Phil Trainer was an American folk-rock singer-songwriter. He released his first album when in the UK, with backing by members of UK folk group, Trees. It was originally released in 1972 and it is rated as a world classic of the genre by many.
Tracks
1. The Promise Mind - 3:39
2. Beautiful Jim - 5:56
3. No No No - 3:55
4. She's Gone West - 4:12
5. No Change Baby - 4:32
6. Stud - 3:15
7. In The City - 4:50
8. Leave Me Alone - 4:02
9. Rose-Coloured Sky - 4:19
10.Live Together - 9:29
All Music and Lyrics by Phil Trainer
It's an eyebrow-raising experience to encounter the cover of "River Deep, Mountain High" that opens the Animals 1968 album, Love Is. Clocking in at nearly seven and a half minutes, it's the weirdest version of the song ever cut. Self-produced by the band, it juxtaposes vocalist and bandleader Eric Burdon's staggering abilities as a rhythm & blues singer with few peers with then-modern-day psychedelia. The Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry-penned vehicle for Ike & Tina Turner was never envisioned like this. There are moments of pure greatness in the track, a rough, garage-hewn rock and R&B foundation underscored by Burdon's blues wail is, unfortunately, completely messed over by the sound effects and his insistence on yelling "Tina, Tina, Tina..." ad nauseam in the bridge. And this is just the beginning. This version of the Animals contained enough serious players that they should have known better: Burdon, keyboardist Zoot Money, drummer Barry Jenkins, bassist John Wieder, and a young guitarist who'd been booted from Soft Machine after a very brief period named Andy Summers.
For those who found charm and even inspiration in the Twain Shall Meet and Winds of Change -- both recorded in San Francisco -- Love Is may hold some sort of place in the heart. For those who looked back to the Animals catalog that included such dynamic albums as Animalism and Animalization as well as a slew of killer four-track EPs, this must have seemed like the bitter end. On the other hand, this trainwreck of an album has some interesting moments -- mainly for hearing how hard they tried to imitate other acts who were successful while at the same time trying to forge a new identity from the ruins of who they once were as a band whose day had come and gone.
Psychedelia versions of Sly Stone's "I'm an Animal," Traffic's "Coloured Rain," and the Bee Gees "To Love Somebody." The latter -- which has to be heard to be believed -- begins with Summers playing Chuck Berry licks as an intro before it slows down into a completely over-the-top Don Covay-styled soul shot with Burdon underscored by a female backing chorus which counters to push him into the stratosphere. Despite its cheesy organ sound, it has enough power drumming, crunchy guitar, and a neat little piano break by Money to make it work. It's easily the best thing here even if it is absolutely mental. Burdon had heard ex-bandmate Chas Chandler's young guitar protégé Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun" from the Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut album as well. In fact, he enlisted Money's buddy, guitarist Steve Hammond (of Johnny Almond's Music Machine) to come up with a long-form psychedelic suite that evoked it and some of Pink Floyd's weirder experiments at that time. The end result, "Gemini," is hysterically funny now, and must have just seemed to be ecstatically drug-addled tomfoolery at the time. The closer, "The Madman (Running Through The Fields)," by Summers and Money would have been a killer single if they'd edited the acid-fried middle section out of it. As it stands, Love Is was a mess from a band who, once great, had completely lost its way and was on its last legs.
by Thom Jurek
Tracks
1. River Deep, Mountain High (Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich) - 7:25
2. I'm An Animal (Sylvester Stewart) - 5:37
3. I'm Dying, Or Am I? (Eric Burdon) - 4:30
4. Ring Of Fire (June Carter, Merle Kilgore) - 4:53
5. Coloured Rain (Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood) - 9:41
6. To Love Somebody (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) - 6:57
7. As The Years Go Passing By (Deadric Malone) - 10:55
8. Gemini (Steve Hammond) - 11:54
9. The Madman (Running Through The Fields) (Zoot Money, Andy Summers) - 5:24
10.River Deep, Mountain High (Single Version) (Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich) - 7:42
Bonus Track 10
John Mayall is of course the Godfather Of British Blues, first recording in 1965 and still touring and recording prolifically today, well into his seventies. My favourite of his many albums is this offering from 1968, which is both a collection of original blues-based songs with contemporary psych overtones and also a diary in music of his three-week vacation in Los Angeles that summer: either a song cycle or a concept album, according to your own definitions, but certainly unique among the slew of straightforward blues albums being produced by white performers on both sides of the Atlantic at the time.
Starting with the roar of a jet swinging across the stereo plane – a device cheekily lifted from the Beatles’ White Album – the record chronicles Mayall’s discovery of the heady delights of late sixties LA, his first sojourn in Laurel Canyon where he would later make his permanent home, his stay as a guest of Canned Heat with whom Mayall struck up a strong and lasting rapport – later, both Harvey Mandel and Larry Taylor would leave Heat to join Mayall’s band – and, in considerable detail, his mission to get laid. It ends with a rueful recollection of the brief love affair and a moody anticipation of returning home to the UK.
In fact this is a collection of many moods, from joyous exploration of glamourous new surroundings, to irritable self-examination following a bust-up with an unidentified companion, to deep and intimate relations in the bedroom. The changes of mood are emphasised by Mayall’s constant switches of instrumentation – he was already virtuosic on piano, Hammond, and mouth-harp and capable on guitar – and by the careful segue of each track into the next, plus the pitching of each song in a different key. Every one of the twelve keys of the chromatic scale, except F#, is used (try playing blues in Db or Ab, if you will).
Backup is provided by the rock-solid rhythm section of drummer Colin Allen and 18-year-old bassist Stephen Thompson, while guitarist Mick Taylor, on his final studio outing with Mayall prior to joining the Stones, wields his Les Paul always tastefully and often excitingly throughout. Production by Decca’s veteran producer Mike Vernon is commendable for those eight-track days.
My standout tracks are Ready To Ride, on which Mayall’s overactive hormones fuel some explosive harp work, The Bear, whose intro pays tribute to a well-known Heat riff before segueing into a delightful piano-led country blues dedicated to Bob Hite, and Miss James, in which the Hammond reels through jazzy changes in their best Jimmy Smith style. But individual tracks cannot do justice to this album; for best effect it demands to be heard in sequence at a single sitting.
by Len Liechti, August 6th, 2009
Tracks
1. Vacation - 2:47
2. Walking On Sunset - 2:50
3. Laurel Canyon Home - 4:33
4. 2401 - 3:42
5. Ready To Ride - 3:32
6. Medicine Man - 2:43
7. Somebody's Acting Like A Child - 3:27
8. The Bear - 4:40
9. Miss James - 2:30
10.First Time Alone - 4:49
11.Long Gone Midnight - 3:27
12.Fly Tomorrow - 8:59
13.2401 - 3:56 A
14.Wish You Were Mine - 8:36
All songs by John Mayall
Bonus Tracks 13-14
Track 13 Single Version
Track 14 Live 1968
Personnel
*John Mayall - Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboards, Vocals
*Mick Taylor - Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar
*Colin Allen - Drums, Tabla
*Steve Thompson - Bass Guitar
*Peter Green - Guitar (Track 10)
How anyone will manage to remain a nasty narrow-minded jade in the presence of this unremittingly delightful album defies the imagination.
There's simply no exaggerating the pimply splendor or Speedy Keen's lead voice, a reedy, breathless, disarmingly earnest affair that resides in the No-Voice's-Land between little-boy soprano and grown-up falsetto. There's simply no describing the charm of Andy Newman's keyboard-tickling, which takes the form of a dazzling assortment of boogie-cum-piano-bar chops laid down with unerring clumsiness only in the least likely places (and there without accompaniment, as there's apparently no keeping up with it). Nor could one exude excessively in behalf of wee Jimmy McCulloch's precisely lyrical lead guitar.
Put alternatively, nothing in Thunderclap's music has anything much to do with anything else in Thunderclap's music, the result being that Thunderclap's is at once unexaggerably bizarre and a mightily refreshing rock and roll sound. That sound couldn't in a month of Halloweens be better suited to Speedy's imbecilically catchy little songs, which abound with surreal, nostalgic, surreally nostalgic, and other wonderful lyric sentiments.
Try on for size "Wild Country," in which he glorifies the great outdoors because, simply, it's such a nice place to ball in. Try on both the modest and colossal (the latter featuring all manner of domestic and exotic percussion) takes of "Hollywood," an eminently hummable little ditty in which Speedy laments the passing of bigger-than-life film-stars who used to make him sick, and a very McCartney-ish instrumental exploration of this theme, "Hollywood Dream." And the delightfully-dated "Accidents," which here bends the mind with its late 1966 psychedelic ambiguity for nearly ten minutes and contains dazzling piano and kazoo freak-outs by Andy. And, of course, "Something In The Air," which you'll find as emphatic a knock-out on 600th hearing as it was on first. "Pass out the arms and ammo....": have you ever encountered a TV revolutionary line that can match that for sheer charm?
To top it all off, they're the oddest-looking bunch you've ever laid eyes upon. Newman, with slicked-back, receding hair, a corncob pipe, and the face of a 40-year-old mailman (in actual fact he's a former mailman who used to attend art college with Pete Townshend) is so straight he's surreal, while Speedy's your workaday big-nosed English longhair. And McCulloch is that archetypal moddie, a tiny teen with an adorable toothy smile who a casual groupie of my acquaintance has informed me will find long lines of takers should he ever venture onto the stage of the Whisky A-Go-Go.
by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 10/15/70
Tracks
1. Something In The Air – 3:54
2. Hollywood #1 - 3:20
3. The Reason - 4:05
4. Open The Door, Homer (Bob Dylan) - 3:00
5. Look Around - 2:59
6. Accidents - 9:40
7. Wild Country - 4:14
8. When I Think - 3:06
9. The Old Cornmill - 3:58
10.I Don't Know - 3:44
11.Hollywood Dream (Instrumental) (Jack McCulloch, Jimmy McCulloch) - 3:06
12.Hollywood #2 - 2:54
13.Something In The Air (Single Version) - 3:54
14.Wilhemina (Andy Newman) - 2:56
15.Accidents (Single Version) - 3:46
16.I See It All (Jack McCulloch, Jimmy McCulloch) - 2:46
17.The Reason (Single Version) - 3:47
18.Stormy Petrel (Andy Newman) - 2:57
All songs by Speedy Keen except where stated
Ever since his death in 1970, Jimi Hendrix has certainly had his share of guitarists who thoroughly studied him -- some would say even copied him -- to a tee. One such gentleman would be Velvert Turner, who fronted the Velvert Turner Group. But there is an interesting reason why Turner resembled the self-proclaimed "Voodoo Child" -- not only was he supposedly friends with Hendrix, but allegedly, Hendrix took the guitarist under his wing, and taught him quite a few tricks on the six-string.
Born on October 12, 1951 and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Turner befriended Hendrix during the mid- to late '60s -- and Turner would show what Hendrix was teaching him to another guitarist friend of his, future Television member Richard Lloyd. After Hendrix's passing, Turner formed the Velvert Turner Group, with bassist Prescott Niles, keyboardist Christopher Robinson, and drummer Tim McGovern, and in 1972, issued a self-titled debut album. Highly derivative of his mentor -- both musically and even in the song titles, as evidenced by "Madonna (Of the Seven Moons)," "'Xcuse Me, Gentlemen (The Fall of Atlantis)," "(Love Rides)... The Slowly Swirling Seas.
There was even a cover of a Hendrix tune, "Freedom," that closed the album. Although the album didn't set the charts alight, it has become a sought-after cult item amongst Hendrix fanatics over the years.
And that was all that many heard from Velvert, although he did appear on a self-titled release by Arthur Lee in 1977, and in the mid-'80s, was involved in a Jimi Hendrix instructional guitar video, which strangely, only featured Turner narrating it and not showing the viewer the tricks of the trade that Hendrix had taught him (the guitar parts are played by Andy Aledort). Subsequently, the other members of the Velvert Turner Group would reappear in the Knack (Niles), the Motels (McGovern), and the New York Dolls (Robinson).
Sadly, on December 11, 2000, it was reported in the New York Times that Turner had passed away at his Brooklyn home. In the article, fans learned that in recent years Turner had been employed by Samaritan Village in Brooklyn, where he worked with those battling substance addiction. Four years after his passing, a snippet of Turner playing some Hendrixian guitar, titled "Going Home," was included on the star-studded tribute, Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. In 2009, Turner's old friend, Lloyd, recorded an album of Hendrix covers, titled The Jamie Neverts Story, whose title came from a code name that Turner and Lloyd used for Hendrix, when they would go visit him (to keep their visits "secret" from kids in the neighborhood). The album was also dedicated to Turner, and features altered album covert art based on Turner's Velvert Turner Group from over three decades prior.
by Greg Prato
Velvert Turner was apparently a friend of Jimi Hendrix's, and the Hendrix vibe on the album Velvert Turner Group is almost overpowering, right down to the fish-eye photo on the back cover. Turner's got great guitar tone and a playing style quite similar to Jimi. The songs are also similar to later-period Hendrix, circa First Rays of the New Rising Sun, but with some keyboards added. In fact, "Three O'Clock Train" starts out with a riff very close to "Izabella," then sounds more like "51st Anniversary" in the body of the tune. The really shocking thing, though, is how much Turner's voice sounds like Jimi. It's jarring, right down to the same vocal inflections. But it doesn't sound like imitation, it just sounds like they came from the same places. The songs are good, although not the equal of Hendrix's, but some of the guitar playing is great, with some good feedback and panning effects to boot. It's certainly derivative, but Jimi left so few official albums that this will be a welcome sound to Hendrix fans.
by Sean Westergaard
Tracks
1. Madonna (Of The Seven Moons) - 3:35
2. Talkin' 'Bout My Baby - 4:00
3. Country Chicken (Christopher Robinson) - 2:56
4. Strangely Neww (Christopher Robinson, Prescott Niles) - 6:05
5. Scarlet Warrior (Prescott Niles, Tim McGovern) - 3:32
6. Three O'Clock Train - 4:15
7. Just Look And See (Prescott Niles, Velvert Turner) - 4:15
8. 'Xcuse Me, Gentlemen (The Fall Of Atlantis) - 4:32
9. (Love Rides...) The Slow Swirling Seas - 3:50
10.Freedom (Jimi Hendrix) - 6:17
Song by Velvert Turner except where indicated
The Velvert Turner Group
*Bob Hogans - Organ
*Bob Lenox - Organ
*Tim McGovern - Drums, Percussion
*Prescott Niles - Bass
*Christopher Robinson - Keyboards
*Velvert Turner. Guitar - Vocals
Tempest will. From a four piece, to a five piece, the band name aptly describes their music, and has always been the basis of their style. With Hiseman, the Thunderous God of Percussion, the musical elements ebb and flow like a storm, or a rock translation of Wagner. Thus, the overall feel is one of adventure, turbulence and down the line funk.
Naturally by trimming the group format they operate with more advantages, and conversely more limitations.
Halsall, the ex-Patto axe-man, has the scope to improvise licks continually, with Clarke using an equal amount of imagination. So the front two provide an enormous dose of entertaining playing.
And although Hiseman plays with true excellence throughout the set, at times he does have to restrict himself to strict rhythms and tempos.
But his solo, towards the end of the concert, was one of the highlights.
Visually too the band are impressive, with some good lighting effects, and Clarke bent over his instrument, his hair bursting from his skull, as if somebody had put a hatchet right down the middle. And of course Hiseman demonstrates the ancient art of stick juggling.
by Tony Stewart, from NME October 13, 1973
At the moment Tempest are creating more of a commotion in Europe than in England, to quote Jon Hiseman they are somewhat forgotten here. In an attempt to correct this these patriotic lads are currently undertaking a few dates in their Mother land before hot footing it back to the Continent. On Saturday they played at the Belfry near Sutton Coldfield deep in the heart of the green and pleasant land of Warwickshire and showed that they deserved to be thought of more often, more highly by more people.
The start of their set concerned my original opinion of Tempest that although their individual and collective musical ability was not in doubt they seemed to be falling between two stalls. They were neither an out and out instrumental group nor was their music following the more simplistic pattern of vocally orientated numbers.
However this doubt was soon removed as later numbers varied in pace and the vocals served as a focus rather than a limitation for some intricate instrumentalisation. Particularly successful was "Living In Fear", a blues gone wild that showed the dual talents of Ollie Halsall on guitar and moog, and contained some very effective bass runs by Mark Clarke; "Dream Train" with some slow harmonics; and "Stranger" which emphasised what a superb technician Jon Hiseman is.
The crowd warmed to the group and the night was rounded off with a rousing version of "Paperback Writer".
by Phil Holt, from Sounds, May 4, 1974
Tracks
1. Foyers Of Fun (Jon Hiseman, Mark Clarke, Allan Holdsworth) - 6:51
2. Gorgon (Jon Hiseman, Mark Clarke, Allan Holdsworth) - 8:16
3. Up And On (John Edwards, Allan Holdsworth) - 7:19
4. Grey And Black (Mark Clarke, Susie Bottomley) - 3:32
5. Brothers (Jon Hiseman, Allan Holdsworth) - 14:43
6. Round About Golders Green (Jon Hiseman, Mark Clarke) - 7:07
7. Strangeher (Jon Hiseman, Mark Clarke) - 5:39
8. Yeah Yeah Yeah (Ollie Halsall, Jon Hiseman) - 3:09
9. Living In Fear (Ollie Halsall) - 7:58
10.Dance To My Tune (Mark Clarke, Susie Bottomley) - 10:12
11.Paperback Writer (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 5:10
Tracks 1-7 Recorded Live At The Golders Green Hippodrome, London On 2 June 1973
Tracks 8-11 Recorded Live In London In April 1974
A very cosmic/psychedelic album cover has seven black-and-white Tommy James heads coasting over what looks like an acid trip, rainbow behind him, colors dripping upwards. It's the opposite of the black-and-white psychedelic look of the Cellophane Symphony album and the first of James' three final albums for Roulette. If we are to take the discs as three chapters, this one is Tommy James and Bob King proving that Tommy James was the Shondells. "Ball and Chain" is poppy and intense, the Velvet Underground gone bubblegum. Clearly, drugs had some influence on Tommy James' work, and where his ex-bandmates took a stab at the third Velvet Underground album with their Hog Heaven track "Come Away," "Ball and Chain" from the first Tommy James solo album sounds like it is an outtake from the Velvet Underground's Loaded CD.
"Meet the Comer" has bits of Neil Young's "Helpless," all gone pop, of course. Tommy James' reformulation of pop riffs he would create or nick kept the majority of his albums highly listenable. It's a real gift to tune in and grab melodies from the cosmos, and rest assured, memorable hooks and special sounds are all over these grooves. "Midnight Train" continues the party, making this a very underground pop album. "Come to Me" leads off side two, and it is the lost sequel to "Sugar on Sunday," the big hit for the Clique which first appeared on the Crimson & Clover album. "Come to Me" has a choir of backing vocals and should've been a smash with its flavors of past glories enhanced with a new bridge. Wonderful stuff. As the first part in his solo trilogy, Tommy James pays tribute to Tommy Roe, Billy Joe Royal, and even Bobby Sherman, but shows them all how a pop album is crafted and how Tommy James is the genuine article.
It's perhaps the most experimental of all his projects, more cohesive than Peter Lucia and Mike Vale's Hog Heaven, and sets the stage for the refined Christian of the World and the reverent and very satisfying Nashville recording My Head, My Bed and My Red Guitar. Where a song like "Quick Silver would be out of place on those aforementioned titles, it fits perfectly on this descent into a pop maestro's psyche. An enlightening project, and like many of Tommy James' other artistic endeavors, tragically overlooked.
by Joe Viglione
Tracks
1. Ball And Chain - 3:33
2. Meet The Comer - 3:36
3. Midnight Train - 3:28
4. Light Of Day - 3:47
5. Come To Me - 2:35
6. I Lost My Baby - 3:05
7. Lady Jane - 3:42
8. Quicksilver - 3:43
9. Draggin' The Line - 2:45
10.Church Street Soul Revival - 3:07
All songs by Tommy James, Bob King
Tracks 5,7 with The Shondells
Bonus Tracks 9-10
It could have been an almighty mess and for years critics asserted that it had been but the rock-meets-soul experiment that was the Rotary Connection became a sonic tour-de-force. Don't take my word for it, judge for yourself as BGP bring you their two most sought-after albums in a single package.
The brainchild of Marshall Chess, and the musical result of the arranging and production skills of Charles Stepney, Rotary Connection was the perfect showcase for the awesome voice of Minnie Riperton. On SONGS she is teamed up with Sydney Barnes and some local rock musicians, they take on an array of recent pop hits and blues classics that emerge as a funk rock amalgam which can in the case of their version of Cream's Tales Of Brave Ulysses or Otis' Respect still rock a dance-floor 30 years later.
On 1971's HEY LOVE Barnes had left and the band was made up of the cream of Chicago's soul session players such as Phil Upchurch and Master Henry Gibson, yet the music was no less radical. The sound was built around what had become Stepney's trademark strings, drums and bass arrangements so far ahead of their time that it still sounds fresh today. Songs such as Love Has Fallen On Me and I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun are epic pieces that shouldn't fail to touch your soul, while Song For Everyman showcases the songwriting talent of Stepney's then latest prodigy Terry Callier.
It was Rotary Connection's last stand-.-Riperton went off to live in California with her husband Richard Rudolph, scoring a massive hit in 1975 with Loving You, only a few years before she died. Stepney also died in the 70s, leaving an incredible legacy of production work from both his days at Cadet and his later work with soul mega group Earth Wind and Fire. Today, this music is as in-demand and relevant as way back then. House production legends Masters At Work slotted a cover version of I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun on their Nu-Yorican Soul project and took it into the UK charts earlier this year. Talk about staying power.
by Dean Rudland
Tracks
1. Respect (Otis Redding) - 3:08
2. The Weight (Robbie Robertson) - 3:27
3. Sunshine Of Your Love (Pete Brown, Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton) - 5:08
4. I Got My Mojo Working (Preston Foster, Muddy Waters) - 2:35
5. The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp (Jimi Hendrix) - 4:42
6. Tales Of Brave Ulysses (Eric Clapton, Martin Sharp) - 4:33
7. This Town (Don Hunter, Stevie Wonder) - 3:28
8. We're Going Wrong (Jack Bruce) - 3:24
9. The Salt Of The Earth (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 5:00
10.If I Sing My Song (Charles Stepney, Richard Rudolph) - 3:42
11.The Sea & She (Richard Rudolph) - 3:32
12.I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun (Charles Stepney, Richard Rudolph) - 5:47
13.Hangin' Round The Bee Tree (Richard Rudolph) - 3:42
14.Hey, Love (Charles Stepney, Richard Rudolph) - 4:12
15.Love Has Fallen On Me (Charles Stepney, Richard Rudolph) - 4:20
16.Song For Everyman (Terry Callier) - 5:34
17.Love Is (Charles Stepney, Richard Rudolph) - 5:21
18.Vine Of Happiness (Charles Stepney, Richard Rudolph) - 4:04
Tracks 1-9 from "Songs" 1969
Tracks 10-18 from "Hey, Love" 1971
Formed in Dordrecht in 1968, Cosmic Dealer were one of the most gifted Dutch bands to emerge from Holland's rich psychedelic scene.
On Crystallization, Cosmic Dealer are at their best when they are rocking out. Tracks like Daybreak, The Scene and the ELO-ish Head In The Clouds are amazingly fun to listen to. The Dutch accent comes on quite strong, but fortunately doesn't impede the singing. Daybreak in particular has a good opening riff that could possibly be described as progressive. At other times, the band show a more acoustic side, such as the sentimental I Had a Friend or Flying in the Winter. The vocals on the latter track remind me of Roger Chapman's bleating vocals in Family.
Cosmic Dealer were clearly heavily influenced by The Beatles. While you may not be able to make him out in the tiny picture above, the man sitting in front of the band bears an uncanny resemblance to John Lennon. Musically, If There is Nothing Behind The Hills sounds like a lost Beatles track, except in a Dutch accent, rather than a Liverpudlian. However, the biggest giveaway is the band's recreation of the 'Hold that line!' sample that concluded Lennon's frightening piece of musique concrète, Revolution 9. This time, the band shout it themselves to bookend their rather bizarre title track. This piece comes in two parts, a plodding opening section, followed by a frenetic climax, both halves featuring the incessant repetition of the album's name. It wouldn't be so bad if they could pronounce crystallization correctly.
Once again, this reissue comes loaded with another LP of bonus tracks, including demos and live tracks. Also, both singles from the album are on this disc. Inside the gatefold, Mike Stax of Ugly Things Magazine tells the story of the band, helped by pictures. It would have been helpful to point out who was whom in the pictures, as it otherwise impossible to put names to the faces.
This is an obscure, but fun record. While the tracks aren't groundbreaking, the band provide a very amicable listening experience, without pretension. If you already own this album, then the bonus LP might be worth your while for upgrading. If you don't mind a bit of psychedelic music in your life, then check this album out soon.
by Basil Francis
Tracks
Chapter 1 The Album
1. Daybreak (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 2:06
2. If There Is Nothing Behind The Thrills (Bas Van Der Pol) - 1:17
3. Child Of The Golden Sun (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 3:45
4. Swingin' Joe Brown (Bas Van Der Pol) - 3:40
5. I Had A Friend (Frans Poots, Jan Reijnders) - 3:57
6. Crystallization (Cosmic Dealer) - 5:52
7. The Scene (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 2:43
8. The Fly (Bas Van Der Pol) - 3:00
9. One Night (Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King) - :46
10.Find Your Way (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 2:22
11.Flying In The Winter (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 3:33
12.Head In The Clouds (Paul Curtis) - 3:34
13.Illusions (Jan Reijnders) - 1:58
14.The Scene (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 2:46
15.Child Of The Golden Sun (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 3:48
16.Head In The Clouds (Paul Curtis) - 2:44
17.Find Your Way (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 2:24
18.Winterwind (We'll Be Walking) (Angelo Noce Santoro, Frans Poots) - 4:07
19.Child Of Tomorrow (Ed Boender) - 3:39
20.You're So Good (Ed Boender) - 3:00
21.Sinner's Confession (Kees de Blois, Jan Reynders) - 4:50
Tracks 1-13 Original Album
Tracks 14-17 Single Mixes
Tracks 18-21 Demos
Chapter 2 The Sessions
1.Daybreak (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 2:10
2.If There Is Nothing Behind The Hills (Bas Van Der Pol) - 1:20
3.If There Is Nothing Behind The Hills (Bas Van Der Pol) - 1:28
4.Swingin' Joe Brown (Bas Van Der Pol) - 3:46
5.I Had A Friend (Frans Poots, Jan Reijnders) - 4:05
6.Crystallization (Cosmic Dealer) - 5:27
7.Crystallization (Cosmic Dealer) - 5:32
8.The Fly (Bas Van Der Pol) - 2:50
9.One Night (Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King) - 0:44
10.One Night (Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King) - 0:41
11.Find Your Way (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 2:28
12.Flying In The Winter (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 3:33
13.Head In The Clouds (Paul Curtis) - 3:40
14.Illusions (Jan Reijnders) - 1:12
15.Illusions (Jan Reijnders) - 2:04
16.Illusions (Jan Reijnders) - 2:06
17.Fast (Hoyer, P. Kingma, Leen Leendertse, Spiljard) - 6:41
18.Child Of The Golden Sun (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 3:31
19.Fast (Hoyer, P. Kingma, Leen Leendertse, Spiljard) - 4:57
20.Swingin' Joe Brown (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 2:43
21.Child Of The Golden Sun (Frans Poots, Bas Van Der Pol) - 3:49
For decades, Merced, California’s Crystal Syphon were lost amongst the psychedelic lettering that graced the dayglo posters of the Fillmore and Avalon – just a mere opener on the heaviest of bills and a footnote in the countless tomes written about the Haight Ashbury music scene. That all changed in 2012 when Roaratorio Records released Family Evil a highly praised collection of studio and live cuts that proved there was still pure California gold to be mined. The deposit was not depleted and Roaratorio is back with a second compilation, Elephant Ball, of smokin’ early 1967 studio demos and a live November 1969 gig from the legendary Fillmore West.
Side one opens with the all too brief “Dawn Sermon”, whose jingle jangle will make the biggest Quicksilver Messenger Service and Byrds’ fans sweat what is missing after the one minute and twenty second mark. No need to fret, as the sweet yet dark vocal harmonies of “For All of My Life” and “Tell Her For Me” – paired with Jim Sander’s fuzzed minor key leads – move at a blinding lysergic pace as they slip into a live portion of the album. Featuring the last incarnation of the group, the title track begins with an eccentric percussion and bass jam unleashing a frenzy of swirling organ fills and crunchy riffs that pummel the listener like a herd of wild pachyderms. As the audience outwills the abrasive attack the band barrels at a break neck speed into “It’s Winter”.
Closing with the Latin-tinged “There is Light There”, this release is further proof Crystal Syphon were an incendiary live group whose name should be mentioned in the same breath as other underappreciated Nor Cal luminaries (see: Kak, The New Tweedy Bros and Country Weather) while also being held in the highest esteem of the Quicksilvers, Airplanes and Grateful Deads who went on to find major label success.
by D. Norsen
Tracks
1. Dawn Sermon - 1:19
2. For All Of My Life - 3:12
3. Tell Her For Me - 3:29
4. Elephant Ball - 4:26
5. Sing To Me - 8:36
6. It's Winter - 3:23
7. Snow Falls - 5:16
8. Don't Fall Brother - 3:20
9. There Is Light There - 6:33
All songs by Crystal Syphon
Tracks 1-3 Recorded 1967
Tracks 4-9 Recorded at Filmore West, San Francisco, CA, 18 November 1969,
