If the unique Rontheo album has succeeded to stay in the top charts of collectors item records - still after 35 years - here are some good reasons for that. Firstly, it is the outstanding quality of its sound recording - not too many of the good folk musicians of the seventies have had the luck to get free access to a full 24-track recording studio for over an entire year.
The studio, located in the German town of Wiesbaden, had been provided by the prestigious and century-old music editor Breitkopf & Hartel. No other than the composer Peter Muhlbauer - also the editor's delegate producer - had written the fine vocal arrangements which give the album its unique and special character. Unfortunately. due to internal management issues, the company closed down its folk division after only 1,000 copies of the album had been printed and sold.
Ever since they met in 1974 at the fanmous "Steckdose" - a renowned folk club in Germany's Saarland - Rontheo have been touring and recording with different formations, such as Noah's Road Show, Jacara, Abbittibbi, The Groove Merchants and many others, sometimes together, sometimes apart, all over Europe, Canada, and the USA.
Presently, Ron lives in the Rocky Mountains in Washington State, where he plays with his band Franken Horse. Theo works with two other folk musicians, Jesse Ens and the country singer Bobby Dove; he lives in the Appalachian Mountains near Montreal, Quebec.
CD Liner Notes
Tracks
1. Music - 3:51
2. Live! - 4:09
3. Lady From Heaven - 2:54
4. Do It Again (Theo Busch, Walter Krennrich) - 3:28
5. By The Side Of A Clear Crystal Fountain - 3:46
6. Zyclus (Theo Busch) - 3:55
7. Although It's Fine - 4:45
8. Clouds Everywhere - 5:17
9. Tomorrow Will Know - 6:46
All songs by Ronni di Tomaso except where indicated
Wanting to “mellow” out in the early ’70s, Link Wray’s elder brother Vernon moved to Tucson, Arizona. There, he reassembled the infamous Wray brothers’ Three Track Shack, rechristening it his “Record Factory.” There, he recorded his classic, Wasted. In December 1973 and January 1974, he welcomed a Tucson-based songwriter named Mike Fiems into the Factory, where he served as the producer of Fiems’ I Would Dream. While the LP — recently posted in its entirety by the Tyme-Machine — shares a certain dusty sensibility with Wasted, also released on Tucson’s Vermillion Records in scarce quantity, I Would Dream is an entirely different beast than Wray’s busted heart record.
Mastered by a mysterious “Graybeard,” this is kaleidoscopic sunshine pop as played by sand-caked types. Fiems augments his natural child incantations with folk, soft rock and Sonoran country timbres. He plants his feet in two worlds, one wistful and one jagged. Opener “I Would Dream” sounds appropriately dazed, that is until Fiems curses and steers his sidemen — bassist Charlie Gould and guitarist/drummer Bill Kennedy — into rougher territory.
The lyrics, written by Fiems and his wife (or sister?) Coleen, are alternately naturalistic and doggedly rowdy. “The world is my woman, woman and my child,” Fiems sings on “My Lady,” with a piano that bears a resemblance to the elegiac barroom piano featured on Wray’s “Lonely Son.” Occasionally the record veers into theatrical territory: “Sing It” sounds like it wouldn’t be out of place in the hippie-fied Broadway musicals of the day. But mostly, Fiems mines a unique intersection between cosmic wanderings and rural grooves.
by J. Woodbury
Tracks
1. I Would Dream (Colleen Fiems, Mike Fiems) - 2:13
Gringo were formed in 1970 from the ashes of Toast and Utopia and played with Black Widow before they record their sole album. It was released through MCA in the summer of 1971 and then they shared the stage with Caravan and Barclay James Harvest. The self-titled album of Cringo is one of the best examples of the Canterbury prog scene without a trace of jazz and the peculiar, almost androgynous lead vocals of Synge fitting perfectly with those of the rest members. Off this magnificent album, two songs stand out, Cry the Beloved Country and I’m Another Man.
Although plans had been laid for a second album with Jon Hiseman as producer, the band split permanently in the summer of 1972 and the four members followed different paths. Synge (as Casey Synge) sang as a session musician in Leigh Stevens, Pilot, Lou Reed, Mott The Hoople, Cockney Rebel, Marsha Hunt and Maggie Bell, Henry Marsh (guitar, keyboards, vocals) was the founding member of Sailor, Simon Byrne (drums, vocals) released a solo album and John G. Perry (bass, vocals) did important things as a member of Aviator, Caravan, Spreadeagle and Quantum Jump while his debut solo album, the stunning Sunset Wading, is one of the most interesting and prominent records of the Canterbury prog scene.
Formed in 1971 by old schoolmates Dane Stevens and Cedric Sharpley, along with local bass player Neil Brewer, Druid spent years playing clubs as a trio before winning a competition by Melody Maker for the best unsigned band. At this point they added Andrew McCrorie-Shand, a recent London College of Music graduate.
The Melody Maker prize included new instruments and a recording contract, and their debut album appeared in July 1975 among envious whispers by rival bands and music publications. The band had a difficult time shaking the charge of hype, and they were also charged in some quarters as being Yes soundalikes -- Starcastle in the U.S. was later to be tarred with the same brush. () - In fact, Druid was an opening act at a number of Yes concerts. The Yes comparison, though an obvious one, is not entirely accurate. While Dane's vocals are clearly styled after Jon Anderson, and Neil Brewer's bass has the classic pick-driven Rickenbacker growl associated with Chris Squire, the rest of the band departs from the formula; McCrorie-Shand's unadorned keyboard parts, for example, have little in common with the lavishly baroque flash of Rick Wakeman or the martial Hammond pounding of Tony Kaye.
With the release of their second album in the spring of 1976, the band distanced themselves from their production and Melody Maker connections. It couldn't make up for the weaker material on their sophomore effort, and the band finally called it quits. Cedric Sharpley was to find success soon afterwards, though, by joining up with a new and unusual band led by an strange fellow named Gary Numan.
by Paul Collins
Tracks
1. Voices (Andrew McCrorie-Shand, Dane Stevens) - 8:14
2. Remembering (Dane Stevens, Neil Brewer) - 5:24
3. Theme (Andrew McCrorie-Shand, Cedric Sharpley, Dane Stevens, Neil Brewer) - 5:26
4. Toward The Sun (Dane Stevens) - 5:08
5. Red Carpet For An Autumn (Andrew McCrorie-Shand, Neil Brewer) - 3:09
6. Dawn Of Evening (Andrew McCrorie-Shand, Neil Brewer) - 10:03
This previously unreleased album from 1974 rounds off the World In Sound trilogy of Cleveland´s most celebrated 70s "art-psychedelic" rock groups. It´s Dragonwyck´s most professional piece of music and truly decent pioneering in combining 60s psych compositions with tape looping (comparable to the "Dark Side of The Moon" album) and symphonic elements: "Fun is what the name implies; hard work, a lot of sweat. Orchestrated rock that is orchestrated without an orchestra". Sure they were inspired by the conceptions of giants, like Genesis, 70s Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant or Yes and express a few Doors / Bowie-flashes to sound finally as a unique collage of detailed studiowork.
Compared to the time when it was recorded it´s innovatively produced and became a great artistic statement with finally 10 original cuts (plus 2 bonustracks/8 p. colorbooklet). You´ll hear prog-psych and crazy symphonic perversions with weird vocals/voices, powerful guitars, violin and lots of keyboards. While the first album (WIS-1023) was minimalistic dark/heavy and strong Doors influenced, the second (WIS-1030) created more "British Invasion"-sounds a la Moody Blues or King Crimson, to make this third album the most variative and unexpected one.
Fenton Robinson was heralded as one of the most progressive guitarists in Chicago as well as one of the true intellectuals on the scene–a Tolstoy and Kafka reader also known as ‘The Mellow Blues Genius.’ He was one of the first acts to be signed to Alligator Records, and his considerable talents as a singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter were well showcased on his second album for the label.
"I Hear Some Blues Downstairs", which in addition to the catchy title track also includes a remake of the classic ‘As the Years Go Passing By,’ which Robinson recorded in its original version for Duke Records in 1959. Sidemen on the album included Bill Heid, Steve Ditzell, Larry Exum, and Ashward Gates, with a horns arranged by one of Chicago’s other most advanced guitarists, Reggie Boyd.
Tracks
1. I Hear Some Blues Downstairs - 4:14
2. Just A Little Bit (Ralph Bass, Buster Brown, John Thornton, Fats Washington) - 4:34
3. West Side Baby (Dallas Bartley, Johnny Cameron) - 5:03
4. I'm So Tired - 3:53
5. I Wish For You - 3:13
6. Tell Me What's The Reason (Florence Cadrez) - 3:19
In 1970 they played the first Glastonbury Festival, after which Morley and Charles left to form Help Yourself and Steve Jolly to join Procol Harum offshoot Freedom. After several more line up changes, the band recorded their second album East 17 in 1973, with Sam Sampson and Bob Rennie from the first album supported by Andy Johnson and Denny "Pancho" Barnes on guitars, and Lee Baxter Hayes on drums.
They disbanded in 1974, but reformed the next year. During the hiatus, from mid 1974 to February 1975, the band members performed with Vincent Crane as Vincent Crane's Atomic Rooster. Further line up changes included bassist Gary Fletcher, who subsequently joined The Blues Band and drummer Martin Bell. The band continued into the late 1970s, changing its name to The Vipers, Gary Fletcher on GTA agency site Retrieved 11 November 29 (not to be confused with the new wave band of the same name) before disbanding.
Tracks
1.Good Time Music (John Sebastian) - 3:48
2.Louise (Andy Johnson, Sam Sampson) - 4:59
3.Out On The Road (Andy Johnson, Sam Sampson) - 4:28
4.Route 66 (Bobby Troup) - 2:32
5.She's The Queen (Andy Johnson, Lee Baxter Hayes) - 4:36
6. Old Tom (Andy Johnson, Sam Sampson) - 4:04
7.Flying (Andy Johnson, Sam Sampson) - 5:27
8.Call Me Boss (Andy Johnson, Lee Baxter Hayes) - 4:38
9.Another Orpheus (Andy Johnson, Denny Barnes, Bob Rennie, Lee Baxter Hayes, Sam Sampson, Eckersley) - 4:58
Formed in Walthamstow, London, where they ran their own club 'The Bottleneck Blues Club', Sam Apple Pie soon attracted a large live following, with a mix of goodtime blues and boogie, interspersed with humour. In October 1969 they played the Amougies festival, in Belgium, where Frank Zappa jammed with them. United Mutations (Zappa History) Retrieved 29 October 2009
They wrote all but one of the songs on their first album Sam Apple Pie (1969) which featured lead singer Sam "Tomcat" Sampson with Mike "Tinkerbell" Smith and Steve Jolly on guitars, bassist Bob "Dog" Rennie, Malcolm Morley on keyboards and Dave Charles on drums.
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Hawk (Dave Charles, Mick Smith, Sam Sampson) - 4:06
2. Winter Of My Love (Andy Johnson, Sam Sampson) - 7:14
3. Stranger (Andy Johnson, Sam Sampson) - 4:26
4. Swan Song (Andy Johnson, Sam Sampson) - 7:12
5. Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle) (Joe Hill Louis, Sam Burns) - 2:23
6. Something Nation (Mick Smith, Sam Sampson) - 3:59
7. Sometime Girl (Andy Johnson, Sam Sampson) - 4:00
8. Uncle Sam's Blues (Andy Johnson, Dave Charles, Doug Renny, Mick Smith, Sam Sampson) - 2:36
9. Annabelle (Andy Johnson, Doug Renny, Sam Sampson) - 5:17
10.Moonlight Man (Andy Johnson, Mick Smith, Sam Sampson) - 7:17
11.Tiger Man (Joe Hill Louis, Sam Burns) - 2:23
12.Sometime Girl (Andy Johnson, Sam Sampson) - 4:01
Fenton Robinson tirelessly strives to invent something fresh and vital whenever he's near a bandstand. The soft-spoken Mississippi native got his career going in Memphis, where he'd moved at age 16. First, Rosco Gordon used him on a 1956 session for Duke that produced "Keep on Doggin'." The next year, Fenton made his own debut as a leader for the Bihari Brothers' Meteor label with his first reading of "Tennessee Woman." His band, the Dukes, included mentor Charles McGowan on guitar. T-Bone Walker and B.B. King were Robinson's idols.
1957 also saw Fenton team up with bassist Larry Davis at the Flamingo Club in Little Rock. Bobby Bland caught the pair there and recommended them to his boss, Duke Records prexy Don Robey. Both men made waxings for Duke in 1958, Robinson playing on Davis' classic "Texas Flood" and making his own statement with "Mississippi Steamboat." Robinson cut the original version of the often-covered Peppermint Harris-penned slow blues "As the Years Go Passing By" for Duke in 1959 with New Orleans prodigy James Booker on piano.
The same date also produced a terrific "Tennessee Woman" and a marvelous blues ballad, "You've Got to Pass This Way Again." Fenton moved to Chicago in 1962, playing Southside clubs with Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Otis Rush and laying down the swinging "Say You're Leavin'" for USA in 1966. But it was his stunning slow blues "Somebody (Loan Me a Dime)" cut in 1967 for Palos, that insured his blues immortality. Boz Scaggs liked it so much that he covered it for his 1969 debut LP. Unfortunately, he initially also claimed he wrote the tune; much litigation followed.
John Richbourg's Sound Stage 7/Seventy 7 labels, it's safe to say, didn't really have a clue as to what Fenton Robinson's music was all about. The guitarist's 1970 Nashville waxings for the firm were mostly horrific: he wasn't even invited to play his own guitar on the majority of the horribly unsubtle rock-slanted sides. His musical mindset was growing steadily jazzier by then, not rockier.
One of the most subtly satisfying electric blues albums of the '70s. Fenton Robinson never did quite fit the "Genuine Houserocking Music" image of Alligator Records -- his deep, rich baritone sounds more like a magic carpet than a piece of barbed wire, and he speaks in jazz-inflected tongues, full of complex surprises. The title track hits with amazing power, as do the chugging "The Getaway," a hard-swinging "You Say You're Leaving," and the minor-key "You Don't Know What Love Is." In every case, Robinson had recorded them before, but thanks to Bruce Iglauer's superb production, a terrific band, and Robinson's musicianship, these versions reign supreme.
His 1974 album Somebody Loan Me a Dime remains the absolute benchmark of his career, spotlighting his rich, satisfying vocals and free-spirited, understated guitar work in front of a rock-solid horn-driven band. Alligator issued Nightflight, another challenging set, in 1984, then backed off the guitarist. His 1989 disc Special Road, first came out on the Dutch Black Magic logo and was reissued by Evidence Music. Robinson passed away on November 25, 1997 at the age of 62 due to complications from brain cancer.
by Bill Dahl
Tracks
1. Somebody Loan Me A Dime - 2:59
2. The Getaway - 3:21
3. Directly From My Heart To You (Little Richard) - 4:21
4. Going To Chicago (Traditional) - 3:50
5. You Say You're Leaving (Big Joe Williams) - 3:18
6. Checking On My Woman - 3:26
7. You Don't Know What Love Is - 3:57
8. I've Changed - 4:26
9. Country Girl (Rudy Toombs) - 4:56
10.Gotta Wake Up - 4:28
11.Texas Flood (Larry Davis, Don Robey, Joseph Wade Scott) - 4:22
The enduring and versatile voice of Bonnie Koloc has been heard in Chicago since 1968. For a decade, Bonnie was a pivotal act at the Earl of Old Town, drawing crowds that stood in lines around the block, hoping, at least, for a place to stand to catch the hottest act in town. In time her folk-oriented style merged with jazz and blues, and her versatility took her to Mr. Kelly’s, a long-time Chicago landmark. While continuing to play at the Earl, Orphans and Holstein’s, she began appearing at festivals.
Along the way she received a Governor’s Award in 1973 for Best Singer, recorded ten albums, two of them with Epic. In 1984 her career took another turn when she starred in the Public Theater’s production of The Human Comedy, first earning her the theatre World Bronze Award for Outstanding New Talent on Broadway and a Drama Critics Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.
She had a minor hit with "Roll Me On the Water" from the 1974 album "You're Gonna Love Yourself in the Morning," but never achieved the national recognition many predicted for her.
Tracks
1. You're Gonna Love Yourself In The Morning (Donnie Fritts) - 2:21
2. Colors Of The Sun (Jackson Browne) - 3:09
3. Crazy Mary (Mike Smith) - 3:10
4. Children's Blues (Bonnie Koloc) - 3:55
5. Guilty Of Rock And Roll (Neil Goldberg) - 3:18
6. Roll Me On The Water (Bonnie Koloc) - 3:48
7. I Have To Say I Love You In A Song (Jim Croce) - 2:50
8. 25th Of December (Bonnie Koloc) - 2:32
9. The Lion Tamer (Bonnie Koloc) - 2:59
10.Mother Country (Jack Smith, Jerry Liliedahl) - 3:35
