Message - The Dawn Anew Is Coming (1972 germany / uk, excellent hard progressive rock with some psych drops, extra track issue)

This was a German-British band led by Allan Murdoch. The story of Message is quite similar to that one of Nektar: in the early seventies they released some excellent, refined progressive rock albums, spanning from lyrical, melodic folk-rock over to heavy guitar outbursts. 

Their music was supervised by the well-known Bacillus recording team of Peter Hauke (label manager, producer) and Dieter Dierks (studio owner, engineer). The crew that recorded The Dawn A New Is Coming (1972). Only the rhythm section of this group was German! Taff Freeman from Nektar contributed with vocals and mellotron on one track. Overall, it was an excellent album with the title track and "When I'm Home" being the highlights - a very obviously British melodic progressive rock.

from "A Guide to German Progressive and Electronic Rock"

Tracks
1. Changes - 3:39
2. The Dawn Anew Is Coming - 8:39
3. Evil Faith And Charity - 4:00
4. Heaven Knows - 9:48
5. When I'm Home - 7:40
6. Smile (Bonus Track) - 2:14
All compositions by Message, Lyrics by Tommy McGuigan

Message
*Alan Murdoch - Guitars
*Tommy McGuigan - Vocals, Sax
*Billy Tabert - Vocals, Guitar, Spinet
*Horst Stachelhaus - Bass
*Gerhard Schaber - Drums, Vocals
With
*Taff Freeman - Vocals, Mellotron

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Tina And David Meltzer - Green Morning (1969 us, brilliant acid folk tunes and crystal clear vocals)

Tina and I were under contract with Vanguard Records where we recorded two albums - Serpent Power and Poet Song - both produced by noted blues scholar, novelist and poet, Sam Charters. After the release of Serpent Power -- and a gig at the Fillmore for Country Joe and the Fish and Serpent Power's debut album, Tina quit the band.  She didn't like how she sounded on the record and didn't like singing for an audience she couldn't see.

Serpent Power reassembled as a working band which included Bob Cuff (of The Mystery Trend) on rhythm guitar, Jim Moscoso (kid brother of artist/poster maker/cartoonist Victor Moscoso), and myself as lead guitarist and vocalist. In our weekend gigs at The Coffee Gallery and Dino's & Carlo's (which became Keystone Korner in the 80's), the often included additional musicians like J.P. Pickens on amplified 5-string banjo, poet Daniel Moore on shenei (Chinese oboe), conch shells, miscellaneous bells and his friend Christian (nobody ever knew his last name) who was exploring the alto saxophone.

Besides regular gigs at the two North Beach venues we also did our share of benefits and weird gigs like playing off-nights at a strip club or for prototypical yuppies in a singles bar on Union Street. It should be mentioned that Serpent Power was more influenced by modal free jazz and spontaneous bop prosody than by the coverable pop tunes of the day. Our ears were tuned to Monk not the Monkees.

Our Vanguard contract was for two albums with an option for more. Since the band had developed into a performing and improvisatory unit, we had hope the second Vanguard albumcould be a document of a live performance at one of the clubs we worked at. Sam Charters came to check us out one weekend at Dino's & Carlo's, sat through a set, and when we met afterwards told us that what we were doing wasn't commercially feasible. 

Sam told us we'd have to rethink our second album. After working almost a year in this format, rejection brought the band members down. Everyone was bummed out. Soon the band dissolved: Jim went to join The Cleveland Wrecking Company, a funk band; I think Cliff stopped playing;  Clark found Susan, married and moved with her to the Berkshires to become a major voice in experimental writing; Daniel went to Europe and became deeply immersed in Sufism, changed his name, and continues working in that discipline; as for Christian, nobody knew where he went or what he's doing now. J.P. Pickens and his family became involved with various communes, he continued playing, creating junk sculptures, but was betrayed by methamphetamine and died too early.

 Poet Song, our second Vanguard album, was written for Tina as a showcase for her intimate and warm voice. Sam suggested that I read some of my poems and double-track guitar behind them. We recorded it at Sierra Sound in Berkeley where Serpent Power was recorded. Some string players from the Oakland Philharmonic -- including violist Tom Heimberg, an old Fairfax High School buddy-- were assembled at the studio by arranger Ed Bogas. I wanted to write songs almost exclusively for Tina, since I'd dominated our first album. The songs and orchestration were to sound more like art song, the antithesis of what Serpent Power was doing in the clubs.

Vanguard seemed pleased and held an option for us to do a third album. A mutual friend Chris Brooks introduced us to Vic Briggs who had been the lead guitarist with The Animals. Vic was now producing records for Capitol and liked Poet Song tremendously but thought he could produce a better album. He asked us to make a demo-tape for him to pitch to his bosses at Capitol.  

I wrote some more songs and Tina and I put together a tape using a clunky Sony tape recorder. (We managed to double-track vocal harmonies and guitar textures but, being technologically challenged, didn't realize they had to be mixed, which was moot since we didn't have the equipment.) Nevertheless, Capitol liked what their new British producer played and they gave the green light. We left Vanguard amicably and signed with Capitol.

The instrumental tracks were cut at the Capitol Recording Studios in Hollywood. Our studio was down corridor from a big studio where Sinatra was in the process of cutting an album. Vic selected most of the musicians for the date including John Guerin on drums, Lyle Ritz on bass,  David Lindley played violin, Michael Rubini, piano. I hired bluegrass mandolinist Scott Hambly. 

The string section was added at another time. (During a session break, some of the A-List Hollywood studio musicians talked about their various investments, airplanes, real estate holdings, while Scott and I reminisced about his bluegrass band, The Ridge Runners, featuring Greg Lasser on the 5-string, who was part of my band, The Snopes County Camp Followers, with Tina, Joe Edmiston on gutbucket bass.)

Our vocal tracks were recorded in Wally Heider's San Francisco studio which, at the time, was state-of-the-art and was like entering onto a set in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Our engineer had just finished a long haul working on a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album. We felt like we were in the big time; super-stardom was just around the corner, glimmering like Las Vegas at night.

Cover photos were taken and liner notes were written by poet Kenneth Rexroth, a founding father of the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat movement. In a couple of weeks we received a tape of the mixed-down album and played it for anybody who stumbled into our home. Then there was an odd silence. Then there was a long-distance call from Vic who broke the news. He and four or five other producers who Capitol management had hired had been let go. Why? A corporate turn-over: a new management team was brought in and canceled all of the previous management's projects. Vic was out of a job; David and Tina would not become mega-stars but they did have a very expensive home tape. The songs you're about to listen to.

by David Meltzer

Tracks
1. Heavenly City - 3:34
2. Let The Door Stay Open - 3:30
3. Hungry - 4:38
4. Luna Tune #1 - 0:43
5. Green Morning - 3:38
6. Shara - 1:40
7. Keep On Lovin' - 3:16
8. The Garden - 4:37
9. Child Ballad - 4:01
10.Luna Tune #2 - 0:53
11.The Angel - 2:45
12.Let The Light In - 1:45
13.Do You Think Your God - 5:17
14.It's Simple - 0:47
Words and Music by David Meltzer

Musicians
*Tina Meltzer - Vocals
*David Meltzer - Guitar Vocals, Harmonica
*John Guerin - Drums
*Lyle Ritz - Bass
*David Lindley - Violin
*Michael Rubini - Piano
*Scott Hambly - Mandolin

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Kaplan Brothers - Nightbird (1976 us, weird peculiar expressive lounge rock)

The ultimate lounge-rock extravaganza. A self-proclaimed 'electric symphony' that mixes Ennio Morricone with King Crimson as recorded by a Holiday Inn/bar mitzvah band from outer space. Crooner vocals soar on top of overly-elaborate keyboard arrangements as the music abruptly throws you from one intense mood into another in true psychedelic fashion. 

No ideas are discarded as the meaning of life unfolds in glitzy Z-grade fashion -- if there's a bad, cheesy move to be made, they'll go for it. These guys probably thought they'd made the greatest LP of all time, and in a way, I guess it is -- even regular folks with no interest in this scene are blown away by the Kaplans' unsurpassed pretense and lack of reality-checks. Must be heard to be believed, preferably on acid. 

Acid Archives

Tracks
1.  Ode To Life - 3:06
2.  Vodka And Caviare - 3:33
3.  Epitaph (Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake, Michael Giles, Peter Sinfield) - 5:12
4.  Listen To The Falling Rain (John Claude Gummoe) - 3:53
5.  Life And Me - 5:09
6.  Love Is Life - 5:41
7.  Night Bird (Larry Andies) - 5:10
8.  Happy - 4:32
9.  He - 5:30

All songs by Ed Kaplan, Richard Kaplan except where indicated

The Kaplan Brothers
*Ed Kaplan - Percussion, Flute
*Richard (Dick) Kaplan - Guitar, Vocals
*Larry Andies - Bass

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The Comfortable Chair - The Comfortable Chair (1968 us, pretty west coast sunny psych)

What little attention this West Coast sunshine-rock band's 1969 self-titled album The Comfortable Chair has gotten seems to stem from the fact that it was The Doors' lead singer Jim Morrison who discovered them, while his fellow bandmembers John Densmore and Robbie Krieger served as producers for their sole 1969 album on Ode Records

It seems unfortunate that they were never a big band outside of the 60s California circuit since their set is actually quite impressive in its own right. Featuring all-original songs (virtually every band member contributing to the writing chores), the self-titled album bounces all over the musical spectrum.

Lead singers Bernie Schwartz and Barbara Wallace are both quite good, navigating through the different genres without any trouble. Highlights include the opening rocker Ain't No Good No More, Let Me Through, and the sweet ballad I'll See You.

The band made its film debut in the Bob Hope - Jackie Gleason comedy vehicle movie How to Commit Marriage (1969) and really shines in the film as a psychedelic-hippie rock band associated with the young people in the plot of the story.

This fantastic group did a wonderful music video-style presentation in the film, performing their charming hippie anthem, A Child's Garden. Exemplified by Some Soon, Some Day and Stars In Heaven much of the set features a lazy, dreamy aura that's quite captivating.

They were a band heavily influenced by the likes of It's a Beautiful Day, Sweetwater and Jefferson Airplane. Their one and only now-highly collectible record album was released on CBS-Ode Records in 1969 

by ukask.com

Tracks
1. Ain't No Good No More - 2:35
2. Child's Garden - 2:38
3. I'll See You - 2:26
4. Princess - 2:43
5. Now - 2:56
6. Some Soon Some Day - 3:10
7. Be Me - 2:37
8. Loved It All - 2:26
9. Let Me Through - 2:19
10.Stars In Heaven - 3:00
11.Pale Night Of Quiet - 3:52
12.The Beast (Kali Yuza) - 3:26

The Comfortable Chair
*Bernie Schwartz - Lead Vocals
*Barbara "Baczek" Wallace - Vocals
*Gene Garfin- Clarinet, Percussion, Vocals
*Greg Leroy - Bass Guitar, Guitar
*Warner Davis - Drums
*Tad Baczek - Guitar

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High Tide - High Tide (1970 uk, excellent heavy rock with prog traces, 2010 bonus tracks edition)

In April 1970 High Tide started recording their second album to be released in July. The eponymous second album showed progress. Where the first album was dominated by Tony Hill’s guitar, on the second album the instruments are more balanced and give room to each other. Also the organ is added in some of the tracks. High Tide is more melancholic than its predecessor; it’s reminiscent of early Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett. 

Despite its good reviews it didn’t sell more copies than the first album and High Tide lost its record deal with Liberty. Simon House left the band to join the Third Ear Band and in 1973 he joined Hawkwind. He was a member of Hawkwind until 1978 although he occasionally performed with Hawkwind afterwards. House was a member of David Bowie’s band and he also released some solo albums under the name Spiral Realms.

Tony Hill, Peter Pavli and Roger Hadden became involved with Rustic Hinge. In 1972 Roger Hadden suffered from mental health problems and was replaced by former Arthur Brown-drummer Drachen Treaker. Peter Pavli became a member of Michael Moore’s band Deep Fix and would also perform with Robert Calvert. 

In 1990 High Tide was revitalized with Tony Hill, Peter Pavli, Drachen Treaker, violinist Dave Tomlin and vocalist Sushi Krishnamurthi. They released the album Ancient Gates, but further plans were aborted when Drachen Treaker unexpectedly died. Tony Hill is still active in music performing and recording with his band Tony Hill’s Fiction.

by Erik Gibbels

Tracks
1. Blankman Cries Again - 8:25
2. The Joke - 9:25
3. Saneonymous - 14:25
4. The Great Universal Protection Racket (Tony Hill) - 15:45
5. The Joke - 7:44
6. Blankman Cries Again - 8:25
7. Ice Age (Tony Hill) - 3:25
All compositions by High Tide except where noted

High Tide
*Roger Hadden - Drums, Piano, Pipes Organ
*Tony Hill - Guitar, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Organ
*Simon House - Electric Violin, Organ, Piano
*Peter Pavli - Bass Guitar

1970  High Tide - Precious Cargo

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Davy Graham - Large As Life And Twice As Natural (1969 uk, outstanding blend of blues raga folk psych rock, 2005 remaster)

This is Davy Graham's third adventure on an LP …and along roads that are folk, blues, jazz, Arabic, Indian-and one or two more things. Travelling with a guitar and also Danny Thompson, bass Jon Hiseman, drums, Harold McNair, flutes, and Dick Heckstall-Smtih, saxophones. Travelling like Baudelaire's travellers; 'who move simply to move'. The man himself is equally at home in Edinburgh ('a stately city'); Glasgow ('such warm acid'); or in Athens ('gold and purple in the evening. Smooth as marble hollow solid eyes of panthers. So exhausting for strangers.') But he is never at home in any one place for very long. And this seems to be in exact parallel with his music. For he cannot be pigeonholed: fortunately. 

He is a life-member on the roundabout of alteration. Like his deep-down blues, and you have to accept his setting of a 1000 year old Romeo and Juliet story. Go with him on a musical flight to Morocco ('Jenra' : pavilion'd in splendour) and the return journey will be via an extended raga. But always-I should add-in the company of originality. For after introducing North African music to Western guitar, he has now done the same for India. It's a bit like Dr Bannister running his 4-minute mile and then going off in search of another distance. All of which is quiet disparate, but also very thorough and exciting and satisfying. In the past few years Davy has played his folk at the Edinburgh Festival, his jazz in some of the best clubs in London, his Arabic interpretations in Tangier and his ragas to people who know Ravi Shankar's records. (Unlike those who have gone to India for a 3-week Sitar course, he has investigated the form of ragas.) So far nobody who has listened has found his music a disappointment. And certainly not the many who have brought his two previous LPs.

Following this later collection I know have no idea where his next stop will be. He might take a bicycle to Mexico or slip inside a carrier pigeon's message to Senegal. Or it could be Canterbury. At least I know it will be fascination though as his producer of records, apart from supervising the sessions, I have found myself becoming more and more an editor of the ideas, which zoom out from him like flying saucers, with there origins just as mysterious. He will sometimes break off in the middle of a 'take' that another guitarist might become a Faust for, to tell me about three points of recording and it is preserved there for everyone to buy-he rarely performs it before an audience again. "I have to avoid the cliche," he says. "I want to keep them on the move…"Well on behalf of those of us who have done cur best to keep up with him. I hope he does. 

by Ray Horricks,  Original LP liner notes 

Tracks

1. Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell) - 6:02

2. Bad Boy Blues (Traditional) - 2:17

3. Tristano (Davy Graham) - 4:00

4. Babe, It Ain't No Lie (Traditional) - 2:27

5. Bruton Town (Traditional) - 3:59

6. Sunshine Raga (Davy Graham) - 6:19

7. Freight Train Blues (Fred McDowell) - 4:04

8. Jenra (Davy Graham) - 3:10

9. Electric Chair (Unknown) - 3:10

10.Good Moring Blues (Traditional) - 2:45

11.Beautiful City (Brownie McGhee, Rev. Gary Davis, Sonny Terry) - 2:28

12.Blue Raga (Davy Graham) - 5:23

Musicians
*Davy Graham - Guitar, Vocals
*Dick Heckstall Smith - Saxophones
*Jon Hiseman - Drums
*Harold Mcnair - Flutes
*Danny Thompson - Bass

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Clifford T. Ward - Home Thoughts From Abroad (1973 uk, delicate vocal orchastrated folk mild rock)

Right in the middle of glam rock 1973 came a homely singer/songwriter from the small village of Stourport near Birmingham named Clifford T. Ward who took the charts by storm with a simple love song,  "Gaye",  telling the age-old story of a girl and how much she meant to him. 

This was like a breath of fresh air in the overproduced mid-'70s by its very nature. For here was a man who told simple stories, with beautiful melodies, played with the minimum of fuss. Hot on the heels of the single  - Gaye -  came his second album, Home Thoughts, which Ward was heavily involved with writing and producing, as well as playing keyboards. 

Home Thoughts opened with the lovely ballad  "Gaye"  and continued in the same vein as the single with piano backed ballads sung with clear, concise lyrics, reflecting Ward's homespun family thoughts, living as an ordinary man with a wife and three children, spurning the attention from the media, refusing to tour or play any live gigs that would take him away from his family, and also shying away from the pop press, interviews, and photographs, except when absolutely necessary. 

Clifford T. Ward had been working as an English teacher at a local school and it was here he developed his love of poetry and words, an asset he brought to his songs, especially  "Where Would That Leave Me"  and  "Time the Magician",   "Home Thoughts from Abroad",  and  "The Open University"  in which he namechecks his favorite authors, and  "Wherewithal",  a song he wrote simply because he liked the sound of the word. But for all the beautiful songs on Home Thoughts, the standout track is the hit single  "Gaye"  with its instantly memorable singalong melody. 

by Sharon Mawer

Tracks
1. Gaye - 3:34
2. Wherewithal - 2:53
3. The Dubious Circus Company - 3:15
4. Nightingale - 2:19
5. Where Would That Lead Me? - 2:44
6. The Traveller - 5:18
7. Home Thoughts from Abroad - 3:17
8. Where's it going to End? - 3:32
9. Time, the Magician - 3:08
10.Give Me One More Chance - 3:40
11.Cold Wind Blowing - 3:07
12.The Open University - 2:19
13.Crisis - 2:19
All songs written by Clifford T. Ward

Musicians
*Clifford T. Ward - Vocals, Keyboards
*Ken Wright - Drums, Percussion
*Derek Thomas - Guitars
*Terry Edwards - Bass
*Richard Hewson - Orhestal Arrangements

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Doug Sahm - Doug Sahm And Band (1973 us, great country folk blues rock)

Doug Sahm began his solo career in 1972, after the Sir Douglas Quintet finished its contract with Smash/Mercury and after Atlantic Records co-owner/producer Jerry Wexler convinced him to sign to his label. Wexler gave the Texas maverick the chance to cut a star-studded, big-budget album, shuffling him off to New York where Wexler and Arif Mardin helmed a series of sessions with an ever-revolving cast of musicians featuring Bob Dylan, Dr. John, David "Fathead" Newman, David Bromberg, and Flaco Jimenez, in addition to such Sir Doug stalwarts as Augie Meyers and the rhythm section of bassist Jack Barber and drummer George Rains (all but the latter were in the last incarnation of the Quintet, raising the question of whether the group was indeed finished or not, but such is the nature of Sahm's discography). 

This group cut a lot of material, which was whittled down to the 12-track album Doug Sahm and Band, released in early 1973. At the time, the record received a push from the label and was generally disparaged because of those very all-stars on whose back it was sold, but the years have been kind indeed to the album, and it stands among Sahm's best. Indeed, the heart of the album is not at all far removed from those latter-day Sir Douglas Quintet albums on Mercury, which isn't much of a stretch since Sahm never really strayed from his signature blend of rock & roll, blues, country, and Tejano, but the bigger band and bigger production give the music a different feel -- one that's as loose as the best Quintet material, but off-handedly accomplished and slyly freewheeling. 

Original reviews noted that there was an overtly country direction on And Band, but that's not really true on an album that has Western swing and rambling country-rock like "Blues Stay Away from Me" and the anthemic "(Is Anybody Going To) San Antone" jutting up against pure blues in "Your Friends" and "Papa Ain't Salty," let alone loose-limbed rockers like "Dealer's Blues" and "I Get Off" or the skipping Tejano "Poison Love," fueled by Jimenez's addictive accordion.

These are all convincing arguments that the larger band allowed Sahm to indulge in all of his passions, to the extent of devoting full tracks to each of his favorite sounds -- something that was a bit different than the Quintet records, which usually mixed it all up so it was impossible to tell where one influence ended and another began. That's still true on And Band -- for instance, witness the brilliant cover of Willie Nelson's "Me and Paul," a country song goosed by soulful horns and delivered in a delirious drawl from Sir Doug -- but much of the album finds that signature Sahm sprawl being punctuated by style-specific detours where Sahm seizes the opportunity to stretch out as much as his guests seize the opportunity to jam with this American musical visionary. 

These are all characteristics of a jam session, which these sessions essentially were -- after all, on this album he only penned three out of the 12 songs -- but relying on covers also points out how Doug Sahm sounds so much like himself, he makes other people's tunes sound as if he wrote them himself. Again, that's something that was true throughout his career, but here it is in sharper relief than most of his records due to the nature of the sessions. And while it's arguable whether this is better than latter-day Sir Douglas Quintet albums -- or such mid-'70s records as Groover's Paradise or Texas Rock for Country Rollers for that matter -- there's no question that this is music that is vividly, excitedly alive and captures Sahm at a peak. It's pretty much irresistible.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracks
1. (Is anybody Going to) San Antone (Dave Kirby, Glen Martin) - 3:10
2. It's Gonna Be Easy (Atwood Allen) - 3:31
3. Your Friends (Deadric Malone) - 5:23
4. Poison Love (Elmer Laird) - 4:21
5. Wallflower (Bob Dylan) - 2:39
6. Dealer's Blues (Doug Sahm) - 2:58
7. Faded Love (B. Wills, J. Wills) - 3:55
8. Blues Stay Away From Me (A. Delmore, H. Glover, R. Delmore, W. Raney) - 4:48
9. Papa Ain't Salty (Grover McDaniel, T-Bone Walker) - 4:30
10.Me And Paul (Willie Nelson) - 3:34
11.Don't Turn Around (Doug Sahm) - 3:28
12.I Get Off (Doug Sahm) - 2:39

Musicians
*Doug Sahm - Vocals, Guitar, Harp, Fiddle, Bass, Organ, Piano
*Bob Dylan - Vocals, Guitar, Harp
*Dr. John - Organ
*Ken Kosek - Fiddle
*Charlie Owens - Steel Guitar
*Willie Bridges - Baritone Saxophone
*Arif Mardin - Electric Piano
*David "Fathead" Newman - Tenor Saxophone
*Wayne Jackson - Trumpet
*Flaco Jimenez Harmony - Accordion
*Atwood - Vocals
*Andy Statman - Mandolin
*Augie Meyer - Piano
*David Bromberg - Dobro Guitar
*Jack Walrath, Martin Fierro, Mel Martin - Horns
*George Rains - Drums

Sir Douglas Quintet
1964-66  The Best Of ....Plus
1969/73  Mendocino

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Bodo Molitor - Hits Internacionales (1969 mexico, rough 'n' hard garage psych)

Globe-trotting artist Bodo Molitor may have been born in Germany, but heêll forever be associated with the psychedelic scene in Mexico. In addition to creating the zoomorphic art for his own bizarre album, he also created the psychedelic art for the Kaleidoscope album, for La Libre Expresion, and for his brother Reinholdês solo album. 

As for –Hits Internacionales”, it has all the ambience and psychedelic delirium of the time, full of devastating fuzz and wacked out rhythms. And then there is Bodoês raspy and savage voice. Impressive. As Antonio Malcara says in his book "Catologo subjetivo y segregacionista del Rock Mexicano", this LP and that of Kaleidoscope are the two most important and representative pieces of Mexican garage rock-psychedelia. Collectors offer thousands of dollars to be able to get an original copy of –Hits Internacionales” in good condition.

Tracks
1. Sookie, sookie (Don Covey) - 2:16
2. Real real (N.Simone) - 2:17
3. She's a woman (McCartney) - 3:08
4. You don't know (Molitor, Costa) - 2:06
5. St. James Infirmary (Joe Primroge) - 2:30
6. Wen I was seventeen (Lonnie Donnegan) - 3:20
7. I wish i knew how (B.Taylor) - 2:37
8. A girl I knew (John Kay, Morgan Cavett) - 2:24
9. Don't le me be misunderstood (Benjamin, Marcus, Cadwell) - 2:31
10.Laziness (Molitor, Costa) - 1:37
11.The midnight hour (Pickett, Cropper) - 2:42
12.Try minnie try (Molitor, Costa) - 2:10
13.Hello, i love you (Morrison, Manzarek) - 1:56
14.You don't know (Molitor, Costa) - 2:09
15.St. James infirmary (Joe Primroge) - 2:33
16.A girl I knew (John Kay, Morgan Cavett) - 2:22

Musicians
*Bodo Molitor - Vocals, Guitar
*Juan García Aragón - Guitar
*Jorge René González - Organ

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George Kooymans - Jojo (1971 dutch, fabulous smooth rock, from Golden Earring's guitarist)

George Kooymans was the guitarist and co-founder of Golden Earring, the longest-lived and most successful rock group the Netherlands ever produced. Kooymans was born on March 11, 1948, in The Hague, and co-founded an instrumental rock 'n' roll combo, the Tornados, with childhood friend and bassist Rinus Gerritsen in 1961. Not long afterward, a British group of the same name had an international hit with "Telstar," and Kooymans and Gerritsen changed the band's name to the Golden Earrings, after a Peggy Lee song. In 1965, having adopted a British beat style, they became the first Dutch rock group to record a full-length album, Just Earrings, and landed their first hit in their home country, the Top Ten "Please Go" (co-written by Kooymans and Gerritsen). 

Three years later, they scored their first Dutch number one with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong," and followed it with another chart-topper, the Kooymans-penned epic "Just a Little Bit of Peace in My Heart." In 1970, Kooymans branched out into songwriting for other groups, penning Earth & Fire's Dutch hit "Seasons." Meanwhile, his main band shortened its name to Golden Earring and set about revamping its sound to keep up with the times, eventually settling on a straightforward, hard-rocking brand of AOR. Kooymans (like lead singer Barry Hay) made a brief detour into solo recording in 1971, cutting an album called Jojo that was released on Polydor. 

Hay and Kooymans co-wrote much of Golden Earring's material, including the international smash "Radar Love," which broke them in America in 1974 and remains an album rock radio staple. Golden Earring's overseas momentum slowed as quickly as it had picked up, but they continued to record prolifically in their home country. Punk and new wave forced them to retool their sound once again, and they returned to international prominence in 1982 with the album Cut and the U.S. Top Ten hit "Twilight Zone," a Kooymans composition that had actually been planned as a solo release at first. 

Golden Earring returned to a major label in 1990 and recorded a string of successful albums and singles that lasted right up into the new millennium. In 1995, Kooymans and Hay discovered female rock singer Anouk, and wrote material for her 1997 debut album, Together Alone, which made her a star in the Netherlands. Golden Earring celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2001, and Kooymans reached the Dutch charts in 2010 with On Location, recorded as part of a duo with American singer Frank Carillo. 

by Steve Huey

Tracks

1. South Side Lady - 3:03

2. Day And Night - 4:12

3. Lay It On Me - 3:02

4. For Gail - 3:57

5. Lovin' And Hurtin - 2:37

6. Low Rider - 5:58

7. We're Just Marking Time (G. Kooymans, B. Birkman) - 3:34

8. A Drifter's Love - 3:58

9. Spending All My Time With You (G. Kooymans, B. Birkman) - 2:03

10.Don't Be Lonely - 3:34

All songs by George Kooymans except where stated

Musicians

*George Kooymans - Guitar, Vocals

*Jan Hollestelle - Bass

*Hans Hollestelle - Guitar

*Louis Debij - Drums

*Frans Doolaard - Steel Guitar

*Paul Natte - Organ

*Cesar Zuiderwijk - Backing Vocals

*Eelco Gelling - Guitar

*Helmig Van Der Vegt - Piano

*Rinus Gerritsen - Organ

*Bertus Borgers - Sax

with Golden Earring
1966  Winter-Harvest
1968-69  Miracle Mirror
1969  On The Double
1972  Together
1973  Moontan

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