The Carolyn Hester Coalition - The Carolyn Hester Coalition (1968 us, beautiful folk sunny psych)

Anyone into Hester's earlier incarnation as a folk singer is likely to find her decision to turn to a more happenin'/commercial sound disappointing.  On the other hand, anyone into this late-1960s psych-oriented effort is liable to find her earlier folk albums trite and dull.

The thought of a folkie turning to psych is probably a major turnoff to many folks.  That's unfortunate since once you get over Hester's little girl lost voice, 1968's "The Carolyn Hester Coalition" is surprisingly enjoyable.   With excellent backing from The Coalition (bassist/keyboard player Dave Blume, drummer Skeeter Camera and lead guitarist Steve Wolfe), material such as "Magic Man", the fuzz guitar propelled "East Virginia" and "Half the World" offered up some excellent psych/rock numbers.  

Sure, Hester's folkie roots were occasionally on display ("Tomorrow When I Wake Up"), and on tracks like "Big City Street" she bore an uncomfortable resemblance to Lulu.  Luckily, those were the exceptions rather than the rule.   Besides, Hester deserved an extra star for the album cover's revealing blouse.  

Bad-cat

Tracks
1. Magic Man (Steve Wolf, Dave Blume) - 2:10
2. East Virginia (arranged by Carolyn Hester, Dave Blume) - 2:58
3. Tomorrow When I Wake Up (Carolyn Hester) - 2:27
4. Be Your Baby (Carolyn Hester, Dave Blume) - 2:32
5. Big City Street (Tom Moore, Carolyn Hester, Dave Blume) - 2:50
6. Half the World (Joan Maitland, John Scott) - 3:13
7. Let's get Together (Dino Valenti) - 2:38
8. Hey Jay (Jane Wagner, Diane Judge) - 2:46
9. Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream (Ed McCurdy) - 3:00
10.The Journey (Tom Moore, Carolyn Hester, Dave Blume) - 2:30
11.Buddha (Was Her Best Man) (Carolyn Hester) - 2:19

The Carolyn Hester Coalition 
*Dave Blume - Bass, Keyboards, Vibes
*Skeeter Camera - Drums, Percussion
*Carolyn Hester - Vocals, Guitar
*Steve Wolfe - Lead Guitar

1969  The Carolyn Hester Coalition - Magazine 

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Michael Chapman - Window / Wrecked Again (1970-71 uk, fantastic folk rock with prog shades, 2005 double disc edition)

One of the most understated but spectrally beautiful of all Michael Chapman's albums, Window evidences just why producer Gus Dudgeon was in such demand during the early '70s, as he allows the idiosyncratic Chapman to weave each and every one of his musical moods through the sequence, without the record ever appearing to lose its grip. 

At the time of release, most attention was on the closing craziness of "She Came in Like the '6:15' and Made a Hole in the Wall," as performed (says the sleeve) by the Massed Voices of the Dean Teagarden Singers, featuring the Screaming Skull, the Bombay Banger, and Arthur Dogg. However, there are equal (if less lunatic) joys to be drawn from the reflective "An Old Man Remembers," while the opening "Lady on the Rocks/Song for September" pairing and the disused bookends of "First Lady Song" and "Last Lady Song" all rate among the young Chapman's most engaging works.

by Dave Thompson

Tracks

Disc 1 Window

1. Lady On The Rocks / Song For September - 6:24

2. Last Lady Song - 5:49

3. Among The Trees - 4:41 

4. An Old Man Remembers - 3:02

5. In The Valley - 6:25

6. First Lady Song - 0:57 

7. Landships - 3:25 

8. A Scholarly Man - 5:38

9. She Came In Like The "6.15" And Made A Hole In The Wall - 3:32 

All songs by Michael Chapman

Michael Chapman has told more than one interviewer that he’s not really a folk guy. He may have played plenty of folk clubs in his life, often with just an acoustic guitar in hand, but he was just early on board the bandwagon of jamming econo. Chapman certainly didn’t frame himself as a folky for much of his recording career. Case in point: Wrecked Again.

Released in 1971, it’s the fourth and final record that he made for Harvest, and the third reissued in typically swanky fashion by Light In The Attic (Chapman’s disowned the third, Window, so I expect you’ll have to scour the used bins or blogosphere if you want to hear it). Certain key personnel from the first two albums reappear on Wrecked Again. Bassist Rick Kemp was Chapman’s most enduring partner for many years, and his melodic playing has a strong presence here, often toggling between keeping the groove and doubling Chapman’s vocal line. Also back on board were producer Gus Dudgeon and string arranger Paul Buckmaster, who after first working together on Chapman’s Rainmaker had become the architects of Elton John’s sound.

There are definite similarities in approach here; dense horns and lush, cello-heavy strings bulk up several songs, generally in ways that amp up their emotional impact without hobbling the sound of the core band, which was rounded out by lead guitarist Ray Martinez and drummer Pique Withers (both of mellotron rockers Spring -- Withers would go on to drum for Dire Straits). Martinez is a pro, capable of playing whatever the music requires and a little bit more, but he doesn’t match Mick Ronson’s playing on Fully Qualified Survivor. And while Chapman plays both acoustic and electric guitar, he does very little of the full-time fingerpicking you can hear him do nowadays in concert and on records like Trainsong; Martinez, Kemp, and the strings handle all the fancy bits..

Chapman, like most guys who picked up a guitar and started singing in the middle of the 20th century, had a bit of a Dylan thing happening on his early albums. But Chapman’s lyrical aspirations never really matched Dylan’s; he’s generally been content to spin a tail about his own life or a place that he’s seen, spike it with some dry humor or hardnosed sentiment, and leave it at that. When he reaches for an epic feel on the closer, “Shuffleboat River Farewell,” you can hear him replacing Dylan’s influence with a wider appreciation for American music. “All In All” and “Time Enough To Spare” have a funky country and western feel, with plenty of twang bolstered by a sturdy groove. 

For “Mozart Lives Upstairs,” he musters his best blues bawl, which is made more convincing by Martinez’s dated but entirely a propos leads. And that’s what makes this record a shade less essential than Rainmaker and Fully Qualified Survivor — not the bluesiness, but the of its time quality. You hear the strings, the indulgences, the sparse and solid thwack of the drums, and you think early 1970s. If you’re looking for a solid but non-transcendent representative of that time, this could be your reissue of the year. But if you’re looking for peak early Chapman, I’d start with Survivor, then work back to Rainmaker, and only then get Wrecked Again. 

by Bill Meyer

Disc 2 Wrecked Again 
1. Polar Bear Fandango - 2:35
2. Indian Queens - 3:55
3. Wrecked Again - 4:45
4. All In All - 3:02.
5. Back On Your Own Again - 3:28
6. The First Leaf Of Autumn - 4:10
7. Fennario - 7:03
8. Time Enough To Spare 2:42
9. Night Drive - 3:39
10.Mozart Lives Upstairs - 3:24
11.Shuffleboat River Farewell - 6:13
All songs by Michael Chapman

Musicians
*Michael Chapman - Guitars, Vocals
*Ritchie Dharma - Drums, Tambourine
*Arthur Dogg - Vocals
*Jack Emblow - Accordion
*P. Harold Fatt - Guitar
*Albert Hammond - Vocals
*Claudette Houchen - Vocals
*Rick Kemp - Bass, Bass Cello, Maracas, Vocals
*Neil Lancaster - Vocals
*Ray Martinez - Guitar
*Screaming Skull - Vocals
*Liza Strike - Vocals
*Dean Teagarden - Voices
*Johnny Van Derek - Violin
*Pique Withers - Drums, Percussion
*Alex Atterson - Piano
*Bombay Banger - Vocals

1968  Michael Chapman - Rainmaker
1969  Michael Chapman - Fully Qualified Survivor

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Michael Chapman - Fully Qualified Survivor (1970 uk, spectacular folk rock)

Michael Chapman’s first four albums came out on Harvest Records, an EMI-run British label that served as a hot bed for the psych-folk scene. It was home to, among others, Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett’s solo work, and fellow prog-folk singer Roy Harper—whose own 1971 album for Harvest, Stormcock, is a masterpiece. If you’re looking for a comparison to Chapman’s sound, Harper is as close as you’ll get, at least in some ways. The first track on Full Qualified Survivor, “Aviator”, does little to break that comparison. It’s a nearly ten-minute epic, as moody and wandering as anything on Stormcock, though if you’re looking for an album of huge suites, it’s a bit of a red herring.

After that huge, excellent, opening, Chapman continues to develop his own deep, vibrant sound. “Aviator” sets it all up for you; once you set aside the heft, you’ll hear how it falls right in line with the other, tighter songs that follow. We get Chapman’s smoky rasp of a voice, his subtly intricate guitar playing, and his eye for a sharp line, a sinister bark, and a striking detail. It’s a stunning piece about isolation and paranoia—everyone seems to be coming from all angles to “take [his] time away”, and you can feel the world closing in on him, not only in his weary voice but in the silence on the other end of a ringing phone or the stones thudding on the roof.

The solitary feel Chapman establishes is nothing self-pitying or fey. There’s bite to these songs. You can feel him sneer when, say, someone tries to make a fool of him in “Stranger in the Room”. “You made your snide remarks”, he snaps, nearly spitting out the words. Even “Postcards from Scarborough”—a much sweeter bit of melancholia and the closest thing Chapman had to a hit—finds him mourning a lost love while still scowling at his memories themselves. “The food was so tasteless, the wine was so stale”, he growls, remembering his days alone.

The lyrics are fully realized here, as well written as they are well delivered, but Fully Qualified Survivor is excellent because it is just as dynamic musically. Where other folk singers would rely on the acoustic guitar (and maybe some swelling strings or go the other route, the way Harper could) over building their songs with drifting layers, Chapman’s sound may align with the folk movement, but it is rock and roll at heart.

Chapman enlisted some Grade-A players for the record, including guitarist Mick Ronson. This six-string legend would also later work with Elton John and was of course part of David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars on top of having his own solo career, but his work on Chapman’s record is revelatory. Check the swelling run-ups that burst out of “Stranger in the Room”, not to the mention the solos. The thick riffs he drops on “Soulful Lady” are downright funky, while his gentle, distant work on “Rabbit Hills” adds an intricate layer of depth to Chapman’s already weary vocals. The sharpness of his guitar playing worked well with the complex basslines of Rick Kemp—the unsung hero of the record—who circles rumbling notes all around Chapman, giving the whole album a mossy rock feel we wouldn’t hear again—at least not at this brilliant level—until Neil Young’s On the Beach in 1974.

Chapman leaves plenty of room to show off his own chops, of course, and mixes up the mood and tempo of the record with a series of solo acoustic interludes. His playing on these is lightning-quick and arresting—particularly the bright “Naked Ladies & Electric Ragtime” and the stunning slide work of “Andru’s Easy Rider”—but it’s how these pieces manage to fit well in the seams between these full-band songs that makes them all the more striking. Fully Qualified Survivor is, well, just what its title claims. This is an album more than worthy of being unearthed and of being appreciated anew. It avoids sounding like anyone else—and, let’s be honest, the early-70’s singer-songwriter camp can feel a bit homogeneous. It also avoids the over-sentimental schmaltz in which some of his peers indulged (another occasional drawback to that crowd).

In a time where we’re constantly trying to recapture sounds from the past, any past, it’s great to stumble upon the genuine article, something that came before and that did all the things people are still trying to do. It’s heartfelt. It’s dark. It’s intricate but immediate, rocking but lush. It does all those things at once, and it does them better than most artists could hope to do any one of them. So is Fully Qualified Survivor a lost classic? Is it a reason to rethink Michael Chapman’s place in folk and rock music? To both questions: A resounding hell yes.

by Matthew Fiander

Tracks
1. The Aviator - 9:30
2. Naked Ladies And Electric Ragtime - 2:42
3. Stranger In The Room - 5:36
4. Postcards Of Scarborough - 5:18
5. Fishbeard Sunset - 0:39
6. Soulful Lady - 4:13
7. Rabbit Hills - 4:09
8. March Rain 3:46
9. Kodak Ghosts - 3:20
10.Andru's Easy Rider - 2:08
11.Trinkets And Rings (Lyrics Andru Makin) - 5:02
Music and Lyrics by Michael Chapman

Musicians
*Barry Morgan - Drums Congas
*Rick Kemp - Bass
*Mick Ronson - Guitar
*Gus Dudgeon - Scraper
*Paul Buckmaster - Cello
*Johnny Van derek - Violin
*Michael Chapman - Vocals, Guirar, Piano

1968  Michael Chapman - Rainmaker

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Michael Chapman - Rainmaker (1968 uk, remarkable folk psych rock)

A former art and photography teacher, Michael Chapman emerged from the folk scene in Yorkshire, England, gaining a reputation as one of England's finest original singer-songwriters. A deal with the fledgling Harvest label (EMI's "underground" boutique) led to the release of Rainmaker in 1969. The album featured the support of Rick Kemp (who went on to provide bass for Chapman for many years) and Danny Thompson. Window followed in short order, with Fully Qualified Survivor completing a debut triptych that sent waves of critical appreciation through the music industry, with influential BBC disc jockey John Peel supporting Chapman whenever possible. 

Sales, unfortunately, did not match the critical acclaim for Chapman's work, leaving Fully Qualified Survivor as a high point, with "Postcards of Scarborough" generally being the one cut most often remembered when Chapman is discussed. 

After the release of Wrecked Again, Chapman parted company with Harvest, choosing to sign to Decca's subsidiary Deram, where he altered course somewhat, adding electric guitar and harder rhythms to his work. The first result, Millstone Grit, is a somewhat confused affair, with Chapman's trademark gloomy writing mixed with a couple of lively instrumentals, some almost experimental work, and the country-styled "Expressway in the Rain." Deal Gone Down, more coherent, and Pleasures Of the Street, a live set, followed. Don Nix produced Savage Amusement, which reworked a couple of earlier songs; the album's title would be used in the mid-'80s for a band featuring Chapman and Kemp. 

1977 saw the end of Chapman's Decca deal, and the beginning of an association with Criminal Records in 1978; both labels released versions of The Man Who Hated Mornings. Chapman turned his hand to the release of a guitar instruction record. He continued to gig and record consistently, varying styles and sounds, sometimes working with a full group, more often working with Kemp alone. After the release of Heartbeat in 1987, Chapman experimented with self-released albums. As of the 1997 release of Dreaming Out Loud, Chapman was releasing albums at the rate of one every two years, and is still attracting high praise, if not great sales. Growing Pains followed in 2000. 

by Steven McDonald 

In 1969 British singer/songwriter Michael Chapman took the U.K.'s folk-rock world by surprise with his debut album, Rainmaker, on the Harvest label. In an era when each week garnered a new surprise in the music world, gathering serious and widespread critical acclaim wasn't easy, and finding a buying public near impossible. Rainmaker showcases a new talent who holds nothing back for himself. Every songwriting principle and trick, killer guitar riff, and songwriting hook in his bag makes an appearance here (something he would never do again). 

As a result, there are several truly striking things about the album that makes it stand out from the rest of the Brit folk-rock slog from the late '60s. One of them is Chapman's guitar playing. A true stylist in his own right, he holds a middle line between John Martyn and Bert Jansch with the provocative electric rock funkiness of Martyn juxtaposed against the rock solid folk traditional so wonderfully espoused by Jansch. Another is Chapman's lean, carved, sleek lyrical style, preferring the starkness of poetry to the lush elements of the song styles usually found on records of this type. Both are put to fine use on the opener, 

"It Didn't Work Out," a gorgeous broken love ballad with a philosophical bent, along with Chapman's doleful resigned vocal; the electric guitars cascade over fingerpicked acoustics, and acoustic and electric basses — courtesy of Rick Kemp and Danny Thompson. Here, the old-English melody style was welded to a rock backbeat and fused into a whole, rhythmic, elegant, but sparse tale of broken love. The fiery emotions were carried through the measures by Chapman's tumultuous guitar leads. On the title track, an instrumental with thunderstorm sound effects, the weave between electricity and natural sound grows tighter. 

When playing in traditional or blues styles, such as the dark, menacing folk-blues of "No One Left to Care," Chapman fuses the rock pulse to the folk or blues song, open-tuning his guitars to such a degree that drones created multiple tones and a solid bottom for his voice to pounce down upon. They also create a sense of emotional honesty not so prevalent on the scene at the time — artists were given to interpret old songs with an air of academic distance — Chapman chews his words and spits them out while rifling off guitar riffs at every turn that are as gnarly and venomous as anything by Richard Thompson at the time. 

Not to mention the stunning instrumental "Thank You, P.K., 1944," with its silvery 12-string work that turns the tonal qualities of the instrument inside out so completely you could swear there were three guitars players — despite the fact that none of the guitar parts were overdubbed — or the shimmering, high-whining slide work on the rock growler "Small Stones." The CD reissue contains five bonus tracks, a shorter single version of "It Didn't Work Out," and its B-side, "Mozart Lives Uptown," as well as a second part to that track, "On My Way Again," and the humorous but poignant "Bert Jansch Meets Frankenstein" (the latter three previously unreleased). 

As auspicious a debut as Rainmaker was for its fine songwriting, history has proved it to be more so because it's the only record in Chapman's distinguished catalog where he ever showcased his truly virtuosic talent as a guitarist. Why, is anybody's guess? 

by Thom Jurek

Tracks
1. It Didn't Work Out - 5:16
2. Rainmaker - 3:38
3. You Say - 3:43
4. Thank You P.K. 1944 - 4:14
5. No-One Left To Care - 4:22
6. Small Stones - 3:02
7. Not So Much A Garden-More Like A Maze - 5:35
8. No Song To Sing - 3:45
9. One Time Thing - 4:51
10. Sunday Morning - 4:27
11.Goodbye To Monday Night - 5:01
12.It Didn't Work Out - 3:44
13.Mozart Lives Upstairs - 3:58
14.Mozart Lives Upstairs, Prt. 2 - 1:05
15.On My Way Again - 6:41
16.Bert Jansch Meet Frankenstein - 2:04
All compositions by Michael Chapman

Musicians
*Michael Chapman  -  Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
*Mick Ronson  -  Guitar
*Aynsley Dunbar  -  Drums
*Dave "Clem" Clempson  -  Guitar
*Alex Dmochowski  -  Bass
*Norman Haines  -  Organ
*Rick Kemp  -  Bass
*Barry Morgan  -  Drums
*Danny Thompson  -  Bass

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Bad Seeds And Liberty Bell - Bad Seeds And Liberty Bell (1967-69 us, splendid garage psych)

The Bad Seeds were the first rock group of note to come out of Corpus Christi, Texas, itself a hotbed of garage-rock activity during the middle/late 1960s. They started when guitarist/singer Mike Taylor and bassist Herb Edgeington, then member of a local band called the Four Winds, met up with lead guitarist Rod Prince and drummer Robert Donahoe, who had been playing in a rival band called the Titans until its demise. Prince wanted to form a new group, and he, Taylor and Edgeington became the core of The Bad Seeds, who were signed to the local J-Beck label in 1966. 

They stayed together long enough to record three singles during 1966, of which two, "A Taste of the Same"/"I'm a King Bee" and "All Night Long"/"Sick and Tired," are unabashed classics of blues-based garage-punk, three of them originals by Taylor (who wrote most of their originals) or Prince. Even their normally maligned second single, "Zilch Part 1"/"Zilch Part 2," has some worth as a pretty hot pair of throwaway tracks. The band's sound was the raunchy Rolling Stones-influenced garage-punk typical of Texas rock groups in the mid-'60s.

Following the breakup of the group after the summer of 1966, Mike Taylor became a writer and producer for the the Zakary Thaks, another Corpus Christi-based band (who were signed to J-Beck after being spotted playing on a bill with The Bad Seeds), and also recorded singles in a folk-like mode as The Fabulous Michael. Rod Prince went on to become a key member of the legendary band Bubble Puppy, who were signed to Leland Rogers' International Artists' label, and the post-psychedelic group Demian.

With a few breaks, the Liberty Bell might have been America's Yardbirds -- as it worked out, however, the group suffered the undeserved fate of being a footnote in the history of Corpus Christi rock bands. Formed in Corpus Christi, TX in the mid-'60s, they were originally named the Zulus and played a mix of blues-rock drifting toward psychedelia, driven by some fairly ambitious guitar work by lead axeman Al Hunt. In 1967, they hooked up with Carl Becker, the co-owner of J-Beck Records, which, at the time, was recording the hottest local band, the Zakary Thaks. Becker signed them to his new Cee-Bee Records, and suggested a name change to the Liberty Bell.

The group's lineup at the time of their first single, a cover of the Yardbirds' "Nazz Are Blue" backed with a cover of Willie Dixon's "Big Boss Man," included Ronnie Tanner on lead vocals, Al Hunt on lead guitar, Richard Painter on rhythm guitar, and Wayne Harrison on bass. This record did well enough locally to justify further recording, and these sessions yielded the best songs of the group's entire history, "Something for Me," "For What You Lack," "I Can See," and "That's How It Will Be." Fast-tempo, fuzz-drenched pieces with catchy hooks, these numbers made the group sound like an American version of the Yardbirds with more of an angry punk edge, courtesy of lead singer Ronnie Tanner. But the real star of the group was lead guitarist Al Hunt, who wrote most of the material in those days and played like Jeff Beck on a good day.

Tanner exited the group in early 1968 and was replaced by Chris Gemiottis, formerly of the Zakary Thaks, who also brought a quartet of original songs with him, which were somewhat less punk-oriented and attempted to be more profound. The group switched to the Back Beat label, which specialized in R'n'B-flavored material. the Liberty Bell continued in its psychedelic/garage direction before releasing a soul-style number, "Naw Naw Naw" (on which only Gemiottis participated, with a studio band backing him) for their final single, late in 1968. the Liberty Bell came to an end in 1969 when Gemiottis returned to his former band.

by Bruce Eder

Tracks
1. Bad Seeds - Taste Of The Same - 2:48
2. Bad Seeds - I'm A King Bee - 2:42
3. Bad Seeds - Zilch, Part 1 - 1:45
4. Bad Seeds - Zilch, Part 2 - 2:17
5. Bad Seeds - All Night Long (Tried To Hide) - 2:20
6. Bad Seeds - Sick And Tired - 2:34
7. Bad Seeds - I'm Nobody's Man - 2:31
8. Bad Seeds - My Last Day - 1:59
9. Bad Seeds - Gotta Make My Heart Turn Away - 2:43
10.Bad Seeds - People Sec. IV - 2:59
11.Bad Seeds - Checkerboard - 3:27
12.Bad Seeds - Arkansas - 2:24
13.Liberty Bell - The Nazz Are Blue - 2:55
14.Liberty Bell - For What You Lack - 3:00
15.Liberty Bell - Al's Blues - 2:54
16.Liberty Bell - Thoughts And Visions - 2:39
17.Liberty Bell - Naw, Naw, Naw - 3:06
18.Liberty Bell - Reality Is The Only Answer - 2:11
19.Liberty Bell - I Can See (1st version) - 2:31
20.Liberty Bell - Bad Side Of The Moon - 3:22
21.Liberty Bell - Big Boss Man - 2:31
22.Liberty Bell - That's How It Will Be - 2:40
23.Liberty Bell - Something For Me - 2:29
24.Liberty Bell - Look For Tomorrow - 2:02
25.Liberty Bell - Recognition - 2:44
26.Liberty Bell - Evelyn Kaye - 2:53
27.Liberty Bell - I Can See (2nd version) - 3:01
28.Liberty Bell - Out In The Country - 2:17

The Bad Seeds
*Mike Taylor - Guitar, Vocals
*Herb Edgeington - Bass
*Rod Prince - Guitar
*Robert Donahoe - Drums

The Liberty Bell
*Ronnie Tanner - Vocals
*Al Hunt - Guitar, 1966-68
*Richard Painter - Guitar
*Wayne Harrison - Bass
*Carl Aeby - Drums
*Chris Gemiottis - Guitar, 1968-69

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Canned Heat - One More River to Cross (1973 us, good boogie blues rock)

Negotiated out of their contract with Liberty records, Canned Heat was ready for a fresh start with what Fito refers to as “The Horn Band”. Ronnie Barron and Jimmy Shane make their Canned Heat debut. “One More River To Cross” and “Bagful Of Boogie” best represent the bands new direction with Shane’s tenor vocals and Dobro guitar. The Bear leads the group on own the line, and “Highwat 401” shows that they still are staying true to the roots of the boogie. The new direction lacked commercial appeal in the USA, but the European fans flocked to the shows “Like the wild geese winging West” as the blues lyric goes. Ending with a tribute to his idol Fats Domino, Bob performs a mix of his radio hits and asks the listeners to take a look back into Domino’s music. 

by Adamus67 

Tracks
1. One More River To Cross (Daniel Moore) - 3:10
2. L.A. Town (Canned Heat) - 3:28
3. I Need Someone (Bob Hite) - 4:54
4. Bagful Of Boogie (Canned Heat) - 3:34
5. I'm A Hog For You Baby (Jerry Leiber And Mike Stoller) - 2:40
6. You Am What You Am (James Shane) - 4:31
7. Shake, Rattle And Roll (Charles E. Calhoun, Joel Scott Hill) - 2:31
8. Bright Times Are Comin' (Canned Heat) - 3:11
9. Highway 401 (Canned Heat) - 3:53
10.We Remember Fats (Fats Domino Medley) (Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino, Al Lewis) - 5:07

Canned Heat
*Bob Hite - Vocals
*Henry Vestine - Lead Guitar
*Richard Hite - Bass
*Adolfo De La Parra - Drums
*James Shane - Guitar
*Ed Beyer - Piano
Additional Musicians
*Muscle Shoal Horns - Horns
*Roger Hawkins - Drums
*Barry Beckett - Keyboards

1967-73  Canned Heat - The Very Best Of
1968  Canned Heat - Livin The Blues (Akarma edition)
1971  John Lee Hooker And Canned Heat - Hooker 'N' Heat
1970/73  Memphis Slim And Canned Heat With Memphis Horns - Memphis Heat

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The Rockin' Vickers - The Complete It`s Alright! (1964-66 uk, awesome beat roots 'n' roll)

The foursome formed in Blackpool in 1963 with a line-up of Harry Feeney (vocals), Ian Holdbrook (guitar and harmonica), Steven 'Mogsy' Morris (bass) and Cyril 'Ciggy' Shaw (drums). Their name was derived from Feeney's stage name of 'the Reverend Black' and the group were called The Reverend Black and The Rocking Vicars. Local newspapers referred to the band as blasphemous and television shows refused to book them. Feeney protested by stating that a clergyman had told him the name might inspire teens, who had seen the group on Saturday night, to attend church on Sunday. However, the group conceded and renamed themselves The Rockin' Vicars.

Feeney acted as their booking agent, and The Rockin' Vickers became one of the leading attractions in the North of England, playing all the northern clubs, dance halls and student unions. The Vickers limited themselves to a forty minute set leaving their audiences wanting more and acts with hit records, appearing with the group, came off as second best. The band's popularity led to a one-off single for Decca, Neil Sedaka's "I Go Ape" b/w "Someone Like You" but, with poor sales, the band were dropped by Decca.

A disillusioned Ian Holdbrook left in 1965 and Ian 'Lemmy' Willis (later to use his father's surname of Kilmister) became his replacement. With 'Lemmy' as the new member, a tour of Finland was undertaken since "I Go Ape" had achieved a number one status in the Finnish charts. A gig at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, in front of a crowd of 10,000, inspired publicity photos, taken at a Blackpool studio, of the group in Finnish national costume. In July 1965, the Vickers also toured Yugoslavia as part of a cultural exchange with the Red Army Youth Orchestra.

The second single, "Stella" b/w "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", was recorded specifically with the Finnish market in mind and was only released in Finland and Ireland. In order to break into the London market, the group improved their image with hair styles by Vidal Sassoon and promotional photos by Gered Mankowitz. They secured a recording deal with Shel Talmy Productions and Jennifer Ashley along with Gail Colson became their managers. With The Vickers now in London, a third single was recorded, Pete Townshend's composition of "It's Alright" b/w "Stay with Me", with Glyn Johns as producer. The release received frequent pirate radio airplay but did not chart. A final single was produced by Shel Talmy and Ray Davies composition of The Kinks' "Mr. Pleasant" was offered, but it was rejected, in favour of Davies' "Dandy". The single did not chart in the UK but reached number 93 in the US Billboard chart.

However, the group were breaking apart at this point and, by the spring of 1967, Steven Morris had been replaced by the group's roadie, David 'Nod' Turner, a former Radio Caroline technician. Morris became a taxi driver while Cyril Shaw joined Solomon Burke's backing band for a while before also quitting the music business. Harry Feeney started a car sales franchise in Blackpool while 'Lemmy' stayed in the field of music. His first job was as a roadie for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, followed by becoming part of Sam Gopal, singing and playing guitar on the "Escalator" album. Several months were spent with Opal Butterfly before 'Lemmy' found fame with Hawkwind and later Motorhead.

Forty-Five cat

Tracks
1. I Go Ape (Howard Greenfield, Neil Sedaka) - 2:04
2. Someone Like You (Hiller, Ford) - 2:09
3. Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart (James F. Hanley) - 2:10
4. Stella (N. Gribbon) - 2:18
5. It's Alright (P. Townshend) - 2:14
6. Stay by Me - 2:30
7. Dandy (Ray Davies) - 2:07
8. I Don't Need Your Kind - 2:33
9. Baby Never Say Goodbye (B. Parker, T. Moeller) - 2:14
10.I Just Stand There (Cyril Shaw) - 2:24
11.Say Mama (Johnny Earl, John Meeks, Johnny Meeks) - 2:06
12.Shake, Rattle 'n' Roll (Charles E. Calhoun, Jesse Stone) - 2:02
13.What's the Matter Jane (Don Fay) - 2:37
14.Little Rosy (R. Davies) - 2:52

The Rockin' Vickers
*Harry "Reverend Black" Feeney - Vocals
*Alex Hamilton - Guitar, 1963-64
*Peter Moorhouse - Bass, 1963-64
*Cyril "Ciggy" Shaw - Drums
*Ken Hardacre - Guitar, 1963-64
*Ian Holdbrook - Guitar, Harmonica, 1964-65
*Nicholas Gribbon - Guitar, 1964-65
*Stephen "Mogsy" Morris - Bass, 1964-67
*Ian "Lemmy" Willis - Guitar, 1965-67

Suck - Time to Suck (1970 south africa, great hard rock)

Who can ever forget the amazing images of Hendrix setting fire to his guitar, or of Moon totaling his skins, or of Emerson almost breakdancing with his organ (of the musical variety) or of Blackmore violently introducing his Strat to a movie camera? Music lovers the world over who were fortunate enough to have been around during the revolutionary late sixties/early seventies, had a mindboggling choice of amazing new bands and artists to see and choose from. Music was changing: it was becoming heavier, more intense and infinitely more visual and exciting, with the likes of Arthur Brown, Blue Cheer, Steppenwolf, Black Sabbath and many others laying the foundations of what was to become known as Heavy Rock or Underground music.

The US and the UK were generally felt to be world leaders when it came to rock music, followed closely by Germany, Japan and a number of other European countries. There were also very positive signs that the South American countries were stirring in a big way too. Australia also rallied to the call, as did New Zealand. Not to be outdone, bands in South Africa, sometimes under the most trying and frustrating obstacles and conditions the likes of which were unknown elsewhere except those experienced by "illegal" rock bands the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, managed to cause the odd rumble, and in the process, shine like beacons in a country hardly known for its freedom, musically or otherwise. As far as rattling a few cages was concerned, very few did it quite as well as Suck.

The band was formed in Johannesburg in early 1970. S.A. born bassist Louis "Moose" Forer, who'd previously worked with Peanut Butter Conspiracy in Salisbury in the then Rhodesia, when land grabs weren't the rage, as well as with Johannesburg based Group 66 and Billy Forrest, met guitarist Steve "Gil" Gilroy, who'd just arrived in SA from London, in a club. Gil had worked with guitarist Mick Abrahams, original guitarist with Jethro Tull and founder of the brilliant Blodwyn Pig. "I think it was called 'The Underground'", says Moose. "Gil and I became drinking partners and we gelled immediately". Italian born drummer Saverio "Savvy" Grande, who'd previously been in Elephant and had also worked in an Oompah band and was influenced by Latin American percussion bands, met Gil and Moose in a club in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, en route to Bulawayo, Rhodesia. Port Elizabeth born Cypriot vocalist/guitarist/flautist Andrew Ionnides, previously with Meenads, Blind Lemon Jefferson and October Country, and who'd recently moved up to Johannesburg, was drafted in and Suck was born. 

They'd achieved their goal of being the country's most controversial act, but this played a large role in the eventual demise of the band. Life on the road was hard - it was really only passion and the love of their music that kept them going for the very short period of around eight months they were together. Inept and greedy management, lack of venues and airplay, the lack of funds, the bannings, the government and police restrictions, which had such a negative impact on rock music in general in South Africa at the time (the ripples of this destructive, narrow minded attitude are felt to this day and can clearly be seen in the attitude of the general public, radio and media towards non-commercial music), and the fact that they sometimes had to survive on barely one Rand a day each, left the band members very disillusioned, and they split at the end of 1970.

They wanted to write and record their own material, but never had much of a chance to do so. In fact, their only self-penned track on the hastily put-together album is "The Whip". The album, recorded at EMI studios in Johannesburg over a period of about six hours, was essentially an album of covers by the great bands and artists of the day: Their versions of Grand Funk's 'Aimless Lady" and "Sin's a Good Man's Brother" are brilliantly messy. King Crimson would have been proud of Suck's version of "21st Century Schizoid Man", as would Donovan of his "Season of the Witch". Colosseum's "Elegy" is given an interesting angle and Deep Purple's timeless "Into the Fire" is arguably the best track on the album. The band's tentative steps into the world of blues/rock is pleasantly evident with their great version of Free's "I'll be Creeping". As for their version of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs"…you had to see them live to capture the sheer power of their version of one of hard rock's all-time classics!

In a nutshell, Suck's sole album, which is now finally (officially!) released on CD, (incidentally, original copies of the LP record are highly sought after by collectors the world over), is testimony to the fact that South Africa had a number of bands that could quite easily hold their heads up proudly together with some of the top acts in the world - it's just a terrible pity that they were never given the opportunity to realize their true potential. When Suck split, the various members went on to a number of interesting ventures.

Guitarman Gil Gilroy left the music industry, disgusted and disillusioned with the way the band had been used and abused by all and sundry, management included (although he had a short stint with Rat between '72 and '73). He remained in South Africa and started up Mame Enterprises, South Africa's first nudie picture company.("I had a lot of friends and fans in the Censor Board!", he says) - no doubt all of them were moshing in their safari suits at Suck concerts in the old days! He then went into the printing and publishing field before opening up his own brewery, Gilroy's, on the West Rand. He very proudly mentions that his Gilroy Favorite, Traditional and Gilroy Serious are rated as the best in the Southern Hemisphere. He is married and has two daughters, both of whom are Springbok dancers. Gil still plays the guitar, although he's more into the jazzier side of things, enjoying the likes of Joe Pass and Martin Taylor. Like any true musician, he despises the use of computers in music. Today, when you meet this suave, sophisticated gent with the wicked sense of humour, it's hard to imagine that he's the one who fell through the ceiling at the photo-shoot for the album cover all those years back! 

Moose Forer remained in the music business after the demise of Suck, and has to this day. A very pleasant and likeable fellow and still a great bassist, Moose also appears to be quite bitter about the indifferent and selfish management that played a large part in the band's demise. Apart from working on sessions with the likes of Trevor Rabin and Cedric Samson and with PACT on shows such as Chicago and Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, he also featured with Rat and backed visiting international artists like Rufus Thomas. He also played in a band in the military entertainment corps under George Hayden. His current band, Sounds like Thunder, have been regulars at Johannesburg's famous Blues Room for the past three years or so.

Savvy Grande, one of the best rock drummers in the country at the time, also remained in the music industry, featuring with well known bands and artists such as Omega Ltd, Stagecoach, Jack & the Beanstalk, Lesley Rae Dowling, Shag, Razzle, David Kramer and Jonathan Butler. He moved to Cape Town where he has lived for a number of years, and in the early 90's, he became a children's drum teacher at Merton Barrow's drum college, The Jazz Workshop. Married with one child, he now owns a garage and is passionately and heavily into Motorcross. His last band was Late Final, although he quit the music scene a few years back. He would, however, like to put together a band that plays REAL music, sometime in the future!

Andy Ionnides, also later known as Andy Dean, had a short stint with Hedgehopper's Anonymous in Rhodesia (they had a hit with "Hey!") and he was also involved with Rat for a while, as well as with Rainbow (no, not Ritchie's one!) and Faggott (no,..oh forget it…!). He moved to East London (the one in South Africa, not England!) and joined his other brother, Reno, in a video store. He formed and fronted a very promising Gospel band, although no official recordings are known to exist. He then moved to Port Elizabeth and stayed with his brother, George. He was also involved in the dry-cleaning business and he tried his luck it the restaurant trade. Married with two children, Andy lived on the edge for much of his life, taking chances everywhere he went, but it was only during his later years that he became very successful, running a thriving pool bar in East London. Grateful thanks must be extended to George Ionnides for giving us some insight into the life of his eccentric and talented brother who died tragically on 16 October 2000, ironically just as he was enjoying the financial freedom that had eluded him for so long.

From George to Andy - you are sorely missed.

Thanks must also be extended to Moose Forer, Gil Gilroy, Savvy Grande and Andy Ionnides. Even though you were around as Suck for a very short time, you caused many people a multitude of grey hairs. You also gave the mother grundies and censors something else to bitch about when they weren't complaining about or banning that "pinkish/brown area that looks like it could be a nipple" or that song that contained the word "shit"! You gave the press something to sharpen their collective fangs on, but, more importantly, you gave the budding South African rock music scene a solid kick up the butt, bringing the excitement and controversy that was sorely needed. You also played great music, and for all these things, you will be fondly remembered! You hold a piece of South African music history in your hand - let's be grateful that there are people like Benjy Mudie who have the guts and passion to finally release it on compact disc.

by Leon Economides, November 2001 

Tracks
1. Aimless Lady (Mark Farner) 3:12
2. 21st Century Schizoid Man (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Sinfield, Giles) - 4:51
3. Season Of The Witch (Donovan) - 10:07
4. Sin's A Good Man's Brother (Mark Farner) - 3:35
5. I'll Be Creeping (Rodgers, Fraser) - 3:19
6. The Whip (Gilroy, Forer, Grande, Ionniddes) - 2:54
7. Into The Fire (Blackmore, Page, Glover. Lord, Gillan) - 3:18
8. Elegy (Litherland) - 2:58
9. War Pigs (Iommi, Osborne, Ward, Butler) - 7:14

Suck
*Stephen Gilroy - Guitar
*Saverio "Savvy" Grande - Drums
*Louis Joseph "Moose" Forer - Bass
*Andrew Ionnides – Flute,  Vocals

Sandy Hurvitz - Sandy's Album Is Here At Last! (1969 us, individual sharp avant jazz rock, 2010 issue)

Philadelphian Essra Mohawk is best known as the answer to the trivia question: “Who was the first female Mother (of Invention)?” She joined Frank Zappa and the band in 1967. Her name was Sandy Hurvitz back then, although Zappa dubbed her “Uncle Meat” for obscure reasons. 

But Mohawk had been in the music business for several years before her association with the Mothers at age 19. She recorded a single for Liberty when just 16 years old (“The Boy with the Way”, b-side “Memory of Your Voice”) and wrote songs recorded by the Shangri-Las and Vanilla Fudge. In 1969, Mohawk, nee Hurvitz, put out her first solo album, Sandy’s Album Is Here at Last!, on Zappa’s Bizarre record label. The record went basically unproduced (fellow Mother Ian Underwood is credited) and suffers from poor sound quality and other technical issues. Collectors’ Choice has recently reissued this album and Mohawk’s next two releases, Primordial Lovers (1970) and Essra Mohawk (1974). 

Critics frequently compare Mohawk with other female singer songwriters from her era, especially Laura Nyro and Carole King, because all three write piano-based jazz rock that frequently concerns issues of Mother Earth spirituality and distaff loneliness. However, the three have distinct personalities and anyone with even a glancing familiarity of the musicians could easily discern their differences. Mohawk is the most, um, out there. What would one expect from the original woman Mother? Conventionality? Her songs meander all over the place and use serial repetitions rather than hooks to catch the audience. 

Sandy’s Album Is Here at Last! offers many great examples of this eccentricity, some of which may be due to the fact that it was released on the Bizarre label and was unproduced, not to mention the record was released during the height of the psychedelic era. Song titles such as “Arch Godliness of Purpleful Magic”, “All This Time Going By”, and “Tree of Trees” suggest the acid logic that informs the music. However, these three tracks are playful, heartfelt, and original. Contemporary fans of Devendra Banhart and the Dirty Projectors would do well to seek this disc out. The tinny production may be off-putting, but just like the way a blues collector loves the sound of a needle and static cutting a groove in an old 78 rpm recording, the sonic limitations function to make lyrics about hawks having sex, turning on and tripping, the holiness of trees, and such more authentic. Mohawk performs mostly unaccompanied, and the amateur nature of the recording makes the sentiments seem more real.

Although Primordial Lovers came out only a year later on Reprise, it sounds much more modern. The pristine sound quality showcases Mohawk’s unusual vocal style—she often swoops and ululates for effect—and this time she has serious players behind her that includes drummer Dallas Taylor, from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s band, and Rhinoceros’s guitarist Doug Hasting. (Mohawk wanted to join Rhinoceros but her manager, Herb Cohen, wouldn’t let her.) The songs on this album are more conformist than that of her previous album, but are still adventurous in their lyrics and arrangements. Her “I Have Been Here Before” was the inspiration for David Crosby’s “Déjà Vu”. In Mohawk’s song, she spends more than six minutes searching for the source of the familiar through chanting and radically changing time signatures as a method of exploration. Primordial Lovers has had a reputation as one of those great records that no one has heard. In 1977, Rolling Stone ranked it as one of the “Top 25 Albums of All Time.” While that may seem an overstatement, the record’s charm is easily recognizable.

Mohawk’s self-titled third album may be her most conventional. She covers the George Gershwin “Summertime” in a bluesy way, and only one of the 11 original tracks clocks in at more than four minutes, and that one (“I Cannot Forget”) is only four minutes and 24 seconds long. The lyrics are more sedate as well, frequently about love between a man and a woman. Yet Mohawk still takes risks and sings the odd lyrics about life and death, nature and transcendence, faith and reason, etc. The Elektra album comes off as quirky (“My right hand has six fingers”) more than weird.

Mohawk continued to make music after these records, and has written songs that have been recorded by Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, Lorrie Morgan, Keb’ Mo’, and many others. Mohawk also was the vocalist on School House Rock songs “Interjections”, “Sufferin’ Till Suffrage”, and “Mother Necessity”. None of these three albums were successful upon release, and Collectors’ Choice should be applauded for re-releasing them.

by Steve Horowitz

Tracks
1. Child - 3:07
2. Three Hawks - 3:02
3. All This Time Going By - 5:47
4. Woman - 2:24
5. I Know the Sun - 6:52
6. Many Different Things - 4:12
7. You'll Dance Alone - 3:27
8. Tree of Trees - 3:49
9. Arch Goodness of Purplefull Magic - 3:24
10.Love Is What I've Found - 3:54
11.Life Is Scarlet - 3:05
All songs by Essra Mohawk

Musicians
*Sandy Hurvitz (Essra Mohawk) - Vocals, Piano
*Jim Pepper - Saxophone
*Eddie Gomez - Bass
*Donald McDonald - Drums
*Jeremy Steig - Flute

1970  Essra Mohawk - Primordial Lovers 

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Shadows Of Knight - Dark Sides (1965-70 us, superb garage blues 'n' roll)

Initially released in early 1965 by Them (featuring a young Van Morrison on vocals), “Gloria” went onto become a certified garage punk and bar band staple. Although thousands of musicians have performed and recorded this three and a half chord marvel over the years, the Shadows of Knight from Arlington Heights in Chicago scored the heftiest points with their own savage version of the hot and horny song, which in the spring of 1966 gripped the number ten spot on the national charts.

Sad to say, the band failed to duplicate the kind of massive success they achieved with “Gloria.” However, they remained an in-demand live act and proceeded to produce outstanding material through the end of the decade. During their stint, the Shadows of Knight issued a string of sterling singles and a trio of terrific albums that belong in any serious rock fan’s collection.

Having said that, Dark Sides (The Best of the Shadows of Knight) (Rhino Records) provides only a glimpse of their genius, but still holds as a fine introduction to the band and does champion their greatest moments.

Of course, “Gloria” appears on the disc, as well as the band’s next biggest hit, a thumping cover of Bo Diddley’s “Oh Yeah,” which barely scraped the Top 40, peaking at No. 39 in the summer of 1966. As both these tunes attest, the Shadows of Knight were masters of blues-battered rock. In certain quarters, they were deemed America’s answer to British bands like the Rolling Stones, the Pretty Things, and the Yardbirds, and such comparisons were right on the mark. Not only did the band flaunt a sound similar to their cousins across the pond, but they also had the image to match. Shaggy tresses, turtleneck sweaters, skin-tight jeans, Beatle boots and menacing mugs made the Shadows of Knight look mighty cool and mod.

Booming with brawn, Dark Sides continually illustrates how tight, powerful and loud the band was. Seething with frustration and aggression, “I’ll Make You Sorry,” “Bad Little Woman,” “It Always Happens This Way,“ and “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” sizzle and smoke to a thundering template of chunky guitars, shouting harmonies and pounding rhythms. And those cocky vocals, sneering, snarling, and snickering with sinister motives are absolutely priceless. One gets the impression the Shadows of Knight are scolding and taunting the target of their anger or lust. There’s nothing the least bit subtle about the band’s raw and honest music.

by Beverly Paterson

Tracks
1. Gloria (Morrison) - 2:37
2. Dark Side (Sohns, Rogers) - 2:03
3. Oh Yeah (McDaniel) - 2:48
4. Light Bulb Blues (Sohns, McGeorge, Kelley) - 2:35
5. It Always Happens That Way (Sohns, Rogers) - 1:56
6. I Got My Mojo Working (Preston Foster) - 3:33
7. You Can't Judge A Book (By The Cover) (Dixon) - 2:40
8. Bad Little Woman (Rosbotham, Armstrong, Demick, Tinsley, Catling) - 2:38
9. Gospel Zone (Schiffour) - 3:18
10.I'll Make You Sorry (Kelley) - 2:41
11.I'm Gonna Make You Mine (Carr, D'Errico, Bayer) - 2:33
12.Peepin' And Hidin' (Reed) - 3:02
13.Willie Jean (Traditional) - 2:49
14.The Behemoth (Pye) - 2:35
15.Someone Like Me (McDowell, Novak) - 2:21
16.Three For Love (Kelley) - 2:37
17.Shake (Levine, Resnick) - 2:31
18.My Fire Department Needs A Fireman (Katz, Kasenetz) - 2:22
19.Alone (Levine, Feldman) - 2:07
20.I Am The Hunter (Sohns, Fisher) - 2:52

Shadows Of Knight
*Joe Kelley - Guitar
*Jerry McGeorge - Guitar
*Jim Sohns - Vocals
*Tom Schiffour - Drums
*Warren Rogers - Bass
*David "Hawk" Wolinski  - Organ, Piano
*Dan Baughman - Guitar
*Jack Daniels - Guitar
*John Fisher - Bass
*Kenny Turkin - Drums
*Steve "Woody" Woodruff- Guitar
*Paul Scarpelli - Drums

1966  The Shadows Of Knight - Gloria
1968-69  The Shadows Of Knight - Shake! (2009 remaster) 

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