Their first of six Epic releases is a strong follow-up to the self-titled debut the same year. The album-opening "Maggie" is a perfect example of their distinctive sound, a funky, highly rhythmic itch that gets under your skin. The limitations of Lolly Vegas' singing means the all-native California quartet is more adept on faster numbers, although "Alcatraz" is a touching ballad with a seldom-heard Indian perspective. The segue on "Chant: 13th Hour" from tribal chanting to Redbone-style funk predates Robbie Robertson's similar experiments by more than 20 years.
by Mark Allan
Redbone was a Los Angeles-based group led by Native American Pat and Lolly Vegas. They hit paydirt in 1974 with the million-seller 'Come and Get Your Love.' Lead singers Pat and Lolly Vegas had previously worked under their own names, appearing in the 1965 film It's a Bikini World prior to forming Redbone. Their first success as Redbone came in 1970 with 'Maggie' on Epic. This reissue of their 1970 debut adds 2 bonus tracks 'Maggie' and 'New Blue Sermonette'.
Tracks
1. Maggie - 5:10
2. Light As A Feather (Patrick Vegas) - 1:59
3. Who Can Say - 2:54
4. Judgement Day - 2:33
5. Without Reservation (Lolly Vegas, Patrick Vegas, Tony Bellamy, Pete DePoe) - 4:15
6. Chant: 13th Hour (Patrick Vegas) - 5:42
7. Alcatraz (Patrick Vegas) - 2:38
8. Drinkin' And Blo - 2:20
9. Bad News Ain't No News At All (Patrick Vegas) - 3:14
Even relative to some other mid- to late-'60s Dutch groups (like the Outsiders, Les Baroques, and Q 65), the Ro-d-y-s have a fairly low profile beyond their native Holland, even to collectors of 1960s Continental European rock. But the group did release quite a few records on the large Philips label between 1966 and 1969, including nine singles and two LPs. Stylistically, they favored, like many Dutch groups, a very British-influenced sound with a slightly raw and sardonic edge.
At various points, their songs (all written by lead singer and guitarist Harry Rijnbergen) incorporated prominent streaks of mod rock, soul, and late-'60s British pop-psychedelia, the lyrics often informed by archly phrased anti-establishment youth viewpoints. Some idiosyncratic Continental influence also seeps in with some of the unusual choices of instrumentation within rock arrangements, including xylophones, whistles, bicycle bells, bagpipes, and accordions. When the Ro-d-y-s broke up at the end of the 1960s, some of the members, including Rijnbergen, were in another Dutch band, Zen.
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
Disc 1
1. You Better Take Care Of Yourself - 2:24
2. Wheels, Wheels, Wheels - 2:03
3. Take Her Home - 2:33
4. Only One Week - 1:59
5. Just Fancy - 2:59
6. Gods Of Evil - 3:04
7. Nothing To Change A Mind - 2:28
8. Stop Looking On A Deadlock - 2:49
9. Sleep Sleep Sleep - 3:04
10.Show Me By Candlelight - 2:30
11.Anytime - 3:10
12.Dr. Sipher - 3:15
13.Ungorgettable Girl - 2:52
14.Everytime A Second - 3:28
15.Earnest Vocation - 4:55
16.Isn't It A Good Time - 2:13
17.Winter Woman - 4:25
18.Looking For Something Better - 2:57
19.Get Me Down - 2:53
20.Wayfaring Stranger (Traditional) - 3:28
21.Take Me Down To Riverside - 2:48
22.Let Me Try To Cry - 4:05
All compositions by Harry Rijnbergen except where noted
Tracks 19-22 as Zen
Disc 2
1. Tomorrow - 2:30
2. Hitch-Hiking - 2:34
3. Bad Babe - 2:10
4. My Woman Has Got Loose - 2:33
5. Waiting For A Cloud Burst - 3:33
6. When You Hear This Song - 3:16
7. Just Go On - 2:51
8. Destination - 3:00
9. I Still Got You - 2:00
10.Let's Try - 2:25
11.Wrong Shoe - 2:10
12.Flowers Everywhere - 2:52
13.Love Is Almost Everywhere - 3:10
14.Robinetta - 3:01
15.No Place Like Home - 4:21
16.Easy Come, Easy Go - 2:36
17.Look For Windchild - 2:35
18.Let It Be Tomorrow - 2:14
19.Peace Ants - 3:52
20.Rock 'n' Roller (Niels Lingbeek, Harry Rijnbergen) - 4:34
21.Mysterious Ways (Niels Lingbeek, Harry Rijnbergen) - 4:21
All compositions by Harry Rijnbergen except where stated
Billy Thorpe was born in 1946 in Manchester England. His parents, Bill and Mabel Thorpe and he emigrated to Australia in 1955, arriving in Melbourne and then settling in Brisbane, Queensland. He performed as a ten-year-old under the pseudonym Little Rock Allen. Six months later, after he was heard singing and playing guitar by a television producer, Thorpe made regular musical appearances on Queensland television, brandishing his trademark stock whip. He toured regional venues with Reg Lindsay in 1961, and national venues with Johnny O'Keefe and with Col Joye. By 1963, as an experienced singer and musician, he decided to relocate to Sydney
After more line-up changes Thorpe dissolved the Aztecs early in 1975, as a solo artist he recorded Million Dollar Bill, which reached the top 40, with its top 50 single "It's Almost Summer"; and Pick Me Up & Play Me Loud in 1976. Both albums showed another change in style, being a mix of Adult-orientated Rock, funk and country. In December 1976, he relocated to Los Angeles in the United States, although he returned to Australia periodically to tour with varied line-ups of the Aztecs.
Thorpe suffered from chest pains at his home on 28 February 2007 and was taken by an ambulance to St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney around 2:00 am AEDT after having a massive heart attack. He remained in the emergency ward in a serious condition and went into cardiac arrest around half an hour later; hospital staff unsuccessfully attempted to resuscitate him. His family was by his side when he died at 60 years of age. Thorpe is survived by his wife Lynn, and daughters Rusty and Lauren. His manager Michael Chugg said the death was a "terrible tragedy", as Thorpe had just finished recording a new album Tangier and was very happy after a recent acoustic tour. He was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia on 11 June 2007, with the citation, "For service to the entertainment industry as a musician, songwriter, producer, and as a contributor to the preservation and collection of contemporary Australian music".
Tracks
1. Back On The Streets Again (Gabriel Mekler, Trevor Lawrence) - 4:54
2. Drive My Car (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 3:28
3. I Really Miss You (Billy Thorpe) - 4:20
4. It's Almost Summer (Billy Thorpe) - 3:01
5. Do The Best You Can (Billy Kristian) - 4:25
6. Theme From Million Dollar Bill (Billy Thorpe) - 4:55
7. Mama Told Her (Catherine C. Williamson, Gabriel Mekler, Trevor Lawrence) - 3:21
8. Standin' Too Close To The Fire (Billy Thorpe) - 6:06
"How to kiss the Sky" is the first trace of Claude Egel on record before he became a member of Magma. Omega Plus is the group formed by Claude Engel who is not content just to play - and very well too - guitar or flute but also gives a very good show as a vocalist. Released in '69, Omega Plus's album was influenced by Cream but its music also contains a foretaste of Magma on the B side which features a long piece full of electric energy, folly and a frenzied rhythmic beat. Claude Engel gives a fabulous display of his talent as a guitarist on this track.
by Francis Grosse, Bernard Gueffier
This trio led by Claude Engel made a legendary album . Just 1,000 copies were pressed in 1969. Side one had 5 short songs with English lyrics, ranging from heavy progressive blues-rock to largely acoustic songs (comparable to Cream and Blind Faith). Claude Engel's voice is also quite similar to Jack Bruce's. The other side had a long live track named "Voyelles", based on a poem by Arthur Rimbaud, including a recitation. This is the primal scream of "zeuhl" rock, in a very raw and rudimentary form that quite a few will interpret as vaguely planned three man jamming. Overall the album is undoubtedly historical, but not entirely satisfying for all that.
Out of Focus' third album was their magnum opus, where all the stops are pulled out and the group, with the addition of a horn section and bongos, was at their most inventive. As a natural progression from the earlier two records, Four Letter Monday Afternoon has even longer instrumental sections, as well as far more variety.
The double album opens with the sidelong track "L.S.B.," which is either a misspelling of LSD or stands for "Love S Burning." This track starts off with an imposing martial beat before evolving into a more typical funk groove with over-the-top brass, before this collapses into a brief bit of free jazz and explosions, then a pastoral flute solo, and then more of the powerfully swinging jazz-rock. "Tsajama" goes more in a Magma direction, with weird vocal chanting and an intense bass-driven sound, whereas "Black Cards" is more wistful, with bleak lyrics and haunted flute. Of the only two short tracks, "Where Have You Been" is a bitter folk song, with a far more sparse instrumentation of acoustic guitar and not much else, and the CD bonus cut, "When I'm Sleeping," is the only slightly conventional song on the album.
The second CD (sides three and four of the original album) contains the three parts of a single piece, "Huchen 55," each segued to the next by a multi-tracked flute solo. This mostly instrumental improvisation is all over the place as the group gets even more free-form than usual. Though the less-focused "Huchen 55" is not quite as strong as much of the material on the first disc, it is still a compelling piece with some fascinating parts. Four Letter Monday Afternoon was an ambitious project and it succeeds wonderfully.
by Rolf Semprebon
Tracks
Disc 1
1. L.S.B - 17:37
2. When I’m Sleeping - 4:04
3. Tsajama - 9:23
4. Black Cards - 9:38
5. Where Have You Been - 5:35
Disc 2
1. A Huchen 55 - 9:19
2. Huchen 55 B - 14:32
3. Huchen 55 C - 24:18
All compositions by Remigius Drechsler, Hennse Hering, Moran Neumüller, Klaus Spöri, Stephen Wishen
Second album released in 1969, by this band from North Germany. Unlike their debut, on their sophomore album they developed and refined their music toward psychedelic rock without denying the psych pop roots. The tracks became longer, the instrumentation many sided (great sitar in 'Let die'). Intelligent compositions with great vocals make this underrated album a true gem.
Tracks
1. Life Is Your Profession - 5:48
2. Let It Die - 6:09
3. Patricia - 9:26
4. Milkman - 4:50
5. Try To Please Me - 2:52
6. Pictures Of My Woman - 3:43
7. Linda Jones (Gerd Müller-Schwanke) - 3:40
8. Blowing In Blow (Gerd Müller-Schwanke) - 7:17
9. Reflections Of A Summer (Gerd Müller-Schwanke) - 4:34
All songs by Enrico Lombardi, John Leslie Humphreys except where stated
More cohesive than their RCA release in the mid-'70s, the New York underground band who worked with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and David Peel finds themselves on Metromedia, the label which had hits with Bobby Sherman, unleashing eight originals written mostly by drummer Rich Frank and lead vocalist/tenor saxman Stan Bronstein. Guitarist David Cohen contributes to a couple of tunes, with pianist Myron Yules and guitarist Greg Peratori also involved in the songwriting, but it is Frank (listed on the credits as Reek Havoc) and Bronstein who are the major forces behind this well-known-but-not-often-heard group.
Clearly it was Lennon's participation on an early disc and not the band's notoriety which made them almost a household name, but one hit record could have changed all that. There is no hit here, but there is some experimental rock that Frank Zappa should have snapped up for his Straight Records. A bubblegum label could only move this if they were called Crazy Elephant and had something akin to "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'." Rather you have the antithesis, "Mongoose," followed by "Power" and the revolutionary "Piece Now."
The technical proficiency is traded in for angst and lots of rock & roll attitude. "Piece Now" could very well be MC5, and the music on all three of the first tunes is dense and noteworthy. "Tricky Noses" ends side one with a flurry of bullets stopping a country-ish protest song, making the point quickly and with uneasy ease. Away from their famous friends, the seven-piece group is at least interesting here, with "She's Just Naturally Bad" sounding like Blue Cheer when they abandoned the sonic onslaught for laid-back folk-rock.
Flashes of Dylan and Lou Reed make their way onto the tune. Pianist Myron Yules delivers the only song that Rich Frank and Bronstein aren't associated with, "I Couldn't Dream," a light Paul McCartney-style throwaway number."Damn" gets things somewhat heavy, a nice counterpoint to side one's "Power." This is where the band shines, solid ensemble rock with riffs and lots of not-so-quiet energy. For collectors who need anything by anyone ever associated with the Beatles, the Elephant's Memory's collection is not to be forgotten. "Ivan" is smooth New York rock a few years before Lou Reed would enter his Coney Island Baby phase, but definitely sounding like it could fit on that epic. Take It to the Streets is a true rock & roll artifact and holds some surprises worth rediscovering.
by Joe Viglione
Tracks
1. Mongoose (David Cohen, Rick Frank, Stan Bronstein) - 4:53
2. Power (Rick Frank, Stan Bronstein) - 5:59
3. Piece Now (Rick Frank, Stan Bronstein) - 4:56
4. Tricky Noses (Rick Frank) - 0:51
5. She's Just Naturally Bad (David Cohen, Rick Frank, Stan Bronstein) - 6:06
6. I Couldn't Dream It (Myron Yules) - 3:21
7. Damn (Guy Peritore, Rick Frank, Stan Bronstein) - 4:36
8. Ivan (Rick Frank) - 4:03
Elephant's Memory
*Stan Bronstein - Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Lead Vocals
Jerry is one of the most celebrated jazz guitarists of his generation, and a major name in the 1960s and 1970s for his de facto contribution to the emerging fusion movement.
He began playing the guitar at age 7. At age 11 he began playing professionally with the Bobby Wiley Rhythmaires, appearing daily on Wichita's first television station, KEDD.
At the age of 21 Jerry moved to San Francisco. In 1964 he joined the John Handy Quintet, recording two albums for Columbia Records including the critically acclaimed "Live at Monterey." In 1967 he recorded his first album for Arhoolie Records, "The Jerry Hahn Quintet," with Jack DeJohnette on drums. In 1968, he joined the Gary Burton Quartet with Roy Haynes and Steve Swallow, recording three albums and touring the United States, Europe, Canada and Japan.
By 1970 Jerry Hahn -who had paid his dues working with John Handy, the Fifth Dimension and Gary Burton-, wanted to get a band together that would reflect a myriad of musical influences--- jazz, blues, rock, gospel, country etc. One of the best parts of the early 1970's was the great amount of experimentation that was going on among bands in general. A very fertile period indeed. As a matter of fact, one could easily make the claim that this here record was one of the very first true fusion albums to hit the scene.
Jerry also began to write a monthly column for Guitar Player magazine entitled "Jerry Hahn's Guitar Seminar" which continued for five years. In 1971 Paul Simon called Jerry to record on his first solo album, "Paul Simon."
In 1972, Jerry went back to Wichita, Kansas, where he became a full-time member of the Wichita State University faculty and established the degree program in jazz guitar. He received a Doctor of Music degree from Berean Christian College in Long Beach, CA in 1983.
His formidable book and CD Complete Jerry Hahn Method for Jazz Guitar for Mel Bay Publications has been in publication since 1986.
After 15 years at WSU, Jerry relocated to Portland, Oregon, where he joined the Bennie Wallace Quartet, recording and touring the United States, Europe and Japan. The move sound track for White Men Can't Jump features Jerry's guitar playing.
In 1992 he moved to Denver, Colorado, where he taught at the Colorado Institute of Art and performed, toured and recorded with Ginger Baker, the drummer with the band "Cream."
In 1995, Jerry joined the faculty of Portland State University and developed the curriculum for the Jazz Guitar program. In addition to teaching all of the jazz guitar students, coaching guitar ensembles and jazz combos at PSU, Jerry continued to perform, record, tour and conduct clinics at universities and schools.
Recent engagements include the Iridium Jazz Club and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in New York City with the original John Handy Quintet. His latest recordings include "Hahn Solo" and "Jazz Hymns" on Migration Records, and self-published "Hahn Songs" in 2010. Jerry has returned to Kansas to be with family and work on new publications and recordings.
Jerry Hahn, the innovative and dedicated musician, continues to be one of the favorites of a younger generation of guitarists.
The sprawling double LP Four Letter Monday Afternoon is generally considered the best effort from these jazzy Krautrockers. Rats Road, issued 30 years later, consists of recordings from those same sessions that had to be left off the original release because of lack of space, with material nearly as strong. Like Four Letter, this finds Out of Focus expanded to an 11-piece and stretching out on long jams with loose, funky rhythms and lots of lengthy instrumentals on various brass, keyboards, and guitar. In fact, this record is even more instrumental, with only two tracks with vocals, the energetic "I'd Like to Be Free" and "Tell Me What I'm Thinking Of," the latter which also appeared as a bonus track titled "When I'm Sleeping" on the CD reissue of Four Letter Monday Afternoon.
Though Rats Road never gets into the more experimental realms of Four Letter pieces like "L.S.B." and "Tsajama," there is still a lot of creativity here, from the wild rhythms of "Table Talk" and "Straight Ahead" to the quirky structures of "Rats Road" and "Climax," as Out of Focus combines rock and big band jazz fluidly into something quite extraordinary. The CD, like many others from the Garden of Delights label, also contains a 32-page booklet with some history of the band and photos.
by Rolf Semprebon
Tracks
1. I'd Like To Be Free - 7:15
2. Table Talk - 12:03
3. Rat Roads - 5:16
4. Fallen Apples (Remingius Dreschler) - 2:18
5. Straight Ahead (Remingius Dreschler) - 4:39
6. Tell Me What I'm Thinking Of - 3:58
7. Climax - 12:47
8. Kitchen Blues (Moran Neumüller) - 0:31
9. Good-Bye Honey (Remingius Dreschler) - 0:59
All compositions by Remingius Dreschler, Moran Neumüller except where noted
War was great—funky, bluesy, jazzy and meditative; their hits were jams edited into pop sensations. Their sound was unique: a thick stew of stone funk, deep bass lines, African percussion, jazz-R&B organ, Latin rhythms, free-form jazz and previously untested combinations, like harmonica and saxophone. Their vocals were earthy—sometimes weary, sometimes happy—with gospel-soul licks and group chants. By late 1972, when work began on the album The World Is A Ghetto, their grooves were already in the air. “Spill The Wine,” a collaboration with British blues-rock star Eric Burdon, had been a smash. Then came tours, two albums, and the hit “Slippin’ Into Darkness.”
The time was right. Self-contained groups, from Earth, Wind & Fire to multi-racial jam band the Allman Brothers, and personally expressive black singer-songwriters from Stevie Wonder to Bill Withers, were on the rise. Miles Davis and Marvin Gaye were experimenting, shaking loose of formula. War—seven guys from Compton and Long Beach in Southern California: Thomas “Papa Dee” Allen, on percussion; Harold Brown, drums; B.B. Dickerson, bass; Lonnie Jordan, keyboards; Charles Miller, saxophones; Lee Oskar, born in Denmark but living in L.A., harmonica; and Howard Scott, guitar—was in the middle of the mix.
The Ghetto album was the result of spirited rehearsals in Long Beach followed by two solid weeks of jam sessions at Crystal Industries studio in Los Angeles. Papa Dee provided the central theme—ghetto life has no boundaries, illustrated on the cover by a Rolls Royce with a flat tire. With no boundaries in the studio, the band drew on their many roots: their bittersweet title song, infused with jazz, fell together on take 36. “The Cisco Kid,” the album’s eventual pop centerpiece, was inspired by Scott’s fond memories of a popular television character, and solidified the band’s growing Chicano following. “Where Was You At” evolved from a syncopated New Orleans drum line, thanks to Brown’s recollections of their early Southwest tours. (“No jazz on this session,” he calls out on one take.) The immersive, spacey “Four Cornered Room” was inspired by Dickerson’s first experiments with hashish. “Beetles In A Bog,” from Oskar, is a jazz march.
“City, Country, City” is the album’s longest jam, a beautiful, virtuosic performance spotlighting among others Miller’s flowing sax. Its cinematic feel owes a debt to its origin: as score for the Paramount film The Legend Of Nigger Charley, at a time when their peers Isaac Hayes, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Bobby Womack and Marvin Gaye were creating movie soundtracks. “[The studio] wasn’t giving us enough credit and money, so we took the song back,” Jordan told writer Barry Alfonso. “The movie didn’t make it that big, but our record did.” (John Bennings was the film’s eventual composer; Lloyd Price sang the theme song.) “They just cooked,” said Jerry Goldstein, the group’s longtime produc¬er who had been through the music business wars with Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. “Then we’d carve out a 35- to 40-minute album from the jams.”
Some of the LP’s ideas were not so much discarded as considered too long for the vinyl era. The chugging “Freight Train Jam” is a band tour-de-force in the vein of “City, Country, City.” “58 Blues” is more down-home. “War Is Coming” is a scalding rock-blues, a slower, early version of a funk jam the group would release five years later on Platinum Jazz. Each is included in this 40th anniver¬sary expanded edition.
Although “The Cisco Kid” became a huge crossover hit, selling one million copies its first day of release, an edited version of “The World Is A Ghetto” was the album’s first single, and a bigger hit on the R&B/Soul singles chart. The audience was hungry for a messenger, according to Jordan. “Someone had to be the teacher or the preacher back then,” he further relayed to Alfonso. “We chose to be that.” Oskar thought the move was less intentional. “As far as being political and making heavy statements go, I think people were looking for that,” he said. “They wanted to believe that something they liked was meaningful. The music was the main thing.”
War continued as a force through the 1970s, following this album with Deliver The Word, which includes the hit “Gypsy Man”; a double-live LP; the smashes “Why Can’t We Be Friends” and “Low Rider”; the disco hit “Galaxy”; and the soundtrack to Youngblood. Yet The World Is A Ghetto, the best-selling album of 1973, was the group’s only No. 1 Pop album. George Benson’s 1977 up-tempo version of the title song was one of many covers; nearly 20 years later the Texas rap group Geto Boys interpolated the original. “The Cisco Kid” has become a kind of perennial. “City, Country, City” is the go-to track to convert skeptics who’ve only heard the hits.
War is still great.
by Harry Weinger
Tracks
1. The Cisco Kid - 4:35
2. Where Was You At - 3:25
3. City, Country, City - 13:18
4. Four Cornered Room - 8:30
5. The World Is A Ghetto - 10:10
6. Beetles In The Bog - 3:51
7. Freight Train Jam 5:41
8. 58 Blues 5:29
9. War Is Coming (Blues Version) - 6:15
10.The World Is A Ghetto (Rehearsal Take) - 8:06
All songs by Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Harold Brown, Papa Dee Allen, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar.
Bonus tracks 7-10
War
*Lonnie Jordan - Organ, Piano, Timbales, Percussion, Vocals
*Howard Scott - Guitar, Percussion, Vocals
*B.B. Dickerson - Bass, Percussion, Vocals
*Harold Brown - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
*Papa Dee Allen - Congas, Bongos, Percussion, Vocals
*Charles Miller - Clarinet, Alto, Tenor, Baritone Saxophones, Percussion, Vocals
