Jellybread - Sixty Five Parkway (1970 uk, fine blues rock, Mike Vernon production, 2005 remaster)

Formed at England’s Sussex University by pianist Pete Wingfield, Jellybread was originally completed by Paul Butler (guitar/vocals), John Best (bass), and Chris Waters (drums). In 1969 the quartet secured a recording contract with the exemplary Blue Horizon Records label and although largely unadventurous, their albums offered a highly competent grasp of black music, including both blues and soul. They provided stellar accompaniment on Lightnin’ Slim's London Gumbo and B.B. King in London, but the unit dissolved in 1971 with the departure of Wingfield and Waters. Newcomers Rick Birkett (guitar, ex-Accent) and Kenny Lamb (drums) joined for Back to Begin Again, but Jellybread broke up when the set failed to make commercial headway. However, Wingfield enjoyed success as a solo artist, session pianist, and member of Olympic Runners. 

The band's second album from 1970 that was released on the Blue Horizon label.The band features Paul Butler who later joined Chicken Shack and Pete Wingfield on keyboards and vocals.This is great UK blues rock that sits alongside bands like Sam Apple Pie, Savoy Brown, Head Hands And Feet etc.Contains 3 bonus tracks.

Tracks

1. Faded Grace (Paul Butler) - 2:59

2. Old Before Your Time (Pete Wingfield) - 7:03

3. Sally Hotlips (Paul Butler) - 3:36

4. Go Through The Motions (Pete Wingfield) - 4:02

5. Full Circle One (Pete Wingfield) - 1:57

6. Old Man Hank (Pete Wingfield) - 3:42

7. The Missing Link (Chirs Waters, John Best, Paul Butler, Pete Wingfield) - 6:10

8. Samuel Taylor (Paul Butler) - 2:58

9. Try (Pete Wingfield) - 3:33

10.Full Circle Two (Pete Wingfield) - 2:10

11.That's Alright (Jimmy Rogers) - 2:07

12.Evening (Chirs Waters, John Best, Paul Butler, Pete Wingfield) - 6:53

13.Don't Want No Woman (Don Robey) - 2:58

Jellybread

*John Best - Bass 

*Paul Butler - Guitar, Vocals 

*Chirs Waters - Drums 

*Pete Wingfield - Keyboards, Vocals

1969-70  Jellybread - The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions (2008 remaster)  

Related Act

1970  Key Largo - Key Largo (2004 remaster)  

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Lamb - Cross Between (1971 us, fantastic jazzy folk rural rock, 2009 remaster)

Lamb's second album used some far more conventional elements of electric rock production than their starker debut had, which in some ways made this follow-up more mainstream and less striking. On the other hand, the songs themselves were more eclectic, and complemented well by the greater textural depth of the arrangements. Most importantly, the songwriting continued to be as inspired and unusual as it had been on A Sign of Change, and only slightly less abstract, again mixing jazz, folk, impressionistic singer/songwriter rock, gospel, and classical, though in different proportions.

Barbara Mauritz's singing continued to be mighty impressive, as sort of a more hushed and nuanced spin on the uninhibited woman rock singers coming to the fore in Californian rock, though with as much bluesy soul. "I'll spin a web of visions with the spider of my mind" she sings on "While Waiting," which is a pretty good indicator of the sort of oblique lyrics that permeate the record. Some of the material sounds decidedly happier than the more haunting tunes of A Sign of Change, approaching earthy country-rock on "Flying" (by far the most normal and accessible song on either of Lamb's first two albums). Gospel asserted itself as more of an influence, too, on cuts like the title track and "Reach High," though the lyrics were far more stream-of-consciousness in their wordplay than they were in mainstream gospel, and the orchestration backing the piano possessed an almost classical ingenuity likewise uncommon in most gospel arrangements. 

If you wanted some of the more intriguing strangeness of the hauntingly dreaming yet biting jazz-folk of the first album, that was here too, particularly in "Sleepwalkers." Other songs, like "KU," sound almost like the classically-influenced art song territory explored by Judy Collins in some of her late-'60s and early-'70s albums, though with more sensuality in the vocals. David Ackles might be another reference point in how the material and arrangements of some of the more ambitious tracks are, in some ways, more closely tied to classical and theatrical music than to rock, though this was ultimately targeted toward the singer/songwriter audience. Something like "Now's Not the Time," however, isn't easily comparable to anything, coming off like a mix of Native American incantational music with blues-gospel-rock. Like A Sign of Change, Cross Between is highly idiosyncratic yet rewarding music of considerable experimental integrity, and has mysteriously eluded rediscovery and cult recognition. 

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks

1. Flying (Barbara Mauritz) - 02:35

2. Now's Not the Time (Barbara Mauritz) - 03:37

3. Cross Between (Barbara Mauritz) - 03:46

4. Sleepwalkers (Barbara Mauritz, Bob Swanson) - 05:43

5. Reach High (Jeffrey Cain, Jerry Corbitt) - 04:05

6. Ku (Barbara Mauritz, Bob Swanson) - 05:00

7. While Waiting (Barbara Mauritz, Bob Swanson) - 03:54

8. Flotation (Barbara Mauritz) - 04:30

9. Milo And The Travelers (Barbara Mauritz, Bob Swanson) - 06:13

Lamb

*Barbara Mauritz - Vocals, Guitar, Tambourine

*Bob Swanson - Guitar

*Bill Douglass - Double Bass

With

*Anne Kish - Violin

*Bill Atwood - Trumpet

*David Hayes - Bass

*Ed Jaug 

*Ellen Dessler - Strings  

*Germaine Wallace  

*Gordon Messick - Trombon

*Kenneth Goldsmith - Violin

*Lawrence Duckles - Piano

*Lawrence Sousa - Trumpet

*Mitchell Howie - Banjo, Guitar 

*Dick Fenner - Cello 

*Robert Hughes - Basoon

*Tom Heimberg - Viola 

*Jerry Garcia - Banjo, Pedal Steel Guitar

1970  Lamb - A Sign Of Change (2009 edition)  

1971  Lamb - Bring Out The Sun (2009 remaster)  

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Lamb - Bring Out The Sun (1971 us, wonderful jazzy rural roots 'n' roll, 2009 remaster)

Whether it was the intention of Barbara Mauritz or someone on the business side of her affairs, Bring Out the Sun leaves the impression that she was being groomed for a solo career. The impression is hardly subtle or accidental: the album is co-billed to Barbara Mauritz and Lamb, and although Lamb co-founder Bob Swanson is still aboard as guitarist and (on half of the tracks) as a sole or collaborating composer, there are some songs on which he doesn't play at all. Lamb's second album, Cross Between, had a much higher proportion of gospel-oriented material than their debut, and Bring Out the Sun continues the move to contemporary gospel-rock of sorts, particularly on side one.

As a consequence, it's by a considerable margin the most mainstream of Lamb's albums, and also by a considerable margin the least interesting. That hardly means that it's bad: Mauritz is quite a soulful singer, and the way she handles gospel-slanted stuff is reminiscent of the way another idiosyncratic vocalist, Annisette of Savage Rose, performed gospel-rock on some of the early-'70s Savage Rose albums (though Annisette was considerably quirkier). But the gospel-soul-ragtime-slanted tunes have a simpler, more upbeat tone that isn't nearly as intriguing as Lamb's more ambitious recordings, although one, "River of Boulevard," became Mauritz's best-known composition when it was covered by the Pointer Sisters on their self-titled Top 20 album in 1973. 

Yet side two gets considerably more interesting, "Salty" allowing Mauritz her furthest stretch into jazz torch singing territory. And, oddly, "The Vine" and "Live to Your Heart" end the album on its most adventurous note. Both songs sound much like they'd been recorded during the sessions for Lamb's first two LPs, as they revert to the slightly disturbing minor-keyed jazz-folk singer/songwriting, classical-tinged arrangements, and dream imagery-laden lyrics characteristic of the band's earlier work. And even on side one, the brief Mauritz solo instrumental piano piece "The Wish" makes a nice quasi-classical break on this uneven but worthwhile capper to Lamb's career. 

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks

1. Old Fashioned Remedy (Barbara Mauritz) - 4:23

2. The Wish (Barbara Mauritz) - 1:54

3. Rap With Rhyme (Bob Swanson) - 4:33)

4. River Boulevard (Barbara Mauritz) - 3:09

5. How Am I Gonna Manage (Barbara Mauritz, Bob Swanson) - 3:24

6. Visions of Blackbirds (Barbara Mauritz) - 1:51

7. Salty (Barbara Mauritz, Bob Swanson) - 8:22

8. The Vine (Barbara Mauritz) - 3:04

9. Live to Your Heart (Bob Swanson) - 3:34

Musicians

*Barbara Mauritz - Vocals, Piano

*Bob Swanson - Banjo, Acoustic Guitar

*Mark Springer - Acoustic Guitar

*David Hayes - Bass

*Richard Shlosser - Drums

*Tom Salisbury - Organ, Piano, Vocals

*Michael Pendergrass - Acoustic Guitar

*Clyde Flowers - Bass

*Richard Fenner - Cello

*Eddie Lee Charlton - Drums

*John McFee - Steel Guitar

*Ed Bogas - String, Brass Arrangements, Viola

*Charles Peterson - Saxophone

*Mel Martin - Saxophone

*Bill Atwood - Trumpet

*Warren Gale - Trumpet

*Dwight Hall - Trumpet

*Stephan Furre - Trombone

*Leonard Lasher - Bass

*Myron Mu - French Horn

*Vince Delgado - Tabla

*David Litwin - Moog Synthesizer 

*John Viera - Moog Synthesizer

*Patrick Gleason - Moog Synthesizer

1970  Lamb - A Sign Of Change (2009 edition)   

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Lamb - A Sign Of Change (1970 us, gorgeous jazzy acoustic folk rock, 2009 edition)

Although Lamb started as a duo of Barbara Mauritz and Bob Swanson, it's very much Mauritz's singing that dominates their first album, though both she and Swanson were involved in the songwriting on most of the seven tracks. While Lamb were loosely aligned with the San Francisco rock scene of the early 1970s, A Sign of Change is not so much rock as an unusual hybrid of jazz and folk, with plenty of tinges of gospel, pop, blues, and even classical. 

Like some combination of Chet Baker, Joni Mitchell, and perhaps bits of Donovan, free jazz vocalist Patty Waters, and Tim Buckley at his most experimental, Mauritz sings dream-like chains of words almost as if they're improvised jazz notes. Sometimes sounding rather like hippie psalms, her poetic interior monologues are set against sad, pretty melodies with plenty of twists and jazzy tempo shifts, the acoustic backing largely relying on Swanson's acoustic guitar and Bill Douglass' bass, though there's occasional chamber-like orchestration. 

Mauritz has a mighty impressive voice, like that of a blues-rock belter with far more delicacy, her hazily mixed and enunciated vocals adding to the avant-pop mystery even if the words aren't always easy to make out. Those words are abstract enough, with references aplenty to florid natural imagery and dreamscapes, to make listeners feel like they've been dropped into a waking dream of sorts. Occasional phrases, however, penetrate with more cogency, like the rumination "how in the world could there be wars if there were no evil powers" (from "The Odyssey Of Ehram Spickor"). 

That might give the impression that this is a pre-new age album of sorts, but it's not: it's almost avant-garde in its otherworldliness, the production quite somber and spare. To bring this more to earth, Maurtiz really lets loose with extended jazzy scatting on "Barbara's Soul II," the record's bluesiest cut. She also delivers what amounts almost to an experimental gospel piece on the closing "Where I'm Bound," which unlike the rest of the album features piano, the rhythm and keyboard overtones accelerating almost to the point of storminess by the song's conclusion. 

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks

1. Traveler's Observation (Bob Swanson, Barbara Mauritz) - 5:05

2. Adventures Of The Incredible Mr. Sandman (Barbara Mauritz) - 2:35

3. In Dreams (Bob Swanson, Barbara Mauritz) - 5:35

4. Barbara's Soul II (Bob Swanson, Bill Douglass, Barbara Mauritz) - 5:10

5. The Odyssey Of Ehram Spickor (Bob Swanson, Barbara Mauritz) - 3:11

6. Preacher's Holiday (Bob Swanson, Barbara Mauritz) - 7:54

7. Where I'm Bound (Barbara Mauritz) - 6:57

Lamb

*Barbara Mauritz - Vocals, Guitar, Tambourine

*Bob Swanson - Guitar

*Bill Douglass - Double Bass

With

*David Litwin - Wind, String Arrangements

*Walter Papaport - Shepherd

*Diva Goodfriend-Koven - Flute

*Robert Hubbard - English Horn

*Douglas Blumenstock - Cello

*Ed Bogas - Viola

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Atlanta Rhythm Section - The Polydor Years (1974-80 us, amazing southern fried soulful rock, 2019 remaster and expanded 8 discs box set)

 

Born from the ashes of The Candymen and The Classics IV, Atlanta Rhythm Section began as the house band at Buddy Buie, J.R. Cobb, and Bill Lowery’s Studio One in Doraville, Georgia. Members had already performed on recordings by Al Kooper, Roy Orbison, B.J. Thomas, and even Liberace by the time they began rising to fame, fanning the southern rock flame.  Now, the band’s classic output – recorded from 1974 to 1980 – has been remastered and collected in a new box set: The Polydor Years, due this Friday, May 31 from Caroline International.

The Polydor Years is an 8-CD set that brings together many of their best-loved albums and biggest hits.  Inside you’ll find Third Annual Pipe Dream (1974), Dog Days (1975), Red Tape (1976), A Rock and Roll Alternative (1976), Champagne Jam (1978), Underdog (1979), Are You Ready? (1979) and The Boys From Doraville (1980). Their first two band efforts were recorded for Decca Records and therefore don’t feature here.

Over the course of their tenure with Polydor, the band morphed from a straight-ahead, down-home southern rock group, to a more laid-back sound that brought them their biggest hits – “So Into You” (No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, 1977), “Imaginary Lover” (also No. 7, 1978), “I’m Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight” (No. 14, 1978), and their cover of the Classics IV’s “Spooky” (No. 17, 1979).  The latter had particular resonance as ARS originally rose out of the ashes of that group, with keyboardist Dean Daughtry and guitarist J.R. Cobb among the founding members.

Alongside the classic albums, The Polydor Years includes several rare single edits and mono mixes that represent the radio-friendly versions of their songs.  All the tracks in the set have been remastered by Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham and the albums come housed in a clamshell box with a booklet of liner notes and discographical annotations.  All told, it’s an attractive presentation of some classics from the ’70s rock era.

by Sam Stone, May 29, 2019 

Tracks

Disc 1 Third Annual Pipe Dream 1974

1. Doraville (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:30

2. Jesus Hearted People (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:51 

3. Close the Door (Paul Goddard, Ronnie Hammond) - 3:26

4. Blues in Maude's Flat (Grant Green) - 3:51

5. Join the Race (John Fristo) - 3:58

6. Angel (What in the World's Come Over Us) (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 5:12

7. Get Your Head Out of Your Heart (Ronnie Hammond, Robert Nix) - 2:33

8. The War Is Over (Barry Bailey, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 2:02

9. Help Yourself (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Nix) - 2:55

10.Who You Gonna Run To (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Nix) - 3:21 

11.Angel (What in the World's Come Over Us) (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:29 

12.Angel (What in the World's Come Over Us) (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:29

13.Doraville (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:16

14.Get Your Head Out of Your Heart (Ronnie Hammond, Robert Nix) - 2:31

Bonus Tracks 11-14

Disc 2 Dog Days 1975 1. Crazy (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:13 2. Boogie Smoogie (Barry Bailey, Buddy Buie, Robert Nix) - 8:15 3. Cuban Crisis (Perry Carlton Buie, James Cobb, Robert Nix) - 3:42 4. It Just Ain't Your Moon (Buddy Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Nix) - 4:59 5. Dog Days (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:38 6. Bless My Soul (James Cobb) - 3:53 7. Silent Treatment (Barry Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 5:23 8. All Night Rain (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Bob McRee, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:18 9. Crazy (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:11 Bonus Track 9

Disc 3 Red Tape 1976 1. Jukin (Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Nix, James Robert Wills) - 3:47 2. Mixed Emotions (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Nix) - 3:20 3. Shanghied (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Lafayette Nix) - 2:16 4. Police! Police! (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:13 5. Beautiful Dreamer (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:29 6. Oh, What a Feeling (Barry Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 2:40 7. Free Spirit (Perry Carlton Buie, Ronnie Hammond, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:38 8. Another Man's Woman (Barry Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 9:52 9. Free Spirit (Perry Carlton Buie, Ronnie Hammond, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:39 10.Jukin (Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Nix, James Robert Wills) - 3:45 Bonus Tracks 9-10

Disc 4 A Rock And Roll Alternative 1976 1. Sky High (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Ronnie Hammond, Robert Nix) - 5:17 2. Hitch-Hikers' Hero (Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:37 3. Don't Miss the Message (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:31 4. Georgia Rhythm (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:53 5. So Into You (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:22 6. Outside Woman Blues (Arthur Thomas Reynolds) - 4:52 7. Everybody Gotta Go (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:12 8. Neon Nites (Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:01 9. So Into You (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:16 10.So Into You (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:16 11.Neon Nites (Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 2:44 Bonus Tracks 9-11

Disc 5 Champagne Jam 1978 1. Large Time (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 2:56 2. I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:09 3. Normal Love (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:25 4. Champagne Jam (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:33 5. Imaginary Lover (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 5:07 6. The Ballad of Lois Malone (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:33 7. The Great Escape (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:50 8. Evileen (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:34 9. Jam (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:33 10.Imaginary Lover (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:09 11.Imaginary Lover (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:09 12.I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:45 13.I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:43 Bonus Tracks 9-13

Disc 6 Underdog 1979 1. Do It or Die (Perry Carlton Buie, Ronnie Hammond, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 3:30 2. Born Ready (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Nix) - 3:59 3. I Hate the Blues/Let's Go Get Stoned (Nickolas Ashford, Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix, Valerie Simpson) - 7:14 4. Indigo Passion (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 3:57 5. While Time Is Left (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Nix) - 5:21 6. It's Only Music (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 5:38 7. Spooky (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Harry Middlebrooks, Mike Shapiro) - 5:01 8. My Song (Perry Carlton Buie, Ronnie Hammond) - 3:18 9. Indigo Passion (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 3:43 10.Large Time (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:17 11.Back Up Against the Wall (Buddy Buie, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 3:13 12.Spooky (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Harry Middlebrooks, Mike Shapiro) - 3:49 Bonus Tracks 9-12

Disc 7 Are You Ready! 1979 1. Sky High (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Ronnie Hammond, Robert Nix) - 6:04 2. Champagne Jam (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Lafayette Nix) - 5:10 3. I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 5:02 4. Large Time (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 3:28 5. Back Up Against the Wall (Buddy Buie, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 4:08 6. Angel (What in the World's Come Over Us) (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 7:13 7. Conversation (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 3:59 8. Imaginary Lover (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 5:33 9. Doraville (Barry Joe Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 4:05 10.Another Man's Woman (Barry Bailey, Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 14:28 11.Georgia Rhythm (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr., Robert Lafayette Nix) - 5:42 12.So Into You (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix) - 7:40 13.Long Tall Sally (Alexander Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, Richard Penniman) - 3:38

Disc 8 The Boys From Doraville 1980 1. Cocaine Charlie (Perry Carlton Buie, Ronnie Hammond) - 4:53 2. Next Year's Rock 'n' Roll (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry) - 5:24 3. I Ain't Much (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 4:25 4. Putting My Faith in Love (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 5:13 5. Rough at the Edges (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry) - 3:19 6. Silver Eagle (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 3:52 7. Pedestal (Perry Carlton Buie, Ronnie Hammond) - 2:49 8. Try My Love (Perry Carlton Buie, Ronnie Hammond) - 4:03 9. Strictly R 'n' R (Perry Carlton Buie, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix, Rob Walker) - 4:45 10.I Ain't Much (Perry Carlton Buie, James B. Cobb Jr.) - 3:58 Bonus Track 10 Atlanta Rhythm Section *Barry Bailey - Guitar *Buddy Buie - Vocals *J.R. Cobb - Guitar, Vocals *Dean Daughtry - Keyboards *Paul Goddard - Bass Guitar *Ronnie Hammond - Vocals, Vocals *Robert Nix - Percussion, Drums, Vocals *Roy Yeager- Percussion, Drums (Discs 7-8) 1975-76 Atlanta Rhythm Section - Dog Days / Red Tape (2005 remaster) 1979 Atlanta Rhythm Section - Are You Ready! (2012 remaster)

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Julian Jay Savarin - Waiters On The Dance (1971 uk, excellent melodisc art rock, 2001 edition)

British keyboardist and songwriter Julian Jay Savarin was the guiding force behind Julian's Treatment, who put out one of the better obscure early progressive rock albums, the science fiction concept-driven A Time Before This. Even prog rock fans who are familiar with that album, however, are likely unaware that Savarin put out a fairly similar subsequent record as a solo artist, Waiters on the Dance. This too is motored by Savarin's fine powerful, haunting organ, as well as strident yet appealing female vocals. The woman singer (Cathy Pruden) from A Time Before This being unavailable this time around, those vocals are handled here by Jo Meek (no relation to the famous '60s British rock producer Joe Meek!), who'd formerly been in the band Catapilla.

Waiters on the Dance seems to be a science fiction concept album of sorts, albeit one whose precise storyline isn't obvious, other than conveying a general mood of a dramatic epic. While some of the songs are on the long side (the two-part "Child of the Night" and "Dance of the Golden Flamingoes" both last nearly nine minutes), the whole album wraps up in a little more than half an hour.

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks

1. Child Of The Night 1 & 2 - 8:36

2. Stranger - 2:21

3. The Death Of Alda - 5:29

4. Dances Of The Golden Flamingoes - 8:55

5. Cycle - 4:23

6. Soldiers Of Time - 2:59

All songs by Julian Jay Savarin

Musicians

*Julian Jay Savarin - Hammond Organ, Mellotron

*Lady Jo Meek - Vocals

*Nigel "Zed" Jenkins - Guitar

*John Dover - Bass

*Roger Odell - Drums

Related Acts

1971  Catapilla - Catapilla  

1972  Catapilla - Changes  

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F.J. McMahon - Spirit Of The Golden Juice (1969 us, rough acid folk rock, 2009 reissue)

The most puzzling of backstories comes when someone decides to make one album, just one sole record to define their entire musical legacy, and proceeds to disappear from the face of the earth. Imagine if a painter like Dalíor Monet only ever finished one painting, and simply cleaned off their brushes and never returned to a blank canvas again. In truth, some of the most coveted records never saw the light of release at all, but are sought after and compiled years later, if anything to preserve some sort of special presence that may or may not have been left behind.

So it was with F.J. McMahon, an army veteran who returned home from duty to cut one of history’s most profound acoustic records. He drove up and down California’s Pacific Coast with a few copies in the back of his pickup truck and never cared to make another album for the rest of his life. It’s the type of story that rings a bell similar to Townes Van Zandt, who, after recording his first record in Los Angeles, hitchhiked his way back to Austin, Texas with nothing but a bag full of vinyl, all his own, leaving copies behind with anyone kind enough to give him a ride. It’s amazing to consider how carefree something might seem in the moment, when decades later such throwaways can be so valuable.

McMahon caught his first interest in music upon hearing ‘Guitar Boogie Shuffle’ by the Ventures, growing up in the very dawn of 50’s & 60’s rock and roll and soaking up the then pioneering sounds of Elvis & the Beatles. He began playing guitar as a young teenager, and after finishing school he enlisted in the United States Air Force, serving in Southeast Asia, Vietnam & Thailand in particular.

Returning stateside years later, he wrote and recorded ‘Spirit of the Golden Juice’ as a sort of summary or ode to his time spent overseas. All in all it’s the perfect acoustic rock record, heartfelt and autobiographical, with minimal instrumentation besides a lightly brushed drum kit and panned guitars, all led by his calm, unaccompanied vocal takes. When asked if hallucinogens impacted his songwriting, he answered: “More than Richard Nixon and less than Jerry Garcia. Everything experienced affects everything.” The very first chord struck in the album opener ‘Sister Brother’ sets the hazy, road-weary tone of the entire record. 

There is a slowness, not quite melancholic, but beautifully reflective that envelops each track, as if you could see McMahon cruising down Highway One in the back of someone else’s pickup truck, no place to go and no place to be, just happy to be home. In ‘Early Blue’ he laments: “In the morning’s light I try to hide from people. But it’s never right, I see my friends at night and it works out fine.” In ‘The Learned Man’ he sings about coming upon a wise man in the road, who taught him the importance of peace and silence. “I walked away, thanking him inside. He’d answered me the only way he could. Time had taught him much and so he understood. And now I know the lesson by the sea. I must have an answer. The only one to ask is me.” Perhaps this encounter is what gave McMahon the resolve to never record again, satisfied with the way his album had turned out and happy to move on quietly with his life.

The album’s front cover features a photograph of McMahon posing straight-faced and stoic in a room at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, the famed hotel hosting the likes of Jim Morrison, John Belushi, and other famous writers and performers. “If you must get into trouble, do it at the Chateau Marmont," said Harry Cohn, former president of Columbia Pictures. The back cover is a photograph taken in Big Sur, California, just a few hours north of McMahon’s home town of Santa Barbara.

McMahon played wherever possible for a few years, sometimes just walking into bars and passing a hat for tips. After almost a decade went by without selling many records, he gave up in the age of disco, therefore leaving us without live footage or any extra material. “When the age of glitter/glam and disco happened I hung it up. Bands were fewer and places would rather hire one DJ than four or five people. At that point I decided I needed a trade so I joined the Navy, went to avionics and electronics school and spent the next three years fixing radar and electronic systems on Navy aircraft. That turned into a twenty five year career as a computer field engineer.”

The great rediscovery happened in 2009 when the UK label Rev-Ola reissued the album on CD. But a 2012 vinyl reissue by The Circadian Press, distributed by indie mainstaySacred Bones(home of acoustic guitar-wielding Amen Dunes, Marissa Nadler, and other weird-folk rockers) was limited to 500 copies that authentically duplicated the original Accent pressing. The audio was even transferred from one of those original records to be restored and remastered in New York City.

The original 1969 Accent pressingis nearly impossible to find, with simply too few of them having made it out and into the world. Aprivately pressed 90’s reissueis available on Discogs starting at $100. And of the newest reissue, limited to 500 copies, only one iscurrently listed for sale, also starting at $100 on eBay.

Magazine Vinyl Me Please March 2nd 2016

Tracks

1. Sister Brother - 4:05 

2. The Road Back Home - 3:12 

3. Early Blue - 3:02 

4. Black Night Woman - 3:22 

5. One Alone Together - 2:57 

6. Five Year Kansas Blues - 2:44 

7. Enough It Is Done - 2:35 

8. The Learned Man - 2:37 

9. The Spirit of the Golden Juice - 3:33 

All compositions by F.J. McMahon

Musicians

*F.J. McMahon - Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar

*Junior Nickles - Drums

*John Uzonyi - Bass

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Downchild Blues Band - Road Fever (1980 canada, splendid roots blues brass rock, 2003 remaster)

Downchild (originally Downchild Blues Band). Toronto blues band, named for the Sonny Boy Williamson song "Mr. Downchild." It was formed in 1969 by the lead and slide guitarist, harmonica player and singer Don (Mr. Downchild) Walsh (b Toronto 24 Mar 1947). Members have included the singers Rick (The Hock) Walsh (b 19 Dec 1948, d Toronto 31 Dec 1999) and Tony Flaim (b 1948, d 10 Mar 2000), who alternated with Downchild for more than 20 years, and the pianists Jane Vasey (b Winnipeg 1949, d Toronto 7 Jul 1982; a member 1973-82) and, as of 1987, Gene Taylor (b Norwalk, California, 2 Jul 1952).

Downchild first performed its spirited brand of jump-band and Chicago-style blues at Grossman's Tavern, Toronto, before moving onto the national club circuit. After the release of their first album, Bootleg, the group was signed by RCA. In 1973, the band's single "Flip, Flop and Fly" (from the LP Straight Up) was a Canadian hit; two other songs from that album, Walsh's "(I Got Everything I Need) Almost" and the Walsh brothers' "Shot Gun Blues," were recorded in 1978 by the Blues Brothers (Briefcase Full of Blues, Atlantic KSD-19217), and the songs' popularity brought Downchild several US engagements. Vasey's "Tryin' to Get Her 88s Straight" was a minor Canadian hit in 1980. Downchild slowed in the years immediately following Vasey's death (of leukemia) but made a comeback in 1987.

Downchild has included several trumpeters, saxophonists, bassists, keyboard players and drummers during its history and by 1990 more than 100 musicians had passed through the band, which has been, variously, a quintet, sextet and septet. Since the early 1990s the core of the band membership has comprised Donnie Walsh, guitar and harmonica; Chuck Jackson (b Toronto, 11 Mar 1953), vocals; Michael Fonfara (b Stevensville, Ont, 11 Aug 1946), keyboards; bassist Gary Kendall; drummer Mike Fitzpatrick; and Pat Carey, saxophone. By 1990 the group had toured Canada more than 25 times, appearing at folk festivals, the NAC, Ontario Place, etc, as well as in countless bars in towns and cities from coast to coast.

In 1991, Downchild received a Juno Award for best roots and traditional album (Gone Fishing). Individually the musicians have each earned several Maple Blues Awards and Downchild was awarded electric act of the year (2005), recording of the year (Come On In, 2005), and entertainer of the year (2005, 2006). 

The Canadian Encyclopedia

Tracks

1. Road Fever (Jane Vasey) - 3:37

2. Stages Of Love (Jane Vasey) - 2:32

3. Caught In The Middle (Tony Flaim) - 3:55

4. Low Tide (Freddie King) - 4:06

5. Money Trouble (Tony Flaim) - 4:27

6. What You Gonna Do? (Don Walsh) - 2:50

7. Try To Fall In Love With Me (Don Walsh) - 3:28

8. You Don't Do (Jane Vasey) - 4:01

9. She Won't Come Home (Don Walsh) - 3:22

10.Half Ain't Been Told (James Burke Oden) - 2:28

11.T.V. Mama (Big Joe Turner) - 3:13

Downchild Blues Band

*Don Walsh - Guitar, Harmonica, Slide Guitar

*Jane Vasey - Piano, Vocals

*Tony Flaim - Lead Vocals

*Gary Kendall - Bass, Vocals

*Bob Heslin - Trumpet

*Larry Bodner - Sax

*Richard Howse - Sax

1971  Downchild - Bootleg (2007 edition)
1973  Downchild Blues Band ‎- Straight Up (Vinyl edition)

1975/78  Downchild Blues Band - It's Been So Long / Ready To Go  

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Pavlov's Dog - At The Sound Of The Bell (1976 us, gorgeous ballads prog and sheer exuberances, a little wonder, 2010 bonus tracks remaster)

 

I know, maybe it would have been better by reviewing the debut Pampered Menial (which was released in 1975) nut for some reason At The Sound Of The Bell landed first into my cd-player. Not that it is that important as for some reason (just like all the other fans do) these two albums form a holy duo.

Reviewing an album by this progrockband isn't the easiest of things as you either hate them or worship them, even if I still have to meet the first person who dislike Pavlov's Dog! These six guys who formed a band in St. Louis, Missouri are making prog-rock just like so many others did, but still their music is very, very different. The band were "big" listeners of British progrockbands like King Crimson, Soft Machine, Family, Gentle Giant and of course Genesis and they used these influences to make something quite unique.

It's not only the Bee Gees-voice from frontman David Surkamp which make Pavlov's Dog a godlike band. Nah, everything's perfect....from arrangment to the used ingredients. The album opens with a poppy (almost forgettable) She Came Shining but beneath the pop lies a layer of melancholic feelings. Cos yes, you'll cry on Standing Here With You, Mersey and you'll definitely burst out in tears once you reach Valkerie or Early Morning On.

Every song is perfect and I'm sure (at least that's in my case) you'll hear the album a thousand times once you discovered it and no (if I'm not counting King Crimson) then Pavlov's Dog is the sole progrockband in my collection, so there you go!

It's not the first time that this album (just like the debut Pampered Menial) got reissued but the version on Cherry Red is digitally remastered and even if there are no extra tracks on it, the cd comes with a mighty booklet in where you can finds lots of information about this essential band.

If you never tried Pavlov's Dog, you better do as changes are big they'll chance your life. And yes, these are the kind of albums you'll take to that famous island.... Classic.

by Didier Becu, 03/04/2013

Tracks

1. She Came Shining (David Surkamp, Doug Rayburn) - 4:19

2. Standing Here With You (Megan's Song) - 3:52

3. Mersey (David Surkamp, Steve Scorfina) - 3:05

4. Valkerie - 5:21

5. Try To Hang On - 2:11

6. Gold Nuggets - 3:28

7. She Breaks Like A Morning Sky (David Surkamp, Doug Rayburn) - 2:28

8. Early Morning On (David Surkamp, Doug Rayburn) - 3:12

9. Did You See Him Cry (David Surkamp, Doug Rayburn) - 5:42

10.Gold Nuggets - 4:38

11.Standing Here With You (Megan's Song) - 4:07

12.Try To Hang On - 3:12

All songs by David Surkamp except where indicated

Bonus Tracks 10-12

Track 10 recorded live at Burg Herzberg Festival 2007

Tracks 11 - 12 recorded live at Ford Auditorium Detroit 1976

Pavlov's Dog

*David Surkamp - Lead Vocals, Veleno, Acoustic Guitars

*Steve Scorfina - Lead Guitar

*Tom Nickeson - Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals

*David Hamilon - Keyboards

*Doug Rayburn - Mellotron, Bass, Percussion

*Rick Stockton - Bass

With

*Martyn Ford Orchestra - Strings

*High Wycombe Parish Boys Choir - Chorus Vocals

*Elliot Randall - Guitar

*Les Nicol - Guitar

*Paul Prestopino - Mandolin

*George Gerich - Organ

*Mike Abene - Organ

*Andy MacKay - Saxophone

*Michael Brecker - Saxophone

*Gavin Wright - Violin

*Bill Bruford - Drums

1975  Pampered Menial (2007 xpanded and 2013 remaster)   

1977  Has Anyone Here Seen Sigfried? (2007 official remastered edition with bonus tracks)   

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Russ Giguere - Hexagram 16 (1971 us, fine multi sunny beats, 2013 reissue)

In 1971, rhythm guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Russ Giguere departed the band’s ranks to pursue a solo career.  He teamed that year with the producer of The Association, John Boylan, to craft his Warner Bros. solo debut Hexagram 16.  With support from musicians including Jim Keltner, Russ Kunkel, Spooner Oldham, The Dillards’ Herb Pedersen, steel guitarist Buddy Emmons and The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Chris Ethridge, Hexagram was released to little fanfare.  It’s just made its CD debut from Real Gone Music. Real Gone’s CD, produced by the label’s Gordon Anderson, has no remastering credits, but shouldn’t disappoint.

“Now we begin, we’re reaching out to you/Now we begin, doing the thing that we do,” Giguere’s familiar voice intones over some gentle strums on “Now We Begin,” the first track on Hexagram 16.  Though an accomplished songwriter, he only wrote two songs on the album, turning over the balance of the tracks to writers including producer Boylan, Randy Newman, Judee Sill, Bill Martin, Association bandmate Jules Alexander, and even Smokey Robinson for a cover of “Shop Around.”  The solo voice introduced on “Now We Begin” momentarily jars, hearing Giguere’s plaintive instrument sans the billowy blend of Association harmonies.  But the acoustic folk-pop sound is just one of the many solo styles explored by the artist on Hexagram 16.

Future Eagle Bernie Leadon played guitar, along with Giguere, on “Begin.”  He also supplied the heavier licks on Boylan’s folk-rocking “Brother Speed,” first recorded by Boylan and his brother Terence the song in 1968 as Appletree Theater.  Judee Sill, one of the most original voices to emerge from the Laurel Canyon rock scene, accompanies Giguere on her own mini-western vignette “Ridge Rider.”  (Sill’s own rendition can be heard on her 1971 eponymous debut album.)  Jim Spheeris’ “Let It Flow” is a truly lovely, almost Byrds-ian track, in an even more explicitly country vein.

Sill and Leadon weren’t the only well-known guest musicians.  For Bill Martin’s impressionistic “My Plan,” Giguere enlisted Wrecking Crew vet Larry Knechtel (of Bread and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” fame) to play gothic organ, while The Association’s onetime producer Jerry Yester, his wife Judy Henske, and keyboardist Craig Doerge of The Section on the track’s ethereal, high harmonies.  Martin also supplied the considerably more relaxed “Rosarita Beach Café.”  The starriest track on Hexagram is a tough and funky remake of “Shop Around,” with Leadon, pianist Spooner Oldham and R&B legend Bobby Womack (also on guitar) joining Giguere, Merry Clayton, Clydie King and Venetta Fields on the soulful vocals.

Giguere affected an exaggerated voice for the rock-and-roll of his song “In New Germany,” but more naturally rocked on Randy Newman’s 12 Songs track “Lover’s Prayer.”  With Oldham doing his best boogie and Clayton leading Fields and King on the backups, it’s one of the best tracks on the LP.  As with so many rock covers of Newman tunes – think Tom Jones or Joe Cocker – Giguere’s version plays it straight on the lyrics that came off as dryly funny when sung by their composer in character: “Don’t send me no young girl to love me, With their eyes shinin’ bright/All the young girls are afraid of me, Send me a woman tonight…”

Hexagram 16 concludes with Jules Alexander’s “Pegasus,” orchestrated by Al Capps in Wagnerian style.  It ends the eclectic album on an offbeat and grandiose note, and indeed, perhaps Hexagram 16 was too diverse for its own good.  In the liner notes penned by Richie Unterberger, Giguere confesses, “It’s pretty hard to bag it, pretty hard to put it in a category.  Because it’s just music for music’s sake.”  True though that may be, it’s a more-than-worthwhile reissue for any fans of The Association eager to hear one of the group’s finest vocalists out front exploring his many facets and influences.

by Joe Marchese, August 7, 2013

Tracks

1. Now We Begin (Russ Giguere) - 2:54

2. Brother Speed (John Boylan) - 3:44

3. Ridge Rider (Judee Sill) - 3:20

4. My Plan (Bill Martin) - 4:40

5. In New Germany (Russ Giguere) - 2:37

6. Rosarita Beach Cafe (Bill Martin) - 3:56

7. Lover's Prayer (Randy Newman) - 2:12

8. Let It Flow (Jimmie Spheeris) - 3:50

9. Shop Around (Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson) - 3:28

10.Pegasus (Jules Alexander) - 3:31

Musicians

*Russ Giguere - Vocals, Guitar

*Bernie Leadon - Guitar

*Larry Knechtel - Celesta, Piano, Bass

*Jim Keltner - Drums

*Russ Kunkel - Drums

*Jules Alexander - Guitar

*Ben Benay - Guitar, Bass, Harmonica

*Bobby Womack - Guitar

*Buddy Emmons - Guitar

*Judy Sill - Guitar

*Herb Pederson - Banjo

*Bob West - Bass

*Chris Ethridge - Bass

*John Boylan - Bass

*Lyle Ritz - Bass

*Tony McCashen - Bass

*Bob Brookmeyer - Brass

*Bud Childers - Brass

*John T. Johnson - Brass

*Lew McCreary - Brass

*Roy Caton - Brass

*Don Beck - Mandolin

*Bill Perkins - Woodwind

*Bud Shank - Woodwind

*Gene Cipriano - Woodwind

*Emil Richards - Percussion

*Jungle Giguere - Percussion

*Spooner Oldham - Piano

*Clydie King - Backing Vocals

*Craig Doerge - Backing Vocals

*Fat John - Backing Vocals

*Herb Pederson - Backing Vocals

*Jackie Allen - Backing Vocals

*Jerry Yester - Backing Vocals

*Judy Henske - Backing Vocals

*Julia Rinker - Backing Vocals

*Merry Clayton - Backing Vocals

*Vanetta Fields - Backing Vocals

with the Association

1966-69  The Association - Original Album Series (2016 five discs box set)  

1966  The Association - And Then...Along Comes (2013 Japan remaster)
1967  The Association - Insight Out (Xpanded)
1968  The Association - Birthday (2013 Japan remaster)
1969  The Association - The Association (Xpanded)  

1970  The Association - Live (2003 remaster)
1972  The Association - Waterbeds In Trinidad 

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