Joy Unlimited - Schmetterlinge (1971 germany, excellent concept fusion progressive rock, bonus tracks issue)

This group began their life as Joy and The Hit Kids, fronted by the talented female vocalist Joy Fleming, and they released four singles on Decca in 1967 and 1968. Their name was changed into Joy Unlimited in 1969, and five further singles were released on Polydor in 1969 and 1970. 

Polydor also released their first album Overground (1970), a befitting title, as it contained 12 short pop-blues rock songs, clearly inspired by Janis Joplin. For this reason, it is a bit dated today and only completists should investigate. 

By then, the group was a sextet. Schmetterlinge ('butterflies') was a solid step in a progressive direction. Indeed a very versatile album, ranging from the gutsy Joplin blues of "Rankness" via free jazz improvisations like "Sensual Impressions" to excellent progressive rock songs like "Rudiment". This album saw the arrival of a seventh member: Cord Kothe. 

The arrangements were refined, benefiting from the group's strong musical muscle. This, and both of the subsequent albums, contained ballet music! The female vocals placed Joy Unlimited in the European tradition of bands like Sandrose, Circus 2,000 and Earth & Fire. 

However, this was to change when Joy Fleming departed to start a solo career in 1972.

Cosmic Dreams At Play 

Tracks
1. Contacts
.a.Rudiment (Heck, Nagel, Herkenne, Hofgen) - 4:27
.b.Connection (Kindl, Metz, Strube) - 1:30
.c.That's The Key (Kindl, Kothe, Herkenne, Hofgen) - 2:32
.d.For You And Me (Kindl, Kothe, Herkenne, Hofgen) - 1:40
2. Manifestations
.a.Suppression (Heck, Kothe) - 2:55
.b.Rankness (Strube, Heck, Strube) - 2:37
.c.Face Of War (Kothe, Hofgen) - 3:28
.d.Free (Kindl, Metz, Nagel) - 2:08
.e.Sensual Impressions (Kothe, Nagel) - 7:14
.f.Quintessence (Heck, Metz, Kothe, Strube) - 2:35
3. Emotions
.a.Eden Park (Heck, Kindl, Metz, Nagel) - 2:58
.b.Metamorphosis (Kindl, Strube, Herkenne, Hofgen) - 3:08
.c.In Search For The Last Word (Heck, Nagel, Herkenne, Hofgen) - 1:59
.d.Rising Mind (Kindl, Kothe, Herkenne, Hofgen) - 2:55
.e.Eden Park Again (Heck, Kindl, Metz, Nagel) - 1:44
4. Neckarbrücken-Blues (Metz, Heck) - 3:20
5. All Heaven And All Earth Are Silent (Heck, Kindl, Kothe, Traylor) - 8:13
6. Silver Gun (Swin Pors, Derring, Kothe, Traylor) - 4:32
7. Peace Train (Stevens) - 3:58
Bonus tracks 4-7

Joy Unlimited
*Joy Fleming - Vocals
*Han Herkenne - Drums, Percussion
*Albin Metz - Trumpet, Bass
*Roland Heck - Organ, Piano, Vibes, Marimba, Percussion, Vocals
*Dieter Kindle - Bass, Guitar, Percussion
*Gerd Kothe - Saxes, Flute
*Klaus Nagel - Guitar, Woodwind, Tympani, Percussion, Flute

1970  Joy Unlimited (Overground)

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Joy Unlimited - Joy Unlimited "Overground" (1970 germany, marvelous funky psych blues rock, 2007 fallout release)

This psych-tinged German crew are best-known for 1971’s progressive Schmetterlinge (‘Butterflies’) LP, but their 1970 debut was just as good. Confusingly released as Overground at home, Turbulence in the UK and Joy Unlimited in the United States, it’s a superb blend of psych, funk and pop, boasting the powerhouse vocals of Joy Fleming, an array of guitar and organ textures and breaks and samples galore. This release here, contains three rare bonus tracks.

“The career of Joy Unlimited started at the Mannheim Conservatory during 1965. Writing film scores and appearing with the Beatles, the Flock, Tom Jones, John Mayall and Henry Mancini have been but a few of their TV and radio appearances. After topping the German polls two years in succession, the group are in demand all over the Continent, and after their appearance at the Dusseldorf Jazz And Pop Festival, Joy Unlimited made this album, their first to be released in England, actually entitled Turbulence. All arrangements are done collectively by the group. The additional brass was scored by Dieter Reith, the bass guitarist and saxophone player of Joy Unlimited”. 

original UK sleevenotes, 1970

“Joy, of Joy Unlimited, is one incredible singer. Her performances create a truth and believability in melody, lyrics and emotion that is all too rare in rock music. The group, which is led by guitarist Klaus, is a tight, knowing, energetic band, comprised of Roland on organ, Dieter on guitar, Albin on bass and Hans on drums. This combination has produced music that set them as top group of the year in 1968 and 1969, as determined by the German music poll, and has got a straight line to groovin’ ears all around the world. Getting it together takes time and talent. They’ve got it together so that you can get it. Now that you’ve got it, enjoy it! In this business a combination of energy, feeling and extraordinary talent is a pure joy… truly a Joy Unlimited”.

original US sleevenotes, 1970

Tracks
1. Save Me Save Me (Young, English) - 2:26
2. Groove With What You’ve Got (Burns, Vegas) - 2:22
3. All Together Now (Lennon, McCartney) - 2:36
4. I Hold No Grudge (Badale, Clifford) - 3:11
5. Feelin’ (Faltermeier, Zauner, Nagel) - 2:45
6. Take Me To The Pilot (John, Taupin) - 2:30
7. Have You Met Anyone Lately? (Bernstein, Millrose) - 2:27
8. It’s Not Alright (Heck, Herkenne) - 2:39
9. I Just Made Up My Mind (Hawkshaw) - 2:25
10.Mr. Pseudonym (Kindl, Herkenne) - 3:48
11.Mr. Slater (Fletscher) - 2:34
12.Helpless Child (Heck, Herkenne) - 3:14
13.Sunshine (Heck, Herkenne) - 2:16
14.Oh Darlin’ (Lennon, McCartney) - 3:17
15.Daytime Nighttime (Hugg) - 3:04
Bonus tracks 13-15

Joy Unlimited
*Joy Fleming -Vocals
*Klaus Nagel - Guitar, Flute, Vocals
*Dieter Kindl - Bass, Sax, Vocals
*Roland Heck - Keyboards, Vocals
*Albin Metz - Bass, Trumpet, Trombone
*Hans W. Herkenne - Drums

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Epitaph – Outside The Law (1974 germany, great hard jam rock with dual guitars and southern feeling, 2010 extra tracks issue)

Krautrock never sounded like this. The four-piece hard rock Germans who called themselves Epitaph had no time for arty experimentalism or stoned improvisations. What they were up for was good old four on the floor blooze-rock boogie, and with 1974′s Outside The Law, they delivered.

Much of the reason things worked so well for them so well was the fact that they knew who they were from the very beginning. They liked to rock Southern style, and did so in English, for maximum effect. It is unfortunate that management difficulties kept them from finding success in the States, because with the right promotion these guys would have had a real chance at making it.

This is apparent right from the top with their Alllman’s inspired “Reflection.” It is sort of a German “Ramblin’ Man,” and a great lead-off for this their third and final album. The group leave plenty of room for guitar solos, courtesy of Cliff Jackson and Klaus Walz – who take ample advantage during songs such as the title track.

“Tequila Shuffle” is another example of their great dueling guitars. Towards the end, both players face off as if re-enacting the axe-duel at the close of the old Ralph Macchio finds-the-blues flick Crossroads (1986). As a nod to the times, the album concludes with an extended magnum opus; “Fresh Air.” You gotta love it when a band take four minutes just to find the riff. To their credit, when Epitaph lock into the groove, they do not let it go for nine solid minutes.

Thanks to the previously mentioned management troubles, which at one point saw the diminutive Irving Azoff ready to sign them, Epitaph broke up after Outside The Law. They did however record three songs in 1976 for what would have been their fourth album. The MIG label has just released Outside The Law on CD for the first time, and have included those later sessions as bonus tracks.

These three tunes actually bode quite well for a “might have been” scenario. “Train To The City” is much less derivative of the Southern rock thing, and in fact reminds me a bit of something off Blue Oyster Cult’s Agents Of Fortune album from the same year. Likewise “Wasted So Much Time” is a road-weary track that could have fit next to “Movin’ On” from Bad Company’s debut. The other Bicentennial year entry is “Kind Of A Man,” which has classic Allman Brothers written all over it, but that’s just fine – if you are going to be influenced by another group, the original Allmans make one hell of a template.

The four remaining extra cuts hail from a reunion concert which took place in 2000. Three of the these are from Outside The Law: “Woman,” “Outside The Law,” and “Big City.” “Jim’s Thing – Drum Solo” features three minutes of Jim McGillivry beating the holy crap out of his skins, and bringing us back to the good old days of the drum solo.

by Greg Barbrick

Tracks
1. Reflexion - 05:17
2. Woman (Cliff Jackson, Bernd Kolbe) - 04:18
3. Big City - 05:53
4. In Your Eyes - 02:51
5. Outside The Law (Cliff Jackson, Klaus Walz) - 06:05
6. Tequila Shuffle (Bernd Kolbe, Cliff Jackson, Klaus Walz) - 04:59
7. Fresh Air (Cliff Jackson, Bernd Kolbe, Klaus Walz) - 09:01
8. Train To The City (Cliff Jackson, Bernd Kolbe) - 04:03
9. Wasted So Much Time (Cliff Jackson, Bernd Kolbe) - 03:00
10.Kind Of A Man (Cliff Jackson, Bernd Kolbe) - 04:54
11.Woman (Cliff Jackson, Bernd Kolbe) - 05:53
12.Outside The Law (Cliff Jackson, Klaus Walz) - 07:53
13.Jim's Thing (Jim McGillivray) - 02:49
14.Big City - 06:32
All song by Cliff Jackson unless as else stated
Bonus Tracks 8-9 taken From "The Lost Tapes" 1976
Bonus Tracks 11-14 recorded Live At The Brewery,  (2000, The Reunion Concert)

Epitaph
*Cliff Jackson - Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
*Klaus Walz - Lead Guitar
*Bernd Kolbe - Bass, Vocals
*Achim Wielert - Drums, Percussion
*Norbert "Panzer" Lehmann - Drums, Percussion (Tracks 8-9)
*Jim McGillivry - Drums (Tracks 11-14)
Additional Musicians
*Fred Kaz - Grand Piano
*Billy Shaw - Organ
*Ben Schulter - Keyboards

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Al Kooper - New York City, You're a Woman (1971 us, unique blend of orchestrated blue eyed soul, jazz and r 'n' r, japan remaster)

As the 1960s came to a close, the Band changed the orientation of rock temporarily with their earnest, scholarly take on roots rock. Suddenly, it became de rigueur, especially among performers who took themselves dead seriously, to have sepia-tone album covers, tasteful mandolin flourishes and lyrics about outlaws and Civil War soldiers.

One of the most surprising albums in this vein, in retrospect, is Elton John’s 1971 album Tumbleweed Connection. It’s hard to imagine a time when the flamboyant pop Liberace behind the maudlin tribute to Princess Diana and the bathetic schmaltz of The Lion King soundtrack was considered a bona fide rock performer, but this record survives as evidence.

Tumbleweed Connection, particularly the astounding bass playing of Herbie Flowers, left a deep impression on Al Kooper, who responded by recording his own sepia-tone solo record, New York City (Your’re A Woman), making use of Flowers’s services and covering John’s “Come Down in Time”.  Kooper’s main claim to fame now may be his organ playing on Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde albums, but in the 1960s he also played in the Blues Project, one of America’s first blues-rock revivalists, and then later put together the original Blood Sweat & Tears lineup, unleashing horn-section rock on an unsuspecting world.

After being booted from that band in a clash of egos, BST would go on to record one of the signature albums of the era, whose hits—“And When I Die”, “Spinning Wheel”, “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy”—continue to pollute oldies stations’ playlists and whose success spawned the likes of Chicago. Meanwhile, Kooper became an A&R man for Columbia Records and something of a rock history footnote. He released several genre-fusing solo records, musicanly albums seemingly made for other session musicians’ appreciation that accordingly left no particular impression on the listening public.

Though Kooper’s albums seem largely to have been unfortunately forgotten (mostly out of print and never reissued in the US) , none is more deserving of rediscovery than New York City (You’re a Woman). It features some of the best of his original compositions and is free of his tendency to include reinterpretations of over-familiar songs like “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” and James Taylor’s “Country Road.” The album’s tone of grim determination is established immediately with the sweeping title track, an unsentimental tribute which wastes no time in letting us know what sort of woman New York City is (“a cold-hearted bitch”).

Amid the string arrangements, the massed backing vocals and florid keyboards, Flowers’s searching bass runs cut through. Perpetually surprising, his bass playing here is almost impossibly expressive, as mercurial and difficult to assimilate as the city itself. This is followed by “John the Baptist (Holy John),” which sounds like a hyper-orchestrated version of the Band, down to the Rick Danko impersonation Kooper offers in his vocal.

But Kooper is nowhere near as self-consciously rootsy; he is too much enamored of concocting complex arrangements to keep anything rugged and rudimentary. “John the Baptist” and the similar “Can You Hear It Now (500 Miles)” which follows both feature dense yet subtle arrangements, with a variety instruments coming in and out of the mix—a sudden flute or trumpet line here, an organ swell there, a background vocal suddenly cutting through, a guitar lick punctuating a drum fill.

After the opening trio, the album falls off some. “Ballad of a Hard Rock Kid” sounds like session pros aping Mott the Hoople, and “Going Quietly Mad” attempts to approximate the Beatles but is sunk by Kooper’s strained vocals, which makes one wonder if he’s performing the song straight or doing a Zappaesque parody. And his obligatory 60s soul homage, the medley of “Oo Wee Baby, I Love You” and “Love Is A Man’s Best Friend,” is competent but perfunctory, more a signal of where Kooper’s heart is at than a satisfying recording in and of itself. It’s impeccably played and produced, but it won’t make you forget about Wilson Pickett. His cover of Bo Diddley’s “Dearest Darling” works a little better; that it sounds like he’s trying too hard manages to come across as endearing.

But the record regains its footing with the exuberantly loopy “Back on My Feet” and the cover of Elton John’s “Come Down in Time”, a rival for the original. Here Kooper’s vocal limitations actually serve the song well, especially next to John’s take, which seems bombastic in comparison. Kooper also clears the arrangement out to highlight Flowers’s bass. The solo passage shifts the tempo and gives the song a more dynamic feel as well, once you get used to keyboard’s initially off-putting pseudo-clarinet tone.

The album concludes by returning to the mock Band sound. “Nightmare #5” is another Flowers showcase, with a storytelling lyric about a cosmic hitch-hiking trip, and “The Warning (Someone’s on the Cross Again)” returns to the religious motifs that permeate the record. But the explicit appropriations of Christian imagery seem to have less a spiritual than musical purpose; they just seem part of the accoutrements of approximating a gospel sound. They signify Kooper’s lofty artistic goals without muddying them with any particular message, biblical or otherwise.

Instead, listeners are left with a sense of musical ambition, even in the form of outright imitation, as an engrossing calling that requires discipline and permits only controlled release, and supplying, in the end, if not transcendence, then the pleasant exhaustion of energy well spent.

by Rob Horning

Tracks
1. New York City (You're A Woman) (Al Kooper) - 5:20
2. John The Baptist (Holy John) (Al Kooper, Phyllis Major) - 3:34
3. Can You Hear It Now (500 Miles) (Traditional, Arranged By Al Kooper) - 3:27
4. The Ballad Of The Hard Rock Kid (Al Kooper) - 4:19
5. Going Quietly Mad (Al Kooper) - 3:54
6. Medley
.a.Oo Wee Baby, I Love You (Richard Parker) - 1:59
.b.Love Is A Man's Best Friend (Irwin Levine, Al Kooper) - 2:24
7. Back On My Feet (Al Kooper) - 3:22
8. Come Down In Time (Bernie Taupin, Elton John) - 4:39
9. Dearest Darling (Bo Diddley) - 3:55
10.Nightmare #5 (Al Kooper) - 3:00
11.The Warning (Someone's On The Cross Again) (Al Kooper, P. Major) - 3:00

Musicians
*Al Kooper - Piano, Organ, Guitars, Mellotron, Harmonium,   Vocals
*Paul Humphries - Drums
*Bobbye Hall Porter - Percussion
*Lou Shelton - Guitar
*Carol Kaye - Electric Bass
*Herbie Flowers - Electric Bass
*Bobby West - Acoustic And Electric Basses
*Roger Pope - Drums
*Sneaky Pete Kleinow - Pedal Steel
*Caleb Quaye - Guitar
*Rita Coolidge, Vanetta Fields, Clydie King, Donna Weiss, Julia Tillman, Edna Wright, Maxine Willard, Lorna Willard, Edna Woods, Claudia Lennear, Dorothy Morrison, Robbie Montgomery, Jessie Smith, Robert John, Mike Gately And Jay Seigal - Backing Vocals

Al Kooper
1969  The Kooper Sessions With Shuggie Otis
1968-69  I Stand Alone / You Never Know Who Your Friends Are
1970  Easy Does It 
1973  Naked Songs (Japan remaster)
with Blues Project
1966  Live At The Cafe Au Go Go (2013 Japan SHM double disc set)
1966  Projections (2013 Japan SHM two disc set)
1967  Live At Town Hall (Japan SHM remaster)
1973  Reunion In Central Park (Japan SHM remaster)
with Blood, Sweat And Tears
1968  Child Is Father To The Man
with Mike Bloomfield
1968  The Lost Concert Tapes, Filmore East
1969  Mike Bloomfield And Al Kooper - The Live Adventures

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Pavlov's Dog - Pampered Menial (1975 us, significant progressive rock, 2007 xpanded and 2013 remaster)

While 1974 is considered to be the closure for classic English progressive rock, it was a promising, groundbreaking year for the Americans in the genre, with bands like Kansas and Rush releasing their debut albums. Pampered Menial, the forgotten debut album by St. Louis band Pavlov’s Dog, serves as a further testament to this.

Pavlov’s Dog can actually be the missing piece linking Kansas and Rush – mixing the accessibility of the first with the harder edge of the latter. While not as aggressive as early Rush efforts, Pampered Menial offers about 35 minutes packed with well-written, captivating songs that are dense with instrumental beauty and creativity – creating a sense of celebration from one side and a painful heartbreak affair on the other.

This concentrated, orchestrated work is clearly inspired by early European progressive rock albums (a sub-genre known as "proto-prog"), such as King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King and Spring (another forgotten gem), with various keyboards, mellotron, flutes and strings being a substantial part of the work aside the varied guitar playing, giving it a symphonic touch. It all rocks with intensity, driven by highly dynamic, imaginative drumming, and filled with melody, much in the way Kansas did in their early days.

Lead vocalist David Surkamp’s high singing is very close to that of Rush’s Geddy Lee, both in tone and in delivery. In fact, Surkamp takes his muscular-feminine vibrating vocals to an even more extreme point, using them with more confidence than early Lee, in a way that can be seen as a cross between Lee and the goat-like trembling vocals that Family’s (a late 60’s-70’s outfit that offered orchestrated prog-pop material) Roger Chapman is remembered for.

In fact, Surkamp is not the only one who is performing with confidence. The entire band performs remarkably well and displays maturity and refinement that are sometimes absent from debut albums. Unlike the Led Zeppelin-ish early Rush, Pavlov’s Dog managed to bring on their debut a polished sound that is their own, thus making it a mandatory acquisition to anyone who is interested in American progressive rock.

by Avi Shaked

Tracks
1. Julia - 3:10
2. Late November (S. Scorfina, D. Surkamp) - 3:12
3. Song Dance (Mike Safron) - 4:59
4. Fast Gun - 3:04
5. Natchez Trace (Steve Scorfina) - 3:42
6. Theme From Subway Sue - 4:25
7. Episode - 4:04
8. Preludin (Siegfried Carver) - 1:39
9. Of Once And Future Kings - 5:28
All songs by David Surkamp except where stated

Pavlov's Dog
*David Surkamp - Lead Vocals, Guitar
*David Hamilton - Keyboards
*Doug Rayburn - Mellotron, Flute
*Mike Safron - Percussion
*Rick Stockton - Bass Guitar
*Siegfried Carver - Violin, Vitar, Viola
*Steve Scorfina - Lead Guitar

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The Standells - Try It (1966-67 us, great classic garage psych with r 'n' b traces, Sundazed release)

The "Try It" album was comprised of tracks recorded throughout 1966 and into early 1967. As a general rule of thumb, the LP's mighty punk tracks were from mid to late '66, including the incredible "Barracuda", a wisely rescued outtake from the "Why Pick On Me" LP sessions, while the more orchestrated "blue-eyed soul" cuts ("Ninety-Nine And A Half", "Can't Help But Love You", etc.) were culled from sessions in early '67.

The bonus tracks "Get Away From Here" is taken from the Riot On Sunset Strip soundtrack master. The cut was recorded live on a Paramount Studio soundstage and, due to a recording error on behalf of the original engineers, is missing the drum track in the final mix.

Track 12, the second version of "Try It", features an alternate lead vocal: check out the "Dirty Water" reference in the opening lines. However this performance was shelved in favor of the looser, more unrestrained vocal used for the released master.

"Animal Girl" and "Soul Drippin" were issued as the the last Standells 45 on the Tower label, single #398, recorded late 1967 and issued in early '68.  "Can You Dig It" is a previously unissued track from the same session, which was to be their last as a group for the Tower label.

Tracks    
1. Can't Help But Love You (E. McElroy, D. Bennett) - 2:43  
2. Ninety-Nine And A Half (W. Pickett, S. Cropper, E. Floyd) - 4:50    
3. Trip To Paradise (E. McElroy, D. Bennett) - 2:58  
4. St. James Infirmary (Unknown, arr.by E. Cobb) - 3:09    
5. Try It (J. Levine, M. Bellack) - 2:51    
6. Barracuda (E. Cobb) - 2:27    
7. Did You Ever Have That Feeling (B. Safir) - 3:04    
8. All Fall Down (D. Dodd) - 2:24    
9. Poor Shell Of A Man (D. Dodd) - 2:46    
10.Riot On Sunset Strip (T. Valentino, J. Fleck) - 2:24    
11.Get Away From Here (L. Tamblyn) - 2:08    
12.Try It (Alternate Vocal) (J. Levine, M. Bellack) - 2:47    
13.Animal Girl (M. Moore) - 3:08    
14.Soul Drippin' (D. Monda) - 2:41    
15.Can You Dig It (E. Cobb, E. McElroy) - 4:02    

The Standells 
*Larry Tamblyn - Organ, Vocals
*Tony Valentino - Guitar, Vocals
*John Fleck - Bass, Trumpet, Vocals
*Dick Dodd - Drums, Lead Vocals

The Standells
1966  Dirty Water (Sundazed bonus tracks edition)
1966  Why Pick On Me (Sundazed edition)

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Cirkus - One Plus (1973 uk, beautiful progressive art glam rock)

This album was probably the first U.K. private-pressing to come to the attention of collectors and dealers throughout the world during the mid Eighties. It is a hugely acclaimed album, famed for its rich production and high standard of musicianship throughout. 

Recorded in 1973, the band’s introspective soul-searching  illuminates every aspect of  their studio performances.  Bathed in Crimsonesque splendour and dreamy mellotron, ‘Cirkus One’ ranks amongst the cream of alternative U.K. prog-rock. 

Formed from the ashes of bands Moonhead and Lucas Tyson, the group's high standard of musicianship was well known in their native north-east where they attracted much attention and had a devoted following. It was felt that the quintet could achieve success on a national scale, provided management handled matters properly and they got the right breaks. 

When in 1975 lead vocalist Paul Robson left the group, his replacement was Alan Roadhouse (ex Halfbreed) who also played the saxophone. With Dogg on acoustic and electric guitars, Derek Miller on keyboards, John Taylor on bass and main songwriter Stu McDade providing backing vocals, drums and assorted persussions, this became the new line-up. As a result the band moved away from their early symphonic style adopting a somewhat more mainstream approach albeit maintaining a certain "Cirkus sound". 

Tracks
1. You Are - 3:20
2. Seasons (J. Taylor) - 3:37
3. April '73 (D. Miller) - 5:04
4. Song For Tavish - 4:35
5. A Prayer - 5:37
6. Brotherly Love - 3:49
7. Those Were The Days - 3:54
8. Jenny - 4:09
9. Title Track (Dodds)
..a.Breach - 4:19
..b.Ad Infinitum - 3:12
10.Castles - 2:53
11.The Heaviest Stone - 4:56
12.Amsterdam - 4:03
13.Mellissa (McDade, Dodds) – 3:22
14.Pickupaphone - 3:26
All songs by Stu McDade except where stated

Cirkus
*Paul Robson - Lead Vocals
*John Taylor - Bass
*Derek G. Miller - Organ, Piano, Mellotron
*Stu McDade - Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals
*Dogg – Electric, Acoustic Guitars
*Alan Roadhouse -  Lead Vocals, Saxophone (Tracks 12, 14)

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Tommy James And The Shondells - Crimson And Clover / Cellophane Symphony (1969 us, marvelous psychedelia, 2009 remaster)

Tommy James and The Shondells scored major hits in 1966, 1967 and 1968, but 1969 would prove to be their most successful and productive year. They began work on both the Crimson and Clover and Cellophane Symphony albums in late 1968, and both were released in 1969.

"Crimson & Clover, released as a single in December 1968, became their biggest hit. The group's first totally self-contained single (written by Tommy and drummer Pete Lucia, produced by Tommy and arranged by the band), it caught on with both the pop and underground audiences. After being unfairly dismissed for over two years as a "bubblegum group, Tommy James & The Shondells suddenly became hip. The single and resulting album with the same title went platinum and also earned Tommy and the group critical respect and acclaim.

The group had worked with producers Bo Gentry and Ritchie Cordell since early 1967, beginning with the classic "I Think We're Alone Now. The Gentry-Cordell formula continued to bear fruit with "Mony Mony in the early summer of 1968, but Tommy felt it was time for a change, as he wanted to take control of his own records.

After "Mony Mony, Tommy recorded a few sides with producer Gary Illingworth, including "Somebody Cares, the follow-up single. It did well in some markets but had to be viewed as a disappointment after the success of its predecessor. At the same time, the group was working on the "Mony Mony LP, Tommy produced some of the tracks.

One song that Tommy particularly wanted to record was "Do Something To Me, previously recorded by Question Mark & The Mysterians without success. Tommy says, "I loved that record. I went crazy when I heard it. I thought it should have been a #1 record."

Tommy & The Shondells gave the song their own touch when they recorded it, with the same party atmosphere as "Mony Mony, and it cracked the national Top 40 in November. It was the first single Tommy produced for the group. The released version was chosen by the group's label, Roulette, though Tommy preferred a rough mix he had made. (His mix appears on Rhino's excellent Tommy James & The Shondells Anthology release.)

No artist would complain about having a Top 40 hit, but Tommy had different ideas about the direction the group's sound should take. He and The Shondells were in the studio carefully constructing "Crimson & Clover, but Roulette wanted a new single. The group agreed to Roulette's releasing "Do Something To Me to give them time to complete "Crimson."

Tommy's instincts proved to be right on the mark. "Crimson & Clover was a perfect single with an unforgettable hook ("Crimson and clover, over and over...") and distinctive vocal effects, which Tommy achieved by running the vocal track through a guitar amp and using the tremolo switch.

The single took off like a rocket in late 1968. It reached the Top 40 its second week on the chart and then quickly hit #1. The song's lasting appeal was evidenced when Joan Jett & The Blackhearts took their version (produced by Cordell and Tommy's long-time friend, Kenny Laguna) to the Top 10 in 1982.

The Crimson & Clover LP followed in January 1969. The liner notes were written by then-Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, who had asked Tommy to be the President's advisor on youth affairs during the 1968 presidential campaign. Such an endorsement for a rock group was unheard of at the time. Tommy remembers Humphrey fondly, saying, "We became great friends, and that friendship lasted right up until Mr. Humphrey passed away."

While putting the finishing touches on the album, Tommy decided that it should include a long version of "Crimson & Clover. It was common in the late '60s for an album track to be edited for single release, but "Crimson & Clover had been recorded in its "short single version, so it was necessary to either re-record or expand it to create a long version. Tommy opted to lengthen the existing master, and the group duly went back into the studio to record a new middle section featuring a series of solos played in different styles by lead guitarist Ed Gray.

The new section was then spliced into the multi-track master. Due to a slight difference in tape speeds, the middle section was a fraction of a tone lower than the first part of the recording. For this reissue, Rhino has corrected the error, and we now hear the long version of "Crimson & Clover in its proper form for the first time.

Apart from "Do Something To Me, which Roulette wanted to include on the Crimson & Clover LP since it had been a hit, the entire album was written by Tommy and members of The Shondells. They arranged all the tracks, and Tommy produced it. "That album was magic, Tommy says. "It was a milestone -- the first record that I produced all by myself and used the band on all the tracks. And I can't even begin to tell you how professionally important it was, because if it had not made it, with the drastic change I was making in our sound, I don't know what would have happened. Certainly my credentials as a producer would have suffered a lot. It was a very scary thing for me, but it paid off."

Tommy and bass player Mike Vale wrote "Sugar On Sunday for the LP. If not for the incredible wealth of material the group turned out in 1969, it might have been a single for them. Instead, it was released as a single by The Clique, which hit the Top 25 with it in October 1969, in a version practically identical to The Shondells'.

The success of The Clique's version led to Tommy's first efforts as a producer for other artists, later that year. He and Bob King, a friend from his hometown of Niles, Michigan, wrote and produced "Church Street Soul Revival, one of The Exiles' first singles, which was released in late 1969. (Tommy later recorded the song himself.) The Exiles later became simply Exile, achieved fame with "Kiss You All Over, and continue to have hits on the country charts. In 1970, Tommy and Bob King also wrote and produced "Tighter, Tighter,  a smash hit for Alive 'n' Kickin'.

"I'm Alive is one of the most powerful songs on Crimson & Clover -- with its fuzz guitar, driving organ (by Ronnie Rosman) and guttural screams, it would not be out of place on any compilation of '60s punk classics. The Clique also recorded it as the B-side of "Sparkle And Shine, a superb song written by Tommy, Bob King, and Ritchie Cordell. Tommy produced both sides of The Clique's single and sang backing vocals. In 1975, Blue Swede hit the charts with a medley of "I'm Alive and Joe South's "Hush."

"Kathleen McArthur features Tommy's particularly emotive vocal as the gardener who has fallen in love with the daughter of his wealthy employer. One of the group's finest album tracks, it's performed in a baroque style similar to that of The Left Banke. "Breakaway reflects the group's love of the Motown sound. There's also some pure psychedelic nonsense in "I Am A Tangerine. (Hey, it hadn't been that long since The Electric Prunes did "The Great Banana Hoax.") "Smokey Roads chronicles Tommy's disappointing return to his home town, a theme later explored by Chrissie Hynde in The Pretenders' "My City Was Gone."

The remaining track on the album is "Crystal Blue Persuasion, simply one of Tommy's best records. Its soft, jazz-influenced sound, punctuated by Ed Gray's simple but effective performance on acoustic guitar, was perfect for the summer of 1969. For the single, horns were added to the last verse and the ending. The original version of the song appears here; the single version appears in stereo on the Anthology release.

Just before the extended ending of "Crystal Blue Persuasion, there is a fairly audible whispered line. Were Tommy & The Shondells conveying a subliminal message? "No, Tommy laughs, when asked about it. "It's not supposed to be there. People thought I was putting in a subliminal message, but we were doing the background vocals and I was trying to cue the guys doing them. I think I said, 'Come in right now.'"

"Crystal Blue Persuasion was not the follow-up single to "Crimson & Clover. Instead Roulette released a new song written by Tommy and Richard Grasso, "Sweet Cherry Wine, in March of 1969. It was among the tracks slated for the forthcoming Cellophane Symphony LP. "Sweet Cherry Wine (which, as Tommy has said, was the closest thing he and The Shondells ever did to a protest song) hit the Top 10 and gave the group another gold single. (The fact that "Sweet Cherry Wine was not included on Crimson & Clover no doubt bewildered many record buyers.)

"Crystal Blue Persuasion was receiving airplay as well, however, so Roulette decided to release it as a single in June, and it also went gold. Its success further stimulated sales of the Crimson & Clover album, which remained on the charts for 35 weeks. Consequently, although Cellophane Symphony was completed that summer, Roulette held back its release until October.

Cellophane Symphony was one of the first rock albums to feature a Moog synthesizer. Tommy and the group structured the title track around a riff, layering it with synthesizer and other sound effects. It was certainly the most unusual track the band ever recorded.

Tommy produced the album at Broadway Sound in New York. Tommy recalls, "Whitey Ford, of the New York Yankees, owned Broadway Sound. I went up there, and it was a great little studio. It had a Moog synthesizer, which looked like an old switchboard from the '20s. It was hard to work with, since it was all monophonic -- you couldn't get two notes at the same time. But I knew immediately that the synthesizer was going to be the wave of the future."

While the Moog featured heavily on the album's title track, Tommy used it to embellish some of the other songs on the LP. The electronics are particularly effective in "Changes, one of the album's best cuts. Tommy remembers that for "Changes, he wanted something "very spacey and that it was "really a fun track to record. Vale's melodic bass lines and Lucia's percussive effects also stand out on the track. Its middle section, in 5/4 time, was quite unlike anything the band had attempted before.

Tommy says the album was very experimental, and although the electronic effects are archaic by today's standards, they were novel at the time. Unlike Crimson & Clover, which was recorded entirely with conventional instruments, the Moog gave Cellophane Symphony a completely different feel. Tommy felt that the Moog produced "plastic music, thereby making the album a "cellophane symphony."

The cover was an unusual as the music: it showed the group's name and the album title in small print at the top of a photo of an amphitheater with alternating positive and negative film strips. In retrospect, Tommy thinks he may have been a little too adventurous with the cover, as some record buyers probably didn't realize that it contained a new Tommy James & The Shondells LP.

The Moog wasn't the only thing that set Cellophane Symphony apart from the group's earlier albums. It includes a wide array of sounds and ideals. "Makin' Good Time, a straight-ahead rocker, is followed by the ethereal mood of "Evergreen. "Loved One, one of Tommy's best ballads, is one of his favorite tracks on the LP. The group ventures into a country style (which Tommy would later more fully explore on his My Head, My Bed And My Red Guitar album) on "The Love Of A Woman, with Gray's solo played in the style of a steel guitar.

The album also includes three comedic tracks. "Papa Rolled His Own, set to a music-hall backing, features a megaphone vocal by Tommy, as well as his best W.C. Fields and Walter Brennan impressions. Tommy also turns up as Ed Sullivan (bringing out "the crippled monkeys...here on our show") and John Wayne on "I Know Who I Am, and lets us know what really happens when one call the girl whose number is written on the bathroom wall. He sings the album's closing track, "On Behalf Of The Entire Staff And Management, in an appropriately off-key vocal as he presents Mr. What's-your-name with a gold watch (which doesn't work) for 25 years of loyal service. Meanwhile, the group occasionally chimes in while banging glasses, clapping half-heartedly, sneezing and talking its way through the entire presentation.

Tommy is justifiably proud of the success of both the albums presented here. He remembers 1968 and 1969 as years of great productivity and incredible change. The albums reflect both of these aspects of the time. Above all, Tommy remains intensely appreciative of his fans. "I've got the greatest fans in the world. I really do, he says. "They are loyal; they've just been so good to me over the years."

by Michael Thom 

Tracks
1. Crimson And Clover (Tommy James, Peter Lucia) - 5:32
2. Kathleen Mcarthur (Tommy James, Mike Vale) - 2:42
3. I'm A Tangerine (Tommy James, Peter Lucia) - 3:36
4. Do Something To Me (Jimmy Calvert, Norman Marzano, Paul Naumann) - 2:31
5. Crystal Blue Persuasion (Eddie Gray, Tommy James, Mike Vale) - 4:02
6. Sugar On Sunday (Tommy James, Mike Vale) - 3:23
7. Breakaway (Tommy James, Mike Vale) - 2:45
8. Smokey Roads (Tommy James) - 2:51
9. I'm Alive (Tommy James, Peter Lucia) - 3:15
10.Crimson And Clover (Reprise) (Tommy James, Peter Lucia) - 1:03
11.Cellophane Symphony (Eddie Gray, Mike Vale, Peter Lucia, Ron Rosman, Tommy James) - 9:38
12.Makin' Good Time (Ritchie Cordell, Tommy James) - 2:36
13.Evergreen (Ritchie Cordell, Tommy James) - 2:07
14.Sweet Cherry Wine (Richard Grasso, Tommy James) - 4:20
15.Papa Rolled His Own (Peter Lucia, Tommy James) - 1:46
16.Changes (Peter Lucia, Richard Grasso, Tommy James) - 5:36
17.Loved One (Mike Vale, Tommy James) - 3:41
18.I Know Who I Am (Ritchie Cordell, Tommy James) - 3:53
19.The Love Of A Woman (Ritchie Cordell, Tommy James) - 4:27
20.On Behalf Of The Entire Staff And Management (Ritchie Cordell, Tommy James) - 3:56

The Shondells
*Tommy James - Vocals, Guitars, Electric, Acoustic Pianos, Hammond Organ, Harpsichords, Moog Synthesizer
*Eddie Gray - Guitars
*Ron Rosman - Electric, Acoustic Pianos, Hammond Organ, Harpsichords, Moog Synthesizer
*Mike Vale - Bass guitar
*Peter Lucia -  Drums, Percussion

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Gracious - This Is Gracious (1971 uk, spectacular progressive rock, japan remaster)

No sophomore jinx here: on their second album, Gracious truly hits its stride. The first half of the album is a four-part suite, "Super Nova." After its Floydian opening instrumental, the band launches into the bleak "Blood Red Sun"; with a dystopic narrative of environmental holocaust and its martial drumbeat, it's an ideal complement to King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man." 

Strange, then, that this should lead to "Say Goodbye to Love," an effectively weepy guitar ballad of lost romance and tear-jerking harmonies. It's on the second half of the album, though, that Gracious hits escape velocity. On "C.B.S." the band shifts effortlessly from a groovy clavinet jam to a bouncing barrelhouse piano in the verse. "Blue Skies and Alibis" is a prime example of Martin Kitcat's Mellotron technique; powered along by Cowderoy's graceful guitar, smoky vocals, and a lush piano progression worthy of Joe Jackson, it's one of their most enduring tracks. 

A truly undervalued gem, This Is... Gracious! sat on the shelves for two years after completion before being issued; it's a shame that it was to be last anyone heard from the band for the next two decades. 

by Paul Collins

Tracks
1. Super Nova: - 24:59
.a.Arrival of the Traveller
.b.Blood Red Sun
.c.Say Goodbye To Love
.d.Prepare To Meet Thy Maker
2. C.B.S. - 7:07
3. Once on a Windy Day - 4:03
4. Blue Skies and Alibis - 4:58
5. Hold Me Down - 5:05
All compositions by Paul Davis and Martin Kitcat

Gracious
*Alan Cowderoy - Guitar, Vocals, Percussion
*Paul Davis - Lead Vocals, Percussion
*Martin Kitcat - Keyboards, Mellotron, Percussion,  Vocals
*Robert Lipson - Drums, Percussion
*Tim Wheatley - Bass, Vocals, Percussion

1970  Gracious

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Gracious - Gracious (1970 uk, excellent heavy prog rock, 2004 reissue)

Gracious began as a schoolboy lark in 1964, when guitarist Alan Cowderoy and vocalist/drummer Paul Davis banded together to cover pop songs at school concerts. To arouse maximum ire at their Catholic school, the adopted the band name "Satan's Disciples." Over the next several years the recording lineup of the band coalesced with Cowderoy and Davis (who now only sang), former road manager Tim Wheatley on bass, Martin Kitcat on keyboards, and drummer Robert Lipson. 

Renamed Gracious (or Gracious!), the band toured Germany in 1968 and then recorded a concept album about the seasons of the year, although this went unreleased. Still, their ambitions were unabated. After playing on a double bill with the newly formed King Crimson, an awestruck Kitcat immediately adopted the Mellotron as a lead instrument for the band. Kitcat and Davis were the band's composers, and Kitcat in particular lent the group its distinctive sound. He played the Mellotron as a lead instrument, much like a blues organ -- that is, with percussive single notes, rather than the grandiose chords favored by bands that used it as a faux-orchestral backdrop.

The debut of Gracious! begins with the blandly but accurately titled "Introduction." One of the album's strongest tracks, it's a Nice-like combination of menacing Moog breaks and shimmering harpsichords, and it foreshadows the band's use of both heavy prog music and ghostly lyrics tinged with Catholic dread. "Heaven" is a gorgeous minor-key ballad of stately Mellotron and chiming guitar tones, with harmonies reminiscent of late-model Zombies. 

"Hell," not surprisingly, is another thing altogether: a descent into drunken declamations, clinking bottles, rowdy bar sounds, loopy piano riffs, and creepy phasing effects. In coclusion it's a fine debut, and it presaged the superb second effort that was to follow. 

by Paul Collins

Tracks
1. Introduction - 5:53
2. Heaven - 8:09
3. Hell - 8:33
4. Fugue in 'D' Minor - 5:05
5. The Dream - 16:58
6. Beautiful - 2:50
7. What A Lovely Rain (Paul Davis, Martin Kitcat) - 2:49
8. Once On A Windy Day - 4:03
All song by Paul Davis except where noted.

Gracious
*Alan Cowderoy - Guitar, Vocals
*Martin Kitcat - Piano, Harpsichord, Keyboards, Vocals, Mellotron
*Robert Lipson - Drums
*Tim Wheatley - Bass
*Paul Davis - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

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