For most intents and purposes, Graham Parker emerged fully formed on his debut album, Howlin' Wind. Sounding like the bastard offspring of Mick Jagger and Van Morrison, Parker sneers his way through a set of stunningly literate pub rockers. Instead of blindly sticking to the traditions of rock & roll, Parker invigorates them with cynicism and anger, turning his songs into distinctively original works. "Back to Schooldays" may be reconstituted rockabilly, "White Honey" may recall Morrison's white R&B bounce, and "Howlin' Wind" is a cross of Van's more mystical moments and the Band, but the songs themselves are original and terrific.
Similarly, producer Nick Lowe gives the album a tough, spare feeling, which makes Parker and the Rumour sound like one of the best bar bands you've ever heard. Howlin' Wind remains a thoroughly invigorating fusion of rock tradition, singer/songwriter skill, and punk spirit, making it one of the classic debuts of all time.
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracks
1. White Honey - 3:32
2. Nothin's Gonna Pull Us Apart - 3:20
3. Silly Thing - 2:53
4. Gypsy Blood - 4:36
5. Between You And Me - 2:24
6. Back To Schooldays - 2:53
7. Soul Shoes - 3:13
8. Lady Doctor - 2:50
9. You've Got To Be Kidding - 3:28
10.Howlin' Wind - 3:56
11.Not If It Pleases Me - 3:11
12.Don't Ask Me Questions - 5:38
13.I'm Gonna Use It Now - 3:11
All songs written by Graham Parker
It's not as if Albert King hadn't tasted success in his first decade and a half as a performer, but his late-'60s/early-'70s recordings for Stax did win him a substantially larger audience. During those years, the label began earning significant clout amongst rock fans through events like Otis Redding's appearance at the Monterey International Pop Festival and a seemingly endless string of classic singles. When King signed to the label in 1966, he was immediately paired with the Stax session team Booker T. & the MG's. The results were impressive: "Crosscut Saw," "Laundromat Blues," and the singles collection Born Under a Bad Sign were all hits.
Though 1972's I'll Play the Blues for You followed a slightly different formula, the combination of King, members of the legendary Bar-Kays, the Isaac Hayes Movement, and the sparkling Memphis Horns was hardly a risky endeavor. The result was a trim, funk-infused blues sound that provided ample space for King's oft-imitated guitar playing. King has always been more impressive as a soloist than a singer, and some of his vocal performances on I'll Play the Blues for You lack the intensity one might hope for. As usual, he more than compensates with a series of exquisite six-string workouts. The title track and "Breaking Up Somebody's Home" both stretch past seven minutes, while "I'll Be Doggone" and "Don't Burn Down the Bridge" (where King coaxes a crowd to "take it to the bridge," James Brown-style) break the five-minute barrier.
Riding strutting lines by bassist James Alexander, King runs the gamut from tough, muscular playing to impassioned cries on his instrument, making I'll Play the Blues for You one of a handful of his great Stax sets.
by Nathan Bush
Tracks
1. I'll Play The Blues For You (Jerry Beach) - 7:19
2. Little Brother (Henry Bush, J. Jones, Clifton William Smith) - 2:49
3. Breaking Up Somebody's Home (Raymond Jackson, Al Jackson, Jr., Timothy Matthews) - 7:19
4. High Cost Of Loving (Jones, Hamlett) - 2:56
5. I'll Be Doggone (Warren Moore, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Tarplin) - 5:41
6. Answer To The Laundromat Blues (Albert King) - 4:37
7. Don't Burn Down The Bridge ('Cause You Might Wanna Come Back Across) (Jones, Wells) - 5:07
8. Angel Of Mercy (Homer Banksm, Raymond Jackson) - 4:23
9. I'll Play The Blues For You (Alternate Version) (Jerry Beach) - 8:44
10.Don't Burn Down The Bridge ('Cause You Might Wanna Come Back Across) (Alternate Version) (Jones, Wells) - 5:13
11.I Need A Love - 4:29
12.Albert's Stomp (Albert King) - 2:18
Bonus Tracks 9-12
Musicians
*Albert King - Guitar, Vocals
*The Bar Keys And The Movement - Rhythm Section
*The Memphis Horns - Horns
Completely Well was B.B. King's breakthrough album in 1969, which finally got him the long-deserved acclaim that was no less than his due. It contained his signature number, "The Thrill Is Gone," and eight other tunes, six of them emanating from King's pen, usually in a co-writing situation. Hardliners point to the horn charts and the overdubbed strings as the beginning of the end of King's old style that so identifiably earmarked his early sides for the Bihari Brothers and his later tracks for ABC, but this is truly the album that made the world sit up and take notice of B.B. King.
The plus points include loose arrangements and a small combo behind him that never dwarfs the proceedings or gets in the way. King, for his part, sounds like he's having a ball, playing and singing at peak power. This is certainly not the place to start your B.B. King collection, but it's a nice stop along the way before you finish it.
by Cub Koda
Tracks
1. So Excited (B.B. King, Gerald Jemmott) - 5:35
2. No Good (Ferdinand Washington, B.B. King) - 4:37
3. You're Losin' Me (Ferdinand Washington, B.B. King) - 4:55
4. What Happened (B.B. King) - 4:43
5. Confessin' The Blues (Jay Mcshann, Walter Brown) - 4:57
6. Key To My Kingdom (Maxwell Davis, Joe Josea, Claude Baum) - 3:20
7. Cryin' Won't Help You Now (Sam Ling, Jules Taub, B.B. King) - 6:25
8. You're Mean (B.B. King, Gerald Jemmott, Hugh Mccracken, Paul Harris, Herbie Lovelle) - 10:01
9. The Thrill Is Gone (Rick Darnell, Roy Hawkins, Arthur H ."Art" Benson, Dale Pettite) - 5:27
10.Fools Get Wise (Live 1969 NYC) (B.B.King) - 2:40
Personnel
*B. B. King - Guitar, Vocals
*Hugh McCracken - Guitar
*Paul Harris - Piano, Electric Piano, Organ
*Gerald "Fingers" Jemmott - Bass
*Herbie Lovelle - Drums
*Bill Szymczyk - Producer
*Bert "Super Charts" Decoteaux - String And Horn Arrangements
Having previously played in Noah's Ark, The Outsiders and The Soul Trippers, lead guitarist Buddy Richardson pulled White Witch together in the early 1970s. A series of auditions saw the band gel around the talents of Richardson, bassist Beau Fisher, singer Ronn Goedert, keyboardist Buddy Pendergrass and drummer Bobby Shea. A steady stream of tours attracted a small cult following and the attraction of Capricorn Records which signed the band even though they lacked any type of management agreement.
Bass player Charlie Souza and keyboard player Buddy Pendergrass were both veterans of The Fabulous Tropics, a band that scored an American number 1 with 'Take The Time'. Souza had also performed as part of the Gregg Allman band on his 'Laid Back' album, Florida's Bacchus and With Cactus. White Witch also inducted drummer Bill Peterson, another ex-Bacchus man, for 1973's 'Spiritual Greetings'.
Vocalist Ron Goedert later cut a solo album. Souza later joined Tom Petty, Galeforce and Fortress. He has also been a member of Sly And The Family Stone and worked with ex-Santana man Leon Patillo.
Souza and Pendergrass reactivated The Fabulous Tropics in 1999. Ron Goedert passed away on 16th July 2000.
Tracks
1. Parabrahm Greeting/ Dwellers Of The Threshold (Beau Fisher, Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass, Buddy Richardson, Bobby Shea) - 3:04
2. Help Me Lord (Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass) - 3:07
3. Don't Close Your Mind (Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass) - 6:45
4. You're The One (Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass) - 3:03
5. Sleepwalk (Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass) - 4:27
6. Home Grown Girl (Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass) - 3:05
7. And I'm Leaving (Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass) - 3:00
8. Illusion (Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass) - 5:11
9. It's So Nice To Be Stoned (Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass) - 3:54
10.Have You Ever Thought Of Changing?/ Jackson Slade (Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass) - 3:55
11.The Gift (Beau Fisher, Ronn Goedert, Buddy Pendergrass, Buddy Richardson, Bobby Shea) - 1:45
Released in 1971 on the Dawn label, this is the only known album from the British progressive group. Barry Ford was a member of Clancy in the mid-seventies, and Merger in the late seventies. It's a low-key release with above average guitar work. A melt of soul / r'n'b / rock / blues rock formula, with minor incursions into jazz and hints of proto-prog.
Tracks
1.Rain - 9:27
2.Hard Labour - 5:24
3.Beggar Man - 5:06
4.In Memory Of Lady X - 6:57
5.How Long - 6:27
6.The System - 7:19
7.Indian Rope Man - 3:36
8.Ju Ju Man - 3:56
Noir
*Tony Cole - Keyboards
*Barry Ford - Drums, Vocals
*Gordon Hunte - Guitar, Vocals
*Roy Williams - Bass
The World of Oz were a British psychedelic pop band that enjoyed a short string of successful singles in Europe. Between those major charting records in Holland and a lot of good press at home, the release of an album was planned -- yet they managed to throw it all away with an unexplained split. All four original members -- Tony Clarkson (bass, vocals), David "Kubie" Kubinec (organ), Christopher Robin (guitar, piano, vocals), and David Reay (drums) -- hailed from Birmingham, and had been parts of that city's burgeoning pop/rock culture for varying amounts of time. Clarkson had several years' experience playing in various bands, and had also performed on the European continent.
Kubinec had spent two years working mostly in Germany as a member of the Pieces of Mind, doing a mixture of R&B and soul. Reay and Robin (real name Christopher Evans) had played in a band called the Mayfair Set, working in Germany for a year before returning to Birmingham late in 1967, where they broke up. The pair decided to form a new band, and Kubinec and Clarkson were recruited through advertisements in musician magazines. In January of 1968 they formed the group, the "Oz" name and imagery fitting in with the trippy ambience of the late '60s.
They decided that while Birmingham's club scene could provide work, it didn't offer the kind of prospects for a recording career that they had in mind, and so they headed to London. Their songwriting ability got them snatched up by Sparta Music. And for a manager, they had no less a figure than Barry Class, who was best known for his most successful client, the Foundations (of "Build Me Up Buttercup" fame). Class lived up to his last name by setting the group up in a luxury apartment on Park Lane, in London's exclusive Mayfair district, long a fashionable locale for movie stars and theater performers seeking to put on a big front in their lives. It made for a fair amount of press access and good press, as well as impressing various record company executives, accustomed to dealing with up-and-coming bands living in near squalor.
Between the quality of their songs, played at impromptu auditions or the gigs Class was able to get them, and the gimmick of their high-profile digs, the band received serious overtures from several record companies, including Pye. But in the spring of 1968 they signed with Deram Records, the progressive pop imprint of English Decca. Wayne Bickerton, who headed Deram, thought enough of them to personally produce this new act, and his enthusiasm was more than enough to seal the deal. He even approved and budgeted the use of a 33-piece orchestra accompanying them on one of Kubinec's songs, "Muffin Man," at their first recording session.
"Muffin Man" was issued as a single in England and on the Continent in May of 1968 (and a little later in the United States). A catchy tune with great hooks, instrumental as well as vocal, and a trippy, nursery-rhyme-like ambience, it somehow managed never to chart in England. According to Kubinec in an interview on the psychedelic site Marmalade Skies, things began coming apart when Class accompanied the Foundations on a tour of America and left the World of Oz in the hands of a deputy who immediately cut back on the promotion budget for the group and the single. In trying to save a few shillings, he cost them the momentum they'd been working for months to build up, and the single just lay there.
The key moment, in his view, was missing a chance to do the single on Top of the Pops. However, the record did reach the Top Ten in Holland, sold reasonably well across Western Europe, and also managed to get some positive response in the form of radio play in the United States. Three months later came their second single, "King Croesus," which also made the Top Ten in Holland, and got to number 126 in the Cashbox charts late that fall in America. Additionally, despite the fact that they hadn't charted a single in England, the group's sound -- a light, harmony-based psychedelia similar to the Bee Gees and records like "Barker of the UFO" -- and Class' clout got them as much work as they could handle and more. The band lasted through two more rounds of recording sessions in 1968, through November of that year, and even got a third U.S. release, for "The Hum-Gum Tree" b/w "Mandy-Ann."
An album seemed a next easy step, but things weren't right within the band, and Kubinec and Reay were already gone -- for reasons no one has ever explained -- by that last set of recording sessions, replaced by Geoff Nicholls (guitar, organ) and Bob Moore (drums), respectively. The group soldiered on, under a rather awkward shadow -- Deram Records already had a finished album in the can and a February release date, and that record was coming out, despite the fact that it featured two key members who were already gone from the lineup. Meanwhile, the World of Oz had another modest hit in Holland, "Willow's Harp" b/w "Like a Tear," early in 1969. The new lineup made it as far as appearing on the televised rock & roll showcase Beat Club in Germany and other, similar programs in Holland, and on the cover of pop magazines in the Netherlands. Finally, another U.K. single, of "The Hum-Gum Tree," was due out, but then was canceled. That, apparently, was the final straw for the reconstituted band, which broke up in May of 1969, a year after the group's recording career had begun.
The World of Oz LP was released on schedule and disappeared without creating a ripple on the charts, on either side of the Atlantic. The album cover was a very strange one -- it featured visual representations of the last lineup of the group, which was understandable but also strange, as they were hardly heard on the record inside. The cover design was an especially ornate affair, utilizing characters from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz universe, which, according to Kubinec, also included representations of their manager, and even annotator Jonathan King, while the back cover had images of Bickerton and arranger Mike Vickers. As a psychedelic artifact, musical and visual, that LP and the cover were serious collectors' items for many years. It was bootlegged on CD sometime in the late '90s, before a legitimate re-release from Repertoire Records showed up in 2007, concurrent with a mini-LP-packaged CD in Japan.
Given relatively easy availability at last, the album reveals a prodigiously talented pop/rock band, nothing earth-shattering given what they and Class and Bickerton were aiming at, but with a lot of unrealized potential residing in those songs. And the singles "Muffin Man" and, better still, "Like a Tear" reflect a tuneful, trippy psychedelic pop sensibility, somewhat similar to the early Bee Gees -- in addition to appearing on The World of Oz, they have been anthologized on various psychedelic collections.
In the years following the World of Oz's demise, David Kubinec did a solo album on A&M Records about a decade after the original group's signing, while Reay became a recording executive. Both Kubinec and Clarkson have since enjoyed long careers in music, right up to the present day. Nicholls, though a later member of the group, did rather better in music than any of the others in the band, however; after a stint with Quartz, he joined Black Sabbath for a long stint as their keyboard player.
by Bruce Eder
Tracks
1. The Muffin Man - 2:39
2. Bring The Ring - 3:05
3. Jackie - 2:49
4. Beside The Fire - 3:08
5. The Hum-Gum Tree - 2:21
6. With A Little Help - 3:18
7. We've All Seen The Queen - 2:33
8. King Croesus - 3:10
9. Mandy-Ann - 2:59
10.Jack - 2:28
11.Like A Tear - 3:11
12.Willow's Harp - 2:08
13.The Muffin Man (Single Version) - 2:31
14.Peter's Birthday (Single Version) - 2:55
15.King Croesus (Single Version) - 3:11
16.Jack (Single Version) - 2:28
17.The Hum-Gum Tree (Single Version) - 2:20
18.Beside The Fire (Single Version) - 3:08
19.Willow's Harp (Single Version) - 2:08
20.Like A Tear (Single Version) - 3:10
Music and Lyrics by World Of Oz
The World Of Oz
*Christopher Robin - Vocals, Guitar
*Tony Clarkson - Bass
*David 'Kubie' Kubinec - Guitar, Organ
*David Reay - Drums
*Geoff Nicholls - Organ
*Rob Moore - Drums
No other artist has had as lasting an influence on German rock music as Inga Rumpf, daughter of a sailor and a tailoress from East Prussia. The vocalist grew up in Hamburg's St. Georg district with the music of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. Her smoky, bluesy voice, influenced by icons such as Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone. fills fans all over the world with enthusiasm to this day. Her seemingly limitless stylistic range has rightfulty earned Inga Rumpf a reputation as Germany's no.1 rock vocalist.
Inga Rumpf's career began in 1965 with a folk act called City Preachers, who soon had a considerable following thanks to their mix of folk, blues, country, gospel and jazz. She recorded three albums with the group and continued to use the name after a disagreement with founder O'Brien Docker and a subsequent fundamental line-up change. Along with bassist Karf-Heinz Schott and organist Jean-Jacques Kravetz, she was supported by the young drummer. Udo Lindenberg. In spring 1969, Lindenberg was replaced by Carsten Bonn, who insisted on a tougher direction. This led to the foundation of Frumpy m 1970, the name having been discovered by the musicians in a CBS record catalogue.
Frumpy soon sparked Phonogram's interest, and Rumpf and Co. were sent to the label's own studios in Hamburg and Hilversum to record their debut album. All Will Be Changed. "The record company had been impressed by our live shows and wanted us to record the LP in the same style. That's why we recorded everything live," Inga Rumpf recalls. "We didn't have much time anyway, that's why one week between two shows had to be enough for the whole production."
All We Be Changed saw the band gear their music to established international sounds, but they immediately found their own style thanks to the ever-present drone of a Hammond organ and Rurnpf's unique voice. They initially worked without a guitarist, allowing keyboardist Joan-Jacques Kravetz to rotate the powerful Leslie rotor. In the beginning we were happy enough as a quartet. I played and composed exclusively on an acoustic guitar," explains Rumpf. "It was only later that we began to write songs that called for a guitar."
The national press initially eyed Frumpy with the typical skepticism of that time towards anybody who made rock music on German shores. *"Long live boredom. We can only hope that Frumpy are serious about the whispered promise, 'all will be changed*, toward the end of the record, because a total musical change would definitely be called for," Sounds magazine concluded in 1970, unable to acquire a taste even for Inga Rumpf's soulful, husky voice. Hardly one year later. Rumpf was voted best German female voice in the same magazine.
Unimpressed by such ambiguities Frumpy continued lo work on their career, appearing. among other venues, at the legendary Pans Olympia and the Lyceum in London, one of Hie most important British clubs, and embarked on a 50-show German tour. Rumpf: "To start off with, we played every club, disco, cultural event and festival where people still knew us from our City Preachers era. This changed as soon as the audience felt our musical identity.
We even moved the crowds opening for Spooky Tooth and other British groups and soon developed into a top act ourselves." Yet the musicians did not gain riches, which Inga Rumpf takes in her stride; "Occasionally we went homo without being paid or with an IOU because the promoter had run off with the cash. But I didn't need a lot in those days. I was only interested in singing, songwriting and composing,"
by Matthias Mineur
Tracks
1. Life Without Pain (Inga Rumpf, Robert Coules) - 3:48
2. Rosalie Part I - 6:03
3. Otium (Jean Jacques Kravetz) - 4:22
4. Rosalie Part II - 4:12
5. Indian Rope Man (Richie Havens, Joe Price, Mark Roth) - 3:20
6. Morning - 3:23
7. Floating Part I (Inga Rumpf, Robert Coules) - 7:41
8. Baroque (Jean Jacques Kravetz) - 7:36
9. Floating Part II (Inga Rumpf, Robert Coules) - 1:23
10.Roadriding - 4:023
11.Time Makes Wise - 2:52
All compositions by Inga Rumpf except where indicated
Bonustracks 10-11
Inga Rumpf's Frumpy was among the most startling bands on the entire German rock scene of the early '70s, an act so diametrically opposed to the Krautrock boom beloved by critics elsewhere that first impressions of their music always leave listeners scratching their heads.
If Frumpy has any role models, it is a collision between Meddle-era Pink Floyd and a less-precocious Uriah Heep. Frumpy 2, unsurprisingly their second album, features just four tracks, but all are soaring slabs of emotive guitar and keyboards, deeply progressive of course, but unquestionably pop as well. Even at a shade over ten minutes, "How the Gypsy Was Born" sounds like a hit single, while the churning Hammond organ brings Deep Purple to mind in full on "Black Night"/"Woman From Tokyo" mode. Rumpf herself, meanwhile, has a range and depth comparable to Curved Air's Sonja Kristina, with an emotive strength which seems all the more remarkable when you remember that English is not her native language.
The shifting, complex "Take Care of Illusion" brings the best out of her in every way imaginable, while the lengthy instrumental break during the closing "Duty" allows her bandmates to shine with equal aplomb. The guitar and keyboard solos and duels which take place above the tumultuous rhythms are as spectacular as anything else in the genre. But even while you're sitting slack-jawed in awe, it is very difficult to play favorites.
Frumpy, like Rumpf's Atlantis after them, has antecedents aplenty, and their influences peep out behind every corner. But the manner in which they've been sewn together owes little to any Anglo-American role models and little to any Krautrock basics, too. Quite simply, Frumpy 2 is the prog album you'll be returning to long after the others have all dulled into wallpaper.
by Dave Thompson
Tracks
1. Good Winds (I. Rumpf) - 10:08
2. How the Gypsy Was Born (J. J. Kravetz, I. Rumpf) - 8:49
3. Take Care of Illusion (J. J. Kravetz, I. Rumpf) - 7:35
4. Duty (J. J. Kravetz, I. Rumpf) - 12:14
Catfish has been called an “American folk blues hero” and has been a mainstay on the American Blues music scene for three decades now! He has twenty four albums to his credit, comprised almost totally of original material. “Catfish Blues” and “Like A Big Dog Barkin’” on the Wildcat label.
Catfish found his calling early on. While growing up in Detroit, he was sneaking into Motown Records Hitsville studio to catch the Four tops and the Supremes and grooving to R&B and Blues while his contemporaries gravitated to the Beatles. In the late 1960’s he formed the Catfish Band and led them out of Detroit into national prominence.
Tracks
1. Catfish (Bob Hodge, Mark Manko, T. Carson) - 3:49
2. The Hawk - 4:31
3. No Place To Hide (Bob Hodge, Mark Manko) - 4:42
4. 300 Pound Fat Mama - 7:56
5. Love Lights - 5:33
6. Coffee Song - 1:35
7. Tradition (Bob Hodge, Mark Manko) - 3:26
8. Sundown Man - 3:32
9. Reprise: Catfish/Get High, Get Naked, Get Down (B. Hodge, M. Manko, T. Carson) - 9:43
All selections written by Bob Hodge unless otherwise indicated
Canned Heat was one of the most remarkable Blues Bands in the 60's era. Basically an electrified Country Blues and Boogie band, they created two pop hits that were arguably a direct descendent of the old Skip James vocal style. Now don't get me wrong, when I say "pop" hits, I don't mean they made any commercial concessions like strings or anything. Both of the songs, "On The Road Again", and "Goin' Up The Country" were both compelling and progressive blues arrangements.
Like many great bands, Canned Heat could be two different bands depending on who was singing and leading the arrangement, and when the lead guitarist, Henry Vestine played a solo, sometimes a third one that flew off into an abstract psychedelic Delta. The two singers were Bob Hite and Alan Wilson. When Bob was on, the band was a hard rocking Blues band that often did rock and roll. With Alan, an electric country blues band that featured his great falsetto (similiar to Skip James) and often mysterious sounding slide (one could say Faheyesque). He was also probably one of the most underrated harp players of all time.
Canned Heat records could be uneven, particularly their first, and that was more due to unfamiliarity to the studio. Live, they were as hot (and sloppy) as a blues band could get. Listen to their live version of "Bullfrog Blues" on the Monterrey Pop Festival soundtrack and you'll see what I mean. Their next one, "Boogie With Canned Heat", showed the needed adjustments, and also produced their first hit, "On The Road Again". It's a good blues record, and featured their first extended boogie (and still their best), "Fried Hockey Boogie".
A later release also took boogie to the utmost 60's extreme and built from an acoustic start to full tilt over two entire sides of a double record set. It's not easily found these days, but worth a listen, as it also contains their next hit, "Goin' Up The Country" which added a flute to the boogie (one wonders why it hadn't been done before, it sounds so perfect). Later on, a series of rather quick records appeared, like their "Live In Europe", a poorly recorded one that I'm not sure they wanted released. However, it's not my purpose to discuss such recordings, as they did produce more than a few good sets.
One of those was "Hallelujah" released on their own Liberty label. It didn't contain any of their hits, but as an album, it's the most consistent except for maybe the "Future Blues" release. "Hallelujah" is basically one great blues song after another, in an impressively eclectic set. It opens with a classic sing-along blues shuffle, "Same All Over", featuring one of the best Hite vocals ever. It's an opener that sticks in your mind long after listening.
Hite isn't the one the average fan associates with the band as he didn't sing on either of the two earlier hits, although later on he sang the hit cover of "Work Together". However, without him, the band wouldn't have had nearly the depth it had. Bob was the gruff, low voice, with an obvious sense of humor and plenty of grit. A perfect balance to Alan's higher pitched vocal style. It's his voice that makes "Same All Over" more than your average shuffle.
Wilson pipes in next with the uptempo, and eerie "Change My Ways", a complex boogie with a sense of dynamics one doesn't normally see in, say, a Chicago outfit. It's also a total change in mood. It opens with a great organ and drum opening, then moves into what would be a prototypical Wilson boogie, with interesting tempo changes and bridges (the hallmarks of a classic Wilson number).
These interesting arrangements were due to the diverse blues both Hite and Wilson had been exposed to. Hite was a legendary blues record collector, with one of the most extensive collections ever, and Wilson did a few projects with John Fahey, playing slide on some early Fahey releases ("Transfiguration Of Blind Joe Death" being one). One can discern a Fahey influence in his slide approach.
Hite follows Alan with "Canned Heat", which is similiar to "Canned Heat" by Houston Stackhouse. It's a slower song, but with a very interesting sense of tempo. Almost atmospheric, or at least as much as an old blues song can be. "Sic 'Em Pigs" boogies in next, and it's a still hilarious boogie that perhaps sounds dated in it's anti-police message, that given the Rodney King incident, is still timely. It's a song that could have become a bit self-righteous in tone, but Hite gives it just the perfect amount of sarcasm and humor to make it work. It's a song I can't imagine anyone else doing so perfectly, actually.
The side continues with a hard charging shuffle called, "I'm Her Man", which also features piano and organ by Mark Naftalin. The Heat rhythm section, Larry Taylor on bass and Fito de la Parra, drive this arrangement hard, yet never break into rock. As a result, it's a shuffle that cooks, spiced up with some great leads by Vestine.
Alan ends the side with "Time Was", a slower number that has a good sense of movement, with some good tempo changes. Once again, a good number made great by a great band. "Do Not Enter" opens side two, and it's a viciously powerful, rocking medium tempo blues, sort of like angry Bo Diddley. Wilson's harp tone is incredibly full, and while he didn't specialize in the instrument, was always more than your average harp player. His ideas tended to stress tone and feel as opposed to speed, and one thing you could always say about a Wilson solo; it always sounded just right.
Wilson's harp opens the next cut, "Big Fat", an old Domino song. If there was one singer who could do a Fats number, it was Hite, and it's done here as a great rocking shuffle. A waltz time "Huautla" follows, opening with Wilson's harp, and moving into a group jam, done over a bongo and conga beat. It sounds much better than it reads, believe me. It then moves back into waltz time, and ends.
A strange Wilson rocker comes next, with Chuck Berry guitar being mixed with a blues shuffle, and like most Wilson numbers, comes together in a way that's always hard to describe, except that he clearly knew what he was doing and was able to reconcile the influences. The number ends with some hard rocking soloing by Vestine. I should mention a bit about Vestine at this point. He was one of the wildest guitar players in the blues, earning the tongue-in-cheek remark by Hite in "Fried Hockey Boogie", which ran "Are you really experienced?" in an obvious reference to Hendrix.
One might think that Vestine was actually a rock player who played the blues with the band as any other gig, but his blues credentials ran quite deep. He, along with John Fahey (and another whose name escapes me) were the ones who tracked down Skip James and brought him out of retirement in the 60's folk era. Also, many of his solos were extrapolations on blues tonalities, albeit loud extrapolations. Also, in the regular blues arrangements, his guitar playing was always on target. You don't hear his name very often when great blues guitar players are discussed, but in my mind, it was arguable that at a minimum, he was very underrated.
Larry Taylor went on to play bass in many sessions for other artists, the most notable being part of John Mayall's "Turning Point" era band. Also, he did work for artists as diverse as Leo Kottke and Freddie Roulette. His partner in the rhythm section, Fito, never got famous outside of the band, but then, he was already in a famous blues band, and I guess that's all anyone really needs, right? Well, I have digressed a bit, but it seemed like a good time for a band intro...
The record ends with the band, with the addition of Mark Naftalin on keyboards, playing a very low down slow blues called, "Down In The Gutter, But Free". It's a great one, and just a bit overdone, like all good lowdown slow blues should be done.
by Al Handa
Tracks
1. Same All Over (Canned Heat) - 2:51
2. Change My Ways (Alan Wilson) - 2:47
3. Canned Heat (Robert Hite,) - 4:22
4. Sic 'Em Pigs (Robert Hite, Booker T. White) - 2:41
5. I'm Her Man (A. Leigh) - 2:55
6. Time Was (Alan Wilson) - 3:21
7. Do Not Enter (Alan Wilson) - 2:50
8. Big Fat (The Fat Man) (Dave Bartholomew) - 1:57
9. Huautla (V. Wolf) - 3:33
10.Get Off My Back (Alan Wilson) - 5:10
11.Down In The Gutter, But Free (Canned Heat) - 5:37
12.Time Was (Single Version) (Alan Wilson) - 2:34
13.Low Down (Canned Heat) - 2:30
14.Poor Moon (Alan Wilson) - 2:43
15.Sic 'Em Pigs (Single Version) (Robert Hite, Bukka White) - 1:54
The Canned Heat
*Bob Hite - Vocals, Harmonica
*Alan Wilson - Slide Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, Whistling
*Henry Vestine - Lead Guitar, Bass
*Larry Taylor - Bass, Guitar
*Fito De La Parra - Drums Additional Personnel
*Ernest Lane - Piano
*Mark Naftalin - Organ, Piano
*Javier Batiz - Group Vocals
*Skip Diamond - Group Vocals
*Elliot Ingber - Group Vocals
*Mike Pacheco - Bongos, Congas
