of march 1974. Produced by Hans Vermeulen and the band members. With some line-up changes they released few singles before splitting in the second half of the seventies.
Tracks
1. Rock 'n' Roll Man (Will Matla, George Dijkhuis) - 3:50
2. Scattered Dreams And Flowers - 5:38
3. If Music Be The Flood Of Love (Jan Pieter Boekhoorn, George Dijkhuis) - 3:49
4. Thinking Only Leads To Drinking - 2:58
5. We Can Make A Date (Jan Pieter Boekhoorn, George Dijkhuis) - 5:04
6. Back By Fall - 2:44
7. Better View (Simon Matla) - 4:36
8. Don't Press Your Nails In My Eyes - 3:33
9. As Long As I Can See - 5:38
10.Ain't It Nice (Harry Vanda, George Young) - 3:24
11.Everyday's Someday - 2:08
12.Music Music Music (Stephan Weiss, Bernie Baum) - 2:28
13.Forever - 3:54
14.Don't Press Your Nails In My Eyes - 3:35
15.Good Man - 2:39
16.Love You (Will Matla, George Dijkhuis) - 3:09
17.Life Is Meant To Live For - 3:55
All songs by George Dijkhuis except where indicated
Cut 11 years after the Animals' original lineup recorded their last LP and six years before their more well-remembered reunion tour, this oft-overlooked album is just short of a lost classic; it lacks the intensity of their 1983 studio effort, Ark, but it is more substantial musically than that album and fits in very neatly with their preceding work, as though they'd scarcely skipped a beat. Recorded under the auspices of the late Chas Chandler's Barn Productions, the album was highlighted by a dramatically bluesy rendition of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," boasting superb playing by Alan Price.
Hilton Valentine's soaring guitar pyrotechnics light up "Fire on the Sun," perhaps the flashiest performance of his career for this most introspective of '60s British blues axemen, and "As the Crow Flies" has the group returning to its roots, as a dark, brooding rendition of the Jimmy Reed song that gives room for Chandler, Valentine, Price, and John Steel to show off their '60s-era blues chops in a more expansive form. After a promising start, the gospel number "Many Rivers to Cross" falls apart a bit, but "Just a Little Bit," with its rippling organ break, the group original "Riverside County," and the pounding finale, "The Fool," make the rest of side two eminently enjoyable, although, coming out in the midst of the punk and disco booms, the LP never had a chance to be heard by more than the most dedicated fans.
by Bruce Eder
Tracks
1. Brother Bill (The Last Clean Shirt) (Clyde Otis, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 3:19
2. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bob Dylan) - 4:42
3. Fire On The Sun (Shakey Jake) - 2:25
4. As The Crow Flies (Jimmy Reed) - 3:39
5. Please Send Me Someone To Love (Percy Mayfield) - 4:44
6. Many Rivers To Cross (Jimmy Cliff) - 4:11
7. Just A Little Bit (Earl Washington, John Thornton, Piney Brown, Ralph Bass, Sylvester Thompson) - 2:07
8. Riverside County (Alan Price, Chas Chandler, Eric Burdon, Hilton Valentine, John Steel) - 3:47
When the Rascals broke up in 1972, guitarist Gene Cornish and drummer Dino Danelli wasted little time putting together another band.
For the unaware, the Rascals — who were initially called the Young Rascals — held sway as one of the greatest groups of the 1960s. Hailing from Long Island, New York, the band collected a cluster of shiny gold nuggets, including “Good Lovin’,” “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long,” “Groovin’,” “How Can I Be Sure,” “It’s a Beautiful Morning,” and “People Got to be Free,” that keenly mixed punchy rock arrangements with a smooth soul slant.
And so, shortly after the Rascals ceased to be, Gene Cornish and Dino Danelli joined forces with lead singer and bassist Billy Hocher, guitarist Eric Thorngren and keyboardist John Turi, resulting in the birth of Bulldog. The band’s self-titled debut album, produced by Gene and Dino, suggested they were off to a very promising start. Dominated by a loose and lively party vibe, Bulldog (Decca Records) stomped and swaggered with the raunchiest of the lot.
Smasher, Bulldog’s second album, appeared in 1974 on the Buddah label, and although credible moments were to be had, sales were weak and the band was then laid to rest. Come 1978, Gene Cornish and Dino Danelli connected with ex-Raspberries guitarist Wally Bryson and formed Fotomaker, and they experienced a brief burst of fame with their brand of slick power pop.
Hammering the point home with funky frills and boogie woogie rhythms, Bulldog steps in as a classic example of early-’70s blues-rocking soul. To be played loud for maximum effects, here’s an album worth checking out.
by Beverly Paterson, November 22, 2015
Tracks
1. Flamingo (Eric Thorngen, Billy Hocher) - 4:16
2. Are You Really Happy Together (Eric Thorngen, John Turi, Billy Hocher) - 2:43
3. Honeymoon Couple (Eric Thorngen, Billy Hocher) - 2:23
4. Bad Bad Girl (Eric Thorngen, John Turi, Billy Hocher) - 2:18
5. Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Chuck Berry) - 2:42
6. We Had A Real Good Time (Dan Hartman, Edgar Winter) - 3:28
7. Ooh When You Smile (Eric Thorngen, John Turi, Billy Hocher) - 2:39
8. Rock 'n' Roll Hootchi Coo (Rick Derringer) - 4:55
9. I Tip My Hat (Eric Thorngen, John Turi, Billy Hocher) - 2:27
A lot of blues have gone under their musical bridge in the four years since the Animals first exploded on the pop music scene–blues musical and personal. A dozen sidemen have come and gone, the billing was changed to read "Eric Burdon and the Animals," they stopped recording blues classics preferring to present original material, and where once this young English mining town tough was the critics' darling and voted the best white male blues singer in the business, he now is relegated to a position somewhere in the Siberia of Teenybopperland.
Burdon has also changed personally. Once upon a time he was remote and uptight. Today he is friendly and relaxed. The ego you think might have dictated the changes in billing and personnel is, if present, not apparent. So it is not difficult to ask Burdon, quite bluntly: What happened?
"I got changes to go through and I've got to go through them," he said recently, between out-of-town concert gigs. "If I worried about what people said in the beginning, I'd never have done anything. When I was still in school I said Ray Charles and Bo Diddley were where it's at, not Bobby Vee. So after a while I was right, and blues was right. Then, later, when I did something else, they came to me and said I should be doing blues and not Ravi Shankar and 'Sky Pilot'."
He made this short speech with conviction, but without anger. "It took Don Ellis ten years to get his band together where it is now," he added. "When I think of that I know I've got plenty of time. "You know, I can still walk out on any stage and get a good reaction The record business can take second place to that. Performing for people is where it's at. I guess I find it difficult to connect through a record."
Burdon has a home in Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles now and it is this city he uses as a base for his far-ranging, continuing concert tours. There is a new album out–Every One of Us, the band's tenth–and there are certain to be several more, but it is the stage act Burdon seems to believe in.
"If you get hung up in a studio, you lose people," he said. "If you live in a castle, you can't take a walk on the Sunset Strip. I think the Stones are finding this out right now. I think the Beatles may learn the same thing. You got to be out in front of the people.
"The English critics thought 'Sky Pilot' was bad when they listened to the record, but they liked it in the stage show. You got to see it with the film and the light show to know what we are talking about. "You see, I can't get it out of my head every time I make a record I'm making a documentary movie, and records you can only listen to. You can't see them. What we really are, right now, is a stage act."
Eric Burdon and the Animals travel with a light show team and currently there are four films included in the presentation, so it is not surprising when Burdon defends visuals. "The best way to communicate is to make a movie," he said. "No one will let me make a film now, just like when I started out I couldn't make a record; no one would let me get into a studio. That's okay. I'll keep on making records until someone lets me make a film, and then I'll stand on people's fingers with what I do.
"Film is the medium. If people have eyes as well as ears, records only half-satisfy." Why has Burdon abandoned the blues classics that were so good to him? "I haven't, really. Not altogether. I still do some of me old things in the stage act occasionally. I still sing blues, even if they are original. Most of the new album is our own stuff, but 'St. James Infirmary' is in there. Besides, I did all that before. Why do it again?"
(It's a pallid rendition of "St. James Infirmary" the Animals provide on this album, sharing the second side with a 19-minute-long "documentary" called "New York 1963–America 1968," which might best be described as Burdon's latest sophomoric attempt to convince us his soul is black. The first side is somewhat less offensive, although it features, for elusive reasons, "The Immigrant Lad," running 6:15 and being little more than a seagull track with intruments and a mundane conversation between Engish workingmen. The album was produced by the band, Tom Wilson having gone on to other things. It is not a collector's "must.")
As shy and uptight as Burdon was in 1964 when "House of the Rising Sun" was a hit, even then he was outspoken. He is no less honest today, and some of the things he says are the sort that send record biz execs running for drink.
About drugs and booze: "I usually don't go on stage unless I am stoned out of me head. Or after drinking half a bottle of scotch. I've decided there's nothing like dope . . . booze . . . meditation . . . anything to get high."
About his record company: "Stanley Kubrick gets $15 million and doesn't have to show one foot of film to MGM for three weeks, and I can't get them to put a billboard on the Strip to advertise me records."
About London: "The whole city has gone homosexual. All me friends have gone bent. They're freaking out . . . looking for something to do, I guess."
Burdon made several small speeches in a short period of time. There was no uptightness, no matter how strong the opinions. The man had been relaxed. He grinned when he talked. He was, like too many others in his field, talking too much about film and paying too little attention to music. But he was exceptionally likeable. "Meanwhile," he said, finishing one of his small speeches, "it's off to Portland for a gig. We are but strolling minstrels."
Also meanwhile (and a week following the interview) two of his guitarist-bass players, Vic Briggs and Danny MeCulloch, left the group. Briggs was replaced by Andy Somers, formerly with the Soft Machine and Zoot Money's group before Money joined the Animals. McCulloch, who already has cut an album with a new group, has not been replaced.
by Jerry Hopkins, September 14, 1968
Tracks
1. White House - 3:51
2. Uppers And Downers - 0:26
3. Serenade To A Sweet Lady (Johnny Weider) - 6:16
4. The Immigrant Lad - 6:17
5. Year Of The Guru - 5:25
6. St. James Infirmary (Traditional) - 5:03
7. New York 1963 America 1968 (Eric Burdon, Zoot Money) - 18:52
All songs by Eric Burdon except where noted
Bonus Track on 2013 SHM Japan
8. White House (Eric Burdon) - 3:03
Bonus Tracks on 2004 Repertoire edition
8. River Deep, Mountain High (Jeff Barry, Phil Spector) - 3:52
9. White House (Eric Burdon) - 3:03
The Animals
*Eric Burdon - Vocals
*Vic Briggs - Guitar, Bass
*John Weider - Guitar, Celeste
*Zoot Money (Aka George Bruno) - Hammond Organ, Vocals, Piano
Born 27 February 1947, US Navy Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, died 31 December 2000, England. Having played piano and guitar from childhood, Guillory first explored the electric guitar while in Florida, playing with the Illusions. Moving to Chicago in 1965, he studied Theory and Composition at Roosevelt University. He joined the Chicago-based pop outfit the Cryan’ Shames in 1967 as bass player, and recorded two albums with them before leaving in 1969. In 1970 Guillory left the USA in order to travel. He made his British debut at the Cambridge Folk Festival in 1971, when he was invited to accompany Al Stewart. Having earned a growing reputation as a session musician, Guillory was signed by Atlantic Records to a solo contract in 1973 - his self-titled debut appeared the following year.
Continuing as a session musician, he appeared on albums such as Tall Tree by Peter Sarstedt, Past, Present And Future by Al Stewart, and Two Days Away by Elkie Brooks. Proving his versatility, Guillory went on to play on albums by the jazz fusion band Pacific Eardrum (replacing guitarist Big Jim Sullivan on two 70s collections), Donovan, Buggles, Barbara Dickson (for whom he became musical director) and Nick Heyward. He pursued a solo career from 1986, touring the UK, USA, Europe and Canada. In addition to being a guest lecturer during the Guildhall School Of Music’s summer programme, Guillory also wrote all the musical information in The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer - a definitive textbook which served as the inspiration for the BBC television series, Rock School. He also accompanied Joan Baez in a televised concert in France and toured with both John Renbourn and Pierre Bensusan.
Despite not achieving commercial success in his own right, Guillory thrived in the live environment, remaining a much in demand virtuoso performer. His death from cancer in December 2000 robbed the music world of a great talent.
All Music
Tracks
1. St. Peter - 4:19
2. Staying Awhile (Virginia Clemens) - 2:12
3. Brusselles - 2:46
4. Steamboat - 3:20
5. Sidewalks Of America (Geoff Boyan) - 3:12
6. The Carbondale Strutt - 2:57
7. Movin' On - 2:37
8. Ice Cream Phoenix (Charles Cockey, Jorma Kaukonen) - 4:06
Marvelous Kid formed in 1970 when drummer Paul Moon and guitarist Tony Coxon met keyboard player/singer Steve Betts in the St. Austell Bay area of Cornwall. The band started gigging as a three piece, playing covers as well as some of their own material. After a few months they had gathered a loyal following and were joined by celebrated local musician Spike Hooper on tenor sax. Their reputation as an original and inventive band started to grow and was given a further boost when they won a South West Best Band competition in 1970. The prize, a recording session at Decca studios in West Hampstead and a new Laney PA system, enabled them to consolidate and continue developing their own material. Soon the band were gigging all over the south west of England, headlining and supporting various name bands, their continuing success culminating in a performance at the 1971 Glastonbury Fayre.
At the end of that year Steve moved to London where he joined Grannie, another unsung prog band of the period, as lead singer, while Paul, Tony and Spike continued playing in Cornwall. In 1972, following Grannie's demise, Steve returned to Cornwall and with Tony and Paul reformed Marvelous Kid. This second incarnation of the band marked the debut of bass guitarist and vocalist Frank Artés, who had been playing with bands in Exeter, and tenor sax and flute player Ivor Carroll who'd spent time in the New York jazz scene studying with Sonny Rollins. This line up began preparing a set of original material in a Cornish country cottage. In 1973, the band travelled to Dublin to record songs for a proposed first album. Following this, and after some farewell gigs in Cornwall, the band decamped to a large house in Walton-on-Thames where they continued writing new material and began gigging on the London live music circuit. This first Marvelous Kid CD contains five of the tracks recorded in the Dublin sessions.
Jean-Jacques Kravetz a classically trained keyboardist-extraordinaire and veteran of such Deutschrock mammoths as Atlantis, Frumpy, Lindenberg, Randy Pie, recorded a little-known solo album in 1972, aided and abetted by his erstwhile partner Udo Lindenberg (later a solo star in his own right) on drums and percussion, simply titled, "Kravetz", and re-released as "The Hamburg Scene - 8 Days In April". It's indeed a strange mixture side one strives to be "conceptual", comprised of just two long tracks I'd Like To Be A Child Again" (with Inga Rumpf guesting on vocals) clocks in at nearly 10 minutes and is surprisingly light on keyboards and heavy on guitar! Side two is much more streamlined with three shorter tracks, featuring some straight-ahead early 70s style heavy rock, gorgeous guitar and organ passages and even some "weird" (avant-garde?) moments, a-la King Crimson.
by Alex Gitlin, November 2001
Tracks
1. I'd Like To Be A Child Again (Jean-Jacques Kravetz, Udo Lindenberg) (9:35)
2. Ann Toomuch (Jean-Jacques Kravetz, Udo Lindenberg) (7:55)
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band released three albums in 1967 and 1968 on the Reprise Records label, blending straightforward late-'60s L.A. rock with dark, often surreal lyrics and psychedelic soundscapes. All of these psychedelic platters have been collected on A Door Inside Your Mind: The Complete Reprise Recordings 1966-1968 in both stereo and mono, along with a bonus disc of previously unreleased alternate versions and mixes; single edits; and a radio spot.
The band coalesced when wealthy Los Angeles bachelor and sometime-race car driver Bob Markley was introduced by Kim Fowley to young musician Michael Lloyd - whose many credits include production for Shaun Cassidy, Barry Manilow, and Belinda Carlisle - and brothers Shaun and Danny Harris. Despite little obvious talent, Markley wanted to join a band, and offered to bankroll such an operation with his new, clearly talented friends. With the addition of drummer John Ware (later of Michael Nesmith's First National Band), the band launched.
Their first LP, on the small Fifo label, featured Michael and Shaun on a set of folk-rock and garage-rock. Before they were signed to Reprise, guitarist Ron Morgan had joined the group. Part One was on an establishment label with an establishment producer (Jimmy Bowen, who had helmed Frank Sinatra albums for Reprise) but was a decidedly non-establishment album. Alongside more-or-less conventional songs by Baker Knight, P.F. Sloan, and Van Dyke Parks tunes, the group covered Frank Zappa and provided somewhat sinister originals that handily out-weirded Zappa. Still, Lloyd and the Harris brothers' beautiful harmonies shone through, as did the musicianship of all members except Markley, who supplied bizarre spoken word.
Tired of Markley's machinations, Michael Lloyd left TWCPAEB prior to the recording of 1967's Vol. 2. (With the band splintering, Markley also formed an alternate, touring version of the band with future Three Dog Night member Jimmy Greenspoon among its members; the whole madcap story is beautifully told in Alec Palao's liner notes.) The album took a big step further into the realm of the outré, with the liner notes promising, "Every song in this album has been written, arranged, sung and played by the group. No one censored us. We got to say everything we wanted to say, in the way we wanted to say it." With protest songs surrounded by macabre ditties and Markley's increasingly disturbing odes to young women, Vol. 2 also included arguably the group's most famous song. Markley and Morgan's "Smell of Incense" (covered the next year in a moderate hit version by Texas band Southwest F.O.B.) was a haunting and delicate psych-folk nugget that stands among the best of the era.
TWCPAEB was down to a trio (Markley, Morgan, Shaun Harris) by the time they entered the studio for Vol. 3: A Child's Guide to Good and Evil, a loose concept album about the corruption of innocence. Markley's often strange and unsettling lyrics were contrasted by Shaun's strong vocals and Morgan's varied guitar. With dollops of effective Vietnam-era protest (including a closing track consisting solely of silence) and offbeat, dreamlike twists on fairy tales, Vol. 3 is the band's most memorable record if certainly not one for everybody; Palao quotes one critic upon its release who called it "sick."
Though Reprise dropped the band, Jimmy Bowen brought them over to his new Amos label where they reunited with Michael Lloyd on 1969's Where's My Daddy? The original foursome of Lloyd, Markley, and the Harrises brought TWCPAEB to a close in 1970 on Lloyd's friend Mike Curb's Forward label; that album was entitled Markley - A Group as Bob's ego reportedly swelled once again. Freed from Markley's grasp (and his cringeworthy predilection for songs about young girls), Lloyd continued to collaborate with the Harris brothers under a variety of names. He also produced Shaun's solo album for Capitol in 1973.
Disc Four of Grapefruit's box is a real treasure trove for collectors, with 18 rarities and previously unreleased tracks mixed in 2006 by Andy Zax and Brian Kehew for an abortive Rhino Handmade release. Liner notes author Alec Palao has remastered all audio to the highest standard. Each disc within the clamshell case is housed in a mini-sleeve replica of the original album, and the custom CD labels utilize Reprise-style designs. A 40-page booklet with artwork by Andy Morten is an essential component of the package, and Palao's notes put the band's complicated legacy into perspective.
Bob Markley's sickening interest in underage girls would eventually lead to numerous brushes with the law, and a period in which he fled the United States. He died, institutionalized, in 2003. Ron Morgan passed away in 1989 and Danny Harris in 2012. Michael Lloyd and Shaun Harris remain friends today. This box set is the ultimate tribute to a band that managed to leave behind some worthy and fascinating music despite the darkness surrounding them.
by Joe Marchese, December 7, 2023
Tracks
Disc 1 Part One 1967
1&12. Shifting Sands (Baker Knight) - 3:55
2&13. I Won't Hurt You (Shaun Harris, Michael Lloyd, Bob Markley) - 2:24
3&14. 1906 (Bob Markley) - 2:21
4&15. Help, I'm a Rock (Frank Zappa) - 4:26
5&16. Will You Walk With Me (Dan Harris) - 3:01
6&17. Transparent Day (Shaun Harris, Bob Markley) - 2:18
7&18. Leiyla (Shaun Harris, Bob Markley) - 2:55
8&19. Here's Where You Belong (P.F. Sloan) - 2:50
9&20. If You Want This Love (Baker Knight) - 2:52
10&21.'Scuse Me Miss Rose (Bob Johnston) - 3:03
11&22.High Goin' (Van Dyke Parks) - 2:04
Tracks 1-11 Stereo Recordings
Tracks 12-22 Mono Recordings
Disc 2 Vol. 2 1967
1&11. In The Arena - 4:10
2&12. Suppose They Give A War And No One Comes (Bob Markley, Roger Bryant) - 3:38
3&13. Buddha - 2:05
4&14. Smell Of Incense (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 5:47
5&15. Overture / Wcpaeb Part II - 1:28
6&16. Queen Nymphet - 2:19
7&17. Unfree Child - 3:58
8&18. Carte Blanche - 2:42
9&19. Delicate Fawn - 2:30
10&20.Tracy Had A Hard Day Sunday - 4:35
All songs written by Bob Markley, Shaun Harris except where indicated
Tracks 1-10 Stereo Recordings
Track 11-20 Mono Recordings
Disc 3 Vol. 3 - A Child's Guide To Good And Evil 1968
1&13. Eighteen Is Over The Hill (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 2:42
2&14. In The Country (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris, Terry Kath) - 2:03
