Paris - Big Towne 2061 (1976 us / uk, magnificent melt of guitar rock funky vibes and prog rock, 2013 japan SHM remaster)

"Paris" was the band that I started with Glenn Cornick  after I left Fleetwood Mac. I had wanted to try doing some heavier rock , like Led Zeppelin was doing at the time.  During the last six months of 1974 , while touring with FM , I had been spending a lot of my off time talking to Jimmy Robinson who was an engineer that we had met while working either at Larrabee Studios , or (more likely) the Record Plant studio in LA. I think it was Jimmy who suggested Thom Mooney , who he knew. (ex-Nazz and Todd Rundgren drummer). Glenn Cornick was also between bands , and since we knew each other pretty well (he had been married to an ex girlfriend of mine , Judy Wong) I asked him if he wanted to start a hard rock trio. 

I think Glenn and I came up with the name "Paris". For one thing , I had lived and worked in the actual city of Paris (the French one , not Tennessee) and Glenn Cornick and I had first met when he was playing a gig there with Jethro Tull. Also , by the name Paris , we wanted to imply that , although this would be a "hard rock" trio , it would have a certain level of refinement and not just be" headbangers " Glenn and I both wanted to do something along the lines of what Led Zeppelin was doing. I personally wanted to rock a little harder than I had been able to do with Fleetwood Mac. Lucky for me, Fleetwood Mac was taking off at the time with the "White" album , which would contain their 1st ever # 1 single. That meant that there was a fair amount of interest in me as an ex FM member. 

John Carter at Capitol records was the one who finally bit the bullet (after a couple of passes) and gave us a demo budget. Capitol liked the demo  and Al Cory decided to sign us. That was about the last of the smart moves Paris ever made. We cut the record up at the Record Plant studios in Sausalito CA , a beautiful location by the bay, in the "pit" , which was a studio built especially for Sly Stone by the Record Plant owners, Chris Stone and Gary Kellgren. The "pit" was very unusual at the time ; it had no glass wall between the control room and the players space as was customary (and necessary because of leakage). The walls- floor to ceiling- were carpeted in bright maroon plush , and you could play or sing plugged in "direct" into the console while you were lying down. 

The "pit" also had a couple of bedrooms with microphone jacks in the head boards , so Sly, or whoever was in the bed could do vocals while under the covers. It really was the height of '70's "over the topness"... Once I woke up and the clock said "2". I thought, "oh , I'm late , it's 2pm and we better get started". I peeked ouside for a minute, and realized it was 2 am , not 2pm. I had been asleep for 24 hours. Yes, there were lots of drugs at those sessions. I especially remember a Bayer aspirin bottle full of coke, that was constantly replenished ( from the album budget !!). And Gary Kellgren was a big fan of nitrous oxide , of which there were tanks aplenty. 

Every so often a little opium would appear from somewhere. In 1975, Sausalito California was overrun with drug dealers. It was still considered fashionable and chic to do coke. If you didn't pull out your little bottle and offer some around, you were considered to be rude and ungracious. Half the time I didn't know what day, or what hour of the day, or even what month it was. Let me be clear here; Glenn Cornick never did drugs, that I know of. Neither did Thom Mooney. I was a bit more prudish than some of the real " heroic imbibers" ( who I won't name) . I was a "nothing till after the 5 o'clock cocktail hour" type of guy. Maybe that's one reason why I'm still alive... In retrospect , with Paris , I was in too much of a hurry . We probably should have let the band develop a little further , tour constantly, and find an audience. 

As it happened, Hunt Sales came down with a case of Bells Palsy  (which paralyzes your face muscles), and we had to go on a long break. In that interval, I wrote "French Kiss"...and Paris just sort of faded. If the 2nd Paris album "Big Towne 2061" had done a little better, and/or we had stayed on the road.... who knows.......?

by Bob Welch

On June 7th 2012, Bob Welch, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. He was 65.

Tracks
1. Blue Robin - 2:28
2. Big Towne, 2061 - 4:33
3. Pale Horse, Pale Rider - 3:25
4. New Orleans - 4:18
5. Outlaw Game (Bob Welch, Hunt Sales) - 5:20
6. Money Love (Bob Welch, Hunt Sales) - 3:54
7. Heart Of Stone - 2:42
8. Slave Trader - 3:11
9. 1 In 10 - 3:01
10.Janie (Bob Welch, Glenn Cornick) - 7:28
All songs written by Bob Welch, except where noted.

Paris
*Bob Welch - Vocals, Guitar
*Glenn Cornick - Bass, Keyboards
*Hunt Sales - Vocals, Drums, Percussion

1975  Paris - Paris (2013 japan SHM remaster)

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Catherine Howe - What A Beautiful Place (1971 uk, wondrous orchestrated folk jazzy satin rock, 2007 remaster)

What a beautiful album this is - the kind of lost MOR-folk classic we all hope to discover in the wake of Judee Sill, Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs and their ilk. It's like some missing link between Sandy Denny and Karen Carpenter, or Ladies of the Canyon and Dusty in Memphis . Chicago's ultra-cool Numero label should be congratulated on unearthing it.

Catherine Howe was a Kate Bush before her time, an English girl with a pretty face and an artlessly pretty voice who through pure serendipity was paired with eccentric American producer Bobby Scott. Over two weeks in February 1971, the 20-year-old Howe and 33-year-old Scott worked together at Soho's Trident Studios to create this lush masterpiece. But barely had it been released when the label that released it - CBS subsidiary Reflection - went belly-up. Nobody got to hear What a Beautiful Place bar a few journalists and industry insiders.

Halifax-born Howe had touted songs around after her early training as an actress at London's Corona drama school. A chance encounter with Reflection's Andrew Cameron Miller led to 1969 demos and, eventually, the sessions at Trident. Classically-trained Scott, who had co-written the Beatles' 'A Taste of Honey' and the Hollies' 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother', was instantly smitten by the wide-eyed wonder of the girl's songs and set to work writing the extraordinary orchestrations we hear on the album.

To these ears, the intricate strings and haunting woodwind - courtesy of the LSO, no less - on songs such as 'My Child' and 'On a Misty Morning' recall nothing so much as the spooky melancholy of Bergen White's brilliant For Women Only (1969). If you love pure female voices sailing over oboes and harpsichords, look no further. 'It's Not Likely' suggests a more ethereal Sandy Denny; 'Words Through a Locked Door' could be Dusty Springfield covering Joni Mitchell. 'It Comes With the Breezes' is a wafting samba for a summer night, the gallivanting title track a pastoral Laura Nyro. Gracing every track, moreover, are Scott's frenetically funky piano fills.

If What a Beautiful Place is a perfect artefact of its time, complete with a hazy cover image of Howe by the lake at Kenwood House, even then it was out of step with fashion. Happily, as the gorgeous bonus track 'In the Hot Summer' attests, Howe survived the disappointment of her debut's premature death and has recorded further albums.

by Barney Hoskyns

Tracks
1. Prologue - 0:47
2. Up North - 4:06
3. On A Misty Morning - 2:34
4. Nothing More Than Strangers - 2:10
5. My Child - 2:36
6. Interlude - 0:45
7. It's Not Likely - 3:52
8. Words Through A Locked Door (Bobby Scott, Catherine Howe) - 3:49
9. What A Beautiful Place - 3:28
10.The Innocence Of A Child - 2:32
11.It Comes With The Breezes - 3:28
12.Epilogue - 0:51
13.In The Hot Summer - 2:57
All songs by Catherine Howe except track #8

Musicians
*Catherine Howe - Vocals
*Stan Gorman - Drums
*Mike Ward - Bass
*Lance D'Owen - Guitar
*Bobby Scott - Piano, Vibraphone

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Point Blank - Point Blank (1976 us, tough southern boogie rock, 2006 issue)

Point Blank was formed in 1974 in Texas and toured with ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynard, Marshall Tucker and other Southern rock bands for two years before releasing their self-titled debut album in 1976. Following the release of their second album, Second Season, they become one of the most booked, and consistent touring acts in Southern rock history. 

They would play over two-hundred concerts a year. They played with nearly every known Southern rock band and became close friends with many of them. They shared the same management with ZZ TOP and are still friends with them to this day. Before the release of their third album, Airplay, the bassist Phillip Petty quit and was replaced by Bill Randolph. The keyboardist Steve Hardin was brought in and they recorded his song, "Mean to Your Queenie", which the band plays at every concert. The Hard Way released in 1980 had a new keyboardist, Karl Berkebile and shortly after the vocalist John O'Daniel left the band and was replaced by Bubba Keith. 

Around 1981 their music took a turn into album oriented rock (AOR), which is an album format with greater commercial appeal, and Mike Hamilton became the new keyboardist. Their next album, American Exce$$, produced the hit song, "Nicole" which charted at #20 on Billboard Magazine's rock tracks chart and at #39 on Billboard's Hot 100. In 1982 their final album, On A Roll was released but internal turmoil would cause the band to break up in 1983.

Final-Vinyl

Tracks
1. Free Man (James Burns, John O'Daniel) - 5:08
2. Moving (James Burns, Kim Davis, Peter Gruen, John O'Daniel, Phillip Petty) - 2:57
3. Wandering (James Burns, Kim Davis, Peter Gruen, John O'Daniel, Phillip Petty) - 5:19
4. Bad Bees (James Burns, Phillip Petty) - 2:31
5. That's The Law (James Burns, Kim Davis, Peter Gruen, John O'Daniel, Phillip Petty) - 3:41
6. Lone Star Fool (Kim Davis, John O'Daniel) - 4:18
7. Distance (James Burns, Kim Davis, Peter Gruen, John O'Daniel, Phillip Petty) - 5:12
8. In This World (Kim Davis, John O'Daniel) - 3:09

The Point Blank
*Rusty Burns - Guitar
*Kim Davis - Guitar
*John O'Daniel - Vocals
*Buzzy Gruen - Drums
*Phillip Petty - Bass

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Dillinger - Don't Lie To The Band (1976 canada, good hard rock with prog shades)

Dillinger was formed by the Harrison brothers - Jacques (vocals, flute, sax, organ) and Robert (drums) in 1973. Although they were originally from Montreal, they'd moved to Toronto to try and access a bigger rock and roll audience, and along with guitarist Paul Cockburn and Terry Bramhall on bass and accordian, they worked the circuit and Cliff Hunt agreed to manage them.

They were spotted playing one night by Frank Davies, president of Daffodil Records. He signed them to a deal and produced their self-titled debut album in 1974. The music was highly progressive with psychadelic undertones, heavy on organ and guitars. But with only four tracks, including the 17-minute epic "Live and Return," only their cover of Spirit's "Nature's Way" was short enough for radio airplay. It didn't get it, and no singles were released. Although the lead-off "People" however did wind up on a Daffodil compilation album later that year, the album came and went without a whimper.

After another year of constant touring around the central Canada region, they returned with DON'T LIE TO THE BAND in '76. With Davies again at the helm, this time it featured Terry Brown (Klaatu, Rush, and a million others) and John Woloschuk helping in the studio. Recording had been over four months in the process, and the music was shifting toward a more accessible sound. Like its predecessor, the bulk of the material was written by either Cockburn or Jacques Harrison, but also featured a cover of The Beatles' "Taxman" and Spooky Tooth's "Two Time Love." The tender ballad "Coming Home" also showed a new side of the band. The songs were shorter, were generally moving towards a heavier and simpler sound, and were more radio friendly, but no singles were released.

by Doug Grant, Alain Mallette, Sean Trane

Tracks
1. Two Time Love (Mick Jones, Mike Patto, Gary Wright) - 3:12
2. Taxman (George Harrison) - 3:05
3. It's Not All Mine (Paul Cockburn) - 3:37
4. Munchkin Men (Paul Cockburn) - 9:32
5. You Lied (Terry Bramhall, Paul Cockburn, Jacques Harrison) - 8:04
6. Robot Race (Terry Bramhall, Jacques Harrison) - 6:04
7. Coming Home (Paul Cockburn) - 7:50
8. Bumpadidilly (Paul Cockburn) - 3:10

Dillinger
*Jacques Harrison - Mellotron, Minimoog, Piano, Organ, Harpsichord, Tenor,  Alto Saxophones, Flute, Accordion, Vocals
*Bob Harrison - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
*Paul Cockburn - Guitars, Vocals
*Terry Bramhall - Bass, Accordion, Vocals

1974  Dillinger - Dillinger

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Dillinger - Dillinger (1974 canada, exceptional hard prog rock)

Dillinger was a Canadian progressive band from Toronto, Ontario. The band's debut self-titled album was originally released on the Daffodil Records label in 1974. The album contains three original songs composed by the band and a superb cover of the song "Nature's Way," originally done by Spirit on The 12 Dreams of Dr Sardonicus album. 

Dillinger's music is a complex, guitar-and-organ fronted progressive sound which moves from jazz to blues and features a variety of instruments including piano, synthesizers, flute, sax, acoustic and electric guitars bass, and percussion. In places the band sounds like Santana, while in other places like Iron Butterfly or Emerson, Lake & Palmer.Dillinger has a unique sound for a Canadian band that attracted more attention in Europe than it did in North America. 

With long songs and drawn-out solos, Dillinger is more or less one of your typical early-'70s progressive bands, nothing special, but nonetheless interesting and typical of the genre. This release by Unidisc is a straight reissue of the original album at a budget price and contains no bonus tracks. 

by Keith Pettipas

Tracks
1. People (Jacques Harrison) - 6:14
2. City Main (Jacques Harrison) - 4:50
3. Nature's Way (Randy California) - 3:17
4. Live and Return (Paul Cockburn, Jacques Harrison) - 17:02

Dillinger
*Jacques Harrison - Keyboards, Vocals, Sax, Flute, Organ
*Robert Harrison - Drums, Percussions, Vocals
*Paul Cockburn - Electric, 12, 6 Strings Acoustic Guitars
*Terry Bramhall – Bass, Vocals
With
*Bruce Ley - Piano, Synthesizer
*R.M.I. - Piano
*David Classic - Trombone
*John Stewart - Vocals
*Carla Jansen - Vocals
*Judy Donnely - Vocals

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Blue Goose - Blue Goose (1975 uk, excellent hard boogie jam rock, 2005 japan remaster)

Guitarist Allan Callan with Eddie Clarke, keyboard player Nicky Hogarth, and drummer Chris Perry, attended a recorded jam session at Command Studios in Piccadilly. As a result of the tracks from this session, the quartet secured a deal with Anchor Records, and called the band Blue Goose. With a recording contract secured, Clarke, Hogarth and Perry left Zeus to focus on their own project with Callan.

An argument soon erupted between Clarke and Callan, because Callan did not have any amplifiers. Clarke had allowed him to share his during rehearsals, but Clarke then found he could not hear his solos because Callan was drowning him out. The argument ended with Clarke being sacked. Still short of amps, the band asked him to re-join a few days later. Clarke refused, feeling that they were doing Anchor Records an injustice because they had been paid an advance to record an album, but had done nothing productive towards making it. 

Blue Goose finally released their eponymous album through Anchor in 1974, crediting an instrumental track, entitled "Over The Top", to Clarke-Hogarth-Perry. A jamming crunchy guitar rock, strong vocal presence, great dynamics, keyboards and harmonica, shame this was a one-off!. The group didn’t last so they disbanded soon after. 

Tracks
1. Struttin' Stuff - 5:12
2. The Chorus - 6:42
3. Call On Me - 4:32
4. Loretta - 3:47
5. Snowman - 4:48
6. Over The Top (Chris Perry, Eddie Clarke, Nicky Hogarth) - 2:27
7. Let Me Know - 3:38
8. Inside Yourself - 9:20
All songs by Alan Callan except track #6

The Blue Goose
Allan Callan - Guitar, Vocals, Harp, Synthi
Nicky Hogarth - Keyboards
Chris Perry - Drums
Nick South - Bass
Mike Todman - Acoustic, Electric Guitars
With
Alexis Korner - Vocals
Steve Marriott - Vocals
Sean Locke - Drums

1974  Curtis Knight Zeus - The Second Coming (2009 bonus track edition)

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John G. Perry - Sunset Wading (1976 uk, beautiful canterbury avant garde prog rock, 2008 japan SHM remaster)

With a pedigree that includes playing with Caravan, Quantum Jump and Curved Air as well session work on albums by highly regarded artists such as Anthony Phillips and Gordan Giltrap, the name of bassist John G Perry will be familiar to many. What may not be so well known is that Perry recorded a solo album way back in 1976 that was somewhat lost in the musical climate of the time. The various bands he had played in and the musicians he had met during sessions allowed him to assemble an impressive cast of friends to perform on the album, among which were Caravan bandmate Geoffrey Richardson, producer and multi-instrumentalist Rupert Hine, arranger, conductor and future founder of The Penguin Cafe Orchestra Simon Jeffes, percussionist extraordinaire Morris Pert, original King Crimson drummer Michael Giles plus two members of Italian progressive band Nova, saxophonist Elio D'Anna and guitarist Carrado (or Corrado) Rusticci.

Competing in the market place against debut albums by The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned, the rural airs and graces of the largely instrumental Sunset Wading never really stood a chance. The four vocal numbers are all very brief: I Wait My Friend features Beryle Streeter who does a remarkable impression of a theremin on this plaintive opening number. Confusingly, the words to How Goes The Night? feature in the song Devoke Water and the spoken poem On The Moor is recited in Morning Song! Thankfully the words to Sunset Wading are sung during the song of the same name and form a quite mellow end to the album with a track that is charmingly beautiful and serene.

The rest of the album is a mixture of various textures, from the piano and flute of Birds And Small Furry Beasts, the musical storm of, er Storm, the rocky Ah Well, You Can Only Get Wet! and the jazz fusion of Etude, there are certainly enough styles to keep one's interest alight. Throughout, the playing is exceptional, with hats off in particular to Simon Jeffes whose arrangements for the string quartet are entirely sympathetic to the music performed by the rest of the band. Perry himself contributes some fine bass playing in a variety of styles creating rhythms that are often funky and always great. The second side of the album, starting with Dawn, is a musical concept undoubtedly inspired by the Rupert Hine poem The Land Of The Lakes. Based around a day in the Lake District, and featuring unedited sound backdrops recorded on location and revealing "the first cock-crow at Down-in-the-Dale to the last breakfast hungry farm hound". Much of the music has a feel of being improvised or jammed, but with musicians of such calibre that is not a criticism, but a bonus, particularly as there maintains a cohesion between tracks, despite the different styles. That has a lot to do with the work of Richardson who, I feel, has always been immensely undervalued as a musician.

Sunset Wading is an album that fits in neatly with the music of Perry's most famous previous band mates, that of Caravan. Although not some great long lost classic album, it does provide 40 minutes of largely unchallenging, familiarly rural and interesting music. Had it been released a few years earlier then it would have undoubtedly made a bigger impact, but as is the case for a large number of albums that were out of their time, it has largely laid unnoticed for many years. Now's the time for rectification! 

by Mark Hughes

Tracks
1. I Wait My Friend - 2:24
2. How Goes the Night? - 0:15
3. Devoke Water (John G. Perry, Michael Giles, Rupert Hine, Simon Jeffes) - 4:51
4. Birds and Small Furry Beasts (Corrado Rustici, Elio D'Anna, John G. Perry, Rupert Hine) - 3:19
5. As Clouds Gather - 3:45
6. Storm - 2:59
7. Ah Well, You Can Only Get Wet! (Corrado Rustici, Elio D'Anna, John G. Perry, Michael Giles, Morris Pert, Rupert Hine) - 1:56
8. Dawn (John G. Perry, Michael Giles, Rupert Hine, Simon Jeffes) - 7:05
9. Morning Song (John G. Perry, Simon Jeffes) - 3:09
10.On the Moor (Corrado Rustici, Elio D'Anna, John G. Perry, Michael Giles, Morris Pert, Rupert Hine) - 1:53
11.Roundelay - 0:51
12.Etude - 3:33
13.A Rhythmic Stroll (Corrado Rustici, Elio D'Anna, John G. Perry, Michael Giles, Morris Pert, Rupert Hine) - 1:12
14.Sunset Wading - 2:35
All compositions by John G. Perry except where noted

Personnel
*John G. Perry - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Piano, Vocals
*Elio D'anna - Wind
*Michael Giles - Drums,
*Roger Glover - Synthesizer
*Rupert Hine - Celeste, Keyboards, Moog Bass, Piano, Synthesizer, Vocals
*Simon Jeffes - Conductor, Koto, String Quartet
*Morris Pert - Marimba, Percussion, Vibe Master
*Geoff Richardson - Flute, Viola
*Geoffrey Richardson - Flute, Viola
*Corrado Rustici - Guitar
*Beryl Streeter - Sangbe Drum, Vocals
*Gavyn Wright - Violin

Related Act
1973  Caravan - For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night (SHM extra tracks issue)
1974  Caravan - Caravan And The New Symphonia (SHM remaster)

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Jane - Here We Are (1973 germany, astonishing heavy krautrock, 2007 remaster)

The history of one of Germany's most successful bands of the 1970's was shaped by numerous changes in the line-up, a willingness to take stylistic risks, and an attitude towards their work that was characterised by honesty and professionalism. The naked figures read like this - twelve albums with total sales exceeding two million and an average of 150 concerts each year, each of them usually sold out.

Musically speaking, Jane were never a band to do the expected, but they still had some recognisable trademarks. Breathtaking guitar solos, powerful keyboards, polished and mighty arrangements and an almost constantly dragging tempo added up to the typical Jane touch and were characteristic for a melodic hard rock that had no equal in Germany.

Jane were formed in October of 1970 in Hanover out of the remains of the band Justice Of Peace. Klaus Hess (g), Peter Panka (dr) and Werner Nadolny (org) were looking for a new challenge and got together with Charly Maucher (b). In the Spring of 1971, they were joined by Bernd Pulst, a singer with a powerful voice. Shortly after that, the quintet signed a long-term record contract. After almost one year of work, Jane's debut album "Together" was released in the spring of 1972. The German rock world reacted positively to the technically well-versed newcomers and their "unvarnished style of making music"

For the second LP, Wolfgang Krantz had to fill in for Maucher, who was sick, and Panka took the place of Bernd Pulst as lead singer. The initial success and their convincing live performances made Jane an attraction on the national touring scene. The band constantly commuted back and forth between stage and studio and absorbed numerous changes in the line-up effortlessly and without any quality loss. 

Jane-Music

Tracks
1. Redskin - 8:55
2. Out In The Rain - 5:43
3. Dandelion - 2:19
4. Moving - 3:56
5. Waterfall - 4:27
6. Like A Queen - 2:37
7. Here We Are - 5:38
8. Here We Are (Singe Edit) - 3:50
9. Redskin (Single Edit) - 2:40
All songs by Klaus Hess, Peter Panka, Werner Nadolny, Wolfgang Krantz.
Bonustracks 8-9

Jane
*Klaus Hess - Lead Guitar, Bass
*Wolfgang Krantz - Lead Guitar, Bass
*Werner Nadolny - Organ, Mellotron
*Peter Panka - Drums, Vocals
Guests
*Brigitte Blunck - Backing Vocals
*Ariane Gottberg - Backing Vocals
*Peter Heinemann - Backing Vocals
*Miriam Kalenberg - Backing Vocals
*Günter Körber - Backing Vocals
*Angelika Winkler - Backing Vocals
*Dieter Dierks - Electronics

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Tranquility - Tranquility (1972 uk, marvelous folk soft rock, 2004 remaster)

If you ever wondered what the love child of the Bee Gees and Crosby, Stills and Nash would sound like, wonder no more – the pointy-headed creature would sound like Tranquility.

The story of short-lived career of Tranquility is a difficult one to track; now largely forgotten, the band has neither a biography at AllMusic or a Wikipedia page. A fairly short history of the band’s 1971-1974 duration can be found on a page dedicated to Vanity Fare, but aside from that, little exists on the Internet about Tranquility.

The dichotomy of a band that references the Bee Gees and CSN in equal measure is not surprising, considering the band’s origins. According to the Vanity Fare page:

“The band was formed in 1971 by Ashley Kozak, formerly Donovan’s manager, and built around the song writing abilities of Terry Shaddick. Kozak had long wished for a “…gentle tranquil band that could create it own hybrid of pop, rock and English folk music” (CBS Inner Sleeve Issue III, 1973), and in Shaddick, he saw the focal point for creation of just such a band.”

From the meager info provided by AllMusic, it appears that Shaddick had a hand in all of the songs featured on Tranquility, and satisfied the intent of Kozak’s wishes, if not the spirit; Shaddick and company rarely hybridize pop, rock and English folk, but hit each of the points individually, song-by-song.

The best songs on Tranquility lean more toward folk; album opener “Try Again” is all innocuous confessional lyrics married to acoustic guitars and tight harmonies. Likewise, “Look at the Time, It’s Late” mimics the best of the Bee Gees’ late-60s-early 70s pop. Just as many times, the album aims for CSN or the Bee Gees and misses; “Lady of the Lake,” “Ride Upon the Sun,” and “Walk Along the Road” are pleasant but forgettable.

“Oyster Catcher” and “Black Current Betty” are almost jarringly out-of-place on an album full of CSN-lite offerings. Both songs recall 1967-68, when, inspired by Sgt. Pepper, every British album had to include a few music hall-type numbers full of twee Angliophilia. Of the two songs, “Black Current Betty” (which I’m almost certain should be “Black Currant Betty,” and the writer on the Vanity Fare page agrees) is the most listenable, even if “Penny Lane,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” or even “Hello Hello” by Sopwith Camel got there first and more memorably.

Tranquility is hardly a buried classic, even if the Vanity Fare page claims that  the band “blew more than one big-name U.S. band off the stage.” All this begs the question: are some bands/albums better lost to history?

In the case of Tranquility’s 1972 self-titled debut, that depends on your tolerance for an album that veers wildly between introspective singer-songwriter offerings featuring CSN-type harmonies and English pop that would have sounded at home on Chad & Jeremy’s Of Cabbages and Kings.

by Jeanna

Tracks
1. Try Again - 4:34
2. Ride Upon The Sun - 4:32
3. Where You Are (Where I Belong) - 6:24
4. Look At The Time It's Late (John Presley, Terry Shaddick) - 2:31
5. Lady Of The Lake - 3:24
6. Walk Along The Road - 3:24
7. Thank You (Tony Lukyn, Terry Shaddick) - 3:55
8. Oyster Catcher - 4:32
9. Black Currant Betty - 2:50
10.Saying Good-Bye - 5:42
All songs by Terry Shaddick except where stated

Tranquility
*Eric Dillon - Drums, Percussion
*Tony Lukyn - Vocals, Piano, Organ
*John Perry - Vocals, Guitar
*Terry Shaddick - Vocals, Lead Guitar
*Berkeley Wright - Vocals, Lead Guitar

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Johnny Jenkins - Ton Ton Macoute! (1970 us, amazing southern blues funky with country folk psych traces, feat Duane Allman, HDCD remaster)

Raised in rural Georgia, Johnny Jenkins was a hard-driving guitarist with a bellowing voice who played with a young Otis Redding in a blues group called the Pinetoppers. Jenkins' raw, firebrand vocals and enviable guitar-picking gave his solo debut, Ton-Ton Macoute!, a wallop that might've made him a star — if only slide guitarist Duane Allman and several other members of his backing band hadn't left to form the Allman Brothers. In Jenkins' capable hands, Bob Dylan's "Down Along the Cove" and Dr. John's "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" (later sampled by Beck for "Loser") can get even the stiffest legs shakin'

by Reed Fischer

Johnny Jenkins' Ton-Ton Macoute is a fine bowl of Southern gumbo. Aided and abetted by the likes of Duane Allman (this started as an Allman solo disc, but when he formed the Allman Brothers Band, Jenkins put his vocals over the tracks best suited), Dickey Betts, and those great guys from Muscle Shoals, Jenkins cooks on such cuts as "Down Along the Cove" from the pen of Bob Dylan, and Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone." But it is Dr. John's "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" which shines here and is the one which folks will recognize as the basis for Beck's hit "Loser." On the slippery "Blind Bats & Swamp Rats" you can almost feel the heat and humidity rolling out of the bayou. This reissue also includes the mighty fine bonus cuts "I Don't Want No Woman" and "My Love Will Never Die." Great Southern funk & roll for the discerning listener. It even includes educational liner notes which tell the tale behind each cut. 

by James Chrispell

Tracks
1. I Walk On Guilded Splinters (Dr. John) - 5:50
2. Leaving Trunk (Sleepy John Estes) - 4:20
3. Blind Bats And Swamp Rats (Jackie Avery) - 4:45
4. Catfish Blues (Muddy Waters) - 5:20
5. Sick And Tired (Dave Bartholomew, Chris Kenner) - 4:42
6. Down Along The Cove (Bob Dylan) - 3:25
7. Bad News (J.D. Loudermilk) - 4:08
8. Dimples (John Lee Hooker, James Bracken) - 2:56
9. Voodoo In You (Jackie Avery) - 5:05
10.I Don't Want No Woman (Don Robey) - 2:12
11.My Love Will Never Die (Otis Rush) - 5:32

Personnel
*Johnny Jenkins - Vocals, Guitar , Harmonica, Foot Stomping , Lead Guitar
*Duane Allman - Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Dobro, Rhythm Guitar
*Berry Oakley - Bass
*Jai Johanny Johanson - Timbales
*Butch Trucks - Drums
*Paul Hornsby - Wurlitzer Piano, Hammond B-3 Organ, Rhythm Guitar
*Eddie Hinton - Cowbell
*Tippy Armstrong - Cabasa
*Pete Carr - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
*Robert Popwell – Bass, Timbales, Shaker , Woodblocks
*Johnny Wyker – Shaker,  Woodblocks
*Jimmy Nalls - Guitar
*Ella Brown - Vocals
*Donna Jean Godchaux – Vocals
*Jeanie Greene - Vocals
*Mary Holliday - Vocals
*Ginger Holliday - Vocals
*Johnny Sandlin - Drums

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