From the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Blue Sandlewood Soap was one of relatively few '60s psychedelic groups from the region (though there were others, such as C.A. Quintet and, on some of their records, the Litter and T.C. Atlantic).
Groovy 12-string guitar, subtle bass work, and far-out Farfisa solos are woven together by truly strange tempos and surprising breaks, about half of this release was recorded in the basement of organist Harley Toberman's apartment around 1967.
Tracks
1.Friends I Haven't Met Yet (D. Bergsland, D. Knudson, H. Toberman) - 3:07
2.Nickel Bag Of Blue - 2:27
3.How Can I Show My Love (H. Toberman) - 3:01
4.Reborn In Eastern Meditiation - 2:52
5.Love Pirt (D. Bergsland, D. Knudson, H. Toberman) - 5:20
6.Without A Sond - 2:36
7.Did You See The Man (D. Bergsland, D. Knudson, S. Luck) - 3:41
8.Just For The Moment (Byrne, Knudson) - 3:38
9.What Is Life - 2:01
10.A Most Unusual Way (D. Knudson, S. Luck) - 2:59
11.A Childlike Face (D. Bergsland, D. Knudson, H. Toberman) - 2:23
12.Love Is (Byrne, Knudson) - 2:08
13.That's Cool - 3:26
14.Interludes (Byrne, Knudson) - 12:19
15.The Girl Stares Coldly (Byrne, Knudson) - 2:19
16.I See The Lightning Roar - 1:59
17.Age Of The Magic Men (D. Bergsland, D. Knudson, H. Toberman) - 4:20
18.Northwest Arilines (Demo) (H. Toberman) - 2:26
All songs by Dave Bergsland and Dan Knudson except where stated
Recorded in 1974, this has a few fillers, and it occasionally falls into the prog habit of going six minutes when four would do, but it's still mystifying that this perfectly solid collection would go missing for so long. Empire's sound bridges the West Coast funk of Cold Blood and the jazzy guitar of early Yes, and it works surprisingly well.
The charging "Out of Our Hands" has some clever guitar effects thrown in, and a startling moment where Foxx's vocals rise up like a kettle on the boil. Magnusson's keyboards lend a velvety smoothness to the lovelorn "More Than Words," and the country twang of "Hear My Voice On the Radio" is so appropriately radio-friendly that it's shocking that it wasn't released as a single.
by Paul Collins
Tracks
1. Out Of Our Hands - 5:40
2. More Than Words - 7:40
3. Someone Who Cares - 7:01
4. For A Lifetime - 2:44
5. Hear My Voice On The Radio - 3:30
6. Shooting Star - 13:00
.a.Part 1 - From The Top
.b.Part 2 - Common Ground
.c.Part 3 - Iceland On The Rocks
.d.Part 4 - Shooting Star
7. Sky At Night - 9:38
Ever since I came across the work of Andy Tillison a few years, I began hearing more and more about the music of the Canterbury Scene and how it drastically influenced The Tangent. I decided to investigate some groups further on this basis. The Civil Surface is my first foray into the Canterbury genre and it left quite an impression. Egg began in 1969 with the trio of Dave Stewart (organ, piano, bass on Nearch), Clive Brooks (drums) and Mont Cambell (bass, voice, french horn, piano). After two records the group disbanded in 1972. Fortunately, two years later Dave Stewart signed a deal with Virgin Records owner Richard Branson and commenced working on their third album The Civil Surface.
The Civil Surface begins with Germ Patrol. Starting off with a bolero like drum beat, it gradually builds in strength with distorted guitar and organ passages. This theme ends and gives way to a different, complementing passage in the same manner. A good choice for an opener.
Wind Quartet parts 1 and 2, as the names imply, are songs consisting only of four wind instruments (clarinet, flute, french horn and bassoon). The first part serves as a quirky and effective transition between the hectic Germ Patrol and Enneagram. Part 2, however, is much of the same and serves as a somewhat dull ending for an otherwise energetic album. Overall, even though they are a bit different, I enjoyed these pieces and have not yet had the urge to skip over them.
Next up is Enneagram, a complex, instrumental tune much in the same vein of Germ Patrol. It features some excellent drumming by Clive Brooks and skillfull organ and piano playing by Dave Stewart. There is a strong hint of Mahavishnu Orchestra type fusion on this. Excellent track and one of my favorites on the album.
Prelude is entirely organ driven with female vocals. This was the first song that struck me as bearing resemblance to The Tangent. More specifically, Skipping The Distance. The chanting female vocals share great resemblence to those of Sam Baine of The Tangent. Other than a little smile from Deja Vu, I think this is the only real weak moment on the album. In four minutes it doesn't hold its own.
Wring Out The Ground [Loosely Now] is, lyrically at least, one of the stranger songs to have crossed my path. For about two minutes, in one form or another, the phrase "wring out the ground" is sung just about non stop. They also reprise this idea towards the end. Sandwiched in between is a pretty interesting instrumental section that seems to borrow from Gentle Giant and even Yes in a few aspects. Again, very jazzy and more excellent organ by Dave Stewart.
Nearch is also a bit of an oddity. It begins with what seems to be a nod toward Lizard era King Crimson. About two and a half minutes into the song it just stops and for about a minute drum beats occasionally pop up through the silence. I would assume that this is here as a joke of some sort?
A few minor discrepancies aside, I really enjoyed this album. I can't really say I have heard anything quite like it. If you are into older prog like the above mentioned bands, than this is a no brainer. Also, for those like me who are curious to see were many great bands, like The Tangent, got their influence from. Pick this up. Highly recommended.
by Chris Jackson
Tracks
1. Germ Patrol - 8:31
2. Wind Quartet I - 2:20
3. Enneagram - 9:07
4. Prelude - 4:17
5. Wring Out The Ground (Loosely Now) - 8:11
6. Nearch - 3:22
7. Wind Quartet II - 4:48
All Music and Words by Egg
The Metronomical Society by Egg, a collection of live and studio recordings made by the Stewart / Campbell / Brooks trio between 1969 and 1972. The CD features archive recordings unheard for nearly 40 years, including a sizeable segment of Egg's last Roundhouse concert. Also included are superior versions of selections from the band's radio sessions, material previously only available on poor-quality bootlegs. The Metronomical Society's foreword is written by the irrepressible Captain Sensible.
In Dave's words: "There have been a few Egg bootlegs over the years, all terrible sound quality with inaccurate or non-existent documentation. I felt we should try to remedy this, and was delighted when music fan David Carruthers told us he had over an hour of archive Egg material on tape, recordings he'd stored carefully for 35 years and never copied - hats off to him. That discovery made the idea of an Egg archive CD feasible. Some of the music was recorded at our last-ever London gig at the Roundhouse in July 1972; those tapes reflect exactly how the band sounded to me on stage, with a bite, attack and visceral power that our '70s albums failed to capture."
Tracks
1. While Growing My Hair (Campbell) - 3:46
2. Seven Is A Jolly Good Time (Stewart, Campbell) - 3:09
3. Germ Patrol (Stewart, Campbell) - 5:34
4. Enneagram (Campbell) - 8:51
5. Long Piece No. 3, Part 2 (Campbell) - 9:02
6. Long Piece No. 3, Part 4 (Campbell) - 3:12
7. There's No Business Like Show Business (Berlin) - 3:16
8. Blane Over Camden (Stewart) - 4:26
9. Long Piece No. 3, Part 3 (Campbell) - 6:48
10.Wring Out The Ground (Loosely Now) (Campbell) - 8:02
11.McGillicuddie The Pusillanimous (Campbell) - 5:00
12.I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside (Glover, Kind) - 0:42
Egg
*Dave Stewart - Keyboards, Tone Generator
*Mont Campbell - Bass, Vocals
*Clive Brooks - Drums
Organ / piano, bass guitar, and drums. Add occasional vocals and tone generator and that's it! Obviously not much rocking expected from that ensemble - for goodness sake, just three people and no guitars?
Well like so many of their Cantebury compats, these guys didn't read the memo and they created some ground breaking stuff. In fact the notes on the original LP read: The music on this LP is not dancing music, but basically music for listening to. It is harmonically and rhythmically complex, designed to be as original as possible within the confines of the instrumental lineup; so it's pretty demanding on the listener's attention.
Originally released in 1970, Egg took influences from such diverse genres as jazz, psychedelia, rock and fusion, but probably most important, from classical music - and Brahms, Stravinsky and Grieg are directly and indirectly represented here. And Egg in turn gave their own influences to a number of other Cantebury acts of the early '70s. Egg was Dave Stewart on keys and tones, Mont Campbell on bass and understated but very competent vocals, and Clive Brooks on drums. They were hatched from Uriel in 1969, after they'd lost their guitar player, Steve Hillage to his university studies.
Later, Stewart and Hillage would form Khan, and Stewart would move into the realms of Hatfield and Ayers and Campbell would join him in National Health. The family tree of the Cantebury scene is a complex web, and we won't try to unravel it here. Suffice it to say that this was one of the more influential if underrated acts of prog's golden age.
The music generated by this small lineup was heavily dependent on Stewart's organ and Campbell's bass - both of which were applied with flair and imagination - but all three artists were credited with various compositions. There's a lot of avant garde generation of weird and spacey tones, but the rest is an entertaining example of several budding progressive genres taking their first baby-steps.
The English sense of humor is present in many songs, although the lyrics tend toward the spaced out rather than the poetic. "The Song Of McGillicudie The Pusillanimous (or Don't Worry James, Your Socks Are Hanging In The Coal Cellar With Thomas)" could almost have come off an album by The Doors. And yes, that's the song's name! "I Will Be Absorbed" comes the closest to a prog 'song' in the traditional sense of the word. Symphony No. 2 is a 5-part 22-minute early-day-avant-garde attempt at a modern-era classic, in a similar vein to many of the Keith Emerson pieces that would come later.
Honors for the all-round favorite, however, go to "Seven Is A Jolly Good Time" which is a bonus track here and wasn't on the original record. By 'good time' they're taking a stab at the fixation with odd time signatures.
by Duncan Glenday
Tracks
1. Bulb (Peter Gallen) - 0:09
2. While Growing My Hair - 4:02
3. I Will Be Absorbed - 5:11
4. Fugue In D Minor (Bach) - 2:49
5. They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano… - 1:21
6. The Song Of McGillicudie The Pusillanimous - 1:04
7. Symphony No. 2 - 23:58
8. Movement 1
9. Movement 2
10.Blane
11.Movement 3
12.Movement 4
13.Seven Is A Jolly Good Time - 2:47
14.You Are All Princes - 3:45
All songs by Clive Brooks, Mont Campbell, Dave Stewart except where indicated
Egg
*Dave Stewart - Organ, Piano, Tone Generator, Mellotron
*Mont Campbell - Bass, Vocals
*Clive Brooks - Drums
Harpers Bizarre "4" had a better selection of material. "Knock on Wood," the Beatles' "Blackbird," the Barry Mann-Gerry Goffin collaboration "Something Better," John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane," Kenny Rankin's "Cotton Candy Sandman," and (most unexpectedly) jazzman Jim Pepper's "Witchi Tai To" were all given the group's smooth harmony veneer and mock-rococo production.
Also on board were four bouncy, inconsequential group originals, and the theme to the movie I Love You, Alice B. Toklas. It still didn't add up to anything special -- not many groups could have stripped so much of the grit from "Knock on Wood" -- but was a soft rock marshmallow that was easier to swallow than their gooiest previous concoctions. Ry Cooder played occasional bottleneck guitar. The 2001 CD reissue on Sundazed added two bonus tracks, both from non-LP singles: Harry Nilsson's "Poly High," which is actually one of the group's better recordings, and Thomas Dorsey's gospel composition "If We Ever Needed the Lord Before."
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Soft Soundin' Music (Dick Scoppettone, Ted Templeman) - 4:10
2. Knock On Wood (Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd) - 3:08
3. Witchi Tai To (Jim Pepper) - 2:42
4. Hard To Handle (Alvertis Isbell, Allen Jones, Otis Redding) - 2:16
5. When The Band Begins To Play (Scoppettone, Templeman) - 2:31
6. Something Better (Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann) - 2:43
7. Blackbird (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 1:59
8. I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (Elmer Bernstein, Paul Mazursky, Larry Tucker) - 2:08
9. There's No Time Like Today (Scoppettone, Templeman) - 2:05
10.All Through The Night (John Petersen, Scoppettone, Templeman) - 2:12
11.Cotton Candy Sandman (Sandman's Coming) (Kenny Rankin) - 2:57
12.Leaving On A Jet Plane (John Denver) - 2:22
13.Poly High (Harry Nilsson) - 2:39
14.If We Ever Needed The Lord Before (Traditional, Thomas A. Dorsey) - 2:56
Recorded in Hollywood, in 1967. Originally released on Warners, Harpers Bizarre debut album is an astonishingly varied concoction, with songs and stunning arrangements by some of Los Angeles' most creative talents (including Randy Newman, legendary singer-songwriter David Blue, and Van Dyke Parks) sharing space with Cole Porter and Glenn Miller classics and Doug Kershaw's Cajun "Louisiana Man." Extra tracks include the group's beautiful country-flavored lullaby-cum-love song, "Cotton Candy Sandman (Sandman's Coming)."
Tracks
1. (Intro) This Is Only The Beginning (Ted Koehler, Harold Arlen) - 1:44
2. Anything Goes (Cole Porter) - 2:00
3. Two Little Babes In The Wood (Cole Porter) - 3:45
4. The Biggest Night Of Her Life (Randy Newman) - 2:25
5. Pocketful Of Miracles (Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen) - 2:47
6. Snow (Randy Newman) - 2:39
7. Chattanooga Choo Choo (Mack Gordon, Harry Warren) - 2:35
8. Hey You In The Crowd (Dick Scoppettone, Ted Templeman) - 2:25
9. Louisiana Man (Doug Kershaw) - 2:36
10.Milord (Monnot, Moustaki) - 3:07
11.Virginia City (Dick Scoppettone, Ted Templeman) - 2:08
12.Jessie (Mike Gordon, Jimmy Griffin) - 3:45
13.You Need A Change (David Blue) - 2:43
14.High Coin (Van Dyke Parks) - 2:35
One of the bands that came to Warner Bros. in their buyout of Autumn Records were the Tikis. They had only recorded a handful of singles, and in terms of musical direction and group identity, they definitely had potential. Enter producer Lenny Waronker and session musician/arranger/songwriter/general musical architect Van Dyke Parks. The two of them brought then-drummer Ted Templeman up to the front as co-lead vocalist, along with Dick Scoppettone, and created a soft-rock identity for the group, renaming them Harpers Bizarre.
Their first single was perhaps their greatest shot: a cover of the then-brand new Paul Simon song, "Feelin' Groovy." Buttressed by an amazing Leon Russell arrangement and some great performances from the A-list of L.A. session cats, the song quickly went into the Top Ten. The resulting album is almost as great as the single, with songs by Van Dyke Parks ("Come to the Sunshine"), Randy Newman ("Debutante's Ball"), and others. An excellent and definitive slice of California soft pop. The 2001 CD reissue on Sundazed adds two bonus tracks, both taken from the 1966 "Bye, Bye, Bye"/"Lost My Love Today" single by the Tikis, the San Francisco group that evolved into Harper's Bizarre."
by Matthew Greenwald
Tracks
1. Come To The Sunshine (Van Dyke Parks) - 2:33
2. Happy Talk (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) - 2:12
3. Come Love (Bergman, Keith, Marks) - 2:02
4. Raspberry Rug (Leon Russell, Washburn) - 2:25
5. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (Paul Simon) - 2:39
6. The Debutante's Ball (Randy Newman) - 3:08
7. Happy Land (Randy Newman) - 2:20
8. Peter And The Wolf (Ron Elliott, Sergei Prokofiev, Durand) - 1:57
9. I Can Hear The Darkness (Russell, Washburn) - 2:03
10.Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear (Randy Newman) - 2:21
There’s a charming contemporary newspaper clipping reproduced in the sleevenotes of Chapters & Phases which bears the heading: “Blo: A Date To Blow Your Mind Off”. Whatever disquieting mental image this conjures forth, rest assured that this compilation amply answers your prayers if you’ve been craving a band capable of combining the sticky, lopsided funk of The Meters with the loose cannon edginess of Malcolm Mooney-era Can.
Ostensibly inspired by their tenure in Salt with Ginger Baker, guitarist Berkely Jones and drummer Laolu Akintobi recruited bassist Mike Odumosu and set about casually turning Nigeria on its ear. The Lagos-based Blo made their live debut on 23 December 1972, supporting Osibisa at Lagos City Stadium and, by all accounts, blowing the headliners clean through the back wall with their ballsy, wayward “Afro-delia”.
A debt to Cream is indeed detectable in Odumosu’s bubbling, rude, upfront bass and the wah-wah extrapolations of Jones, but the overall tone of expansive joy is the polar opposite of Cream’s combative, murderous intensity. If anything, We Are Out Together, It’s Gonna Be A Good Day and Do It You’ll Like It are closer in spirit to the communal craziness of Sly & The Family Stone and Parliament.
by Marco Rossi
Tracks
Chapter One 1973
1. Preacherman (Berkely Ike Jones) - 4:43
2. Time to Face the Sun (B. Ike Jones) - 4:04
3. Beware / We Gonna Have a Party (Mike Odumosu, Berkely Ike Jones, Laolu Akintobi) - 4:08
4. Don't (B. Ike Jones) - 3:24
5. Chant to Mother Earth (Mike Odumosu) - 6:15
6. (Intro) We Are out Together (Instrumental) (Berkely Ike Jones) - 2:02
7. We Are out Together (Berkely Ike Jones) - 2:46
8. Miss Sagitt (Instrumental) (Berkely Ike Jones) - 4:47 Phase II 1975
9. BLO (Mike Odumosu) - 5:26
10.It's Gonna Be a Good Day (Laolu Akintobi) - 4:16
11.Native Doctor (Berkely Ike Jones) - 5:16
12.Do It You'll Like It (Berkely Ike Jones) - 3:42
13.Don't Take Her Away from Me (Jackson, Akinitobi, Nyam, Jones) - 4:30
14.Whole Lot of Shit (Berkely Ike Jones) - 5:15
15.Atide (Laolu Akintobi) - 3:03
B.L.O.
*Berkely "Ike" Jones - Guitar, Vocals
*Mike Odumusu - Bass, Vocals
*Laolu "Akins" Akintobi - Conga, Drums, Vocals With
*Segun Bucknor - Piano
*Joni Haastrup - Organ
*Friday Pozo - Conga
The most misunderstood of all the so-called "psych" bands of the late 1960s, the only LP by Autosalvage is the first and best US psych-into-prog record of them all.
Recorded in 1967, ahead of its time, this record took a Byrds/Airplane-inspired acid-folk-rock mixture and crafted songs unique, catchy, raucous, and truly flipped in an early Zappa-like way (who had a hand in getting them signed, apparently).
Autosalvage stays heavily focused on music rather than zaniness, but the song titles indicate that there's plenty of gimlet-eyed humor as well: "Rampant Generalities," "Glimpses of the Next World's World," "The Great Brain Robbery," plus a jaw-dropping rendition of Leadbelly's "Good Morning Blues."
Full-on lead guitars, nasally vocals (the worst feature for some, but I find them punkish), and extended yet carefully arranged 6-minute acid/jam/extrapolations are artfully wrapped in hummable tunes.
Traditional themes were mixed with jugband music, while the adventurous, quirky compositions blended shimmering guitar with textured instrumentation. Commercial indifference doomed their continuation and by the end of the decade Autosalvage had broken up
by Will Jackson
Tracks
1. Autosalvage - 5:37
2. Burglar Song - 2:20
3. Rampant Generalities - 3:10
4. Medley:Our Life As We Lived It/Good Morning Blues - 6:30
5. Ancestral Wants - 3:50
6. Hundred Days - 2:14
7. Land Of Their Dreams - 3:07
8. Parahighway - 2:35
9. Medley: The Great Brain Robbery/Glimpses Of The Next World's World - 5:15
