By the time of Local Anasthetic (1971), Nirvana was just Campbell-Lyons and session players, Spyropoulos leaving to pursue a solo career. Campbell-Lyons recorded and released a second, once again essentially solo, album under the Nirvana name, Songs of Love and Praise. The album failed to sell, and neither of two singles achieved much in the way of airplay or sales action. He worked for Vertigo as an A&R man and producer at the same time, handling some of their more minor acquisitions, the most impressive of which may well have been Dr. Z, while Mike Absalom was certainly the most obscure.
by Steven McDonald
“Songs Of Love And Praise“ contained re-recordings of “Rainbow Chaser“ and “Pentecost Hotel“, along with some fine new material, notably “Please Believe Me“,“I Need Your Love Tonight“ and “Stadium“, which were all written by Campbell-Lyons. On this and all Nirvana albums, he was assisted by a flexible group of close friends
Tracks
1. Rainbow Chaser (Alex Spyropolous, Patrick Campbell-Lyons) - 2:54
2. Please Believe Me - 3:10
3. Lord Up Above - 4:12
4. She's Lost It - 5:00
5. Nova Sketch (Alex Spyropolous, Patrick Campbell-Lyons) - 1:50
6. Pentecost Hotel - 3:11
7. I Need Your Love Tonight - 3:32
8. Will There Be Me (Cas Thomas) - 2:15
9. Stadium - 7:10
All songs by Patrick Campbell Lyons except where stated
For their third album they asked the English producer Gus Dudgeon, he didn't really change their sound but some things are different now. There are vocal harmonies, there is some guitar for the first time and the production is tighter. What remains is that this is another great album. The highlight of the album is Chappaqua, which is maybe the definitive Solution track. But the jazzy Whirligig is also a brilliant one. Sad to say, this is their last real great album, after this one they went downhill.
Dutch Progressive Rock of the Seventies
Tracks
1. Chappaqua (Hans Waterman, Tom Barlage, Willem Ennes) - 10:33
2. Third Line Part 1 (Guus Willemse, Tom Barlage, Willem Ennes, Frankie Fish, Michiel Pos) - 1:40
3. Third Line Part 2 (Hans Waterman, Tom Barlage, Willem Ennes) - 5:44
4. A Song For You (Guus Willemse, Frankie Fish) - 3:53
5. Whirligig (Guus Willemse, Tom Barlage, Willem Ennes) - 9:03
6. Last Detail Part 1 (Guus Willemse, Tom Barlage, Willem Ennes, Frankie Fish, Michiel Pos) - 2:50
7. Last Detail Part 2 (Guus Willemse, Hans Waterman, Tom Barlage, Willem Ennes) - 2:41
8. Black Pearl Part 1 (Guus Willemse, Tom Barlage, Michiel Pos, Frankie Fish) - 1:15
9. Black Pearl Part 2 (Tom Barlage, Willem Ennes) - 5:01
The Solution
*Tom Barlage - Flute, Alto, Soprano Sax
*Willem Ennes - Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Synthesizer
*Guus Willemse - Vocals, Bass, Electric Guitar
*Hans Waterman - Drums With
*Michiel Pos - Tenor Saxophone, Acoustic Guitar
*Frankie Fish - Vocals
The UK Nirvana consisted of writers Patrick Campbell-Lyons and George Alex Spyropoulos, and together they released three albums under the 'Nirvana' name.
Their second album 'All of Us' was their strongest in terms of commercial success and musical consistency, opening with the psychedelic classic 'Rainbow Chaser', with its swirly 'phased' production and beautifuly innocent lyrics. This was Nirvana's only hit single reaching no. 34. Next on the album is the excellent 'Tiny Goddess', a catchy gentle song full of sweeping orchestration and drops of harpsichord. This led into the 'The Touchables (All of Us)' which was the theme song from the film. Now forgotten, 'The Touchables' was a typical English film of the 'swinging' 60's, similar to other films of the period such as 'Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush'.
The catchy psychedelic pop comes thick and fast after this with songs like 'Melanie Blue', the bouncy 'Girl in the Park' and the eccentric 'Frankie the Great', the late 60's production by Chris Blackwell being perfect. After their third album 'To Markos III' the group split. Like so many excellent bands of the time (The Misunderstood being the prime example), they never achieved the success they deserved, and they have since been overshadowed by Cobain's Nirvana.
'All of Us' is a beautiful late 60's psychedelic-pop album, full of eccentric English imagery and catchy songs, definately an unsung classic.
Tracks
1. Rainbow Chaser - 2:38
2. Tiny Goddess - 4:03
3. The Touchables (All Of Us) - 2:59
4. Melanie Blue - 2:40
5. Trapeze - 2:49
6. The Show Must Go On - 2:40
7. Girl In The Park - 2:41
8. Miami Masquerade - 2:48
9. Frankie The Great - 2:29
10.You Can Try It - 3:18
11.Everybody Loves The Clown - 2:00
12.St. John's Wood Affair - 4:18
13.Flashbulb (Single B-Side) - 2:15
14.Oh! What A Performance (Single B-Side) - 3:09
15.Darling Darlene (Single B-Side) - 2:49
16.C Side Of Ocho Rios (Single B-Side) - 2:13
All Songs written by Patrick Campbell-Lyons, Alex Spyropolous.
Redbone is a rock band created in 1969. The band was formed in Los Angeles, California by the brothers Pat and Lolly Vegas, two Native Americans, in 1968. Two other native americans joined them, Tony Bellamy on rythm guitar and Pete DePoe on drums. They produced a few hits, among which the single Maggy, The Witch Queen of New Orleans and Come and Get Your Love who recently (2014) made it's comeback in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
The fourth "Redbone" album "Already Here" released in 1972, is the perfect continuation of the third one. And a great Redbone one. Some wonderful songs, they stay in mind and live within you, giving you energy and hapiness.
"Bloodletting" was recorded in 1976, but for some reason was not released to the general public until 1979. Strange, because it is a great album, despite the fact that half of the album's songs are cover versions and Ollie has no writing credits. Every track is strong, and the band has a fuller sounding production than on the "Below The Belt" debut.
All of the original compositions are credited solely to Mike, and the "The Blizzard", "Rich Man's Daughter", and "Big City Fever" are perhaps some of the catchiest tunes he wrote on his own. He redid "Rich Man's Daughter" for the 1977 Boxer album, "Absolutely".
"Bloodletting" includes four great cover tunes. "Hey Bulldog" rocks hard and includes some great guitar. "Dinah-Low" is a fantastic version of the Terry Stamp/Jim Avery song from Terry's 1975 "Fatsticks" album, which both Ollie and Tony Newman played on. Perhaps the star track on the album, though, is the live version of Leonard Cohen's "Teachers". It is a smoking performance by the band, which features a bit of Ollie jamming alone towards the end.
Unlike the first album, other musicians guested on "Bloodletting". Chris Stainton was acknowledged in large print on the album cover for his keyboards. Boz Burrell (King Crimson, Alexis Korner, Bad Company et al.), Bobby Tench (Jeff Beck Group et al.), and Tim Hinkley (Bo Street Runners, Jody Grind, Alexis Korner et al.) all played in Chapman/Whitney's Streetwalkers and were involved in the Hinkley's Heroes jam band, which Mike Patto was also involved with. The three are only listed in small print on the record label, so their contributions to "Bloodletting" are unclear -- likely just backing vocals and minor instrumentation.
Grand Funk Railroad's 1970 somewhat eponymous album, their second for Capitol, is characteristic of the classic rock radio sound that would permeate the airwaves of the late 20th century. Grand Funk Railroad was a seminal force in giving the friendlier side of the heavy rock sound its charm and making it stick.
Built on fuzzed-out blues riffs, simple lyrics, and at times seemingly unnecessary jamming, Grand Funk's songs are mild in nature. Slightly toothier than Foghat or Bad Company, Grand Funk's major influence is from the loose, blues-based power trio formula of bands such as Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Grand Funk combines rawness with radio-friendly melodies and vocal harmonies that would become their trademark sound.
Hordes of bands to come, from Foreigner to Bon Jovi, would emulate Grand Funk's sound and style, focusing on good-time rocking material while attempting a few token social commentary pieces. This is a great album as far as early hard rock goes, and as Grand Funk Railroad would move farther and farther away from the type of roughness and loose arrangements found here, it is well worth picking up as an example of one of their early efforts.
by Jeff Schwachter
Tracks
1. Got This Thing on the Move - 4:38
2. Please Don't Worry (Don Brewer, Mark Farner) - 4:19
3. High Falootin' Woman - 3:00
4. Mr. Limousine Driver - 4:26
5. In Need - 7:52
6. Winter and My Soul - 6:38
7. Paranoid - 7:50
8. Inside Looking Out - 9:31 (John Lomax, Alan Lomax, Eric Burdon, Bryan "Chas" Chandler)
9. Nothing Is The Same (Demo) - 5:39
10.Mr. Limousine Driver (Extended Version) - 5:28
All songs written by Mark Farner except where noted.
In the mid-to-late 1960s, during the height of the mania stemming from the British Invasion, the UK was teeming with psychedelic rock bands of all shapes and sizes, many of whom enjoyed the din of obscurity beneath the gargantuan shadows of such titans as the Who, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Pink Floyd and, of course, the Beatles. Among those bands was Blossom Toes, an acid-pop group signed to famed English rock impresario and Yardbirds/Soft Machine manager Gorgio Gomelsky’s Marmalade Records label. The band did not receive the commercial success enjoyed by their peers in the British Invasion, but released two albums to massive critical acclaim and counted Frank Zappa, with whom the group once jammed (as documented on the recently released double-live compilation Love Bomb: Live 1967-69), amongst their fans.
In December of 1969, Blossom Toes were on their way back from a gig when they suffered a terrible auto accident that didn’t kill anyone in the band, but left the lads shaken up enough to decide to dissolve their union shortly thereafter. While guitarist Jim Cregan went on to join the equally underappreciated UK group Family (who also counted Blind Faith’s Ric Grech amongst its ranks), second Blossom git “Little” Brian Godding and bassist “Big” Brian Belshaw still remained tight, temporarily backing up UK folk chanteuse Julie Driscoll for her 1970 tour. The duo continued to casually jam together after the Driscoll gigs, eventually bringing former Toes drummer Kevin Westlake back into the mix. They rechristened themselves B.B. Blunder, picked up on the heavier, more California-inspired sound the Toes left off on with their 1969 swan song, If Only for a Moment, and took it to new creative heights on their single album, 1971’s Worker’s Playtime.
Recorded at Olympic Studios at the same time that the Stones were laying down Sticky Fingers (Godding claims that Mick Jagger even lent the band a right-handed guitar for the album sessions), Playtime was looser and more AOR-oriented than the Blossom Toes material, featuring guest spots from the likes of Driscoll, electric piano guru Brian Auger, and Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. The songs B.B. Blunder were creating signified a sonic evolution similar to that of the way the Faces emerged from the Small Faces, or the Pretty Things circa Freeway Madness, with one foot in their British rock roots and the other pointing towards the sounds of the Los Angeles canyons, resulting in a warm, freewheeling sound effectively symbolic of the times while signifying something more progressive altogether. At the same time, songs like “Research”, “Seed”, and “Rise” were quintessential ‘71, and would certainly not sound out of place during a WNEW rock block alongside Bowie’s “Queen Bitch” and “Under My Wheels” by Alice Cooper.
In continuation of their reissue campaign focusing on the Blossom Toes catalog, it is only right and natural that Sunbeam Records gives Worker’s Playtime a long overdue makeover. The 2009 version of Worker’s Playtime is a vast upgrade to the tepid 1989 reissue on the Decal label, which retitled the album New Day after one of its key tracks (and one which features slide guitar from Mick Taylor, according to Godding) and rechristened the group Blossom Toes ’70 with the disclaimer “formerly B.B. Blunder” in parentheses. In addition to restoring the album’s original artwork, which parodied the BBC listings guide Radio Times, and accompanying it with assorted visual empherea from the time and newly penned liner notes from Godding and London writer Richard Morton Jack, this updated Playtime also features a killer bonus disc of previously unreleased material. And to be honest with you, the rarities are, quite arguably, much better than what was cleared for the official release. This is particularly true of the bundle of acoustic-based tracks, notably the Roy Harper-esque “When I Was in the Country” and a drastic acid-folk retooling of the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night”, not to mention the kaleidoscopic, eight-minute electric instrumental jam “Earache” and the Grateful Dead-cum-Grand Funk inspired earth shaker “Waltz”.
Though B.B. Blunder were over before they could begin, breaking up only a year after forming, this singular gem of an album they left in its wake remains one of the great buried treasures of this most robust and creative time for progressive rock music. And thanks to this most definitive version courtesy of Sunbeam, now is a better time than any to discover Worker’s Playtime. For further research on this closet classic, check out this great interview with Brian Godding conducted by Bill Whitten and James Beaudreau of the New York City rock band Grand Mal on the New York Night Train Web site.
by Ron Hart
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Sticky Living! - 6:33
2. You’re So Young - 5:26
3. Lost Horizons (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 2:06
4. Research (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 4:34
5. Rocky Yagbag (Kevin Westlake) - 3:59
6. Seed - 5:28
7. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 3:32
8. Rise - 5:04
9. Moondance (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 1:23
10.New Day - 4:40
All compositions by Brian Godding except where indicated
Disc 2
1. Backstreet (Brian Godding) - 3:55
2. Freedom (Brian Belshaw) - 5:42
3. Black Crow's Nest (Kevin Westlake) - 3:30
4. When I Was In The Country (Kevin Westlake) - 4:43
5. A Hard Day's Night (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 4:21
6. Come On Eyes (Kevin Westlake) - 7:17
7. Snippet With Tippett (Keith Tippett) - 0:25
8. Square Dance (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 5:38
9. Earache (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 8:05
10.Robots (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 4:58
11.Waltz (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw, Kevin Westlake) - 6:02
The B.B.Blunder
*Brian Godding - Vocals, Guitar, Piano
*Kevin Westlake - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Drums
*Brian Belshaw - Vocals With
*Julie Driscoll - Vocals
*Marc Charig - Trumpet
*Nick Evans - Trombone
*Chris Kimsey - Piano
*Keith Tippett - Piano
*Barry Jenkins - Piano
*Mick Taylor - Bass
*Brian Auger - Piano
Franki Cruzi, Bubs McKeg, Norman Nardini, Robbie Johns formed the band Diamond Reo in 1974. Bubs and Cruzi had been band mates in an earlier band called the Igniters that had release a single on Atlantic records in 1968. When the Igniters broke up in 1970 Bubs joined the Navy and Frankie Cruzi joined the Jaggerz. Fresh from his Navy gig in 1974 Bugs was ready to rock again. Working with producer Tom Cossie Diamond Reo recorded a demo tape at East Liberty's Red Fox Studio and sent it off to Atlantic Records. The Atlantic subsidiary Big Tree Records released Diamond Reo’s first album “Diamond Reo” in 1975. Scoring a top 40 hit with a version of the Marvin Gaye song, "Ain't That Peculiar" the band launched a national tour. They appeared on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" and performed with Kiss, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Frank Zappa, Kansas, Ian Hunter, Blue Oyster Cult, and Canned Heat.
Adding guitarist Warren King to the band Diamond Reo released the "Dirty Diamonds" album in 1976 on Kama Sutra. Nardini, Czuri, and Warren King, co-wrote most of the music on that release. Diamond Rio recorded their last album "Ruff Cuts" on the Piccadilly label in 1978. The group disbanded later 1978 as punk and new wave were emerging.
Frank Czuri in 1979 joined with Warren King, drummer Ron "Byrd" Foster from the Igniters, bass guitarist Mike Pela, and keyboard player Dennis Takos to form the Silencers. Working with producer Tom Cossie, the released two album releases on the CBS Precision label. Norm Nardini formed his own band “Norm Nardini and the Tigers” and landed a deal with CBS Records.
Tracks
1. All Over You - 3:55
2. It Ain't What You Do It's What You Do - 3:20
3. Scratch My Back - 4:28
4. Mamma Let Your Love - 4:25
5. It's A Jungle Out There (Norman Nardini, Frank Zuri, Rob Jones) - 3:11
6. Lover Boy - 3:47
7. Power (Wes King, Norman Nardini, Frank Zuri, Rob Jones) - 4:37
8. Bad News (Wes King, Norman Nardini, Frank Zuri, Rob Jones) - 3:32
9. Boys Will Be Boys - 3:50
10.Helter Skelter (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 3:33
All songs by Norman Nardini, Frank Zuri except where noted
The Diamond Reo
*Norman Nardini - Vocals, Bass
*Warren King - Guitars
*Frank Zuri - Keyboards
*Rob Jones - Drums
Every year it seems that more archive material is unearthed from Soft Machine, the legendary British group that began life in Dadaist psychedelia, but wound down as a powerhouse, chops-centric, fusion outfit at the end of the 1970s, with stops in more complex writing and free jazz territory along the way. As influenced by minimalist composers such as Terry Riley as it was by trumpeter Miles Davis' electric jazz proclivities, the majority of live material issued during the noughties has focused on the classic lineup of the early 1970s, surrounding the group's Third (Sony, 1970) and Fourth (Sony, 1971). Live recordings have been found from other incarnations, but what makes the CD/DVD combo of NDR Jazz Workshop: Hamburg, Germany May 17, 1973 so important is its first-ever live documentation the quartet responsible for Seven (Sony, 1973).
When bassist Hugh Hopper left the group after the double-LP set (one live, one studio) Six (Sony, 1973), the group came increasingly under the influence of keyboardist/reed man Karl Jenkins—who had replaced another "classic" alum, saxophonist/pianist Elton Dean following Fifth (Sony, 1972). Jenkins, himself an alum of another early British fusion outfit, Nucleus, brought a more riff-driven approach to the writing, in contrast to founding keyboardist (and only remaining original member) Mike Ratledge's denser, more idiosyncratically arranged compositions. Drummer John Marshall—another Nucleus recruit who replaced founding drummer Robert Wyatt after a brief dalliance with Australian drummer Phil Howard on the early sessions for Fifth—brought greater virtuosity to the group, making its gradual move to fusion powerhouse nearly complete. But it was Hopper's replacement—the more rhythm section-focused, six-string bassist Roy Babbington—who in many ways positioned Soft Machine for its most successful and impressive post-"classic lineup" disc, the guitar-heavy Bundles (Harvest, 1975), featuring a relatively young and unknown Allan Holdsworth.
Recorded a month before sessions for Seven began, the majority of NDR Jazz Workshop's material is culled from Six, but what differentiates this set from others featuring Jenkins—such as Softstage: BBC In Concert 1972 (Hux, 2005)—is the inclusion of all the material from Six's studio disc, where each member wrote a track (in the case of the fiery "Stanley Stamp's Gibbon Album," a collaboration between Marshall and Ratledge).
What's perhaps most notable about this particular incarnation of Soft Machine at this particular moment in time is that free improvisations were still a part of the picture, largely used as transitional segues between composed pieces. "Link 1" and "2"—edited together on the CD. As the only existing live documentation of this particular incarnation of the ever-changing Soft Machine (no two albums featured the exact same lineup), NDR Jazz Workshop: Hamburg, Germany May 17, 1973 would be an important enough find. Most significant, however, is that it more clearly positions a line-up often considered, based on Seven, as nothing more than the transitional and, perhaps, incomplete group that only truly found itself again with the recruitment of Holdsworth for Bundles. While the majority of NDR Jazz Workshop does, certainly, feature a larger, guitar-heavy setting that foreshadows what was to come, the opening set that features the quartet alone makes clear that this was, indeed, a version of Soft Machine with its own strengths and inimitable charm.
by John Kelman
Tracks
1. Fanfare (Karl Jenkins) - 0:47
2. All White (Mike Ratledge) - 3:37
3. Link 1/Link2 (Roy Babbington, Karl Jenkins, John Marshall, Mike Ratledge) - 5:04
4. 37 1/2 (Mike Ratledge) - 6:31
5. Link 3 (Roy Babbington, Gary Boyle, Karl Jenkins, John Marshall, Mike Ratledge, Art Themen) - 0:46
6. Riff (Karl Jenkins) - 3:50
7. Down The Road (Karl Jenkins) - 10:41
8. Link 3a (Roy Babbington, Gary Boyle, Karl Jenkins, John Marshall, Mike Ratledge, Art Themen) - 1:00
9. Stanley Stamp's Gibbon Album (Mike Ratledge) - 4:46
10.Chloe And The Pirates (Mike Ratledge) - 8:33
11.Gesolreut (Mike Ratledge) - 11:48
12.E.P.V. (Karl Jenkins) - 3:33
13.Link 4 (Roy Babbington, Gary Boyle, Karl Jenkins, John Marshall, Mike Ratledge, Art Themen) - 3:37
14.Stumble (Karl Jenkins) - 6:55
15.One Across (John Marshall) - 6:09
16.Riff II (Karl Jenkins) - 1:08
The Soft Machine
*Roy Babbington - Bass
*Karl Jenkins - Oboe, Soprano, Tenor Saxophone, Recorded Piano, Electric Piano, Piano
*John Marshall - Drums
*Mike Ratledge - Electric Piano, Organ
*Gary Boyle - Guitar (Tracks 7-16)
*Art Themen – Soprano, Tenor Saxophones (Tracks 7-16)
We're shallow enough to admit the weird cover is what initially attracted our attention to this obscure LP ... there was just something odd about seeing four "hip" looking guys standing in a wheat field in front of an ancient windmill.
First off, we'll tell you numerous critics have slagged the album as being ordinary and unimaginative. We'll take issue with them and tell you it's actually an overlooked minor classic. Featuring the talents of singer Steve Bailey, bassist Ron Bending, drummer Terry Sims and guitarist Bob Weston, Ashkan made their recording debut with 1969's "In from the Cold"
In the UK the set was the first released by Decca's newly established progressive-oriented Neon label. In the States it saw a release on London's Sire subsidiary. Co-produced by Peter Sherter and Ian Sippin, to our ears much of the album bares an uncanny resemblance to early Spooky Tooth. Propelled by Bailey's hoarse growl and the band's penchant for screaming guitars, the comparison was reinforced on tracks such as "Going Home", "Take These Chains" and "Out of Us Two".
Elsewhere Bailey's growl sounded like Joe Cocker on "Practically Never Happens", while Bob Weston's "Slightly Country" sounded like it was stolen from the early Steve Winwood and Traffic catalog. With the exception of the pedestrian blues number "Backlash Blues" the entire album including the extended "Darkness" was worth hearing.
Weston became somewhat of a musical journeyman, briefly reappearing as a member of Savoy Brown, followed by a brief stint in Fleetwood Mac where he was fired after the rest of the band discovered he was having an affair with Mick Fleetwood's wife. In the late-'70s he did a tour of duty with Howard Werth and the Moonbeams (see separate entries).
Tracks
1. Going Home (Steve Bailey, Bob Weston) - 6:35
2. Take These Chains (Bob Weston) - 4:47
3. Stop (Wait and Listen) (Steve Bailey, Bob Weston) - 5:53
4. Backlash Blues (Nina Simone, Langston Hughes) - 7:48
5. Practically Never Happens (Steve Bailey, Bob Weston, Ron Bending, Terry Sims) - 6:00
6. One of Us Two (Steve Bailey, Bob Weston, Ron Bending, Terry Sims) - 5:46
7. Slightly Country (Bob Weston) - 2:57
8. Darkness (Steve Bailey, Bob Weston) - 12:10
