Though African-American and raised in the predominantly Black 105th Superior area of Cleveland, Purple Image played rock -- psychedelic, mind-bending, pass-the-bong, strobe-light, posters-on-the-wall head music.
This obscure album recorded on Map Records has risen to the status of cult because of its scarcity and the musical orientation of Warren Adams (vocals, piano, organ), Kenneth Roberts (vocals, rhythm), William Adams (vocals, conga), Frank Smith (lead guitar), Del Moran (bass), Richard Payne (drums), and lone female Diane Dunlap (vocals); Edward Snodgrass, a non-member, augmented P.I. on sax.
Purple Image wrote everything except the LP's masterpiece, the 15-minute, 24-second rendition of Bob Craig's "Marching to a Different Drummer." As with all six selections, Purple Image sounds better when the volume is cranked. "Drummer" is an energetic, powerful blend of acid rock and fusion; Snodgrass blows a frantic Coltrane-ish sax, and Dunlap wails like she slammed her hand in a door.
"We Got to Pull Together" is an airy, charming, socially significant ballad that urges us to become color-blind, forget the past, and get along. Snodgrass plays a tender horn while a male does a convincing lead wallpapered by some arresting, swooping harmonies. On "Living In the Ghetto," they sing about the woes of poverty; if you like heavy metal, this and "Why" will tickle your fancy. "Lady" features Dunlap and a male on an upbeat rock-blues number.
The back cover pictures P.I. posing under the now-defunct Liberty Theater marquee in mod-type clothing. The front cover features a slim, pretty, Afro-wearing Black woman with three arms holding three globes surrounded by clouds.
Tracks
1. Living In The Ghetto - 6:32
2. Why - 4:37
3. Lady - 3:37
4. We Got To Pull Together (Frank Smith) - 3:35
5. Whey You Do To Me - 3:32
6. Marching To A Different Drummer - 15:24
All songs by Purple Image unless as else written.
The posthumous release of guitarist/vocalist/songwriter John Martyn's Heaven And Earth (Hole In The Rain, 2011)—the basic tracks extensively overdubbed, though not edited, by producers Garry Pollitt and Jim Tullio following Martyn's death in 2009—is welcome. Compositionally, it is not one of Martyn's greatest albums, but it contains enough gritty blues/rock guitar, and retentions of the spacey vocal style with which Martyn forged some of his reputation, to satisfy his longtime followers. More than anything though, Heaven And Earth serves to remind us of Martyn's multifaceted 40-year discography, and the above-average proportion of masterworks within it.
Key among those masterworks is 1970's The Road To Ruin. This was the second, and final, album Martyn made with his wife, vocalist/songwriter Beverley, and followed the duo's Stormbringer (Island), released earlier the same year. A more genuinely collaborative effort than Stormbringer, the nine tracks which made up the original LP release of The Road To Ruin include one written by Beverley ("Primrose Hill") and three others jointly composed by Beverley and John ("Auntie Aviator," "Sorry To Be So Long," "Say What You Can"), on all four of which Beverley takes lead vocals. It is these tracks, along with Paul Wheeler's "Give Us A Ring," written for singer/songwriter Nick Drake and the only track on the album not composed by the Martyns, which give the album so much of its affective power and historical resonance. About this, more in a moment.
The other characteristic which distinguishes The Road To Ruin, and made it so adventurous for its time, is the instrumentation. In essence, the music is a folk/rock hybrid played by an acoustic (guitar and bass guitar aside) jazz lineup. The band included three of London's ranking jazz saxophonists: Ray Warleigh, Lyn Dobson (also heard on flute) and South African émigré Dudu Pukwana, each given ample solo space. They are heard alongside John Martyn on guitars (and the Echoplex introduced on Stormbringer), John and Beverley on vocals, pianist and co-arranger Paul Harris, drummers Wells Kelly and Mike Kowalski, and conga player Rocky Dzidzornu. Three bassists are variously employed, including, on one track, "New Day," acoustic player Danny Thompson, on the first of his studio recordings with Martyn.
Much of the horn work was added by producer (and folk/rock Svengali) Joe Boyd after the basic tracks were laid down. Pukwana, for instance, recorded a second solo on top of his extended primary solo on "Road To Ruin," consciously recreating a traditional African call and response pattern. Martyn later expressed reservations about this aspect of the album, saying the overdubs undermined the organic, in-the-moment feel he wanted. The criticism, however, was likely prompted by some other dispute Martyn was having with Boyd at the time, for The Road To Ruin, post-production and all, still sounds as in-the-moment as it gets. It reeks of atmosphere, one laden with incense, herbal aromas and a sense of community.
Which brings us to the historical resonance mentioned above. In commercial terms, The Road To Ruin was small fry: Martyn's breakthrough came a little later, with Bless The Weather (Island, 1971) and Solid Air (Island, 1973). But the album (with its pitch perfect Max Ernst front cover illustration) was common currency among London's counterculture, in no small part because of the Martyns' well known enjoyment of hash and weed, which seeps out of every groove and which is explicitly referenced in "Primrose Hill," "Auntie Aviator" and "Give Us A Ring." In its own, more pastoral way, "Auntie Aviator"—which starts unremarkably, but rapidly evolves into something mysterious and other, via the lyrics, Beverley's vocal delivery and John's theremin-like guitar lines—was in Britain as much of a psychedelic rallying cry as Grace Slick's "White Rabbit," from the Jefferson Airplane's album Surrealistic Pillow (RCA Victor, 1967), had been three years earlier. Martyn continued to enjoy dope for the rest of his life, and went through the statutory cocaine binge; the damage was done later by alcohol addiction.
But you don't have to have been there to enjoy it. The Road To Ruin, with all its historical baggage—societal and, informed as it so pervasively was by the Martyns' lifestyle, domestic—still sounds as exalted as it ever did.
by Chris May
Tracks
1. Primrose Hill (Beverley Martyn) - 2:53
2. Parcels - 3:24
3. Auntie Aviator (John And Beverley Martyn) - 6:00
4. New Day - 3:56
5. Give Us A Ring (Paul Wheeler) - 3:50
6. Sorry To Be So Long (John And Beverley Martyn) - 4:40
7. Tree Green - 3:08
8. Say What You Can (John And Beverley Martyn) - 3:02
9. Road To Ruin - 6:21
All tracks composed by John Martyn, except where indicated
There are some who say that this early 1966 masterpiece does Dylan's 'Highway 61' period better than the master himself, said Lenny Kaye of "A Public Execution" in the liner notes to the epochal Nuggets compilation album from 1972. In the small but fiercely contested kingdom of Dylan imitators Texas' Mouse 'n' The Traps stand tallest due to Execution.
It was only a medium-sized hit in the United States back in the 1960s but has become renowned the World over in the years since, as one of the best records of its kind. In truth, while Ronnie 'Mouse' Weiss and his gang of Texas buddies would never deny the influence of Dylan's classic folk-rock, A Public Execution - shaped into a Dylan cop more by the studio machinations of producer Robin Hood Brians than anything else - was merely one facet of a band that could cover all the bases.
Along the way, they made some of the most enduring rock and pop records of the decade. If nothing else, they should be remembered for the raging follow-up 'Maid Of Sugar-Maid Of Spice', a record so violent that the grooves of the original 45 could barely contain it (hear it off master tape for the first time since release on The Fraternity Years, but remember, Big Beat Records accepts no liability for damage caused to your loudspeakers). The Traps formed in late 1965 from a pool of hot pickers and teenage musicians centred around Robin Hood's studio in Tyler, Texas.
With his strong voice and offbeat demeanour Mouse became the defacto leader of the band that cut Execution purely for fun, and then realised they had a regional hit on their hands. Ken Murray and David Stanley headed up the solid rhythm section, the underrated Buggs Henderson strangled the guitar and the Traps went through keyboard players like margaritas on a hot Tyler night.
The group toured all over the Southern midwest in the mid to late 1960s and had a considerable following, thanks to their wild act. Unfortunately, the Traps never succeeded in capitalising on their live popularity, despite a slew of excellent releases for the Fraternity label. Like I Know You Do, Promises Promises and Cryin' Inside were all state-of-the-art pop gems, as was Sometimes You Just Can't Win, an almost-but-not-quite smash with an expert arrangement.
Looking to broaden their commercial potential, the band even flirted with psychedelic pop, their Look At The Sun and I Satisfy being two fine examples of the genre. But it's gritty garage rock'n'roll that was the forte of Mouse & The Traps, as it should be for any Texan outfit worth their enchiladas. Hear 'em wail on previously unissued versions of I'm A Man and You Don't Love Me, as well as the oft-covered flip Lie Beg Borrow and Steal. "The Fraternity Years" collects together every worthwhile moment of Mouse & The Traps' glory years, with the usual Big Beat attention to detail, in one helluva rockin' package.
Tracks
1. A Public Execution (Knox Henderson, Ronnie Weiss) - 2:49
2. Maid Of Sugar, Maid Of Spice (Knox Henderson, Ronnie Weiss) - 2:40
3. Nobody Cares (Randy Fouts, Ronnie Weiss) - 2:44
4. Cryin' Inside (David Stanley, Ronnie Weiss) - 2:33
5. I'm A Man (McDaniel) - 2:25
6. Lie Beg Borrow And Steal (Ronnie Weiss) - 2:35
7. (as Chris St John) - I've Got Her Love (Mack Barton, Robin Hood Brians) - 2:15
8. I Am That One (Mack Barton, Robin Hood Brians) - 2:26
9. Like I Know You Do (Knox Henderson, Ronnie Weiss) - 2:25
10.Sometimes You Just Can't Win (Knox Henderson, Robin Hood Brians) - 2:57
11.All For You (Knox Henderson, Ronnie Weiss) - 2:47
12.Do The Best You Can (Robin Hood Brians) - 2:25
13.Look At The Sun (Tim Gillespie) - 2:41
14.You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care) (Willie Cobbs) - 2:09
15.Promises Promises (Dale Payne, Robin Hood Brians) - 2:24
16.I Satisfy (David Stanley, Ronnie Weiss) - 3:47
17.Requiem For Sarah (David Stanley, Ronnie Weiss) - 3:19
18.L.O.V.E. Love (Knox Henderson, Ronnie Weiss) - 2:31
19.Ya Ya (Clarence Lewis, Lee Dorsey, Morgan Robinson) - 1:57
20.Good Times (David Stanley, Ronnie Weiss) - 2:31
21.Hand In Hand (David Stanley) - 1:59
22.You Are My Sunshine (Charles Mitchell, Jimmie Davis) - 2:23
23. I Wonder Where The Birds Fly - 1:57
24.Mohair Sam (Dallas Frazier) - 2:14
25.(as Chris St John) - As Far As The Sea (Mack Barton, Robin Hood Brians) - 2:39
The second album called "Stalingrad" (in cyrillic letters) was recorded and released in 1977. in the mean time BACHDENKEL toured small venues through europe (mostly France). BACHDENKEL started as a Flower Power psychedelic rock band (Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Beatles, Procol Harum), but developed towards a more symphonic/melodic progstyle for their second album. Their sound is dominated by guitar and drums, with great vocals and occasional keyboard passages.
Tracks
1. The Whole World (Looking Over My Shoulder) (Kimberley, Beer) - 3:37
2. After The Fall (Swinburne, Beer) - 4:27
3. Seven Times Tomorrow (Swinburne, Beer) - 3:56
4. For You To Live With Me (Swinburne, Kimberley, Beer) - 3:23
5. The Tournament (Kimberley, Beer) - 2:52
6. (It's Always) Easy To Be Hard (Kimberley, Beer) - 4:46
7. Xenophon (Swinburne, Beer) - 4:51
8. Ctalingpad (Swinburne, Beer) - 3:30
9. Stalingrad (Kimberley, Swinburne) - 4:33
10. You Lied About Your Age (Unreleased Single) (Kimberley, Swinburne, Beer) - 3:11
11. Ring Of Truth (Unreleased Single) (Swinburne, Beer) - 2:55
12. Sirocco (Unreleased Single) (Swinburne, Kimberley) - 2:58
13. Ctalingrad (Studio Live) (Kimberley, Beer) - 3:23
14. After The Fall (Studio Live) (Swinburne, Beer) - 5:35
15. For You To Live With Me (Studio Live) (Kimberley, Beer) - 4:38
16. Seven Times Tomorrow (Studio Live) (Swinburne, Beer) - 6:50
17. Through The Eyes Of A Child (Archives) (Swinburne, Kimberley, Beer) - 4:01
18. An Appointment With The Master (Archives) (Kimberley, Beer) - 3:39
19. Bo Bo's Party (Live, Cannes '75, Extract) (Safka) - 6:11
Bachdenkel
*Colin Swinburne - Guitar, Organ, Piano
*Peter Kimberley - 6 String Bass, Piano
*Brian Smith - Drums With
*Karel Beer - Electric 12-String Guitar, Slide Guitar
*Irv Howray - Vocals
*Andy Scott - ARP Synthesizer
Bachdenkel started out life as the U NO Who. This late 60s group had been active on the Birmingham scene for some time and played psychedelic pop. They recorded a handful of respectable tracks which were pitched to the Beatles’ Apple label but no deal ever materialized. The U NO Who would go on to become Bachdenkel at the end of the decade. Bachdenkel’s lineup looked something like this: Colin Swinburne on vocals, guitar, piano, organ and harpsichord, Peter Kimberley on vocals, bass and piano, Brian Smith on drums, and Karel Beer on Organ.
Bachdenkel would relocate to France and record the great Lemmings album in 1970. Although the LP was completed by the summer of 1970, Phillips didn’t release Lemmings until 1973 - released throughout Europe but not in the UK. This really sealed this unique British group’s fate – unfairly so because they were very talented. I believe a UK reissue/rerelease appeared in the late 70s (maybe 1978) but by that time Bachdenkel had ceased to exist. The group released another solid progressive album titled Stalingrad (1975) and toured Europe in 1976 before breaking up.
And as for the Lemmings LP? It’s one of the best 70s progressive rock albums out there. The musicians here keep their egos in check and know when to end a song, unlike Yes or ELP. To me this is a much better (and more interesting) album than anything Yes or ELP would ever release. The ringing guitars dominate Bachdenkel’s sound but there are tasteful keyboards as well. Some people have linked Bachdenkel’s sound to Caravan, Abbey Road era Beatles, and King Crimson.
These are all valid comparisons – think of Bachdenkel as a missing link between the Beatles and the mighty Crimso, progressive guitar pop with a slight psychedelic hangover. “An Appointment With The Master”, the LP’s most popular song, is a lost classic that might be what the Beatles would have sounded like had they lasted into the progressive rock era. Crashing drums and superb psychedelic guitar work give this cut a fresh edge. “Translation” and “Equals” are also outstanding dark mood pieces that sound completely modern by today’s standards – this LP has not dated one bit.
All of Lemmings 7 tracks are excellent, whether it be the 11 minute epic “The Settlement Song” or the shorter, tuneful tracks like “Long Time Living” – every works beautifully. So…interesting arrangements that take chances (unique twists and turns), a dark aura, rock solid songwriting, Caravan-like vocals, and great musicianship unify this very special musical statement. Any fan of classic rock needs to own this essential masterpiece.
The music you're about to hear is rough, fresh and sometimes strange. The power of the Picts once more . Soho Orange (Glasgow natives) did the tracks you hear on this record in 1971.The mists of time cover the knowledge about the guys who called themselves Soho Orange.
Jim told us, their earlier name was Ad Lib Nevertheless, here they are-and be careful: This music might kill your amplifier ! A short, psychedelic intro - then the instruments explode into ‘King Of The Road’, an interesting song with changing speed. Hard guitar and merciless drumfire torture your ears, the tormenting cymbals shake your mind. This song gives you everything - except mercy!! Wonder how many drumheads were knocked to pieces in one session.
Hard, driving sound and unique vocal-duos, that's what 'Mississippi Tales' has to offer. The song changes into ‘The Wish – Tears’ some kind of anti-war-song. • Hare and more grows a haunting feeling. Ghostly, desperate vocals grip your mind. The drums join to get to a harder end. ‘Freedom Callin’ is another anti-war-song which contains unique, crazy vocal - duos. The song has a slower start but then gets into a faster guitar-solo. A little solo by the drums and some kind of Coke-bottle give the prelude to the ecstatic end.
If you're using headphones, take care of your tympanums or you might perhaps neither hear ‘Freedom Callin’ nor something else anymore. Softer guitars and gentle vocals start ‘Dream Queen’ and the song flows psychedelic for a while. When the singer has found his Queen, guitars, bass and drums make hard attack. ‘Nightmare’ is a very hard track which rocks the membranes out of your loud - speakers (no compensation !!!).Good vocals and maximum power. This is a massacre for your ears and maybe for the rest of your body, too, if your neighbor is able to find his axe or chainsaw ;there*s a guitar-solo in the middle of the song which remembers me to Chopin's "Deadmarch" - so watch your sound – intensity, it may be an Omen ! Now we're getting near the end (a hard one of course).
The last track is called ‘Seven Faces’ (I've had my visions before).Maybe the most changing and strangest song contained herein. Also the first song of this .group which Jim played to us. A song worth to awake your interest. Vocals, underlined with effective echoes conclude the song and the album, too. I 've been listening to Soho Orange nearly for 20 times and I loved it more and more with every hearing.
Tracks
1. King of the Road - 5:46
2. Mississippi Tales / The Wish - Tears - 10:22
3. Freedom Callin - 5:40
4. Dream Queen - 5:28
5. Nightmare - 6:00
6. Seven Faces - 6:14
Both sides of their four 1965-1967 singles on Columbia, plus five previously unissued tracks from the same period. The possibility of an album's worth of Magicians' material has long intrigued collectors of '60s music, most of whom are only familiar with their "An Invitation to Cry" single from Nuggets.
At times it's Lovin' Spoonful-like folk-rock (they cover two songs from the debut album by minor Greenwich Village folk-rocker David Blue); sometimes it's Young Rascals-ish soul-rock, with a poppier bent; sometimes it's journeyman blues-rock (covers of "Back Door Man" and "Who Do You Love"); sometimes it's fair period 1966 pop/rock.
The Gordon-Bonner songwriting collaboration had not yet been cemented; in fact, there are only two Gordon-Bonner compositions here, although on some of the other tracks, one or the other wrote with other partners. In retrospect, it's unfortunate that the Magicians didn't hold together longer, until the Gordon-Bonner team had matured, but fate plays its own cards.
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. An Invitation to Cry (Alan Gordon, James Woods) - 2:55
2. Rain Don't Fall on Me No More (arr. J. Townley, B. Wylde, A. Polhemus) - 2:25
3. About My Love (David Blue) - 2:04
4. I'll Tell the World About You (A. Gordon, A. Jacobs) - 2:52
5. Lady Fingers (Garry Bonner, Alan Gordon) - 2:45
6. Angel on the Corner (A. Jacobs) - 2:18
7. I'd Like to Know (David Blue) - 2:34
8. Back Door Man (Chuck Berry, Chester Burnett, Willie Dixon) - 2:16
9. That's What Love Is Made Of (Warren Moore, Smokey Robinson, Robert Rogers) - 2:38
10.Double Good Feeling (G. Bonner, Alan Gordon) - 1:58
11.I Won't Be Here Tomorrow (G. Bonner, A. Jacobs) - 2:32
12.You're So Fine (Lance Finnie, Willie Schofield, Bob West) - 2:35
13.Who Do You Love (Ellas McDaniel) - 3:54
Sperrmüll is a German rock band founded in Aachen in the early 70s. In 1971, Harald Kaiser and Reinhold Breuer decided to form a trio. His name sperrmüll. Then one day, Helmut Krieg arrives with his guitar and arrangements and the group is started. From that time, the group became a quartet with the involvement of Peter Schneider to play keyboards. The group's name is somewhat obscure because "Sperrmüll" is a German expression that means garbage in bulk.
They recorded one album for the label Brain in a very limited edition in 1972, in a manner also quite anonymous Dieter Dierks studio in Stommeln produced by a Chazadu surely a pseudonym.A test similar to the very successful early Deep Purple in Nosferatu and even Rufus Zuphall, This album has long been a precious rarity vinyl
Sperrmüll offers a burly album called simply "Sperrmüll" songs are in English and not overloaded instrumentally speaking, but the group actually plenty to offer. Mainly Heavy Rock, but with many additions musiqu progressive, guitar as well as the organ.
The original LP consists of 6 songs, then later be digitally added two songs ("You Have To Leave" and "To Be Satisfied").The set is however complex and dynamic improvisations in between some vagueness (many Hammond organs and guitars Heavy catchy) arrangements and folk epic flute.
The opening track is a pop folk entitled "Me And My Girlfriend" controlled first by mandolin and piano, lead, little by little, through the organ and synthesizer to an end much more Heavy Blues. "No Freak Out", Prog majestically, is the song of the group's most famous because it is found on most long compilations of Krautrock for several years. A good choice because it is a good mix of psychedelic ingredients in a style close to Pink Floyd combined with a monotonous rhythm. "Rising Up" is a bit more spacy sometimes reminiscent of Deep Purple, Eloy or even Grobschnitt.
The Hard Rock "Right Now", an epic nine minutes begins some unusual way, because only bursts of guitar and drums hell are dueling for a moment. After several minutes, the song turns into a calmer perfectly structured piece with a jazzy piano and a powerful bass, and finally ending in Hard Rock again. Perhaps the best part, because of these innovations varied.
The last two tracks "Land Of The Rocking Sun" and "Pat Casey" are not really important, because they are typically Rock songs, while the second has a more pronounced rhythm style Boogie Woogie.
by Adamus67
Tracks
1. Me An My Girlfriend - 5:05
2. No Freak Out - 6:43
3. Rising Up - 6:32
4. Right Now - 9:09
5. Land Of The Rocking Sun - 4:30
6. Pat Casey - 3:20
Sperrmull
*Helmut Krieg - Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals
*Harald Kaiser - Bass, Vocals
*Reinhold Breuer - Drums, Percussion
*Peter Schneider - Organ, Electric Piano, Synthesizer
Classical M could have made a great album if given the chance. As it is, the songs contained on this disc make for a stunning collection, with the band’s psychedelic flourishes, outrageous melodies, and fantastic attention to production detail evident throughout.
This profoundly original music was made in three short years (1967-1970): twenty-four delirious and provocative songs that establish Classical M as perhaps the best, and certainly the most intriguing French band of all time.
Their offbeat sense of rhythm and harmony, the complex intertwining of voices, and perhaps more than anything, their unusual practice of trying to play all sorts of instruments—be they electronic or traditional—these elements make the music of this odd French trio unique and very special.
by Vincent Tornatore
Tracks
1. Love, Love Is There - 2:42
2. Gog Demagog (Pipo, G. Maruani, A. Maruani) - 2:53
3. Bad Guy - 4:02
4. The Way I Do Love You - 2:50
5. Such a Lovely Voice - 5:49
6. Once in a While (Demo Version) (G. Maruani, A. Maruani, H. Bratter) - 2:35
7. Music of the Rain (A.K.A. Mélodie de La Pluie) - 3:08
8. Decomplexion (Classical M) - 9:03
9. Ugly Room - 1:51
10.Ever Be My Friend? - 2:29
11.Paris Est une Ville d'Alcooliques - 4:39
12.J'Ai Décidé - 3:02
13.Le Romancier Tchèque - 3:10
14.J'Entends Les Étoiles (G. Maruani, A. Maruani, H. Bratter) - 4:06
15.Sisyphe - 2:06
16.C'est La Guerre (G. Maruani, A. Maruani, H. Bratter) - 2:16
17.Pauvre Cobaye (A.K.A. Cow-Boy) (G. Maruani, H. Bratter) - 1:40
18.Une Rivière Qui S'Égare (G. Maruani, H. Bratter) - 2:43
19.Un Jour de Chance (Demo Version) - 2:29
20.Love You One Another (G. Maruani, A. Maruani, H. Bratter) - 3:11
21.Marouanabab (Classical M) - 3:15
22.Love, Love Is There (Live) - 3:34
23.Le Métro (Live) - 2:17
24.Pop Club Session (Live) - 3:17
All songs by Guy Maruani and Andre Maruani except where indicated.
Classical M
*Guy Maruani - Lead Vocals, Flute, Harmonica, Percussion
*Andre Maruani - 12 string Guitar, Oud, Violin, Keyboards, Vocals
*Henri Bratter - Lead Guitar, Percussion
There was a lot of talent involved in the making of Cochise's debut album. Guitarist Mick Grabham went on to play in Procol Harum; bassist Rick Wills would later join Foreigner; B.J. Cole would be an in-demand pedal steel player on many sessions over the next few decades; drummer Willie Wilson would play with Pink Floyd; Dick Taylor, who'd just left the Pretty Things, produced; and Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis (famous for working on Pink Floyd LP covers) designed a striking and, for the period, daring cover of a woman's unadorned breasts.
The credits on a resume don't always guarantee an outstanding album, however, and Cochise is one of those '60s-turning-into-'70s records that treads an uneasy line between eclectic diversity and a lack of direction. It's so-so period 1970 British rock, distinguished just slightly by a more country-ish flavor than the norm, courtesy of Cole's pedal steel. It's not country-rock, however, and some of the songs in fact owe little or nothing to the form.
Numbers like "Painted Lady" and "Moment and the End" are tense, meandering hard rock tunes; the latter cut, in fact (as well as sections of some others, like "Velvet Mountain") sounds kind of like late-'60s/early-'70s Guess Who LP filler. There's a wistful rural feel to parts of the material that suggests some promise, but that mood's shattered by an unnecessary, pedestrian heavy rock cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song."
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Velvet Mountain (Mick Grabham) - 3:26
2. China (Grabham)-3:55
3. Trafalgar Day (B. J. Cole) - 5:08
4. Moment And The End (Cole) - 5:58
5. Watch This Space (Stewart Brown) - 3:56
6. 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (Paul Simon) - 3:39
7. Past Loves (Brown) - 3:38
8. Painted Lady (Grabham) - 7:03
9. Black Is The Colour (Traditional) - 0:56
