The rarest, and I would dare to say best, folk/psych album from Peter Howell and John Ferdinando, musical brainchildren behind Ithaca, Agincourt, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Tomorrow Come Someday. This fifth Howell/Ferdinando album had just been completed in or around 1974 when the partnership came to an end. Howell had been working at the BBC as a studio manager since 1970 (he'd provided a stiff upper lip voiceover for John Peels Top Gear shows), but he was now offered a position with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which he accepted, and still holds. An album so incredibly rare (only a single acetate exists), that many have doubted the album’s existence… until now! “Friends” still has the recognizable Ithaca and/or Agincourt sound, with lead vocals mainly by Peter Howell mostly, but with all the same elements and participants, and four tracks featuring the lovely vocals of Ruth Cubbin. A pastoral psychedelic folk stroll in the sunshine, with a few tracks reminiscent of 60's soft psych. Very good!!”
Tracks
1. You Need Friends - 3:00
2. A Tale Of Your Life (Ruth Cubbin, Peter Howell) - 2:39
3. Summer Sunday Blues - 2:20
4. One Sweet Day - 2:17
5. Memories - 2:10
6. Lonely Road - 3:10
7. In The Morning - 3:22
8. Come Inside - 2:43
9. Take A Walk - 3:31
10.River Song - 2:41
11.Once In A Winter Town (Ruth Cubbin, Peter Howell) - 2:02
12.Time To Run - 3:01
All compositions byPeter Howell except where noted
Euclid's one and only album is among the very best of the late 1960's - early 1970's heavy rock albums of all time. Based out of Haverhill, Massachusetts, the musicians themselves come from a diverse New England garage & psych-rock background. Bassist Harold Perino Jr. (aka "Maris"), came from The Ones, a central Mass. garage band who also had a rare garage LP on the Ashwood House label. The other members were from southern Maine. Garage rockers Gary Leavitt on lead vocals & guitar, and his brother Jay Leavitt on drums were in the Cobras together. Ralph Mazzota from the psych-tinged Maine group Lazy Smoke is outright dazzling on blistering lead guitar.
Pedigree aside, this is a powerful and inventive psychedelic heavy rock album that stands on its own as a great work. Euclid was signed to Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman Records subsidiary label, Amsterdam Records, distributed by Mainstream Records, and was one of the few, if not only "rock" releases on either label (a notable exception being the rare Minx soundtrack by The Cyrkle). With its tremendous rumbling in-your-face riffing fuzz guitars; screaming solos, backwards bits, thick fuzz bass, pounding drums and oddly-effected vocals, the album, produced by the legendary Bobby Herne, with finishing touches to the mix by Les Paul, Jr; stands proudly with one foot in the 1960s & one in the 1970s, crafting their sound with a heavy-handed metallic attitude.
One of the coolest things about this album is the overall evidence of the various background influences brought in by each of the group members. In Euclid, you get the very best of it all. You have the raw & ferocious high energy garage element mixed with a very clear and real psychedelic conviction of the drug saturated times. These characteristics combined with a new heavy/hard rock discipline & focus, resulted in one of the best early heavy rock albums ever recorded in the United States. The combined members' various instrumental contributions are equally matched by their amazingly supportive crystalline four-vocal harmonies. The background vocal quality is quite effectively offset by the lead vocals "take no prisoners" brutal male vocal styling. Bobby Herne's production on this record, with lots of twists & turns, is absolutely top notch and gives the music its deep unstoppable heavy forward momentum. The first track is a real winner, clocking in at over 11 minutes, blasting forth with super heavy monster riffs.
There's also hints of an eastern psych groove with cool sitar playing, and their version of "Gimme Some Lovin'" sounds as if it were done by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. With their old friend Bobby Herne in the producer's chair (he also produced The Shaggs "Philosophy Of The World" LP), they create a "bad trip" spiked with backwards tape effects, darkly-phased vocals, all instruments set from overkill to "pummel", and an album title certainly eligible for the 'truth-in-advertising' award with its 'earth moving' characteristics. Their original songs are incredibly inventive with lots of twists and turns. The album itself stands as a perfect monument which musically represents the transition from hard heavy psych to hard heavy rock. This is an LP you'll play over & over, and never get tired of! In short, the group Euclid was one of the true "unsung" cornerstones that really helped pave the way for the up and coming US hard rock movement. This is an LP you'll play over & over and never get tired of it!
Gary Leavitt, Bobby Hearne, and Maris have all passed on due to various circumstances over the years. Gary Leavitt was killed in a 1975 motorcycle accident, which effectively ended the band, who were a popular live attraction in the Northeast up until then. Jay Leavitt still performs occasionally with his group Bluezberry Jam in the Maine area. The Leavitt brothers along with Bobby Herne, first appeared together in 1966 as the Cobras, releasing the New England garage classic "I Wanna Be Your Love" bw/ "Instant Heartache" on the Big Beat label, one of the most incredible and out of control garage 45's ever recorded.
Tracks
1. Shadows Of Life - 3:02
2. On The Way (Ralph Mazzota) - 4:37
3. Bye Bye Baby - 4:38
4. Gimme Some Lovin' (Stevie Winwood) - 4:24
5. First Time Last Time - 3:37
6. Lazy Livin - 5:57
7. 97 Days - 3:10
8. She's Gone - 2:47
9. It's All Over Now (Bobby Womack, Shirley Womack) - 4:24
All songs by Gary Leavitt except where indicated
This is an amazing reissue, three times over -- for psychedelic music buffs, British R&B and soul enthusiasts, and fans of the progressive rock band Gentle Giant (which evolved out of Simon Dupree & the Big Sound). And it's also incredibly long overdue. Best-known for their Oriental ersatz pop-psychedelic classic "Kites," Simon Dupree & the Big Sound actually started out as a blues and R&B-based outfit, not too different from the Spencer Davis Group. This double-CD set covers their complete EMI output, most of which has never been reissued, and almost all of which is very impressive (and even manages to intersect obliquely with Apple Records' orbit).
The group's early soul-oriented sides are killers, exciting, totally convincing pieces of British-made R&B that, in the case of "Love" and "Medley: 60 Minutes of Your Love/A Lot of Love," should have placed them head-to-head with the likes of Steve Winwood and the Spencer Davis Group. Even when they move into a slightly trippier sound, on "There's a Little Picture Playhouse," the group still utilizes a basic soul backing. And "Kites," coming along in the middle of the first disc, is such a radical departure from everything before it, that it's astonishing to hear in this context, even knowing the song well -- the rest of the CD is made up of trippy psychedelic ballads with Mellotron accompaniment, often with punchy acoustic rhythm guitars. It's all very pretty and inventive in a pop context, and rivals or surpasses the psychedelic sides of Rainbow Ffolly and most other EMI artists of the era this side of the Beatles and maybe the Move.
The highlight of the group's post-"Kites" output was the single "Part of My Past," which was recorded during sessions for what was to have been their second album, Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friend. That entire unreleased album is here, as the first 16 tracks on Disc Two, and they are a wonder -- the best parts include a gorgeous pop-psych ballad called "What in This World" that doesn't even have a songwriting credit; "Wha Cha Gonna Do," with its "Strawberry Fields Forever" opening and impassioned vocals; the almost-lewd "Don't Make It So Hard (On Me Baby)," with a vocal that was a holdover from the group's soul era; the bouncy, vaguely Bee Gees-like "Kindness"; and the trippy, spacey "Castle in the Sky," one of the finest pieces of psychedelic pop/rock ever to come out of EMI (or, more properly, never to come out from EMI -- until now).
The latter should have been another "King Midas in Reverse," but thanks to the failure of "Part of My Past," the whole LP was shelved. The rest of the second disc is comprised of a short string of disappointing pop/rock singles -- vaguely reminiscent of the late-'60s Hollies -- imposed upon the group by their management, concluding with their extrovert rendition of the James Taylor-authored "Something in the Way She Moves Me," backed with a progressive-sounding, organ-heavy B-side, "I'm Going Home," authored by Reginald Dwight in the period before he became Elton John. This is followed by the complete contents of the group's only released LP, Without Reservations, which repeats the same R&B-era singles and B-sides (i.e., their pre-"Kites" work) from Disc One, only in their punchier mono mixes. The remastering is impeccable, the packaging beautifully illustrated with period photos of the band, and thorough annotation by David Wells.
by Bruce Eder
Tracks
Disc 1
1. I See The Light (John Durrill, Michael Rabon, Norman Ezell) - 2:16
2. It Is Finished (Evelyn King, Paul Smith) - 3:01
3. Reservations (Albert Hammond) - 2:24
4. You Need A Man (Evelyn King, Paul Smith) - 2:30
5. Day Time, Night Time (Mike Hugg) - 2:15
6. I've Seen It All Before (Evelyn King, Paul Smith) - 2:47
7. Medley: 60 Minutes Of Your Love / A Lot Of Love (David Porter, Isaac Haye, Homer Banks) - 4:35
8. Love (Jackie Edwards) - 3:04
9. Get Off My Back (Evelyn King, Ray Shulman) - 2:01
10.There's A Little Picture Playhouse (Eric Hine) - 2:13
11.What Is Soul (Ben E. King, Bob Gallo) - 2:35
12.Teacher, Teacher (Derek Shulman, Philip Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:04
13.Amen (Sam Cooke) - 2:25
14.Who Cares (Evelyn King, Ray Shulman) - 2:34
15.Kites (Hal Hackaday, Lee Pockriss) - 3:44
16.Like The Sun Like The Fire (Evelyn King, Paul Smith) - 2:26
17.For Whom The Bell Tolls (Evelyn King, Paul Smith) - 3:06
18.Sleep (Derek Shulman, Eric Hine) - 3:01
19.Part Of My Past (Evelyn King, Paul Smith) - 3:17
20.This Story Never Ends (Eric Hine, Ray Shulman) - 2:08
21.Thinking About My Life (Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:34
22.Velvet And Lace (Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:11
23.We Are The Moles (Part 1) (Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 4:30
24.We Are The Moles (Part 2) (Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:43
26.She Gave Me The Sun (Derek Shulman, Philip Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:36
27.The Eagle Flies Tonight (Tony Hazard) - 2:22
28.Give It All Back (Derek Shulman, Philip Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:41
Disc 2
1. Stained Glass Window (Don Grady, Gary Zekley) - 2:05
2. Please Come Back (Yaniv Shulman) - 2:41
3. Light On Dark Water (Evelyn King, Paul Smith) - 1:52
4. What In This World (Unknown) - 3:11
5. What Cha Gonna Do (Evelyn King, Paul Smith) - 2:46
6. Don't Make It So Hard (On Me Baby) (Willia Parker, Eddie Floyd) - 3:01
7. Kindness (Unknown) - 2:30
8. Castle In The Sky (Evelyn King, Paul Smith) - 2:44
9. Loneliness Is Just A State Of Mind (Evelyn King, John King, Paul Smith) - 2:55
10.Laughing Boy From Nowhere (Derek Shulman, Philip Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:48
11.You (Derek Shulman, Philip Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:11
12.Can't You See (Derek Shulman, Philip Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:49
13.Now (Derek Shulman, Philip Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:27
14.Rain (Derek Shulman, Philip Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 3:18
15.Something In The Way She Moves (James Taylor) - 2:35
16.I'm Going Home (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 3:42 Without Reservations LP (Mono) 1967
17.Medley: 60 Minutes Of Your Love / A Lot Of Love (David Porter, Isaac Hayes, Homer Banks) - 4:35
18.Love (Jackie Edwards) - 3:04
19.Get Off My Bach (Evelyn King, Ray Shulman) - 2:00
20.There's A Little Picture Playhouse (Eric Hine) - 2:13
21.Day Time, Night Time (Mike Hugg) - 2:31
22.I See The Light (John Durrill, Michael Rabon, Norman Ezell) - 2:21
23.What Is Soul (Ben E. King, Bob Gallo) - 2:34
24.Teacher, Teacher (Derek Shulman, Philip Shulman, Ray Shulman) - 2:11
25.Amen (Sam Cooke) - 2:24
26.Who Cares (Evelyn King, Ray Shulman) - 2:31
27.Reservations (Albert Hammond) - 2:30
The Simon Dupree And The Big Sound
*Phil Shulman - Alto, Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet, Trumpet, Mellophone, Piano, Percussion, Vocals
*Eric Eric Hine - Keyboards, Mellotron
*Derek Shulman - Vocals
*Tony Ransley - Drums
*Ray Shulman - Bass
*Peter O'Flaherty - Bass
Tracy Nelson doesn't touch everyone, but once she does, she carries you away. She can be sexual and spiritual not successively but on the same note and breath; she seems to suffer and to transcend suffering simultaneously. Vocally, Mother Earth is now Tracy Nelson, and although in theory I miss the male voices--especially Robert St. John's, whose songwriting always added something too--I'm not really complaining. Yet this record is a slight disappointment. I love it, but I know that my prejudices are strong and that only once--on her own composition, "Andy's Song"--does Tracy burst calmly into free space as she does so often on the two previous Mother Earth lps and on Tracy Nelson Country. Recommended unequivocally to her cadre and equivocally to the benighted.
by Robert Christgau
Tracks
1. Satisfied (Martha Carson) - 3:59
2. Groovy Way (S. Taylor) - 4:20
3. Get Out Of Here (Bobby Charles) - 4:23
4. Ruler Of My Heart (Naomi Neville) - 6:24
5. Andy's Song (Tracy Nelson) - 4:31
6. Take Me In Your Arms, Rock Me A Little While (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland) - 3:11
7. You Won't Be Passing Here No More (J. Thomas) - 5:00
8. This Feeling (Scott Miller) - 6:30
Personnel
*Tracy Nelson - Vocals
*Andy Mcmahon - Piano, Organ
*Bob Cardwell - Guitar
*John Andrews - Guitar
*James Day - Pedal Steel
*Ben Keith - Dobro
*Dave Zettner - Bass
*Karl Himmel - Drums
*Farrell Morris - Percussion
*The Earthmen (Dave Zettner, Bob Cardwell, Andy Mcmahon) - Backing Vocals
This Boston based psychedelic / early progressive band known as The Bead Game originated in 1968 at Harvard and was conceived by Newton native and classical musician Robert Gass who then gave up the classical for Rock and Roll. The name came from the book The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse. Eastern spirituality was the theme then and band leader Robert Gass continues that theme nearly 50 years later as an internationally recognized coach with leaders fostering organizational transformation, and enabling human development. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that Rock & Roll doesn’t prepare you for a successful career in both organizational and personal transformation.
The Bead Game were managed by Ray Paret (Amphion) who managed and developed many groups and individual artists including the J. Geils Band, Andy Pratt, Ultimate Spinach, Quill, and Bob McCarthy among many others—most of whom are featured elsewhere on this website. The group built a local following before attracting the attention of Avco/Embassy Records and producer Gary Katz. In 1970 they appeared in the film The People Next Door. It was also in 1970 that saw the release of the band’s only proper album, Welcome, on the Avco/Embassy label. This album showcased a late crossover sound and featured drummer Jim Hodder (December 17, 1947 – June 5, 1990) singing lead vocals on all tracks.
Who knew that the band would be so influential and an eventual catalyst for a band of far wider significance. In 1972, Hodder accepted an invitation from Gary Katz and Boston guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter to relocate to Los Angeles and join the newly forming Steely Dan. Hodder appeared on their first three albums, left the group in 1974, and worked as a session musician before his untimely death.
What’s interesting is that The Bead Game were most definitely a sum of the parts of the group than any one individual’s showcase—Robert Gass (keyboards), John Sheldon (lead guitar), Lassie Sachs (bass), Kenny Westland-Haag (rhythm guitar), Jim Hodder (lead vocals and drums).
A review of The Bead Game that appeared within the Harvard Crimson on May 9, 1969 pretty much sums it up. “Very few rock groups, and even fewer American ones, manage to make music that is not only complex in its musical structure but at the same time retains the visceral, frantic dynamism that one associates with true rock & roll. The Bead Game is one of the finest groups in the country precisely because its music is just such an extraordinary synthesis of complexity and dynamics.”
Copies of both the Bead Game’s Welcome as well as their 2nd self-titled album, which was recorded in 1971 but got shelved until its release 44 years afterward, are both currently available from Amazon.
by Karl E. Sharicz
Tracks
1. Punchin' Judy (Joel Sachs, Ken Haag) - 5:21
2. Lady (Bob Gass, Ken Haag) - 4:29
3. Wax Circus (Ken Haag) - 4:35
4. Mora (Ken Haag) - 4:25
5. Natural Song (Ken Haag) - 4:00
6. Country Girls (Ken Haag) - 2:42
7. Amos And Andy (Joel Sachs, Ken Haag) - 4:51
8. Slipping (Joel Sachs, Ken Haag) - 8:40
9. Sweet Medusa (Scott English, Larry Weiss, Ken Haag) - 3:10
10.Echoes of Sweet Medusa (Scott English, Larry Weiss, Ken Haag) - 2:25
11.My Life in Review (Ken Haag) - 1:56
Bonus Tracks 9-11
The Bead Game
*Ken Haag - Rhythm Guitar
*John Sheldon - Lead Guitar
*Robert Gass - Keyboards
*Jim Hodder - Drums, Percussion, Lead Vocals
*Joel Sachs - Bass
Born in Walnut, Mississippi, he began his professional music career when he wrote and recorded his first record at the tender age of eleven, and also became the youngest member ever voted into the musicians union. After moving to Memphis, Tennesse, the young guitarist made his mark on the music world at the age of sixteen with his 1963 number one hit “Scratchy”.. By 1969, Wammack’s skills landed him in Muscle Shoals, Alabama where he teamed with legendary producer Rick Hall at Hall’s FAME Records. Travis’ guitar licks can be heard on hit records recorded by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Little Richard, Mac Davis, Clarence Carter, the Osmond Brothers, Bobbie Gentry, Candi Staton, Delbert McClinton, Liza Minnelli, Narvel Felts and many more. Wammack’s solo artist career (produced by Hall) also sky rocketed with the release of albums in 1971 and 1975. His second album titled "Not For Sale" was recorded at Muscle Shoals produced by Rick Hall and released on Capricorn Records.
by Greg Shaw
Tracks
1. Cookin' On The Front Burner (Leon Sherrill, Travis Wammack) - 3:14
2. A Lover's Question (Brook Benton, Jimmy Williams) - 2:57
3. Shotgun Woman (Al Cartee, Travis Wammack) - 2:59
4. I Forgot To Remember To Forget (Travis Wammack) - 2:57
5. Looking For A Fox (Clarence Carter, Marcus Daniel, Rick Hall, Wilbur Terrell) - 2:46
6. You've Got Your Troubles (Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway) - 3:43
7. (Shu-Do-Pa -Poo-Poop) Love Being Your Fool (Charlie Whitehead, Jerry Williams Jr.) - 3:19
8. Easy Evil (Alan O'Day) - 3:11
9. Love Rustler (Dennis Linde, Thomas Cain) - 3:23
10.Greenwood, Mississippi (Albert S. Lowe Jr., Travis Wammack) - 3:47
The British-German group introduces us here a lovely, relaxed, but quite complex rock with a clear jazz impact. Especially the middle parts of the songs show strong fusion elements, with brisk solos especially from the sax, pearling e-piano (it remains a mystery who uses this) and playful-nested runs of guitar and bass. In "Destruction", "Volcanoes Under The Sun" and "To Live Again", the music turns into a fast-paced brass rock in places with the participation of a big band or a second saxophonist.
All the numbers exhale a comforting lightness, which also does not change the earthy-smoky vocals of McGuigano, despite the jazzy arrangements, it suits quite well in the ear. Comparisons? Well, Message sound like "Synapse" maybe like a less poppy version of Steely Dan with a strong jazz rock beat. Or how a mix of Lake and Weather Report? Anyway, "Synapse" is a refreshing, entertaining disc that avoids any shallowness and actually makes a lot of fun, even if the prog factor is not unconditionally overly high! Excellent bizarre cover!
Tracks
1. Fred The Head - 6:01
2. Chessmen - 4:07
3. Destruction - 5:31
4. To Live Again - 4:36
5. Volcanoes Under The Sun - 4:56
6. Triangle - 5:38
7. The Sailor And The Flyer - 7:51
8. The Pharaoh's Leg - 3:17
Music by Message, Lyrics by Tom McGuigan
The Message
*Alan Murdoch - Guitars
*Tommy McGuigan - Vocals, Sax
*Horst Stachelhaus - Bass
*Manfred v. Bohr - Drums, Percussion With
*Tony Greaves - Sax, Flute (Tracks 5, 7)
*The Anonymous Big Brass Band - Brass (Tracks 3, 5)
Any acquisition of live recordings from the late 'sixties and/or early 'seventies is fraught with danger as you never really know what the quality is going to be like. But as it turned out, there was no need for me to be apprehensive about this collection. The two live CD's offer excellent sound which is quite acceptable played in the car. Sometimes with these type of "newly discovered" tapes the only way you can listen is on a good domestic sound system cranked up to 11, close your eyes and pretend you were there. In fact I certainly wish I had been at Ebbetts Field Denver or the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland when these gigs happened in '74 & '75.
Spirit were down to a trio by this time but that trio did consist of three original members - Mark Andes, Ed Cassidy and of course Randy California. These three guys go back a ways and they know intuitively what each other is going to do. The playing is quite simply sublime with a plenty of invention from all three. Andes and Cassidy do a lot more than just keep the beat behind Randy's solos and special effects. The spirit of the west coast circa '67 is very much in evidence in the feel of the music, and yes they do play a lovely version of "Fresh Garbage" from that classic first album. This one clocks in at just over 4 minutes - longer than the original studio version but well short of the extended rendition on "Live from the Time Coast" - still great though. However, if its improvisation you're looking for we are treated to 9 minutes of "Like a Rolling Stone" and over 13 minutes of "All Along the Watchtower". There are also some fine Randy California originals I'd never heard before and a few covers - "Satisfaction", "Happy" and "On the Road Again" - I'd never heard them play either. The way they do the intro to Canned Heat's "On the Road Again" you'd swear they were going to break into the Norman Greenbaum number 1 hit "Spirit in the Sky". They'd probably have done a killer version of that as well come to think of it.
The third CD is all studio material and in effect fills in a gap of several years during which we had no official releases from Randy California prior to "Spirit of '76". We are treated to all of 25 tracks on this CD and most of them are simply beautiful regardless of whether they're uptempo or more laid back. Randy California was going through a distinctly spiritual phase and that is reflected in the music and lyrics. Several tracks are predominately acoustic but there is tasteful and creative use of special effects and a couple of whimsical dialogues featuring a conversation with a "visitor" from the planet Neptune, and an interview with a bogus Indian guru which segues into one of the best cuts on the CD entitled "Holy Man".
Some Spirit purists may argue that Randy's vocals aren't up to Jay Ferguson's standard, or that they miss John Locke's keyboards. That may be true, but their absence certainly does allow for more of California's wondrous guitar work (both electric and acoustic) so that's okay by me. In fact if you play this and then slip on an album by Jo Jo Gunne it will be all too clear why Ferguson and California were no longer interested in working together on a permanent basis. To be honest I'd happily take the Spirit trio's amazing reworking of Dylan's "Positively 4th Street" in exchange for Jay Ferguson's entire post Spirit output - but that's just me.
If I have a criticism it might be that there are two or three acoustic numbers after track 21 which sound a bit muddy and distinctly unfinished, and that's why I'm knocking off a star. A couple of those could perhaps have been omitted but I guess Randy California completists wouldn't want to be deprived of even these slightly substandard offerings.
Anyone who ever enjoyed anything by Spirit in any of their incarnations will love this 3CD set, and it's very reasonably priced right now so a good opportunity to grab a bargain. Also any younger students of psychedelic guitar who don't know about one of the genre's unsung heroes really need to hear Randy California in his prime. When the music magazines compile those lists of "top 50 guitarists of all time" he rarely figures, yet he should be permanently in the top 3 at the very least.
by Michael Pearson-Smith Melbourne,Australia
As of 2007, ten years had passed since the accidental death of singer/songwriter and guitarist Randy California, the primary musician in Spirit. California left behind an extensive, if disorganized, cache of unreleased live and studio recordings that producer Mick Skidmore has been working through ever since, emerging periodically with albums of previously unheard material. Salvation...The Spirit of '74 is a three-CD set that, as Skidmore notes in his annotations, helps to fill in a gap in the band's history. The original quintet of California, drummer Ed Cassidy, bassist Mark Andes, keyboardist John Locke, and singer/songwriter Jay Ferguson splintered in the early '70s, after which various configurations, including one that featured none of them, toured the country.
California, who had left the group for a solo career, rejoined Cassidy for a European tour in 1973, then left again. In 1974, the two reconnected and again performed as Spirit, sometimes adding Andes and occasionally Locke. In May 1975, a trio of California, Cassidy, and bassist Barry Keene finally released a new Spirit album, Spirit of '76. Salvation...The Spirit of '74 chronicles the band's live and studio work during a period of about a year, from the summer of 1974 to the summer of 1975, including preliminary work on a never-completed album intended to be called Spirit of Salvation.
On the first two discs, drawn from live performances given in October and November 1974 (with Andes) and in June 1975 (with Keene), Spirit play some of their familiar songs ("Fresh Garbage," "Mr. Skin," "It's All the Same," "I Got a Line on You") along with covers that emphasize California's debt to his mentor, Jimi Hendrix ("Like a Rolling Stone," "All Along the Watchtower," "Hey Joe"); some songs California probably picked up while hanging around the Ash Grove folk club in Los Angeles as a child ("Old Blue," "Run Sinner Run," "Cripple Creek"); some one-off oddities (seemingly impromptu readings of the Rolling Stones hits "[I Can't Get No] Satisfaction" and "Happy," a version of Canned Heat's "On the Road Again" that apparently was a nod to Andes' brief tenure in that group); and some of the new songs California was writing at the time. More of those new songs, along with novelties and more covers, are included on the third disc, which consists of studio recordings.
That all adds up to 56 tracks running more than three and a half hours. It doesn't entirely fill in the gap between the releases of California's solo album Kapt. Kopter & the (Fabulous) Twirly Birds in the fall of 1972 and Spirit of '76 two and a half years later, but California spent much of that period musically inactive or working on the subsequently released Potatoland album, and his return to Spirit, the band he would lead for much of the next two decades, is now well documented here. As Skidmore notes, this is an album for loyal, even die-hard Spirit fans, but it contains enough strong performances to make the case for California and his bandmates as what an MC calls them at the outset: "one the greatest names in the history of rock & roll."
by William Ruhlmann
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Veruska (Ed Cassidy, Mark Andes, Randy California) - 5:34
2. Storm In The Night (Randy California) - 4:48
3. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan) - 9:01
4. I've Got To Use My Imagination (Barry Goldberg, Gerry Goffin) - 3:57
5. Fresh Garbage (Jay Ferguson) - 4:01
6. Devil (Randy California) - 2:50
7. Kristee (Ed Cassidy, Mark Andes, Randy California) - 2:30
8. My Road (Randy California) - 1:46
9. Old Blue (Traditional) - 3:31
10.Joker On The Run (Randy California) - 3:38
11.So Little Time To Fly (Randy California) - 2:26
12.All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - 13:46
13.I Can't Get No (Satisfaction) (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 4:14
14.Same Old Thing, Urantia (Randy California) - 5:16
On Blue Apple, organ is added to the instrumentation, yet the ride does not slow down. A blistering pace is set until "Psalm," a dreamy floating piece so the band can take a breath before fueling the blast furnace for the final assault. Great rock and roll.
The album was recorded in Hamburg at Teldec Studios with Hartmann and Thomas Kukuck engineering. Both Gift albums are fine examples of German heavy progressive rock. Originals of their first album sell for more than 100 Euros.
Tracks
1. Blue Apple (Grischa Batanoff, Grischa Batanoff, Peter Körner) - 4:15
2. Rock Scene (Dieter Atterer, Rainer Baur) - 3:47
3. Don't Waste Your Time (Hermann Lange, Rainer Baur, Uwe Patzke) - 4:02
4. Psalm (Dieter Atterer, Dieter Frei, Hermann Lange, Rainer Baur, Uwe Patzke) - 3:55
5. Everything's Alright (Grischa Batanoff, Grischa Batanoff, Peter Körner) - 4:30
6. Go To Find A Way (Dieter Atterer, Rainer Baur) - 6:39
7. Reflections Part 1 (Hermann Lange, Nick Woodland) - 3:14
8. Reflections Part 2 (Hermann Lange, Nick Woodland) - 3:47
9. Left The Past Behind (Dieter Atterer, Dieter Frei, Rainer Baur, Uwe Patzke) - 6:01
The Gift
*Dieter Atterer - Lead Vocals, Guitar
*Rainer Baur - Lead Guitar
*Hermann Lange - Drums, Percussion
*Uwe Patzke - Bass, Vocals
*Dieter Frei - Organ, Piano, Moog, Mellotron, Vocals
Satin Whale formed in 1971 and featured here is their rather spirited first album, Desert Places, released in 1974. A collection of mostly organ and guitar instrumentals that sound like they have rehearsed arrangements but maintain excitement throughout with memorable tones and musicianship. There’s sporadic vocals, flute and sax from multi-instrumentalist Dieter Roesberg, driving grinding organs from Gerard Dellman with fluid bass lines from Thomas Brück (I think he may be the lead singer, too). The line up is completed by the handy Horst Schöffgen on drums.
by Marty Willson-Pipe
Satin Whale's main influence was definitely Santana, and much of the guitar/organ interplay is similar to Carlos Santana / Gregg Rolie on the early line up from '68-'72. I always have thought that some sort of progression on early Santana rock would be great, and this album in every way is like a great Kraut rock version of that band. While certainly not original, and not really that progressive, this is a superb rock album with great moves and band interplay.
by Mike McLatchey
Tracks
1.Desert Places (Thomas Brück) - 6:58
2.Seasons Of Life - 6:44
3.Remember - 9:38
4.I Often Wondered - 7:17
5.Perception - 13:01
All songs by Dieter Roesberg, Thomas Brück except track #1
