The Association - Live (1970 us, elegant sunny beats, 2003 remaster)

The Association had their last Top Forty hit in 1968, but were still a popular concert attraction as the new decade began. Recorded live at the University of Utah on April 3, 1970, the double-LP Live encapsulated their career highlights and added a few lesser-traveled items as well. It also gave fans a chance to hear the group as they sounded on stage, away from the studio, where top Los Angeles session men often handled the bulk of the backing tracks.

Asked to compare the group's sound live and in the studio, the Association's Jim Yester responds, "Live was a lot more visceral, because it was a lot more bare-bones. But we structured things so that we could, live, cover at least the high points of every arrangement, so that the people would get the same feeling. Get, if not exactly the same instrumentation, the same impact of the instrumentation. We were very concerned about our live performance. A lot of stuff that we did in the studio, we would hold things back, because we said, 'Well, how are we going to cover that?'

"We were an excellent performance group. That was always our focus, performance. We performed for a year and a half before we ever got close to the record thing. When we first started, we worked eight hours a day, six days a week, on our performance before we ever performed anywhere. So by the time we got to stage, we were pretty slick. We did skits and bits and stuff that nobody else really was doing. I think that's 'cause we came out of the folk thing, where we were more concert-oriented, rather than just playing a bunch of songs. We were not a dance band. We starved because we refused to do Top Forty, and refused to work the clubs. But in the long run, it paid off for us."

The album also gave the group a chance to demonstrate that it could indeed play competently on stage, despite its reliance on session players for much of its studio output. "It was a good group, instrumentally and vocally," adds Yester. "It's just that that was the deal back then. If you wanted to record, 'This is the producer, and you guys are using studio musicians period, take it or leave it.' And it wasn't that big of a deal to us. Because, you know, a lot of people were using studio musicians. And now it comes out that a lot of people that you thought weren't, were! Even the Beatles used people."

Some footage that has recently come to light on DVD has indeed demonstrated that the Association could handle their instrumentals with respectable skill onstage, playing "Along Comes Mary" on The Ed Sullivan Show without any evident assistance from backing tracks. They do the same tune on the bonus footage with the DVD version of the Monterey Pop documentary, though Yester says of their performance at that 1967 festival, "that was kind of a disappointing thing. We were used as the guinea pigs for that whole thing. They threw us on first to get the sound all set, get the lights and everything, and then they started the festival. They threw us to the lions!"

As for the performance captured on Live, Yester feels that "by and large, it was very representative of what was going on. One of the things I noticed years later in listening to it is, you can really hear the battle that's going on between two lead guitars. They're trying to top each other all the time, and some things, I wish one of them would have just comped." The high-altitude Utah air also created some problems, as Yester admits, "It's a little harder to sustain long notes and stuff like that because the air is so thin. But the audience was so incredible. The Mormon schools just loved us, and when [manager] Pat [Colecchio] talked to University of Utah and they responded so favorably, we couldn't resist. It was such a wonderful venue to do that. They just absolutely loved us. So we decided to give that a little more credence. And we had played up there in Utah so much that we were used to it. It wasn't something that caught us by surprise. We had a lot of oxygen in the dressing room. There was even oxygen on the side of the stage if anybody had any problem.

"But it was what it was, and I think by and large, we were all very pleased with it. I'm certainly very proud of it. I think a lot of people were surprised at that time, that we were as strong as we were instrumentally, just on our own. I know I was surprised! I went out to Wally Heider's truck out in back of the auditorium afterwards, and they threw up a rough mix, just brought up all the faders, and the first time they played anything back I went, 'My god! That's how we sound?' I was blown away."

While the 22-song set included all the expected hits, there were some surprises too, like the covers of Bob Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings" and the folk standard "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You," which had been the Association's initial folk-rock singles in 1965; the non-LP 1970 45 "Just About the Same"; and the anti-war protest "Requiem for the Masses," which had been the B-side of "Never My Love." A particular highlight was their cover of Dino Valenti's "Let's Get Together," which had been a Top Five hit in 1969 by the Youngbloods, and recorded by numerous other acts in the '60s, including the Jefferson Airplane. "That was one of the first things we had ever done when we first started performing," notes Yester. "We had never recorded it, and always wished we had. We couldn't even remember the original vocal arrangement, which was just killer. But still, we wanted to have it on the album because we'd been doing it for so long. So we decided to include that, 'cause it was always part of our concert. It was a couple-hour-long concert, so we just decided, 'Okay, this is us, let's run it up the flagpole and see if anybody salutes.'"

At 74 minutes, the resulting double LP was quite long for a 1970 rock concert album, which might have scared away prospective casual buyers, as it peaked at a disappointing #79 in the charts. "It was very disappointing that it didn't do as well as we had anticipated, and I think that's probably why," speculates Yester. "It was just too much." The CD era, however, enables us to squeeze the entire hour and a quarter onto a single disc, catching the Association at their peak of their popularity as a touring attraction. 

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. Dream Girl (Ted Bluechel) - 1:36
2. One Too Many Mornings (Bob Dylan) - 2:52
3. Along Comes Mary (Tandyn Almer) - 5:23
4. I'll Be Your Man (Russ Giguere) - 3:20
5. Goodbye Columbus (Jim Yester) - 2:29
6. Let's Get Together (Chet Powers) - 3:22
7. Wasn't It A Bit Like Now (Terry Kirkman) - 4:35
8. Never My Love (Don Addrisi, Dick Addrisi) - 3:12
9. Goodbye Forever (Jules Alexander, Rita Martinson, Terry Kirkman) - 2:49
10.Just About The Same (Rhodes, Stec, Fennelly, Mallory, Edgar) - 2:51
11.Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (Anne Bredon) - 3:43
12.Seven Man Band (Terry Kirkman) - 2:25
13.The Time Is Today (Russ Giguere) - 3:02
14.Dubuque Blues (Jules Alexander) - 4:42
15.Blistered (Billy Edd Wheeler) - 2:58
16.What Were The Words (Jim Yester) - 2:28
17.Remember (Jules Alexander) - 3:19
18.Are You Ready (Larry Ramos, Tony Ortega) - 2:52
19.Cherish (Terry Kirkman) - 5:15
20.Requiem For The Masses (Terry Kirkman) - 4:28
21.Windy (Ruthann Friedman) - 3:41
22.Enter The Young (Terry Kirkman) - 3:09

The The Association
Gary "Jules" Alexander - Guitar, Vocals
Russ Giguere - Guitar, Vocals
Jim Yester - Guitar, Keyboards, Saxophone, Vocals
Larry Ramos - Guitar, Harmonica, Saxophone, Vocals
Brian Cole - Bass, Clarinet, Vocals
Ted Bluechel - Drums, Vocals
Terry Kirkman - Drums, Vocals

1966-69  The Association - Original Album Series (2016 five discs box set) 

1966  The Association - And Then...Along Comes (2013 Japan remaster)
1967 The Association - Insight Out (Xpanded)
1968  The Association - Birthday (2013 Japan remaster)
1969 The Association - The Association (Xpanded)  
1972 The Association - Waterbeds In Trinidad 

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The Association - Original Album Series (1966-69 us, awesome psych beat, 2016 five discs box set)

The Association was one of the more underrated groups to come out of the mid- to late '60s. Creators of an enviable string of hits from 1966 through 1969, they got caught in a shift in popular culture and the unwritten criteria for significance in that field and never recovered. The group's smooth harmonies and pop-oriented sound (which occasionally moved into psychedelia and, much more rarely, into a harder, almost garage-punk vein) made them regular occupants of the highest reaches of the pop charts for two years -- their biggest hits, including "Along Comes Mary," "Cherish," "Windy," and "Never My Love," became instant staples of AM play lists, which was a respectable achievement for most musicians at the time. That same sound, along with their AM radio popularity, however, proved a liability as the music environment around them changed at the end of the decade. Additionally, their ensemble singing, essential to the group's sound and appeal, all but ensured that the individual members never emerged as personalities in their own right. The Association was as anonymous an outfit as their contemporaries the Grass Roots, in terms of any individual names or attributes, despite the fact that both groups generated immensely popular hits that millions of listeners embraced on a deeply personal level.

The group's roots go back to a meeting in 1964 between Terry Kirkman, a Kansas-born, California-raised music major, proficient on upwards of two dozen instruments, and Jules Alexander, a Tennessee-born high school drop-out with an interest in R&B who was a budding guitar virtuoso. Alexander was in the U.S. Navy at the time, serving out his hitch, and they agreed to link up professionally once he was out. That happened at the beginning of 1965, and they at once pursued a shared goal, to put together a large-scale ensemble that would be more ambitious than such existing big-band folk outfits as the New Christy Minstrels and the Serendipity Singers. The result was the Men, a 13-member band that played folk, rock, and jazz, who earned a spot as the house band at the L.A. Troubadour. The group's promising future was cut short, however, when the group's lineup split in two after just a few weeks with seven members exiting. The remaining six formed the Association, the name coming at the suggestion of Kirkman's wife Judy.

Ted Bluechel, Jr. was their drummer, Brian Cole played bass, Russ Giguere was on percussion, and Jim Yester, brother of Easy Riders/Modern Folk Quartet alumnus Jerry Yester, played rhythm guitar behind Alexander. Each member was also a singer -- indeed, their vocal abilities were far more important than their skills on any specific instruments -- and several were multi-instrumentalists, able to free others up to play more exotic instruments on stage. The group rehearsed for six months before they began performing, developing an extremely polished, sophisticated, and complex sound.

The Association shopped itself around Los Angeles but couldn't do any better initially than a single release on the Jubilee label -- their debut, "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You," wasn't a success, nor was their subsequent 1965 recording of Bob Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings" on Valiant Records, which was an early folk-rock effort that was probably a little too complex for national exposure -- though it got decent local radio play in Los Angeles. The group came completely into its own, however, with the recording of the singles "Along Comes Mary" and "Cherish."

The recording of those songs was to set a new standard in the treatment of rock music in America. As Ted Bluechel recalled in a 1984 Goldmine article by Marty Natchez, the voices were recorded at Columbia studios, while the instruments -- played by Terry Kirkman and Jules Alexander, plus a group of studio musicians -- were cut in an improvised four-track studio owned by Gary Paxton. Those two songs, and the entire album that followed, revealed a level of craftsmanship that was unknown in rock recordings up to that time. Producer Curt Boettcher showed incredible skill in putting together the stereo sound on that album, which was among the finest sounding rock records of the period. The fact that most of the members didn't play on their records was not advertised, but it was a common decision in recording in those days -- Los Angeles, in particular, was home to some of the best musicians in the country; they worked affordably and there was no reason to make less-than-perfect records. Even the Byrds, apart from Roger McGuinn, had stood on the sidelines when it was time to do the instrumental tracks on their earliest records, although this sense that the Association's music was a "production" rather than the work of an actual band probably helped contribute to their anonymity as a group. 

Considering their lightweight image in the later 1960s, the Association made a controversial entry into the music market with "Along Comes Mary" -- apart from its virtues as a record, with great hooks and a catchy chorus, it was propelled to the number seven spot nationally with help from rumors that the song was about marijuana. No one is quite certain of what songwriter Tandyn Almer had in mind, and one wonders how seriously any of this was taken at the time, in view of the fact that the song became an unofficial sports anthem for Catholic schools named St. Mary's. "Cherish," a Kirkman original (which was intended for a proposed single by Mike Whelan of the New Christy Minstrels), was their next success, riding to number one on the charts. Among the most beautiful rock records ever made, the song has been a perennial favorite of romantic couples for decades since. The group's debut album And Then...Along Comes the Association reached number five late in 1966. 

It was just at this point that the exhaustion that came with success and the avarice of their record label, along with a couple of artistic and commercial misjudgments, combined to interrupt the group's progress. Their next single, "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies," was not an ideal choice as a follow-up to one of the prettiest and most accessible rock records of the decade, reaching only number 35, and "No Fair at All," the next single, also fared poorly. Equally important, the group was forced to rush out a second album, Renaissance (produced by Jim Yester's brother Jerry Yester), while they were honoring the burgeoning tour commitments attendant to a pair of huge national hits. It was also during this time that Valiant Records, including the Association's contract, was absorbed by Warner Bros. Records. 

A major personnel problem also arose as Jules Alexander, one of the core players in the group, decided to leave. He headed off to India, where he spent most of the next year. He returned in 1967, intending to form his own group, which never got off the ground. In the meantime, the Association recruited multi-instrumentalist Larry Ramos of the New Christy Minstrels to replace Alexander. The group's lineup change coincided with their getting access to a song by Ruthann Friedman called "Windy." Another number one single, it was tougher to realize as a finished work, cut over a period of 14 hours with Friedman and Yester's wife, arranger Cliff Burroughs, and his wife, along with numerous others, all singing with them. 

Insight Out, their third album, was a tough one to record as well. Initially to have been produced by Jerry Yester, it fell apart after it was half done when the group became unhappy with the sound and shape he was giving it. Instead, they turned to Bones Howe, an engineer and producer (most noted for his work with the Fifth Dimension, among many other popular acts), who finished the album with them. Insight Out was a better album than Renaissance, with pop, folk-rock, and hard rock elements that hold together reasonably well, although its audio textures lacked the delicacy of the group's debut long-player. The album's two hits, "Windy" and "Never My Love," were among their most popular and enduring records and helped drive sales of the 12" platter. The final track, "Requiem for the Masses," which featured a Gregorian chant opening, was a strange song mixing psychedelia and social commentary -- its lyrics were a searing social indictment, originally dealing with the death of boxer Davy Moore (Bob Dylan had written a song, very little known at the time, on the same subject four years earlier).

Immediately prior to the release of Insight Out, the group played the most visible live gig in their history, opening the Monterey International Pop Festival. The group didn't seem absurdly out of place, in the context of the times, on a bill with Simon & Garfunkel, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Eric Burdon and the Animals, and the Mamas & The Papas. It was an ideal showcase, and as the tapes of the festival reveal, the group was tight and hard that night, their vocals spot-on and their playing a match for any folk-rock band of the era -- Ted Bluechel's drumming, in particular, and Larry Ramos's and Jim Yester's guitars are perfect, and even Kirkland's flute came out well on stage. 

Had any part of their Monterey set been released, it might've helped correct the image that the Association were rapidly acquiring of being a soft, pop/rock group. Instead, their performance took some 20 years to see the light of day and longer than that for a pair of songs to show up on CD. The group's next album, Birthday, was a departure from its three predecessors, their attempt at creating a heavier sound. It was around this same time that they cut the single "Six Man Band," a very nasty critique of the music business written by Kirkman. The measures that the group took to change its image came too late -- Birthday fell largely on deaf ears when it was issued in 1968, and the singles "Six Man Band" and "Enter the Young," the latter a re-recording of a song that highlighted their debut album, charted only moderately well.

Warner Brothers' release of a greatest hits album in 1969 boosted the group's album sales and consolidated the audience that they had, but did nothing to stop the rot that had set in. By 1969, the sensibilities of the rock audience had hardened, even as that audience splintered. Suddenly, groups that specialized in more popular, lighter fare, usually aimed at audiences outside the 17-25 age group, and especially those with a big AM radio following, such as Paul Revere and the Raiders and the Grass Roots, and the Association were considered terminally out of fashion and uncool by the new rock intelligentsia. If they got mentioned or reviewed in the pages of Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy, or Circus magazine, it was usually for a lark rather than in a fully serious context. They were usually lumped together with bubblegum acts such as the 1910 Fruitgum Company and the Ohio Express and represented the kind of music you left behind (especially if you were a guy) once you got out of ninth grade, if you had any intentions of being considered cool. 

by Bruce Eder

Tracks

Disc 1 - And Then...Along Comes 1966

1. Enter the Young (Terry Kirkman) - 2:04

2. Your Own Love (Jules Alexander, Jim Yester) - 2:02

3. Don't Blame It on Me (Don Addrisi, Dick Addrisi) - 2:03

4. Blistered (Billy Edd Wheeler) - 1:05

5. I'll Be Your Man (Russ Giguere) - 2:04

6. Along Comes Mary (Tandyn Almer) - 2:05

7. Cherish (Terry Kirkman) - 3:02

8. Standing Still (Ted Bluechel) - 2:04

9. Message of Our Love (Tandyn Almer, Curt Boettcher) - 4:00

10.Round Again (Jules Alexander) - 1:05

11.Remember (Jules Alexander) - 2:03

12.Changes (Jules Alexander) - 2:03

Disc 2 - Renaissance 1966

1. I'm the One (Russ Giguere) - 2:30

2. Memories of You (Jim Yester) - 2:20

3. All Is Mine (Terry Kirkman) - 3:16

4. Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies (Jules Alexander) - 2:49

5. Angeline (Jules Alexander, Terry Kirkman) - 3:10

6. Songs in the Wind" (Ted Bluechel) - 2:41

7. You May Think (Jules Alexander, Terry Kirkman) - 1:55

8. Looking Glass (Jules Alexander) - 2:13

9. Come to Me (Jules Alexander, Jim Yester) - 2:17

10.No Fair at All (Jim Yester) - 2:37

11.You Hear Me Call Your Name (Jules Alexander, Terry Kirkman) - 2:24

12.Another Time, Another Place (Jules Alexander) - 1:51

Disc 3 - Insight Out

1. Wasn't It a Bit Like Now? (Terry Kirkman) - 3:33

2. On a Quiet Night (P. F. Sloan) - 3:21

3. We Love Us (Ted Bluechel) - 2:25

4. When Love Comes to Me (Jim Yester) - 2:45

5. Windy (Ruthann Friedman) - 2:56

6. Reputation (Tim Hardin) - 2:38

7. Never My Love (Don Addrisi, Dick Addrisi) - 3:10

8. Happiness Is (Don Addrisi, Dick Addrisi) - 2:13

9. Sometime (Russ Giguere) - 2:38

10.Wantin' Ain't Gettin' (Mike Deasy) - 2:20

11.Requiem for the Masses (Terry Kirkman) - 4:06

Disc 4 - Birthday

1. Come On In (Jo Mapes) - 3:19

2. Rose Petals, Incense And A Kitten (Ric Mcclelland, Jim Yester) - 2:57

3. Like Always (Bob Alcivar, Tony Ortega, Larry Ramos) - 3:08

4. Everything That Touches You (Terry Kirkman) - 3:22

5. Toymaker (Jeff Comanor) - 3:30

6. Barefoot Gentleman (Skip Carmel, Jim Yester) - 3:27

7. Time For Livin' (Don Addrisi, Dick Addrisi) - 2:48

8. Hear In Here (Ted Bluechel) - 3:17

9. The Time It Is Today (Russ Giguere) - 2:19

10.The Bus Song (Terry Kirkman) - 3:34

11.Birthday Morning (Skip Carmel, Jim Yester) - 2:25

Disc 5 - The Association 1969
1. Look At Me, Look At You (Terry Kirkman) - 3:08
2. Yes, I Will (John Boylan) - 2:32
3. Love Affair  (Gary Alexander) - 4:07
4. The Nest (Ted Bluechel, Jr., Skip Carmel) - 3:25
5. What Were The Words (Jim Yester) - 2:28
6. Are You Ready (Larry Ramos, Jr., Tony Ortega) - 2:45
7. Dubuque Blues (Gary Alexander) - 3:17
8. Under Branches (Gary Alexander, Skip Carmel) - 4:24
9. I Am Up For Europe (Brian Cole, Gary Alexander) - 2:32
10. Broccoli (Russ Giguere) - 2:16
11. Goodbye Forever (Terry Kirkman, Gary Alexander, Rita Martinson) - 2:32
12. Boy On The Mountain (Terry Kirkman, Richard Thompson) - 4:20

The Association
*Russ Giguere - Vocals, Guitar
*Brian Cole - Vocals, Bass, Clarinet
*Terry Kirkman - Vocals, Brass, Woodwinds, Tambourine, Piano
*Jim Yester - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Harpsichord, Piano, Bells
*Gary Alexander - Vocals, Guitar
*Ted Bluechel Jr - Vocals, Drums, Percussion
*Larry Ramos, Jr. - Vocals, Bass, Guitar
With
*Jerry Scheff - Bass
*Hal Blaine - Drums
*Joe Osborn - Bass
*Mike Deasy - Guitar
*Larry Knechtel - Keyboards

1966  The Association - And Then...Along Comes (2013 Japan remaster)
1967 The Association - Insight Out (Xpanded)
1968  The Association - Birthday (2013 Japan remaster)
1969 The Association - The Association (Xpanded)  
1972 The Association - Waterbeds In Trinidad 

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Leon Russell - Leon Russell And The Shelter People (1971 us, an assured piece of work, a driving dynamite rock package, 2016 Audio Fidelity)

Leon Russell's accolades are monumental in a number of categories, from songwriting (he wrote Joe Cocker's "Delta Lady") to session playing (with the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, just to name a few) to his solo work. Unfortunately, it's the last category that never really attracted as much attention as it should have, despite a multitude of blues-based gospel recordings and piano-led, Southern-styled rock albums released throughout the 1970s. Leon Russell and the Shelter People is a prime example of Russell's instrumental dexterity and ability to produce some energetic rock & roll. Poignant and expressive tracks such as "Of Thee I Sing," "Home Sweet Oklahoma," and "She Smiles Like a River" all lay claim to Russell's soulful style and are clear-cut examples of the power that he musters through his spirited piano playing and his voice.

His Dylan covers are just as strong, especially "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh," while "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and "It's a Hard Rain Gonna Fall" have him sounding so forceful, they could have been Russell's own. A hearty, full-flavored gospel sound is amassed thanks to both the Shelter People and the Tulsa Tops, who back Russell up on most of the tracks, but it's Russell alone that makes "The Ballad of Mad Dogs and Englishmen" such an expressive piece and the highlight of the album. On the whole, Leon Russell and the Shelter People is an entertaining and more importantly, revealing exposition of Russell's music when he was in his prime. The album that followed, 1972's Carney, is an introspective piece which holds up a little better from a songwriting standpoint, but this album does a better job at bearing his proficiency as a well-rounded musician. 

by Mike DeGagne

Tracks
1. Stranger In A Strange Land (Don Preston, Leon Russell) - 4:03
2. Of Thee I Sing (Leon Russell) - 4:27
3. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan) - 5:10
4. Crystal Closet Queen (Leon Russell) - 2:59
5. Home Sweet Oklahoma (Leon Russell) - 3:27
6. Alcatraz (Leon Russell) - 3:52
7. The Ballad Of Mad Dogs And Englishmen (Leon Russell) - 4:03
8. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Bob Dylan) - 4:02
9. She Smiles Like A River (Leon Russell) - 3:00
10.Sweet Emily (Leon Russell) - 3:22
11.Beware Of Darkness (George Harrison) - 4:40
12.It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bob Dylan) - 3:39
13.Love Minus Zero/No Limit (Bob Dylan) - 3:21
14.She Belongs To Me (Bob Dylan) - 3:28
Bonus Tracks 12-14

Personnel
*Leon Russell - Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Organ
*Jesse Ed Davis - Guitar
*Claudia Lennear - Vocals
*Jim Price - Organ
*Jim Keltner - Drums
*Jim Gordon - Drums
*Barry Beckett - Organ
*Chuck Blackwell - Drums
*Joey Cooper - Guitar, Vocals
*John Gallie - Organ
*Roger Hawkins - Drums
*David Hood - Bass Guitar
*Jimmy Johnson - Guitar
*Kathi Mcdonald - Vocals
*Don Preston - Guitar, Vocals
*Carl Radle - Bass Guitar
*Chris Stainton - Guitar

1968  The Asylum Choir - Look Inside (2007 remaster)
1972  Leon Russell - Carney
1971  Leon Russell And Marc Benno - Asylum Choir II (japan SHM 2016 remaster) 
1979  In Session At The Paradise Los Angeles With J.J. Cale (2003 remaster) 

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Grannie - Grannie (1971 uk, great heavy psych prog rock, 2010 edition)

What became Grannie formed around guitarist Phil Newton in 1968/69 and was initially a cover band playing gigs around East London. Newton then began to write for the band and they began to master tracks like Leaving, Romany Refrain and Saga Of The Sad Jester in rehearsals. Around this time, Newton saw an advert in the Melody Maker for an all-inclusive deal at David Richardson’s SRT business that offered 8 hours of studio time, a master tape and 99 finished LPs for £100. A booking was made and the line-up that went into the studio some time in 1971 was Phil Newton (lead guitar/vocals), Dave ‘H’ Holland (bass/vocals), Fred Lilley (vocals), Johnny Clark (drums) and the futures Mrs. Newton, Jan Chandler (flute/vocals). 

There was also an appearance by John ‘Stevie’ Stevenson who played keyboards on one track Coloured Armageddon. the band began to play on the club circuit at venues like The Greyhound, The Marquee and even the Roundhouse although their journey ended when all of their gear - including one of the first mellotrons - was stolen

Feverishly sought-after by genre aficionados since its belated discovery in the early 1990s (Record Collector magazine included it in their list of the '100 Most Valuable Records of All Time.') One of the most valuable jewels of the early 1970s British progressive rock scene.'

'This is one of these mega-rare privately-pressed albums which originally only appeared in demo form with just 99 copies being available in a home-made paste-on sleeve. Later a few stock copies found their way into collector's hands. In its December 2004 edition 'Record Collector' valued this item at 850 pounds. The musical menu is guitar-dominated heavy progressive rock but with sufficient melody to make it worth a listen. It contains six cuts in all with Coloured Armageddon, the punchy Saga Of A Sad Jester and Leaving, which had some melodic guitar work, the pick of the bunch.' - Vernon Joynson/The Tapestry Of Delights

'The quality of this unknown outfit's sole album effort is clear. It's guitar-led soft rock, similar in style to Wishbone Ash's debut, with the bonus of a half-decent singer and an abscence of keyboards. One of the rarest albums of the period, and a very pleasant surprise.' 

by Giles Hamilton, Galactic Ramble

Tracks
1. Leaving - 6:32
2. Romany Return - 4:07
3. Tomorrow Today - 7:08
4. Saga of The Sad Jester - 4:32
5. Dawn - 5:07
6. Coloured Armageddon - 9:25
All songs by Phil Newton

Grannie
*Phil Newton - Guitar, Vocals
*John Clark - Drums
*John Stevenson - Keyboard
*Dave Holland - Bass, Vocals
*Fred Lilley - Vocals
*Jan Chandler - Flute, Vocals

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Eric Clapton - Eric Clapton (1970 uk, classic first solo album, japan SHM 2006 double disc set)

Well, to tell you the truth, Eric, we had begun to wonder. What with all the running around you've been doing of late, we'd begun to worry that you'd become just another studio musician, hobnobbing with the rich and famous. After all, overexposure to Leon Russell has been known to turn some people into wind-up tambourine-beating rocknroll dolls.

But no. Even though it's a "supersession," even though the personnel is liberally salted with old Delaney and Bonnie Friends, it comes off as a warm, friendly record of the kind that I haven't heard since the first Delaney and Bonnie album. Of the tunes, we have some good old tambourine beaters, one beautiful all-acoustic piece authored entirely by Clapton (most of the rest are by him and Delaney Bramlett, who produced), and a bunch of simply delightful D'n'B-styled gospel-type numbers, which, unlike a lot of the recent attempts in this genre, succeed because they build sensibly to a climax rather than indulging in the type of excess that spoiled Leon Russell's album, at least for me.

Clapton's voice is a revelation. He'd been scared to use it before because he thought it was terrible, but Delaney told him that his voice was a gift from God, and if he didn't use it, maybe God would take it away from him. Which, I thought, is maybe a nice way of saying "Well, maybe it ain't too hot, but you should sing along anyway." But Clapton's voice is just fine; rough and unfinished, maybe, but it adds to the rustic quality of the music.

"Bet you didn't think I knew how to rock and roll ..."   Sure I did, Eric. And you play a mean guitar, too.

by Ed Ward, September 3, 1970

Eric Clapton's eponymous solo debut was recorded after he completed a tour with Delaney and Bonnie. Clapton used the core of the duo's backing band and co-wrote the majority of the songs with Delaney Bramlett -- accordingly, Eric Clapton sounds more laid-back and straightforward than any of the guitarist's previous recordings. There are still elements of blues and rock 'n' roll, but they're hidden beneath layers of gospel, R'n'B, country, and pop flourishes. And the pop element of the record is the strongest of the album's many elements -- "Blues Power" isn't a blues song and only "Let It Rain," the album's closer, features extended solos.

Throughout the album, Clapton turns out concise solos that de-emphasize his status as guitar god, even when they display astonishing musicality and technique. That is both a good and a bad thing -- it's encouraging to hear him grow and become a more fully rounded musician, but too often the album needs the spark that some long guitar solos would have given it. In short, it needs a little more of Clapton's personality. 

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Slunky - 3:33

2. Bad Boy - 3:33

3. Lonesome And A Long Way From Home (Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell) - 3:29

4. After Midnight (J.J. Cale) - 2:51

5. Easy Now (Eric Clapton) - 2:57

6. Blues Power (Eric Clapton, Leon Russell) - 3:08

7. Bottle Of Red Wine - 3:06

8. Lovin' You Lovin' Me - 5:02

9. I've Told You For The Last Time (Bonnie Bramlett, Steve Cropper) - 3:06

10.Don't Know Why - 3:10

11.Let It Rain - 5:02

12.Blues In "A" (Eric Clapton) - 10:25

13.Teasin' (Bonnie Bramlett, Curtis Ousley) - 2:14

14.She Rides - 5:08

All songs by Bonnie Bramlett, Eric Clapton except where stated

Disc 2
1. Slunky - 3:33
2. Bad Boy - 3:41
3. Easy Now (Eric Clapton) - 2:57
4. After Midnight (J.J. Cale) - 3:17
5. Blues Power (Eric Clapton, Leon Russell) - 3:19
6. Bottle Of Red Wine - 3:06
7. Lovin' You Lovin' Me - 4:03
8. Lonesome And A Long Way From Home (Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell) - 3:48
9. Don't Know Why - 3:43
10.Let It Rain - 5:03
11.Don't Know Why - 5:12
12.I've Told You For The Last Time (Bonnie Bramlett, Steve Cropper) - 6:46
13.Comin' Home - 3:14
14.Groupie (Superstar) (Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell) - 2:48
All songs by Bonnie Bramlett, Eric Clapton except where noted

Musicians
*Eric Clapton  - Guitar, Vocals
*J.I. Allison - Vocals
*Bonnie Bramlett  - Vocals
*Delaney Bramlett  -  Rhythm  Guitar, Vocals
*Rita Coolidge - Vocals
*Sonny Curtis -  Vocals
*Jim Gordon - Drums
*Bobby Keys - Saxophone
*Jim Price - Trumpet
*Carl Radle - Bass
*Leon Russell  - Piano
*John Simon - Piano
*Bobby Whitlock - Organ, Vocals

With The Yardbirds
1963-68  Glimpses (five disc box set, 2011 release) 
1964  Five Live Yardbirds (2007 Repertoire digi pack) 

With The Bluesbreakers
1966  John Mayall Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton (SHM double disc set)  

With The Cream

1966  Fresh Cream (SHM remaster)
1967  Disraeli Gears (SHM remaster)
1969  Goodbye (2010 SHM remaster)
1967-68 Live Cream (2010 SHM remaster)
1972  Live Cream II (2010 SHM remaster)
1968  Wheels Of Fire (2014 japan SHM remaster) 

With Derek And The Dominos
1970  Layla (2013 platinum SHM edition) 

With Delaney, Bonnie And Friends
1969-72  D 'n' B Together (2003 extra tracks remaster) 

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Wishbone Ash - First Light (1970 uk, fascinating hard guitar blues rock with prog shades, 2007 release)

Wishbone Ash have been well served by Talking Elephant and First Light (TECD108) goes right back to the very dawn of the band.

Once thought lost, these demo recordings surfaced a few years ago at a Christies auction. Recorded in spring and summer 1970, the tracks were rejected at the time as too raw.

For fans and those who appreciate the art of twin-guitar, this is well worth having. It's classic seventies rock, and if a little tentative it does show the musical quality that was to captivate audiences a few years later. The early period is characterised by a folksy-bluesy approach that sometimes recalls Rory Gallagher.

'Roads Of Day To Day' is particularly impressive and a good vehicle for the guitar interplay of Andy Powell and Ted Turner, whilst the rhythm section of Steve Upton (drums) and Martin Turner (bass) excels throughout. This track, and 'Alone', demonstrates the band's enduring ability to pen a catchy tune, the latter ditty not dissimilar to their contemporaries (and early label-mates) Caravan.

'Blind Eye' is straight blues rock whilst the instrumentals 'Joshua' and 'Handy' have early seventies prog tendencies as well as freewheeling guitar figures. Five tracks were included on the band's debut album whilst 'Alone' appeared on 'Pilgrimage' in 1971. It's easy to see why this early bash attracted the interest of MCA and soon after Ash were on the ascendancy

by David Randall

Tracks
1. Lady Whiskey - 3:08
2. Roads Of Day To Day - 5:48
3. Blind Eye - 3:32
4. Joshua - 2:11
5. Queen Of Torture - 3:06
6. Alone (With Vocals) - 3:06
7. Handy - 12:37
8. Errors Of My Way - 6:24
All songs by Andy Powell, Martin Turner, Ted Turner, Steve Upton

The Wishbone Ash
*Martin Turner - Bass, Vocals
*Andy Powell - Guitar, Vocals
*Ted Turner - Guitar, Vocals
*Steve Upton - Drums

1972-2001  Wishbone Ash - Tracks (2001 double disc release) 
1972  Wishbone Ash - Argus (2013 SHM remaster) 

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Mogul Thrash - Mogul Thrash (1970 uk, stunning heavy prog jazz brass rock, 2011 extra tracks reissue)

Recorded in July 1970, but released in January 1971, this very energetic, inventive but still underrated LP was a brainchild of James Lithefiand - formerly vocalist & guitarist of Colosseum. Other important musicians in die band were trumpeter Michael Rosen (ex-Eclection) and die young bass p t ay er J oh n We 11 o n. 

This excellent album is very much in the style of the first two Colosseum records bid: a bit more faster; intensive, hard-rocking and brassier, but with no keyboards. It contains songs mostly dominated by heavy and sometimes furious guitar solos, groovy and tasteful brass improvisations, truly amazing bass parts and very solid drumming. In t he Summer of 1971 John Wetton got an invitation from Family and as a. result the band broke up.

Tracks
1. Something Sad - 7:36
2. Elegy - 9:36
3. Dreams of Glass and Sand - 5:09
4. Going North, Going West - 12:01
5. St. Peter - 3:39
6. What's This I Hear - 7:13
7. Sleeping in the Kitchen - 2:45
8. St Peter - 3:41
9. Sleeping in the Kitchen - 3:38
10.St Peter - 3:09
11.I Can't Live Without You - 7:34
12.Fuzzbox - 3:36
13.Conscience - 5:48
Tracks 7-8 Uk mono single
Tracks 9-13 1971 BBC Sessions

Mogul Thrash
*James Litherland - Guitar, Vocal
*John Wetton - Bass, Guitar, Vocal
*Bill Harrison - Drums
*Malcolm Duncan - Tenor Saxophone
*Michael Rosen - Trumpet, Mellophone, Guitar
*Roger Ball - Alto, Baritone, Saprano Saxophones
Guest Musician
*Brian Auger - Piano (at St. Peter)

Related Act
1968  Eclection - Eclection (2011 remaster and expanded) 

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Jack Traylor And Steelwind - Child Of Nature (1973 us, fine country folk rock with some psych traces, vinyl edition)

Jack Traylor was a Grateful Dead/Jefferson Airplane associate who contributed towards Kantner, Slick and Freiberg's Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun, various members of the collective returning the favour by playing on his 1973 solo album, Child of Nature, credited to Jack Traylor and Steelwind.

Jack was the main songwriter and vocalist, and sticks to unvarnished acoustic rhythm guitar. The have a female vocalist, Diana Harris, who also happens to play some piano, a lead guitarist who mainly sticks to electric, a third guitar player, Skip Morairty, and a bassist.  Plus, longtime Airplane producer Al Schmitt produced their debut, Child of Nature.

Traylor's an okay singer/songwriter (the title track is catchy), the young Chaquito gets in some nice work, and has one extended solo which owes a lot more to flashy rock than folk ("Time to be Happy"). Besides Traylor and Chaquico, the other members of Steelwind dropped off the face of the planet.  The drummer is Malo member Rick Quintanal, and Freiberg plays faint mellotron on one track.  "Caveat Emptor".

Tracks
1. Child Of Nature - 3:48
2. Birds And Beasts And Bumblebees - 3:32
3. I've Got You - 3:14
4. Smile - 4:14
5. Time To Be Happy (Gerald D. Moriarty) - 4:30
6. Come On, Children - 3:50
7. Fifteen Years After - 4:17
8. Gone To Canada - 4:31
9. Caveat Emptor (Craig Chaquico) - 5:12
All songs written by Jack Traylor except where noted

Steelwind
*Jack Traylor - Guitar, Vocals
*Craig Chaquico - Guitar, Mandolin
*Danny Virdier - Bass, Vocals
*Skip Moriarty - Guitar, Flute, Vocals
*Diane Harris - Piano, Vocals
Friends
*David Freiberg - Keyboards
*Bill Laudner - Vocals
*Kent Middleton - Harmonica, Percussion
*Rick Quintanal - Drums

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Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails (1969 us, west coast psych masterpiece, 2012 Audiophile remaster)

QMS formed in late 1965 and continued through several lineup changes until late 1967 when they settled into to what would be their most creative lineup of John Cipollina (guitar), Gary Duncan (guitar), David Freiberg (bass, vocals) and Greg Elmore (drums). They put off signing with a label for years to avoid the pressures of touring and consequently getting rushed by record companies into making albums not up to their own standards (a fate they witnessed befall several contemporary San Franciscan groups.). 

Living on a ranch north of San Francisco in high style with their ladies, grass, guns and living out their space cowboy trips, QMS also benefited greatly from an abundance of local gigs they picked up in the absence of The Airplane or The Dead, whose unavailability was due to national tours and out of town engagements. And it was through this constant stream of live performances that afforded them the opportunity to tighten up every loose end in their repertoire while stretching out musically and evolving their sound beyond any reasonable set of expectations.

Comprised of four Virgos, their group name was as astrologically correct as it was perfect in describing their music’s characteristics. Chosen for its associations with Mercury (the ruling planet of Virgo and communication) as well as the double entendre for ‘quicksilver’ (the element, mercury) whose dual properties were simultaneously both liquid and metal, it was an appropriate description of the band’s own dual-guitar undulations.

A key influence on QMS (along with countless others) at this time was Bo Diddley, whose amplified cigar box and ever-shifting shuffle beat lent itself easily to interpretations of extended electric guitar-based improvisations with its simplicity, buoyant consistency and hard, sawn-off jagged primitivism that allowed itself to be employed as if it were some new aural material which was highly conductive to electricity and malleable enough to stretch out into spaced-out plasticity. And in the hands, heads and hearts of QMS, two of his numbers would turn into sprawling epics. A cover of his “Who Do You Love” (credited on the original album as “Who Do You Love Suite” and comprised of six separate ‘movements’) spanned the entire first side of “Happy Trails.” The entire album was recorded live at The Fillmore East and West in 1968, and the sparks just flew all over the place.

Cipollina and Duncan exchange solo and rhythm duties on “Happy Trails” so effortlessly that despite the production’s extreme stereo separation (Duncan on the left channel, Cipollina on the right) it’s never anything but a seamless series of intuitively placed fits of opposing forces with an undying attraction to each other. At times Duncan’s rhythm is a fat, toned-down punk buzzsaw working as a wash against Cipollina’s agile counterpointing and sometimes Cipollina’s solos are the smallest of strategic rhythmic strokes while Duncan’s rhythm playing at times appears more like solos rendered in shorthand. These free-flowing qualities were accented with carefully controlled, soaring feedback and stinging arpeggios of the purest tones. 

These numerous and spectacular displays of twin guitar exchanges are supported by the impeccably synchronised rhythm section composed of David Freiberg on bass (and accompanying brusque vocals) and the perfectly restrained drumming of Greg Elmore. This backing was uncluttered and tough enough to allow the group’s paces to ebb or flow at a single moment’s notice: as gracefully evident in the manner in which “Who Do You Love” constantly shifts, unfolds and turns into passages both reflective and active. By the time they reach the middle passage (subtitled “Where You Love”) they’ve brought it all the way down to so the guitars are now more a cross-stitching of muted, across the bridge picking approximating the tinkling of mechanical chimes. Volume control knobs on guitars are tweaked to neatly stagger the otherwise feedbacking sound signals into blocks of zapping noise. 

A wafting current of slight feedback tilts into the near-quietude as the appreciative Fillmore audience starts clapping along in time with the bass drum, and soon it’s all panning from speaker to speaker: yelps and cries from the stage and audience until what was once Bo Diddley has now been reduced to the simplest elements of communal grooving and joy and the group are in no hurry to fall back into the song until the last grunt, handclap and cry has been squeezed out. But they do when Cipollina tears a single, screaming note outta his SG with a twist of Bigsby whammy bar to signal the lurch into the breakneck pace of “How You Love”: a showcase of his quickly incisive and multi-directional arpeggio’d notes that scatter and flee to all four corners of the Fillmore but always regroup back into the ever-ascending main riff. After they cool off during Freiberg’s bass solo spot, they’re quietly circling back over “Who Do You Love” proper. All is simmering until they finally decide to go for broke one final time. Before they hit a final cluster of building crescendos, Freiberg and at least two other members have been vocally going for it by yelling bits of the lyrics over the tumult of guitar riffs and Elmore’s now constant swish of cymbals. But after a series of short solos and heat-generating noise and whining feedback, it elegantly drops off...to roars of applause.

The announcement “This here next one’s rock’n’roll” begins side two with the other Bo Diddley interpretation, “Mona.” Thudding tom-toms and Freiberg’s throb/pulse bass line propels the track as ringing feedback trails off from Cipollina’s amp and juxtaposed against Duncan’s rhythm riffing grind-outs. Eventually dropping down in volume so that an amp hissing like a street sweeper in the distance is audible, Cipollina switches to wah-wah and adjusts his loose guitar cord and the energy is crackling just as sharply. The tom-tom heavy main refrain returns and the band jumps in, only to see things halt and head immediately into “Maiden Of The Cancer Moon.” 

The two solos that erupt on this track are nothing short of volcanic and although this was a Duncan composition, it appears that the solos are pure Cipollina in full flight/total heat complete with hallmark whammy bar, distortion and howling feedback. It continually returns to a shaded riverbank at dusk where cool respite is found -- but the calm is soon interrupted by an irritable scratching guitar pick run up against the grain and full length of a guitar neck with accompanying swooping, sonorous feedback. There’s a final low throttling of guitar that’s about the nastiest sound on the entire album, falling into the quiet whistling down the desert winds of the live in the studio instrumental, “Calvary.” 

For years I always misinterpreted it as “Cavalry” because its near-Morricone spaghetti western instrumental feel creates instant vistas of adobe villages, Spanish tiled rooftops and horse charges under the burning desert sun (But a cry of “Call it anything you want!” towards the end was probably an auto-suggestive incentive.) But the scope and depth of its impressionism of “Calvary” does intimate a musical interpretation of SOME vast human struggle in the desert. This epic sweeps across the deserts as much as the howling winds and droning dust/freakstorms of dark conflict that build and rage throughout with ever-reoccurring dark squalling of feedback as vibrato’d, piercing feedback like teams of whinnying, ghostly steeds. Some eons later, the dense clouds finally subsist and dissipate and guitar playing from an indefinite past age emerges as gentle scratchings of acoustic guitar, wood and flints are picked up from the scattered debris, before the final gusts blow it all away...

The lazy western campfire of “Happy Trails” ends the album on a heartwarming note as clip-clop percussion, piano and drawling vocals from Greg Elmore bids the listener farewell. Whistling takes us down the dusty trail, as jingling spurs head into the distance of a brightly setting sun on the plains, closing a unique album that was like no other. 

by The Seth Man, May 2002

Tracks
1. Who Do You Love - Part 1 (Ellis McDaniel) - 3:32
2. When You Love (Gary Duncan) - 5:15
3. Where You Love (Quicksilver Messenger Service, Fillmore Audience) - 6:07
4. How You Love (John Cipollina) - 2:45
5. Which Do You Love (David Freiberg) - 4:38
6. Who Do You Love - Part 2 (Ellis McDaniel) - 3:05
7. Mona (Ellis McDaniel) - 7:01
8. Maiden of the Cancer Moon (Gary Duncan) - 2:54
9. Calvary (Gary Duncan) - 13:31
10.Happy Trails (Dale Evans) - 1:29

QMS
*John Cipollina - Guitar, Vocals
*Gary Duncan - Guitar, Vocals
*Greg Elmore - Drums
*David Freiberg - Bass, Vocals

1967-68  Quicksilver Messenger Service - Lost Gold And Silver (double disc issue)
1968  Quicksilver Messenger Service (2005 japan, 2012 audiophile mini LP replica)
1969  Quicksilver Messenger Service - Shady Grove (2012 Audiophile remaster)
1969  Quicksilver Messenger Service - Castles In The Sand
1970  Q. M. S. - Just For Love  (2005 japan, 2012 audiophile mini Lp replica)  
1970  Q. M. S. - What About Me (2005 japan, 2012 audiophile mini LP replica)
1971  Quicksilver Messenger Service - Quicksliver (2012 Audiophile Vinyl replica)
1972  Quicksilver Messenger Service - Comin` Thru (2012 Audiopfile mini LP replica)  
1975  Quicksilver Messenger Service - Solid Silver
Related Acts
1973  Copperhead - Copperhead (2001 reissue)

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Atlantis Philharmonic - Atlantis Philharmonic (1974 us, spectacular heavy prog rock, 2016 SHM remaster and expanded)

While in high school Joe DiFazio began taking classical music lessons. Graduating high school he applied to and was accepted to Ohio's Baldwin-Wallace College's music program. College opened up the door to the world of rock and roll and just two semesters short of graduating, DiFazio quit school in order to play keyboards for a Canadian Beatles cover band. 

Interested in finding a way to meld rock with his earlier affection for classical music, in 1974 DiFazio decided to strike out on his own. Recruiting percussionist Royce Gibson, the pair began writing and recording material. Unable to interest a major label in their efforts, the pair eventually released the DiFazio and Perry Johnson produced "The Atlantis Philharmonic" on their own Dharma label.

Taken as a package, it makes for a fairly impressive debut. Even more so when you consider it was recorded independently and with minimal financial resources. Following the album's release DiFazio and Gibson toured the Midwest extensively, though plans to record a pair of follow-on albums never saw fruition. 

By the early-'80s DiFazio had largely dropped out of music. Increasingly interested in computer technology and musical applications he went back to college, obtaining bachelor and masters degrees in computer technology from Indiana State University, though he also found time to complete his music degree. DiFazio is currently a professor of new media and computer technology at Indiana State University.

Bad-cat

Tracks
1. Atlantis (Joe DiFazio) - 5:16
2. Woodsmen (Gerald Willcox, Joe DiFazio) - 7:40
3. Death Man (Joe DiFazio) - 5:29
4. Fly the Light (Joe DiFazio) - 4:39
5. My Friend (Joe DiFazio) - 4:03
6. Atlas (Gerald Willcox, Joe DiFazio) - 8:23
7. Terra Re Natus Overture (Live) - 4:42
8. Death Man (Live) (Joe DiFazio) - 5:56
9. Atlas (Live) (Gerald Willcox, Joe DiFazio) - 9:24
10.In The Hall Of The Mountain (Live) - 3:09
Bonus Tracks 7-10

Atlantis Philharmonic
*Joe Difazio - Vocals, Keyboards, Bass, Piano, Harpsichord, Mellotron, Moog, Synthesizer, Guitar
*Royce Gibson - Timpani, Bass Drum, Gong, Ratchet, Snare, Vocals

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