Surprize were a 1970's psychedelic rock band from Philadelphia. After being together for eight months, the band recorded their one and only, album "Keep On truckin'" in one of Philadelphia’s finest recording studios. Upon release the band started to get TV and radio airplay as well as being booked for larger concerts. The band had great success and growing more and more popular every day. A few years later Surprize were approached by a larger and more well-known record label. They wanted to promote and produce the second album and give it a release on their own label which meant the chance of national distribution.
Shortly after this approach whilst performing out of town, band leader Peter Accardi had a supernatural occurence, which would change the bands. The next morning Peter Accardi, called for a special meeting. At this meeting Peter shared how something supernatural had happened to him, and how he knew he was going to heaven. His life was changed and he tried to share how we all needed the same thing in our lives. Much to everyone's shock, Peter walked away from his career as the lead singer of the band and decided to go to Bible College in order to become a Preacher. A few weeks later keyboard player joined Accardi in his new calling and followed him on his journey to become a Preacher. Not long after the band decided to call it a day. As for Accardi and Bissel both now serve the Lord at the Elkdale Baptist Church, West Clifford, Pennsylvania. Peter Accardi is the church Evangelist and Frank Bissel serves as the Pastor of the church.
Tracks
1. Earth Odyssey (Pete Accardi, Mark Shapiro, Fred Kieffer, Rick Martin, Franck Bissel) - 6:45
2. Sweet Love4:18
3. Keep On Truckin'5:10
4. Ev'ry Day5:15
5. See The Light6:29
6. Try A Little More
All songs by Howard Stein, Tony Roccia except track #1
Changó were an American Latin-rock/funk band from Brooklyn a compilation of beautiful vocals,rhythmic guitar playing and energetic sexual lyrics. Chango is a treasure worth discovering. The band has definitely been slept on because personally I feel Burlin Speakes'guitar playing is better than Carlos Santana's.
For Chango´s second album, Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood apparently lead singer Pepe Gomez changed all the members except one, changed label to Mercury and went to soul-rock. The album is a little harder and less Latin than their first one. The perfect voice, the guitars screams and the singer agrees with his shrieks as he´s getting murdered. If you love old Santana, only harder with a voice, you´ve never heard before, don´t hesitate.
Above all is representative of unbridled sexuality. There is no Deity more vehement,nor energetic. Could be described as the "God of All". Well this definitely describes this incredible band "Chango". This band lives up to it's name.
Tracks
1. Life Is A Rainbow (Pepe Gomez, Reinol Andino) - 3:21
2. The Last Ride - 4:50
3. Meeting Of The Gods - 5:30
4. Lady, Lady (Dino Gomez, Pepe Gomez) - 4:23
5. La Rumba (Burlin Speakes, Mike Cruz, Pepe Gomez, Reinol Andino) - 2:50
6. Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde - 6:38
7. Thumbing A Ride - 6:56
8. Woman In Black (Burlin Speakes, Charles Rook, Mike Cruz, Pepe Gomez, Reinol Andino) - 4:05
9. Evil Lady - 2:52
All compositions by Pepe Gomez except where stated
You might think of Bad News is Coming as giving life to the strange animal-human hybrids from the Island of Doctor Moreau, animating weird chimeras, beings that emanate from the strings of his Les Paul but enter a register of sound more akin to the human voice than the guitar.
From the first mournful notes of the album, the distortion-heavy sound of a cock crowing, we get the sense that the sun is rising on a distorted world: we’ve entered an uncanny plane of shadowy grotesques, a bizarro America, hellish and spectral, and Luther Allison is our Virgil through this post-Vietnam inferno. The song is “Little Red Rooster,” made famous by Howlin’ Wolf in 1961, and is one of the best songs on the album to showcase Allison’s guitar virtuosity and dramatic vocal skill. Allison’s menagerie includes barking dogs, howling hounds and general barnyard chaos. It’s both playful and dire. He ends the song in a desperate staccato solo before opening the next track, “Evil is Going On,” where he growls ‘something just ain’t right.’ This album is PARANOID (not literally, but there must have been something in the air) and that really speaks to Allison’s range, not only vocally — his iconic high-pitched scream punctuates the title track (a giant!) but retains its rich, butter-smooth timbre throughout the album — but in terms of tone, oscillating between sexual optimism and deep suspicion.
A little heaven and a little hell: we’re out here in the wasteland, so we may as well live a little. Opening with this homage to Howlin’ Wolf, with whom Allison jammed in the late ‘50s, demonstrates the album’s devotion to a careful curation of well-known standards and early blues tunes: palimpsests of blues history. Musically, you hear the indelible impact of that great voodoo king Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, especially in the title track. There are hints of delta blues, and whispers of straight ahead Chicago blues undergird some of the later songs, but Allison stitches them together into a violent, rock heavy collage that ranks him with Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin in ferocity and sound. While only three of the tracks on the album may be original, Allison’s arrangements are all his own. This shit bangs.
What is most striking about the album historically is Allison’s prescient insight which, by 1972, had already picked up on the tremors of imminent collapse resounding through the American empire of the early ‘70s. Alluding to the rousing cries of the rooster in the first song, the title track opens with Allison singing “I got the bad news this morning.” The two upbeat and entendre-rich songs that precede “Bad News is Coming” give way to a fully paranoid, if not quite fully realized prophecy, of impending horror. But the war was ending, people said; things are looking up – just think of the post-war economic boom of the ‘50s! Maybe it was growing up Black in Eisenhower’s America, or maybe Allison just saw things clearer than most everybody else, but the future was foreboding from where he was standing.
Luther Allison died in Madison in 1997, aged 57, at the top of his game, having never seen any clearer.
by Ivan Bobanovski, March 4, 2018
Tracks
1. The Little Red Rooster (Willie Dixon) - 4:13
2. Evil Is Going On (Willie Dixon) - 4:38
3. Raggedy And Dirty (Andrew Smith, Joe Peraino, Luther Allison, Ray Goodman, Robert Kreiner) - 3:42
4. Rock Me Baby (B.B. King, Joe Josea) - 5:46
5. Bad News Is Coming (Joe Peraino, Luther Allison, Paul White) - 7:26
6. Cut You A-Loose (Mel London) - 5:59
7. Dust My Broom (Elmore James) - 2:48
8. The Stumble (Freddy King) - 2:23
9. Sweet Home Chicago (Robert Johnson) - 4:13
10.It's Been A Long Time (Luther Allison) - 10:44
11.Take My Love (I Want To Give It All To You) (Mertis John) - 4:21
In his original liner notes, John Fishel noted that Luther Allison has the propulsive force and mastery to totally decimate an audience. I have been a witness to this many times.
Amen! Luther's family moved to Chicago from Forrest City, Arkansas in 1951. He was one of 12 children, and his brother Ollie... played the guitar and had a band on the West Side from 1954 to 1957. A preacher taught Luther to repair shoes... "but when I found out how much money I'd need to set myself up"...So he started out on bass... switched to guitar and in 1957 had his own band... played at the Bungalow on west 15th street for about a year and then went to Earl's place in Argo, IL. It was in Argo that Luther met Freddy King. Freddy and Luther's brother Grant encouraged Luther to start singing. Luther took over a job (from Freddy King) at Walton's Corner with Big Mojo Elem, bass and T.J. McNulty, drums. The gig lasted five years, then Luther began moving around from white clubs on the North Side to the 1815 Club on Roosevelt Rd. and back to Walton's Corners.
Then in 1967 he moved to Peoria and began playing with an organ trio at Birdland. By the late 1960s we had become familiar with the fabulous West Side blues scene where Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Magic Sam, and Otis Rush capitalized on their R’n’B record successes at Sylvio's, Club Alex, Avenue. Lesser-known, unrecorded (but no less interesting) talent could turn up any night at smaller clubs such as Ross & Ma Bea's, Walton's Corner, the L&A, the Avenue, Duke's two joints and places ID'd more by their location than a name. We found and recorded Jimmy Dawkins and Carey Bell after such discoveries but were indebted to Shakey Jake's partner Bill Lindeman for the introduction to Luther Allison. They had recorded him for a label that never materialized.
Their masters make up Sweet Home Chicago (618) and presently we heard him at the Alex. We immediately decided to add Allison to our roster but before we could do so, Luther gravitated to Los Angeles where he worked as a side- man on World Pacific's short-lived blues series and played at the Back Door, Red Velvet and Golden Bear. Delmark had been besieged by entreaties from record producers for Magic Sam's contract. In the absence of concrete proposals (I duck when recordmen ask me to "be a nice guy"), I suggested that they sign.
Luther Allison-Delmark couldn't afford to do sessions in L.A. Luther's present popularity with critics and fans alike indicates those A&R guys had a no understanding of blues. Luther eventually returned to the Chicago area, was signed and his first LP released. [Now that it can be told, John Fishel (chief instigator of the original Ann Arbor Blues Festival) was so high on Luther that he loaned us most of the money for the sessions we had spent our wad on Crudup, Carey, Dawkins, etc.] Love Me Mama outsold any album Delmark had issued by an artist not already established with an R’n’B single.
We were unable to connect Allison with a booker who under- stood the new blues market and after a succession of managers Luther moved to Europe where he had good management, recording regularly. Recently he has returned to the states, becoming the most popular and critically acclaimed blues artist of 1996. As the old saying goes: "You've been a long time coming, but you're welcome here."
by Bob Koester, Jim Fishel
Tracks
1. Why I Love The Blues - 4:01
2. Little Red Rooster (Willie Dixon) - 4:27
3. 4:00 In The Morning (Waiting On You) (B.B. King, Ferdinand Washington) - 2:12
4. You Done Lost Your Good Thing (B.B. King, Jo Josea) - 4:13
5. Five Long Years (Eddie Boyd) - 4:15
6. Dust My Broom (Robert Johnson) - 3:32
7. Every Night About This Time (Fats Domino) - 3:56
8. Love Me Mama - 3:54
9. The Sky Is Crying (Elmore James) - 5:33
10.Help Me (Sonny Boy Williamson II, Ralph Bass, Willie Dixon) - 3:46
11.You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now (B.B. King, Jo Josea) - 3:31
Blackfoot began as Fresh Garbage. The hard- rocking band first saw life in the same tough Jacksonville, Florida, club scene that spawned Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet. And, as Skynyrd became international stars, members of Blackfoot would come and go from Skynyrd, including leader Ricky "Rattlesnake" Medlocke. Indeed, as the century wound down, Medlocke was back in Lynyrd Skynyrd, serving as second drummer for that band and also doing some dates with a newly re-configured Blackfoot.
Medlocke has a varied musical background. His grandfather was the renowned bluegrass musician Shorty Medlocke. In the late '60s, Ricky formed Fresh Garbage with Jakson Spires and Greg T. Walker. They were later joined by New Yorker Charlie Hargrett and became regulars in the rough and tumble bar circuit of north Florida playing as Blackfoot.
In 1970, Blackfoot broke up and both Medlocke and Walker joined what was then the constantly changing Lynyrd Skynyrd line-up. Three years later, Medlocke gave up his drummer's chair with Lynyrd Skynyrd to return to a revived Blackfoot, where he played guitar and sang. In 1975 the band debuted on Island Records with No Reservations, a powerful record that reflected both Medlocke's Sioux Indian heritage and his time in Lynyrd Skynyrd. Granddad Shorty appeared, playing on Railroad Man. When No Reservations did not get the attention it deserved, the group went to the Epic division of Columbia Records for one release-Flyin' High-a strong 1976 album that makes up this package.
By 1979, the group was signed to the Atco subsidiary of Atlantic Records. Strikes, their third album, charted in the spring and attained platinum status, helped by constant touring and the Top 40 singles Highway Song and Train, Train. Strikes was followed by Tomcattin' in the summer of 1980. A year later they were back with Marauder, which sported the hit Fly Away. They also charted on Atco with Siogo-which was notable for the debut of former Uriah Heep keyboard ace Ken Hensley-and Vertical Smiles, an '84 release that marked the exit of guitarist Spires. Hensley was gone by the time Rick Medlocke And Blackfoot came out in 1987 on Atco. By the late '80s, Blackfoot was winding down and dropped out of sight for a time. Medlocke was back with the band in 1994, signed to Nalli Records, which issued the blues rock of After The Reign. Not long after that he was back in Lynyrd Skynyrd.
by Mark Marymont, 1999
Tracks
1. Feelin' Good - 2:47
2. Flyin' High (Charlie Hargrett, Jackson Spires, Rick Medlocke) - 4:20
3. Try A Little Harder (Charlie Hargrett, Jackson Spires, Rick Medlocke) - 4:48
4. Stranger On The Road - 2:43
5. Save Your Time - 3:43
6. Dancin' Man (Charlie Hargrett, Jackson Spires, Rick Medlocke) - 3:38
7. Island Of Life - 4:07
8. Junkie's Dream - 3:57
9. Madness - 4:56
10.Mother (Greg T. Walker) - 2:46
All songs by Jackson Spires, Rick Medlocke except where indicated
Blackfoot
*Rickey Medlocke - Lead Vocals, Rhythm, Lead, Acoustic , Electric Guitars, Dobro
Blackfoot were contemporaries of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and tried for years to make it as a Southern rock band, although they finally succeeded as a hard rock outfit, in the manner of AC/DC and the Scorpions. They racked up a hit album (Strikes) and a pair of successful singles ("Train, Train," "Highway Song") in the late '70s and early '80s, before they became lost in the post-MTV era of visually oriented bands.
The group started out as a quartet comprising singer/guitarist Rickey Medlocke (the grandson of bluegrass musician Shorty Medlocke, who wrote "Train, Train"), drummer/singer Jakson Spires, bassist/singer Greg T. Walker, and lead guitarist Charlie Hargrett. Named Blackfoot as an acknowledgment of Medlocke's heritage, they were signed to Island in 1975, evidently as that label's resident Southern rockers, but moved to Epic the following year. Neither relationship was successful, but in 1979, after moving to Atco, their first album for the new label, Strikes, hit a responsive chord -- the group spent the next few years on that label, racking up impressive sales with the follow-ups Tomcattin' and Marauder.
by Bruce Eder
Tracks
1. Railroad Man (Shorty Medlocke) - 2:22
2. Indian World - 2:52
3. Stars - 4:08
4. Not Another Maker - 5:08
5. Born To Rock And Roll - 3:37
6. Take A Train - 4:23
7. Big Wheels - 5:05
8. I Stand Alone - 7:47
9. Railroad Man (Shorty Medlocke) - 1:10
All songs by Jakson Spires except where noted
Blackfoot
*Rickey Medlocke - Lead Vocals, Rhythm, Lead, Acoustic Guitars, Dobro
Obscure Canadian power trio playing Blues, Rock and a few Funky Hammond Gems. Has covers like David Crosby's A Long Time Coming, Taj Mahal's She Caught My Katie, Morganfield's I Just Want To Make Love To You and She Moves Me, a great Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter, J.B. Lenoir's Mama What About Your Daughter, Buddy Guy's Watch Yourself and Burnett's Oh Baby Hold Me. What makes this impressive is the great musicianship and simple and clear production. Issued on same label as Reign Ghost and Christmas, and super rare too. One of the toughest Paragon LP's to track down... Hans Pokora has it listed in his Record Collector Dreams series of books with a 3 Star Rarity Rating! Even with its inclusion in the Pokora books it's still relatively unknown.
A limited German CD reissue surfaced some years back and it has never been reissued on vinyl. This album is mainly comprised of great covers done in a very raw garage charged blues rock fashion with slight psychedelic touches... but the real standout on this album, for me personally, is the original instrumental "Spring Fever", an incredibly tight jam action with a Slide Wah Wah Guitar combined with a heavy bottom end and hard drums.
Tracks
1. Woodstock (Joni Mitchell) - 4:00
2. A Long Time Coming (David Crosby) - 4:49
3. She Caught My Katie (Taj Mahal) - 3:15
4. I Just Want To Make Love To You (McKinley Morganfield) - 2:29
5. She's Looking Good (Rodger Collins) - 2:57
6. Oh Baby Hold Me (Chester Burnett) - 2:32
7. Watch Yourself (Buddy Guy) - 3:36
8. Gimme Shelter (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 4:00
9. She Moves Me (McKinley Morganfield) - 3:30
10.Mama, What About Your Daughter (J. B. Lenoir) - 2:39
11.Spring Fever (Paul James, Rick Law, Frank Meehan) - 4:18
Born Oldham, January 13th, 1947. John had no formal musical education, but took up guitar when he was fourteen. Educated at Robin Hill Secondary Modern and Breeze Hill Comprehensive, John went on to study at Oldham School Of Art, where he met Woolly Wolstenholme in 1964. They played together in the Sorcerers, playing Eddie Cochran-style rock and roll, and in The Blues Keepers, before forming Barclay James Harvest in 1967. He recorded a solo album, A Major Fancy, in 1972, but this was tied up when the band changed record label and was not released until 1977.
John’s musical influences include Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh and The Eagles. He also enjoys reading, his favourite books being Graham Greene’s A Burnt Out Case, science fiction novels (especially those of Ray Bradbury) and poetry. His hobbies include photography and amateur radio. John lives in Saddleworth with his wife Olwen and they have two children, Esther Jane (born 28th July, 1980) and John Joseph (who shares his father’s birthday, being born on 13th January, 1986). For five years John worked in the sixth form at Crompton House School, involved with the production of the GCSE and A Level students' Music and Music Technology coursework, but in July 2012 he retired from that work in order to concentrate fully on music once more.
bjharvest
By the time John Lees’ solo album eventually hit the harsh, gob-bespattered streets of 1977, it couldn’t have been more out of step if you’d tied its shoelaces together and started pelting its feet with stones. The Barclay James Harvest guitarist originally recorded the album in a comparatively benign 1972, when the charts may have been awash with glam rockers tottering around on glittery stack heels, but there was still room in the ranks for long-form soft-rock introspection.
As a direct consequence of that insanely protracted release schedule, A Major Fancy has never really received an unbiased hearing, which is a pity because it holds up surprisingly well. Produced by Wally Waller and abetted by a crack team of musos including Rod Argent, 10cc’s Kevin Godley and Eric Stewart, and Wally’s fellow Pretty Things Skip Alan and Gordon Edwards, it benefits from a reining-in of the characteristic BJH impulse to overstate. Admittedly, the BJH touchstone Child Of The Universe is unveiled here, but this version seems drier, cooler and somehow more credible. The attractively baggy Latinate jazz groove of Untitled No 1 – Heritage, meanwhile, is closest in texture to the Parachute-era Pretties. A whole disc’s worth of contemporaneous extras seals the deal.
The Tweeds where from Massachusetts and issued a small string of singles and EPs from 1977 – 1981, the most famous of which is probably 1980’s Perfect Fit which contains their most lasting tracks “I Need That Record” and “The Girl Who Said No”
Pretty much all of their output is included here, even including an alternate recording of “Underwater Girl” from its inclusion on an ’81 b-side that saw it rerecorded for the release and added an intro. The band apparently included Kenny Gorelick (aka Kenny G, the band of your elevator existence) on keys at one point but its unclear how much of the material he may have played on. In general the band has a lot of delightful, but not especially hard hitting power pop and its safe to say this may be the most definitive release of their music that you’d ever need.
The aforementioned “Underwater Girl” might be the best surprise, as its not included on many compilations and its a solid runner of a power pop jam and gives the band a bit of a harder edge. The rest is probably for the true power pop diggers but I’ve always been a sucker for the fringes of the genre. Not holding my breath for a vinyl issue of this but it would be nice to have a bit more background from the label on this one. Barring that, I’ll just cross my fingers that the Buttons series might start back up (please, please, please), it was promising but I’m sure it sorely undersold those soul comps. One can only hope this might be an indication of turning their gaze back towards power pop.
by Andy (Raven Sings The Blues)
Tracks
1. If I Could Only Dance (Marc McHugh, Paulson) - 2:21
2. I'm Thru (Marc McHugh, Paulson) - 1:56
3. Shortwave (Marc McHugh, Paulson) - 2:25
4. Teen Love (Marc McHugh, Paulson) - 2:35
5. Ode To A Glicknick (The Larry Glick Song) - 1:39
6. Underwater Girl (Marc McHugh) - 3:10
7. My Memories (Charles Blackwell, Françoise Hardy, Jacques Datin) - 2:44
8. Postcard (Marc McHugh) - 3:01
9. I Need That Record (Marc McHugh, Jeff Mezzrow) - 3:19
10.Hey Baby (Marc McHugh, Jeff Mezzrow) - 3:50
11.Later Tonight (Marc McHugh, Jeff Mezzrow) - 2:53
12.She's The Girl (Who Said No) (Marc McHugh) - 3:09
13.I've Got Rock In My Heart (Marc McHugh, Jeff Mezzrow, George Godding) - 3:39
14.We Ran Ourselves (Marc McHugh, Jeff Mezzrow, Paulson) - 3:45
15.Away From You (Marc McHugh, Jeff Mezzrow, Paulson) - 4:11
16.Underwater Girl (Eat Records Version) (Marc McHugh) - 3:51
Charlie's "Fantasy Girls", shows a much tighter control of the music then the live appearance. Their main problem scorns from a lack of originality. Their playing is competent but couldn’t be distinguished from the sound of a 101 other bands. Their lyrics aren’t exactly gripping either, le: “I have my dreams although I’m broke, acute skintitús is no joke.” That speaks for itself I think.
by Rosalind Rusael, Record Mirror
Charlie was a British band, that initially started out as a fairly hard-rock guitar band, and it’s the band’s 1976 debut album Fantasy Girls that is easily the best in their catalogue (IMO). The band here comprised of Terry Thomas (lead vocals, guitar), John Anderson (bass, backing vox), Steve Gadd (drums, percussion), and Martin Smith (guitar, backing vox). Fantasy Girls came with different covers for each side of the Atlantic; I prefer the UK version, subsequent albums would feature models on the covers, which were an improvement.
The album is full of great guitar, with plenty of different styles and blends, heavy in places, harmonies, melodies… Not quite an overly heavy band, but holding back with smooth production, and a variety of cuts. Some massive solos, like these guys were torn between wanting to be an-out 2-guitar hard-rock/metal act and vocally an American smooth sounding AOR band. Regardless, every track is good here, but highlights have to be the title track, as well as “Prisoners”, the single “TV Dreams”, and the closing straight ahead rocker “Summer Romances”.
Tracks
1. Fantasy Girls - 4:35
2. Miss Deluxe - 3:58
3. TV Dreams - 3:04
4. Prisoners - 5:57
5. First Class Traveller - 2:50
6. Greatcoat Guru - 5:09
7. Please Let Me Know - 4:01
8. Don't Let Me Down - 2:24
9. It's Your Life - 5:29
10.Summer Romances (John Anderson, Martin Smith, Steve Gadd, Terry Thomas) - 5:04
