Born Curtis McNear, 9 May 1929, Fort Scott, Kansas, USA, died 29 November 1999, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Having completed his national service, Knight settled in California where he hoped to pursue a career in music. He appeared in a low-budget movie, Pop Girl, before relocating to New York during the early 60s. Knight then recorded for several minor labels, but these releases have been eclipsed by the singer’s collaborations with Jimi Hendrix, who joined Curtis’ group, the Squires, in 1965.
Hendrix’s tenure there was brief, but the contract he signed with Knight’s manager, Ed Chalpin, had unfortunate repercussions, particularly as the guitarist ill-advisedly undertook another recording session in 1967. His spells with Knight yielded 61 songs, 26 studio and 35 live, which have since been the subject of numerous exploitative compilations. Although some of this material is, in isolation, worthwhile, such practices have undermined its value.
As Curtis Knight continued to pursue his career throughout the 60s using whatever musicians were available, he increasingly relied on his Hendrix association, and in 1974 published Jimi, ‘an intimate biography’. By this point Knight was based in London where he led a new group, Curtis Knight - Zeus. This band comprised Eddie Clarke (guitar; later in Motörhead), Nicky Hogarth (keyboards), John Weir (bass) and Chris Perry (drums).
They completed two albums, but only one was issued in the UK. The singer undertook a European tour and recorded an unremarkable album before returning to the USA. In the latter part of the decade Knight conceived the black punk rock band, Pure Hell. He continued to work with a variety of musicians while running his own limousine business. In 1992, Knight relocated to the Netherlands where he continued to record up to his death from cancer in November 1999. He had recently launched the Double Rainbow/Happy Dream label.
Knight cut a storming set of tunes which varies from the immediately attractive rocking title track, through the peaks and troughs of New Horizon, to the comparative restraint of The Confession. It’s hard to imagine any rock fan not finding something to enjoy here, with the quality of the playing and instantly memorable songs. Here and there Knight uses a female chorus to enhance certain tracks, while his overall production of the album is clear and engaging. One bonus, The Devil Made Me Do It, is added to the original, making this a highly recommended reissue for any Hendrix or general rock fan.
by Kingsley Abbott
Tracks
1. Zeus - 3:19
2. New Horizon - 4:00
3. Silver Queen - 6:15
4. Mysterious Lady - 2:47
5. Road Song - 4:38
6. People Places and Things - 2:55
7. Cloud (Eddie Clarke, Curtis Knight) - 8:27
8. Eyes of a Child - 2:47
9. The Confession (Eddie Clarke, Curtis Knight) - 5:54
10.Oh Rainbow - 2:47
11.The Devil Made Me Do It - 2:36
Drummer Raymond Roy and singer Michel Vallee started their musical partnership as members of Quebec Les Maitres. Rounded out by guitarist Jocelyn Julien and multi-instrumentalist Christian Simard in 1969 the band was signed by RCA, releasing a string of three Canadian singles.
Apparently driven by a desire to expand their audience, in 1970 the quartet opted for a name change coupled with major reorientation in music direction.
Credited to Morse Code Transmission, 1971's cleverly titled "Morse Code Transmission" teamed the group with producer Bill Misener. Unlike their earlier Les Maitres singles which were exclusively performed in French, their debut album featured all English performances. Musically the set bounced around including stabs at top-40 pop ('Time'), early progressive moves (the Procol Harum-esque 'Souvenirs of Our Days'), AOR rock (the fuzz guitar propelled 'It Never Ever Easy To Do') and even a goofy piece of Arcadian folk ('Hunting and Laughing').
Interestingly, the liner notes indicated that Simard continued to write in French with Graeme Box, John deNottbeck and Stan Rogers providing help translating the material into English. Not meant as a criticism, but least to my ears Simard and Valee didn't seem particularly comfortable singing in English with their performances on material such as 'Souvenirs of Our Days' and 'One To One' sounding like they'd learned the lyrics phonetically. Elsewhere, released as a single 'Oh Lord' b/w 'Fire Sign' (RCA catalog number 75-1006) provided the band with a top-40 Canadian hit.
Tracks
1. Souvenirs Of Our Days (Christian Simard, Bill Misener) - 2:24
2. It Never Ever Easy To Do (Christian Simard, Bill Misener, Michel Vallee) - 3:50
3. Time (Christian Simard, Bill Misener) - 1:31
4. Oh Lord (Christian Simard, Graeme Box, John De Nottbeck) - 2:55
5. Hunting And Laughing (Christian Simard, Bill Misener) - 2:03
6. The Friend (Instrumental) (Christian Simard) - 1:07
7. Story-Book Life (Christian Simard, Bill Misener, Graeme Box) - 2:58
8. Fire Sign (Christian Simard, Stan Rogers, Michel Vallee) - 2:03
9. Freedom Train (Christian Simard, Bill Misener) - 3:34
10.Today I'm Alive (Christian Simard, Stan Rogers) - 2:23
11.One To One (Christian Simard, Bill Misener) - 2:50
12.Two Friends (Instrumental) (Christian Simard, Bill Misener) - 1:45
One of Quebec's most experimental psychadelic rock bands, Morse Code Transmission was formed in the late 1960s by Montreal natives guitarist Michel Vallee and drummer Raymond Roy. Then going by the name of Les Maitres (The Masters), they released a string of unsuccessful singles in English before the turn of the decade, though they also incorporated French songs into roughly half their live sets.
With Christian Simard on vocals and keyboards, and guitarist Jocelyn Julien, they became a hot commodity on the Quebec bar circuit and after signing a deal with RCA Records, and on the label's insistence, changed their name. They also dropped the original French material they'd written from their playlist, and began work with producer/songwriter Bill Meisener.
They released their self-titled debut album in the summer of '71, and although the single, "Oh Lord" b/w "Fire Sign" went nowhere, it was complimented by other heavy organ vibes and slick guitar solos in songs like "It's Never Easy To Do," "Souvenirs of Our Days," and "Freedom Train" still meant decent album sales. Although heavy on the organ and deep on bass, the music was diverse - from the grungy "Never Easy To Do" to the Beatlesesque "Today I'm Alive," cello solo compliments of Peter Schenkman, and a full strings accompaniment to Al Cherney's fiddle in "Hunting and Laughing."
By the time they were in the studios recording a follow-up, Berny Tapin had replaced Julien on guitars, and Morse Code Transmission II was released in '72. Simard was once again the chief writer, and more crunchy vocals and a pounding backbeat served up the only single, "Cold Society" b/w "Satan's Song." It failed to make a dent in the charts, but other cuts like the lead-off "Funk Alley," "Soul Odyssey," and "Sky Ride" were indicative of the more all-encompassing sound the band was trying to achieve.
The album was housed in a superbly colourful gatefold sleeve which pictures a woman lying under a tree. They play a fairly exciting organ-driven hard rock. Later the band changed their name to Morse Code and sang in French. Canadian-bands
Tracks
1. Funk Alley - 8:14
2. Soul Odyssey - 3:34
3. Graveyard Of Man - 4:54
4. Stick The Fork In - 8:39
5. Liberty, Freedom, Man - 9:29
6. Cold Society - 4:40
7. New Woman Kind - 4:33
8. Sky Ride - 4:31
9. Satan Song - 3:24
Songs 1-4 by Christian Simard
Songs 5-9 by Christian Simard and Michel Vallée
Morse Code Transmission
*Raymond Roy - Drums, Percussions
*Michel Vallée - Bass, Vocals
*Berny Tapin - Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
*Christian Simard - Piano, Organ, Tonga, Lead Vocals
After the runaway success of the Allman Brothers' classic Brothers and Sisters LP -- an album on which Dickey Betts virtually architected the open loping country sound with his newly found singing voice and easy, slimmed down guitar style -- the guitarist decided to try his hand at a solo album. Highway Call is, in essence, the second chapter in Betts finding his own voice as not only a singer, but also as a songwriter as well.
At a brief half-hour in length, Highway Call is nonetheless an emotionally powerful slice of small country life offered with a vast emotional landscape. The tone is nostalgic in that each of the songs here reflects memory and the yearning for a simpler, less cluttered life lived in the open spaces, away from the chaotic roil of rock stardom and all of its trappings. The title track reflects an acceptance of Betts' life as an itinerant musician, destined to play out his hand on the road.
There isn't a hint of regret in the ringing, slippery guitars and harmony vocals, but there is a sense that life could have been different. On "Let Nature Sing," Betts calls forth the spirits of America, from its rock and crags, its lakes and panoramic vistas, and from the ghosts of the people who've traipsed through Betts' life, leaving an emotional and indelible impression upon him.
Each song here, such as "Rain," with its sideways pedal steel, or "Long Time Gone," with its runaway slide, or even the aforementioned "Let Nature Sing," with its glorious dobro and fiddle (courtesy of Vassar Clements) underscoring Betts' lead and the ringing pedal steel of Jon Hughey is a testament to the pastoral in American life. And for Betts, the rambler, gambler, and hard living guitar man, there is no contradiction. All of his cards are on the table in "Hand Picked," a nearly 15-minute country swing romp through Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, the Allmans, and bluegrass, Betts creates the ultimate road instrumental.
The listener can hear Clements and Betts roaring down the two-lane blacktop on the back of a flatbed truck, ripping this one out with easy abandon. Highway Call stands as the artist's finest solo moment, one that holds his true voice easily expressing itself far from the madding blues wail of the Allmans, deep in the center of a Georgia holler with the sun beating down on the peach trees or on the incessant babble of a backwoods creek calling his listeners to the mystery inherent in simple living and in playing honest, heartfelt music.
by Thom Jurek
Tracks
1. Long Time Gone (Betts) - 4:31
2. Rain (Betts) - 3:40
3. Highway Call (Betts) - 4:26
4. Let Nature Sing (Betts) - 5:10
5. Hand Picked (Betts) - 14:20
6. Kissimmee Kid (Vassar Clements) - 3:13
This two-LPs-on-one-CD package is essential listening for anyone who is seriously interested in either British blues, the Rolling Stones' early sound, or the history of popular music, in England or America, during the late '50s and early '60s.
In England during the years 1957-1962, jazz and blues used to intermix freely, especially among younger blues enthusiasts and more open-minded jazzmen -- by 1963, most of the former had gone off to form bands like the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Pretty Things, etc., with guitars a the forefront of their sound, while the latter (most notably British blues godfather Alexis Korner) kept some jazz elements in their work.
The Graham Bond Organization (along with Zoot Money's Big Roll Band and other, similar outfits) represented the jazzier side of the British blues boom, less charismatic and sexually provocative than blues-rock bands like the Stones or the Yardbirds, but no less potent a product of the same inspiration, sax and organ being much more prominent in their sound. Indeed, Bond's playing on the organ as represented on this CD is the distant antecedent to Keith Emerson's more ambitious keyboard excursions of 3-4 years later, without the incessant copping of classical riffs.
The playing and singing (by Graham Bond and a young Jack Bruce) are curiously soulful, and when Ginger Baker takes a solo on "Oh Baby," it's a beautiful, powerful, even lyrical experience (as drum solos go), and one of those bold, transcendant, virtuoso moments, akin to Brian Jones' harmonica solo on the Stones' version of "Hi Heel Sneakers." The band was more exciting on stage, as the evidence of their one surviving early live performance indicates, but they were worth hearing on record as well.
In a universe that was fair and idealized, this CD and the two albums contained on it would rank right up there in sales with anything (including the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton album) that John Mayall ever released, and Bond also proves himself a more fervent and exciting figure here than Mayall ever seemed on his records.
by Bruce Eder
Tracks
1. (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon) - 3:13
2. Baby Make Love to Me (Godfrey, Group) - 1:52
3. Neighbour, Neighbour (Valior) - 2:40
4. Early in the Morning (Booker T. Laury) - 1:50
5. Spanish Blues (Graham Bond) - 3:05
6. Oh Baby (Graham Bond) - 2:42
7. Little Girl (Graham Bond) - 2:15
8. I Want You (Graham Bond) - 1:45
9. Wade in the Water (Traditional) - 2:41
10.Got My Mojo Working (Preston Foster) - 3:11
11.Train Time (John Group) - 2:24
12.Baby Be Good to Me (Janet Godfrey, J. Group) - 2:35
13.Half a Man (Graham Bond) - 2:06
14.Tammy (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston) - 2:49
15.Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Don Kirkpatrick, Keith Knox) - 2:05
16.Hear Me Calling Your Name (Jack Bruce) - 2:37
17.The Night Time Is the Right Time (Lew Herman) - 3:01
18.Walking in the Park (Graham Bond) - 3:30
19.Last Night (Charles "Packy" Axton, Ivan Johnson, Smoochy Smith) - 3:00
20.Baby Can It Be True? (Graham Bond) - 5:04
21.What'd I Say (Ray Charles) - 4:16
22.Dick's Instrumental (Smoochy Smith) - 2:33
23.Don't Let Go (Jesse Stone) - 2:43
24.Keep A-Drivin' (Chuck Willis) - 2:04
25.Have You Ever Loved a Woman? (Graham Bond) - 4:53
26.Camels and Elephants (Ginger Baker) - 4:41
The Organisation
*Graham Bond - Organ, Mellotron, Saxophone, Lead Vocals
*Jack Bruce - Vocals, Bass. Double Bass
*Ginger Baker - Drums
*Dick Heckstall-Smith - Tenor Saxophone
This is the album that, rather unfortunately for Gene, was released the very same day as The Byrds 'Younger Than Yesterday'. The release by his former group of course received all the attention and Gene's debut struggled for both airplay and sales. Both Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke of The Byrds contribute here though, and future Byrd Clarence White helps out on guitar.
And! We have the sheer wondrous splendour of the orchestrated 'Echoes' to open. Immediately, it sounds nothing like The Byrds. It's clearly written by the same pen as the likes of 'Set You Free This Time' however, and is certainly up there with Gene's finest ever compositions. We have poetic lyrics to rival Dylan at his best and the orchestration really does something here. In contrast, 'Think Im Gonna Feel Better' is jaunty, short and simple. Jaunty? Well, its happy! The Gosdin Brothers add harmonies and it's a fine song.
The guitar sound is 'chugging' rather than the Jangle of The Byrds, but everything is well played and performed. 'Tried So Hard' is a sheer delight, and ensures a strong album opening. Country picking and such a happy melody mixed in with Gene's poetic imagery. 'Is Yours Is Mine' is the one song here that that most evokes memories of The Byrds. The harmonies are mighty fine and provide the main enticing highpoints of the song. Fantastic psychedelic moments mixed in too, though! Ah, 'Keep On Pushin' is perhaps a little too simplistic but the song that follows is mighty fine and matches any of the opening three.
'So You Say You Lost Your Baby' is full of echo and reverb, and strings as well! Its a strange combination, but it works. Impressive drumming on 'Elevator Operator', 'The Same One' foreshadows Genes future work by being a dense intricate ballad yet with wonderful melodic guitar fragments. Neither of the final two songs are essential, but both are still pleasant enough, if still straying the wrong side of the line marked 'simple'. They retain the sound of the rest of the album however and fit in happily enough, if nothing else.
by Andrian Denning
Tracks
1. Boston - 2:01
2. For Me Again - 2:30
3. I Knew I'd Want You - 2:18
4. Here Without You - 2:36
5. Set You Free This Time - 2:48
6. If You're Gone - 2:46
7. Is Yours Is Mine - 2:37
8. So You Say You Lost Your Baby - 2:06
9. Tried So Hard - 2:20
10.Needing Someone - 2:02
11.Echoes - 3:16
12.The Same One - 3:29
13.Couldn't Believe Her - 2:10
14.Keep On Pushin' (Clark, Bill Rinehart) - 1:45
15.I Found You - 2:58
16.Elevator Operator (Clark, Bill Rinehart) - 2:54
17.Think I'm Gonna Feel Better - 1:34
18.The French Girl - 2:36
19.Only Colombe - 3:07
20.So You Say You Lost Your Baby (Acoustic Demo Version) - 3:11
All songs by Gene Clark except where noted
Moonstone members lived in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada and released a completely left unnoticed LP on the private Canadian label Kot’Ai, recorded in Montreal somewhere in the early ‘70’s, and, like the label says, what a great discovery this is indeed. On the first track, female singer Carolyn MacLeod sounds like a cross between Vasthi Bunyan and perhaps Linda Perhacs.
All tracks have delicate and gentle fingerpicking guitar. There’s one short instrumental based upon guitars only, “Fina’s Birthday Song”. Often the male vocals lead and there are nicely worked out vocal harmonies. “In Case”, “Cointreau” and “Relative Hoak” and the melancholic “Said Gently” (with piano only) does this with a definite West Coast feeling and harmony, at times close to Crosby,Stills, Nash & Young, performed with a similar gentleness as the other tracks. “Black Blind Light” is a bit more psychedelic, with flute and guitars improvisations.
Last track, “Hope you can see” is the most melancholic song of the album, a track which can stand well against another favourite folkpsych track favourite of mine which I mentioned before in another review (of The Search Party, mentioning the similar track "All but this”), namely Jefferson Airplain’s "Coming back to me"
The Arkham born in Brussels following a meeting took place between Jean-Luc Manderlier keyboardist and drummer Daniel Denis, finding the reasons for this association in order to create original music, based on the style of the so-called "Canterbury School". In May of 1970, joins bassist Claude Berkovitch, from the Here and Now Group, where he also played Marc Hollander, later with Aksak Maboul.
After just a month of evidence together, the three musicians decide to confront the audience with enrolling in a competition among groups called "Guitare d'Or", a music festival held in Ciney in Belgium. The Arkam win with a strong public acclaim, which will give strength to the group and will substantially concert activity within the confines of the Belgians. In October of the same year, Berkovitch left the band to differences over musical line to follow and was replaced by bassist Patrick Cogneaux.
Denis had already played with Cogneaux in 1969 in a group called Knives and Axes. The compositions of the group are the sole prerogative of Manderlier and the group starts to appear in the broadcasts of Radio and Television Belgian gaining considerable popularity. After a few concerts with the newcomer, with other groups participating in the "Midi-Minuit" of 1971 in Liege - Belgium, where a festival will feed a variety of musical proposals under the artistic direction of the contemporary composer Henry Pousseur.
Throughout the year 1971, the group took part in many important concerts, such as Bilzen and the Festival of Ciney, the "Cocoripop" in Charleroi or the "Free-show" held in Josaphat Park of Brussels. They had also the opportunity to open the first concert of the Belgian Magma, 4 September of the same year, revving very Christian Vander.
At the end of September, Cogneaux leaves Arkham and then later to join Pazop and the group then invited the guitarist / bassist Paul Radoni, a former member of the Here & Now. Since then, the Arkham proposed a less elaborate music, placing more elements of improvisation. This feature lasted for a few months and in a few live concerts. During the last months of 1971, joined the group on trumpet Claude Deron (co-founder of Univers Zero) and the French guitarist Francois Arnaudeau, which, however, only played in a concert.
Cristiano Ramon is a bassist who occasionally participated in a concert held only in Verviers April 28, 1972. With the participation of the trumpet of Deron, Manderlier writes new songs in which to channel the inspiration typically jazz-rock bands like Nucleus. Deron only participated in two concerts, before the group is separated as a result of the invitation to join the Manderlier by Vander of Magma in March 1972.
Arkham during their business unfortunately failed to record a single album, it was only in 1994 was to issue a compilation of recordings from the concerts and samples from the years 1970 to 1972. Arkham are an early 70's prog band that featured keyboard player Jean-Luc Manderlier who would later join Magma, drummer Daniel Denis who would also move on to Magma as well as Univers Zero, and drummer Patrick Cogneaux.
The last two concerts of Arkham, after 2 years of life, were held in the Netherlands in May 1972, for the occasion combine Manderlier, Denis, Radoni, and Vincent Kenis, the latter later with Aksak Maboul. Manderlier remains for more than a year with the Magma taking part in the recording of "Mekanik Destructiw Kommandöh." Instead of Denis, his experience with Magma was limited to a few concerts in France and the Netherlands, before returning to Belgium to form the group with Deron Necronomicon, then evolved into Univers Zero in 1974. The Arkam did not lead to ever record market and some tapes containing live recordings of the time were transferred to digital media in 2002, edited by Denis and Manderlier, for Cuneiform Records.
The recovery of previously unreleased tracks and their posthumous publication, generally results in a treat for fans who will do anything for accaparrarseli, given the inherent need to complete as much as possible, the knowledge of the preferred group. The release of this CD, instead puts a different situation, because it allows you to take direct knowledge of Arkam, between the groups of the 70s unknown to most people because it never arrived at the realization of a record. The publication of this CD may be anachronistic, especially after thirty years, were it not for the fact that this group is worthy of consideration. A trio drums / bass / keyboards with two key characters: Daniel Denis and Jean-Luc Manderlier, music clearly inspired by the "Canterbury Sound", the musical phenomenon of the undoubted charm.
The audio quality is discontinuous, being recovered from the tracks recordings of various concerts for the period 1970/72, but also in consideration of the good work of recovery, listening to many songs is definitely acceptable. From the outset, we can appreciate the beautiful sound of the keyboards canterburiano, with characterizations that pass with ease from the typical peculiarities of the Caravan, the first Soft Machine but certainly with closest affinity to Egg. Elegant and nostalgic melodies, in a context that tends to mix bold scores, read dissonance, jazz, rock and contemporary music, without ever being cloying or an end in itself.
They are instrumental pieces, sometimes seemingly skinny, that there is no shortage of experimental diversions, as in "Bleirot: poor visibility", to arrive at 10 minutes and passes "With assays of bias," containing a fine solo by Denis on drums, follows the more classical Eve's eventful day (part 3) with its catchy melody. The last two songs, Riff 14 and Tight trousers are distinguished not just by others, and for the invaluable contribution of Claude Deron flugelhorn, both for greater compositional maturity and executive. This work can only be aimed primarily at those who, passionate admirers and followers of the school of Canterbury, want to add another valuable piece to your music collection.
by Adamus67
Tracks
1. Upstairs In The Granery - 5:11
2. Eve's Eventful Day (Part 5, 6) - 3:22
3. Monolithic Progression With Anticipated Rupture - 8:00
4. Brussels Shortly After - 8:30
5. Bleriot: Visibility Poor - 8:18
6. With Assays Of Bias - 10:21
7. Eve's Eventful Day (Part 3) - 4:45
8. Riff 14 - 8:48
9. Tight Trousers - 4:37
Gene Clark was the greatest underrated singer/songwriter to emerge from the '60s rock explosion, and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Neil Young. This album, his debut as a duo with virtuoso banjoist/guitarist Doug Dillard, is perhaps his most brilliant recording.
Out of the ashes of the Byrds and a brilliant false start of a solo career (the excellent Echoes album), the 1968 Dillard & Clark project found Clark collecting some of his finest material (basically the entire album) and putting it in the familiar context of bluegrass and country, a good year before these elements became vogue in the pop world. But Gene Clark was always ahead of his time.
Bookended by two exquisite autobiographical explorations into consciousness -- "Out on the Side" and "Something's Wrong" -- the album's other tracks run from mournful ballad statements such as "Radio Song" to joyous celebrations like "With Care from Someone." There is also a very hot cover of the gospel number "Git It on Brother," which features Chris Hillman on mandolin. Doug Dillard's playing on the record is uniformly excellent. Not only a virtuoso musician, Dillard is a truly smart player who never gets in the way of the songs. Graceful, spellbinding, and tasteful all at the same time.
Combined together, these 20 songs are an essential addition to any country-rock collection and are also indispensible to fans of the Byrds or the Flying Burrito Brothers. The duo's two albums are combined on one CD, making for more than an hour of great listening. Mastered in state-of-the-art sound that still holds up years later, this is the version of the two albums to get.
by Matthew Greenwald and Bruce Eder
Tracks The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard And Clark 1968
1. Out On The Side (Clark) - 3:49
2. She Darked The Sun (Clark, Leadon) - 3:10
3. Don't Come Rollin' (Clark, Dillard, Leadon) - 2:54
4. Train Leaves Here This Morning (Clark, Leadon) - 3:49
5. With Care From Someone (Clark, Dillard, Leadon) - 3:49
6. The Radio Song (Clark, Leadon) - 3:01
7. Git It On Brother (Lester Flatt) - 2:51
8. In The Plan (Clark, Dillard, Leadon) - 2:08
9. Something's Wrong (Clark, Dillard) - 2:57 Through the Morning, Through the Night 1969
10.No Longer A Sweetheart Of Mine (Don Reno, Red Smiley, Swift) - 3:16
11.Through The Morning, Through The Night (Gene Clark) - 4:06
12.Rocky Top (Boudleaux Bryant, Felice Bryant) - 2:47
13.So Sad (Don Everly, Phil Everly) - 3:21
14.Corner Street Bar (Gene Clark) - 3:35
15.I Bowed My Head And Cried Holy (Traditional, Arranged By Dillard & Clark) - 3:33
16.Kansas City Southern (Gene Clark) - 3:40
17.Four Walls (George Campbell, Marvin Moore) - 3:40
18.Polly (Gene Clark) - 4:22
19.Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms (Bill Monroe) - 2:50
20.Don't Let Me Down (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 3:52
By 1971 the UK rock music scene was undergoing change. The psychedelic era was on the wane as a Syd Barrett-less Pink Floyd departed from the surrealist brilliance of Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Progressive rock, with Peter Gabriel at its helm dressed as a transvestite fox, was getting grander and more conceptual. David Bowie was about to christen himself Ziggy Stardust and Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were ushering in a new heavier sound with their own reinterpretation of the blues.
With this in mind it’s difficult to see where Tracking with Close Ups, the sole album by UK band Sweet Slag, fits into the music scene at the time. Practically nothing is known of the band, except that they were a four-piece outfit from London and cut their solitary album for the President Record label.
Sweet Slag’s music is less concerned about creating anthemic popular rock like Zeppelin or Sabbath, and though their sound could be deemed psychedelic or progressive the over all feel of the album is darker with none of the pretence that would be normally found on albums in these genres. In truth Tracking with Close Ups owes much to the free experimentation of Zappa and Beefheart, with references to avant guarde composers such as Karl Heinz Stockhausen.
Each of the seven songs on the album are experimental with the entire band soloing freely and seemingly without direction. The tight drumming of Al Chambers and steady bass of Jack O’Neill just about manage to hold the threads of the ideas together. This freedom of expression can be a bit off-putting for the casual listener, but as in the best avant guarde work of John Coltrane, there are moments when all the ideas and discordant improvisations come together and intricate melodies weave their way out from the maelstrom.
“Rain Again” repeatedly morphs through different styles and time signatures over it’s 10 plus minutes, beginning with hazy horns over Chambers’ lazy funk break-beat, before quickly disintegrating into cacophony. ‘Twisted Trip Woman’ with its incessant bass riff is also a highlight, with a middle section which sounds like it could’ve been lifted straight off of a Plastic People of the Universe LP.
Vocalist and lead guitarist Mick Kerensky takes writing credits for all seven songs, and his lyrics are full of bleak imagery concerning his complete hatred and mistrust of society. “World of Ice” is the most psychedelic track; a slow eerie 'stoner rock’ tune much akin to “The End” by the Doors.
An embodiment of Kerensky’s paranoia, its eerie bass riff and swathes of atmospheric percussion lead on to his tortured guitar solo, which moves by turns discordant and delicate to create something truly beautiful and melancholic. Suicidal fairly sums it up.
The final track ‘Babyi Ar’ is based on the poem by Yevgeny Yevtushenko about the Jewish massacres at Babi Yar in 1941 perpetrated by the Nazi's. Kerensky screams the song title repeatedly over the horrific noises conjured up by the rest of the group. It stands as a poignant homage to the darker side of the human condition, and a fitting way to end an album so eager to explore this part of mans psyche.
by Gerard Fannon
Tracks
1. Specific - 5:40
2. Milk Train - 5:06
3. Rain Again - 10:14
4. Patience - 3:04
5. Twisted Trip Woman - 7:10
6. World of Ice - 7:34
7. Babyi Ar - 7:20
