The Pink Fairies were from the same trashy underbelly of English underground rock as the Edgar Broughton Band, the Deviants, Hawkwind, Arthur Brown, and Gong. Twink, one of the band’s founders, had been in the beat era Fairies, The In-Crowd, Tomorrow, the Pretty Things, and he even managed to released a great solo album in 1970, prior to this.
The Pink Fairies were special, a truly dynamic band that was England’s very own MC5. They released 3 albums during the early 70’s, and while their true swan song, Kings Of Oblivion, is usually cited as their masterpiece, Never Never Land is nothing less than stellar. It kicks off with the misleading Do It. The album version of this tune begins with an acoustic intro than blasts into a hard punk rocker that should really be a classic radio anthem. War Girl engages in some cosmic blues rock soul with some fantastic wah-wah and a great spacey atmosphere. Say You Love Me and Teenage Rebel are more proto-punk/power pop highlights that show off the bands impressive instrumental chops which were honed at countless outside festivals. Surprisingly, Heavenly Man recalls early 70’s Pink Floyd, with slow profound drumming, dazed vocals and David Gilmour style guitar flourishes.
The band’s sound was a combination of the burgeoning progressive rock scene, the earlier psychedelic revolution, proto-punk/garage rock roots, a small hint of politics, and good ole fashioned rock n roll. All these elements make the 10 minutes of Uncle Harry’s Last Freakout a joy to listen to. This is an undeniably great album from an unsung band. Never Never Land shows a vital band fighting for its life, creating some of the hardest outdoor festival music of the time. Anyone into the early Flamin’ Groovies, the Stooges, MC5, the Coloured Balls, or the Amboy Dukes should do themselves a favor and pick this album up.
by Jason Nardelli
Tracks
1. Do It - 4:15
2. Heavenly Man (John Charles Alder) - 3:41
3. Say You Love Me - 3:48
4. War Girl (John Charles Alder) - 4:34
5. Never Never Land - 6:55
6. Track One, Side Two - 4:41
7. Thor (John Charles Alder) - 0:58
8. Teenage Rebel - 5:20
9. Uncle Harry's Last Freak-Out - 10:51
10.The Dream Is Just Beginning (John Charles Alder) - 1:18
11.The Snake - 3:58
12.Do It (Single Version) - 3:04
13.War Girl (Alternate Extended Mix) (John Charles Alder) - 4:34
14.Uncle Harry's Last Freak-Out (First Version) (John Charles Alder) - 12:24
All songs by Paul Rudolph, Duncan Sanderson, Russell Hunter, John Charles Alder except where stated
Bonus Tracks 11-14
Bassist Graham Amos, vocalist Martin Cure began their musical adventure in 1963 in the Coventry band called The Sabres. They later formed The Peeps in 1965. The other two members of the band were Roy Albrighton (guitar) and Paul Wilkinson (drums). The Peeps recorded five SPs for Philips (1966-68). In 1968, they recruited Terry Howells on organ (ex-Ray King Soul Band). The drummer Paul Wilkinson left the band in 1968. He joined a band called Flying Machine. With new drums player, Gordon Reed (ex-Vampires), group's name was changed to Rainbows. They recorded two singles for CBS. The Rainbows had some gigs in Hamburg, Germany and when they were finished the guitarist, Roy Albrighton decided to stay in Germany. Later, he formed a band called Nektar.
When Rainbows came back to England, the drummer G.Reed left the band. So then there were three musicans: Amos, Cure, Howells. They changed a band name to Still Life and wrote the songs which turned into the album. But the band had not a drummer. Alan Savage was contacted to do the session and he had about a week to learn the material prior to recording. Album was recorded at Sound Recording Studios, near Marble Arch, London Savage was involved with the recording on the following dates: 1st October 1970, 2nd October 1970, 5th October 1970, 6th October 1970, 13th October 1970. The Album was mixed Monday 26th October 1970. Obviously, the other members were doing overdubs, vocal etc.on the dates in between. S.Shane did produce the LP. The Band had a contract to make a six LPs. But unfortunately the band drifted apart.
Tracks
1 People In Black (Terry Howells) - 8:17
2 Don’t Go (Terry Howells, Martin Cure) - 4:37
3 October Witches (Terry Howells) - 8:04
4 Love Song No. 6 (Terry Howells) - 6:37
5 Dreams (Terry Howells, Martin Cure) - 7:34
6 Time (Terry Howells, Graham Amos) - 6:26
Still Life
*Martin Cure - Vocals
*Terry Howells - Keyboards
*Graham Amos - Bass
*Alan Savage - Drums
Already a veteran performer on several LA-scene novelty/psych singles, Simon Stokes put together his own band and made his vinyl debut on MGM in 1968 with this rather uneven collection of swampy sex-prowler psych and screechy ballads. Comparisons with Beefheart are inevitable, if only because this is crazy-dude blues backed with genuine accomplishment; but there’s something altogether less cerebral about Stokes, who sings like a wrestler.
Back in the day, roughneck tales mixing violence, sex and humour – the ultimate taboo – won few friends among the peace’n’love pushers, but plenty among the outlaw biker fraternity. “The Bible says thou shalt not kill/But man, I heard that line before/If the Bible says thou shalt not kill/What excuse has the law?” Best bits are Big City Blues (a rework of Mini Skirt Blues by the Flower Children, aka Stokes, later covered in a Cramps/Iggy duet) and the redneck stomper Voodoo Woman, which was a Billboard hit and jukebox regular in a certain kind of bar in a certain kind of state.
by Derek Hammond
Tracks
1. Big City Blues (Simon Stokes) - 2:49
2. Where Are You Going (Simon Stokes) - 2:53
3. Jambalaya (On The Bayou) (Hank Williams) - 3:03
4. Sugar Ann - 2:45
5. Southern Girl - 2:15
6. Which Way - 5:43
7. Voodoo Woman - 2:27
8. Rhode Island Red - 3:19
9. Cajun Lil - 1:48
10.Down In Mexico (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 3:13
11.You've Been In - 3:52
12.Ride On Angel (Simon Stokes) - 4:02
All songs by Randall Keith, Simon Stokes except where noted
Simon Stokes And The Nighthawks
*Nick Robbins - Keyboard
*Simon Stokes - Vocals
*Robert Ledger - Bass
*Joe Yuele - Drums
*Joe Foster - Keyboard
*Randall Keith - Guitar
*Butch Senneville - Guitar
Tucky Buzzard. You might vaguely recall the name if not the music. You could be forgiven in thinking that they were long haired southern rockers. Truth is, they morphed out of UK psychedelic rockers The End, were largely produced by Rolling Stone Bill Wyman and their debut album featured a Spanish symphony orchestra conducted by Waldo de Los Rios. Confused?
Coming On Again is the only album of this five album box set not to have been produced by Bill Wyman and this might have allowed the band a flexibility absent in subsequent years. Alan Robinson’s somewhat musically subjective liner note enthuses – “I am willing to nail the sorry arse of my critical faculties to the wall” – over its essentially classical/prog fusion content that may have been overlooked in the pantheon of the genre. He may be right.
With its guitar/Hammond interplay the long “suite” immediately recalls early Deep Purple who were to figure in the band’s story a few years later.
The band attracted Capitol Records in the USA for the next two albums. The sophomore release Tucky Buzzard actually featured recordings made for a second, aborted The End album in the late 1960s. The music is a mixture of Humble Pie and even a ballsy Badfinger which is probably why the band appealed across the pond as both had achieved considerable success in the States by this time.
Warm Slash was more reflective of the band’s hard rocking style when released in June 1971 influenced by the likes of Grand Funk Railroad with whom they had toured in the States. ‘Burnin” and ‘Heartbreaker’ are particularly groovy.
1973′s All Right On The Night was the start of the band’s relationship with Deep Purple and their fledgling Purple label. The band would count the band amongst their heroes and this connection was furthered when the band opened for Purple on tour in the States. The album sits well with its predecessor; in the main, excellent, driving hard rock/boogie.
The band’s final outing Buzzard released in 1973 brings them almost full circle with a more rock and roll feel and aligning them more closely with bands like The Rolling Stones, The Faces and even Led Zeppelin. But that particular musical boat had already sailed and was well established. Tucky Buzzard were destined to become a mere footnote and “also-rans”.
One can only wonder what might have happened if they’d have continued the prog themes of their debut album, the musicianship was certainly top notch and with a refreshing sense of adventure. The band’s essentially British-based rock and roll could have provided the template for many a modern wannabe and anyone who can trace their lineage from the early 1970s.
Interestingly the band never filtered through in other incarnations after their split. Keyboard player Nicky Graham later wrote material for the pop duo Bros in the early 1990s whilst guitarist Terry Taylor remained with Bill Wyman, this time in The Rhythm Kings.
This well presented box set will do much to put the band’s story in context and brings together their output which previously has been single or 2 on 1 CD releases and often difficult or expensive to obtain. There are no bonus tracks and the curious will probably want to seek out the earlier Edsel box set chronicling the pre-Buzzard, The End.
by David Randall
Tracks
Disc 1 Coming On Again 1971
1. Suite - 14:12
.a.Coming On Again (Part 1)
.b.For Maryse (Terry Taylor)
.c.Over the Hill
.d.Coming On Again (Part 2)
.e.Believe Me (Dave Brown)
.f.Here I Am (Terry Taylor, Dave Brown, Nicky Graham)
2. You're All Alone (Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson) - 6:03
3. You Never Will (Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson) - 2:56
4. Free Ticket - 3:40
5. Lady Fair - 4:15
All compositions by Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson, Dave Brown, Nicky Graham, Paul Francis except where indicated.
Disc 2 Tucky Buzzard 1971
1. Time Will Be Your Doctor (Nicky Graham, Dave Brown, Paul Francis) - 3:53
2. Stainless Steel Lady (Nicky Graham, Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson, Dave Brown) - 4:30
3. Sally Shotgun (Terry Taylor, Dave Brown) - 3:06
5. My Friend (Terry Taylor, Paul Francis, Nicky Graham, Dave Brown) - 4:01
6. Pisces Apple Lady (Leon Russell) - 2:53
7. She's Meat (Nicky Graham, Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson, Dave Brown) - 3:17
8. Ace The Face (Nicky Graham, Terry Taylor, Dave Brown, Paul Francis, Jimmy Henderson) - 3:20
9. Whiskey Eyes (Nicky Graham, Terry Taylor, Dave Brown, Paul Francis, Jimmy Henderson) - 5:54
10.Rolling Cloud (Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson) - 5:18
Disc 3 Warm Slash 1972
1. Mistreating Woman - 2:57
2. (She's A) Striker - 3:19
3. Fill You In (Nicky Graham, Terry Taylor, Dave Brown, Paul Francis, Jimmy Henderson) - 3:16
4. Need Your Love - 2:25
5. Which Way, When For Why - 8:01
6. Burnin' (Nicky Graham, Terry Taylor, Dave Brown, Paul Francis, Jimmy Henderson) - 5:30
7. Heartbreaker - 4:40
8. Sky Balloon - 5:52
9. Ain't Too Soon (Terry Taylor, Dave Brown) - 4:31
All songs by Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson except where noted
Disc 4 Allright On The Night 1973
1. Can't Live Without It (Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson, Dave Brown) - 3:50
2. Fast Bluesy Woman (Jimmy Henderson, Terry Taylor, Dave Brown, Chris Johnson) - 3:36
3. Gold Medallions - 4:34
4. All I Want Is Your Love - 3:44
5. Rainbow Rider (Dave Brown, Jimmy Henderson, Terry Taylor) - 4:27
6. 'Rudi' Movie Star (Paul Kendrick) - 4:02
7. Pictures - 3:32
8. Last War - 5:16
All songs by Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson except where stated
Disc 5 Buzzard 1973
1. Who Do You Love (Ellis McDaniel) - 4:00
2. Run In The Mornin' - 4:24
3. Hanging On In There (Waiting For You To Come) (Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson, Dave Brown, Chris Johnson) - 5:39
4. Superboy Rock'n'Roller '73 (Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson, Dave Brown, Chris Johnson) - 2:12
5. Bo-Bo's Hampton - 4:30
6. Wine And Wimmin (Bill Wyman) - 4:55
7. Superfine Lady - 4:24
8. Near To Me (Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson, Dave Brown) - 3:38
9. Shy Boy - 7:32
All songs by Terry Taylor, Jimmy Henderson except as else marked
The Tucky Buzzard Disc 1 Coming On Again 1971
*Terry 'Tex' Taylor - Electric, Acoustic Guitars, Backing Vocals
*Nicky Graham - Piano, Organ, Backing Vocals
*Dave Brown - Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitars, Backing Vocals
*Paul Francis - Drums, Timbales, Percussion
*Jimmy Henderson - Lead Vocals, Percussion Guests
*Howard Neldrett (Lennie) - Electric, Acoustic Guitars
*Hugh Attwooll - Percussion
Disc 2 Tucky Buzzard 1971
*Jimmy Henderson - Lead Vocals
*Dave Brown - Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals
*Nicky Graham - Keyboards, Lead Vocals
*Terry Taylor - Guitars
*Chris Johnson - Drums
Disc 3 Warm Slash 1972
*Dave Brown - Bass Guitar
*Nicky Graham - Keyboards
*Jimmy Henderson - Singer
*Terry Taylor - Guitars
*Chris Johnson - Drums
Disc 4 Allright On The Night 1973
*Jimmy Henderson - Lead Vocals, Harp
*Terry Taylor - Lead, Slide, Rhythm,, Acoustic Guitars
*Dave Brown - Bass, Acoustic Guitar
*Chris Johnson - Drums, Percussion
*Ron Taylor - Guitar Guests
*Paul Kendrick - Rhythm Guitar
*Jeff Workman - Piano
*Phil Cordell - Piano
*Don Weller - Brass
Disc 5 Buzzard 1973
*Jimmy Henderson - Lead Vocals, Harp, Percussion
*Terry Taylor - Lead Guitar, Slide, Electric Piano
*Dave Brown - Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion
*Chris Johnson - Drums, Percussion
*Phil Talbot - Rhythm Guitar Guests
*Paul Kendrick - Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
*Tony Ashton - Hammond Organ, Piano
*Bill Wyman - Rock 'N' Roll Piano, Electric Piano
*Rob Cooksey - Bon Vibes
*The Buzzettes - Backing Vocals
*Brass Sections:
*John Lee - Trombone
*Ricky Dodd - Tenor Sax
Lesley Duncan, was one of Britain's first female singer-songwriters. Her songs had an astonishing emotional depth and her voice a rare combination of warmth and clarity, bringing an intimacy to the experience of listening to her records. For those who discovered her music in the early 1970s, she stood out from all the other pop and rock of the era.
Her big break came when Elton John recorded her Love Song as a duet with her for his album Tumbleweed Connection (1970). Love Song – "a little song I'd knocked up as a suitable B-side," said Lesley – went on to be covered by more than 150 artists, including Olivia Newton-John, David Bowie and Barry White. In 1977, Topol and Najah Salam recorded it in Hebrew and Arabic to commemorate the peace meeting between Egypt's president, Anwar Sadat, and Israel's, Menachem Begin.
Born in Stockton-on-Tees, Lesley had an unpromising background, leaving school just before her 15th birthday and home soon after. In 1962, while she was working in a London coffee bar, she and her brother Jimmy (soon to become manager of the Pretty Things) took some songs to a leading Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Jimmy was signed with a weekly retainer of £10, and Lesley with £7, on the grounds that she had fewer songs, no guitar and was a girl. Within a year, she had an EMI recording contract and had appeared in the film What a Crazy World (1963), with Joe Brown, Marty Wilde and Susan Maughan.
She released a dozen singles from 1963 to 1970, while continuing to write songs for other performers, including the Walker Brothers. She was also in great demand as a session singer, contributing backing vocals to Dusty Springfield's singles from 1964 up to her See All Her Faces album in 1972; Springfield returned the favour, doing backing vocals on Lesley's singles.
By the late 60s, Lesley's songwriting was changing in style from girl-pop to more reflective writing. Her first album, Sing Children Sing (1971), was produced by Jimmy Horowitz, whom Lesley married in 1970 (they later divorced). It was followed by Earth Mother (1972); the title track, dedicated to Friends of the Earth, is one of the first, and finest, eco-songs.
Throughout the 70s, Lesley sang backing vocals for Donovan, Long John Baldry, Kiki Dee, Ringo Starr and many others, and also sang on the Jesus Christ, Superstar album, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and the Alan Parsons Project's Eve (1979).
Her first two solo albums were critically acclaimed but, despite a lot of radio play, neither sold well. Her next two, Everything Changes (1974) and Moon Bathing (1975), again failed to break through. Her last album, Maybe It's Lost (1977), was a conscious attempt to hit the popular market; when it didn't, she decided to call it a day.
She moved to Cornwall and, in 1978, married her second husband, the record producer Tony Cox; they later moved to Oxfordshire and, in 1996, to Mull, in the Inner Hebrides. She contributed both her time and her music to causes she believed in, including releasing a new version of her song Sing Children Sing for the Year of the Child in 1978. Lesley Duncan, passed away on 12 March 2010.
by David Barrett
Tracks
1. My Soul - 3:25
2. Broken Old Doll - 3:50
3. The Serf - 3:54
4. Hold On - 3:30
5. Everything Changes - 3:43
6. Love Melts Away (Lesley Duncan, Jimmy Horowitz) - 3:40
7. Sam - 2:55
8. You - 4:23
9. Watch The Tears (Lesley Duncan, Jimmy Horowitz) - 4:20
10.We'll Get By - 4:43
All songs by Lesley Duncan except where stated
Original private pressing LP out of Upstate NY, This is pretty good mid to late 70's style dual guitar hard rock stoner, in the vein similar to Truth and Janey, but more psychedelic and more wasted!"
"Dryewater run into Truth and Janey after a really nasty relationship breakdown. Essentially a concept LP about a relationship gone wrong, each song being a different aspect of how “his chick done him wrong”. Sounds terrible doesn’t it? But it is pretty good, with tracks like "Borderline" delivering that seventies chunk fuzz with insane lyrics and "Cookin’ for you" having so much phasing it could be Marcus
Acid-Archives
Tracks
1. Borderline - 3:16
2. Blow Me Away - 3:07
3. Flesh And Blood - 3:42
4. Cookin 'For You - 3:15
5. Again - 4:31
6. Second Chance - 4:45
7. Running Out - 4:07
8. So Many Miles - 7:33
The Unison
*Bruce C. Van Iderstine - Vocals, Congas, Harmonica
*Guy D. Van Iderstine - Electric Six Twelve String Guitars
*Mark A. Tuberdyke - Lead Guitar
*John N. Vasey - Bass
*David Richmond - Drums, Vocals
Bodine is as solid as it gets, loaded with tunes as good as anything played on classic rock radio today. You would think that stations would be interested in expanding their content with picks from the vast piles of unknown classics (Bodine included), but it’s still the same old hits, recycled day after day, some 40 years later. In any case, this little lost gem, produced by Bill Cowsill, is a strong promise from a band that would disappear after just one release.
The sound is influenced by country rock, with rural acoustic guitar driving back seat to funk bass lines and stabbing double tracked guitars. But the song structures have Ray Davies-ian 3-part movements and a strong Beatles influence, especially on the bouncy Statues Of Clay. Apart from this review, I think the vocal harmonies are cool, the backups strangely adding “eee’s” to the excellent Easy To See and trading vocal leads easily standing next to groups like Blood Sweat and Tears. It’s nice to find a record with a lotta soul made by some kids with seriously blue eyes.
I find it amazing a band so unknown could have such powerfully memorable songs, though not everything has aged wonderfully. Take It Back satisfies but teeters near television theme schmaltz. But the boys do manage to approach Jim Ford’s country funk on clear winners like Keep Lookin’ Through Your Window. If you give it a chance, you’ll find there really are no throwaways on Bodine’s only album.
by Brendan McGrath
Tracks
1. Short Time Woman (Eric Karl) - 3:44
2. Oakland (Kerry Magness) - 3:19
3. Into My Life (Eric Karl) - 2:55
4. Travelogue (Steve Lalor) - 3:07
5. It's Just My Way (Eric Karl) - 5:41
6. Easy To See (Steve Lalor) - 2:51
7. Take It Back (Eric Karl) - 3:22
8. Keep Lookin' Through Your Window (Eric Karl) - 3:47
9. Statues Of Clay (Steve Lalor) - 2:44
10.Long Way Just To Go Home (Eric Karl) - 2:56
11.Between The Lines (Steve Lalor) - 3:33
12.Disaster (Eric Karl) - 3:09
Andrea "Bunky" Skinner and Allan "Jake" Jacobs were fixtures on the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early '60s, but they also had a taste for sophisticated pop/rock (Jacobs played guitar with the Magicians of "Invitation to Cry" fame for a while), and the duo's 1968 debut album is an engagingly eclectic set of folk-leaning pop tunes buoyed by Skinner and Jacobs' harmonies and the latter's strong guitar work. Skinner and Jacobs wrote all 11 songs on Bunky & Jake, and their thematic range stretches from the acoustic calm of "I'll Follow You" and the pastoral beauty of "Country Girl" to the '50s rock & roll vibe of "The Candy Store" and "Daphne Plum," and while the arrangements seem a bit overdone on a few cuts and the mix favors Jacobs' guitar a bit more than is needed, the melodies thankfully win out most of the time.
If Bunky and Jake has a flaw, its that the album never sets down in one style long enough to find a comfortable groove; Skinner and Jacobs supposedly submitted these songs looking for a deal as songwriters rather than performers, and while Skinner's voice is more than strong enough to carry the material, in a bid to show how much they could do they forgot to define their individual sound along the way. While Bunky and Jake exists in a strange netherworld somewhere between sunshine pop, Baroque rock and latter-day folk-rock, the material is rich and satisfying, though the duo would have better luck (creatively, anyway) with their next album, the 1969 cult favorite LAMF.
by Mark Deming
Tracks
1. I'll Follow You - 2:00
2. It Happens Again - 2:36
3. Daphne Plum - 2:42
4. Country Girl - 2:14
5. Hey Buckaroo - 2:25
6. Taxicab - 2:38
7. As You Go By - 2:37
8. Big Car, Shiny Ring - 1:57
9. Mongoose - 1:25
10.Cheerio - 2:25
11.The Candy Store - 3:50
All songs by Andrea "Bunky" Skinner, Allan "Jake" Jacobs
Cain's musical passport to classic rock obscurity, then posterity, was stamped by their first album, A Pound of Flesh, which would be roundly ignored by the world beyond the upper Midwest at the time of its release -- only to resurface nearly 30 years later on CD, transforming the band into collectors' darlings. Recorded in 1975, A Pound of Flesh reflected a half-decade's worth of hard graft for the band, and a wide gamut of influences that simultaneously intrigued and confused listeners lucky enough to secure one of the original vinyl copies.
On the other hand, one could say there was something here for everyone. For one thing, Cain's lengthy experience playing blue collar clubs peppered all the way from the Twin Cities to Chicago made it second nature for them to wheel out handfuls of no-fuss, heavy blues workouts like "Heed the Call," "South Side Queen," and "If the Right One Don't Get You (The Left One Will)" -- all of which stood in sharp contrast to their occasional flights into rarefied art rock, via the anthemic but ponderously bloated signature ballad "Katy," the eight-minute "All My Life" (a convergence of Deep Purple's "Highway Star" with any number of mid-'70s Rush efforts), and the slow-strutting "Badside," earmarked by multi-tracked choired vocals reminiscent of Queen and the rising Styx (with whom Cain shared many a stage).
In fact, Cain singer Jiggs Lee possessed the same knowing sneer in his gravelly voice as Styx's James Young, although he was also capable of intoning a caramel-sweet croon so as not to scare away the little girls in the audience. Back to the songs at hand, however, perhaps the only unqualified winner by most any definition was rampaging opener "Queen of the Night," which coalesced both the intellectual highs and visceral lows of the band's creative aspirations, before wrapping them into a perfectly balanced package of power, class, and hooks. Needless to say, though, a single world-beater does not a hard rock classic make; and although it would be extremely convenient to blame all of Cain's woes on their hapless record label, ASI, the honest truth is that A Pound of Flesh was a very solid but not spectacular album, worthy of appreciation but not immortality.
In this reissue of A Pound of Flesh featured three additional demo tracks from 1978 that were originally intended for Cain's third album, prior to the band's breakup. All three suggested that Cain were moving steadily away from their hard rock bread and butter, especially with the rather forced funk-rocker "All Wound Up," and the AOR-coiffed single, "Take a Little Time."
by Eduardo Rivadavia
Tracks
1. Queen Of The Night (Kevin DeRemer, Dave Elmeer) - 3:08
2. Katy (Chas Carlson) - 6:34
3. Southside Queen (Dave Elmeer) - 3:18
4. Badside (Dave Elmeer) - 5:54
5. Born On The Wind (Dave Elmeer, Jiggs Lee) - 3:13
6. Heed The Call (Dave Elmeer) - 3:51
7. If The Right Don't Get You The Left One Will (Jiggs Lee) - 3:47
8. All My Life (Dave Elmeer) - 8:05
9. Love Is Gonna Come (Dave Elmeer) - 3:52
10.All Wound Up (Kevin DeRemer) - 2:33
11.Hard Life (Dave Elmeer, B. Schuessler) - 3:48
12.Take A Little Time (Dave Elmeer) - 3:19
Bonus Tracks 9-12
If you're looking for a group that embodies that mid-'60s hippy vibe, then you should find the eclectic Bunky & Jake right up your aural alley. For goodness sakes, how much more counter culture can you get than a young Jewish singer/guitarist teaming with a young, attractive, streetwise African-American woman; the pair deciding to name their second album "L.A.M.F"
Allan Jacobs (aka Jake) and Andrea Skinner (aka Bunky) met in 1962 when the pair were attending New York's School of Visual Arts. Discovering a common interest in music (they'd both sung in New York doo-wop groups), the pair started playing on the Greenwich Village coffeehouse circuit, attracting local attention. In 1965 Jacobs joined The Magicians who recorded a couple of singes before calling it quits. Following a brief turn with a late-inning line up of The Fugs in 1968 he resumed his partnership with Skinner. Later that year the pair auditioned some of their material for former Magicians managers Art Polhemus and Bob Wyld who signed on as their managers. With the addition of bassist Douglas Rauch and drummer Michael Rosa, in 1968 the group was signed by Mercury Records.
Co-produced by Polhemus and Wyld, 1969's "L.A. M.F." was clearly influenced by their doo-wop and folk music roots, but was far more eclectic than what you would have expected from a bunch of New York-based folkies. Interestingly, while Jacobs and Skinner both had decent voices (the former occasionally sounding a bit like a dry version of John Sebastian), with the exception of 'I Am the Light' their voices didn't pair all that well. The good news was their vocals were so energetic and the arrangements so goofy, that it made up for whatever other shortcomings they exhibited. Musically the set was all over the place, giving the album a very contemporary "Ameicana" feel. Tracks like 'Big Boy Pete' highlighted their doo-wop roots, but the pair were equally comfortable with gospel ('I Was a Champion'), and more commercial pop and rock numbers like 'Uncle Henry's Basement' and a blazing cover of Chuck Berry's '(Slow Down Little Jaguar) County Line'. About all I can say is the results are disjointed, but fascinating.
In 2004 the duo released a children's album Oo-Wee Little Children, on their own B'n'J Music label. Andrea Skinner died on Sunday, March 20, 2011 after a brief illness. In October 2012, Jacobs released a new collection of songs on a 16-song CD entitled A Lick and a Promise by Jake and the Rest of the Jewels.
Tracks
1. Uncle Henry's Basement (Allan Jacobs) - 2:09
2. If I Had A Dream (Allan Jacobs, Andrea Skinner) - 2:29
3. (Slow Down Little Jaguar) County Line (Chuck Berry) - 3:06
4. Girl From France (Allan Jacobs) - 2:39
5. You Two (Chuck Berry) - 1:36
6. Big Boy Pete (D. Terry Jr., D. Harris) - 2:24
7. "Oh" Pearl (Allan Jacobs) - 4:29
8. Bump In My Groove (Allan Jacobs) - 3:34
9. I Am The Light (Gary Davis, Allan Jacobs, Andrea Skinner) - 3:59
10.Cadillac Bleu (Andrea Skinner) - 3:22
11.One More Cowboy (Allan Jacobs, Andrea Skinner) - 3:15
12.I Was A Champion (Allan Jacobs, Andrea Skinner) - 4:05
