The Rascals - Peaceful World (1971 us, exceptional funk jazz r 'n' b, japan remaster)

Eddie Brigati and Gene Cornish both left the Rascals by 1971. The remaining members -- chief songwriter, vocalist, and keyboardist Felix Cavaliere and drummer Dino Danelli -- kept the name and left Atco for Columbia. Before disbanding permanently in 1972, they released two albums for the label -- 1971's Peaceful World and 1972's The Island of Real -- that have been unjustifiably discounted and forgotten for years.

Cavaliere had become deeply interested in the writings and teachings of the great Sufi master musician Hazrat Inayat Khan, who -- through his own tradition -- looked at music holistically, as an integral part of earthly and spiritual life. He also came under the sway of the emerging sounds of jazz, gospel, and the emerging uptownfunk and soul of the period. Peaceful World is a sprawling yet very focused collection of songs. With Danelli on drums and Ralph MacDonald on percussion, he filled out the rest of the band with the cream of the New York studio scene: saxophonists Joe Farrell, Pepper Adams, and Ernie Wilkins; bassists Gerald Jemmott and Chuck Rainey; guitarists Link Chamberlain and Buzz Feiten; trumpeters Ernie Royal and Joe Newman; trombonist Garnett Brown; flutist Hubert Laws; and backing vocalists Ann Sutton and Cynthia Webb. In other words, he put together a smoking studio band. 

The remarkable aspect of this gorgeous record is that it sounds vintage but not dated. The production is clean, the funk is in the cut, and the communication between musicians in the charts is tight. The LP's last side is taken up by the title cut, a 21-minute complete bliss-out of a spiritual jazz jam. But there are some excellent gospel and sophisticated soul tunes as well -- check out "Mother Nature Land,""Bit of Heaven," the funky Rhodes in "Sky Trane," and the rave-up soul-rocker "Love Letter." The ballad "Little Dove" includes stunning harp work by Alice Coltrane! 

Commercially, the end may not have been pretty for the Rascals, but this album hold together as well or better than anything in their catalog and vindicate them with their timeless appeal. 

by Thom Jurek

Tracks
1. Sky Trane - 5:47
2. In And Out Of Love (Buzzy Feiten) - 3:13
3. Bit Of Heaven - 3:30
4. Love Me - 3:48
5. Mother Nature Land - 3:31
6. Icy Water (Buzzy Feiten) - 4:31
7. Happy Song - 3:42
8. Love Letter - 5:27
9. Little Dove - 6:30
10.Visit To Mother Nature Land - 5:04
11.Getting Nearer - 8:57
12.Peaceful World - 21:25
All songs by Felix Cavaliere except where stated

Musicians
*Felix Cavaliere - Vocals, Keyboards, Marimba, Organ, Piano
*Dino Danelli - Drums
*Howard "Buzz" Feiten - Guitar, Bass, Background Vocals
*Annie Sutton - Vocals
*Linc Chamberland - Guitar, Horn Arrangements
*Gerald Jemmott - Bass
*Robert Popwell - Bass
*Chuck Rainey - Bass
*William Salter - Bass
*Hubert Laws - Flute
*Alice Coltrane - Harp
*Pepper Adams - Baritone Saxophone
*Garnett Brown - Horn, Trombone
*Ron Carter - Bass
*Joe Farrell - Flute, Soprano Sax, Tenor Sax
*Molly Holt - Background Vocals
*Buddy Buono - Background Vocals
*Cynthia Webb - Background Vocals
*Ralph Macdonald - Bells, Conga, Percussion, Shaker, Talking Drum
*Joe Newman - Trumpet
*Ernie Royal - Trumpet
*Jon Smith - Saxophone
*Ernie Wilking - Saxophone

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Phil Sawyer - Childhood`s End (1971 aussie, marvelous psych folk rock, 2006 remaster)

Phil Sawyer's 1971 album Childhood's End, originally released in Australia on the Sweet Peach label, remains pretty unknown to most collectors. This is a wonderful album that will please anyone into psychedelia, rock and folk. Totally electric, great production, great songwriting -- and the warm, uneducated voice of Phil himself gives a slightly looser feel to it at times. 

What immediately attract are the first three songs ("September Woman", "Nightbirds", and "The Other Side of Silence"), sung with a soft romantic voice, played with moody organ or flute and some soft layers of guitars. The songs reveal deep feelings related with certain relationships. The fourth track, “Childhood's End” has more electric guitar arrangements. “Where did everybody go?” is something completely different in style, recorded with live voices in studio, a making fun song, perhaps recorded completely stoned. Also “Electric Children” is more rocking, and could have come from the same session.

Also this is in a more mainstream style, compensated by an overload of crazy reverb effects on guitars. Both these tracks are from a different character and recording quality, but being in the middle of the album, just show something like a different aspect, a compensated insecure moment perhaps. “The Chase” holds the middle between this sphere and the earliest quieter moment, with some electric guitars working as the connecting wire. After “Stranger in the Street”, it is by “Letters to Seraphina” that we’re back to where the album started. It is one of the moodiest tracks, with additional tabla. Here we can easily associate the kind of seashore endless haze seen on the album cover.

Psych-Folk 

Tracks
1. September Woman (P. Sawyer, Nat Cohen) - 3:08
2. Nightbirds (P. Sawyer, Phil Cunneen) - 3:25
3. The Other Side Of Silence (P. Sawyer, Phil Cunneen) - 3:44
4. Childhood's End - 2:47
5. Where Did Everybody Go? - 3:16
6. Electric Children - 4:31
7. The Chase - 3:56
8. Stranger In The Street (P. Sawyer, Phil Cunneen) - 2:43
9. Letters To Serephina (P. Sawyer, Phil Cunneen) - 5:15
All Songs by Phil Sawyer except where indicated

*Phil Sawyer - Vocals
*Phil Cunneen - Musical Director

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King Crimson - USA (1975 uk, initial progressive experimental rock, 2013 40th anniversary edition)

USA was originally issued in 1975 and marked the final statement by the band's incendiary mid-1970s incarnation.The CD features a completely new stereo album mix of the full concert by Robert Fripp & David Singleton.

USA was recorded towards the end of King Crimson's final US tour of the 70s in June 1974. It was issued as an epitaph for the band in Spring 1975 as a single album - at a time when doubles or even triple live albums were more considered the norm for live releases. Deleted towards the end of the vinyl era in the mid-80s, it remained unreleased in the CD era until the expanded edition was finally issued in October 2002. In common with much of Crimson's output, it was not well received at the time by critics, though its critical reputation grew immeasurably in the intervening years to the point where a review of the 21st Century Guide to King Crimson boxed set in 2004 identified the album as the point, "...where Fripp maps out the guitar blueprint for the entire post-punk movement."

If that claim sounds somewhat exaggerated, a casual listen to the opening minutes of the album where the ethereal 'walk on...' tape of Fripp & Eno's No Pussyfooting gives way to the sonic assault of Larks' II - provides ample evidence to back up the claim. It's also worth noting the audience response to the band - especially at the end of Starless, a piece that had yet to be recorded in the studio at that point.

Drawn from that release and presented in the King Crimson 40th Anniversary series format, the USA features a previously unreleased mix of the Asbury Park concert that formed the bulk of the original album, Ronan Chris Murphy's mix of the concert (issued on CD in 2006) and the expanded version of the original vinyl album as issued in 2002. 

Burningshed

Tracks
1. Walk On: No Pussyfooting (Eno, Fripp) - 1:39
2. Larks’ Tongues In Aspic (Part II) (Fripp) - 6:23  
3. Lament (Wetton, Palmer-James, Fripp) - 4:22  
4. Exiles (Cross, Wetton, Palmer-James, Fripp) - 7:25
5. Improv: Asbury Park (Bruford, Cross, Wetton, Fripp) - 11:44
6. Easy Money (Wetton, Palmer-James, Fripp) - 2:24
7. Improv (Bruford, Cross, Wetton, Fripp) - 8:40
8. Fracture (Fripp) - 11:02
9. Starless (Bruford, Cross, Wetton, Palmer-James, Fripp) - 12:34
10.21st Century Schizoid Man (Lake, McDonald, Giles, Sinfield, Fripp) - 9:01

King Crimson
*Bill Bruford - Drums, Percussion
*David Cross - Violin, Keyboards
*Robert Fripp - Guitar, Mellotron
*John Wetton - Bass, Vocals
*Eddie Jobson - Violin, Piano

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Lighthouse - One Fine Morning (1971 canada, tremendous brass jazz rock)

As Canada's entry in the big brass soul sound of the late sixties, Lighthouse was clinging tenuously to the second rung, behind Blood, Sweat and Tears, the Electric Flag and the Chicago Transit Authority, until the release of the best-selling One Fine Morning. Lighthouse was formed in the wake of the Paupers break-up by drummer/songwriter Skip Prokop, then a much-in-demand session musician for, among others, Steve Miller, Carlos Santana and Al Kooper. While in New York, Prokop hooked up with teenage keyboardist Paul Hoffert, himself ensconced in the downtown jazz scene and employed there scoring Broadway musicals. A jaunt to Ann Arbor, Mich. would net guitarist Ralph Cole, whose band Thyme had recorded several proto-psychedelic singles on the legendary A-squared label.

The band was ready to rock by May 14, 1969, when the thirteen-piece orchestra debuted at Toronto's venerable Rock Pile. Prolific perhaps to a fault, they rifled off three middling LPs in just over a year for RCA before their fortuitous summer of 1970. After jettisoning RCA (or perhaps it was vice-versa) for the smaller GRT/Evolution, Prokop pared the band down to eleven, adding singer Bob McBride, whose robust chops and grizzled charm would augment their brawny brass assault.

The title track, leading off side two of this LP, is still Lighthouse's finest moment, a buoyant paean to love riddled with crisp horns and blistering guitar, not to mention McBride's lusty vocal performance. The soul/gospel 'Hats Off to the Stranger', though somewhat derivative of Blood, Sweat and Tears, especially McBride's throaty Clayton-Thomasesque bellows, also saw chart action in Canada. And the summery 'Little Kind Words' exposes a more fragile side with its buttery harmonies and cinematic flute/keyboard arrangements.

Though Lighthouse would crack the lucrative juggernaut south of the border once again with the more radio-friendly 'Sunny Days', the torrid brass/guitar workout of 'One Fine Morning' will forever remain the band's signature staple up here in Canuckistan. 

by Michael Panontin

Tracks
1. Love Of A Woman (Cole, Prokop) - 5:47
2. Little Kind Words (Prokop) - 4:11
3. Old Man (Smith) - 5:35
4. Sing, Sing, Sing (Cole, Prokop) - 3:19
5. 1849 (Cole, Prokop) - 6:12
6. One Fine Morning (Prokop) - 5:11
7. Hats Off (To The Stranger) (McBride, McGraw, Prokop) - 3:37
8. Show Me The Way (Prokop) - 2:25
9. Step Out On The Sea (Prokop) - 5:04
10.Sweet Lullabye (Prokop) - 4:53
11.One Fine Morning (Single Edit) (Prokop) - 3:21
12.Take It Slow (Out In The Country) (Cole, Jollimore, Smith) - 3:05
13.Sweet Lullabye (Single Edit) (Prokop) - 4:04

Lighthouse
*Dick Armin - Cello
*Ralph Cole - Guitar, Vocals
*Don DiNovo - Viola
*Paul Hoffert - Keyboards
*Keith Jollimore - Vocals, Wind
*Bobby McBride - Percussion, Lead Vocals
*Pete Pantaluk - Trumpet
*Skip Prokop - Drums, Guitar, Vocals
*Howard Shore - Saxophone
*Larry Smith - Trombone, Vocals
*Louis Yacknin - Bass
*Jimmy Ienner - Vocals
*The Edmonton Hawks, The Maltese Moon - Percussion

1973  Can You Feel It?  (2008 RDI issue)
Related Acts
1967  The Paupers - Magic People
1968  The Paupers · Ellis Island  (2008 remaster)
1969  The Live Adventures Of Mike Bloomfield And Al Kooper
1969  Michael Bloomfield with Nick Gravenites & Friends - Live At Bill Graham's Fillmore West (2009 remaster and expanded)

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Elvin Bishop - Let It Flow (1974 us, awesome southern swamp blues rock)

For his fourth album, Elvin Bishop organized a new backup group and switched to Capricorn Records. Capricorn was known as the standard bearer of the Southern rock movement--the Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, etc.--and Bishop was able to emphasize the country/blues aspects of his persona and his music in the move from Marin County, California, to Macon, Georgia. 

The guest artists included the Allmans' Dickey Betts, Marshall Tucker's Toy Caldwell, Charlie Daniels, and Sly Stone, and Bishop turned in one of his best sets of songs, including "Travelin' Shoes" (with its Allmans-like twin lead guitar work), which became his first charting single, just as the album was his first to make the Top 100 LPs. 

by William Ruhlmann

Tracks
1. Sunshine Special - 3:43
2. Ground Hog - 3:37
3. Honey Babe - 3:19
4. Stealin' Watermelons - 4:03
5. Travelin' Shoes - 7:17
6. Let It Flow - 3:51
7. Hey Good Lookin' (Hank Williams) - 3:43
8. Fishin' - 4:32
9. Can't Go Back - 3:28
10.I Can't Hold Myself In Line - 2:40
11.Bourbon Street - 2:18
All songs written by Elvin Bishop except where noted.

Musicians
*Elvin Bishop - Electric, Acoustic, Slide, Guitars, Lead Vocals
*Johnny Sandlin - Acoustic, Electric Guitars, Percussion, Tambourine
*John Vernazza - Acoustic, Electric, Slide Guitars, Vocals
*Charlie Daniels - Fiddle, Acoustic Guitar, Washboard, Vocals
*Philip Aaberg - Piano, Keyboards, Clavinet
*Donny Baldwin - Drums, Vocals
*Dickey Betts - Electric Guitar
*Toy Caldwell - Steel Guitar
*Michael Brooks - Bass Guitar
*Paul Hornsby - Organ, Keyboards
*Sly Stone - Organ, Keyboards
*Vassar Clements - Strings
*Stephen Miller - Piano
*Randall Bramblett - Saxophone
*Dave Brown - Saxophone
*Harold Williams - Saxophone
*Bill Meeker - Drums
*Jo Baker - Percussion, Vocals
*Debbie Cathey - Vocals
*Gideon Daniels - Vocals
*Jerome Joseph - Conga, Conductor
*Annie Sampson - Vocals
*Mickey Thompson - Vocals
*David Walshaw - Percussion, Tambourine

1969-70/72  Party Till The Cows Come Home 
1977  Live! Raisin' Hell (2012 remaster edition)
Related Acts
1966-68  The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Strawberry Jam

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The Lovin' Spoonful - Revelation: Revolution '69 (1969 us, beautiful folk psych, feat. Joe Butler)

By the time 1968's Bob Finiz produced "Revelation: Revolution '69" hit the streetsThe Lovin' Spoonful was essentially functioning on life support.  With longstanding front man John Sebastian having hit the road as a solo act, drummer Joe Butler effectively took over what was left of the nameplate, handling vocals, providing the goofy liner notes, and co-writing a couple of tracks with producer Finiz  (note the album was billed as 'The Lovin' Spoonful Featuring Joe Butler').  

While Butler had a decent voice, he wasn't anywhere near the talent Sebastian was. Sebastian's departure also stripped the band of it's primary creative source, leaving Butler, Steve Boone and Jerry Yester to rely on outside source of material, including three tracks from Dino Sembello and three Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon compositions.  On the other hand Sebastian's departure allowed the band to push beyond their patented top-40 moves, turning in what was probably their most activist release.  Doubt that comment then check out the title track, 'War Games', and 'Jug of War'.

Amazing Air' got the album off to an odd start.  Penned by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon, this one didn't immediately click with me, but after a couple of spins it drilled its way into my head and wouldn't let go.   Easily the album's most commercial song. Given a folk-rock twang, their cover of John Stewart's 'Never Going Back' was quite different from the rest of the album. Spotlighting some pretty acoustic guitar and tasteful pedal steel, this was one of the album highlights. (Till I) Run with You' started side two with the one song that recalled Sebastian-era Lovin' Spoonful.  Complete with memorable melody and some tasty harmony vocals, this was a great slice of power pop.  Easy to see why it was tapped as the second single from the LP. 

the title track - The Spoonful never sounded as rocking, or activist as on this one.  True, it hasn't aged all that well, but it still stands as one of Butler's creative highlights. The third Bonner-Gordon composition, the stark ballad 'Me About You' was another highlight.  Kicked along by Butler's martial drums and one of his best vocals, this one was a bit too odd to make it on the radio, though that didn't stop Kama Sutra from tapping it as the album's third single. Call it an interesting late-inning release and go look for one of the numerous greatest hits packages.  (Anyone ever notice that the LP label actually has the title 'Till I Run with You' ?) 

 And in case you were wondering; the attractive woman on the cover appeared to be wearing a skin-toned body suit, or had been airbrushed to hide her private attributes.

Bad-cat

Tracks
1. Amazing Air (Bonner, Gordon) - 2:50
2. Never Going Back (John Stewart) - 2:48
3. The Prophet (Finiz, Butler) - 2:45
4. Only Yesterday (Dino, Sembello) - 2:43
5. War Games (Butler) - 7:02
6. (Till I) Run With You (Gordon, Bonner) - 2:52
7. Jug Of Wine (Dino, Sembello) - 2:31
8. Revelation: Revolution '69 (Butler, Finiz) - 2:29
9. Me About You (Bonner, Gordon) - 3:48
10.Words (Dino, Sembello) - 2:18
11.Revelation: Revolution '69 (Single Version, Alternate Mix) - 2:17
12.Revelation: Revolution '69 (Single Version, Alternate Mix, Vocal) - 2:17
13.Me About You (Single Version, Alternate Mix) - 2:48

The Lovin' Spoonful
*Joe Butler – Vocals, Drums
*Steve Boone - Bass
*Jerry Yester – Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards
with
*Zal Yanovsky - Guitar

 The Lovin' Spoonful
1965  Do You Believe In Magic
1966  Daydream (Japan remaster)
1966  Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful (Japan remaster)
1967-68  You're A Big Boy Now / Everything Playing (2011 edition)

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Dada - Dada (1970 uk, fine jazz fusion rock, with Elkie Brooks and Paul Korda)

Fronted by the talented lead singer Elkie Brooks (who was quite popular in England at the time), Dada was a short-lived band project. Sounding something like a slightly arty, British version of Delaney and Bonnie, Dada's sound was heavy, gospel-oriented rock 'n' roll. 

"Seed of peace' a gospel-soaked piano drives the chorus, led by Brooks' excellent lead. It's a wonderful track, somewhat reminiscent of Delaney & Bonnie's "Getto." It succeeds precisely because of the understatement in its arrangement. Unfortunately, this is one of the few examples of a laidback approach on the album; they could have done more of these. 

by Matthew Greenwald

Tracks
1. Big Dipper (Paul Korda, Pete Gage) - 4:09
2. The Last Time (Keith Richards, Mick Jagger) - 3:37
3. This Is My Song (Paul Korda, Pete Gage) - 4:33
4. Seed Of Peace (Don Shinn, Paul Korda) - 3:26
5. Organ Interlude (Don Shinn) - 0:54
6. Tonite Is (Don Shinn, Paul Korda) - 0:54
7. She Walks Away (Zagni, Pete Gage) - 3:22
8. Aspen, Colorado (Tony Joe White) - 4:58
9. Eyes Of The Warren (Don Shinn) - 4:08
10.Jasamin (P. Korda) - 2:36
11.Dada (P. Korda) - 3:45

Dada
Elkie Brooks - Vocals
Paul Korda - Vocals
Don Shinn - Keyboards, Organ, Vibraphone
Barry Duggan - Alto, Baritone Saxophones, Flute
Martyn Harryman - Drums, Percussion
Pete Gage - Guitar, Bass
Malcolm Capewell - Tenor Saxophone, Flute
Ernie Luchlan – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Jimmy Chambers – Vocals, Percussion

Related Acts
1969-71  Paul Korda - Passing Stranger (2012 Esoteric remaster)
1969  Don Shinn - Takes A Trip (Flawed Gems edition)

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The Flies - Complete Collection (1965-68 uk, raw mod freakbeat psychedelia)

The minor British band the Flies are most well-known for a couple of things, neither of which entirely prepares listeners for the pretty average brand of pop-psychedelia on most of their recordings. One is their debut single, "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone," issued at the end of 1966, which is a hard rock treatment of a number more associated with the Monkees, but with plenty of crunching fuzz guitar. It wasn't a hit, but it did start to get the Flies a reputation among psychedelic collectors after being included in the very first compilation of rare British psychedelia, Chocolate Soup for Diabetics. The other thing they're notorious for are their sometimes outrageous live performances, particularly their appearance at the 14-Hour Technicolour Dream psychedelic festival in April 1967 in London, where they arranged to have hundreds of bags of flour explode and cover the audience at the end of their set.

The Flies grew out of an East London band called the Rebs, and in 1965 they recorded a British Invasion exploitation album under the name of the In-Sect, all but one of the songs on the LP being covers of contemporary hits. By the end of 1966 they were signed to Decca and were recording as the Flies, though they issued only a couple of singles for the label. Arguably, their version of "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" is overrated, and not particularly psychedelic, What's more, it wasn't too typical of their output, which on the Decca singles, at least, was filled out by unmemorable pop and pop-psych numbers with prominent vocal harmonies, in the manner of many other fair but unremarkable British groups recording non-hit discs at the time.

The Flies did manage to put out one more single on RCA in 1968, another middling piece of pop-psych titled "The Magic Train." Some unissued demos from the time show the band moving toward a more organ-based, ethereal sound, but the group disbanded at the end of that year. Members surfaced in the subsequent obscure British psychedelic/progressive groups Infinity, Please, Bulldog Breed, and T2. In addition, while still in the Flies, singer Robin Hunt recorded a very British, fey pop/rock-psychedelic 1967 single for CBS under the pseudonym Alexander Bell, "Alexander Bell Believes"/"A Hymn...With Love." All six sides of the three Flies singles, as well as both sides of the Alexander Bell 45, various 1965-68 demos, and cuts from the In-Sect album, were reissued on the CD Complete Collection 1965-1968. 

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. The Flies - (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone (Boyce, Hart) - 2:40
2. The Flies - The Magic Train (Dunton) - 2:22
3. The Flies - House Of Love (Jones, Grainger) - 2:17
4. The Flies - Turning Back The Page (Dunton) - 3:47
5. The Flies - Gently As You Feel (Dunton) - 2:39
6. The Flies - Talk To Me (Ivor Raymonde) - 1:55
7. The In-Sect - Tired Of Waiting For You (Davies) - 2:26
8. No Flies On Us But - Just Won't Do (Baldwin, Da Costa, Hunt) - 1:59
9. No Flies On Us But - (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone (Boyce, Hart) - 3:05
10.The Flies - The Magic Train (Dunton) - 2:52
11.Alexander Bell - Alexander Bell Believes (Murray, Callender) - 3:08
12.Alexander Bell - A Hymn.... With Love (Murray, Callender) - 3:12
13.The Flies - Sincerely Yours (Dunton) - 2:43
14.The Flies - Where (Dunton) - 3:43
15.The In-Sect - There Ain't No Woman (Da Costa, Hunt) - 1:56
16.The Flies - Winter Afternoon (Dunton) - 2:45
17.The Flies - It Had To Be You (Kahn, Jones) - 2:22
18.The Flies - The Dancer (Dunton) - 2:57
19.The In-Sect - Reelin' And Rockin' (Berry) - 2:23
20.The In-Sect - Ticket To Ride (Lennon, McCartney) - 2:58
21.The In-Sect - There Ain't No Woman (Da Costa, Hunt) - 1:56
22.The Flies - Winter Afternoon (Dunton) - 2:06

The Flies
*John DaCosta - Guitar, Harmonica, Piano
*Robin Hunt - Drums, Vocals
*Ian Baldwin - Bass
*George Haywood - Guitar
*Brian Gill - Guitar
*Peter Dunton - Drums
*Dave Phimister - Lead Guitar

Related Acts
1967-69  Bulldog Breed - Made In England
1969-70  Infinity - Collected Works
1970  T2 - It'll All Work Out in Boomland
1971-72  Keith Cross, Peter Ross - Bored Civilians

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Paul Korda - Passing Stranger (1969-71 uk, astonishing bright colorful acid folk rock, 2012 remaster and expanded)

If you don’t know the name of Paul Korda, you might have reason to be grateful that the compilers at RPM Records do!  Korda’s story is one dotted with familiar personages: P.P. Arnold, Roger Daltrey, Chris Spedding, Madeline Bell, Doris Troy, Andrew Loog Oldham, Onnie McIntyre and Alan Gorrie (Average White Band), Vic Smith (The Jam) on the musical side, Cat Stevens and even Johnny Depp on the personal side.  Korda’s career has taken him from the original West End cast of Hair (alongside Paul Nicholas and Marsha Hunt) to the silver screen in the first two Pirates of the Caribbean films, but a lasting legacy has been his 1971 debut album Passing Stranger.  Originally released on Gordon Mills’ MAM label, also the home of Gilbert O’Sullivan, the album was well-received upon its release but has languished ever since, with only a Japanese release in the CD era.  Thankfully, RPM has remedied that with its new, expanded reissue of Passing Stranger.

Paul Korda’s musical apprenticeship was a diverse one, including stints as a singer for the U.K. Columbia label, a producer at Fontana and Parlophone/EMI, and a staff songwriter for Immediate Records, the label owned by Rolling Stones impresario Andrew Loog Oldham.  A detour into musical theatre led to a success with Hair, but songwriting still called to Korda.  After forming the fusion-rock group Dada (with Elkie Brooks among its members) and recording with Dada for Atco, Korda signed with MAM and decamped at London’s Olympic Studios to record the album that became Passing Stranger.

The backing vocals of Doris Troy and Madeline Bell (both established vocalists in their own right and also famed for their contributions to Rolling Stones records) add mightily to the leadoff single, “Between the Road.”  The presence of Troy, Bell and Nanette Newman give the song a distinctly soulful vibe, and Korda’s full-throttle attack led the NME to favorably compare it to the music of Hair, and his more aggressive side also comes out on the rocking “To Love a Woman” and the raw “Into Your Station.”  On the other end of the spectrum, ballads like “Morning Wakes the Sun” and folk/rock songs like “Ode to the Ministry” recall the best of Cat Stevens, a friend of Korda’s.  There’s even a Beatlesque lilt to “Pass Me Winter” and a gentle, melodic “We Are Each Other” that’s not too far off from the singer/songwriter style of James Taylor.  Chris Spedding, Onnie McIntyre, Alan Gorrie, Andy Roberts and Ray Russell all perform on the album, recorded by co-producers Korda and Vic Smith.

Two bonus tracks are included on Passing Stranger,  “English Country Garden” was the non-LP flipside of “Between the Road,” while the haunting, baroque-styled “Seagull” (also covered by Love Sculpture) was released on Parlophone in 1969.   “Seagull,” recorded at Abbey Road and subtitled “The West Coast Oil Tragedy,” is particularly fascinating in revealing Korda’s prescience about ecological matters.  Simon Murphy has remastered the album, and Michael Heatley contributes detailed new liner notes.  The booklet is illustrated with copious label photos and memorabilia reproductions.

by Joe Marchese 

Tracks
1. Between The Road - 2:33
2. Morning Wakes The Sun - 2:46
3. Dover Ferry - 2:57
4. To Love A Woman - 4:26
5. Ode To The Ministry - 2:45
6. Into Your Station - 3:12
7. Pass Me Winter (Paul Korda, Ray Rayes) - 2:17
8. Under Other Skies - 2:29
9. Rubble My Cauldron - 2:34
10. We Are Each Other - 4:04
11.A Passing Stranger - 2:53
12.Sunny In The Dawn - 2:28
13.Mud Mother - 1:13
14.English Country Garden (Single B-Side) - 2:43
15.Seagull (Single 1969) - 3:39
All song by Paul Korda except where stated.

Musicians
*Paul Korda - Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
*Chris Spedding - Guitars
*Ray Russell - Guitars
*Owen McIntyre - Guitars
*Allan Gorrie - Bass, Guitars, Keyboards
*Rob Tait - Drums

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Johnny Lunchbreak - Appetizer / Soup's On (1974-75 us, amazing garage psych)

Johnny Lunchbreak, never even released an album. The band had roots at King Philip Junior High in West Hartford, Conn., and their story is a prototype for thousands of groups-- start out playing because it's fun, get serious, find success elusive (complete with cool reception by the NYC press), call it quits in frustration when you realize that feeding your child is more important than gigging at bars in Vernon for chump change. 

But what most of those other bands didn't have was an album's worth of really good, unique songs that show a band tantalizingly close to a breakthrough. "Tinsel Days" has a colossal power pop hook and a great independent bassline, but the killer is "Not a Dry Eye in America", which shows off their harmonies and fakes you into believing it's a ballad before ramping up to a moody, blues-inflected climax. The recording quality is clean but not clear (these are demos in the true sense), but these guys had it, and it shows through the relatively murky sound.

by Joe Tangari

Tracks
1. A Very Papal State - 5:33
2. Tinsel Days - 3:50
3. The Same Could Happen To You - 2:42
4. Never Found - 2:29
5. It's Got A Hold On You (Tom Ekwurtzel) - 5:16
6. Take Me Baby (John Gengras) - 3:36
7. Amazing Pain (Tom Ekwurtzel) - 3:24
8. Not A Dry Eye In America - 4:06
9. The Best That I Had - 5:43
All songs by Andrew Merritt except otherwise stated.

Johnny Lunchbreak
*Andrew Merritt - Guitar, Vocals, Drums
*Michael Clare - Bass
*John Gengras - Lead Guitar, Vocals
*Guy Gengras - Drums, Vocals, Congas
*Tom Ekwurtzel - Guitar, Piano, Moog

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