In 1969, four students at the prestigious Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., banded together to perform cover songs by such contemporary artists as Sly and the Family Stone, Traffic, Jimi Hendrix, Dr. John and The Band at local pubs, fraternities and nearby colleges. The quartet would split up for the first time only two years later, then in 1971 they regrouped in Paris, France, playing clubs and, by now, their own material. After performing under such names as E Rodney Jones and the Prairie Dogs, the four musicians -- David (Doc) Robinson, Eddie Tuleja, Rod Novak and Ronny Altbach -- decided to call themselves King Harvest, a nod to The Band's song "King Harvest Has Surely Come." An old friend, drummer and future Orleans founding member Wells Kelly, visited the band at their villa in the Paris suburb of Orgeval, France, bringing along not only albums by such popular American bands as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, but also "Dancing in the Moonlight," a song he had composed with his brother, Sherman Kelly.
"We recorded 'Dancing in the Moonlight' in Paris in the fall of 1971 and after it flopped in Europe, we disappeared to lick our wounds," says saxophonist/vocalist Rod Novak. "In the short couple months we were incommunicado, DITM started up the charts in the U.S. and our illustrious record company in France (Musidisc) gave the tapes that they had to the little American company (Perception Records) that leased DITM and Voila!, our first American album." Rod added the band quickly put together "the album which should have been", but unfortunately Perception "went bankrupt before we could release it."
Recording "Dancing in the Moonlight" proved to be a logistical challenge. Lead singer Doc Robinson had to sing out in the stairwell of the small Parisian studio, which was a natural echo chamber (as long as the neighbors didn't come out during the recording), and the peculiar percussion sound they got was the result of using a toilet brush instead of some more modern percussion instrument. It was Jack Robinson, the hands-on producer of the track, who suggested playing the giddy intro to the tune up in the higher octaves, and Robinson who pitched the song to several U.S. and U.K. labels, eventually signing King Harvest to the small New York City label Perception Records.
Now relocated to Olcott Beach, N.Y., on the shore of Lake Ontario, King Harvest embarked on a U.S. tour, but eventually their record company went out of business. Then in the mid-'70s, the band was signed by major label A&M and hooked up with legendary songwriter Jeff Barry as producer. The King Harvest Album was released by A&M in 1975 and featured the band's trademark pop-rock formula of vocal harmony and jingling piano. By now, various members King Harvest were involved in touring with the Beach Boys, and The King Harvest Album featured guest appearances by Beach Boys Mike Love and Carl Wilson, as well as Peter Cetera of Chicago.
In late 2006, the band reacquired the rights to all their music from their former bankrupt record company, and released the above mentioned "album which should have been," now dubbed The Lost Tapes, on iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, and other major online record stores in September 2007. "The reason for the 30-year delay is that we 'lost' our rights to all our music in 1974," says Novak. "Also we just finished a DVD for PBS called The 70s Experience Live where we got together for the first time since 1976." Rod added that there's also talk of the band "going back to Paris and doing a reunion CD with our old producer, Jack Robinson."
Tracks
1. Borderline (Dave Robinson, Ron Altbach, Ed Tuleja, Tony Cahill) - 3:56
2. Vaea-Vy-Ya (Dave Robinson, Sherman Kelly) - 6:00
3. Country Pie (Ron Altbach, Ed Tuleja) - 3:55
4. Shine On (Dave Robinson, Ed Tuleja) - 3:58
5. A Little Bit Like Magic (Ron Altbach, Dave Robinson, Sherman Kelly, Jeff Barry) - 3:16
6. As Soon As We Can Get It Together (Ed Tuleja) - 3:00
7. Rue Du Four Rag (Ron Altbach) / Fly By (Tony Cahill, Ron Altbach, Rod Novak, Dave Robinson, Ed Tuleja, Jeff Barry) - 4:49
8. Old Friends (Ron Altbach, Dave Robinson, Ed Tuleja) - 3:45
9. Jumbee (Dave Robinson, Ed Tuleja, Ron Altbach) - 4:06
King Harvest
*Dave Robinson - Lead Vocals, Bass, Keyboards
*Ed Tuleja - Vocals, Guitar
*Tony Cahill - Bass
*David Montgomery - Drums
*Ron Altbach - Keyboards
*Sherman Kelly - Keyboards
*Rod Novak - Tenor Saxophone With
*Billy Hinsche, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Peter Cetera - Backing Vocals
*Jeff Barry - Tambourine
*Charles Lloyd - Saxophone
*Bobby Figueroa - Drums
Born and raised in Sheffield (as the debut album liner notes pointed out, Sheffield was also Joe Cocker's stomping grounds), brothers Keith (vocals/guitar) and Len (bass) Riley, cousin/guitarist Brian Wood and friend/drummer Tag Waggett were Shape of the Rain. Keith and Brian started out as an Everly Brothers inspired duo, eventually adding Len to the line-up and switching their musical interests. Originally known as The Gear followed by a stint as The Reaction, they eventually added Waggett to the line-up,. Years of dances, club, and university performances helped the quartet generate a regional audience. Finding a supporter in the form of David McPhie, who'd served as Joe Cocker's initial manager, they started opening for then rising bands like Fleetwood Mac, Free, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd, eventually attracting the attention of several English labels, before signing with RCA's short-lived Neon subsidiary.
The business partnership proved short - one obscure album, but what a set ! A true undiscovered treasure. Co-produced by Tony Hall and Eric Hine (who also played keyboards on the set), 1971's cleverly-titled "Riley, Riley, Wood and Waggett" showcased a wonderful collection of English-flavored folk-rock. I'm not talking about conventional Fairport Convention, or Steeleye Span styled moves, rather their sound was seemingly influenced by American folk-rock bands like The Byrds and The Buffalo Springfield. How many UK bands do you know that embraced 12 string guitars and pedal steel with as much enthusiasm as these guys ? While it wasn't the year's most original offering, group-penned material such as 'Woman', 'Wasting My Time' and the psych-influenced 'Willowed Trees' boasted an impeccable mix of strong melodies, great harmonies and some stunning guitar. Elsewhere, 'Patterns', 'Dusty Road' and 'I'll Be There' found the quartet aptly displaying that they were just as good in a folk-rock vein.
Tracks
1. Woman - 3:56
2. Patterns - 3:23
3. Castles - 1:59
4. Wasting My Time - 3:09
5. Rockfield Roll (Eric Hine) - 0:49
6. Yes - 5:49
7. Dusty Road - 3:50
8. Willowing Trees - 3:47
9. I'll Be There - 3:39
10.Broken Man - 6:00
..a.Every One A Gem
..b.After Collapsing At Kingsley's
All songs by Keith Riley, Len Riley, Brian Wood, Tag Waggett except track #5
The Shape Of The Rain
*Keith Riley - Vocals, Guitar
*Len Riley - Bass
*Ian 'Tag' Waggett - Drums, Percussion
*Brian Wood - Vocals, Guitar, Pedal Steel
Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels Mitch Ryder was born William Levise Jr. in 1945, the second of eight children in the mainly Polish working-class city of Hamtramck, Michigan. While he was still quite young, Mitch's family moved to Warren, Michigan, near 9 Mile Road. The Levise family would eventually move to houses located on both 12 Mile and 11 Mile Roads while Mitch was growing up.
Mitch’s father, William Levise Sr., was a Big Band era singer who performed on radio in the late 1940’s and worked for a few small record companies in the Detroit area. Mitch's mother was not only a housewife, but an aspiring songwriter as well. There was always a lot of music in the Levise household, either from William Sr.’s collection of 78-rpm records, or on the family radio. It was on that radio that an 11-year-old Mitch would first hear the new sounds of Rock and Roll.
In junior high, Mitch befriended Joe Kubert, a budding guitarist. The boys shared a mutual love of music, especially Rhythm & Blues. Mitch and Kubert would go on to form a band when they got into high school called the Tempest.
Mitch's first taste of performing came during his sophmore year at Warren High School. He sang the Johnny Mathis hit "Chances Are" during a school assembly, and he was immediately hooked by the audience's applause and cheering. His high school music teacher then entered Mitch in a tri-county music tourament. His victory earned him a scholarship to a summer music camp.
From that point on, Mitch began singing whenever he could, at any venue that would have him. He shortened his last name and began performing as Billy Lee. His father had always been supportive of his son’s interest in music, and when Mitch turned seventeen, his dad put up the money for him to record a Billy Lee single.
The record was put out on a small independent black-owned label called Carrie Records. Owner James Hendrix had only issued a few gospel records on his tiny label. Hendrix wrote a song called “That’s The Way It’s Gonna Be” for one side of the 45-rpm, and Mitch wrote a blues ballad called “Fool for You’ for the other. Although the record got only minimal airplay, it opened some doors for Mitch.
Mitch began hanging out at a Detroit music club called the Village, located on Woodward Avenue. There, he began performing in an interracial vocal group called the Fabulairs along with two black singers who worked at the club, Joe Harris and Ronnie Abner. Besides singing together at the Village, the Fabulairs sang a capppella sets on the boat to Bob-Lo Island, the famous Detroit River amusement park. Soon after, Harris and Abner would add Tom Storm to their line-up and rename themselves the Peps.
Inspired by the success of the Beatles, Mitch and his old pal Joe Kubert joined forces with the Rivieras, the house band at the Village. The Rivieras were made up of guitarist Jim McCarty, bassist Earl Elliott, and drummer John Badanjek. Calling their new group Billy Lee & the Rivieras, the band rehearsed in the Badanjek attic at John’s parents' house, and soon landed a regular gig at the Bamboo Hut teen club.
The band also became a regular attraction at the Walled Lake Casino. The Casino, built in 1919, had reopened in 1962 for package music shows hosted by Detroit deejays. Billy Lee & The Rivieras first performed in “battles of the bands” in 1964, before quickly graduating to featured act status at the venue.
Their sets would start off with some instrumentals featuring McCarty’s guitar, and then Mitch would come on with his searing vocals, knee drops, leg kicks, and anything else that would get the teen crowds going. Billy Lee & the Rivera’s hard-rocking versions of R&B and soul classics attracted a large Detroit-area following, and also the ear of Motor City deejay Bob Prince.
Prince recognized both Mitch's and the band's potential, and he began booking the group in larger venues. Their performances were so hot that they soon started headlining over even Motown artists.
Billy Lee & the Rivieras recorded their first single in 1964 on the local Hyland label. Again, Mitch’s father financed the recording of the single, “You Know/Won’t You Dance With Me”. Although it got some Detroit-area radio play, it was not the hoped-for hit record.
Bob Prince also had the band record a demo at Badanjek’s rehearsal space that eventually got into the hands of the 4 Seasons’ producer, Bob Crewe. Crewe was impressed with what he heard, and he came to Detroit to watch Billy Lee & The Rivieras’ performance as the opening act for the Dave Clark Five. Crewe signed the band, and then had them move to New York City, his base of operations. The contract they signed with Bob Crewe would open the door to success, but it would come at a hefty price.
Because another group called The Rivieras had already charted with a hit called “California Sun”, the band name was the first thing to be changed. Supposedly, Billy (Mitch) was leafing through a Manhattan phone book when he happened upon the name ‘Mitch Ryder’. Thus, a new stage name was born. The band then changed their name to the Detroit Wheels, and Crewe had publicity photos taken of the group on top of oil barrels, surrounded by piles of automobile tires, to drive the Motor City image home.
Crewe lodged the five band members in two tiny rooms at the Coliseum House hotel in New York City. He kept them busy with gigs at Greenwich Village clubs and Times Square bars playing three sets per night, five days a week.
While they were building a name for themselves in the Big Apple, Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels’ released their first single on Crewe’s New Voice label. “I Need Help” did not capture the excitement of Mitch and the band on stage, however, and it sunk without a trace.
But their second single, “Jenny Take A Ride”, started them on a two-year journey of hits that brought the band fame and fortune, but also ended up tearing them apart.
“Jenny Take A Ride” combined two oldies, Chuck Willis’ “C.C. Rider” and Little Richard’s “Jenny, Jenny”, into a new and instantly recognizable sound that peaked at # 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in early 1966. According to James A. Mitchell’s book, It Was All Right, Crewe had to be talked into releasing the song as a single by Keith Richards and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. Richards and Jones had been guests in the studio when “Jenny Take A Ride” was recorded, and they spoke up for the song’s potential as a hit single with Bob Crewe afterwards.
The band underwent its first personnel change at this time when bassist Earl Elliott joined the Marines. He was replaced by Jim McCallister. Joe Kubert would become the next casualty as he began shooting drugs in an attempt to avoid the draft. This would lead to an addiction that would not only cost Kubert his place in the band, but also his life in 1991.
After quickly releasing their first album, “Take A Ride”, to capitalize on their hit single, Mitch and the band proved they weren’t just one-hit wonders with their next release, “Little Latin Lupe Lu”, in the spring of 1966. It became a # 17 hit, and earned the band a spot on the grueling Dick Clark’s Caravan Of Stars bus tour that summer.
Following the tour, Crewe sent the Wheels home to Detroit while he kept Mitch in New York to do photo shoots, interviews, attend meetings, and even take grooming and dancing lessons. It was the first indication that Mitch and his band were soon to be separated permanently. Mitch, who had married before leaving for New York, managed to finally break away and find the time to buy a house in Southfield, Michigan, for his wife and their baby daughter.
After the band’s next two singles, “Breakout” and “Taking All I Can Get”, achieved only minor chart success, Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels went back to the formula that was so successful on “Jenny Take A Ride”. The band combined Shorty Long’s “Devil With A Blue Dress On” with another Little Richard hit, “Good Golly Miss Molly”. The combination proved to be the band’s biggest single when it peaked at # 4 in late 1966. The hit served to make Mitch an established star. Crewe quickly put out a second album, “Breakout”, to take advantage of this latest success.
Crewe’s plans for a solo career for Mitch became apparent when he repackaged the best songs from the band’s first two LPs into an album with the misleading title of “All Mitch Ryder Hits”. Later that same year, Mitch and the Wheels would record a new album titled “Sock It to Me!” that featured a close-up of just Ryder on the cover. Furthermore, it placed Mitch’s name in larger letters than the album title, while ‘the Detroit Wheels’ was mentioned in the smallest print.
On the Top 40 front, Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels quickly followed “Devil With A Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly” with another big hit. “Sock It To Me-Baby!” was released as a single in early 1967. It reached # 6 on the Hot 100 despite being banned on several radio stations for being “too sexually suggestive”. In spite of the initial flap, the term ‘Sock it to me’ ended up becoming a national catch-phrase when it began to be used weekly on the hit TV comedy show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.
At this point, Mitch was now a big enough star to have a tiny ‘Mitch Ryder’ doll put on the market by the Hasbro Company as part of its ‘Show Biz Babies’ series. Crewe, by now, had disposed of McCarty and Badanjek, who went back to Detroit with some hard feelings over the way they had been treated. Ryder was not happy either, but Crewe’s contract gave him full creative control over Mitch’s career, and his master plan was to make Ryder a mainstream singing star.
McCarty and Badanjek joined up with some other musicians and recorded two singles on the Inferno label under the name the Detroit Wheels before breaking up. Jim McCarty went on to play in the Siegel-Schwall Blues Band and the Buddy Miles Express before becoming a founding member of the group Cactus. Badanjek played in a local group called Blueberry Jam. During the 70’s, McCarty and Badanjek would reunite to form the Rockets.
Crewe’s first true solo recording with Mitch was the “What Now My Love” album from 1967. Producer Crewe was obviously not tuned into the musical changes in the air during that pivotal year, nor was he in touch with Mitch’s intense desire to be an outstanding R&B singer. The resulting album was an unsatisfying mix of theatrical tunes like the title track along with some rock and roll songs played by New York session musicians. Mitch was frustrated by both the finished product and by the fact that Bob Crewe was not allowing him to create and write his own material.
Although they were defunct, there was one last charting single credited to Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels. 1967’s “Too Many Fish In The Sea & Three Little Fishes” was a medley that combined a Marvelettes’ hit with an old Kay Kyser song from 1939. The unlikely combination achieved a very respectable # 24 showing on the Hot 100.
Bob Crewe’s grand plan for Mitch Ryder’s solo career did not come close to equaling the success he enjoyed with the Detroit Wheels. The first single, "Joy", was released in the summer of 1967. It didn't stray too far from the sound of his previous hits but only reached # 41 on the Hot 100. Mitch's follow-ups, however, including the string-laden and out-of-character ballad “What Now My Love”, as well as his version of the old country song, “You Are My Sunshine”, were a far cry from the quality of the recordings Ryder made with the Detroit Wheels.
On December 9, 1967, Mitch appeared on Lloyd Thaxton’s television program along with fellow guest Otis Redding. He and Otis sang a duet on the Eddie Floyd hit, “Knock On Wood”. Mitch would be the last artist to ever perform with the soul music icon, as Redding was killed in a plane crash on route to a show in Wisconsin the following day.
Ryder’s last charting single with Bob Crewe again reverted back to the medley concept. This final time they combined Lloyd Price’s “(You’ve Got) Personality” with the Big Bopper’s “Chantilly Lace”. The magic of his collaborations with the Detroit Wheels was missing, however, and the song peaked at a disappointing # 87 in 1968.
Mitch was now performing live with a nine-piece horn-driven show band complete with costume changes and slick lighting and stage production. Ryder was paying the band's salaries and transportation costs, and quickly fell deep in debt. Despite selling roughly six million records for Crewe's label, Ryder had only been paid a $15,000 advance and one royalty check for $1,000.
7. Please, Please, Please (James Brown, Johnny Terry) - 3:37
8. I'll Go Crazy (James Brown) - 2:10
9. I Got You (I Feel Good) (James Brown) - 2:35
10.Sticks And Stones (Henry Glover, Titus Turner) - 2:36
11.Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke) - 3:33
12.Baby Jane (Mo-Mo Jane) (Bob Crewe, William Levise, Jr.) - 3:59
13.Walking The Dog (Rufus Thomas) - 2:27
14.I Had It Made (Bob Crewe, L. Russell Brown, Raymond Bloodworth, William Levise, Jr.) - 2:41
15.In The Midnight Hour (Steve Cropper, Wilson Pickett) - 2:30
16.Ohh Poo Pah Doo (Eddie Singleton) - 2:46
17.I Like It Like That (Allen Toussaint, Chris Kenner) - 2:46
18.Little Latin Lupe Lu (Bill Medley) - 3:09
19.Devil With The Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly (John Marascalco, Robert Blackwell) - 3:06
20.Shakin' With Linda (O'Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley) - 3:15
21.Stubborn Kind Of Fellow (Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier) - 3:09
22.You Get Your Kicks (Bob Crewe, Gary Knight) - 3:09
23.I Need Help (Bob Crewe, Charlie Calello) - 2:27
24.Any Day Now (Bob Hilliard, Burt Bacharach) - 3:21
25.Break Out (Gary Knight, Herb Bernstein) - 3:16
26.Baby I Need Your Loving / Theme From Mitch (Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier, Bob Crewe) - 3:59
27.Mitch Ryder Radio Promo - 0:32
Dis 2
1. Sock It To Me - Baby! (Bob Crewe, L. Russell Brown) - 3:05
2. I Can't Hide It (Bob Crewe, Gary Knight) - 2:36
3. Slow Fizz (Bob Crewe, George Woods) - 3:26
4. Walk On By (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) - 2:41
5. Shakedown (L. Russell Brown, Raymond Bloodworth) - 2:50
6. A Face In The Crowd (Bob Crewe) - 2:50
7. I'd Rather Go To Jail (Bob Crewe, L. Russell Brown, Raymond Bloodworth) - 3:09
8. Wild Child (Bob Crewe) - 3:13
9. Too Many Fish In The Sea / Three Little Fishes (Edward Holland, Jr., Norman Whitfield, Saxie Dowell) - 2:57
10.Joy (Mitch Ryder, L. Russell Brown, Raymond Bloodworth) - 3:11
11.You Are My Sunshine (Charles Mitchell, Jimmie Davis) - 3:05
12.Ruby Baby / Peaches On A Cherry Tree (Bob Crewe, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 3:06
13.Personality / Chantilly Lace (Harold Logan, Lloyd Price, J.P. Richardson) - 3:40
14.Let It Be Me (Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis, Pierre Delanoë) - 3:20
15.I Make A Fool Of Myself (Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio) - 3:52
16.Born To Lose (Frankie Brown) - 3:15
17.If You Go Away (Jacques Brel, Rod McKuen) - 4:42
18.What Now My Love (Gilbert Bécaud, Pierre Delanoë, Carl Sigman) - 4:16
19.Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (Dave Williams, Sunny David) - 3:03
20.Sally Go Round The Roses (Abner Spector) - 3:20
21.Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Chuck Berry) - 3:26
22.I Need Lovin' You (Lori Burton, Pam Sawyer) - 2:49
23.That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On (Del Serino, Roy Alfred) - 3:16
Eric Quincy Tate were not a person, they were a band -- a quartet of down-and-dirty swamp rockers, Naval reservists stationed in Quincy, MA, but based down South, playing regularly in Texas where they were discovered by Tony Joe White, who shared a similar taste for blues, R&B, and soul. White helped get them signed to Capricorn and produced their self-titled 1971 debut, which sank into collector cult status not too long after its release and remained there until Rhino Handmade reissued it in 2006. Upon that reissue, the record was revealed as a real lost gem, something that could hold its own with Tony Joe White's own classic Monument albums, of which it's very reminiscent.
Like Tony Joe, Eric Quincy Tate is pure swamp pop, mixing up soul, blues, country, and rock & roll into a dynamite concoction of thick, funky roots rock. EQT could really play, which makes the fact that they didn't play on their debut all the stranger. When EQT entered the studio, the quartet found the Dixie Flyers -- the name of engineer Stan Kesler's studio band at the Sounds of Memphis studio -- all set up, ready to play. Only vocalist/drummer Donnie McCormack and guitarist Tommy Carlisle, EQT's two songwriters, were allowed to play on the album, with the Memphis Horns added later as overdubs. According to Bill DeYoung's liner notes to the 2006 Handmade reissue, nobody remembers who made the decision to use the Dixie Flyers as the core band -- Tony Joe White and Jerry Wexler share producing credits with Tom Dowd, who worked on the final bit of the record -- and the decision to use studio pros is a bit odd, as the three demos, alternate takes, and unreleased cuts featured on the reissue showcase a gritty Southern rock & roll band, one that was looser and funkier than the one that finished record, but all the more appealing because of it.
The Eric Quincy Tate reissue is also graced with the presence of none other than Duane Allman, who happened to be in the studio as a guest of Wexler, so he played some impromptu slide on the demo for "Goin' Down," unveiled here for the first time. It's not just Allman who gives the demos a dirtier, bluesier feel: without the overdubs of the horns and the tight attack of the Dixie Flyers, this is lean, hard rhythmic rock instead of the punched-up soul of the finished album. Not that there's anything wrong with the original Eric Quincy Tate as an album -- far from it, really. McCormack and Carlisle were fine songwriters with an ear for blending soul, blues, and rock so there were no borders between the styles, and the Dixie Flyers helped give the music an assured momentum that made it more commercial in 1971, even if the album went nowhere on the charts. Despite its lack of success, Eric Quincy Tate has aged very well -- the songs sound like buried gems and the music itself is the kind of deeply rooted roots rock that sustains its appeal, even increases it, upon repeated plays.
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Eric Quincy Tate started out in the mid-'60s as a Gulf Coast six-piece, The Kings, before Uncle Sam put four of its members on the USS Essex. After finishing their service, the quartet was back gigging in Texas, where they made a strong impression on Tony Joe. White was instrumental in getting the group an audition with Capricorn Records, and demos recorded there caught the ear of legendary Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler. The self-titled debut from Eric Quincy Tate - a marvelous mix of blues, soul, rock, and straight ahead funk -- followed in January 1971.
For this new reissue, seven previously unreleased bonus cuts from the Capricorn sessions follow, including embryonic versions of three album tracks () - one of which, "Comin' Down," features a guest appearance from slide guitar master Duane Allman, a storming take on "Gimme Some Lovin"," and three additional Eric Quincy Tate originals.
Tracks
1. Stonehead Blues (David Cantonwine, Donnie McCormick) - 2:19
2. I Want 'cha (Tommy Carlisle) - 2:47
3. Try A Little Harder (Tommy Carlisle) - 2:32
4. On The Loose (David Cantonwine, Donnie McCormick, Joe Rogers) - 3:02
5. Makes No Difference (Tommy Carlisle) - 3:47
6. When I'm Gone (Donnie McCormick, Tommy Carlisle) - 2:23
7. Comin' Down (Donnie McCormick, Tommy Carlisle) - 2:57
8. Hooker House (Donnie McCormick, Tommy Carlisle) - 3:01
9. The Bream Are Still Biting In Ferriday (Donnie McCormick, Tommy Carlisle) - 2:51
10.Ain't It A Bummer (Donnie McCormick) - 3:44
11.License To Love (Donnie McCormick, Tommy Carlisle) - 3:56
12.Stonehead Blues (Demo) (David Cantonwine, Donnie McCormick) - 1:54
13.Comin' Down (Demo) (Donnie McCormick, Tommy Carlisle) - 2:54
14.Ain't It A Bummer (Demo) (Donnie McCormick) - 3:17
15.Gimme Some Lovin' (Muff Winwood, Spencer Davis, Steve Winwood) - 3:34
16.Blowin' The Clouds Away (Alternate Version) (Donnie McCormick, Greg McWhorter, Ronnie Morgan, Tommy Carlisle) - 4:03
17.Get On The Road (Eric Quincy Tate) - 2:34
18.I Don't Know Much (Eric Quincy Tate) - 7:29
Eric Quincy Tate
*Donnie McCormick - Lead Vocals, Drums
*Tommy Carlisle - Guitar - Vocals
*David Cantonwine - Bass
*Joe Rogers - Keyboards - Vocals With
*Duane Allman - Slide Guitar
*Jim Dickinson - Piano, Organ, Dobro
*The Memphis Horns - Brass
*Michael Utley - Electric Piano
*The Dixie Flyers - Session Work
Formed in 1969 by the laidback but supremely talented violinist/vocalist Don ‘Sugarcane’ Harris (b. 18 June 1938, Pasadena, California, USA, d. 30 November 1999, Los Angeles, California, USA), Paul Lagos (drums) and Larry Taylor (bass), all three respected sessionmen who had recently worked with UK guitarist John Mayall. They were joined in Pure Food And Drug Act by Randy Resnick (b. 1947, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; guitar), but Taylor elected to leave within a few months of the band’s formation to resume his career with Mayall. He was replaced by Victor Conte and at the same time guitarist Harvey Mandel (b. 11 March 1945, Detroit, Michigan, USA) was brought in to augment the line-up.
Their sound deftly combined jazz and rock and was best experienced live, where the improvisatory nature of the band came to the fore. The band released one album, recorded live in Seattle in 1972, but Harris’ unreliablity and a series of line-up changes effectively scupppered their chances and they broke up the following year. Conte went on to play with Tower Of Power, Mandel and Harris went solo, Resnick joined Richard Greene, while Lagos, almost inevitably, began working with John Mayall.
Tracks
1. Introduction: Jim's Message - 1:43
2. My Soul's on Fire (Victor Conte, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Paul Lagos, Harvey Mandel, Randy Resnick) - 4:14
3. 'Till the Day I Die (Don "Sugarcane" Harris) - 7:09
4. Eleanor Rigby (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 11:50
5. A Little Soul Food (Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Shuggie Otis) - 4:04
6. Do It Yourself (Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Shuggie Otis) - 4:21
7. Where's My Sunshine? (Victor Conte, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Paul Lagos, Harvey Mandel, Randy Resnick) - 8:55
8. What Comes Around Goes Around (Victor Conte, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Paul Lagos, Harvey Mandel, Randy Resnick) - 4:20
Recorded live at " The Fresh Air Tavern ", Seattle, Washington
Pure Food And Drug Act
*Harvey Mandel - Lead Guitar
*Don "Sugarcane" Harris - Electric Violin, Vocals
*Victor Conte - Bass
*Paul Lagos - Drums, Steel Drums
*Randy Resnick - Rhythm Guitar
Recorded at Ultra-Sonic Studios in Long Island, New York, this album is well worth searching out. Adrianne's powerful vocals are certainly an asset and although brass makes an occasional and unwelcome intrusion on the album it contains some fine guitar work, which on the title cut and Sunny Please Hold Me becomes quite psychedelic. Other highs include You And I Together and the final cut, She's So Good.
The legend goes that the album was pulled from distribution because the cover art (a couple of goats resting on a tombstone) was rumored to be satanic. A listen to the music, a collection of love songs with a Jefferson Airplane and Santana type sound, quickly disspells such associations.
Tracks
1. You And I Together - 2:48
2. Every Little Bit Of Love (Carlos Hernandez, Tommy Parris) - 2:38
3. She - 3:18
4. Fanny Firecracker - 2:39
5. Sunny Please Hold Me - 3:42
6. Sprits And Worm - 2:59
7. All I Need Is A Little You - 4:02
8. She's The One - 3:03
9. You're Dynamite - 3:11
10.She's So Good - 3:56
All songs by Carlos Hernandez except track #2
In the '60s, Mike Cooper was vital to folk and blues music in the UK. He established an important club for players of the genre and worked to get the Matchbox label up and running. He'd record for that label and other independent imprints. He put out his first album, Oh Really? in 1969 and its follow-up "Do I Know You?" in 1970. The latter of these two albums was the first to feature Cooper's own compositions. He was growing as a musician and as a songwriter, and people were taking notice. The Rolling Stones asked him to join the band, though he declined. That spot eventually went to Brian Jones.
Paradise of Bachelors, a label now officially at the forefront and exciting and crucial reissues of overlooked records, has now released reissues of Cooper's third and fourth albums and reveals a time in which the ever-shifting, ever-experimental musician was at his creative peak. In truth, Trout Steel's follow-ups, Places I Know and The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper, were originally released as separate albums. But Cooper initially intended them as one expansive double-album, and so Paradise of Bachelors presents them together here and, like Trout Steel, have reissued them on vinyl for the first time with Cooper's approval.
After Cooper worked out how to make records on his first few recordings, Trout Steel is his recorded coming out party. Part of the draw of the album is that it finds Cooper pulling free of the scene he helped strengthen. He had toured and played with the likes of Michael Chapman and Bert Jansch. And if those guys stretched folk and blues traditions in their way, Cooper doubled-down on their intentions with this record. It's certainly a record that has its straightforward charms. Opener "That's How" is a classic bittersweet ballad, all lush guitars and full bass shadowing them. Cooper's voice is honeyed but just rough enough around the edges. But if it's a direct tune, it also hints at big changes to come. The saxophone solo starts as traditional pop filling, but Cooper lets it run and it opens up into something closer to free-jazz vamping.
The free jazz movement was important to Cooper's expanding sound, and this first song offered just a taste of it amidst its straight-ahead structure and simple pleasures ("sunshine and wine," Cooper sings, "she knows they mean much more to me"). The album has other similar highlights that recall Cooper's blues-folk start. "Don't Talk Too Fast" certainly contains some of the bitter grin of Michael Chapman's work, though the guitar work gets complicated and tangled behind Cooper's strong vocal melody. Closer "Weeping Rose" is a beautiful bit of pastoral folk, and if the playing is complex, its effect is still sweetly direct. But the album's brilliance comes in the ways it breaks from traditional forms in freeing and exciting ways. "I've Got Mine" is both the most obvious and most striking example.
Dusty guitars and shuffling drums set the pace, but they are overrun by a back-and-forth between strings and improvisational woodwinds. Thundering piano fills the space between, but the song seems to just continue to spread out, like a shadow as the sun moves, and it is by turns challenging and beautiful, earthen and ethereal. You can hear the influence of Pharoah Sanders on this song (and others). But if it is as transcendent as Sanders's best work, it is also more inviting than Sanders usually was. With Sanders, the awe came in watching someone else's spiritual musical experience. On Trout Steel, Cooper invites the listener into that transcendence, even evokes it within the audience.
As a double-album, Places I Know / The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper is more deliberate in its move from structure to experimentation. Cooper initially intended Places I Know as a sort of cover album, a way to pay tribute to his influences by putting them at the forefront of his sound. And so you get the hazy country sway of "Country Water", the shuffling blues-rock of "Paper and Smoke" or the front-porch intimacy and beautiful slide work of "Now I Know". Unlike other experimental and improvisational players, Cooper proves himself just as comfortable with defined song structure. These songs are still wide-open, but they also thump with immediacy and are deeply infectious. They represent a fitting ode to Cooper's predecessors but also confirm his own confident and impressive talents.
But The Machine Gun Co. is the most exciting music to be had in these reissues. Cooper was smart enough, or giving enough, to lead listeners into his musical world with more direct songs before hitting them with his more eccentric side. But after those great songs, the nine-minute "Song for Abigail" is both beautiful continuation and revelation. It starts with sweet guitars and organs warming the space behind Cooper's voice, and the song mostly holds its shape. But it's also playing with space all the way through, carving out crags in the song as it goes, so when the song finally does blow open into its skittering close -- full of frenetic, shuffling drums, brittle guitars, and unpredictable organ solos -- it feels like a natural evolution and not forced vamping. It owes as much to the careful studio work of Miles Davis's late '60s and early '70s records as it does to the more spiritual free-jazz stuff.
Cooper and his Machine Gun Co. Band, which comprised a number of brilliant improv players, are at their finest on the 15-minute "So Glad (That I Found You)". The title implies a simple and plainspoken joy that runs through all these recordings, even at their most lost and troubled, and this song puts that wild joy to song in all its glory. Organs and guitars squawk and squeak to life at the start, establishing the song's distant, malleable borders. At its heart, the song is a funky sunburst of sound driven by syncopated drums and sweet guitar hooks. But it's also filled out and set on a tilt by bizarre horn phrasings and dissonant fills. The song breaks itself apart into a chunky breakdown, where the organs and horns battle for attention over a lean beat that shows its cracks at all the right times. It is far and away the most experimental moment on either of these albums, as even the drums give way to saxophone and keys and if the song never quite comes back together, it also never loses its shape, crashing back to life in one more expansive burst at the end.
Trout Steel and Places I Know / The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper are both excellent records, but they also tell a vital story about a important musician in modern music. Cooper was not one to sit still. He would get more experimental and improvisational from here, eventually moving into electronic music as well. But these two albums capture Cooper at a pinnacle, where his newly honed songcraft and his knack for complicated sound and space met, clashed, and also combined in exciting and brilliant ways. Unlike many artists, Mike Cooper always knew you could never stand in the same river twice. And so these albums aren't about one part of the flow, frozen in time, but rather they show the results of Cooper letting things wash over him, letting songs and records change as they are being written and recorded. They are unpredictable and, yet, there is also something comforting and recognizable about these songs. These are reissues, but they may as well be new albums. They are as fresh as the latter and as lasting as the best of the former.
by Matthew Fiander
Tracks
1. Country Water - 3:03
2. Three Forty-Eight (Blues For Or Against Andalusia) - 3:48
3. Night Journey - 5:09
4. Time To Time - 8:27
5. Paper And Smoke - 3:55
6. Broken Bridges - 4:38
7. Now I Know - 4:57
8. Goodbye Blues, Goodbye - 4:53
9. Places I Know - 2:25
10.Song For Abigail - 9:02
11.The Singing Tree - 5:36
12.Midnight Words - 3:27
13.So Glad (That I Found You) - 15:19
14.Lady Anne - 5:15
Words and Music by Mike Cooper
Musicians
*Mike Cooper - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric, Bottleneck Guitars
*Geoff Hawkins - Saxophone, Melodica, Pipe
*Bill Boazman - Guitar
*Alan Cook - Electric Piano
*Jeff Clyne - Bass
*Johnny Van Derrick - Violin
*Laurie Allan - Drums
*Les Calvert - Electric Bass
*Tim Richardson - Drums
*Tony Pook - Vocals
*Gerald T. Moore, Jean Oddie - Chorus
*Norma Winstone - Solo Voice, Chorus
*Martin Nicholls - Trombone
*Martin Fly - Tuba
*Tony Coe - Tenor Sax
*Stan Sulzman - Alto Sax
*Bob Burns - Alto Sax
*Peter Civil - French Horn
Hunger arrived in L.A. from Portland in late 1967 as the Outcasts, a teenage cover band, but within a six months they had signed with a connected manager, played all over Los Angeles, embraced psychedelia and signed on to record an album of original music for the label their manager founded for them: Public! Records. They showed tremendous promise – and their producers invested heavily into a band that was going to be the next marquee act at the Whiskey A Go-Go, bringing in members of Strawberry Alarm Clock, including future Lynyrd Skynyrd star Ed King, to produce an album. But Hunger broke up before their album’s release and their entry in rock’s canon was shadowed for years.
This is the definitive Reserve Edition reissue of a late ‘60s psych–rock classic, overseen by Hunger’s band members John Morton, Steve Hansen and Mike Lane: the band’s preferred, unedited, fuzz-guitar heavy version of the album, restored and remastered from a rare test press. This is the first time that band’s vision for the album has been issued in full on vinyl. Contains an extensive booklet by Jim Cherry, Eothen Alapatt and Clark Faville that corrects many factual inaccuracies told over the record’s celebrated past three decades as one of rock’s holy grails. The booklet is filled with never-published photos from lead guitarist John Morton’s archive. Subscribers receive a bonus 2nd LP of the Public! Records version of the album, and a download card for bonus 7″ tracks.
Bubba Fowler began his career as a half in the duo, "The Avant Garde", along with Chuck Woolery, they were backed by session musicians on each of their three singles for the Columbia label. The duo debuted in late 1967 with "Yellow Beads," capturing a sweeping acoustic sound that crested with the follow-up, "Naturally Stoned," a minor classic of orchestral pop that reached number 40 on the Billboard pop charts in mid-1968. The more overtly psychedelic touches that distinguished the Avant-Garde's first two efforts were scrapped for their third and final single, "Fly With Me" -- when the disc barely dented the charts, the group dissolved.
Fowler then went folky and in 1970 Columbia issued his lone solo LP, And Then Came Bubba -- he later played guitar on Bob Dylan's Self-Portrait, Leonard Cohen's Songs of Love and Hate, and a handful of other sessions. Woolery, meanwhile, went on to much greater fame as a television game show host, helming Wheel of Fortune in its original daytime run as well as the long-running Love Connection, Scrabble, and Greed. He also founded MotoLures, a company that manufactured his signature line of fishing lures.
by Jason Ankeny
Tracks
1. Listen Big City - 3:04
2. Lousie (My Cajun Woman) - 4:00
3. Joli Girl - 2:33
4. Sociological Bind - 3:56
5. Next Year This Time - 5:02
6. The Pounding Status Quo - 3:09
7. Lament #1 (Bubba Fowler, Bob Johnston) - 2:21
8. The Messenger Of Life (Bubba Fowler, Bob Johnston) - 3:08
9. Yellow Beads - 2:51
10.On Tomorrow - 3:38
11.Jenny Love - 2:34
All songs by Bubba Fowler except where stated
The Dave Chastain Band was in the mold of southern rock bands like the Allman Brothers. They sounded very much like the legends of the south on "Rockin’ Roulette." This was originally released in 1980.
"Sunshine" opens up the LP rather than the title track, which I thought was odd. "Rockin’ Roulette", which is one of the best songs on the album, should have been the opener but it ends up as the closer. Either way is fine with me, I thought that this LP offered consistently good songs throughout. Chastain was the leader and he provided some great lead and slide guitar along with great soulful rockin’ vocals. At times his leads could be explosive and others warm and rhythmic, much in the tradition of southern rock.
by Keith Hannaleck
Tracks
1. Sunshine (Dave Chastain, Steve Martinez) - 5:35
2. Gotta Get Away - 2:13
3. Highway Man - 4:37
4. Losin' You Blues - 3:17
5. Breezin' - 4:47
6. Down At Dee's - 3:47
7. One In The Sun (Ron O'Brien) - 4:23
8. Ballad Of William Quantrill (Bud Pruett, Don Mitchell, Mark French) - 2:53
9. Rockin' Roulette (Dave Chastain, Tom Jernigan) - 3:12
All compositions by Dave Chastain except where indicated
The Dave Chastain Band
*Dave Chastain - Lead, Slide Guitars, Vocals
*Tom Jernigan - Drums, Vocals
*Nip Beer - Keyboards
*Bud Pruett - Bass, Vocals
*Mark French - Lead Guitar, Vocals
*Randy Wickert - Saxophone, Percussion With
*Mo Abbott - Fiddle
*Bobby "Mongo" Harvey - Pedal Steel Guitar, Second Lead Guitar
*Bob Smith - Banjo
*Kris Lewis - Vocals
*Patsy Sullivan - Vocals
