Stan Webb's Chicken Shack, "That's The Way We Are" (Talking Elephant)- The British blues boom of the mid sixties had already become a dim and distant memory by the time that demon guitarist Stan Webb ventured into the studio to record "That's The Way We Are," but this highly sought after 1978 album certainly provides an appealing vehicle for the great man's instrumental prowess and should be required listening for Chicken Shack devotees everywhere.
The finished product is a muscular blues rock package of the highest order, blending some gritty self-penned material with re-vamps of Elmore James' "Shake Your Money Maker" and Albert King's "High Cost Of Love."
by Kevin Bryan
Tracks
1. The End (Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt) - 3:51
2. High Cost Of Love (Albert King) - 4:06
3. Doesn't Matter About Your Size (Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt) - 3:26
4. It Wasn't Me (Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt) - 4:22
5. You'll Be Mine (Trad., Arr. Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt, Dave Winthrop) - 3:58
6. Sillyness (Robbie Blunt) - 2:12
7. Little Bird (Stan Webb) - 4:10
8. Rich Man's Blues (Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt) - 2:40
9. Emily (Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt) - 4:59
10.Let Me Love (Willie Dixon, Arr. Stan Webb) - 3:23
11.Shake Your Money Maker (Elmore James) - 3:04
When "Te John, Grease And Wolfman" debuted, the label released “Great Big Bunches of Love” as a single. It failed to make a dent on the national charts. Drummer Jeffrey Meyer departed, and was replaced by Buddy Davis and Freddie Edwards, who provided the dual-drummer lineup that the Allman Brothers Band had popularized in Southern rock circles.
Charlie and his band soon returned to the studio to record the Honey in the Rock album, released in May of 1973. The group then spent nearly a year on the road promoting the LP. Their efforts paid off when “Uneasy Rider” climbed to #9 on the Billboard pop chart. While touring that year, the Charlie Daniels Band often shared the bill with other up-and-coming Southern rock performers with whom they formed lasting friendships.
Originally titled “Honey In The Rock” and later renamed for its hit song (Daniels's first chart entry), “Uneasy Rider” is the third for Charlie Daniels, the album includes a significant R’n’B influence, making for an intriguing country-funk style. The title track's talking blues is particularly significant for espousing a hippie/counterculture perspective on the part of a man who'd later become known for championing more conservative values.
by Scott B. Bomar and Jim Allen
Tracks
1. Funky Junky - 3:14
2. Big Man - 6:12
3. Why Can't People - 5:49
4. Revelations - 7:37
5. Uneasy Rider - 5:17
6. Midnight Lady - 4:39
7. Somebody Loves You - 3:44
8. No Place To Go - 10:08
All Songs written by Charlie Daniels
Recorded in 1972 by teenage Englishman-in-exile (re: British art student in Italy) Mark Fry, Dreaming With Alice has long been a Grail to vintage psych-folk enthusiasts. That’s hardly a unique distinction; it seems like anything tracked between 1966 and ’75 by hirsute dreamers with acoustic guitars inspires big bidding among collectors.
Sunbeam Records is known for their loving reissues of the lost sides of yesteryear, but not all of them deserve such royal treatment. That isn’t the case with Dreaming With Alice, which is a thoroughly enjoyable slice of pastoral psych. Yet the disc’s most attractive quality is also it’s chief flaw — namely, Fry’s cloying credulity in matters metaphysical.
Through all the will o’ the wisp poetics and the fluttery arrangements, Fry maintains an honest likeability, which makes you wonder why he never managed to hitch his Glimmering Chariot to a Morning Star. (The answer to that query is revealed in the voluminous liner notes, which were penned by Fry himself).
The record rests somewhere between Donovan’s erotic mysticism and the woodsy romps of Comus. At the time of the album’s recording, there was a renewed interest in surrealism in Italy, and this influence can be felt throughout the record. Although it pretty much stays within the conventions of psych-folk, trace elements of prog can also be discerned. In fact, it’s not difficult to picture Goblin finding inspiration in Dreaming.
Fry was a handsome and talented lad, and it’s no wonder the Italian art cognoscenti took a shine to him. His boyish croon goes a long way towards selling the fantastical twaddle that makes up his lyrics. It’s gotta be tough to sound earnest while crooning about an albino albatross, but Fry somehow manages.
The finest song on the album comes early. “The Witch” covers all of the psych bases, employing flute, sitar, hand percussion and a minor key modality. “The witch is looking through my window / Her cold breath on the window pane,” Fry sings in what sounds like a hushed invocation to a summer’s eve succubus.
The esoteric musings continue apace. “Did you ever stumble on Satan’s smile or a Catholic saint’s confession / And life is like walking on an endless mile, each step another lesson,” he sings on the title track, which is split into eight sections and spread across the entire album. Each return is framed by gentle fingerpicking that sounds appropriately phantasmal.
It’s debatable whether or not the world needed another psych-folk reissue, but if so, Dreaming With Alice might as well be it. Rumor has it that Fry — who currently lives a painter’s life in rural France — will be recording again soon. Must be the season of the witch.
by Casey Rae-Hunter
Tracks
1. Dreaming With Alice (Verse 1) - 0:38
2. Witch - 6:43
3. Dreaming With Alice (Verse 2) - 0:32
4. Song For Wilde - 2:33
5. Dreaming With Alice (Verse 3) - 0:33
6. Roses For Columbus - 5:18
7. Norman Soldier - 2:22
8. Dreaming With Alice (Verse 4) - 0:36
9. Dreaming With Alice (Verse 5) - 0:34
10.Lute And Flute - 3:56
11.Dreaming With Alice (Verse 6) - 0:31
12.Down Narrow Streets - 2:58
13.Dreaming With Alice (Verse 7) - 0:32
14.Mandolin Man - 8:18
15.Dreaming With Alice (Verses 8-9) - 1:35
16.Rehtorb Ym No Hcram - 2:25
17.You Make It Easy - 2:15
18.Doesn't Matter To Me If It Rains - 3:39
All songs by Mark Fry
On this, Charlie Daniels' second release, there are obvious signs of a bright future for the guitar- and fiddle-playing hillbilly rocker. Along for the ride is Joel "Taz" DiGregoria, Charlie's longtime bandmate and keyboard wizard. Taz even takes lead vocal duties on one song, "Billy Joe Young," and his ivory tickling is a highlight of this historical Southern rock document.
Daniels rocks with the intensity of a downbound train on "Great Big Bunches of Love," and on his cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis chestnut "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee." A true Southern poet, Charlie Daniels is seen here in the infancy of his artistic development, but even at this early stage, the poet is alive and well.
by Michael B. Smith
Tracks
1. Great Big Bunches Of Love - 3:44
2. I'll Try Again Tomorrow (Charlie Daniels, Joel DiGregorio) - 4:19
3. Parchmont Farm (Mose Allison) - 2:20
4. Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day - 2:30
5. Black Autumn (Charlie Daniels, Earl Grigsby) - 5:15
6. In The City - 3:50
7. New York City, King Size Rosewood Bed - 4:19
8. Evil - 2:33
9. Billy Joe Young - 3:19
10.Drinkin' Wine, Spodee Odee (J. Mayo Williams, Granville "Stick" McGhee) - 5:03
All songs by Charlie Daniels except where noted
Somewhere betweem The Moody Blues, Marmalade and Crosby Stills and Nash, for a moment Parrish and Gurvitz may have been something, if perhaps with the involvement of George Martin as producer, they had not been unreasonably hailed as the new Beatles. Still, this classic song is completely forgotten, off every list, it’s not cool, hip, Prog, Psych, Psychedelic, Garage, sixties Pop, seventies underground and has no recognised virtuosos.
Having said that the line-up of the band is impressive. Paul Gurvitz was in The Gun with his brother Adrian, remember their 1968 hit Race With The Devil. The Gurvitz brothers went on to form Three Man Army and then teamed up with Ginger Baker for Baker Gurvitz Army in the seventies. Brian Parrish played with various small sixties bands (with Gurvitz), later joining Badger. Mike Kellie was with Spooky Tooth and other seventies luminaries before joining one of my favourite bands of the new wave era, The Only Ones, Rick Wills played with countless groups including Cochise, Roxy Music, Foreigner, latter Day Small Faces and Dave Gilmour. Micky Gallagher had played with Skip Bifferty and would eventually join Ian Dury as one of the Blockheads.
With George Martin choosing, producing and arranging Parrish And Gurvitz’s material, it’s not surprising that this opening track(s) from their one and only album is so good. Unfortunately The Beatles connection hindered their progress with that overpowering legend producing mild hysteria from the press. They were never able to live up to their producer’s previous affiliations but you might ask why were they called Parrish and Gurvitz instead of Gasoline Toothbrush or Camouflaged Meadow or Sadness In The Trees – anything but Parrish and Gurvitz – they sounded like they were solicitors. I imagine it’s because this wasn’t their first band – they’d played together before in various incarnations and as the two main members had got the support to make a record and then hired the band to play it live. Unfortunately the band was much heavier than the record and the US label lost interest as the band they signed was not the band they saw live. Brian Parrish then quit on the eve of a US tour due to personal problems and shortly thereafter they were gone.
by Marty Willson-Piper
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Rainy Day Man (Brian Parrish) - 5:20
2. Living Out of a Suitcase (Paul Gurvitz) - 4:15
3. One Way Street (Brian Parrish) - 3:58
4. Birmingham (Brian Parrish) - 3:48
5. Give It All Up (Paul Gurvitz) - 3:59
6. When Evening Comes (Brian Parrish) - 5:56
7. The Preacher (Brian Parrish) - 4:30
8. On My Way (Paul Gurvitz) - 3:46
9. Can We Do It (Paul Gurvitz) - 2:37
10.Brown Eyed Woman (Brian Parrish) - 3:22
Disc 2
1. Another Time Another Day (Paul Gurvitz) - 4:40
2. It's A Shame (Brian Parrish) - 3:21
3. Libra (Brian Parrish) - 4:00
4. I've Got Time (Paul Gurvitz) - 3:53
5. Janine (Brian Parrish) - 3:44
6. Dozy Gwen (Paul Gurvitz) - 2:13
7. Why (Brian Parrish) - 4:23
8. As If I Were Blind (Paul Gurvitz) - 3:51
9. More Than Life (Brian Parrish) - 3:45
10.Loving You (Brian Parrish) - 7:17
Where were you 48 years ago today? If you happened to be passing by 105 Second Avenue in New York City’s East Village, you would likely have seen a fantastic group of names displayed on the marquee at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East. On Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27, 1968, Iron Butterfly shared an explosive bill with Traffic and Blue Cheer. The Fillmore East itself is now just a memory, of course. Its exterior and entrance now welcomes you to a bank, and the storied auditorium has been demolished. But the music recorded at the venue lives on. Artists as diverse as The Allman Brothers Band, Laura Nyro, Miles Davis and The Mothers of Invention have all released live albums from the Fillmore East. Recently, Rhino Handmade unveiled another live set from the legendary New York spot with Iron Butterfly’s Fillmore East 1968 (RHM2 526745, 2011).
The sets focus mainly on material from Iron Butterfly’s first album Heavy, and predate the official commercial release of the band’s most famous song, the sprawling “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” In fact, it hadn’t been recorded yet at the time of these concerts, so there’s no recognition applause for the song. One wonders, what did the audiences make of the epic song, hearing it for the first time? Two versions of it are on Fillmore East, the band having saved it for the late shows. One workout runs 17 minutes, similar to the running time of the studio original; the other take is a comparatively brisk 15 minutes! Still perhaps the the apotheosis of psychedelic hard-rock excess, “In-A-Gadda” is introduced in the late Saturday set with “This is called ‘In Our Gadda Da Vida…which doesn’t mean a damn thing!” In addition to the title track, two more songs were previewed from the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album (“My Mirage,” “Are You Happy”). “Her Favorite Style,” played at Saturday’s late show, wouldn’t arrive on vinyl until 1969’s Ball.
Iron Butterfly can boast one of the most frequently altered line-ups in rock history, with over 50 line-ups having played under the band’s name over the years. Three of the group’s original five members departed after studio debut Heavy, so Fillmore East offers a chance to hear new members Lee Dorman (bass) and Erik Brann (guitar) joining Doug Ingle (organ/lead vocals) and Ron Bushy (drums) on songs from that album. Though they hadn’t been playing together for very long, these four members were attuned to each other intimately. This album makes for a stronger overall collection than the somewhat-maligned 1970 Live album from this same quartet (on which “In-A-Gadda” took up the entire second side!) recorded over a year later, in May 1969.
All of the material on Fillmore East 1968 is entirely self-composed by the band, with no covers in the set. (Allen Toussaint’s “Get Out of My Life, Woman” appeared on Heavy but wasn’t reprised live at the Fillmore.) The band’s acid, proto-metal sound found full expression in a live setting, but there aren’t many improvisational surprises here. In many cases, these renditions are similar to the studio originals, but with more bite and the energy that can only come from a band performing to an appreciative audience at a high-profile venue. Having toured with other psychedelic rock bands like Jefferson Airplane and the Doors, the members of Iron Butterfly had experience under their belt and played up their role as a kind of sinister answer to the buoyant sounds post-Summer of Love.
Impassioned, mannered vocals mark the spooky “Fields of Sun,” and Ingle is positively malevolent on “Possession,” with wild laughter: “When a man has a woman and he doesn’t really love her why does he burn inside when she starts to love another/It’s possession!” (“Possession” is one of the two songs missing from Friday’s late set, along with “You Can’t Win,” but both songs are heard from the other sets.)
The band’s calling card “Iron Butterfly Theme” shows up four times, though each version runs just 4-5 minutes. With its scorching guitar and ominous tone, it’s a glacially-paced noise attack. Friday’s late show performance sounds even more amped up than the early show, with the band giving its fiery all. “Theme,”, however brief, does encapsulate the band’s strengths without pesky lyrics getting in the way! As dirge-like as “Theme” is, the blazing “Unconscious Power” is quite the opposite, with its breakneck tempo and plentiful attitude. Another potent sonic assault is “Are You Happy,” and the emphasis here is on the band’s fine musicianship, rather than on the songs themselves. Many of the melodies are more extensions of riffs than fully developed pieces of songcraft. The sounds can be diverse, though, such as the twisted circus atmosphere that the band creates on “Her Favorite Style.”
The groove gets a bit mellower on the hypnotic “So-Lo,” played at all four shows. The song’s very few lyrics are repeated over a baroque-style organ and a confident, bluesy bass line with a woozy lead vocal asking in song, “Have you heard about the word that’s going round? Have you heard about the girl who put me down? Well, she became aware of the fact that I was running round. And consequently my behavior put me down…”
The lyrics are somewhat less unorthodox on “Stamped Ideas,” which grafts a counterculture sensibility on top of what’s more or less a traditional love song: “You stay away from people made from plastic in a mold/And keep your stamped ideas inside your head untold/Because, I, baby, am protecting you against/The kinds of things that other people do now/I, baby, am protecting you ‘cause I’m in love with you.” The simple lyrics never detract from the heavy backing.
Rhino Handmade hasn’t cut any corners on this release, handsomely housed in a sturdy, oversized digipak. As recorded at the Fillmore East by Lee Osborne, sound is stellar for a live recording circa 1968, and in the set’s well-designed booklet, there are a couple pages of notes about the sound and recording technology. Wyn Davis has mixed and mastered the tapes for this set produced by Steve Woolard. David Fricke offers an informative essay placing this album in the band’s chronology. In addition to small photos of the band, there’s a double-page spread of a far-out Fillmore East poster from artist David Byrd (also responsible for the iconic Broadway logos of the original Follies and Godspell).
The embryonic sounds of hard rock are sometimes ignored as we look back with rose-colored glasses at late-1960s psychedelia. To recall just how potent a forceful rock quartet could be, look no further than Iron Butterfly’s Fillmore East 1968.
by Joe Marchese
Tracks
Disc 1 Friday, April 26, 1968
1. Fields Of Sun (Darryl DeLoach, Doug Ingle) - 4:01
2. You Can't Win (Danny Weis, Darryl DeLoach) - 3:17
3. Unconscious Power (Danny Weis, Doug Ingle, Ron Bushy) - 3:10
“Live” is quite a nifty little collection. Apart from 'Gadda', the band does three numbers from Ball, two of which are among the better ones ('In The Time Of Our Lives' and 'Soul Experience') and one is tolerable ('Filled With Fear'); an energetic take on 'Are You Happy' which is almost superior to the original; and only one completely unnecessary number - the forgettable cover of 'You Can't Win' from their debut album. Aw, why not 'Iron Butterfly Theme' instead? Or at least, gimme 'Flowers And Beads'. Why not 'Flowers And Beads'? I've been thinking that the band was already distancing itself from the hippie thematics, but just one look at the album cover is enough to prove me otherwise, so I simply don't understand why they didn't put 'Flowers And Beads' on here instead of 'You Can't Win'. Does 'You Can't Win' actually deserve to be dedicated 'to all those people who can't be with us this evening'?
The songs are played pretty much by the book, with only minor variations - Erik plays somewhat more energetically on 'Filled With Fear' than he did on the studio version, and actually, the album is somewhat more heavy on guitar than all the previous studio efforts: if you compare the live version of 'Are You Happy' with the studio one, for instance, you'll see that the role of Massa Riffman is relegated to Ingle, and Erik just fiddles around with distorted lead lines, making the track more messy and chaotic, but also more testosterone-drenched - just the kind of stuff you need for a concert. Doug Ingle, is the main star, of course, overemoting on every track with those cool 'angry Jupiter' intonations of his, plus he throws in a couple more 'whoa-whoa's and terrifying grunts along the way.
A solid live album it is, just don't go off expecting anything spectacular, cause - hint hint - find it you'll not. I'm not the excessive kind of guy myself, yet I do wish they'd released a double album, including 'Iron Butterfly Theme', 'Flowers And Beads', 'Get Out My Life Woman', 'Real Fright', and 'Most Anything You Want' - provided, of course, that they actually played all, or any, of these songs live at the time.
by George Starostin
Tracks
1. In the Time Of Our Lives (Bushy, Ingle) - 4:23
2. Filled With Fear (Ingle) - 3:27
3. Soul Experience (Brann, Bushy, Dorman, Ingle) - 3:55
4. You Can't Win (DeLoach, Weis) - 2:48
5. Are You Happy (Ingle) - 3:20
6. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Ingle) - 19:00
“Well, I think I stayed a little too long and had too much to drink” are the first words you hear on Deal Gone Down and coupled with the 4.00 am cover photo that gives something of the feeling of the album. It’s Chapman at his most basic with only Rick Kemp and Nigel Pegrum on bass and drums and Maddy Prior and Bridget St. John providing background vocals. Apparently Chapman didn’t really like the production…and he produced it.
The best songs on the album (‘Goodbye Sunny Sky’ and ‘Journeyman’) are first rate but the initial impression is of too many throwaway tracks. The opener ‘The Rock’n’Roll Jigley’ sounds brilliant but just when it should be developing into a monster song it ends at less than two minutes. The first of six bonus tracks, ‘Dumplings’, the B-side of ‘The Banjo Song’, is even shorter. But let’s accentuate the positives. ‘Party Pieces’, from which the quoted line comes, is a gem as is ‘Used To Be’. The title track is a slice of bluesy guitar picking topped off with sizzle cymbal and an electric solo and Michael continues the electric lead into ‘The Banjo Song’.
by Dai Jeffries
Tracks
1. The Rock 'N' Roll Jigley - 1:43
2. Party Pieces - 4:52
3. Another Season Song - 3:27
4. Stranger Passing By - 3:29
5. Used To Be - 1:47
6. Deal Gone Down - 3:59
7. The Banjo Song - 3:32
8. Theme From The Movie Of The Same Name - 2:15
9. Goodbye Sunny Sky - 3:19
10.Journeyman - 5:12
11.Dumplings (Instrumental From The Deal Gone Down Session, B Side) - 1:35
12.Stranger Passing By (Demo) - 4:36
13.Theme From The Movie Of The Same Name (Demo) - 2:49
14.Goodbye Sunny Sky (Demo) - 2:52
15.Untitled Rag (Demo) - 1:51
16.Journeyman (Demo) - 3:09
All compositions by Michael Chapman
Bonus Tracks 11-16
Recording sessions involving musicians who do not regularly work together can be notoriously unproductive, the shelves of second hand record shops are littered with dusty remnants of what might have been a great session.
Happily 'Tramp' is a very fine exception to this rule, perhaps because although there is plenty of creative and spontaneous playing on these tracks, the songs themselves, written by Bob Hall and Dennis Cotton, are economical, witty and tightly constructed; there are no twelve minute guitar solos on this record. Every musician contributed hugely to the overall strength of performance that is obvious throughout the set. Dave and Jo-Anne Kelly are renowned for their ability as blues singers, and they tackled each song whole-heartedly, often adding new ideas whilst actually recording.
Bob Hall is surely the finest boogie pianist in Britain, and has never played better than on these sessions. Bob Brunning is also a highly experienced bass player who has worked and recorded with many blues giants, forming a unit with Bob Hall which has become much in demand by impressed visiting American performers, many of whom have invited them back to the States to form a permanent band! Mick Fleetwood has been the mainstay of Fleetwood Mac for a long time, and when one listens to this exciting playing on this album, one can see why - listen to his inspired and absolutely spontaneous drum lead in during the entirely unrehearsed piano break in 'Too Late For That Now' which leads incidentally to one of the most exciting solos heard in a long while.
Danny Kirwan plays crisply and economically, showing his ability, unusual among rock guitarists - to know when not to play, nevertheless turning in some pleasing solos. Dave Brooks proves just how easily he recently stole the show on some of the '73 American Blues Legends performances, and last but not least, percussionist Ian Morton adds a lot of excitement to the proceedings. Here then is a fresh and exciting album representing of more than worthwhile gathering together of some well known musical 'Tramps'.
Tracks
1. Too Late For That Now (Bob Hall) - 4:53
2. Now I Aint A Junkie Anymore (Dennis Cotton, Bob Hall, Dave Kelly) - 3:07
3. What You Gonna Do (Bob Brunning, Dennis Cotton, Bob Hall) - 3:02
4. Like You Used To Do (Dennis Cotton, Bob Hall) - 4:04
5. You Gotta Move (Bob Hall, Dave Kelly) - 2:38
6. Put A Record On (Bob Hall, Dennis Cotton) - 3:17
7. Funky Money (Dennis Cotton, Bob Hall, Dave Kelly) - 5:43
8. Beggar By Your Side (Dennis Cotton, Bob Hall) - 3:38
9. Maternity Orders (Keep On Rolling In) (Bob Hall, Dennis Cotton) - 2:24
10.It's Over (Bob Hall) - 2:31
The Tramp
*Mick Fleetwood - Drums
*Danny Kirwan - Guitar
*Dave Brooks - Sax
*Dave Kelly - Vocal
*Jo Anne Kelly - Vocal
*Bob Brunning - Bass
*Bob Hall - Piano
*Ian Morton - Percussion
Not to be confused with the “My Sharona” guys on Capitol, the mid-‘60s California band that also recorded for Capitol, or even the ‘60s Argentinean beat combo known as the Knacks, this Knack hailed from Britain and started life as the Londoners in 1965, debuting with a rather ordinary single pairing covers of Elvis Presley’s “That’s My Desire” and Sam Cooke’s “Bring It on Home to Me” while playing an extended engagement at the legendary Star Club in Hamburg, Germany.
Renaming themselves the Knack after a Richard Lester movie upon returning to the UK the same year marked a turning point for the band, who went on to record six mostly solid singles over the next two years.
The a-side of the first was a gritty cover of the Kinks’ “Who’ll Be the Next in Line”, but the real excitement was on the flip, a stellar cover of the Clique’s “She Ain’t No Good” with strong Beatlesque harmonies. The Clique, incidentally, were not the US band who had hits later in the decade, but an obscure British beat band—though that obscurity didn’t prevent the Knack from covering yet another Clique song on their next single, “Time Time Time”, which was done as adeptly as the previous outing. The a-side, a beat remake of Hank Ballard and the Midnighters’ “It’s Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)”, was almost as good, featuring a brief-but-nifty guitar solo (presumably by Gurvitz).
Their commercial desperation manifested in passable but ordinary covers of two Lovin’ Spoonful hits, “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” and “Younger Girl”, and a lament of unknown origin called “Red Hearts”, but their quest also produced a first-rate harmony pop tune in “Save All My Love for Joey” (Joey being a girl). The buoyant beat of “Stop!” was also worthy, if perhaps out of date in the changing musical environment of 1966, a description that also fits their final single from 1967, “(Man from the) Marriage Guidance and Advice Bureau” backed with the band’s only released original, Gurvitz’s “Dolly Catcher Man”. Both the acoustic Rubber Soul-like pop of the a-side and the dreamy pop of the flip showed maturity, but with the rest of the UK dropping acid and/or plugging into fuzzboxes, it was hopelessly anachronistic, and being on a faltering label didn’t help.
The Knack, however, did branch into psychedelia on Gurvitz’s excellent (and previously unreleased) “Lights on the Wall”, a huge step forward from 1967 that signaled a new direction for the band. But with membership shuffling that ultimately brought in Adrian Gurvitz on guitar and Louis Farrell on drums as Paul switched to bass, that direction would be taken up by the rechristened Gun, not the Knack.
Gun were indeed the better of the two bands, but the Knack’s Time Time Time compilation is worth a listen for anyone seeking to dig deeper into British beat.
by Doug Sheppard
Tracks
1. Who'll Be The Next In Line (Davies) - 1:58
2. She Ain't No Good (Rowbottom) - 2:14
3. It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day) (Jarrett) - 2:20
4. Time Time Time (Rowbottom, Page) - 2:45
5. Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind (Sebastian) - 2:05
6. Red Hearts (Unknown) - 2:04
7. Stop (Miller) - 3:02
8. Younger Girl (Sebastian) - 2:48
9. Save All My Love For Joey (Lyle) - 2:43
10.Take Your Love (Unknown) - 2:17
11.(Man From The) Marriage Guidance And Advice Bureau (Morris) - 3:45
12.Dolly Catcher Man (Gurvitz) - 2:54
13.Lights On The Wall (Gurvitz) - 2:47
14.Back In The USA (Berry) - 3:01
15.Bring It On Home To Me (Cooke) - 2:35
16.That's My Desire (Kresa) - 2:43
