In the late '60s, the Deviants were something like the British equivalent to the Fugs, with touches of the Mothers of Invention and the British R&B-based rock of the Yardbirds and the Pretty Things. Their roots were not so much in the British Invasion as the psychedelic underground that began to take shape in London in 1966-1967. Not much more than amateurs when they began playing, they squeezed every last ounce of skill and imagination out of their limited instrumental and compositional resources on their debut, Ptooff!, which combined savage social commentary, overheated sexual lust, psychedelic jamming, blues riffs, and pretty acoustic ballads -- all in the space of seven songs.
Their subsequent '60s albums had plenty of outrage, but not nearly as strong material as the debut. Lead singer Mick Farren recorded a solo album near the end of the decade, and went on to become a respected rock critic. He intermittently performed and recorded as a solo artist and with re-formed versions of the Deviants.
by Richie Unterberger
The third and, for the time being, final Deviants album is also, according to frontman Mick Farren, the record that they should never have made. Writing in his 2001 autobiography, Give the Anarchist a Cigarette, Farren observes that even the album's title encapsulated the group's state of mind -- "so creatively tapped out we couldn't even come up with a snappy name for the damned record." He is being harsh. While The Deviants, No. 3 is still a fascinating glimpse into the state of the British underground in 1969.
A few of the songs are indeed as unrehearsed (and certainly undeveloped) as Farren has since complained -- "Death of a Dream Machine" is little more than a jingle, when it ought to be a masterpiece. But it's also a considerably more coherent album than the group's speed-freak monster mash reputation might allow you to expect, and it doesn't even sound that horribly dated. At its most seething, "Billy the Monster," the sinister Zappa-esque chant with which the album opens, captures the archetypal hippie-freak. Then, skip over the somewhat Airplane-y "Broken Biscuits" and "First Line," and you reach "The People's Suite" -- and what could be more brilliant than a suite that lasts just two and a half minutes? "We are the people who pervert your children, lead them astray from the lessons you taught them":
Again, Zappa hangs heavy over the proceedings, but if the tabloids of the day ever needed to have their worst fears confirmed, the Deviants were pleased to oblige. Musically, The Deviants, No. 3 hangs in a void somewhere between the early Edgar Broughton Band, with whom they enjoyed the wildest rivalry, and the incipient Pink Fairies, to which all the members bar Farren soon fled. Culturally, however, it is a brutal reminder of that moment when the '60s dream teetered on the brink of the precipice, and the planet went to hell in a handcart around it.
by Dave Thompson
Tracks
1. Billy the Monster - 3:26
2. Broken Biscuits - 2:10
3. First Line (Seven The Row) - 2:44
4. The People Suite - 2:24
5. Rambling B(l)ack Transit Blues - 5:37
6. Death of a Dream Machine - 2:50
7. Playtime - 3:06
8. Black George Does It With His Tongue - 1:20
9. The Junior Narco Rangers - 0:28
10.Lets Drink To the People - 1:32
11.Metamorphosis Explosion - 8:57
All songs by Deviants
The Deviants
*Mick Farren – Lead Vocals
*Paul Rudolph – Guitar, Vocals
*Duncan Sanderson – Bass And Vocals
*Russell Hunter – Percussion, Vocals Additional Personnel
*Tony Ferguson – Organ
*Tony Wiggens –Lead Vocal On "First Line"
*David Goodman –Backing Vocals
*Jenny Ashworth – Vocals
The Nashville Teens were one of a brace of British acts competing for attention in the booming days of the early British Invasion and its early purely English phenomenon, the British beat boom. They were distinguished from most of the others by scoring a memorable and serious hit, "Tobacco Road." This put them on the map internationally (even getting them into an American jukebox movie, Beach Ball, that also featured the Supremes) before they gradually faded away in popularity.
The sextet first got together in Weybridge, Surrey, in 1962 with Art Sharp and Ray Phillips on vocals, John Hawken on piano, Pete Shannon on bass, Michael Dunford on guitar, and Roger Groom on drums. In those days, they played basic American rock & roll with perhaps a bit more abandon even then than their competition.
Dunford exited along with Groom in 1963 to be replaced by John Allen and Barry Jenkins, respectively, and a seventh member, vocalist Terry Crow, joined during the group's extended stay in Hamburg, West Germany, in 1963. (Crow and Dunford later co-founded the Plebs, who recorded for Deram Records, and Dunford subsequently became a key member of the second lineup of Renaissance).
During their Hamburg engagement, the group got pegged to play as backup band to visiting American rock 'n' roll superstar Jerry Lee Lewis, which resulted in the recording of one of the great live albums of the era, Jerry Lee Lewis Live at the Star Club; they later played gigs backing Bo Diddley, and it was at one of those shows that they were spotted by Mickie Most (then still a performer). After the band was signed to English Decca in 1964, Most became their producer for their debut single, "Tobacco Road," released in the summer of 1964, which charted high on both sides of the Atlantic.
A composition by North Carolina-born songwriter John D. Loudermilk -- who was also responsible for "Sittin' in the Balcony" (Eddie Cochran's first single), "Ebony Eyes" by the Everly Brothers, and "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" by George Hamilton IV -- "Tobacco Road" was itself inspired by Erskine Caldwell's 1932 novel, which had been transformed into a hit play and a less successful movie depicting dire rural poverty among white southerners.
Somehow, the English band managed to sound convincing with their pounding performance, which featured both singers prominently, a bold boogie-woogie attack on the piano by Hawken, and Allen, Shannon, and Jenkins slashing and thumping away on their respective instruments. Their follow-up song, "Google Eye," also written by Loudermilk, reached number ten in England in the fall of 1964 but wasn't noticed too much in America.
The group's rock & roll credentials were as solid as that of any English band, as was demonstrated by the number of gigs that they played backing visiting American stars. What they lacked, however (apart from solid in-house songwriting talent), was one (or more) interesting personalities in their ranks that could be put before the public and a collective personality that could be defined, musically or any other way. Neither Sharp nor Phillips was as compelling or interesting a singer as, say, Denny Laine of their Decca Records rivals the Moody Blues, much less Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Eric Burdon, or Roger Daltrey.
Additionally, they were musically flexible to a fault, literally, capable of playing boogie-style rock 'n' roll in the best Jerry Lee Lewis style or slightly bluesier and more folk-influenced songs, and even dabbled in doo-wop, but they never had a sound, beyond the crunching attack on "Tobacco Road," that could be identified. In this regard, they were a lot like the Downliners Sect; they loved American rock & roll, but they couldn't do more than pound away at it, and they didn't even have the Sect's offbeat eccentricity to mark them in people's memories.
As early as 1965, more than sheer enthusiasm for the music was needed to attract listeners, and after a few minor Top 40 British entries, The Nashville Teens followed the route of acts like the Swingin' Blue Jeans and the original Moody Blues to smaller venues and less prestigious opening act spots, apart from the occasional chance to back people like Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins when they came to England.
As late as 1966 and 1967, The Nashville Teens kept trying, and they came close musically to turning their fortunes around. They could do soulful rockers like "That's My Woman" and make it sound like the real article, almost as compelling as the Beatles doing "You Really Got a Hold on Me," or brisk, rousing upbeat numbers like "I'm Comin' Home" -- a piece of good-time music worthy of the Tremeloes -- but somehow they lacked that last bit of personality needed to punch through the competition and get the needed airplay to make their stuff into hits. By 1968, not even a hard, slashing cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" could get them noticed. And by that time, even their name was a liability, in terms of competing with the likes of the Rolling Stones, the Who, et al., whose images had changed vastly since 1965.
Barrie Jenkins exited the group in 1966 to become a member of Eric Burdon and the Animals, and his 1963 predecessor Roger Groom occupied the drummer's spot for the duration. John Hawken was part of the lineup of the original Renaissance, spun out of the psychedelic-oriented half of the Yardbirds' original membership, and later passed through the lineups of Vinegar Joe and the Strawbs.
Ray Phillips kept the group going long enough into the 1970s that it was able to avail itself of the '60s nostalgia boom, appearing regularly in Europe and the U.K. Decca Records, which never really promoted The Nashville Teens (or, for that matter, any of their other rock acts, which is why they had none left apart from the Rolling Stones and the Moody Blues who handled their own affairs), issued a flawed and very poor sounding compilation LP in at the tail-end of the original group's existence, around 1970, that went out of print very quickly, and there was little else to mark their history for the next two decades apart from live shows by the current group. By the early '80s, however, they'd achieved a certain degree of respect among collectors of British invasion material, even in America where only "Tobacco Road" had ever made any impression.
A version of the group was working British Invasion nostalgia shows well into the 1990s and one imagines that this will be the case as long as Ray Phillips can take the stage. And in the spring of 2000, Repertoire Records issued the definitive CD compilation of their classic work, in the best sound ever heard.
by Bruce Eder
Tracks
1. Tobacco Road (John D. Loudermilk) - 2:27
2. Mona (E. McDaniels) - 4:38
3. Need You (Francis Craig) - 2:56
4. Bread and Butter Man (Hollingworth, Loden) - 2:36
5. Hurtin' Inside (Cirino Colacrai, Teddy Randazzo) - 2:03
6. (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon) - 3:37
7. Google Eye (John D. Loudermilk) - 2:20
8. Too Much (Carter-Lewis, John Carter) - 2:47
9. Parchment Farm (Mose Allison) - 2:15
10.I Like It Like That (Chris Kenner, Allen Toussaint) - 2:02
11.How Deep Is the Ocean? (Irving Berlin) - 2:42
12.La Bamba (Ritchie Valens) - 2:09
13.TNT (John Hawken) - 2:53
14.Devil-In-Law (Terry, Davis) - 2:59
15.Find My Way Back Home (Lambert, Pegues) - 2:23
16.What'cha Gonna Do? (Cable, Jenkins) - 1:46
17.I Know How It Feels to Be Loved (Barberis, Joyce) - 2:45
18.Upside Down (Arthur Sharp) - 2:22
19.Forbidden Fruit (Unknown) - 3:01
20.Revived 45 Time (Unknown) - 1:45
21.That's My Woman (Little) - 2:04
22.I'm Coming Home (Keen, Shaw) - 3:05
23.The Biggest Night of Her Life (Randy Newman) - 2:24
24.Last Minute (Arthur Sharp) - 1:57
25.All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - 2:48
26.Sun Dog (John Allen, John Hawken, Ray Phillips, Arthur Sharp) - 3:10
27.Poor Boy (Unknown) - 2:32
28.Ella James (Roy Wood) - 2:51
29.Tennessee Woman (Potter, Dee) - 3:01
Ruphus were one of the most varied Norwegian progressive rock bands in the sense that they often would change their style from album to album, but always within a progressive frame. They started out as a quite big heavy prog band, featuring no less than seven members. On their debut "New Born Day" they had two lead vocalists, male and female. Gudny Aspaas was one of the very best Norwegian female singers in the 70's, possessing a high pitched and flawless voice that had no peer in Norway at that time.
The male singer Rune Sundby was unfortunately quite the opposite, delivering some embarrassingly weak English vocals that slightly weakens the otherwise good impression of a very solid album. The opener "Coloured Dreams" is rather straightforward hard rock, but things do get a lot more complex and progressive in "Scientific Ways". That track along with "Still Alive" and especially the title-track features some very slight influences from Gentle Giant, but still apparent enough to be detected (at least in my ears). "Trapped in A Game" is Aspaas' definitive moment on the album, a kind of a progressive and grandiose ballad that allows her to display her voice and range in all its impressive glory.
Among the other musicians we find keyboardist Hakon Graf who had a quite powerful organ sound, and some very sparse use of synths (although that would change a lot later). Bassist Asle Nilsen also delivered some atmospheric flute on a few brief passages, the most noteworthy one probably at the end of "Scientific Ways". "The Man Who Started It All" is similar to what Uriah Heep did at the same time, but the closer "Day After Tomorrow" is the longest, most complex and progressive piece on the record, actually sounding a lot like Aunt Mary's "Janus" album from the same year. "New Born Day" is for many people a classic of Norwegian progressive rock.
Tracks
1. Coloured Dreams - 4:04
2. Scientific Ways - 5:59
3. Still Alive - 4:35
4. The Man Who Started It All - 5:28
5. Trapped In A Game - 6:06
6. New Born Day - 5:43
7. Day After Tomorrow - 8:47
8. Flying Dutchman Fantasy - 3:08
9. Opening Theme - 3:18
All Songs Composed by Ruphus
The Shamrocks, not to be mixed up with The Swiss Shamrocks or the UK band.
Sweden 1962, Bjorn and Jan joined together with Bernt and Goran and formed a band, calling themselves The Shamrocks. At the time, their music was inspired by The Shadows. They did their first performance as an instrumental group. Some months later, a singer named Dick Emretzon joined.
After their military service, they started an intense search for new members, which resulted in a very successful constellation, featuring Jimmy Lindskog on guitar and Dieter Feichtinger on bass. At Kingside Club in Stockholm they won a talent competition which resulted in a recording contract with Karusell Records. They adopted the Renegades song "Cadillac" and were called "The Scandinavian Beatles". Karusell then was bought by the big German record company Polydor, which had an international repertoire.
The Shamrocks were transferred to Polydor as one of the label’s international star groups. The Shamrocks now touring through Europe. In 1966 they did their first performances in Paris, France. ”Cadillac” had reached the charts, and they performed at famous places like Top Ten and Moulin Rouge. Later in the year, The Shamrocks did their first tour in England, appearing on the same stages as The Hollies, The Moody Blues, The Mindbenders, Paul & Barry Ryan, Georgie Fame, Marianne Faithfull and others.
Finally they did a concert at the famous Olympia, one of the most prominent music halls in the world. This time they appeared with the King of Rock’n’Roll himself: Jerry Lee Lewis. After Jan Granaht left the group in 1967, Bjorn, Dieter and Kent decided to go on as a trio. A new image was disussed, trying out more visual effects. Together with a ”fireworks artist”, a tremendous firework show was put together: water-falls, smokescreens, Bengal fires, showers of sparks – you name it...
The group returned to Germany for a farewell concert at the Beethovenhalle in Bonn. And then Kent remained in Bonn after this last gig. After a while Bjorn and Dieter decided to make one last ”thanks and farewell”-tour in Germany.
by Martin Lundstrom
Tracks
1. We Gonna Make It (Lindskog, Feichtinger) - 2:55
2. A Lonely Man (Lindskog, Calstrom) - 2 10
3. Skinny Minny (Haley, Keefer, Grabler, Dafra) - 3 00
4. A Mountain Of Silver (Feichtmqar, Weiss) - 1:55
5. Cadillac (Brown, Gibson, Johnson, Maller) - 2:45
6. Easy Rider (Arr:Sone, Collier) - 1:50
7. And I Need You (Lindskog) - 2.22
8. Zip A Dee Doo-Dah (Wrubel, Reuter and Reuter Frol) - 2:15
9. La La La (Paul) - 2:31
10.Things Will Turn Out Right Tomorrow (Brown, Gibson, Johnson, Mallet) - 2:00
11.Ballaballa (Lippock) - 2:08
12.Oxford Street 43 (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 2:38
13.Don't Say (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 2:53
14.Nobody Cares About Me (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 2:20
15.Days (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 2:33
16.Smokerings (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 3:18
17.See Me Coming (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 2:00
18.I'm On The Outside Loocking In (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 2.50
19.Please Don't Cry (For Me) (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 2:43
20.Gipsy Lullaby At 10:30 (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 248
21.Missconception (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 2:58
22.I'm Ready For The Show (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 2 24
23.Cadillac (Paris Version) (Brown, Gibson, Johnson, Maller) - 2:45
24.How The Time Flies (Feichtinger, Granhat, Rinsberg, Wrangert) - 2:28
25.Travelin'man (Wells, Miller) - 3:03
26.The Smiling Kind (Hazzard) - 2:08
27.Don’t You Know She's Mine(Carter, Keen, Show) - 2:25
28.Daytime Nighttime (Hugg) - 2:50
29.Rich Life (Chamhers, Pawson) - 2:20
The Shamrocks
*Dick Emretzon - Vocals (1962-64)
*Jan Granaht - Guitar (1962-67)
*Bjorn Wrangert - Drums
*Bernt Ek - Bass (1962-64) replaced by
*Dieter Feichtinger - Bass (1964-present)
*Goran Andersson - Guitar (1962-63) replaced by
*Kent Risberg - Guitar (1965-present)
*Jimmy Lindskog - Guitar and Vocals (1963-65) replaced by
*Curt Nylen - Guitar and Vocals (2007-present) Free Text Just Paste
This double-CD set is essential listening -- not just for Downliners Sect fans, but for anyone who's ever worn out copies of any of the first three Rolling Stones albums or owns anything by the Yardbirds, the Pretty Things, Them, the Graham Bond Organisation, the Animals, early John Mayall, the Shadows of Knight, or any of countless blues-inspired American garage bands.
In content, it's approximately equivalent to Charly's Yardbirds Ultimate Collection, encompassing the complete contents of the Downliners Sect's three original LPs, from the bluesy "Baby, What's Wrong" to the pounding, proto-psychedelic "Glendora." Thus, listeners don't get the EP and demo tracks "Cadillac," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Beautiful Delilah," or "Shame Shame Shame," and "I Can't Get Away from You" and "Roses" are also missing from the other end of their history -- all of which are present, along with a lot else, on See for Miles' Definitive Downliners Sect:
The Singles A's & B's, which is the perfect complement to this set. What listeners do get is two hours of some of the most delightfully raw and unaffected, downright affectionate British renditions of American rock & roll and R&B, so unstylish that they achieve a kind of beguiling, offhanded stylishness all their own -- where the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, the original Fleetwood Mac et al. all had personalities with a certain allure and mystery that made them insinuate themselves into the music, the Sect thump away with more enthusiasm than distinctive talent or personalities, or inventiveness.
That must be why they can shift from sounding like Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley to Bill Haley & His Comets on "I'm Hooked on You," then resemble the early Spencer Davis Group on "Comin' Home Baby," then suddenly sound like the rawest American garage band this side of the Litter on "Why Don't You Smile Now," then switch back toward the Rolling Stones on "Don't Lie to Me" (which includes the most delightfully out of tune bass accompaniment you may ever hear on a finished, released record, not that the guitarist seems to have known where middle C was either...), and follow that with the jocular "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose," sounding like the Pretty Things having fun -- and they even end in a vaguely Kinks-like mode (circa 1966-1967) with "The Cost of Living."
And all of that's on their last album, which isn't usually thought of as representing their peak -- geez, on "I'm Looking for a Woman" they get into this Bo Diddley groove that's so perfect, despite being so much more flaccid than Bo would ever permit his band to sound, that your fingers will start dancing to that shave-and-a-haircut beat; there's just something so real and honest about the way these guys plunked and plodded their way through their music, running on sheer bravado and a genuine affection at their core -- it didn't propel them to stardom (except maybe in Scandinavia), but it makes their stuff worth hearing in full 40 years later, and how many bands beyond the Rolling Stones is that true about?
This set will dazzle any enthusiast of British blues or British Invasion rock, or, for that matter, first-rate American-style garage punk. The sound is excellent and the annotation is very thorough; there are some misprints and missing words on the song listings, but where it counts, this set would be worthwhile even at twice the price.
by Bruce Eder
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Baby, What's Wrong (Reed) - 2:53
2. Be A Sect Maniac (Collier) - 1:59
3. Little Egypt (Leiber, Stoller) - 7:44
4. Sect Appeal (Collier) - 2:00
5. Find Out What's Happening (Jerry, Crutchfieid) - 2:08
6. Insecticide (Collier, O'Donnell, Evans) - 2:19
7. Hurt By Loue (C, I. Fox) - 2:45
8. One Ugly Child (Bright) - 2:21
9. Lonely And Blue (Grant, Gibson) - 2:43
10.Our Little Rendezvous (Berry) - 2:32
11.Guitar Boogie (Arr. Gibson) - 1:35
12.Too Much Monkey Business (Berry) - 2:01
13.Baby, What's On Your Mind (Reed) - 1:44
14.Cops And Robbers (McDaniel) - 2:31
15.Easy Rider (Arr Sone. Collier) - 2:39
16.Bloodhound (Bright) - 1.59
17.Bright Lights (Reed) - 2.29
18.I Wanna Put A Tiger In Your Tank (Dixon) - 3.31
22.Wreck Of The Old '97 (Trad. arr. Evans, O'Donnell) - 3:02
23.Leader Of The Sect (M., J. Collier) - 2:04
24.I Cot Mine (Collins) - 2:20
25.Waiting In Heaven (O'Donneli, Evans, Collier) - 2:43
Disc 2
1. If I Could Just Co Back (Collins) - 2:48
2. Rocks In My Bed (Arr Collier, Evans, O'Donnell) - 5:00
3. Ballad Of The Hounds (Fitzmorris, Rhodes) - 2:01
4. Little Play Soldiers (Cooper) - 3:23
5. Hard Travellin (Arr Collier, Evans, O'Donnell) - 2:19
6. Wait For The Light To Shine (Rose) - 2:34
7. Above And Beyond (The Call of Love) (Harian, Howard) - 2:08
8. Bad Storm Coming (Collier, Evans, O'Donnell) - 2:35
9. Midnight Special (Arr Collier, Evans, O'Donnell) - 1:55
10.Wolverion Mountain (Kilgore. King) - 2:37
11.Ail Night Worker (R. Thomas) - 2:34
12.He Was A Square (Reinhardt) - 3:05
13.Hang On Sloopy (Russell. Farrell) - 2:17
14.Fortune Teller (Neville) - 2:22
15.Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey (Penimman) - 2:05
16.Everything I've Got To Give (Evans) - 2:02
17.Outside (O'Donnell, Evans) - 2:29
18.I'm Hooked On YOU (Gibbson, O'Donnell) - 1:19
19.Comin Home Baby (Tucker, Dorough) - 2:52
20.Why Don't You Smile Now (Philips, Vance, Reed, Cale) - 2:07
21.Don't Lie To Me (Berry) - 2:34
22.May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose (Merritt) - 2:56
23.I'm Looking For A Woman (McDaniel) - 3:15
24.The Rock Sect's In Again (Collier) - 2:47
25.Brand New Cadillac (Taylor) - 2:13
26.Clendora R. (Stanley) - 2:42
27.I'll Find Olft (Evans, Collier) - 2:12
28.The Cost Of Living (Gouldman., Cowap, Lisberg) - 1:46
From its formation in 1969 to its demise in 1979, Brownsville Station maintained its reputation as one of the hardest working bands in Michigan. Led by the irrepressible Cub Koda, the band wore its 50’s Rock and Roll roots on its collective sleeve. Blending their love of Blues and Boogie styles with an energetic stage show and a sense of humor, Brownsville Station became a favorite in the Midwest and in arenas across the country.
Michael ‘Cub’ Koda grew up loving music in Southeast Michigan in the 1950’s. The Mickey Mouse Club was a popular television show for kids and Cub borrowed his nickname from “Cubby”, one of the regular characters on the program. Although he started out playing the drums, Cub switched to guitar after his father purchased a newspaper in tiny Manchester, Michigan.
Cub formed his first band, the Del-Tinos, while he was attending Manchester High School. This early band would foreshadow Brownsville Station in that they combined Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues, and Rockabilly. The Del-Tinos released their first 45 on their own Del-Tino label in 1963, a cover of Roy Orbison’s early Sun recording of “Go Go Go”. The band recorded two other singles before breaking up in 1966.
After a couple of false starts, Cub formed Brownsville Station in 1969 following a chance meeting with Michael Lutz at a record store in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They quickly added bassist Tony Driggins and drummer T.J. Cronley to complete the group.
It was a heady time to be in a band in Southeast Michigan with local groups like the Rationals, MC5, the Bob Seger System, SRC, and the Stooges signing recording contracts with major labels. Brownsville Station started out as an opening act for many of these bands blasting out R&B covers like Gino Washington's "Gino Is A Coward" and building an avid fan base in the process.
In 1970, they recorded a local hit single with a Cub Koda original called “Rock And Roll Holiday” on the Hideout label. The song became an audience favorite and the band’s set-closer for the next four years.
Brownsville Station’s second single, “Be-Bop Confidential” was first released on Punch Andrew’s Palladium label out of Detroit, but it was picked up for national distribution by Warner Bros. Records in 1970.
The band recorded its first album, “No B. S.”, on Palladium that same year. Once again Warner Bros. stepped in to distribute the record nationally. Brownsville Station’s third single, “Do The Bosco”, was released from the album and became another local hit.
Unfortunately, Warner Bros. looked at Brownsville Station as a type of “oldies” parody much like Sha-Na-Na, and the band got lost in the shuffle of the major label. They were dropped in 1971 after the next single, “Tell Me All About It”, tanked despite having Bob Seger singing on the last verse.
Originally known as The Method, a heavy psych/blues trio led by David Lewis (and the band Brush Shiels first saw Gary Moore play with when Gary subbed for David when the Method played a Dublin club in 1967?).
The Method became Andwella's Dream when they moved from Belfast to London in 1968. They signed to CBS and recorded a stunning debut LP "Love & Poetry". The original drummer only plays on one track ("Felix") as he got homesick and returned to Belfast. Gordon Barton then joined the band.
"Love & Poetry" captures the moment when psychedelia was at the point of splintering into progressive and acid folk. There are various styles and moods across the record with consistently strong melodies and some killer Hendrix-esque guitar. It's rightly regarded as a psychedelic classic by many collectors around the world.
CBS released three singles including two non-LP A-sides "Mrs Man" and "Mister Sunshine" which are worth tracking down. These have not surfaced on CD reissues for some reason.
In 1970 Dave McDougall joined on keyboards, the band name was shortened to Andwella. They moved to CBS's Reflection imprint (home to Steamhammer & Dogfeet) for subsequent releases.
A gorgeous Hammond organ sound underpins the two albums released on Reflection. The first of these was "World's End", released in 1970, which is the better of the two. Though it is less psychedelic and less adventurous than the debut and doesn't revisit the same heights, it is more consistent, more measured and contains several outstanding songs. At times recalls the best work of Traffic and early Santana.
That same year, David Lewis produced another album on Reflection, hippie poet David Baxter's very odd "Goodbye Dave" album. All the music on this LP was written by Lewis and performed by Andwella.
In 1971 the original rhythm section was replaced by Dave Struthers (bass/vocals) and Jack McCulloch (ex One In A Million & Thunderclap Newman, drums). This lineup recorded the final album, "People's People" (1971) which is a step closer to the mainstream but still an enjoyable album. In 1974 a track from this album was released as a single credited to The Bridge.
After Andwella split, David Lewis released two solo albums on Polydor in the 70s.
Dave McDougall later worked with Speedy Keen (ex Thunderclap Newman). Nigel Smith was later in Khan (after their LP), Magna Carta and Pentangle.
Tracks
1. She Taught Me to Love - 3:16
2. Saint Bartholomew - 3:04
3. World of Angelique - 3:35
4. Mississippi Water - 3:28
5. I've Got My Own - 2:45
6. Are You Ready - 2:32
7. Four Days in September - 3:51
8. Lazy Days - 1:26
9. People's People - 3:27
10.Behind the Painted Screen - 3:30
11.All for You - 2:20
All compositions by David Lewis
This is a true forgotten classic. Out of the great San Francisco acid wave, bassist Louis “Cork” Marcheschi -- along with husband and wife, guitarist and Slick vocalist David and Nancy Blossom, bonus guitarist Larry Evans, and Kim Kimsey on drums -- produced but one album in 1967, then basically faded away into normalcy. At the time, critic Ralph J. Gleason said, “I don’t know if they’re immature or premature.” I believe history has proven them to be the latter.
While the razor-bladed blues rock fuzz and love laden “I’m just trying to free my mind” lyricism may have been par for the course for that era, the Blossom’s jazz influences met with Marcheschi’s homemade Radiophonic synths and Theremins to create a sound tragically ahead of its time. Acid Mothers Temple makes a decent living these days doing basically the same thing, touring with a Roland synth, but, since Cork made his own, the aural electricity smothering Cauldron in space sounds is just too fantastically dirty and totally original.
Each Doctor Who warp and UFO multidimensional warble is a Technicolor snowflake caught in a notion where time is no longer relevant, totally unable to be absorbed by a mind without blowing it. These remarkable noises augment a solid base of haphazard prog-blues and Nancy’s dispassionate vocals to make an undeniably classic and deservedly legendary LP, easily on par with the greatest works from the Elephant 6 catalogue or anyone who played at the only good Woodstock. I can see why the ’60s generation may not have dug it, though.
The synthetic opening “And After” sounds like a broken stylus making a feeble impression of a healthy needle as it digs deeper and deeper into the virgin vinyl. Many copies were probably returned on this notion, let alone the fact this is the next level shit today. When this album came out, it was like showing a Shatner-era Star Trek fan The Matrix. They couldn’t really form a full idea as to what they really had in front of them. You sure missed out, 1967.
by Alan Ranta
Tracks
1. And After (Marcheschi) - 2:06
2. If Not This Time (Blossom) - 3:39
3. Opus 777 (Marcheschi) - 0:22
4. The Things That Concern You (Evans, Evans) - 3:30
5. Opus 11 (Marcheschi) - 0:26
6. Red The Sign Post (Blossom, Roswicky) - 2:58
7. For Paula (Marcheschi) - 0:30
8. Rose (Blossom) - 5:07
9. Fantasy (Blossom) - 10:14
10. God Bless The Child (Herzog, Holiday) - 2:36
11. Cauldron (Blossom, Kimsey, Marcheschi) - 4:55
12. If Not This Time (Demo) (Blossom) - 3:39
13. Red The Sign Post (Demo) (Blossom, Roswicky) - 2:17
14. Fly Free (Demo) (Blossom) - 2:41
15. Desire (Demo) (Evans) - 11:39
16.(The Ethix) Bad Trip (33 RPM) (Marcheschi) - 3:21
17.(The Ethix) Skins (Marcheschi) - 2:24
18. (The Ethix) Bad Trip (45 RPM) (Marcheschi) - 2:03
Fifty Foot Hose
* David Blossom - Guitar, Piano
* Nancy Blossom - Vocals
* Larry Evans - Guitar, Vocals
* Terry Hansley - Bass
* Kim Kimsey - Drums
* Cork Marcheschi - Electronics, Sound Effects The Ethix. (Tracks 16 to 18 ) The line-up was possible
* Cork Marcheschi - Bass
* Bob Noto - Guitar
* Bob Gibson - Vocals
* Gary Doos - Drums
Taken off his first and only seff-titled solo album, released in 1971. Ray Owen was the original vocalist in British outfit Juicy Lucy, and he appeared on their first self titled album in 1969. He left the band, his replacement being Paul Williams, and formed his own band, with Dick Stubbs and Les Nicol on guitars, Ian McLean on drums and Sid Gardner on bass.
Their first and only album, which is quite rare and collectible, was released on Polydor Records, and it featured a number of really good riff laden tracks, in addition to a stunning version of Hendrix's "Voodoo Child", which Owen would redo in the mid 90's when he reformed his own version of Juicy Lucy. His career after Ray Owen's Moon is much of a mystery, as no record can be found of any other bands he may have featured with afterwards.
As was mentioned, he reformed Juicy Lucy in the mid nineties and released an album called "Here she comes again" on HTD Records, with three unknown, but very good, musicians. For the record, Paul Williams also reformed another version of Juicy Lucy in the mid to late nineties, under the name "Blue Thunder".
They are too good a group to vanish without trace after one hit. On this, their first album since Brian Keith left, they show they are talented songwriters as well as good performers. Apart from a rather dreary seven and a half minute version of Macarthur Park they come through well on tracks like Currency, Turn To Me, Give Me Money and Sour Suite, which includes a well-executed drum solo.
Tracks
1. Your Way to Tell Me Go (P. Raymond, T. Murray) - 2:52
2. Hound Dog (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 2:48
3. Currency (M. Graham, N. Olsson, P. Raymond, T. Murray) - 3:40
4. Caledonian Mission (J. Robertson) - 3:00
5. McArthur Park (J. Webb) - 7:35
6. Turn to Me (E. John, Bernie Taupin) - 2:46
7. Baby You're Not to Blame (P. Raymond, T. Murray) - 2:53
8. Give Me Money (P. Raymond, T. Murray) - 3:00
9. Sour Suite (M. Graham, N. Olsson, P. Raymond, T. Murray) - 8:12
10.She Does - 3:08
11.Celebrity Ball - 2:41
Plastic Penny
*Michael Graham - Guitar
*Tony Murray - Bass
*Nigel Olsson - Drums
*Paul Raymond - Organ, Piano
