Monsterously obscure Prog from 1971, 200 lps were privately made but most were destroyed, and no copies have ever been openly sold. Complex and mysterious music with flutes and mystical lyrics, meandering melodies, like the most introverted moments from the Moody Blues classic Threshold of a Dream era, Rainbird is an lp some rate as a masterpiece. The original had the wrong cover added by a printer, here the original Rainbird picture is restored to the sleeve.
Seelie court is a new archival record label with a repertoire of over 50 lps already lined up for release, most are sourced from a private collection of super rare and often completely unknown british acetate and private pressing lps dating from 1965-1978, the most valuable lps that exist. lps like anaconda (post Arcadium) and Barney James (technically a 3rd Warhorse lp) are undocumented and have been kept in a black box for decades the label will issue progressive rock and folk rock 1965-1978 and post punk/new wave 1976-1982 on a sub label.
Audio restoration is by Reynolds Mastering, England. engineered and restored by an industry genius who specialises in complex restoration techniques utilising pure craftsmanship acquired from decades of experience, Reynolds projects range from restoring delicate decca classical recordings to 30 cd wishbone ash box sets, using a treasure trove of invaluable ex BBC studios analogue equipment and the latest digital to work sonic miracles.
Tracks
1. Maiden Flight (Nigel Prenter, John Leighton Dyson, Ian Lamont Muir, William Johnson, Clive Birch) - 8:08
2. Star Of Ishtar (Nigel Prenter) - 4:06
3. Sailboat (Clive Birch, Nigel Prenter) - 2:13
4. My Lady Know No Other (Nigel Prenter) - 5:58
5. Za Da Phase Three (Ian Lamont Muir) - 1:19
6. Za Da Phase Seven (Ian Lamont Muir) - 0:46
7. Broken Ladder (Clive Birch, Drayton Steve Razz) - 4:38
8. Man On The Mountain (William Johnson) - 2:41
9. Where The Hell Is Home (Nigel Prenter) - 2:42
10.Stormdance Part One (Nigel Prenter) - 2:51
11.Stormdance Part Two (Nigel Prenter) - 3:28
12.Calender (Nigel Prenter) - 1:01
Rainbird
*Nigel Prenter - Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Vocals
*John Leighton Dyson - Congas, Drums
*Ian Lamont Muir - Electric Guitar
*William Johnson - Flute, Backing Vocals, Organ, Piano, Xylophone
Machiavel can be considered as one of the best Belgian progressive rock bands ever. Concerning prog rock you could say that Machiavel had the same significance for Belgium as PFM had for Italy. Nowadays, they're still active and occasionally they perform their music live on stage. Machiavel were formed in 1976 by Roland De Greef (bass) and Marc Ysaye (drums, vocals) who at the time played in a group called Moby Dick with Jack Roskam (guitar) and Albert Letecheur (keyboards). Their first eponymous album released in 1976 draw some attention with the song Cheerlessness. In those days the band's trademarks were the high-pitched voice of Marc Ysaye and the upfront keyboard sound of Albert Letecheur. Their debut was rather promising so expectations ran high for the next recordings.
Shortly after the debut Jack Roskam was replaced by Jean-Paul Devaux and Mario Guccio joined the group as their lead singer. It seemed as if all things had fallen in place now which was confirmed by the second release Jester (1977). The music on Jester contained strong influences of bands like Genesis, Supertramp and Yes. With the next album Mechanical Moonbeams (1978), they showed that they belonged to the top of the European progressive rock; they even became rock stars in their homeland.
Mechanical Moonbeams contains two bonus tracks as well, but they fit much better to the rest of the music. Wind Of Life is a great ballad with fine Mellotron-choirs. It was derived from a compilation called Sprouts (1981). I'm Not A Loser is a demo recorded at home in 1978. The song is strongly related to the rest of the recorded material. You can hear that it's a demo, because the keyboards don't dominate the song that much as on most of the album tracks. The seven tracks on Mechanical Moonbeams are in the same musical style as the songs on Jester : strong keyboard parts and great emotional vocals. Some people considered this album to be better than its predecessor, maybe due to the presence of the hit single Rope Dancer. This is a great ballad with superb Mellotron-choirs; it's difficult to believe that such a piece of progressive rock could become a hit in Belgium. Both albums by Machiavel prove that great progressive rock music in those days wasn't created only in Great Britain or the USA. European bands as Grobschnitt, PFM, Ange, Focus and Machiavel showed they also could throw devotees of prog rock into ecstasies.
I think, people who listen to Jester and Mechanical Moonbeams for the first time will agree that both albums belong to the cream of the crop of progressive rock music. The albums equal the same musical level as Photos Of Ghosts (1973) and The World Became The World (1974) recorded by PFM in the seventies. Although both albums are still hidden treasures for many people I have always considered them to be true masterpieces and thus - after all these years - they still deserve the full five-star rating.
by Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen)
Tracks
1. Beyond The Silence (Albert Letecheur, Jean Paul Devaux, Marc Ysaye, Roland De Greef) - 6:10
2. Summon Up Your Strength (Albert Letecheur, Jean Paul Devaux, Marc Ysaye, Mario Guccio) - 5:03
3. Rope Dancer (Albert Letecheur, Jean Paul Devaux, Marc Ysaye, Roland De Greef) - 3:40
4. Rebirth (Albert Letecheur, Jean Paul Devaux, Marc Ysaye, Mario Guccio) - 7:10
5. After The Crop (Albert Letecheur, Jean Paul Devaux, Mario Guccio, Roland De Greef) - 7:55
6. Mary (Jean Paul Devaux, Marc Ysaye, Mario Guccio, Roland De Greef)- 4:10
7. The Fifth Season (Albert Letecheur, Jean Paul Devaux, Marc Ysaye, Roland De Greef) - 7:25
8. Wind Of Life (Albert Letecheur, Jean Paul Devaux, Marc Ysaye, Roland De Greef, Mario Guccio) - 6:12
9. I'm Not A Loser (Albert Letecheur, Jean Paul Devaux, Marc Ysaye, Roland De Greef, Mario Guccio)- 5:42
Lenny Lee Goldsmith and David Leonard Johnson met in 1967 when Lenny sat in with David's band, The Persuaders. David tried to track down Lenny for years in order to start another band...but to no avail. While David was working with Dr. John, Lenny called David out of the clear blue sky and asked David if he rememberd him. Lenny conviced David to fly to San Jose, CA where Lenny's band was playing. Lenny's band featured drummer Barry "Frosty" Frost. David convinced both Lenny and Frosty to move to Los Angeles to work together. David was working with Joe Hicks and the All White Band and heard that Lee Michaels was looking for a drummer.
David encourged Frosty to take the gig and everything was put on hold. Frosty called Dave in 1970 and said Lee Michaels was going to a 4-piece band and wanted Dave to play bass. Dave moved to San Francisco and worked a couple of gigs with Lee and Frosty and guitar player Johnny Glaze. Lee decided that he would rather go back to a duo and Frosty declined. Insted, Dave and Frosty moved back to L.A. and put together Sweathog with Lenny on vocals and keyboards and Bob "B.J." Jones on guitar and vocals. After rehearsing the band for three weeks, Dave met Ed Jordan from the Chronicle in the San Fernando Valley, and the struck a deal to have Sweathog become the "house band". The Chronicle quickly became the hot night club in the "Valley". You could find a number of top-name musicians in the audience on any given night. Dr. John, Leon Russell, Don Preston, Daniel More, David Jackson, Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier, Dennis Provisor, Bobby Burns, Rex Ludwick along with top disc jockey, Jimmy Rabbitt.
Some of the actors that were in the audience on a reqular basis were Edward James Olmos, Gary Busey and more! The Chronicle was truly the place to be in the Roaring Fork Valley. Lenny Sogel became Sweathog's manager and quickly signed the band to Columbia Records. The first LP, Sweathog was released and did very little. Joel Sill then worked and arrangement out with Clive Davis and Lenny Stogel to take Sweathog into the studio to cut the song Hallelujah. A acetate disc of Hallelujah was taken to L.A. top radio station, KHJ and they played the song immediatly. David Johnson was on vacation in Hawaii and was called by Lenny Stogel to come back to L.A. because the song was the "Pick of the Week" on KHJ and was starting to take off nationally.
by Japie Marais
Tracks
1. Nobleliever (J. Reznik, Lenny Lee Goldsmith, Victor Phillips) - 3:37
2. All I Ever Do (Lenny Lee Goldsmith) - 3:33
3. Still On The Road (Jerry McDonald, Rex Ludwig) - 2:16
4. Burned (Dr. John) - 5:48
5. Things Yet To Come (Lenny Lee Goldsmith, Victor Phillips) - 4:01
6. Runneth Over (Lenny Lee Goldsmith) - 3:15
7. You Just Took The Ride (Lenny Lee Goldsmith) - 4:43
8. Lock Up My Body (Bob Caloca, Lenny Lee Goldsmith, Victor Phillips) - 2:57
9. Layed Back By The River (Bob Caloca, Fred Schwartz, Lenny Lee Goldsmith, Victor Phillips) - 3:07
Sweathog
*Barry "Frosty" Smith - Percussion, Bells, Celesta
After moving to Germany, they began collaborating with Jupiter, producing “Sagittary” in 1974. Ricky gathered together Pete Scott on vocals, Virginia Scott on keyboards and drummer Mike Travis, ex of Gilgamesh. As in the previous one the pieces are of short duration, and the compositional verve of the first works seems to have faded. The rhapsodies listened to in the first albums leave room for some good tracks, developed in a simpler form and close to the “song.”
The Operatic-ones romp through a selection of ten melodic and stimulating songs, such as ‘Something To Lose’, ‘World Crisis Blues’ and the sweetly titled ‘Smiling In A Summer Dress’. Here is a band that built up a loyal audience for its adventurous blend of rock and the classics, and has long since retained its cult following.
Tracks
1. Sagittary - 4:50
2. Love Of My Own - 2:37
3. Smiling In A Summer Dress - 3:54
4. World Crisis Blues - 2:36
5. Just 21 - 4:03
6. Simplicity - 2:52
7. Freedom Song - 3:19
8. Something To Lose - 2:58
9. I'm The Music Man - 4:23
10.Jack The Ripper - 2:52
All compositions by Ricky Gardiner, Colin MacFarlane, Virginia Scott
Beggar's Opera had turned into a much more mainstream pop/rock band on this album, with the excellent instrumental "Classical Gas" as the only real progressive track here. Ricky Gardiner's distinctive and atmospheric playing style can still be heard.
"Get Your Dog Off Me!" was the last Beggars Opera album to have any Mellotronic input and then, again, on only one track. The most notable tracks are probably Requiem, a Brian-May-(just)-before-Brian-May multi-guitar extravaganza and their excellent multiple-keyboard take on Mason Williams' Classical Gas, including some innovative Moog work and a few Mellotron string chords here and there, which would certainly have worked well elsewhere on the album, not least on the slow-burn of Open Letter, although it clearly wasn't to be.
Tracks
1. Get Your Dog Off Me (Alan Park, Barry Ainsworth) - 3:40
2. Freestyle Ladies (Virginia Scott) - 4:20
3. Open Letter (Robert Smith) - 4:32
4. Morning Day (Virginia Scott) - 4:32
5. Requiem (Ricky Gardiner) - 2:18
6. Classical Gas (Mason Williams) - 4:28
7. Sweet Blossom Woman (Mick Grabham) - 4:08
8. Turn Your Money Green (Alan Park, Barry Ainsworth) - 4:08
9. La Di-Da (Alan Park, Colin Fairlie, Gordon Sellar, Linnie Paterson, Ricky Gardiner) - 2:53
10.Working Man (Barry Ainsworth, Gordon Sellar) - 4:33
11.Two Timing Woman (Colin Fairlie) - 3:44
12.Lady Of Hell Fire (Martin Griffiths, Alan Park, Ricky Gardiner, Gordon Sellar, Raymond Wilson) - 3:43
In 1974 his producer said: “Daniel plays the cello like Jimi Hendrix the guitar!“ This Russian rooted Californian is for sure the wildest rock cellist of the 70/s. The history from this record goes back to 1971 when Daniel started to write the music. Classically trained he began to play instruments at age of 5 and toured a lot as a professional musician. The recordings of his 10 original cuts started in 1976, to be released in 1979 as very limited demo release to apply for a record deal (which not happened).
The music ranges from poetic dramatic “chanson-like” ballads to powerful Rock/n/Roll with awesome guitar assaults, incredibly heavy cello-sounds and Daniel/s outstanding voice
Late '70's album by this US solo artist who played Cello and worked with various artists including Cat Stevens. A diverse album mixing folk, hard rock and typical '70's singer songwriter material this is a fine album crossing various musical borders. There is some great guitar work, orchestration and evocative songs. Includes booklet with full information and lyrics.
"This album was a demo only release by Daniel in 1979 to send out to record companies. He started to write the music in 1971, recorded in 76-78 -- only a few copies are known of this great and unique record. The music ranges from fantastic acid folk to full blown psychedelic creepers with heavy cello -- and furious fuzz guitar assaults. His producer/s voice: 'Daniel plays the cello like Jimi Hendrix the guitar'! Now he is a movie actor and producer in Hollywood, known as Jason D. Holt.
Wally was an English rock band in the mid-seventies that played a mixture of prog rock and country, often labelled as progressive country. They hailed from Harrogate, Yorkshire and were led by singer-songwriter Roy Webber (lead vocals, acoustic guitar). Back then they recorded the albums Wally (1974) and Valley Gardens ((1975). After the second album they disbanded, but in 2009 they made a comeback which resulted in the re-release of those two albums and the recording of a new one. Therefore a lesson in history and an overview of their albums seem to be appropriate here.
Maybe the most important event for the band's career was the participation on the New Act competition in 1973. It was organized by Melody Maker, a well-known music magazine in those days. Wally made it to the finals at London's Roundhouse. However, they didn't win but they came to the attention of 'Whispering' Bob Harris, one of the judges of The Old Grey Whistle Test. The ultimate winner Druid recorded two fine progressive rock albums: Toward The Sun (1975) and Fluid Druid (1976). The runners-up prize for Wally was the recording of a session for Harris's BBC radio show The Monday Program. He took the band under his wings and succeeded in getting a record deal with Atlantic Records.
The eponymous debut album was co-produced by Harris and no one less than Rick Wakeman. The album shows a band that music wise had a lot to learn. The music is a fine mixture of prog rock and country. The lap steel guitar played by Paul Middleton, and the violin played by Pete Sage are responsible for the country-like sound, but the music contains elements from Irish folk music as well. They're closer to being a folk band than a symphonic band on this debut. The use of the Mellotron, Hammond organ and harmonium fooled some people since the only track that comes near to prog rock is the fourteen-minute track To The Urban Man containing some strong psych sound effects and fuzzy guitar layers. Another track that approaches prog music to a certain extent is the opening track The Martyr. It's an eight-minute, mostly instrumental flight of fancy that almost seamlessly moves between prog and pop.
After its release the band got managed by Brian Lane, best known as the manager of Yes. He organized a series of tours for them that would take them to countries like Japan and the United States. They also supported Yes and appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test.
by Peter Willemsen
Tracks
1. The Martyr (Paul Gerrett) - 8:04
2. I Just Wanna Be A Cowboy (Roy Webber) - 4:08
3. What To Do (Roy Webber) - :37
4. Sunday Walking Lady (Roy Webber) - 2:44
5. To The Urban Man (Jim Slade, Roy Webber) - 13:57
6. Your Own Way (Alan Craig, Roy Webber) - 5:38
Wally
*Roy Webber - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
*Pete Cosker - Lead Electric And Acoustic Guitars, Vocals, Bass Guitar
*Paul Gerrett - Fender Rhodes Electric Piano, Hammond Organ, Mellotron, Harmonium, Grand Piano, Harpsichord, Vocals
*Pete Sage - Electric Violin, Bass Guitar, Mandolin
Irish singer-songwriter Jonathan Kelly’s second album “Twice around the Houses” was released on the RCA label in 1972 and was given masses of quality marketing, while Kelly played prestige gigs at all the top venues. He was a regular at major festivals - playing with just a miked up acoustic and was always easy to whip on and off between longer ensembles . Kelly always went down a storm wherever he played but somehow it just didn’t happen for him.
This album under review starts off with the sublime “Madeleine”, a mid-tempo song about un-requited love. The feeling expressed by Kelly’s voice leaves you in no doubt that this is a song of personal experience and would have made an excellent single, but, alas, time has moved on.
Next out of the traps is “Sligo Fair”, a lovely song about life in the British countryside. - Life is not always greener on the other side . Following this is “We’re All Right Till Then”, one of the most poignant protest songs this dog has ever heard. To lighten the load we then have the glorious “Ballad Of Cursed Anna”, always a concert favorite with audiences, telling the story of the folly of youth. It’s a tragi-comedy of a song that always plucks a heartstring but still leaves a smile on the lips.
Every track on the album is well constructed and the variety is quite remarkable. From acoustic sad ballads like “I Used To Know You” to the fun filled rock ‘n’ roll of “The Train Song”. Just one listen to this album will blow away all your blues.
By the time of Jonathan's last album " Two Days In Winter" in 1975 Jonathan's behavior was losing him friends and his judgment was so badly impaired that he was easy meat for those who wished to exploit him. This last album sold steadily but by no means in the number that TATH or WTTCTB did. Jonathan says, "Towards the end, my girlfriend and I were breakin' up, I was doin' loads of dope, I was canvassing for the Workers Revolutionary Party, 'n gigs were goin' crazy, I was fallin' off stages an people were laffin' on echo."
Left with no money after a series of bad business decisions Jonathan was in a bad way, in fact many people didn't expect him to live very long, but something happened which saved Jonathan's life, he recalls "A man came to my door and said "I'm looking to talk with people who'll like to see a change in the world. What I mean is, an end to war and poverty and hunger. Do those things concern you?" I said, "Come in." "And now 30 years later I'm still a very busy member of a very active Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses where I live. You see when you find the answer to all your questions, why go on searching anymore? I have a beautiful wife, two big sons, and two beautiful grandchildren."
Jonathan had at last found something more important to him than fame and fortune. He settled in the countryside and started his own small carpet cleaning business, he lived in an area where nobody knew Jonathan Kelly, he was just plain Jonathan Ledingham, local nice guy. There the story would have ended but his fans had not forgotten him and Gerald Sables who knew Jonathan from his countless appearances in Doncaster tried to find him over the years, "Nobody knew what had happened to him, it was as if he had disappeared off the planet" said Gerald. " I heard many different stories including people who could tell me in detail that he was dead and how and where he died, including a car crash in London". Gerald decided in 1996 to start looking for Jonathan via the internet, he made many friends along his journey to Jonathan, occasionally he would hear tales of people seeing Jonathan perform in folk clubs in the 1980's. One thing was for certain, Jonathan had at least survived into the late 80's and hopefully beyond.
In 2002 Gerald contacted several web chat boards and also a few record companies, but nothing much happened until BGO records decided to release two of Jonathan's albums as a double CD 'Twice Around The Houses' & 'Wait Till They Change The Backdrop' perhaps all the messages on chat boards had made somebody remember Jonathan at BGO? Gerald wrote to BGO plus several journalists hoping to track Jonathan down, the sleeve notes for the CD release said that Jonathan was alive and well.
All Gerald's enquiries came to nothing and the trail went cold and then in late 2002 Gerald received out of the blue an email from Jonathan's son Greg, saying that Jonathan was going to write to him. Several months passed without any message arriving and Gerald could only wait. Then finally Jonathan wrote and they struck up a correspondence via email.
Gerald was able to put Jonathan in touch with many of his old friends including John Leonard who used to run the Bay Horse Folk Club near Doncaster and now runs a successful TV production company, He also put Jonathan in touch with Eddie Armstrong and Ivan Hill, Jonathan's old school friends and members of his first band the 'Saracens'. He has also managed to put Jonathan in touch with Tim Staffell. As a thank you to Gerald and his other friends in Doncaster Jonathan came out of retirement to perform a one-off gig at the Rockingham Arms Folk Club near Rotherham on January 9th 2004, he was nervous as he hadn't performed in 30 years and so wouldn't let his appearance be announced. He started off nervously but soon found his confidence amongst the warm applause and it was an evening to remember for all who were fortunate to be there.
Gerald and Jonathan met up again in April 2004 at Jonathan's home and Gerald discussed the subject of Jonathan having an official website, Jonathan agreed for Gerald to do this and loaned him many items from his personal archive for the site.
What the future holds for Jonathan nobody knows, but hopefully it will be a bright future. His friends and family are trying to encourage him to perform some more concerts and Jonathan is keen to produce a new album, he says "I write as much now, if not more, than I ever wrote before. I can't help it. I've got music in my mind everywhere I go. Songs come to visit and if I'm quick and copy them down before they leave, then I can play them to someone else. Many times they just come and stay a while and then slip out the back door never to be heard of again. It don't worry me, it was just nice to have them around for a while.
Jonathan certainly wasn't the rich person you would expect him to be, you would think that after all his success and years in the music business that he would have a few bob stored away, but sadly he made little from his music career and today lives in very modest surroundings, he says "I never earned a penny from the music business. Many of those around me were crooks and I was always stoned, more fool me. See, I hated Capitalism. How could an artist do his work for monetary reward? Art is unselfish and seeks no reward save the joy of creating works of art that are honest and innocent of greed and done only to add beauty and reason to our beautiful earthly home.
by Gerald Sables
Tracks
1. Baby Child - 5:25
2. Only Your Love - 4:17
3. Is It Not A Lovely Day - 2:58
4. Living Together - 6:59
5. Reaching For A Star - 5:17
6. Now Is The Time - 2:57
7. Mary Jane - 4:03
8. Never Do That To Anyone - 3:57
9. Rush On Time - 3:20
10.Rabbit Face - 2:49
11.What Can I Do Now - 4:48
12.Minstrel Tramp - 3:14
13.One More Kiss - 3:48
All compositions by Jonathan Kelly
Musicians
*Jonathan Kelly - Guitar, Piano, Percussion, Vocals
Jonathan Kelly was born Jonathan Ledingham in Drogheda, Co. Lough in Ireland in 1947. He came from a musical family, his father played ukulele and his brother George who was a wonderful boy soprano and later a tenor, played the organ in the school chapel at the boarding school in Dublin where Jonathan was also a student, it was here that Jonathan made his first recording performing a solo part in a school production of the Messiah.
Coming from a musical family, Jonathan was interested in music from his earliest memories, but it was the dawning of Rock & Roll and artists such as Little Richard, Ray Charles, Buddy Holly and Elvis, which really inspired him. He Says " There was all this music in the late fifties, such as David Whitfield etc. and then one day on the wireless I heard Rock & Roll for the first time, it just blew me away, this vibrant music, music for young people, you can't imagine the effect it had upon me and others"
At school Jonathan met Eddie Armstrong and Ivan hill, who were in the school choir alongside him, they all shared the same young enthusiasm for Rock & Roll and decided to form a band called the Saracens covering Shadows songs amongst others, Ian Ellis was brought in to play drums. At first they were just a school band but they became popular and played a few concerts and then went on to do a summer tour of Ireland in 1962. Eddie Armstrong remembers " I played Lead, Ivan played Bass and Jonathan was a very solid rhythm guitarist something that is still very evident in his recordings from the seventies"
At the end of 1962 Ivan Hill left and returned to his native Yorkshire and the Saracens disbanded. Jonathan however continued playing and there are several photographs of him around this time playing as part of other bands with Jonathan often playing drums, something he is also good at.
After school Jonathan who was already in love with the stage decided to go to Drama school, also there was Brian Trench who had known Jonathan since they were small children. They decided to form the 'Boomerangs' along with Aiden Cahill, Alan Doran and Noel Richardson and released a single called "Dream World" this marks not only Jonathan's first record release, but also his first published song.
The Boomerangs were short-lived but it had served to bring Jonathan to the attention of the music industry and he started touring the folk club circuit as a solo singer. He released another single this time under his own name titled 'Without an E'. Although the song was not a massive hit it did attract the attention of many artists who could see that Jonathan had a great latent song writing talent and he was asked to write songs for other artists, amongst them Johnny McEvoy who was popular at the time. He was also asked to write a song for the popular Irish pop band 'The Greenbeats' this song entitled "The La La Song" would have been a sure fire Eurovision winner and it's so catchy that once you hear it you can't get it out of your head.
By the time the 'La La Song' was released in 1968, Jonathan had been influenced greatly by Bob Dylan and other Us artists such as The Band, James Brown. His lyrics took on a much more mature feel, his next single 'Love is a toy' was backed with an outstanding antiwar song called 'Thank you Mrs. Gilbert' which was vastly superior to the a side and yet less commercial, but this release showed that Jonathan's song writing and singing talents were a force to be reckoned with.
Jonathan was soaking up all the musical influences in the rich musical world of the late sixties, His favorite artists included musicians as diverse as Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers, Eddie Kendricks, "Rogers and Hammerstein, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, Sly & The Family Stone, James Brown, Jim Webb, Stevie Wonder, J.D. Salinger, Miles Davies, John Sebastian, Tim Hardin and Randy Newman and particularly Donny Hathaway and Jim Web. Jonathan says "I remember hearing 'I was made to love her' by Stevie Wonder for the first time, the bass line by James Jamerson just blew me away! there was another bassist at Motown called Carol Kay, she was amazing I loved her stuff I really loved some of those old Motown records, I remember hearing Marvin Gaye singing 'What's goin on for the first time' that definitely had a big influence on me" Amongst the other musical influences of Jonathan at this time was the Jazz scene " I thought people such as Miles Davis, Donald Bird and Herbie Hancock were just brilliant" says Jonathan.
Jonathan was assimilating all these musical influences and was broadening his range of song writing and the type of musicians and arrangements that he liked to work with.
During the following year 1971, Jonathan released no records but concentrated of playing concerts and writing, something that was to turn out to be very fruitful. In the summer of 1971 Jonathan was invited to play the Cambridge Folk Festival and he took the event by storm. At last the record buying public had recognised his immense talent. All of the music magazines of the day were knocking at his door for interviews and when in 1972 Jonathan released his much anticipated album 'Twice Around the houses' his public were not to be disappointed, the music press were enthusiastic and the album received rave reviews. A single was released to help cash in on the album's popularity, 'Madeleine' bw 'Sligo Fair'
1972 was a busy year for Jonathan, he toured with the Strawbs between January and Match completing 25 concerts and help raise his profile considerably, Jonathan also appeared at several festivals in the summer including Bickershaw, Lincoln, Reading and Chelmford. Jonathan also managed to spent much of 1972 playing in folk clubs up and down the UK and was very popular, one person remembers Jonathan turning up unannounced at the Bay horse Folk club near Doncaster. "Jonathan was in the area and turned up to meet friends and watch some music, when he was spotted he was asked to sing, he politely refused saying he was tired, but the audience wouldn't take no for an answer. Jonathan finally agreed and performed three songs in the interval, as he tried to leave the stage, the audience pushed tables up to the front in order to stop him, begging him to sing more. Jonathan pointed out that the McCallmans, a popular folk group were due back on stage, at that point one of the McCallmans shouted out from the back of the room, 'You carry on John, we're getting paid anyway!' and so carry on he did, a wonderful performance and a night to remember"
RCA decided to invest more money in Jonathan's next album due to the popularity on TATH, his next album 'Wait Till They Change The Backdrop' (1973) was warmly received by an enthusiastic music press and the public alike. This time the album had a gatefold cover and featured amongst others the Sutherland Brothers who were a short while later to have a hit themselves. A single was released to coincide with the album 'Let the people stay', backed with 'Mother Moon' a song Jonathan often featured in his performances.
Jonathan was now fully embroiled in the hippy lifestyle and culture, believing in peace and love, indeed he signed autographs, 'Peace and love, Jonathan Kelly' unfortunately there was one side of this coin, which wasn't admirable, namely drugs! Jonathan was now an active drug-taker and the more he was embroiled in that scene the more his behavior changed and along with it his judgment. Jon Ledingham stopped performing towards the end of the 1970s. He returned to the stage from 2004 to 2007, doing solo acoustic shows and released a number of albums, including Live 2005 and Some Demos. His death comes after a lengthy battle with illness on May 2nd 2020 at the age of 73.
