Fire - Underground And Overhead-The Alternate Fire (1967-69 uk, superb psych freakbeat)

Anthology of 1967-69 tracks recorded by British psychedelic popsters responsible for the classic psych single "Father's Name Is Dad', two versions of which are included on this release together with its equally stellar B-side "Treacle Toffee World'. Other tracks include aborted follow-up singles, both sides of the group's Who-influenced 1967 Oak label acetate (recorded under their previous name of Friday's Chyld), three earlier (and better) versions of songs that appeared on the 1970 concept LP The Magic Shoemaker and the ten-minute mini-pop opera "Alison Wonderland'. Superb booklet includes a lengthy essay on the band.

"Fire's 1968 classic "Father's Name Is Dad' is a true Zeitgeist record, measuring perfectly the distance the teen psyche had travelled in three years. The angst of a "My Generation' or the weekender ethic of "Friday On My Mind' is blown away in a sugarcube-shaped instant by lead singer Dave Lambert's disdainful "I laugh at it all". The other eighteen tracks here prove Fire to have been an adventurous and inventive combo capable of state-of-the-art whimsy on "Man In The Teapot', drama-laden balladry on "Only A Dream', pulsating groove-throb on "Alison Wonderland', and prescient lyricism on "I've Still Got Time'. The sleevenotes tell a familiar tale of ambition thwarted by insensitive record company clods (they had a brief brush with Apple), and, hilariously, a bilious 1973 encounter between Lambert, by then a pop star with the Strawbs, and former manager Ray Hammond, by then a journo for Disc & Music Echo." (Mojo)

"Best-known, and rightly so, for the 1968 mod-pop jewel "My Father's Name Is Dad', Fire's discography was always besoiled by an embarrassing follow-up single, "Round The Gum Tree', and a rather twee storytale/concept album, The Magic Shoemaker. With Underground & Overhead, Wooden Hill attempt to apply a new shine to Fire's tarnished image, presenting a selection of mostly-unreleased tracks from 1967-69 that UK pop-psych fans can actually sit down and listen to from start to finish. "Father's Name Is Dad' and its equally whimsical flipside, Treacle Toffee World', are certainly the most memorable songs here, but not far behind are the intended follow-up "Spare A Copper' and "Happy Sound', the latter with its warbled Bolan-esque back-ups, coming off a lot like John's Children. Other highlights include the driving "I've Still Got Time' and "Magic Shoes', a superb slice of melodic pop-psych which was re-recorded (in inferior form) for the Magic Shoemaker album. Another top-notch release..." 

Ugly Things

Tracks
1. Father's Name Is Dad - 2:28
2. Treacle Toffee World - 2:08
3. Happy Sound - 2:17
4. Spare A Copper - 2:41
5. Will I Find Love? - 2:18
6. Man In The Teapot - 2:22
7. Only A Dream - 2:48
8. It's Just Love - 3:56
9. Magic Shoes - 3:56
10.I've Still Got Time - 2:23
11.I Know You Inside Out - 4:25
12.Reason For Everything - 2:33
13.Alison Wonderland - 10:44
14.I Just Can't Wait - 2:29
15.I Didn't Know You - 2:44
16.Can't Be So Bad (Miller) - 1:43
17.Green-Legged Auntie Sally - 8:13
18.Mama - 6:03
19.Oh Johnny - 5:54  
20.Father's Name Is Dad (Alternative Version) - 2:33
All songs by Dave Lambert except track #16

The Fire
*Dave Lambert - Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar
*Dick Dufall - Bass, Vocals
*Bob Voice - Drums, Vocals
With
*Paul Brett - Guitar

1969-70  Fire - The Magic Shoemaker (2009 bonus tracks remaster)  
Related Act
1970  Paul Brett's Sage - Paul Brett's Sage (Japan remaster)

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Fire - The Magic Shoemaker (1968-70 uk, extraordinary psych prog rock, 2009 bonus tracks remaster)

For me the most depressing thing about today’s rock music is that so much of it exhibits such a lack of creativity or originality. If something sells, clone it, quickly. What a contrast to the late sixties, when for a brief heady spell the artists rather than the bean-counters had the whip hand and the spirit of experimentation soared over everything. Of course this produced as many heroic failures as acknowledged triumphs; Fire’s The Magic Shoemaker bombed on release, and even such retrospective reviews as it has received have frequently been ambivalent. Ah, what have we got here, then? Former psychedelic outfit moves towards progressive rock with a song-cycle that’s too lightweight plot-wise to be a concept album, too naïve and inconsequential to be a rock opera . . . hmmmm. But what is true is that it certainly represents a brave attempt to be different.

London trio Dave Lambert (vcl, gtr, keys), Dick Dufall (bs, vcl) and Bob Voice (drs, vcl) had impressed the Beatles’ Apple label sufficiently to score a deal that resulted in the classic psych A-side “Father’s Name Is Dad”. The marriage was not a happy one, though, and Fire soon found themselves at odds with the music industry at large. Retiring to the suburbs, Lambert spent a year writing and demo-ing the songs for The Magic Shoemaker, based around a whimsical children’s bedtime story in which a shoemaker cobbles together a pair of shoes that unexpectedly allow the wearer to fly. These are loaned to a king whose country is threatened with war by a neighbouring state; when the king confronts his opposite number from the sky the latter’s army are spooked and a peace treaty is forthcoming. Admittedly, it’s a slender peg to hang your creative coat on, but in its own quirky homespun fashion it works.

The premise of the album is that the narrator (Lambert, in a homely Home Counties accent) tells the story to a group of kids on a coach trip (real kids’ voices, overdubbed travel noises). Short pieces of the narrative occur between and within the songs whose lyrics broadly parallel episodes in the tale, some closely, others in more abstract fashion. Musically the songs follow a basic guitar-driven pop-rock template, varying widely in style and tempo – Tommy would undoubtedly have been an influence – with frequent psychedelic studio enhancement, particularly on the opening “Tell You A Story”, “Only A Dream” and the long instrumental coda of “Reason For Everything”. Pick of the bunch for me is “I Can See The Sky” with its raw freakbeat vibe, but they’re all quite engaging. Lambert’s lead vocal, somewhere between Daltrey and Bowie, is sometimes somewhat over-affected, but the musicianship is excellent throughout with the basic guitar trio being complemented by Lambert’s modest keyboards and plenty of top-drawer lead guitar work from himself and Velvet Opera’s Paul Brett. Future Strawbs partner Dave Cousins makes a cameo appearance on banjo on the superfluous jugband ditty “Happy Man Am I”. The production by Pye’s Ray Hammond is unsophisticated but its contemporary favouring of stereo separation and reverb suits the project and the interleaving of songs and narration is seamless.

Predictably, The Magic Shoemaker tanked well and truly on its release on Pye in 1970, being too late for psych and too lightweight for prog, and subsequently became a much-sought-after rarity until its inevitable reissue on CD. The current Sanctuary edition tailgates the original album with the A’s and B’s of both of Fire’s earlier psych singles including the indispensable “Father’s Name Is Dad” and “Treacle Toffee World”. As an interesting epilogue, after a long and successful association with Cousins in the Strawbs Lambert reformed Fire for a one-off concert in 2007, performing Shoemaker in extended form including the earlier psych sides and other unreleased songs. The gig was recorded for sound and video and subsequently released on CD by Angel Air as The Magic Shoemaker Live, receiving wide acclaim . . . which is more than the original release achieved.

by Len Liechti

Tracks
1. Children Of Imagination - 0:18
2. Tell You A Story - 6:41
3. Magic Shoes - 3:42
4. Reason For Everything - 7:35
5. Only A Dream - 5:41
6. Flies Like A Bird - 5:41
7. Like To Help You If I Can - 4:06
8. I Can See The Sky - 5:15
9. Shoemaker - 5:18
10.Happy Man Am I - 0:57
11.Children Of Imagination - 0:35
12.Father’s Name Is Dad - 2:32
13.Toffee Treacle World - 2:09
14.Round The Gum Tree - 1:33
15.Toothie Ruthie - 1:56
All Songs by Dave Lambert
Bonus Tracks 12-15

The Fire
*Dave Lambert - Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar,
*Dick Dufall - Bass, Vocals,
*Bob Voice - Drums, Vocals

Related Act
1969  Velvet Opera - Ride A Hustler's Dream
1970  Paul Brett's Sage - Paul Brett's Sage (Japan remaster)

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Tom Rush - Merrimack County / Ladies Love Outlaws (1972/74 us, great country folk rock, 2000 edition)

Named after the county where he resided, Merrimack County is also the first Tom Rush album which didn't show any ground gained. It is still a fine effort. Perhaps by including mainly originals instead of interpretations of others' tunes, Merrimack County is a bit of a letdown. A minor effort from a major star. 

Tom Rush's main strength, Ladies Love Outlaws plunges the listener full-tilt into the country-rock sound which so many were finding in the mid-'70s. Included here are Guy Clark's "Desperados Waiting for a Train," Lee Clayton's title track, and a stunning redo of Rush's own "No Regrets" helped along by the likes of the Eagles and Carly Simon on backup. But the best is saved for last, where Rush covers Bruce Cockburn's "One Day I Walk," showing that he hadn't lost his touch. A bit rough in places, but well done for the most part. 

by James Chrispell

Tracks
Merrimack County 1972
1. Kids These Days (Tom Rush, Trevor Veitch) - 4:14
2. Mink Julep (Tom Rush) - 2:29
3. Mother Earth (Eric Kaz) - 2:35
4. Jamaica Say You Will (Jackson Browne) - 4:15
5. Merrimack County II (Tom Rush, Trevor Veitch) - 2:49
6. Gypsy Boy (Bob Carpenter) - 3:24
7. Wind On the Water (Tom Rush) - 3:37
8. Roll Away the Grey (Bob Carpenter) - 2:59
9. Seems the Songs (Tom Rush) - 3:41
10.Gone Down River (Tom Rush) - 4:20
Ladies Love Outlaws 1974
11.Ladies Love Outlaws (Lee Clayton) - 2:31
12.Hobo's Mandolin (Michael Peter Smith) - 3:12
13.Indian Woman From Wichita (Wayne Berry) - 4:20
14.Maggie (Tom Rush) - 3:33
15.Desperados Waiting For the Train (Guy Clark) - 3:30
16.Claim On Me (Lee Clayton) - 4:09
17.Jenny Lynn (Richard Dean) - 3:01
18.Black Magic Gun (Wayne Berry) - 3:27
19.No Regrets (Tom Rush) - 5:41
20.One Day I Walk (Bruce Cockburn) - 2:16

Personnel
1972  Merrimack County 
*Tom Rush - Guitar, Lead Vocals
*Trevor Veitch - Guitar, Mandolin, Background Vocals
*James Rolleston - Bass, Background Vocals
*Gary Mallaber - Drums, Percussion, Vibraphone
*Paul Armia - Fiddle
*Erik Robertson - Organ, Piano
*Bill Stevenson - Piano
*Kathryn Moses - Flute
*John Savage - Drums
1974  Ladies Love Outlaws
*Tom Rush - Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals
*Jeff "Skunk" Baxter - Electric Guitar
*Elliott Randall - Electric Guitar
*Bob Babbitt - Bass
*James Taylor - Background Vocals
*Carly Simon - Background Vocals
*Rupert Holmes - Background Vocals
*Jerry Friedman - Electric Guitar
*Leon Pendarvis - Keyboards
*Allan Schwartzberg - Drums
*Andrew Smith - Drums
*George Devens - Percussion
*Wayne Jackson - Trumpet
*Jack Hale - Trombone
*Ed Logan - Tenor Saxophone
*Andrew Love - Tenor Saxophone
*James Mitchell - Baritone Saxophone
*Carl Hall - Background Vocals
*Tasha Thomas - Background Vocals

1965  Tom Rush - Tom Rush
1968  Tom Rush - The Circle Game
1970  Tom Rush - Tom Rush / Wrong End Of The Rainbow

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Mott The Hoople - Wildlife (1971 uk, astonishing classic rock album, 2003 japan bonus tracks remaster)

The outcome of the battle has yet to be conclusively determined, but my scorecard gives the race for "The Most Beloved Rock And Roll Band In All The English Isles" to Mott The Hoople by two full lengths over Free.

On this, their third album, they apparently feel sure enough of themselves to venture away from the piano/organ dominated sound which initially distinguished them (and invited all those Dylan comparisons). Instead we hear the country overtones of "It Must Be Love" and "Original Mixed-Up Kid." While this move (in light of all that has come since that first acidhead stumbled upon Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison) might seem to play on some familiar pretensions, our boys have both the taste and knowledge to keep their experiments in the proper perspective. So both the aforementioned songs, although comparatively thin-sounding, are well played and pleasant enough in a loosely relatable Mott The Hoople context.

More important, they've found new ways to arrange their instruments and the effects are felt throughout the album. The driving toughness of guitarist Mick Ralphs, as previously seen in "Rock And Roll Queen" and "Thunderstruck Ram," has mellowed some. His "Whiskey Women" elucidates the band's new approach at its best: a lighter touch but just as powerful a punch. Yet despite this change in attack (most often seen in the use of acoustic guitars), they still produce a remarkably full sound, traceable to their staunch musical intelligence: when they add additional instruments they do not merely pour them over the existing sound (a common rock pitfall), but alter that sound to accommodate them.

"Angel Of Eighth Avenue" finds the haunting melancholia of pianist Ian Hunter's ballad style at its most convincing. (Hunter, it will be remembered, was the man around whom the early Dylan associations were inevitably focused.) His emeryboard voice, which has a nasty habit of faltering under the strain of the up-tempo, is infinitely better suited to the slower paced delivery which songs like this demand. And the country influence so obvious on side two is better acknowledged in things such as "Angel," where the fusion is subtle and engaging in a neighborhood Hopple devotees will find more familiar.

But lest the whole affair get weighed down with self-importance, a problem which threatened the first two albums, they've thrown in a couple of change-of-pace surprises. Closing out side one is an energetic rendition of Melanie (!) Safka's "Lay Down" and, the cut's musical excellence aside, it feels good just to hear this kind of an emotional breakout from Mott The Hoople. The second, ten live minutes of "Keep A' Knockin" which concludes the album with some two-fisted rock and roll, is the stuff of which their English reputation was made; they remind me more than a little of the early Who.

Now that they have apparently captured the British crown, isn't it about time they were given a shot on this side of the Atlantic? There is more than enough solid music on this album to warrant it. Take side one and the live cut for their well defined and satisfying brand of rock, and then make up your own mind about the country experiments on side two. And fear not; Mott the Hoople has clearly gone beyond any Dylan comparison you might have heard. 

by Ben Edmonds, June 10, 1971

Tracks
1. Whiskey Women (Mick Ralphs) - 3:37
2. Angel Of Eighth Avenue (Ian Hunter) - 4:30
3. Wrong Side Of The River (Mick Ralphs) - 5:16
4. Waterlow (Ian Hunter) - 3:00
5. Lay Down (Melanie Safka) - 4:12
6. It Must Be Love (Mick Ralphs) - 2:20
7. Original Mixed-Up Kid (Ian Hunter) - 3:38
8. Home Is Where I Want To Be (Mick Ralphs) - 4:09
9. Keep A Knockin' (Live) (Richard Penniman) - 10:07
10.It'll Be Me (Jack Clement) - 2.56
11.Long Red (Leslie West, Felix Pappalardi, John Ventura, Norman Landsberg) - 3.47
Bonus Tracks 10-11

Mott The Hoople
*Ian Hunter – Lead, Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Piano
*Mick Ralphs - Lead Guitar, Backing, Lead Vocals
*Verden Allen - Organ, Backing Vocals
*Pete "Overend" Watts - Bass, Backing Vocals
*Dale "Buffin" Griffin - Drums, Backing Vocals
Additional personnel
*Gerry Hogan - Steel Guitar
*Jess Roden - Background Vocals
*Stan Tippins - Background Vocals
*Michael Gray - String Arrangements
*James Archer - Violin

1966/90  Doc Thomas Group And The Silence - The Italian Job / Shotgun Eyes
1970  Mott The Hoople - Mad Shadows (2003 Extra Tracks Remaster)
1971  Mott The Hoople - Brain Capers (bonus tracks remaster)

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Misty Hush Revival - Your Heart Is Broken (1972 us, raw garage psych rock, 2012 edition)

Collectors of garage and psychedelica records are seemingly a very strange bunch. Once you get beyond Nuggets and various other compilations, good underground psych records tend to get really rare, especially considering that there were only a finite number of albums or singles released in the genre during its heyday. So that’s why when a really obscure find, such as Misty Hush Revival’s sole 1972 album Your Heart Is Broken, sees the light of day, and gets a pressing a bit less modest than its original 100 or so copies that were largely distributed to friends and family some 40 years ago, the words “lost classic” tend to get bandied around. I won’t mince words: Your Heart Is Broken is no long-lost classic. It’s simply a document by an amateur garage band out of tune with the times. 

By 1972, this type of music was getting heavier and blusier, and Misty Hush Revival’s music is so soft that it more or less makes the Lettermen look like Blue Öyster Cult in comparison. In essence, Misty Hush Revival could have been one of a million bands of the era that simply didn’t make it because they didn’t have very much to offer. In fact, they had only one really good song in their arsenal: the laconic, trumpet-filled ballad “Summer Means New Love”, which alas gets a somewhat unnecessary reprise here with all sorts of live band banter edited in. The remainder is just OK.

Even though there’s not much that is musically special about Your Heart Is Broken, it still is a fascinating period piece. You really get the sense by listening to this album that you’ve uncovered found footage of what it must have been like to be a struggling musician 40 years ago in the New York City area, thanks largely to those paradoxically unnecessary edited-in interstitial bits and a brief journalistic interview committed to tape that opens the album. That’s the real benefit of hearing this record. In fact, it might make you feel a little wistful and nostalgic, if not outright depressed, that this was the only artistic statement to be released by this band, and it was the only recording they did before moving on to seemingly more sensible careers. 

There’s a remarkable wholesomeness to the proceedings—some of it sounds a little bubblegum-ish – and that makes it a sort of “family photograph”, if you will, that’s stunning to listen to, as though you’ve been invited into someone’s private world for cookies and tea. So, yes, Your Heart Is Broken may not be the long-lost classic that obscurists may be scouring for, but it is still something worth listening to for those with a historical bent and who are alternative world fetishists. Nothing much may have come about for Misty Hush Revival – and, yes, the name is a bit ridiculous (what is a “misty hush” to begin with?) – but even though it is musically a very mixed-bag, it offers its own small rewards with subsequent listens, which may appeal those select few collectors running out of new-old garage rock or psychedelic records to discover.

by Zachary Houle

One of the most obscure U.S. private pressings from the late '60s/early '70s. For many years, The Misty Hush Revival name was only a rumor whispered in collector's circles, with only a handful of copies known of the original album around today. Like The Bachs or The Index, this is one of those hard-to-describe albums which seems to live in a world of its own. Despite the late 1972 release date, the music here sounds more late '60s than early '70s and the whole album has a cool, lost-in-time atmosphere. The group were in fact a club band from New Jersey, but surprisingly all the tracks are originals -- no cover versions -- and they range from fragile, dreamy pop-psych numbers to raw garage, fuzzed-out jams and teen-beat sounds.

Tracks
1. Singer To Singer (Dennie, John) - 0:44
2. Summer means new love (Ivancich, Dioguardi, Cantoni) - 4:23
3. Your Heart Is Broken (Single Version) (Cantoni, Dioguardi) - 2:52
4. Tell Me Baby (Single Version) (Dioguardi, Cantoni) - 3:15
5. Look my way (Matalas, Dioguardi, Cantoni) - 2:14
6. Gone away (Cantoni) - 3:10
7. Danny's Home Made Jam (Branen) - 5:18
8. Now I Need You (Cantoni, Dioguardi) - 4:48
9. Till I Get Back Home (Branen, Dioguardi, Cantoni) - 3:56
10.3 AM (Dioguardi, Cantoni) - 4:55
11.Summer Means New Love (Ivancich, Dioguardi, Cantoni) - 7:46
12.Tell Me Baby (Dioguardi, Cantoni) - 3:19
13.Don't Let The Sun Get You Crying (Unreleased) (Misty Hush Revival) - 2:59

The Misty Hush Revival
*Ronnie Contoni - Rhythm, Lead Guitar
*Chris Maralas - Drumms
*Andy Wan - Rhythm, Lead Guitar
*Dennie Dioguardi - Bass, Vocals

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CCS - Tap Turns On The Water The CCS Story (1970-74 uk, remarkable brass jazzy blues classic rock, 2013 double disc digipak remaster)

More frequently than ever, Esoteric has begun putting together anthology reissue packs that collect together full or partial albums, ranging from the cult band Cressida to the mercurial Beggar's Opera and right down to the downright obscure Burnin' Red Ivanhoe. In some cases, there is a lack of quality control, as Esoteric try to cram too much into one place, ruining the atmosphere of the standalone album as well as utterly wrecking the album artwork. However, this kind of treatment seems just right for the Collective Consciousness Society - ubiquitously abbreviated to CCS - the jazz-rock brainchild of Cambridge-bred composer John Cameron and fronted by the much older singer Alexis Korner, a pioneer of blues in Britain. 

The albums and singles tend to slide into each other, and the artwork is hardly very important here, meaning that a cheap one-buy-gets-you-everything package is ideal. The double disc set includes all three of the band's albums, namely CCS (1970), CCS 2 (1972) and The Best Band in the Land (1973) and rounds up all the non-album tracks, presenting the collection in chronological order. 

Now I shan't be spending too long on this group, as their output couldn't be very easily described as prog. Essentially a rock band with an extended brass section - including the talents of Henry Lowther among others - CCS specialised in playing jazz-rock covers of popular tunes such as Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. Indeed, CCS helped to shed more light on the fledgling Led Zep when their version of this song was used as the introduction to BBC's Top of the Pops. I still find it rather ironic that TotP used this song when they would never have a band like Led Zep on in the first place, but I digress. The band also cover Jethro Tull's Living in the Past quite creatively, although draw blanks with their rather muddled attempt at another Led Zep song, namely Black Dog.

However, original tunes permeate the tracklist, and the most notable (and perhaps enjoyable) track of the set is the band's top single, Tap Turns on the Water, which originally made it to #5 in the UK singles chart. Replete with daft yet cheerful lyrics - "Tap turns on the water, see the waters flow / Acorn makes a forest, watch the forest grow!" - and played in a tremendously major key, it may be the feel-good song of 1971. 

Oddly, there's a lot of redundancy in the band's canon. For example, the main riff from Tap Turns on the Water can be heard yet again in CCS's cover of The Jackson 5's I Want You Back. Elsewhere, Living in the Past and Running Out of Sky (Sky Diver) seem too similar, especially in the rhythm department, to be treated as separate songs. Perhaps the biggest offender though is the aforementioned Whole Lotta Love, which unabashedly makes its way onto album 2 as part of a medley titled Whole Lotta Rock and Roll. In fact, this is another highlight of the set, with seamless segues into such classics as Lucille and Long Tall Sally.

CCS never appeared to be a particularly hard-working band, more a group of successful and well-established artists just playing some fun music. As a result, the proceedings are all very light, and errors are made along the way. This is the sort of music that would go down well at social gatherings when your pristine vinyl copy of Relayer might not be so deeply appreciated as background listening. You might even find yourself singing along! 

by Basil Francis

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Boom Boom (John Lee Hooker) - 3:36

2. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 4:32

3. Waiting Song (Peter Thorup) - 4:35

4. Lookin' for Fun (Peter Thorup) - 4:01

5. Whole Lotta Love (John Bonham, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) - 3:44

6. Living in the Past (Ian Anderson) - 3:47

7. Sunrise (Alexis Korner) - 5:15

8. Dos Cantos (John Cameron) - 8:09

9. Wade in the Water (Traditional) - 2:56

10.Walking (Chris Spedding, Stephen Parsons) - 3:12

11.Salome (John Cameron, Alexis Korner) - 3:05

12.Tap Turns On The Water (John Cameron, Alexis Korner) - 3:43

13.Save the World (John Cameron) - 4:02

14.Brother (Alexis Korner) - 3:26

15.Black Dog (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) - 4:10

16.I Want You Back (The Corporation) - 3:44

17.Running Out of Sky (Sky Diver) (John Cameron) - 4:00

18.Whole Lotta Rock and Roll: School Day/Lucille/Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Love (Chuck Berry, Otis Blackwell, John Bonham, Jimmy Page, Richard Penniman, Robert Plant) - 6:14

Disc 2
1. Chaos/Chan't We Ever Get It Back (John Cameron, Alexis Korner) - 8:56
2. This Is My Life (Peter Thorup) - 3:53
3. Misunderstood (John Cameron, Alexis Korner) - 2:47
4. Maggie's Song (John Cameron, Alexis Korner) - 3:42
5. City (John Cameron) - 3:37
6. If I Never Sing Another Song (Alexis Korner) - 1:40
7. Mister, What You Can't Have I Can Get (John Cameron) - 4:10
8. Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis) - 2:58
9. The Band Played the Boogie (Don Reedman, Jeff Jarrett, John Cameron) - 3:50
10.Wild Witch Lady (Donovan Leitch) - 4:00
11.Lola (Ray Davies) - 3:35
12.Primitive Love (Mike Chapmann, Nicky Chinn) - 3:15
13.Hundred HIghways (John Cameron) - 3:50
14.Shakin' All Over (Johnny Kidd, Gus Robinson) - 3:09
15.Memphis (John Cameron) - 3:41
16.Sunshine of Your Love (Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton) - 3:40
17.Our Man in London (John Cameron) - 2:23
18.Cannibal Sheep (Alexis Korner) - 3:35
19.Hang It On Me (John Cameron) - 4:00
20.Hurricane Coming (Ronnie Scott) - 3:14
21.Dragster (John Cameron, Hayes) - 3:13

Personnel
*Harold Beckett - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Greg Bowen - Saxophone, Woodwind
*John Cameron - Piano
*Tony Carr - Drums
*Tony Coe - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Les Condon - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Bob Efford - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Tony Fisher - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Herbie Flowers - Bass
*Bill Geldard - Trumpet
*Spike Heatley - Bass
*Pete King - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Alexis Korner - Vocals
*Henry Lowther - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Don Lusher - Saxophone, Woodwind
*John Marshall - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Harold McNair - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Barry Morgan - Drums
*Danny Moss - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Alan Parker - Guitar
*Brian Perrin - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Ron Ross - Saxophone, Woodwind
*Peter Thorup - Vocals
*Kenny Wheeler - Saxophone, Woodwind

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Andwella - World's End (1970 n. ireland, incredible mosaic of psych, folk, blues and prog rock, 2006 japan remaster)

Formerly known as The Method, they signed with CBS in London for whom they recorded three albums and several singles. Their stunning debut LP "Love & Poetry" (1969) is regarded as a psychedelic classic by many collectors around the world. Their name was shortened to Andwella in 1970 and their further long players "World's End" (1970) and "People's People" (1971) were issued under this moniker.

by Clark Faville

Tracks
1. Hold On To Your Mind - 3:50
2. Lady Love - 4:16
3. Michael Fitzhenry - 3:32
4. I'm Just Happy To See You Get Her - 2:57
5. Just How Long - 3:18
6. World's End Part I (Bobby Scott) - 3:00
7. World's End Part II - 2:25
8. Back On The Road - 3:24
9. I Got A Woman - 2:56
10.Reason For Living - 3:10
11.Shadow Of The Night - 3:39
All compositions by David Lewis except where stated.

Andwella
*David Lewis - Guitar, Piano, Organ, Vocals, Flute
*Dave McDougall - Piano, Organ, Vocals
*Nigel Smith - Bass, Vocals
*Gordon Barton - Drums, Percussion
Additional Personnel
*John Hawkins - Orchestral Arrangements

1969  Andwellas Dream - Love And Poetry (2009 Sunbeam extra tracks edition)
1971  Andwella - People's People (japan remaster issue)

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Heavy Jelly - Heavy Jelly (1970 uk, spectacular blues classic rock, 2014 remaster)

In 1970 Jackie Lomax joined Heavy Jelly following on from his spell in the late 60’s as the first ever signing as a solo artist with Apple Records and being championed by The BEATLES. Heavy Jelly consisted of former AYNSLEY DUNBAR members and the drummer from The ANIMALS. The band recorded in 1970 their debut album. Heavy Jelly initially were a fictitious group that somehow became a real band.

Because of contractual problems with Apple the album has never before been officially released until now. This long lost 1970 album has attained legendary status and has appeared in bootleg form over the years. Following Jackie’s untimely death in autumn 2013 his family has resolved all contractual issues with Apple amicably and they have given their approval for the album to be released on CD at last.

Fellow Apple Records label mates Pete Ham and Tom Evans from BADFINGER appear on the album as well as The Rolling Stones wind section Bobby Keys and Jim Price.

'Bio Blues' bears all the hallmarks of a classic blues-rock composition, while the more rock-orientated is amongst the best tracks on this album. Closing number 'Take Me Down To The Water' welcomes Badfinger's Pete Ham and Tom Evans on guest vocals, or harmony vocals to be more precise. It's a track that seems to go on forever as well, though that is fine with me. The heady turn on, tune in, drop out undertones set a nice contrast to the more obvious blues-laced overtones and a gently pounding rhythm - lending the song its heartbeat. A true gem of 70's blues-rock and thankfully, it can be shared with the world. 

Music-News

Tracks
1. You Better Let Me Know - 3:26
2. Born For Something - 4:55
3. Too Complicated - 3:27
4. Just Don't Feel So Good - 5:49
5. F-F-F-Females - 4:04
6. Bio-Blues - 5:06
7. If You'd Like To - 3:55
8. Take Me Down To The Water - 7:32
All songs by Jackie Lomax

The Heavy Jelly
*Alex Dmochowski - Bass
*Barry Jenkins - Drums
*Jackie Lomax - Vocals, Guitar, Piano
*John Morshead - Lead Guitar, Vocals
With
*Pete Ham  - Harmony Vocals (Track 8)
*Tom Evans - Harmony Vocals (Track 8)
*Mike Kellie - Drums (Tracks 2,  6)
*Bobby Keys - Tenor Sax (Track 3)
*Jim Price - Trumpet, Trombone (Track 3)

Jackie Lomax - Is This What You Want? (2010 extra tracks reissue)

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John Cale - John Cale Comes Alive (1984 uk, excellent art rock, vinyl edition)

John Cale has been a stalwart of rock's avant-garde since he and Lou Reed founded the seminal New York art-rock band Velvet Underground in the mid-'60s. As a producer, he has worked with Nico, the Stooges, Patti Smith and Squeeze. His output has ranged from fully orchestrated material (The Academy in Peril) to the nihilistic (Fear). On his 14th album, most of it recorded in concert at London's Lyceum last February, Cale reprises some of his better-known songs. 

The stark, bruising sound achieved on these live cuts carries a skewed power that Neil Young seems to have sought on many of his albums. The asperity of such songs as Leaving It Up to You and Waiting for My Man, a junkie's lament, becomes mesmerizing. So does Cale's bleak, despairing cover version of Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel. Of the two studio tracks, Ooh La La is a flimsy parody of rap records, but Never Give Up on You is bright and brisk, Cale's closest flirtation with pop. His backup band is unexceptional—the tempo on Dr. Mudd jumps around more than once. Cale overcomes, though. This record has a visceral quality that sets it apart. (Ze Island) 

People-Mag

Tracks
1. Ooh La La - 3:25
2. Evidence - 3:26
3. Dead Or Alive - 3:58
4. Chinese Envoy - 3:27
5. Leaving It Up To You - 5:32
6. Dr. Mudd - 3:42
7. Waiting For The Man (Lou Reed) - 4:26
8. Heartbreak Hotel (Tommy Durden, Mae Boren Axton) - 4:16
9. Fear - 3:20
10.Never Give Up On You - 4:58
Words and Music by John Cale unless otherwise written.

Musicians
*Andy Heermans - Bass, Vocals
*David Lichtenstein - Drums, Electronic Drums
*John Cale - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
*Dave Young - Guitar, Vocals

More John Cale work here:
1971  John Cale And Terry Riley - Church Of Anthrax 
1972  Lou Reed, John Cale And Nico - Live At Bataclan Paris (2013 edition)
1973 Paris 1919
1974 Fear
1975 Slow Dazzle
1975 Helen Of Troy

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Hookfoot - Good Times A'comin (1972 uk, exceptional guitar classic rock with prog shades, japan 2010 bonus track remaster)

The name Hookfoot sounds as generic as Bulldog, Sweathog, and other pedestrian 1970s monikers, and the music on the group's second release, Good Times a' Comin', reflects just that. It's Elton John sessionmen -- Caleb Quaye, Dave Glover, and Roger Pope from Tumbleweed Connection and other John discs -- recording their Dick James-published songs which were produced at Dick James Studios and going for the brass ring on their own with feeble results. The a cappella ending to "Living in the City" shows they have vocal as well as instrumental chops, while "Gunner Webb's Changes" lifts musical passages right out of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Long Time Gone" and "Almost Cut My Hair." That should come as no surprise since they covered both Stephen Stills and Neil Young on their self-titled debut from 1971.

Lead guitarist Caleb Quaye writes or co-writes nine of the ten titles, vocalist Ian Duck is the runner up with six, but with titles like "Sweet Sweet Funky Music," "Slick's Blues for Jumbo," and "Flying in the U.S.A.," it's obvious the creativity of Bernie Taupin or Elton John is missing from this effort. The blues-oriented grooves are all solid and played with precision, but they also fail to excite. Some of it comes off like Savoy Brown without any bite. Why they didn't raid the Dick James vaults for a hit or ask their friends John and Taupin to throw them a hook is the real mystery of Hookfoot. It's an elaborate package, with a gatefold containing the lyrics and classy photos, but these aren't what one would classify as songs to be sold to other artists. "Look to Your Churches" sounds inspired by Traffic and the Band, but not up to those artists' standards. 

Sometimes sidemen are supposed to be just that, lending their ability to translate a performer's ideas -- to help put the crowd into a frenzy; one can't see Elton John performing the title track, "Good Times a' Comin'," despite Ian Duck and Caleb Quaye generating interesting moments with their guitar duel. It seems none of John's magic rubbed off on the pair's songwriting chops. Still, had England's pianoman made an appearance on this record, it would have made a world of difference. This same year, Hookfoot's American counterparts -- Danny Kootch, Russ Kunkel, and Leland Sklar -- released the first of three albums under the name the Section. What it proves is that without an Elton John, Carole King, or James Taylor, these records end up sounding like instruments playing themselves. A wonderful argument for the value of charisma and the vacuum of space without a star to fill it with light. 

by Joe Viglione

Tracks
1. Sweet Sweet Funky Music (Caleb Quaye) - 3:14
2. Living In The City (Caleb Quaye) - 4:56
3. If I Had The Words (Ian Duck, Dave Glover, Roger Pope, Caleb Quaye) - 3:20
4. Gunner Webb’s Changes (Ian Duck) - 3:12
5. Painter (Caleb Quaye) - 6:01
6. Flying In The U.S.A. (Caleb Quaye) - 4:17
7. Is Anyone There? (Ian Duck, Dave Glover, Roger Pope, Caleb Quaye) - 4:08
8. Slick’s Blues For Jumbo (Ian Duck, Caleb Quaye) - 1:47
9. Look To Your Churches (Ian Duck, Caleb Quaye) - 2:38
10.Good Times A’ Comin’ (Ian Duck, Dave Glover, Roger Pope, Caleb Quaye) - 6:27
11.Gimme Shelter (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 4:22

The Hookfoot
*Caleb Quaye - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
*Dave Glover - Bass
*Roger Pope - Drums, Vocals
*Ian Duck - Harmonica, Vocals
*Bob Kulick - Guitar, Vocals (Track 1)

1969  Hookfoot - A Piece Of Pye (2010 japan Remaster)
1971  Hookfoot - Hookfoot (2010 japan remaster)  
1973  Hookfoot - Roaring (2005 expanded edition)

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