The Left Banke - Walk Away Renee...Pretty Ballerina (1966-67 us, wondrous psychedelia with baroque colours, Sundazed 2011 remaster)

Even in the heady musical atmosphere of 1967, the Left Banke's debut LP Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina stood out. The New York outfit's beguiling blend of classically-influenced songwriting, heart-tugging three-part harmonies and exquisitely textured arrangements resulted in music that embodied equal amounts of youthful innocence, autumnal melancholy and precocious musical sophistication.

The Left Banke perfected its singular sound on its iconic debut single "Walk Away Renée," a Top Five hit in its original release and an enduring pop standard in the years since, and on its equally affecting follow-up "Pretty Ballerina." The subsequent album that bore the titles of both singles was an equally impressive achievement, demonstrating remarkable depth and showing the band to be much more than a mere two-hit wonder.

The Left Banke's story is liberally strewn with bad choices, missed opportunities, interpersonal acrimony and squandered potential. But the negative aspects of the band's history are far less pertinent than the fact that, in their all-too-brief existence, the Left Banke created a consistently magnificent body of work that stands with the most original, inventive and emotionally resonant pop music of its era.

The members of the Left Banke were still in their teens in 1965, when Tom Finn struck up a friendship with Steve Martin-Caro, née Carmelo Esteban Martin Caro, who'd recently arrived in town from his native Spain. Finn and Martin had originally met on the street outside of Manhattan's City Squire Hotel, watching a mob of screaming girls awaiting the arrival of the Rolling Stones. They were soon joined by Finn's friend George Cameron and the Magic Plants' drummer Warren David-Schierhorst.

The budding band soon began visiting World United Recording, a modest studio at 48th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, where Finn's previous outfit the Magic Plants had recorded. There, they fell in with 16-year-old Michael Brown, a classically trained pianist and budding composer who was working at World United as an assistant and sometime session player. Brown was the son of the studio's owner Harry Lookofsky, a veteran jazz violinist who'd played on numerous sessions and recorded on his own as Hash Brown.

Since Brown had the keys to the studio, the quintet—with Martin on lead vocals, Cameron on guitar, Finn on bass, David on drums and Brown on keyboards—began convening there for late-night rehearsal sessions. Martin, Finn and Cameron quickly developed an organic vocal rapport, honing the distinctive three-part harmonies that would become a cornerstone of the Left Banke's sound. Brown's advanced musical skills increased the group's options considerably.

Soon, Brown's father took an interest in the nascent combo and became its manager, publisher and co-producer. Lookofsky's involvement would help to advance the Left Banke's early career, but his multiple roles (not to mention his status as father of the band's main songwriter) created conflicts of interest that would soon help to splinter the lineup.

The Left Banke began cutting tracks at World United in early 1966, recording such early tunes as "I've Got Something on My Mind" and "I Haven't Got the Nerve," both of which would end up on Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina. Aside from David's drumming and Brown's piano and harpsichord, the remaining instruments were played by session musicians. David was soon ousted from the band by Lookofsky after the drummer ran off to California with Brown; Lookofsky had the underage pair stopped by police at the airport and sent home. 

by Scott Schinder 

Tracks
1. Pretty Ballerina (M. Brown) - 2:38
2. She May Call You Up Tonight (M. Brown, S. Martin, Caro) - 2:21
3. Barterers And Their Wives (T. Feher, M. Brown) - 3:00
4. I've Got Something On My Mind (S. Martin, Caro, G. Cameron, M. Brown) - 2:49
5. Let Go Of You Girl (S. Martin, Caro, G. Cameron, M. Brown) - 2:55
6. Evening Gown (T. Feher, M. Brown) - 1:46
7. Walk Away Renee (M. Brown, T. Sansone, B. Calilli) - 2:44
8. What Do You Know (T. Feher, M. Brown) - 3:00
9. Shadows Breaking Over My Head (S. Martin, Caro, M. Brown) - 2:36
10.I Haven't Got The Nerve (G. Cameron, S. Martin, Caro) - 2:16
11.Lazy Day (M. Brown, S. Martin, Caro) - 2:23

The Left Banke
*Tom Finn - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
*George Cameron - Drums, Percussion, Vocals, Guitar
*Steve Martin Caro - Lead Vocals, Drums. Tambourine, Guitar, Bass
*Michael Brown - Piano, Harpsichord, Clavinet, Organ, Vocals
Additional Musicians
*Buddy Saltzman - Drums
*Harry Lookofsky - Violin
*Seymour Barab - Cello
*George Marge - Oboe
*Hugh McCracken - Guitar
*Joe Mack - Bass
*Al Gorgoni - 12-string Acoustic Guitar
*John Abbott - Guitar, Bass
*Warren David-Schierhorst - Drums
*Rick Brand - Guitar
*George "Fluffer" Hirsh - Guitar
*Al Rogers - Drums
*Jeff Winfield - Guitar

Free Text
Text Host

Khazad Doom - Encore! (1968-70 us, impressive heavy psych melted with early prog, private press numbered edition)

Throughout the sixties and early seventies, a rock 'n' roll band from suburban Morton Grove, Illinois performed in and around Chicago. Even though they remained together about the same time as the Beatles dominated American pop charts, Khazad Doom (pronounced Kah' zud doom) never made it in the traditional sense. But artistically, over nine years, they forged a kind of music now called Progressive Rock.

After their split in 1972, during the eighties, the band achieved cult status when their promo album LEVEL 6 1/2 was reissued and distributed throughout Europe. Just one copy of the original LEVEL 6 1/2 vinyl rides the top of collectors' wish-lists and has traded for as much as $1,500 a copy!

In 1995, the limited edition retrospective CD called ENCORE! was burnt from Khazad Doom’s original tapes. It includes much of the band’s decade of output.

Like many so-called basement bands of the sixties, Khazad Doom employed various configurations, engaged in band battles, and sought the help of agents and recording gurus. Unlike other bands, Khazad Doom, influenced by the Beatles and other classically-based groups of the time, recorded frequently and included many original songs and rearrangements in its repertoire, hoping that would somehow help them progress along their path to stardom.

After the band performed around Chicagoland for several years, playing all original material and rearrangements, they pioneered writing and performing a decidedly non-rock genre when they introduced Stanley's Visit To Kerkle Morff, a moralistic fantasy that sounded right for Broadway, a full length feature cartoon, or a musical, more than a rock operetta. 

On a primitive recording set-up that shouldn't have worked, they recorded Stanley and a variety of other songs that still represent Khazad Doom at its best. Twenty-six years later that remastered recording makes up most of the ENCORE! limited edition CD, now sold out but still circulating among fans and collectors worldwide. The CD includes the best cuts from the LEVEL 6 1/2 project--The Hunters, "In this World," and "Narcissus."

Khazad Doom

Tracks
1. Cherry Town (As The Laymen) (Jack Eadon) - 3:12
2.  Love Wich We Share Among Us (As The Laymen) (Steve Yates) - 2:11
3.  The Prelude (Jack Eadon) - 12:18
4.  In The Den (Jack Eadon) - 4:32
5.  The Golden Yellow Meadow (Jack Eadon) - 6:56
6.  Narcsissus (Eadon, Sievers, Yates, Hilkin) - 5:05
7.  In This World (Steve Yates) - 2:42
8.  Nothing To Fear (Yates, Eadon, Dixon) - 2:44
9.  Excerpt From Uncle Gillroy/s Crazy Son (Jack Eadon) - 2:57  
10.Stanley/s Visit To Kerkle Morrf (Jack Eadon) - 12:26
11.Can/t Find Love Alone (Jack Eadon) - 2:50
12.Dirt (Jack Eadon) - 1:50
13.Paper Bus (Steve Yates) - 4:02
14.Frozen Faces (Steve Yates) - 3:38
15.Come With Me (1978) (Eadon, Sievers, Yates) - 4:14

Khazad Doom
*Jack Eadon - Guitar, Vocals
*Tom Sievers - Bass, Vocals
*Steve “Al” Yates - Organ, Vocals
*Steve “Crow” Hilkin - Percussion

Free Text
Text Host

Wildweeds - Wildweeds (1970-71 us, strong country rock with folk blues and roots 'n' roll shades, Akarma reissue)

It's the stuff of pop music legend: in the late 60s, a young band with a scorching style and a regional number-one song drifted into obscurity. Meanwhile the band's frontman, then-teenage Al Anderson, went on to a highly visible career that includes a decades-long stint with the hugely popular band NRBQ. Anderson moved on to become one of the most sought after songwriters in Nashville, and he's still going strong after 40 years of musical adventures.

This is the tale of The Wildweeds, a band that by all accounts was always slightly out of step with prevailing musical fashions. In retrospect, the band seemed to exist to set the stage for Al Anderson's future. But, as this new collection from Confidential Recordings, "No Good To Cry: The Best of The Wildweeds," reveals and affirms, the music that the group produced stands on its merits as an important contribution to the pop lexicon.

The influences which made the band seem in the minority musically are today acknowledged as masters of soul. True the Beatles and the Stones popularized and emulated crossover rock and roll artists like Chuck Berry. But The Wildweeds worshipped the likes of Ray Charles, The Impressions and Billy Stewart. Perhaps The Weeds were ahead of their time. Listening to "No Good To Cry: The Best of The Wildweeds," a compilation of the band's singles and unreleased material, shows just how fresh that take is today.

By the late 50s/early 60s, rock and roll had moved out of the south, and was not strictly the domain of the big cities any more, so this group of Windsor, CT boys was able to follow their musical ideals with impunity.

The Hartford area had a strong music scene. The young players typically shifted in and out of various combos. Bands with names like The Blues Messengers, The Altones, The Six Packs and The Futuras shaped them. The Weeds finally gelled in late 1966. Shortly thereafter, the name was expanded to The Wildweeds.

While the band was still in its early stages, Andy Lepak's father, Alex Lepak Sr., a professional musician and teacher, started managing them. He provided a stabilizing influence, paying them a salary and instilling in them strong ideals about their music. 

Wildweeds' sole album (they were no longer called "the" Wildweeds by the time it came out) was cut with assistance from top Nashville session men Charlie McCoy, Weldon Myrick, and David Briggs. This Akarma  reissue adds three non-LP tracks from 1971 singles.

Wildweeds

Tracks
1. Baby Please Don't Leave Me Today - 2:14
2. Can't Sit And Watch Little Susie Laugh - 3:28
3. John King's Fair - 2:53
4. Belle - 1:45
5. An Overnight Guest - 3:34
6. Nobody's Here To Help Me Cry - 2:46
7. And When She Smiles - 2:30
8. Paint And Powder Ladies No.2 - 1:52
9. Fantasy Child - 2:35
10.My Baby Left Me (Arthur Curdup)  - 2:07
11.Don't Ask Me How How Or Why - 3:24
12.Mare, Take Me Home - 3:28
13.C'mon If You're Comin' (Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry) - 2:21
14.Ain't No Woman Finer Lookin'  - 3:15
15.Goin' Back To Indiana  - 2:48
All songs by Al Anderson except where indicated

The Wildweeds
*Al Anderson - Vocals, Lead, Rhythm Guitar
*Bob Dudek – Vocals,  Drums
*Al Lepak,Jr. - Bass
*Martin Yakaitis - Percussion
With Special Thanks To
*Charlie McCoy - Organ,Dobro,Harmonica,Vibes
*Weldon Myrick - Steel Guitar
*David Briggs - Piano
*Mac Gayden - Electric Guitar
*Jim Colvard - Bass Guitar

Free Text
Text Host

Nektar - Sunday Night At London Roundhouse (1974 uk, spectacular progressive rock, Bellaphon double disc set)

Releasing a live LP with side A containing one and a half song from a recorded concert and side B containing three cuts from a jam that lasted several hours was not a very sensible thing to do in 1974. The LP was titled Sunday Night At London Roundhouse, and its release looked somewhat overdone between the steady flow of album releases the band had anyway in those days (ten sides of vinyl in three years). I never though it was a very good album; it was too short. Too short for a live album, and too short to show anything that the band could do when jamming. 

Nektar recorded their last date on the English 1973 tour (in support of their early 1973 album ...Sounds Like This, although the masterpiece that was following it, Remember The Future, was released two days before this concert took place) on November 25th, because the record company wanted a live album. Good idea, why not, although the band were more into their next studio album, of course. 

Early the following year, while recording the following studio album Down To Earth, the bass player's birthday was a reason to go jamming for a few hours having the tape recorded running - it was March 27th, 1974. A good reason! Besides the opener Desolation Valley, many of the music that followed was pure improvisation or at least unreleased material. And sometimes very unlike their usual sound. 

With recordings like that I could never imagine how a record company could take only two songs from the live concert for one side of a live album (Desolation Valley and A Day In The Life Of A Preacher including the birth of Oh Willie, the latter was even cut in half for the release) and making a very short B side with Oops - Unidentified Flying Abstract, Mundetango, and Summer Breeze from the jam session. I once wrote that the only reasonable thing the record company could do is release a double CD of the full concert and if necessary a multi CD set of the jam. 

Well, what do you know? They did almost exactly that! First, there is a double CD featuring the complete concert in wonderful stereo quality. Crying In The Dark / King Of Twilight is good, great to hear Cast Your Fate and especially Odyssey of which I knew only one other live version. Remember The Future and 1-2-3-4 are wonderful. A Day In The Life Of A Preacher is at last complete, and a special version indeed as it has the origins of what would become Oh Willie on the following studio album Down To Earth. It shows how the band could jam while in concert, it shows how tight the unit of these musicians was, and it shows the diversity in their musical ideas. With the following jam, titled Summer Breeze, the sound is going from dreamy to heavy agressive. I have always loved this contrast in the band's sound.

The album also shows that after ...Sounds Like This and Remember The Future, the band was letting in the guitar more and more, a little away from the somewhat psychedelic sounds of the first album and the title track of A Tab In The Ocean, though still being progressive. Well, with Down To Earth coming on, this is hardly a surprise. Playing A Tab In The Ocean live in 1976, it was like the band was saying they never stopped liking their earlier sound, but they were just exploring further. (It is beyond the scope of this review to go into the sound of the album after that, Recycled, but on there, the keyboards regained importance.)

Being more of a progressive rock fan than a rock and roll fan, the rock and roll medley show closer is less interesting, but what's 6 minutes on a 100 minute show, eh? But also being a fan of early blues and hard rock, songs like 1-2-3-4 and Odyssey are just marvellous! The emotion that is feeding the musicians results in such performances that is best heard live. With the band having reformed, I am very much looking forward to seeing them on stage! 

The other side of the original Sunday Night LP received the same "and now a proper CD release" treatment, resulting in a 41 minute disc. Significantly more than the 15 minutes on the LP. I guess these are the parts from the jam that were worth a commercial release. I am still curious to what the rest of the tapes hold secret, but I am more than satisfied with what is offered here.

It is starting with a song we all know, but you can hear and feel the band is more relaxed than in front of an audience. You can hear it on other recordings as well, but not as clear as here, how subtle a guitar player Roye Albrighton is.

The other tracks are all otherwise unreleased. One Mile Red and Summer Breeze were played in concert several times, though. The first definitely bears the Nektar signature on it. But the remaining tracks all have something surprising, making this release a very special one. Being in a relaxed environment obviously lets the musicians play looser tracks, almost jazzy as in We Must Have Been Smashed or Oops, although the latter was not that laid back. 

These CDs are a real treat for Nektar fans! Fans will have it already, it's not for them I write this. If you like Nektar and would like to hear how they sound live, get this Sunday Night album right away! Unidentified Flying Abstract is amazing for fans, but there are other albums to hear first if you want to get to know the band. 

by Gert Hulshof

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Crying In The Dark / King Of Twilight - 12:10

2. Desolation Valley - 8:58

3. A Day In The Life Of A Preacher Including The Birth Of Oh Willie - 19:50

4. Summer Breeze - 3:04

5. Cast Your Fate - 5:42

Disc 2
1. Remember The Future Part One - 18:47
2. Odyssey - Ron's On - 11:15
3. 1-2-3-4 - 12:31
4. Remember The Future Part Two - Let It Grow - 5:14
5. Woman - 6:09

Nektar
*Allan "Taff" Freeman - Keyboards, Vocals
*Derek "Mo" Moore - Bass, Vocals
*Mick Brockett - Lights
*Ron Howden - Drums, Percussion
*Roye Allbrighton - Guitars, Vocals

Free Text
Just Paste

Grace Slick And The Great Society - Conspicuous Only By Its Absence / How It Was (1968/71 us, west coast psychedelic rock, historical live recordings at Frisco's matrix club 1966, Collector's Item issue)

This double-LP/single-CD reissue combines both of the Great Society's live albums, Conspicuous Only by Its Absence and How It Was, and features "Somebody to Love" in its original slower, more menacing version. It also includes the Society's extended version of Grace Slick's "White Rabbit" along with several other haunting originals which strike an exhilarating balance between tight songwriting and psychedelic jamming. Based on his raga-tinged work here, guitarist Darby Slick (Grace's then brother-in-law) deserves a lot more recognition than he's ever received for his pioneering explorations of Eastern scales. 

Bassist Peter Van Gelder isn't far behind him in the innovation department, and makes significant contributions here on saxophone and flute as well, plunging into John Coltrane territory on the former -- and his work on "White Rabbit," by itself, is worth the price of admission. Additionally, Grace Slick's singing was already about 95-percent of what it would be with the Airplane when she came aboard the latter, and if you close your eyes and forget what you're hearing, there are moments when you'd swear you were listening to her work from Surrealistic Pillow, After Bathing at Baxter's, or Crown of Creation. 

What's more, the CD edition is very nicely produced, the engineers overcoming most of the sonic limitations of the original concert tapes that made the original LP versions sound so flat in spots. All of these attributes make the title of this release something of a misnomer -- far more than a "Collector's Item," this is a genuinely exciting glimpse into the birth of psychedelic music, and essential listening for any devotees of the latter, or the San Francisco sound in any of its manifestations; the Great Society might not have made it past 1966, but they left behind music here that was as solid, substantial, and enduring -- and worth hearing today -- as anything the Airplane, the Grateful Dead, and the Charlatans were doing at the time. (And if you do look for this CD -- which, amazingly, is still in print as of 2007 -- a lot of stores tend to file it under Grace Slick rather than Great Society). 

by Richie Unterberger and Bruce Eder 

Tracks
Conspicuous Only By Its Absence
1. Sally, Go 'Round The Roses (Lona Stevens, Zell Sanders) – 6:32
2. Didn't Think So (Grace Slick) – 3:23
3. Grimly Forming (Peter Vandergelder) – 3:53
4. Somebody To Love (Darby Slick) – 4:27
5. Father Bruce (D. Slick, G. Slick, J. Slick, D. Miner) – 3:31
6. Outlaw Blues (Bob Dylan) – 2:27
7. Often As I May (Grace Slick) – 3:43
8. Arbitration (Peter Vandergelder) – 3:58
9. White Rabbit (Grace Slick) – 6:15
How It Was
10.That's How It Is (David Miner) - 2:39
11.Darkly Smiling (Darby Slick) - 3:08
12.Nature Boy (E. Ahbez) - 3:10
13.You Can't Cry (David Miner) - 2:58
14.Daydream Nightmare (David Miner) - 4:34
15.Everybody Knows (Darby Slick) - 2:37
16.Born To Be Burned (D. Slick, J. Slick) - 3:13
17.Father (G. Slick, D. Slick, J. Slick, D. Miner) - 6:35

The Great Society
*Grace Slick – Piano, Vocals
*Darby Slick – Guitar
*David Miner – Guitar
*Jerry Slick – Drums
*Peter Vandergelder (Van Gelder) – Bass, Flute, Saxophone

1965-66 The Great Society - Born to Be Burned

Free Text
Text Host

Mapleoak - Mapleoak (1970-71 uk/canada, fine classic rock melted with rural, blues and jazzy tunes, featuring Peter Quaife from the Kinks fame)

During the mid-‘60s, guitarist Stan Endersby was at the forefront of the Toronto music scene, playing with some of the city’s most experimental and musically inventive bands. As a member of The Tripp, Endersby worked alongside future singer-songwriter Neil Merryweather and pianist Rick Bell, who later played with Janis Joplin and The Band. 

Later, he travelled to England and led the Anglo-Canadian group Maple Oak, the band formed by ex-Kinks bass player Peter Quaife. The band issued a rare and now much sought after single for Decca and an album (recorded after Quaife’s departure) before the remaining members returned to Canada. 

Tracks
1. Son Of A Gun - 3:40
2. Hurt Me So Much - 2:17
3. Guitar Pickers - 3:20
4. Natural Joy - 3:44
5. Roses - 2:43
6. Bring Me Water - 3:12
7. Down Down - 3:48
8. Treetors - 5:13
9. Flying Circus - 2:04
10.Sail Away - 2:35
11.I Don`t Know - 4:24
12.All These Times - 2:13
13.Frankley Stoned - 5:03

Mapleoak
*Stan Endersby - Guitar, Vocals
*Martin Fisher - Keyboards
*Peter Quaife - Bass
*Mick Cook - Drums
*Gordon Macbain - Drums

Free Text
Just Paste

Text Host

The Great Society - Born to Be Burned (1965-66 us, classic west coast psych garage with young Grace Slick , Sundazed edition)

Before joining Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick sang lead and played various instruments for the Great Society, who were nearly as popular as Jefferson Airplane in the early days of the San Francisco psychedelic scene. Instrumentally, the Great Society were not as disciplined as Airplane. 

But they were at least their equals in imagination, infusing their probing songwriting with Indian influences, minor key melodic shifts, and groundbreaking, reverb-soaked psychedelic guitar by Slick's brother-in-law, Darby Slick. Darby was also responsible for penning "Somebody to Love," which Grace brought with her to Airplane, who took it into the Top Five in 1967. the Great Society broke up in late 1966.

by Richie Unterberger 

Tracks
1. Free Advice (Darby Slick) - 2:29
2. Someone To Love (Darby Slick) - 3:03
3. You Can't Cry (David Miner) - 2:32
4. That's How It Is (David Miner) - 2:27
5. Girl (David Miner) - 2:09
6. Where (David Miner) - 2:10
7. Heads Up (Grace Slick) - 1:17
8. Free Advice (Alternate Version #2, Darby Slick) - 2:06
9. Father Bruce (Grace Slick, Darby Slick, Jerry Slick, David Miner) - 3:07
10.Born To Be Burned (Darby Slick, Jerry Slick) - 2:05
11.Double Triptamine Superautomatic Everlovin' Man (David Miner) - 1:55
12.Love You Girl (David Miner) - 3:06
13.That's How It Is (Alternate Version, David Miner) - 2:22
14.Right To Me (David Miner) - 3:04
15.Where (Alternate Version, David Miner) - 2:13
16.Free Advice (Alternate Version #1, Darby Slick) - 2:09
17.Daydream-Nightmare-Love (David Miner) - 3:17

The Great Society
*Darby Slick - Guitar, Backing Vocals
*Grace Slick - Vocals, Guitar,
*David Miner - Vocals, Guitar
*Jerry Slick - Drums
*Bard Dupont - Bass

Free Text
Text Host

Skin Alley - Skin Tight (1973 uk, fine classic rock)

After a live gig and a TV show in Memphis, we were introduced to Don Nix who had just been doing work at Muscle Shoals and with the Joe Cocker entourage.  He was keen to produce our next album and agreed to come to England to do this.  Hence the misinformation that we were an anglo-american band, no we were not, if anything, we were an anglo-polish band!

The resultant album was "Skin Tight" which was recorded at Chipping Norton and was done in a direct almost live-recording style, at that time unusual in England. Musically it was close to the work of many of the American bands we admired and certainly a hemisphere away from our first albumalbum.

After the release of this album we were forced to face the reality that there would be no money coming from our record deal and the live gig scene was going the David Bowie, Mott the Hoople and Marmalade way, so, reluctantly, we disbanded.

by Krzysztof Juszkiewicz

Tracks
1. If I Only Had The Time (Bob James) - 3:50
2. At A Quarter To One (Bob James) - 3:51
3. How Long (Nick Graham) - 3:28
4. Surprise Awakening (Nick Graham) - 4:14
5. Broken Eggs (James, Juszkiewicz, Knight) - 4:05
6. Maverick Woman Blues (Don Nix) - 3:55
7. The Heap Turns Human (Nick Graham) - 3:50
8. What Good Does It Do? (Bob James) - 5:02
9. Mr Heavy (Bob James) - 3:28
10.Instermental (Nick Graham) - 3:41

Skin Alley
*Bob James - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Lead Vocals
*Nick Graham - Bass, Vocals
*Tony Knight - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
*Krzysztof Juszkiewicz - Piano, Organ, Vocals
Additional Musicians
*Dave Coxhill - Baritone Saxophone
*Phil Kenzie - Tenor Saxophone
*Geoff Driscoll - Tenor Saxophone
*Martin Drover - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
*Bud Parkes - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
*The  Lounge Lizards - Brass

1970  Big Brother Is Watching You

Free Text
Text Host

Tramline - Somewhere Down the Line (1968 uk, power blues rock, 2008 remaster)

Somewhere Down The Line' is the first of two albums by a group that was a contemporary of fellow Island Records' signing Free and created a similarly, powerful blues sound. Micky looks back on his early adventures with Tramline in an exclusive new interview with Repertoire’s Chris Welch for the informative liner notes: 'On the blues tunes we sounded like 60-year-old black guys from the Mississippi, which is odd when you’re only 17 and from North Yorkshire!'

Signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records (A&M acquiring US distribution rights), Tramline featured the talents of singer John McCoy, lead guitarist Mick Moody, drummer Terry Popple and bassist Terry Sidgwick. Produced by Blackwell, 1968's "Somewhere Down the Track" showcased the band's intense commitment blues genre. The only non-blues selection was a strange cover of Stephen Stills 'Rock and Roll Woman'.

Still in his teens, Moody was certainly a talented slide guitar player though the band's full hearted devotion to the blues didn't exactly give him a platform to showcase those talents. Similarly, as lead vocalist/harmonica player McCoy was a decent, if somewhat anonymous performer.

by Adamus67

Tracks
1. Harpoon Man (McCoy, Atanbridge, Butler, Wilburn) - 4:05
2. National Blues (Moody, Thomas) - 3:25
3. Sorry Sorry (Moody, McCoy, Sidgwick, Popple) - 9:00
4. Look Over Yonder Wall (Moody, McCoy, Sidgwick, Popple) - 4:39
5. Rock And Roll Woman (Stills) - 4:01
6. Somewhere Down The Line (Taylor) - 3:35
7. Mazurka (Popple, Sidgwick, Moody) - 2:45
8. Statesborough Blues (Taj Mahal) - 3:36
9. Killing Floor (Burnett) - 4:50

Tramline
*John McCoy - Harmonica, Vocals
*Micky Moody - Guitar
*Terry Popple - Drums
*Terry Sidgwick - Bass, Vocals

Free Text
Just Paste

The Rockets - The Rockets (1968 us, respectable west coast blended psychedelic rock pre Crazy Horse)

It's easy to see why The Rockets attracted Neil Young's attention. Listen to "Let Me Go," Danny Whithen's ambling blues/rock shuffle that appears five songs into this CD. Over a deceptively simple and hypnotic rhythm, Whithen's electric guitar begins a slow but determined build, erupting into fits and snarls and showers of sparks, never turning lo speed riffs but relying instead on the pulse and amplified grit of two or three notes. 

Neil Young's distinctive electric sound is, of course, a variation on this approach; it first caught the public's car on 1969's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere album, on which Young exchanged this kind of staccato, rapid-fire note-play with Danny Whitten. By then, The Rockets had become Crazy Horse, and the chemistry that developed between the band members and Neil Young has served them well for more than three decades. Long may they run. The Rockets was released in 1968 on While Whale Records, the Los Angeles label that had turned the world on to The Turtles and "Happy Together." 

Four years earlier, Danny Whitten (guitar/vocals) and Billy Talbot (bass/vocals), as Danny & the Memories, had released a single called "Can't Help Loving That Girl Of Mine," but it hadn't clicked. Drummer Ralph Molina joined in '66, and the band re-located to San Francisco, where the gigs were good, and where their ranks swelled with the addition of guitarist brothers George and Leon Whitsell. On the spur of the moment, Talbot invited classical violinist Bobby Notkoff, who'd never played rock V roll but was eager to learn, to join the band. Complete, they headed back to L-A. to find their fortunes. 

Neil Young, no surprise, was one of their biggest fans, and enjoyed jamming with the band when he wasn't on the road or in the studio with Buffalo Springfield. Barry Goldberg, the organist in The Eleclric Flag, was recruited to produce The Rockets at Paramount Recording. He quickly discovered that the key lo The Rockets was letting them find their groove, which, contrary to the heaviest rock of the day, was often understated — as much about the spaces in between the notes as the notes themselves. 

The band showed solid potential. With Whitten's material taking up the whole of side one on the original album, and Leon Whitsell's fierce psychedelic blues on side two (check out the gritty "Pills Blues," a high point of the band's live show), The Rockets might have soared. But fate had other plans for them. Neil Young wanted a road band, and after Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere — on which he'd employed Whithen, Talbot, Molina and (on one song) Notkoff— he wanted them. And he wouldn't take no for an answer. 

The Rockets wasn't exactly tearing up the charts, so with the others' blessings, Danny, Billy and Ralph rode off into history as threequarters of Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Danny Whitlen died in 1972, at age 29, a casualty of the needle and the damage done. George Whitscll briefly took up the guitar chair in Crazy Horse, until Frank "Pancho" Sampedro joined in '75. The Rockets is a great little record, an embryonic peek into what was to come — and, in the case of Danny Whitten, a bittersweet reminder of what might have been.

by Bill DeYoung

Tracks
1. Hole In My Pocket (Danny Whitten) - 2:32
2. Won't You Say You'll Stay (Danny Whitten) - 2:49
3. Mr. Chips (Danny Whitten) - 2:19
4. It's A Mistake (Ralph Molina, Billy Talbot) - 1:51
5. Let Me Go (Danny Whitten) - 3:47
6. Try My Patience (Leon Whitsell) - 2:16
7. I Won't Always Be Around (Leon Whitsell) - 2:52
8. Pill's Blues (George Whitsell) - 4:02
9. Stretch Your Skin (Leon Whitsell) - 4:11
10.Eraser (Leon Whitsell) - 1:56

The Rockets
*Danny Whitten - Guitar, Vocal
*George Whitsell - Guitar, Vocal
*Leon Whitsell - Guitar
*Billy Talbot - Bass
*Ralph Molina- Drums, Vocal
*Bobby Notkoff - Violin

Free Text
Text Host