Three Man Army - Two (1974 uk, great hard rock with prog shades, japan SHM remaster)

Three Man Army was a British hard rock band of the early '70s, playing period guitar-slanted music that sounded like warm-up fodder for bigger stadium acts. The constants in the lineup were Adrian Gurvitz and Paul Gurvitz, both of whom had been in Gun. After Gun expired, Adrian went to America to play with Buddy Miles, while Paul formed Parrish & Gurvitz. 

The pair reunited, however, to record the debut Three Man Army album, A Third of a Lifetime, using several different drummers (including Miles, Carmine Appice from Vanilla Fudge, and Mike Kellie from Spooky Tooth). Tony Newman, formerly of Sounds Incorporated and the Rod Stewart Group, joined for the next (and final) two Three Man Army albums. While there were rehearsals for a fourth LP, it was never started, as Newman left to join David Bowie's band and the Gurvitz brothers teamed up with Ginger Baker to record three albums as the Baker Gurvitz Army.  "Two" was their third and final studio album released in 1974. 

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. Polecat Woman (Baxter, Adrian Curtis, Hayes) - 3:52
2. Today (Adrian Curtis) - 6:18
3. Flying (Adrian Curtis) - 3:08
4. Space Is the Place (Adrian Curtis) - 6:20
5. Irving (Adrian Curtis, Paul Gurvitz, Tony Newman) - 4:17
6. I Can't Make the Blind See (Baxter, Adrian Curtis, Hayes) - 4:03
7. Burning Angel (Adrian Curtis, Paul Gurvitz, Tony Newman) - 3:32
8. In My Eyes (Baxter, Adrian Curtis, Hayes) - 5:07

Three Man Army
*Paul Gurvitz - Vocals, Guitar, Bass
*Adrian Gurvitz - Vocals, Guitar, Slide Guitar, Organ
*Tony Newman - Drums, Percussion.
With
*Ruby James - Vocals, Bells
*Doris Troy - Vocals, Background Vocals
*Madeline Bell - Vocals
*Peter Robinson - Piano

Related Act
1968  Gun - Gun
1969  Gun - Gunsight (Japan 2008 remaster)

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Glass Harp - Live! At Carnegie Hall (1971 us, awesome jam psych rock)

More than four decades ago, a teenaged guitar phenom named Phil Keaggy burst onto the music scene. Keaggy and childhood friend and drummer/guitarist John Sferra were joined by bassist Dan Pecchio in Glass Harp, recording three albums for Decca before dissolving the band in 1972 when Keaggy was only 21. The band has reunited briefly for several concerts over the years, but rumor has it that the final Glass Harp concert will be July 27, 2002 at the Creation West festival in George, WA. (Note: Happily, that turned out not to be the case, and Glass Harp has continued playing and recording.) To commemorate Glass Harp's legacy, we're looking at a special album in the band's history.

A major highlight for Glass Harp was opening for The Kinks at Carnegie Hall in November 21 of 1971. The concert was recorded, but for some reason remained buried until 1997, when Live! At Carnegie Hall was finally released. It could be disappointing to see that this recording has only five songs, but when you realize that Look in the Sky is over 10 minutes and Can You See Me checks in at just under 29 minutes, it should be time to rejoice.

This is a great CD for all Keaggy/Glass Harp fans, or anyone else who loves vintage early 70s extended jam sessions. The recording quality is excellent, and the band is amazingly good when you consider how young they were--Sferra was 19 and Keaggy just 20, but his patented volume swells and lightning licks are already evident.

The final song, Can You See Me, features solos by all three band members (Pecchio's is a flute solo) and incorporates the song One Day At A Time before ending up the set with Keaggy's uncompromising lyrics: "Jesus died for you and me/that we may live eternally/through Him there is a peace we can share."

Consider that Keaggy wrote those lyrics in 1970 as a brand-new Christian, a teenaged rising rock star about to record his first album, and you realize just how bold and uncompromising he was. He wasn't about to water down the message when he had the opportunity to play Carnegie Hall.

by Randy Brandt

Tracks
1. Look In The Sky (Keaggy, Sferra, Pecchio) - 10:16
2. Never Is A Long Time (D. Pecchio) - 3:33
3. Do Lord (Keaggy, Sferra, Pecchio) - 3:59
4. Changes (J. Sferra) - 6:27
5. Can You See Me (D. Pecchio, P. Keaggy) - 28:56

Glass Harp
Phil Keaggy - Guitar, Vocals
Dan Pecchio - Bass, Flute, Vocals
John Sferra - Drums, Vocals

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Shanti - Shanti (1971 us / india, wonderful raga folk psych fusion rock)

Indian flavoured hippie folkrock in the mood of Grateful Dead or CSN. Adding instruments such as sarod, dholak and tablas to their regular guitar/bass/drums line-up Shanti created an exotic, rootsy aura, never mind the spiritual lyrics.

From San Francisco, this Californian-meets-India group played a very relaxed mystic blend of music, alternating instrumental cuts with vocal songs. Adding instruments such as sarod, dholak and tablas to their regular guitar/bass/drums line-up Shanti created an exotic, rootsy aura, never mind the spiritual lyrics.

Zakir Hussain also played with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead on his Rolling Thunder album.

Tracks 
1. We Want To Be Free (Mike Aydelotte) - 3:16
2. Innocence (Ashish Khan) - 10:45
3. Out Of Nowhere (Neil Seidel) - 3:29
4. Lord I'm Comin' Round (Mike Aydelotte) - 3:03
5. Good Inside (Gary Halpern) - 3:15
6. Shanti (Ashish Khan) - 14:51
7. I Do Believe (Neil Seidel) - 1:30

Shanti
*Aashish Khan - Sarod
*Zakir Hussain - Tabla, Dholak, Naal
*Neil Seidel - Lead Guitar
*Steve Haehl - Lead Vocal, Guitar
*Steve Leach - Vocal, Bass
*Frank Lupica - Drums
*Pranesh Khan - Tabla, Naal

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Goliath - Hot Rock And Thunder (1972 us, spanking hard rock with symphonic prog touches)

The long-lost band named Goliath may have been reared in the dreary industrial city of Terre Haute, IN. Their music was as extravagant and cosmopolitan as it came during the heavy rock heyday of the 1970s. True, "We're Not Afraid," which opened the band's only album, 1975's Hot Rock and Thunder, never quite gelled amid its disparate working parts (half Deep Purple Mark III funk-rock, half Emerson, Lake and Palmer excess), but the wonderfully named "Dead Drunk Screamin'" brilliantly contrasted its roaring power chords with soaring choired vocals reminiscent of vintage Uriah Heep. 

Goliath's occasional detours into barroom boogie (à la Ronnie James Dio's Elf) for the likes of "Tell Me You're Satisfied" and the title track proved somewhat less memorable, but the group's tight and energetic performances, combined with singer Jim Kitchen's booming delivery never totally disappointed, either. And side two was where the quintet really spread its progressive rock wings, as guitarist Paul Bays' unfettered six-string bombast and keyboardist Dave Wood's Baroque piano work and futuristic synthesizer parts jousted for supremacy across multi-faceted creations like "The Apocalypse," "Silver Girl" (boasting a tasty classical piano mid-section), and the more toned down semi-ballad "Ordinary Guy" (where the CD reissue's direct-from-vinyl transfer becomes glaringly obvious). 

All in all, and though anything but perfect, the sheer creative breadth displayed by Goliath on this LP, in spite of recording on a shoestring budget under God knows what dire circumstances, was really quite remarkable; and the fact that its songs often appear torn between the decade's first and second halves (the first simultaneously artsy and raw; the second marked by increased technology pointing toward AOR) actually heightens its idiosyncratic appeal, to the endless curiosity of subsequent generations of collectors, year after year, reissue after reissue. 

by Eduardo Rivadavia 

Tracks
1. We're Not Afraid (Steve Peters, Jim Kitchen, Bill Peters) - 5:12
2. Tell Me You're Satisfied (Steve Peters, Paul Bays) - 5:03
3. Dead Drunk Screamin' (Paul Bays, Steve Peters, Jim Kitchen) - 4:18
4. Hot Rock And Thunder (Steve Peters) - 3:05
5. The Apocalypse (Steve Peters, Bill Peters) - 6:04
6. Silver Girl (Dave Wood, Paul Bays) - 6:01
7. Ordinary Guy (Steve Peters) - 4:25

Goliath
*Dave Wood - Grand Piano, Moog, Clavinet, Vocals
*Paul Bays - Lead Guitar, Vocals
*Jim Kitchen - Lead Vocals
*Bill Peters - Bass, Vocals
*Steve Peters - Drums

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Lorri Zimmerman - Lorri Zimmerman (1970 canada, powerful vocals, tender ballads and psych tinged rock)

One of the lesser-known femme-psych singers, Lorri Zimmerman got her start when she auditioned for a TV talent show called The Like Young and was extended an invitation to participate in an album the show released featuring several of the performers.

Two years later, in 1968, Lorri met up with a band called the Munks and the members performed under the moniker Sweet Loraine & the Munks for nearly a year before going their separate ways. She soon joined up with Life, a Montreal-based psychedelic band on Polydor that had some chart success with their single "Hands of the Clock." 

In 1969, the group disbanded and Zimmerman began making some demos for music publishers Chappell & Co. Ltd, which led to the recording of her only solo album for Crescent City, an obscure underground pop/rock record (with elements of psych) that remained an underground gem until it was reissued by Fallout Records in 2007.

Zimmerman went on to tour as a backing singer for Leonard Cohen before forming pop-rockers Toulouse in the mid-70s - but it’s this rare album that best showcasesher powerful, affecting voice.

by Jason Lymangrover

Tracks

1. Don’t Twist My Mind (Robert Swerdlow) - 2:49

2. You’re The One (Don Beauchamp, Ken Briscoe) - 2:14

3. Contemplation (Mylon Lefebure) - 3:04

4. Bidin’ My Time (Ken Briscoe) - 4:16

5. Just To Say Goodbye (Ken Briscoe) - 3:40 

6. Theme For An Imaginary Western (Jack Bruce) - 4:41

7. Cause The World Is Mine (Harry Marks) - 3:18

8. Paint Me A Picture (Ken Briscoe) - 4:01

9. Love Me, Love My Children (Robert Swerdlow) - 3:28

10. Children Of The Universe (Ken Briscoe) - 2:39

*Lorri Zimmerman - Vocals

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Philipa And John Cooper - The Cooperville Times (1969 south africa, wonderful folk baroque psych)

This South African psych-pop rarity was buried so far beneath the drifts of history that even the skilled archivists of the Shadoks label had a hell of a time digging up the original recordings for reissue. Recorded right in the psychedelic sweet spot of 1968 and released the following year, The Cooperville Times is the only album by brother-and-sister duo John & Philipa Cooper. It blends the pop and folk ends of the ‘60s U.K. psych spectrum, with John leaning toward the former and Philipa toward the latter as they alternate lead vocals (there's not a lot of two-part harmony on the album). 

All the hallmarks of the paisley-patterned era are here -- Baroque bits of harpsichord accompaniment, pastoral flute lines, tremolo guitar -- just the sort of touches guaranteed to make psych collectors foam at the mouth. And in a genre where obscurities sometimes tend to remain obscure for a reason, The Cooperville Times proves to be a quality piece of work, with John Cooper's songcraft standing apart from the pack. And while he's got a strong melodic sense with memorable hooks to spare, his lyrics are particularly meritorious; on the surface, they seem to delve into the trippy, canyons-of-your-mind territory so common to psychedelia, but a closer listen reveals that Cooper has a well-developed sense of poetic imagery, and a gift for surreal settings. 

When he sings about the "Man in a Bowler Hat," for instance, he's in keeping with the surrealist tradition of the legendary Magritte painting that is the song's namesake. And though he's an effective singer, things take a particularly striking turn when his sister steps up to the microphone; her haunting vocal style is very much in line with the work of contemporaneous U.K. psych-folk sirens like Jill Child of Midwinter and Alison O'Donnell of Mellow Candle. 

by James Allen

After the inclusion of two songs on “Astral Daze Volumes 1 & 2” some people began looking for the original of this forgotten album. After a few poor bootlegs this finally has been reissued carefully. It sounds very different from the general South-African scene, and sounds to have roots in the other English territories, especially the UK, varying from early Jefferson Airplane harmony folk-psych (one track) to English acid folk (some mentioned Ithaca). Many songs have certain lullaby-balladry with happy rhythms, some baroque arrangements of an instrument that sounds in between a piano and a harpsichord, lots of acoustic and electrified acoustic guitars and soft percussion. 

With just one track a bit rockier with electric guitar. Apparently Julian Laxton (Freedom’s Children) was involved in the recording even when nowadays he can’t remember the album, band or session. There’s some near-classical improvisation on violin with a gypsy association on “Gypsy Girl”. Some of the songs by the often more high toned, hippie-flavoured voice female singer sound much folkier, and remind of the Incredible String Band songs performed by Licorice McKechnie. The album is a real discovery and fits well amongst the classics of English acid folk/folk scene. The songs are all pretty short but are carefully arranged.

Psych-Folk

Tracks
1. The Mad Professor - 2:45
2. Gyspy Spell - 2:42
3. I'll Be More Than Satisfied - 2:08
4. Wild Daydreams - 2:35
5. Edge Of Eternity - 2:12
6. My Pair Of Spectacles - 2:26
7. Man In A Bowler Hat - 2:41
8. Singing In My Soul - 2:05
9. She's My Woman - 2:38
10.Broomstick - 2:33
11.Good Old Sun - 2:00
All songs by Philipa And John Cooper

Personnel
*John Cooper - Vocals
*Philipa Cooper - Vocals
*Julian Laxton - Guitar
*Ivor Back - Drums
*Werner Krupski - Keyboards
*Art De Villiers - Acoustic Guitar
*Bob Hill - Bass
*Francesco - Fiddle
*Rory Blackwell - Tambourine

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Ford Theatre - Trilogy For The Masses (1968 us, incredible boston hard psych with proto prog touches)

Ford Theatre is the place where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And in these days of horrifyingly regular public murders, it's reasonable to ask what kind of name this is for a rock and roll group. A sick joke? Absolutely not. These six young men are deadly serious, and they chose their name because it corresponds in a way to what they are trying to create -- a vision of America in all its present chaos and agony. Harry Palmer, the leader, talks about it with the intensity of a man who feels he has got to be heard. "We're trying to get at the kind of desperation and searching that people are going through," he says. "This is as much a dramatic work as a musical one. We're trying to create a whole environment -- an ominous kind of environment." 

All the lyrics are in the second person, addressed to us. We're on the spot -- and there are very few of us who won't see parts of ourselves in these lines, or recognize the kind of tension that builds up in these long, corrosive instrumental breaks. The very least you can say about this album is that it's original, and fearlessly honest. And that's not nearly as common as some people think it is.

by Tom Phillips, Contributing Editor Jazz & Pop Magazine

Trilogy For The Masses opens with the Theme For The Masses, the main theme that connects the whole of the album together. Played in a form of lament, the track is rich in both strings and organ very similar to a style that would be utilised by many of the proto-progressive rock bands such as Procol Harum and The Moody Blues. The subsequent track, 101 Harrison Street is a clear indication of the times. Featuring a lengthy and mesmerising guitar solo accompanied by a hypnotic continuous rhythm, this piece of music is a sure sign of the psychedelic drenched times the band were living in. This was the year of Woodstock and the height of flower power, and one can easily envisage this track being played endlessly with one solo being meted out after the other.

Excerpt (From the Theme) resurrects the opening theme to then lead into Back To Philadelphia, a track that would also be utilised for the bands second album, Time Changes. Slow paced and laid back, this track in contrast to 101 Harrison Street, lays more emphasis on the guitar work rather than having the organ dominate the sound of the music. Both Sides One and Two are linked by the short echo-filled The Race.

A name that comes to mind after hearing From A Back Door Window (The Search) would be legendary group Love. Ford Theatre manage to exude a certain amount of power and anger without letting it get in the way of their musical arrangements and without compromising their ability to incorporate ear-catching choruses in their music. This lengthy track also manages to combine the two distinct musical touches that the band had expressed so far on the album, that of a more guitar orientated rock feel as well as that of the R&B organ dominated sound. Well, From A Back Door Window (The Search), has both these elements with an extremely pleasant organ solo coupled with lengthy guitar work. Once again the emphasis seems to be on the ambient that the instruments manage to create with their obvious psychedelic allusions capable of

Theme For The Masses resurrects its head in bringing the album to a close with Postlude: Looking Back, the only composition credited entirely to Harry Palmer on the album. Musically this track is strikingly different to the remainder of the album as it is devoid of the elaborate arrangement present on the album giving this pleasant track an almost country rock feel to it. This is one album from my record collection that somehow finds itself regularly on the turntable. There is something innocent and unique about the sound of the album that is hard to find in many albums from this era. Musically I feel that it is a gem and should appeal to all those who like what is often termed as proto-progressive rock.

by Nigel Camilleri 

Tracks
1. Theme For The Masses Part 1 - 2:52
2. 101 Harrison Street / Exerpt From The Theme - 10:29
3. Back To Philadelphia / The Race Part 1 - 4:39
4. The Race Part 2 / From A Back Door Window / Theme For The Masses Part 2 - 17:18
5. Postlude : Looking Back - 2:10
All compositions by Harry Palmer, Wally McGee

Ford Theatre
*Harry Palmer - Guitar
*Jimmy Altieri - Bass, Vocals
*Joey Scott - Lead Vocals
*John Mazzarelli - Keyboards, Vocals
*Robert Tamagni - Drums, Vocals
*Arthur "Butch" Webster - Lead Guitar

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October Country ‎– October Country (1968 us, elegant sunny psychedelia)

October Country was a six-piece, Los Angeles-based harmony pop group. They are probably best-remembered for their association with producer/composer/songwriter Michael Lloyd. Lloyd was already an accomplished songwriter by age 13, signing a publishing deal with L.A. producer Kim Fowley, who later introduced him to entertainment mogul Mike Curb. Fowley hoped that Curb would use some of Lloyd's songs in the "teensploitation" films he was producing at the time. Instead, Curb gave Lloyd the opportunity to produce a handful of groups for his Tower imprint and its Sidewalk subsidiary, including one of Lloyd's own groups, the Laughing Wind. Lloyd was 15 when his first single produced by Fowley was issued in 1966 (a few years later this same group -- which featured Stan Ayeroff on guitar and Steve Baim on drums -- released several "songbook" albums, including the Cream Songbook, although they were credited to "the Rubber Band" at the time). 

Meanwhile, Lloyd's profile in the L.A. music community was in ascendance and brought him new opportunities. He was soon offered the chance to produce a We Five-ish folk-rock group, led by a pair of singing siblings: Caryle De Franca (real name Carol De Franca) and her brother Joe. The group had already performed on the Sunset Strip scene, where they backed groups like the Rivingtonsand the Coasters. They assembled at Columbia Records and, under Lloyd's supervision, recorded the Lloyd-penned "October Country." (After they left the studio, however, Lloyd overdubbed himself playing on many of the instruments, replacing their poorer performances). 

The group adopted the name October Country thereafter, and signed with Epic Records, which released that first single in late 1967. By the spring of 1968, the group's second single, "My Girlfriend Is a Witch," was released, followed a few months later by a third single, "Cowboys and Indians." A self-titled LP was released that same year, but the group's records failed to catch on outside of the L.A. area. Curb was nonetheless impressed with what he heard and gave Lloyd free reign of his Hollywood Boulevard Studios for the next six months, where he and two other musicians composed, performed, and recorded an entire album of similar Laurel Canyon-esque psych-folk for his Sidewalk Productions, this time releasing the material under the name the Smoke, a band featuring Lloyd and the other members of the studio group previously known as the Rubber Band. Meanwhile, in 1969, Curb and Lloyd produced bubblegum rock for a cartoon program called Cattanooga Cats, which featured a pop-punk version of "My Girlfriend Is a Witch," reputedly with Rupert Holmes (of "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" fame) on lead vocals. 

by Bryan Thomas

Tracks
1. October Country - 2:38
2. Painted Sky (M. Lloyd, J. Greenspoon) - 3:11
3. Little Boy Smiling - 2:24
4. She's Been Away - 1:54
5. Good To Be Round - 2:28
6. I Wish I Was A Fire - 1:53
7. Cowboys And Indians - 2:14
8. I Just Don't Know (B. Wian) - 2:23
9. End Of The Line - 2:17
10.My Girlfriend Is A Witch - 2:06
11.Caryle's Theme - 1:52
12.Baby What I Mean (F. Hamilton, E. Sheldon) - 1:51
13.October Country (45 Mono Mix) - 2:24
14.I Just Don't Know (45 Mono Mix) (B. Wian) - 2:11
15.I Wish I Was A Fire (45 Mono Mix) - 2:08
16.Cowboys And Indians (45 Mono Mix) - 2:39
17.My Girlfriend Is A Witch (45 Mono Mix) - 1:54
All songs written by Michael Lloyd except where noted.

October Country
*Caryle De Franca - Vocals
*Joe De Franca - Vocals
*Marty Earle - Guitar
*Bruce Wayne - Bass Guitar
*Bob Wian - Keyboards
*Eddie Beram - Drums

Related Act 
1968  The Smoke - The Smoke (2010 edition) 

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Tarbaby - February (1973 us, excellent blues psych rock, 2010 Gear Fab release)

Tarbaby was a very popular local band in the early 1970's in and around the Tallahassee area. Pat Muth, Brewster Banks, and Wally Knoelke had their own style of music that was fresh, raw, and original. Lay back and listen to some of the best music to come out of the Florida panhandle in the early 1970's!!

Tarbaby released the "Bullseye" album in April, 1973 in Tallahassee, Florida. The three piece group played in and around Tallahassee and the Southeast with the song "Gotta Find Me a Woman" reaching into the top 20 in Panama City and the top 5 in Tallahassee. They performed with Eric Carmen and the Raspberries in Panama City and were the featured entertainment for the Coral Gables Junior-Senior prom at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida in June, 1974. 

Tarbaby pursued separate careers in late 1975. Since then Patrick Muth formed the Band "Crybaby" (1976-1960), and since 1980 has been playing under the name "The Cove Hotel Band" out of Panama City. Brewster Banks released 8 more albums under various names. Waliy Knoelke still plays the drums everyday.

by Pat Muth, Tallahasse, Florida January, 2010

Tracks
1. Have You Seen My Baby?  - :18
2. Swing - 4:37
3. Mustang Sally (Bonny Rice) - 2:52
4. I Need Your Love  - 3:11
5. Gotta Find Me A Woman  - 3:01
6. Bootleg (Fogerty) 3:36
7. So Long  - 2:59
8. My Back Door  - 2:52
9. Baked Tomato  - 4:35
10.New Song -  3:56
All songs by Brewster Banks and Patrick Muth, except where noted.

Tarbaby
Patrick Muth - Rythym  Lead Guitars, Harmonica, Vocals
Brewster Banks - Bass Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Wally Knoelke - Drums, Percussion, Trumpet

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Terry Reid - Superlungs / The Complete Studio Recordings (1966-69 uk, spectacular mix of psych, blues, funky, roots 'n' roll, two disc set)

A minor but interesting late-'60s British rock singer, Terry Reid could have been a lot more famous if he had been able to accept the slot of lead singer for the New Yardbirds in 1968. That slot, of course, went to Robert Plant, and the New Yardbirds became Led Zeppelin. Unlike Plant, Reid was also a guitarist, and the opportunity to head his own group no doubt played a part in his decision to gun for a solo career. Leading a guitar-organ-drums power trio, he recorded a couple of respectable, though erratic, hard rock albums while still a teenager in the late '60s. Some bad breaks and creative stagnation combined to virtually bring his career to a halt, and he never cashed in on the momentum of his promising start.

A teen prodigy of sorts, Reid had turned professional at the age of 15 to join Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers. His first couple of singles as a headliner found him singing in a sort of poppy blue-eyed soul vein. But by the time of his 1968 debut Bang, Bang You're Terry Reid, produced by Mickie Most, he'd switched to more of a hard rock approach. Most was also handling Donovan and the Jeff Beck Group at the time, and similarities to both of those acts can be heard in Terry Reid's first two albums -- proto-hard rock on the louder tunes, sweeter folk-rock on the mellow ones (Reid in fact covered a couple of Donovan compositions, although he wrote most of his own material). Reid's high voice was reminiscent of Robert Plant's, though not nearly as shrill, and his folky numbers especially are reminiscent of Led Zeppelin's most acoustic early cuts.

Reid, oddly, was considerably more well-known in the U.S. than the U.K. His first album, very oddly, was not even issued in Britain, although it made the American Top 200. It's been reported that he at least in part declined Jimmy Page's offer to join Led Zeppelin owing to his contractual commitments to record for Mickie Most as a solo artist, and to perform as an opening solo artist on the Rolling Stones' late-'60s U.S. tour. He did influence Led Zeppelin's history in a big way by recommending Plant and drummer John Bonham as suitable candidates for the group's lineup, after Plant and Bonham's pre-Led Zep outfit (the Band of Joy) played support at one of Reid's early gigs. Reid felt confident enough in his solo prospects to also turn down an offer to join Deep Purple (Ian Gillan was recruited instead).

An opening spot on the Rolling Stones' famous 1969 tour of America seemed to augur even brighter prospects for the future, but this is precisely where Reid's career stalled, at the age of 20. First he became embroiled in litigation with Mickey Most, which curtailed his studio activities in the early '70s. After a couple of personnel changes, he disbanded his original trio, leading a group for a while that included David Lindley and ex-King Crimson drummer Michael Giles (this quartet, however, didn't release any records). He moved to California in 1971 and signed to Atlantic, but his long-delayed third album didn't appear until 1973. Reid would release albums for other labels in 1976 and 1979, but none of his '70s recordings were well-received, critically or commercially (though 1976's Seed of Memory did briefly chart). He's barely recorded since, though he did play some sessions, and The Driver appeared in 1991. 

by Richie Unterberger

Most of the contents of Super Lungs: The Complete Studio Recordings -- most especially the albums Bang, Bang You're Terry Reid and Terry Reid -- will be familiar to the singer's fans, and may dissuade people from picking up this double-CD set. That would be a shame, however, in view of the other material that is here -- starting with his work with Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers, which opens disc one and dates from well before his solo debut, Reid reveals himself as an extraordinarily (jaw-droppingly good, in fact) soul singer, with range, power, charisma, and taste, even on those early sides, and the package is extended into genuinely uncharted territory with a half-dozen newly discovered, newly mixed outtakes from Bang, Bang You're Terry Reid, and two tracks from Reid's first recording session in 1966, "Funny How Time Slips Away" (which is almost worth the price of the double-CD set by itself) and "I'll Take Good Care of You." The sound quality is spot-on perfect, state of the art, the annotation by Peter Doggett is entertaining and informative, and the whole package is some of the best British-spawned soul and R'n'B that one can find. 

by Bruce Eder

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Peter Jay And The Jaywalkers – It's Gonna Be Morning (Bert Russell) - 2:57

2. Peter Jay And The Jaywalkers – I'll Take Good Care Of You (Berns, Ragavoy) - 2:36

3. Peter Jay And The Jaywalkers – Funny How Time Slips Away (W. Nelson) - 3:39

4. Peter Jay And The Jaywalkers – Just Walk In My Shoes (Mastor, Miller) - 2:19

5. Peter Jay And The Jaywalkers - Hand Don't Fit The Glove (Hubert Pattison) - 2:55

6. Peter Jay And The Jaywalkers - This Time (Peter Jay, Terry Reid) - 1:49

7. Better By Far (Macleod, Macaulay) - 3:28

8. Fire's Alive - 2:54

9.Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (Sonny Bono) - 4:15

10.Tinker Taylor - 2:53

11.Erica - 3:50

12.Without Expression - 4:46

13.Sweater - 2:04

14.Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart (Roger Cooke, Roger Greenaway) - 5:00

15.Season Of The Witch (Donovan Leitch) - 10:08

16.Writing On The Wall / Summertime Blues (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart, Terry Reid) - 10:11

17.When I Get Home - 3:38

18.Loving Time (Eric Leese, Terry Reid) - 3:38

19.Without Expression (2003 Mix) - 4:46

All songs by Terry Reid except where noted

Disc 2
1.Superlungs My Supergirl (Donovan Leitch) - 2:40
2.Silver White Light - 2:52
3.July - 3:30
4.Marking Time - 3:45
5.Stay With Me Baby (Weiss, Ragavoy) - 4:10
6.Highway 61 Revisited / Friends / Highway 61 Revisited (Bob Dylan, Terry Reid) - 7:57
7.May Fly - 3:39
8.Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace - 4:23
9.Rich Kid Blues - 4:12
10.Highway 61 Revisited (2003 Remix) (Bob Dylan) - 4:25
11. Peter Jay And The Jaywalkers - Funny How Time Slips Away (First 'Demo' Version) (W. Nelson) - 3:55
12. Peter Jay And The Jaywalkers - I'll Take Good Care Of You (First 'Demo' Version) (Berns, Ragavoy) - 2:05
13.Ain't That Peculiar (Tarplin, Rogers, Robinson, Moore) - 4:22
14.I've Got News For You (Alfred) - 5:32
15.Summer Sequence - 2:01
16.Zodiac Blues (Keith Webb, Terry Reid) - 2:54
17.Penny - 5:58
18.Rich Old Lady - 2:07
All songs by Terry Reid except where stated

Personnel
*Terry Reid - Guitar, Vocals
*Bill Bonham - Flute, Hammond B3, Keyboards, Saxophone
*Brian Hayward - Trumpet
*John Paul Jones - Double Bass
*Johnny Larke - Bass
*Ian Saunders - Tenor Sax
*Peter Solley - Keyboards
*Keith Webb - Drums
*Peter Jay - Drums

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