rep>>> Funkadelic - Funkadelic (1969-70 us, superb soul heavy psych, 2005 bonus tracks remaster)

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 

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rep>>> Buffy Sainte-Marie - Illuminations (1969 us, heavenly trippy folk psych rock, 2000 remaster)

Beginning with 1967’s Fire & Fleet & Candlelight, the music of  folksinger Buffy Sainte-Marie began to take on a decidedly schizophrenic nature. Traditionally celebrated for her biting political songs, as well as her stark approach to folksong, the late sixties saw her take her distinctive sound in a series of surprising directions. Candlelight experimented with sweeping orchestral arrangements and electric pop music, while its follow-up, I’m Gonna Be A Country Girl Again, saw Buffy immersing herself deep in Nashville traditions. Come winter, 1969, and the young firebrand decided to turn the tables once again, releasing what is perhaps her most esoteric album of all: Illuminations.

From the very first notes you know you’re in for something unique. “God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot” is an eerie, electronically treated adaptation of lines from Leonard Cohen’s novel Beautiful Losers, featuring bizarre production touches courtesy of Vanguard Records president Maynard Solomon himself. Buffy’s voice and guitar are taken and warped into distorted moans and oscillating loops of sound that build upon themselves into a kind of electric witch’s chant. I should warn you not to get too comfortable with all this, though, because if this record is anything, it’s unpredictable. After almost five minutes, this unsettling opening fades into the short, church organ hymnal “Mary,” before a gnarly electric guitar and banjo jerk into the rapid-fire folk-rock of “Better To Find Out For Yourself,” featuring Buffy at her yelping, wailing best. In the clucking fadeout, what might return but Solomon’s electronic screeching, teasing the record back down into a dark, candlelit vampire ballad.

Honestly, I could go on for the entirety of the track list like this, as every song here is  indispensable to the whole. In fact, I’m almost tempted to label this one a concept album, with the opening track acting as a sort of manifesto. As for the music, though, it’s everywhere, from the raw west coast psychedelia of “He’s A Keeper of the Fire” to the caustic “Suffer the Little Children,” which itself sounds straight out of one of Buffy’s earlier records. One of the most wild segments is when the stomping “With You, Honey” closes with a shrill scream and dissolves into the pretty, lilting acoustic love song “Guess Who I Saw In Paris.” This latter track is so overly cute that in any other context I might write it off as a low point, but in context with the rest of the music here it somehow comes off as extraordinary. Like the rest of the album, it’s hard to really put the magic into words. This is one you just have to experience.

Interestingly enough, this album was not only groundbreaking musically, but it was also the very first quadrophonic vocal record ever made. Unfortunately, it appears that few people cared about either of those two points at the time of its release, as it was a huge commercial disaster and would quickly be deleted from Vanguard’s catalog. If you can, I would recommend you all find a vinyl copy, since this seems like the kind of record that was born for the needle, but should that fail there’s always Vanguard’s compact disc reissue. Also worth checking out is Buffy’s follow up to this one, She Used To Want To Be A Ballerina, which, of course, sounds little like Illuminations, but does feature Jack Nitzsche and the original lineup of Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

by Nik Rayne

Tracks
1. God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot (Leonard Cohen, Buffy Sainte Marie) - 4:40
2. Mary - 1:26
3. Better To Find Out For Yourself - 2:12
4. The Vampire - 2:05
5. Adam (Richie Havens) - 4:50
6. The Dream Tree - 2:35
7. Suffer The Little Children - 3:15
8. The Angel (Ed Freeman) - 3:30
9. With You, Honey - 1:45
10.Guess Who I Saw In Paris - 2:25
11.He's A Keeper Of The Fire - 3:20
12.Poppies - 3:10
Music and Lyrics by Buffy Sainte-Marie except where stated

Personnel
*Buffy Sainte Marie - Guitar, Vocals
*John Craviotta - Drums
*Bob Bozina - Guitar
*Rick Oxendine - Bass

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rep>>> The Steve Gibbons Band - Any Road Up (1976 uk, good guitar rock with funk, boogie and glam flashes, 2005 edition)

Gibbons' career actually dates back to the very end of the '50s. A rock 'n' roller with a special love of Elvis Presley's work, Gibbons was working as a plumber's apprentice in his native Birmingham, England, when he made the leap to a professional career, replacing Colin Smith as lead singer in the Dominettes, a local rock & roll band. He remained with the Dominettes -- who were renamed the Uglys three years later -- for the next eight years, as they went through numerous lineup changes and their sound evolved from rock & roll to R&B to psychedelia.

Gibbons himself became heavily influenced by the music and songs of Bob Dylan during the mid-'60s, which manifested itself for years after (and, indeed, into the '90s), starting with the Uglys' single "Wake Up My Mind." The group experienced many false-starts and thwarted efforts at chart success, and by 1968 Gibbons was the only original member of the Uglys still in the lineup. And the band essentially dissolved in a disastrous series of behind-the-scenes machinations of manager Tony Secunda, and Gibbons was among those left to find a new gig.

He initially joined former Move bassist Trevor Burton, ex-Moody Blues guitarist/singer Denny Laine, and his former Uglys bandmate Keith Smart in an outfit called Balls. by April of that year they had formed a new group called Balls, which didn't last long but did leave an album behind. Gibbons then joined the Birmingham band the Idle Race, which had lost Jeff Lynne to the Move not too long before. That configuration lasted for a few months, before it renamed itself the Steve Gibbons Band.

It was in this guise that Gibbons finally began his rise to stardom, at least in England. Gibbons fancied himself a modern-day rock & roll outlaw: dark features, surly countenance, mean disposition. His songs were essentially Chuck Berry updates (in some cases, simply Chuck Berry covers) about thugs, dealers, and good lovin' gone bad. Tight with Who bassist John Entwistle, Gibbons was able to land a contract with the Who's American label, MCA, and share the same management company.

The trouble was that Gibbons' career never amounted to much in the U.S., he was fairly popular in England, though. Following Down in the Bunker, Gibbons released two early-'80s records for RCA, and On the Loose for Magnum Force in 1986.

by John Dougan - Bruce Eder

Tracks
1. Take Me Home - 4:04
2. Johnny Cool - 3:55
3. Rollin' - 5:53
4. Spark Of Love - 4:14
5. Standing On The Bridge - 3:13
6. Natural Thing - 4:21
7. Speed Kills - 3:32
8. Strange World - 5:17
9. Sweet Heart - 4:20
10.Back Street Cat - 3:21
11.Dick Malone - 4:01
All Songs by Steve Gibbons

The Band
*Steve Gibbons - Lead Vocals
*Dave Carroll - Guitar, Vocals

*Bob Wilson - Guitar, Vocals
*Trevor Burton - Bass, Vocals
*Bob Lamb - Drums

1971•1996  Steve Gibbons - Short Stories • Stained Glass (2001 Double Disc)

1977  The Steve Gibbons Band - Rollin' On (2005 edition)

Related Act

1965-69  Uglys - The Quiet Explosion (2004 remaster)   

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rep>> The Steve Gibbons Band - Rollin' On (1977 uk, awesome pub rock, 2005 reissue with bonus tracks)

Critics have labeled Gibbons as the English Bob Seger, but such a comparison is little more than superficial, doing credit to neither party. The two share a love for basic, no frills rock and roll but that's pretty much where the comparisons end.

Produced by Ken Laguna, 1977's "Rollin' On" is simply prime Gibbons and stands as one of my all time favorite albums. Credited with penning twelve of the 14 tracks, original material such as 'Light Up Your Face', 'Please Don't Say Goodbye' and a live 'Tupelo Mississippi Flash' showcased Gibbons' knack for crafting material that was tuneful, commercial, yet rocked with an intensity that's all but absent from music these days.

How could songs like 'Wild Flowers' and 'Low Down Man' not have garnered top-40 airplay? Other highlights included the atypical country-flavored 'Now You Know Me' and the gorgeous ballad 'Till the Well Runs Dry'. Interestingly, the album's lone cover of Chuck Berry's 'Tulane' provided Gibbon's with an unexpected UK hit 'Tulane' b/w 'Now You Know Me'.

Tracks
1. Wild Flowers - 4:09
2. Light Up Your Face - 3:07
3. Now You Know Me - 3:36
4. Mr. Jones - 4:33
5. Till the Well Runs Dry - 4:13
6. Tulane (Chuck Berry) - 2:52
7. Low Down Man - 3:06
8. Till the Fire Burns Out - 3:00
9. Cross Me Over the Road - 3:13
10.Right Side of Heaven - 0:55
11.Rollin On - 3:53
12.Please Don't Say Goodbye - 3:07
13.Tupelo Mississippi Flash (Jerry Reed) - 4:39
14.Rounden (Instrumental) - 0:19
15. Gave His Life To Rock 'N' Roll (Bonus Track) - 3:22
16. Make The Good Times Last (Bonus Track) - 2:39
17. Dick Leaps In (Bonus Track) - 3:03
All Songs by Steve Gibbons except were indicated.

The Steve Gibbons Band
*Dave Carroll - Lead Guitar
*Steve Gibbons - Vocals
*Bob Lamb - Drums
*Bob Wilson - Lead Guitar
*Trevor Burton - Bass

1971•1996  Steve Gibbons - Short Stories • Stained Glass (2001 Double Disc)   

Related Act

1965-69  Uglys - The Quiet Explosion (2004 remaster)   

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rep>>> Free - Free (1969 uk, classic second album, 2014 SHM-CD japan and 2001 remaster and xpanded)

Free returned to the studio in April 1969 to begin work on their second album and already there was trouble in the camp. Rodgers and Fraser had by now formed a pretty solid songwriting partnership although they were not exactly the best of buddies. This lead to Kossoff and Kirke feeling a little less than equal as both Rodgers and Fraser had very set ideas as to how they wanted the songs to sound. In fact things got so bad at one point that Rodgers and Fraser were going to leave the band and form a duo. Kirke and Kossoff actually auditioned Overend Watts from Mott The Hoople as Fraser’s replacement and Kossoff himself even auditioned for the vacant guitarist spots in both The Rolling Stones and Jethro Tull.

On to the album itself then. Well if “Tons of Sobs” was Free’s blues album then this self titled follow up was probably their folk album. Although Rodgers still insists it’s more of a soul album. The hard powerful blues that was all over the first album is still evident in places but is more controlled. If “Tons of Sobs” was a runaway horse  then “Free” is a restrained gallop.

The album opens with ‘I’ll Be Creepin” which with it’s funky and prominent bass starts the album off in tremendous style. Just to prove the longevity of these songs Rodgers used this track to open his set on his most recent solo tour. ‘Songs Of Yesterday’ has the blues feel of the earlier album and some great Kossoff guitar, but then which of these tracks hasn’t. ‘Lying In The Sunshine’ is a similar type of song to ‘Over The Green Hills’ from the first album but with more of a soul feel. ‘Trouble On Double Time’ is the out and out blues rocker of the album and is the only track on which Kossoff and Kirke get a songwriting credit. It has a Stones like strut about it. ‘Mouthful Of Grass’ closed the first side on the original vinyl issue. Virtually an instrumental with just a choir of aaah’s it is a strangely hypnotic sort of song. It is also possibly one of the Free songs owned by the most people as it was used as the b-side to ‘All Right Now’. ‘Woman’ is classic Free at their best with a nice understated intro and a great early solo from Kossoff. It was particularly effective in a live setting and is as good as anything they ever recorded. 

Highlight for many is the lengthy almost whispering laid back folky blues track ‘Free Me’. On the live disc which comes as part of the “Songs Of Yesterday” 5-CD box set Kirke introduces this song as “….. one of our favourites actually”. It is not difficult to tell why as all put in faultless performances. Kossoff in particular pulling of one of his trademark crying solo’s. At at time when everyone was trying to be the fastest guitarist alive it is ironic that Kossoff was beginning to attract attention by doing exactly the opposite. ‘Broad Daylight’ was a bit of a throwaway song that wouldn’t have been out of place on the first album and was the first single issued by the band. ‘I’ll be Creepin’ was later released as a single but neither charted. The closing track ‘Mourning Sad Morning’ is an absolutely stunning piece of music that once again highlights Rodgers superb voice. Sounding in places like a two hundred year old folk song the unique mixture of Rodgers’ voice, Kossoff’s guitar and the haunting flute of Traffic’s Chris Wood closes the album on a melancholy but beautiful note.

It is also worth mentioning the album cover as it is one that regularly appears in classic album art coffee table books. It was designed by Ron Raffielli and is a photograph of a naked woman shot from below. This effect was obtained by Raffieli standing in a hole and having the woman stride over him. The outline of her body was then filled with stars and set against a blue sky background. The centre spread of the album featured a picture of a young woman on a beach with building blocks! Each member of the band was photographed in one of the boxes. The box which displayed the photo of Paul Rodgers was being held by the girl up to her mouth and she is blowing sand of it. One of the other members of the band later commented “Typical, the one the girl had hold of had to have Rodgers in it ……”

“Free” peaked at #22 in the UK chart which was not bad at all considering there was no hit single and not exactly masses of publicity. All that would change though in 1970 with two more classic albums, a worldwide hit and a tremendous performance at the Isle Of Wight Festival. Superstardom was indeed due to come creeping around the door very soon indeed.

by Martin Leedham, November 21, 2010

Tracks

1. I'll Be Creepin' - 3:27

2. Songs Of Yesterday - 3:33

3. Living In The Sunshine - 3:51

4. Trouble On Double Time (Andy Fraser, Paul Kossoff, Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke) - 3:23

5. Mouthful Of Grass - 3:36

6. Woman - 3:50

7. Free Me - 5:24

8. Broad Daylight - 3:15

9. Mourning Sad Morning - 5:04

10.Broad Daylight - 3:09

11.The Worm - 3:03

12.I'll Be Creepin' - 2:47

13.Sugar For Mr Morrison - 3:01

Bonus Tracks 2001 Island Remasters

14.Broad Daylight - 3:21

15.Songs Of Yesterday - 3:11

16.Mouthful Of Grass - 3:33

17.Woman - 4:00

18.Trouble On Double Time (Andy Fraser, Paul Kossoff, Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke) -- 2:37

19.Mourning Sad Morning - 5:10

All songs by Andy Fraser, Paul Rodgers except where indicated

Bonus Tracks 10-19

The Free 

*Paul Rodgers - Vocals, Piano

*Paul Kossoff - Lead Guitar

*Andy Fraser - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

*Simon Kirke - Drums

With

Chris Wood - Flute

1969-71  Free – Live At The BBC (2006 double disc edition)

1970  Free - Fire And Water (2008 double disc)

1970  Free - Highway (2002 remastered and expanded)

1971  Free - Free Live! (2002 remaster)

1972  Free - Free At Last (2002 remaster)

1973  Free - Heartbreaker (2002 remaster) 

Related Acts
1967-69  The Magic Mixture - This The Magic Mixture (2008 extra tracks issue) 
1972/73/75/76  Paul Kossoff - Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit / Back Street Crawler / The Band Plays On / 2nd Street (2005 double disc edition) 

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rep>>> Gordon Lightfoot - Lightfoot! • The Way I Feel (1966-67 canada, marvellous folk rock)

Gordon Lightfoot was born on November 17, 1938 in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. His parents recognized and encouraged his interest in music; his first appearance as Massey Hall in Toronto, now a revered standard in his tour schedule, was just before he turned 13, as the winner of a competition for boys with unchanged voices.

After a background in barbershop quartets, and as a member of a duo, Lightfoot struck out on his own in the early 60s. He had written perhaps 75 songs, when he was caught up in the country music scene and folk revival of the time; Bob Dylan's music and a song by Merle Travis, Dark As A Dungeon, combined with his sensitivity, inventiveness and beautiful voice, resulted in his unique songwriting and singing style. In less than two years, between late '61 and some time in 1963, his sound and his life changed forever.

Lightfoot was already 27 at the time of his solo debut, which might have accounted in part for the unusually fully developed maturity and confidence on this recording, in both his songwriting and vocals. Contains some of his best compositions, including "Early Mornin' Rain," "I'm Not Sayin'," "The Way I Feel," "Lovin' Me," and "Ribbon of Darkness." At this point Lightfoot was still including some covers in his repertoire, and he handles numbers by Phil Ochs ("Changes"), Ewan McColl ("The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"), and Hamilton Camp ("Pride of Man") well. The whole album is included on The United Artists Collection.

Lightfoot had used additional guitar and bass on his debut, but for his second LP he went for a fuller band sound, using a couple of the noted Nashville sessionmen (Charlie McCoy and Ken Buttrey) who had played on Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde. The result was a brighter and more accesible sound, with the country elements more to the fore. The songs weren't quite as impressive as his first batch, but they were still very good, highlighted by the epic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" and an electrified remake of "The Way I Feel." The whole album is included on The United Artists Collection. 

by Richie Unterberger.

Tracks
1. Rich Man's Spiritual - 2:44
2. Long River - 2:46
3. The Way I Feel - 3:43
4. For Lovin' Me - 2:25
5. The First Time Ever I saw Your Face (Ewan MacColl) - 3:10
6. Changes (Phil Ochs) - 2:30
7. Early Mornin' Rain - 3:04
8. Steel Rail Blues - 2:48
9. Sixteen Miles - 2:05
10.I'm Not Sayin' - 2:28
11.Pride Of Man (Hamilton Camp) - 2:41
12.Ribbon Of Darkness - 2:39
13.Oh, Linda - 3:09
14.Peaceful Waters - 2:01

15.Walls - 2:53

16.If You Got It - 2:31

17.Softly - 3:26

18.Crossroads - 2:58

19.A Minor Ballad - 3:15

20.Go Go Round - 2:40

21.Rosanna - 2:42

22.Home From The Forest - 3:04

23.I'll Be Alright - 2:27

24.Song For A Winter's Night - 3:01

25.Canadian Railroad Trilogy - 6:22

26.The Way I Feel - 3:02

All songs written by Gordon Lightfoot  except where indicated.

Songs 1-14 from the 1966 Lightfoot!

Songs 15-26 from the 1967 The Way I Feel

Musicians
1966 Lightfoot!
*Gordon Lightfoot - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
*David Rea or Bruce Langhorne - Second Guitar (Tracks 2 and 14)
*Bill Lee - Bass
1967 The Way I Feel
*Gordon Lightfoot - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
*Kenneth A. Buttrey - Drums
*Red Shea - Guitar
*John Stockfish - Bass
*Charlie McCoy - Harmonica, Celeste, Bells

1973  Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown

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rep>>> Kathy Smith - 2 (1971 us, wonderful jazzy folk psych, 2010 reissue)

Again, using this column to shine a bit of light on an album that’s been pinched between the cracks. While there are dozens of reissues pressing down each month, it seems that for each complete knockout, there are just as many superfluous retreads of dollar bin fodder best left to their original incarnations. So Necessary Repress finds me wandering through those records that elude local capture or beg too much on the secondary market. An apt example as any would certainly be the sophomore LP from L.A. folk artist Kathy Smith. Though she’s been a collector’s gem for quite some time, I came to Smith (as I imagine many might have) through Andy Votel’s lovely compilation Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word. Her song “It’s Taking So Long” from 2 gets prime placement on the comp and acts as an easy hook into Smith’s songwriting and style. 

Like her equally scarce debut, Some Songs I’ve Saved, 2 was issued on Richie Havens’ pet label Stormy Forest, which aside from the ‘70s output of Havens himself, only issued the works of Smith, Havens associate Bob Brown, and Canadian folk singer Bruce Murdoch. It’s little wonder then that her albums suffered from a slight lack of promotion. The record breaks from her debut to push a slightly more eclectic mix of songs, though both have a bit of Havens’ stamp of mixed instrumentation and jazz touches – augmenting the album with flutes, slight funk nodes and psychedelic overtones. Her second album is Smith at her peak.

It would have seemed like she was poised for greater things with 2. She’d played to an audience of 600,000 at the Isle of Wight just the year prior and with the album’s expanded palliate it certainly had some potential. However, like other psych-folk gems from the likes of Linda Perhacs, Vashti Bunyan, and Susan Christie, it would prove to slip through the fingers of the buying public. Though unlike any of those it has yet to find a second life in reissue glory. It feels like a record with enough of a cult following to make the crossover. Plus, while its a great record no one needs to spend $100 + on a copy. Recommending this one for a repress, puttin’ the vibes out to the universe. 

by Andy French

Tracks

1. Lady Of Lavender (Jimmie Spheeris) - 3:47

2. It's Taking So Long (C. Jackson Brown) - 4:57

3. Rock 'n' Roll Star (Pamela Polland) - 4:00

4. Willie (Jimmie Spheeris) - 3:55

5. Fly Off With The Wind - 4:32

6. Seven Virgins (Jimmie Spheeris) - 3:49

7. For Emile - 3:43

8. Travel In A Circle - 5:57

9. Blessed Be The People - 4:57 

Lyrics and Music by Kathy Smith, except where noted

Personnel

*Kathy Smith - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals

*Don Alias - Drums, Percussion

*Warren Bernhardt - Keyboards

*Jan Hammer - Keyboards

*Gerald Jemmott - Bass

*Leslie Jones - Guitar

*Bill Lavorgna - Drums, Percussion

*Tony Levin - Bass

*Donald McDonald - Drums, Percussion

*Don Sarlin - Guitar

*Jimmie Spheeris - Vocals

*Jeremy Steig - Flute

*Daniel Ben Zebulon - Congas 

1970  Kathy Smith - Some Songs I've Saved (2007 edition)  

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rep>>> The Pirates - Shakin' With The Devil • The Best Of The Pirates (1977-79 uk, powerful tough boogie roots 'n' roll pub rock, 2011 double disc digi pak)

Legendary UK music scribe Mick Farren once defied anyone to name two guitarists who could out-cut Mick Green and his battered Fender Telecaster, having just witnessed his band The Pirates in full throttle at the height of punk. The trio, also comprising bassist/singer Johnny Spence and brick shithouse drummer Frank Farley, had brazenly reunited during tumultuous 1977 having first played together behind cutlass-brandishing Brit-rock’n’roller Johnny Kidd. That early 70s incarnation laid down the acknowledged template for any power trio line-up that followed, with Dr Feelgood’s Wilko Johnson unashamedly homaging Green’s jaw-dropping lead-rhythm combination.

Embraced by both musicians and punk crowds, The Pirates laid waste to the nation’s gig circuit. In between times, they managed to capture their live mix of punk-shot compositions such as All In It Together and their own rock’n’roll classics on three albums (Out Of Their Skulls, Skull Wars and Happy Birthday Rock’n’Roll), catalysed by renowned back-to-basics producer Vic Maille.

The trio split after record company disinterest and Green’s elevation to session royalty, before his sad death in 2010. This rampant double-disc set of album highlights, plus outtakes, jingles and incendiary live workouts, pays suitable tribute, with added annotation by veteran journalist Roy Carr.

by Kris Needs, 07 September 2011

When Mick Green died in January 2010 a month short of his 66th birthday after a long illness, British music lost one of its best known session musicians.

Green spent the 1980s and 1990s touring the world and recording with Paul McCartney, Bryan Ferry and Van Morrison, but will always perhaps be best known as the guitarist in the early 60’s rock ‘n’ roll group Johnny Kidd and the Pirates.

By the time Green joined the Pirates in early 1962, shortly after Johnny Spence (bass guitar) and Frank Farley (drums), both of whom he had grown up with him in Wimbledon in South London, Kidd, another Londoner, had already had his biggest hit with a previous incarnation of the group and the 1960 number one hit, ‘Shakin’ All Over’.  

The Green-Spence-Farley line-up of the Pirates, however, remains the definitive version of the band.  Green’s fiery guitar work and ability to play the lead guitar and rhythm guitar simultaneously was an influence on both the Who’s Pete Townshend and Wilko Johnson, the guitarist with Dr Feelgood. They also became a very visual act, having an effect on both Alice Cooper and Adam and the Ants. Kidd, who wore an eye patch over his eye, would wave about a cutlass on stage, and he and his band, all of whom wore nineteenth century pirate costumes, would perform in front of a huge backdrop of a pirate galleon.

Green left Johnny Kidd and the Pirates in 1964 to join Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, while Spence and Farley stayed on with Kidd until in early 1966. In 1976, ten years after Kidd was tragically killed in a car accident later on in 1966 and shortly after forming another incarnation of his band, the New Pirates, Mick Green, Johnny Spence and Frank Farley reformed, calling themselves the Pirates. 

The Pirates’ swaggering and raucous brand of rock ‘n’ roll made them an instant success on their native London live circuit and was embraced by the punk movement. The trio, who continued to wear pirate attire on stage, signed a deal with Warner Brothers with whom they released two albums, their half live, half studio-recorded debut ‘Out of Their Skulls’ (1977) and its follow-up, ‘Skull Wars’ (1978), before moving to independent label Cube Records to release their third album, ‘Happy Birthday Rock ‘n’ Roll’ (1979).

They broke up in 1982, but Green and Spence from 1999 continued to play together sporadically as the Pirates, eventually without Farley who retired from live work due to ill health in 2005, and recorded a last studio album, ‘Skullduggery’, together in 2006.

2011 has seen a release of two disc, fifty two track box set, ‘Shakin with the Devil-the Best of the Pirates 1977-1979’, which has come out on the reissue label Salvo Music, and, beautifully packaged, contains the first three studio albums and also rare and unreleased tracks.

by John Clarkson, 27/10/2011

Tracks

Disc 1

1. 'Out Of Their Skulls' LP radio promo spot - 0:34

2. Please Don't Touch (Frederick Heath, Guy Robinson) - 2:22

3. I Can Tell (Ellis McDaniels, Samuel Smith) - 2:28

4. Linda Lu (Intro) - 0:20

5. Peter Gunn (Henry Mancini) - 2:18

6. Lonesome Train (Glen Moore, Milton Subotsky) - 3:07

7. Shakin' All Over (Frederick Heath) - 2:33

8. Honey Hush (Willie Turner) - 2:09

9. Milk Cow Blues (Kokomo Arnold) - 3:31

10.Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee ("Stick" McGhee, J. Mayo Williams) - 2:58

11.Sweet Love On My Mind (Wayne Walker, Webb Pierce) - 3:21

12.Do The Dog (Rufus Thomas) - 2:40

13.Gibson Martin Fender (Mick Green) - 3:31

14.Don't Munchen It (Mick Green, Johnny Spencer) - 3:37

15.That's The Way You Are (Mick Green) - 2:44

16.You Don't Own Me (Alan Lancaster, Mick Green) - 2:48

17.'Skull Wars' LP radio promo spot - 0:34

18.Long Journey Home (Mick Green, Roy Carr) - 3:43

19.Dr Feelgood (Curtis Smith) - 1:58

20.All In It Together (Mick Green, Johnny Spencer) - 3:15

21.Johnny B Goode's Good (Mick Green) - 2:26

22.Johnny B Goode (Chuck Berry) - 4:05

23.I'm Talking About You (Chuck Berry) - 3:02

24.I'm In Love Again (Antoine "Fats" Domino, Dave Bartholomew) - 3:11

25.Voodoo (Mick Green) - 2:32

26.Four To The Bar (Mick Green, Johnny Spencer) - 2:51

27.Honey Hush (Willie Turner) - 2:26

28.Diggin' My Potatoes (Traditional) - 3:37

29.Shake Hands With The Devil (Johnny Spencer, Mick Green) - 3:28

Tracks 2-16 from "Out Of Their Skulls" 1977

Tracks 18-29 from "Skull Wars" 1978

Disc 2

1. Shakin' All Over (Frederick Heath) - 2:59

2. Saturday Night Shoot Out (Mick Green, Roy Carr) - 3:57

3. The Witch Queen of New Orleans (Lolly Vegas, Pat Vegas) - 3:08

4. Lonesome Train (Glen Moore, Milton Subotsky) - 3:01

5. All By Myself (Antoine "Fats" Domino, Dave Bartholomew) - 1:42

6. Sweet Love On My Mind (Wayne Walker, Webb Pierce) - 3:18

7. Gibson Martin Fender (Mick Green) - 3:39

8. Don't Munchen It (Mick Green, Johnny Spencer) - 3:34

9. Linda Lu (Ray Sharpe) - 3:38

10.Tear It Up (Dorsey Burnette, Johnny Burnette, Paul Burlison) - 3:33

11.You Can't Sit Down (Cornell Clark, Delicta Muldrow, Kal Mann) - 3:07

12.Hey Mary (Mick Green, Johnny Spencer) - 3:33

13.Golden Oldies (Mick Green) - 3:34

14.Alarmer (Mick Green, Johnny Spencer) - 2:57

15.Lady (Put The Light On Me) (Phil Wainman, John Kenneth Goodison) - 3:47

16.Happy Birthday Rock'n'Roll (Mick Green, Pete Cage) - 4:53

17.Going Back Home (Mick Green, Wilko Johnson) - 3:14

18.Lemonade (Mick Green) - 2:52

19.1:30, 2:30, 3:35 (Neville Crozier) -2:40

20.Hard Ride (Mick Green, Alan Lancaster) - 3:20

21.Mercy Pirate (Mick Green, Johnny Spencer) - 2:33

22.Hard Sell (Mick Green) - 4:33

23.All By Myself (Antoine "Fats" Domino, Dave Bartholomew) - 1:44 

Tracks 1-10 from "Skull Wars" 1978

Tracks 11-23 from "Happy Birthday Rock 'N' Roll" 1979

The Pirates

*Mick Green - Guitar, Vocals

*Frank Farley - Drums, Vocals 

*John Spencer Louts - Bass, Vocals 

Related Act

1965-66  Johnny Kidd And The Pirates - The Best Of (2008 two disc set)  

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rep>>> Tripsichord - Tripsichord (1971 us, awesome acid psych folk blues rock, 2001 Akarma edition)

This notorious San Fransisco group is known to have toured in the late 60’s/early 70’s as “the fake Moby Grape” – a marketing scam created by the evil Matthew Katz, who himself was trying to capitalize on the legendary Grape’s short-lived success.

Tripsichord (also referred to as the Tripsichord Music Box) was actually a fine band, a real group too, who would go on to release a very good album in 1970.  Prior to their sole album (a Janus label release), the group recorded material for Katz that ended up on the Fifth Pipe Dream compilation.  These cuts are solid SF acid rock – heavy on intensity and dark aura, brooding harmony vocals and great guitar work.

Their only LP release is a midpoint between the psych sounds of early Quicksilver Messenger Service and Moby Grape’s shorter, more concise material – psych influenced rural rock/folk rock with plenty of stoned ruminations and lots of melodic guitar work – the classic SF sound.  Regarding the Tripsichord album, Fuzz, Acid & Flower’s Clark Faville added, “their self-titled album (recorded in 1969) proves conclusively that they alone carried the torch during that year that was once shared by Quicksilver Messenger Service, Frumious Bandersnatch and Moby Grape. The Tripsichord album is essentially what the world was hoping Shady Grove would be! The record is an embarrassing wealth of riches both musically and in its dark and menacing lyrical imagery. The dual guitar interplay on this under-rated gem is as good as anything by the three groups mentioned and has stood the test of time well.”   If the album has a weak spot, it’s “Short Order Steward,” a boring blues jam that’s nearly rescued by fine guitar soloing.   

The remaining cuts are excellent.  “Fly Baby” and “Black Door” are two of the better unknown SF psych cuts (Fly Baby features great tribal rhythms) while the album’s last cut, “Everlasting Joy,” lifts off with inspired guitar leads.  Other gems are the relaxed country rock of  “We Have Passed On” and the mystical musings of “Narrow Way.”  If you’re interested in hearing this unsung band’s music, the Akarma reissue is probably the best bet.  Besides including the album in its entirety, this disc also features the Fifth Pipe Dream tracks along with Tripsichord’s two 45s.  A very classy reissue with lots of great music.

by Jason Nardelli

Tracks

1. On The Last Ride (Bill Carr, David Zandonatti) - 4:50

2. We Have Passed Away (Bill Carr) - 2:45

3. Black Door (Bill Carr) - 2:55

4. The New World - 4:36

5. Son Of The Morning - 5:30

6. Short Order Steward - 5:04

7. The New World - 3:46

8. Fly Baby (Bill Carr) - 6:22

9. Everlasting Joy (Bill Carr, David Zandonatti) - 4:16

10.You're The Woman - 3:00

11.It's Not Good - 3:00

12.Family Song - 8:00

13.Times And Seasons - 3:00

14.Sunday The Third - 4:00

All compositions by David Zandonatti except where indiacate

Bonus Tracks 10-14

Tripsichord

*David Zandonatti - Vocals, Bass 

*Oliver McKinney - Keyboards, Vocals 

*Frank Straight - Lead Guitar, Vocals 

*Randy Gordon - Drums, Vocals 

*Bill Carr - Guitar, Vocals

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rep>>> The Griffin - The World's Filled With Love (1968 us, fabulous colorful beat psychedelia)

Griffin was an obscure flower power pop psych band  with their 1968 ABC label album, optimistically titled “The World’s Filled With Love.” And anyone with a sweet tooth for the first two Strawberry Alarm Clock long players, or the mystical but still pop-centrific later Monkees albums, or anyone who still believes the world is filled with bunnies and pink cotton candy clouds, will find Griffin ’s naïve but surprisingly trippy outlook on life pretty reassuring.  

Griffin summoning up their inner Kahlil Gibrans when they sing “Know thyself is just a phrase, till some have passed through the haze. I’ve figured out the maze, in my other life.” As Ravi Shankar’s dad, I’m guessing, since they surround it with the same kind of floaty, mystical sitar and tabla head zones that George did on his passages to India , all bellydancing rhythms, snakey sitar lines and om-like chanting background vocals. I’ll take a thousand of these ambitious, “Within You Without You” electric sitar headswirlers over another bad bar band boogie track, and that’s in this life and any of my past lives. 

Elsewhere, the excellent “Magic Carpet Ride” is not a cover of the Steppenwolf karaoke bar perennial, but a tremendous popsike original, with upbeat tempo, moody minor keys and groovy hip lounge bar vocals – definitely a close musical cousin to anything off the first Strawberry Alarm Clock albums. Not quite soft pop, since the frenetic fast-paced rhythm could power any Nuggets band’s next garage single, and not quite garage either, since the lush and trippy vocal harmonies sound positively Beatlesque – this one straddles the genres like some tougher flower power anthem, and features a super groovy electric piano solo that beats the Doors’ “Riders on the Storm” by three full years. They’re still straddling genres on the killer “I’m Movin’ On”, a great organ-led pop punker with the kind of wild freakout break that lifted the Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction” to legendary garage punk status. But again, the melody’s more pop-savvy than your average Nuggets nugget, so this comes off sounding more like a harder, trippier Monkees – think “Circle Sky” from the soundtrack to Head . 

So if Griffin ’s album straddles the grey area between soft pop and garage punk, it’s only natural. Because the world is filled with love and anger, youthful innocence and teenage aggression. And since every song on “The World’s Filled With Love” is connected to the next by some faint calliope organ music, maybe the world really is filled with pink cotton candy clouds too. 

Worthpoint

Tracks
1. The World's Filled With Love (Vince Morton) - 0:25  
2. Baby, Won't You Come With Me? (Bruce Bentley) - 2:03
3. Give All Your Loving To That Man (Bruce Bentley) - 2:32
4. Small Talk (Vince Morton) - 2:50
5. I'm Takin' The Freeway (Bruce Bentley) - 2:30
6. I'm Movin' On (Bruce Bentley) -  2:50
7. Magic Carpet Ride (Vince Morton) - 3:45
8. The World's Filled With Love (Vince Morton) -  0:25
9. I Could Never Leave You (Bruse Bentley, Jerry Brown, Vince Morton) - 1:50
10.In My Other Life (Jerry Brown) - 3:25                
11.Who Wants A Girl Like You? (Vince Morton) - 2:15
12.Lovely Blossom (Vince Morton, Jerry Brown) - 3:27
13.Murder In The Cathedral (Vince Morton) - 2:32
14.The World's Filled With Love (Vince Morton) - 2:55

The Griffin
*Vince Morton - Keyboards
*Jerry Brown - Percussion And Drums
*Bruce Bentley - Guitars

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