Sugarloaf was a psychedelic rock band from Denver, Colorado that became famous during the early 1970s. The original lineup consisted of Bob MacVittie (drums), Bob Webber (guitar), bassist Bob Raymond (d. February 11, 2016, age 69), and lead singer/keyboardist Jerry Corbetta (September 23, 1947 - September 16, 2016), with a number of personnel changes and additions. Formed in 1968 and first known as Chocolate Hair, the group decided to rename itself to something less racially incendiary after signing to Liberty Records. By 1970, they became known as Sugarloaf after a nearby mountain outside of Boulder and released their eponymous debut album that same year.
Sugarloaf debuted on the Pop/Rock charts in 1970 with the evocative "Green-Eyed Lady," a psychedelic rock/jazz fusion classic co-written by Corbetta featuring a long organ instrumental interlude which became a Top 5 hit. This smash was followed in 1971 by "Tongue In Cheek" and "Mother Nature's Wine," both from the band's second album, "Spaceship Earth." Sugarloaf later had a Top 10 hit in 1974 with the blues rocker, "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You," the title song to the band's fourth and final album which was also co-written by Corbetta. Sugarloaf had two final chart entries in 1975 with "Stars In My Eyes" and "I Got A Song."
After Sugarloaf disbanded in 1978, Jerry Corbetta went on to pursue a solo career. Prior to the band's split, he had a minor hit in 1976 with "You Set My Dreams To Music." From 1980-1984, Corbetta was a member of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, and he later became a part of a number of touring nostalgia shows. Sugarloaf had several reunions over the years and came together once again on September 8, 2012 to perform at the Boulder Theater for its induction into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.
Corbetta had been diagnosed with Pick's disease in 2010. Treatment forced him to retire. He died from the disease in a hospice in Denver, Colorado on September 16, 2016, at the age of 68.
Tracks
1. I Got A Song (Bob Corso, Jerry Corbetta) - 5:11
2. Myra Myra (Jerry Corbetta) - 5:12
3. Lay Me Down (Bob Corso, Jerry Corbetta) - 6:42
4. Wild Child (Frank Slay, Jerry Corbetta) - 4:02
5. Don't Call Us, We'll Call You (Jerry Corbetta, John Carter) - 3:23
6. Lookin' For Some Fun (Jerry Corbetta, Ray Payne) - 4:09
7. Round And Round (David Riordan) - 3:37
8. Colorado Jones (J.C. Phillips, Jerry Corbetta) - 3:30
9. Easy Evil (Alan O'Day) - 4:02
10.I Got A Song, Reprise (Bob Corso, Jerry Corbetta) - 2:25
11.Boogie Man (Bob Corso, Jerry Corbetta) - 3:31
12.Texas Two Lane (Jerry Corbetta, Dick Eastman) - 4:13
13.Stars In My Eyes (Jerry Corbetta) - 3:48
14.Last Dance (Jerry Corbetta, Sky Keegan) - 3:59
15.Green Eyed Lady (David Riordan, J.C. Phillips, Jerry Corbetta) - 8:05
A short lived British folk rock band featuring ex-Lindisfarne Alan Hull, Radiator released one album "Isn't It Strange" in 1977. Short after they disbanded and Alan and other musicians continued their solo career. They sounded more rock than folk compared to Lindisfarne.
Tracks
1. Spittin' In The Wind (Colin Gibson, Kenny Craddock) - 3:22
2. I Wish You Well - 3:33
3. A Walk In The Sea - 3:11
4. Madmen And Loonies - 3:12
5. Corporation Rock - 4:54
6. Isn't It Strange - 3:42
7. Lay Back And Dream (Peter Kirtley) - 4:26
8. Something Got The Better Of You (Colin Gibson, Kenny Craddock) - 4:46
The band known as the Stillroven began in the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale, MN. It was 1965, and their original name was "the Syndicate," a name they thought should be changed when original guitarist Mark Moorhead left the band in 1966. The original lineup also consisted of bassist Rock Peterson, guitarist John Howarth, keyboardist Dave Dean, and drummer Phil Berdahl. When Moorhead left, they recruited Dan Kane to take his spot and changed their name, eventually recording "She's My Woman"/"(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" for Falcoln that year. There were only 50 copies printed for radio stations, but their next single was the first one that the public had access to. "Hey Joe"/"Sunny Day" was a hit in their hometown, but that was not enough for Peterson and Kane, who departed the same year.
The band found a new bassist and guitarist in Dave Berget and Jim Larkin respectively, and soon was recording their next singles. "Little Picture Playhouse"/"Cast Thy Burden Upon the Stone" was hailed as a hallucinogenic masterpiece by garage rock enthusiasts, but the average music fan did not catch on to the regional popularity they enjoyed in Minneapolis. Their manager moved to Tucson, AZ, where he continued to guide their career from a distance. Larkin and Berget left the band as quickly as they came, being replaced by bassist Mike Flaherty and guitarist Mike O'Gara.
They recorded a fourth single under this lineup, "Come in the Morning"/"Necessary Person," but after the first 100 copies printed there was enough internal dissension to have "Come in the Morning" pulled from the single and replaced with a cover of the Small Faces' "Tell Me Have You Ever Seen Me." This would be the last release from the band, as they quietly broke up toward the end of 1968. A career retrospective, Cast Thy Burden Upon the Stillroven, was released in 1996 to appease garage band enthusiasts who had been waiting for more material from the group. The album included many unreleased songs, as well as a few tracks that were originally on compilations. Rumor has it that the band has an entire album recorded from 1968 that has never seen the light of day, and Sundazed Records has even promised a release of the album.
by Bradley Torreano
Tracks
1. Sundance (David Rivkin) - 2:31
2. The Green (Dave Berget, Dave Dean, Dave Rivkin, Mike O'Gara, Phil Berdahl) - 2:22
3. Girl In Blonde (David Rivkin) - 3:33
4. Tin Soldier (Ronnie Lane, Steve Marriott) - 3:02
5. Can You Dig It? (David Rivkin) - 2:57
6. Get Ready (Smokey Robinson) - 3:21
7. Too Many Spaces (Dave Rivkin, Mike O'Gara, Phil Berdahl) - 2:43
8. Happiness Is (Mike O'Gara) - 2:31
9. Country Tune (David Rivkin) - 2:07
10.Would You Believe (Dave Berget, Dave Dean, Dave Rivkin, Mike O'Gara, Phil Berdahl) - 1:57
The Yellow Balloon is basically the story of one producer & songwriter Gary Zekley who, disappointed with the results after having Jan and Dean record one of his songs, decided to record it again himself. Then, with an unexpected smash hit song on his hands, quickly recorded a full album of material with studio musicians, then contacted his friend, multi-instrumentalist & singer Don Grady (better known as Robbie Douglas from the TV show My Three Sons) to assemble a “real” five-piece band to work up a live set and make a bunch of TV appearances in the wake of the hit.
Beginning with album opener “How Can I Be Down?” the material has an unapologetically positive and uplifting vibe, heavily influenced by the “Good Vibrations”-era Beach Boys sound and the sunshine pop of the period (think Millenium, The Association, Sunshine Company, etc.) full of melody, simple happy-go-lucky rhythms, fun lyrics that intentionally eschew the social consciousness of the times, and meticulously arranged elaborate multi-part vocal harmonies.
All songs are all short, no-nonsense pieces that concisely showcase and support the songwriting, and although musicianship is top notch throughout, there’s not a lot of room here for solos. Songs like “Follow the Sunshine,” “Stained Glass Window,” “Baby Baby It’s You,” and “Springtime Girl” are all as strong as the better known title track. Eight bonus tracks include singles, demos, and four cuts by Don Grady and his pre-YB Windupwatchband. All taken, an important, if somewhat obscure slice of 60s pop history.
by Peter Thelen, Published 2005-03-01
A songwriting assignment from Dean Torrence led to a rich musical career for Los Angeles pop- genius Gary Zekley. Zekley - a man whose body of work stands up to any of the precocious Brill Building bunch from five years earlier - originally penned the song "Yellow Balloon" for Jan and Dean, but also recorded the tune himself. When Zekley's version went Top Thirty in April of 1967, he assembled a band, called the Yellow Balloon (natch), with the likes of lead singer Alex Valdez and multi-talented drummer/vocalist Don Grady, already a TV superstar as Robbie, Fred MacMurray's oldest kid on My Three Sons.
The Yellow Balloon album itself, is a day-glo gem- a wispy bridge spanning the lush yet trippy studio wizardry of Sagittarius and the mindbending delights of The Beach Boys' Smile-era recordings. Sundazed's Yellow Balloon disc contains 20 tracks, including the complete original stereo album, vintage single-only sides, a Zekley demo, both ultra-rare Don Grady singles, and a 20 page booklet stuffed with striking color outtakes of the group's photo sessions, acquired from the original band members-all of whom were interviewed by West Coast studio-expert Domenic Priore for the liner notes-and a penetrating on-disc interview with the late Gary Zekley, himself. Lush, plush and gorgeous!!!
Sundazed
Tracks
1. How Can I Be Down (Don Altfeld, Gary Zekley, Jill Gibson) - 2:14
2. Stained Glass Window (Don Agrati, Gary Zekley) - 2:03
3. Baby Baby It's You (Dick St. John, Gary Zekley) - 1:57
4. Panama Red (Gary Zekley, Jay Lee) - 1:34
5. I've Got A Feeling For Love (Don Altfeld, Gary Zekley, Jay Lee, Jill Gibson) - 2:18
6. Yellow Balloon (Dick St. John, Gary Zekley, Jay Lee) - 2:16
7. Good Feelin' Time (Don Agrati, Gary Zekley) - 2:12
8. Follow The Sunshine (Patrick Ferrell, Paul Byrne) - 2:35
9. Springtime Girl (Patrick Ferrell, Paul Byrne) - 2:06
10.Can't Get Enough Of Your Love (Dick St. John, Gary Zekley, Mariene Anthony) - 2:16
11.Junk Maker Shoppe (Don Agrati) - 2:37
12.Noollab Wolley (Dick St. John, Gary Zekley, Jay Lee) - 2:16
13.The Children Of St. Monica (Don Grady) - 3:10
14.A Good Man To Have Around The House (Don Grady) - 2:34
15.Impressions With Syvonne (Don Grady) - 2:50
16.Leaving It Up To You (Don Grady) - 2:10
17.Can't Get Enough Of Your Love (Dick St. John, Gary Zekley, Mariene Anthony) - 1:32
18.Follow The Sunshine (Patrick Ferrell, Paul Byrne) - 2:34
19.How Can I Be Down (Don Altfeld, Gary Zekley, Jill Gibson) - 2:04
20.Gary Zekley Interview - 7:09
Tracks 13-14 as Don Grady With The Windupwatchband
A record that really works drives all errant thoughts out of your mind and makes you listen. The Amazing Rhythm Aces '"How the Hell Do You Spell Rythum?" does that for me. Many of the reasons are subjective, of course, but not all. The objective ones relate to how well this band –surely one of the best around– has mastered what are, for me, the fundamentals. You might think any band good enough to be recorded several times must have the fundamentals down- but then you might think the same of any team competing in the National Football League, where the Pittsburgh Steelers, like the Green Bay Packers before them, beat up everyone for years simply by being better at the basics.
In the case of "How Do You Spell…..," your body notes the difference between merely good timing and excellent timing even if you don't form conscious thoughts about it, and timing is the most fundamental of the fundamentals. Studying Van Morrison's Wild Night, in which timing is virtually everything, will show you the Aces were on top of it during these sessions.
Their whole approach is fundamental to start with, in the sense of sticking close to the main sources of rock: basic black and basic white, commonly called blues or r-&-b and country, the two kinds of music that Elvis Presley started with. A Muscle Shoals product, this album never strays far from either and ends with a probe back into each with gospel overtones: I Got the Feeling, written by Eddie Hinton and Dan Penn, is r-&-b with black-gospel feel ings tugging at it, and Give Me Flowers While I'm Living, by Louise Certain, Elvin Bigger, and Gladys Stacey, is both bluegrass and white gospel.
The Aces get a soaring slide solo from Duncan Cameron on Taj Mahal's Farther On Down the Road and some high-profile moments from sax player Al Garth, guesting from the Dirt Band, but generally they feature a modest sneakiness among the instrumentalists rather than big showy displays. If any- one is spotlighted, it is-as it should be- vocalist Russell Smith, who just keeps getting better and better. He has grown by leaps and bounds technically, but he hasn't lost anything of the odd combination of boyish and worldly attitudes he brings to a song.
Behind him the band leaves the optimal amount of air and plays some fills that will roll your socks up and down while generally making everything seem simple and easy. It may be simple, but albums of this stature are rare enough to prove it isn't easy.
by Noel Coppag
Tracks
1. What Kind Of Love Is This? (Duncan Cameron) - 4:20
2. Object Of My Affection (Delbert McClinton) - 2:41
3. You Left The Water Running (Rick Hall, Dan Penn, Oscar Frank) - 3:20
4. I Musta Died And Gone To Texas (Russell Smith) - 3:06
5. Living On Borrowed Time (David H. McDade) - 3:45
6. Wild Night (Van Morrison) - 3:42
7. Big Ole Brew (Russell Smith) - 2:43
8. Farther On Down The Road (Taj Mahal, Jesse Ed Davis) - 4:41
9. I Got The Feeling (Eddie Hinton) - 5:46
10.Give Me The Flowers While I'm Living (Louise Certain, Elvin Bigger, Gladys Stacey Flatt) - 2:29
The sole album by the Clique is in reality the last full album cult hero Gary Zekley would produce. (Though the Austin-based band, also renowned in garage-psych circles for the first known cover of a Roky Erickson song, had recorded several previous singles, they did not play on the album; only singer Randy Shaw appears, with backing vocalists and musicians pulled from Zekley's usual stable of L.A. session pros.)
Although the album spawned a Top 40 hit in the Tommy James-penned "Sugar on Sunday" and is best known for containing the original "Superman," an underground garage rock classic given a new commercial life when R.E.M. covered it on Lifes Rich Pageant, it's not really Zekley's best work. By 1969, Zekley's brand of sunshine pop was out of commercial favor, and too much of The Clique is taken up with blatant copies of the current AM chart favorites. "Hallelujah!" is a blatant Blood, Sweat & Tears rip-off, and "Judy Judy Judy" is pure Three Dog Night (with the "Sock it to me!" chorus shamelessly added to tie into Laugh-In star Judy Carne's popularity). For all the shameless hucksterism, though, Zekley still manages a few gems, particularly the Tommy James-like "Little Miss Lucy" and the hyper-dramatic "My Darkest Hour." (The cover of the Bee Gees' "Holiday" is nice, too, though it adds little to the original.) And, true, "Superman" deserves every bit of its acclaim; it's by far the best song on the album.
The Clique is perfectly listenable and occasionally terrific, but this is not Zekley at the peak of his powers; try the Yellow Balloon's self-titled disc or the Fun and Games' Elephant Candy for that. The Varese Sarabande reissue adds seven tracks from demos and singles, including two songs produced by Tommy James and featuring the Shondells as Shaw's backing group.
by Stewart Mason
Tracks
1. Sugar On Sunday (Mike Vale, Tommy James, William Stevenson Jr) - 3:09
2. My Darkest Hour (Gary Zekley, Mitchell Bottler) - 2:47
A compendiously thorough John’s Children compilation? About bloody time. In fact – ghastly smirk – It’s Been A Long Time. If you didn’t already recognize that as the title of the atypically baroque and ruminative Andy Ellison solo single that glinted deep within the Mulberry Bush soundtrack in 1968, A Strange Affair will set you right. Collated herein is most everything John’s Children recorded in their tumultuous, episodic half-life: the copious addenda consists of alternate mixes, solo recordings by vocalist Ellison (including that aforementioned gemstone) and some floppy, formative, mid-60s gaucherie from The Silence, John’s Children in all but name.
With their spotty discography, lazy penchant for blatantly pilfering other people’s material and a damaging reputation as barely competent, sensationalist, controversy-courting chancers, the band have rarely been taken seriously for anything other than briefly providing a home for the fledgling Marc Bolan and his tranche of inimitable songs. Round here, though, we love them for gamely ticking so many cool boxes en route to oblivion: swaggering, pop-art freakbeat (Jagged Time Lapse, Desdemonacheapskate, have-a-go pop-psych (Remember Thomas A Becket, Smashed! Blocked!) and delinquent, hod-carrying proto-glam (Just What You Want – Just What You’ll Get, Not The Sort Of Girl You Take To Bed). Let Me Know even prefigures Should I Stay Or Should I Go.
by Oregano Rathbone, 22 January 2014.
Tracks
Disc 1
1. The Love I Thought I'd Found (John Hewlett, Simon Napier-Bell) - 3:01
2. Strange Affair (Andy Ellison, Simon Napier-Bell) - 2:06
3. Just What You Want - Just What You'll Get (John Hewlett, Chris Townson, Andy Ellison, Geoff McClelland) - 3:01
4. But She's Mine (John Hewlett, Chris Townson, Andy Ellison) - 1:59
5. Desdemona (Marc Bolan) - 2:24
6. Remember Thomas A Becket (John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 2:20
7. Midsummer Night's Scene (Marc Bolan) - 2:35
8. Sara, Crazy Child (Marc Bolan) - 2:04
9. Come And Play With Me In The Garden (John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 2:17
10.Go-Go Girl (Marc Bolan) - 2:09
11.Jagged Time Lapse (John Hewlett, Geoff McClelland) - 2:47
12.Arthur Green (John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 3:42
13.It's Been A Long Time (Andy Ellison, Chris Townson, Simon Napier-Bell) - 3:21
14.Fool From Upper Eden (George Alexander) - 2:54
15.Another Lucky Lie (Andy Ellison) - 1:57
16.You Can't Do That (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 2:48
17.Cornflake Zoo (Marc Bolan, Andy Ellison) - 2:03
18.Help! (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 2:49
19.Casbah Candy (Marc Bolan, Andy Ellison) - 2:02
20.Hippy Gumbo (Marc Bolan) - 2:08
21.Down Down (Andy Ellison) - 3:00
22.Cold On Me (Andy Ellison, John Hewlett) - 3:04
23.Forgive Me If I'm Wrong (Andy Ellison, Chris Dawsett) - 4:06
24.Mustang Ford (Marc Bolan) - 2:24
25.Not The Sort Of Girl You Take To Bed (John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 2:27
26.Sally Was An Angel (Marc Bolan) - 3:11
Tracks 12-20 as Andy Ellison
Tracks 21-23 as The Silence
Disc 2
1. Killer Ben (John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 2:29
2. Jagged Time Lapse (John Hewlett, Geoff McClelland) - 3:12
3. Smashed! Blocked! (John Hewlett, Simon Napier-Bell) - 3:19
4. You're A Nothing (Chris Townson, Geoff McClelland, John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 3:33
5. Not The Sort Of Girl (John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 2:07
6. Cold On Me (Andy Ellison, John Hewlett) - 2:50
7. Leave Me Alone (John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 3:11
8. Let Me Know (Andy Ellison) - 3:25
9. Just What You Want - Just What You'll Get (John Hewlett, Chris Townson, Andy Ellison, Geoff McClelland) - 3:32
10.Why Do You Lie (John Hewlett, Chris Townson) - 5:06
11.Strange Affair (John Hewlett, Simon Napier-Bell) - 2:02
12.But She's Mine (John Hewlett, Chris Townson, Andy Ellison) - 2:00
13.The Love I Thought I'd Found (John Hewlett, Simon Napier-Bell) - 3:09
14.Desdemona (Marc Bolan) - 2:24
15.Remember Thomas A Becket (John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 2:36
16.Midsummer Night's Scene (Marc Bolan) - 2:37
17.Sara, Crazy Child (Marc Bolan) - 2:28
18.Jagged Time Lapse (John Hewlett, Geoff McClelland) - 2:48
19.It's Been A Long Time (Andy Child, Jon Child, Simon Napier-Bell) - 3:10
20.You Can't Do That (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 2:59
21.Hippy Gumbo (Marc Bolan) - 2:36
22.Not The Sort Of Girl You Take To Bed (John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 2:41
23.Sally Was An Angel (Marc Bolan) - 3:11
24.Come And Play With Me In The Garden (John Hewlett, Andy Ellison) - 2:10
25.The Perfumed Garden Of Gulliver Smith (Marc Bolan) - 2:41
Germany is even a bigger hotbed of prog rock than one might imagine. Sure everyone knows bands like Can, Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream, Amon Düül II, Faust, Neu, Kraftwerk, and similar bands (bands that might not always be considered prog, but are of interest to prog fans). But the countries was also full of more traditional symphonic prog acts like Eloy, Novalis, Grobschnitt, and the likes (all three were quite successful in their native country, by the way). Then there are tons of rare and obscure albums that simply disappeared through the cracks, and Ikarus is one of them.
Ikarus is often described as one of the first progressive jazz-rock groups to come out of Germany, giving one the impression they might be that country’s answer to bands like Colosseum. But actually they’re much more in the Van der Graaf Generator vein, with vocals that bring to mind Peter Hammill (but without his dynamics), lots of sax, and Hammond organ. But the biggest problem lies in the lyrics. For example, the opening cut, “Eclipse” shows the band expressing environmental concerns, which I am very happy about, but with lyrics that go, “Save the nature/it’s a treasure”, it’s really obvious that these guys are in dire need of brushing up on their English before using their pen. But regardless, they still put out some great prog rock. “Eclipse”, despite the badly written lyrics, is a rather complex song, with some great sax work from Jochen Petersen and a great organ jam from Wulf Dieter Struntz. Real strings are also included as well (which are very well done and does not distract).
I love the mood of this song, it’s totally early ’70s. “Mesentery” is the next song, the lyrics are a little better. Again, the more great organ work, with almost a psych feel to it. The strings pop up again near the end. “The Raven” features lyrics based on the poem by the same name from Edgar Allen Poe. The music here seems more unstructured than the first two songs, so it’s more inaccessible, but after several listens, you’ll find out it’s another great piece. Some space rock tendencies pop up as well with the use of glissando guitar. The second half of the song is in a more mellow, atmospheric manner.
The last one is “Early Bells Voice”, again, with some more space rock tendencies, especially the Hammond organ at the end. While finding this album on LP is a bit difficult to come by, a small German label called Second Battle had reissued this on CD. I just love finding obscure gems that are simply amazing, and this self-entitled 1971 album from Ikarus is that example. So, aside from the lyrics, I can very highly recommended this to all prog rock fans, especially VdGG fans.
by Ben Miler
Tracks
1. Eclipse (Divided In Scyscrapers And Sooner Or Later) (Manfred Schulz, Jochen Petersen, Lorenz Köhler) - 15:24
2. Mesentery (Jochen Petersen) - 6:11
3. The Raven (including "Theme For James Marshall") (Jochen Petersen, Manfred Schulz, Lorenz Köhler, Wulf Dieter Struntz, Wolfgang Kracht) - 11:42
Inspired by the artistry and commercial success of several prog rock bands, Hands began as an idea between Michael Clay and Michael Barreyre. While still in high school, the two, inspired by new and experimental music, hatched the idea of a progressive rock band. The group would be a cross between Yes and the Soft Machine. Concurrently, Ernie Myers, John Rousseau, and Steve Parker were jamming together above the concession stand of a drive-in theater. The three also were active playing in front of live audiences. Meanwhile, Clay and Barreyre were joining with David Carlisle and Sonny Solell. The four began to rehearse in Clay's bedroom, honing cover tunes of Pink Floyd and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin. Through a mutual friend in high school, the two groups of musicians began to blend. Rousseau, Clay, and Myers grouped together for a while but were soon disbanded when Myers moved to California.
At that turn, Rousseau, Barreyre, Carlisle, Solell, and Clay formed Ibis and began to rehearse in Solell's den. The name Ibis came from "Flight of the Ibis," a song from the McDonald & Giles solo album. Ibis played a number of gigs in and about the Dallas area. Playing an eclectic cover list that included everything from King Crimson, Frank Zappa, and PFM to Johnny Winter and the Allman Brothers, Ibis grew accustomed to playing technically challenging material in clubs that were ill-suited to their unusual playlist. Still, Ibis managed to book a gig at Deb's Danceland which proved to be Carlisle's last with the band. At that point, Parker entered as the bass player. Although not a bass player at the time, Parker quickly adapted to the bass and lead-vocal duties.
The band changed its name from Ibis to Prism and continued to record and play gigs while incorporating more and more originals into the set list. Clay felt that the original compositions the band were starting to play with would benefit from having a string player in the band. Through a newspaper ad discovered by Rousseau, Paul Bunker joined the group. From that point, the band took on a completely different sound and a seriousness of purpose. Finally, citing artistic differences and an increasing reticence to work together, Barreyre was asked to leave the band. While that particular rift was brewing, Myers had returned from Los Angeles where he had met flutist and composer Skip Durbin, who was asked to join Prism.
Solell retired from Prism and Durbin quickly joined, and the sound of the group changed again to a more melodic and flowing sort of sound. Myers' father came to a rehearsal one night with one of his associates. Hearing the sincerity and originality of the band, he invested a sum of money for the band to make a recording. Meanwhile, Rousseau had been busy making contact with the promoters of a Gentle Giant concert that was scheduled for the Dallas area. Through sheer persistence, Rousseau secured the opening spot for the Gentle Giant concert. Spurred on by the great reception they received playing the Gentle Giant gig, the band entered January Sound in fall of 1977 and recorded what would be, some 25 years later, the Hands CD.
1978 was a year of grueling practice and songwriting. The group had to endure another practice-room change, to a storefront warehouse in East Dallas, and, learning of the Canadian band of the same name on Arista Records, had to change their name. After a series of long discussions, they finally decided on Hands. The name seemed to sum up a great deal about the band; just a coordination of hands moving about to make music. The name actual predated many of the minimalist names that would appear throughout the early '80s.
During this period, the band courted Ken Scott, the seminal producer of slick pop/rock. Scott had just finished producing and sinking some of his own money into the band Happy the Man. Although Scott heard the music of Hands and enjoyed it, he was in no position to produce or recommend the band to any label. While Happy the Man, a great progressive rock band applauded to this day, were artistically a success, they did not have the sales to match their great music. Ken Scott could really do nothing. With the advent of music that was less and less sophisticated and the ubiquitous drone of disco plodding incessantly along, Hands found it harder and harder to maintain their goals and the ideals of their sound. In 1979, Michael Clay left the band.
Undaunted, Hands continued with keyboard virtuoso Shanon Day. Day was a great player from a heavy rock band called Point Blank. He brought a meaty, Hammond B3 sound to the band and a greater rock sensibility. The band also added the vocals of Gary Stone. His high range and smooth vibrato gave the band vocal appeal.This lineup, consisting of Myers, Parker, Durbin, Day, Bunker, Rousseau, and Stone, went into Crystal Clear Sound for a marathon recording session. In record time, they recorded a tremendous amount of music, including epics such as Myers' "Mindgrind," "Antarctica," and Durbin's elegiac "New Skies." This material would later form the bulk of the CD Palm Mystery.
Hands played an inspired show at the Wintergarten Ballroom in 1980. It proved to be the last public appearance of the band in that form. The concert was well attended and expertly played. However, the years, changing public tastes, and the restless careers of the musicians themselves eventually pulled Hands apart.
by Cesar Lanzarini
Tracks
1. Zombieroch (Michael Clay) - 4:19
2. Prelude #2 (Michael Clay) - 1:35
3. Triangle Of New Flight (Ernie Myers, Michael Clay, Steve Parker, John Rousseau, Skip Durbin, Paul Bunker) - 6:50
4. Mutineer's Panorama (Skip Durbin) - 3:12
5. Worlds Apart (Michael Clay, Steve Parker) - 4:08
6. Dreamsearch (Ernie Myers, Michael Clay, Steve Parker, John Rousseau, Skip Durbin, Paul Bunker) - 9:49
7. Left Behind (Ernie Myers) - 6:02
8. Mindgrind (Ernie Myers) - 5:40
9. Greansoap (Ernie Myers, Skip Durbin) - 2:27
10.I Want One Of Those (Ernie Myers) - 3:16
11.Antarctica (Ernie Myers) - 10:32
12.The Tiburon Treasure (Ernie Myers) - 2:25
13.Dreamsearch (Ernie Myers, Michael Clay, Steve Parker, John Rousseau, Skip Durbin, Paul Bunker) - 9:41
Before Michael Murphey traded in his outlaw country cred and became Michael Martin Murphey, the Americana Adult Contemporary singing cowboy, he created a couple of my favorite LPs from the 1970s. Now that two of his first three albums are available on major streaming platforms, I decided it’s time to unburden myself of my feelings about his self-titled third album.
A native of Texas, Murphey rubbed elbows with a number of Lone Star musicians in his college years, and even more musicians as a grad student in Los Angeles in the mid-60s. He was in a band with future Monkee Michael Nesmith, and later contributed the song “What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round” to The Monkees’ album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., which sold over five million copies. Eventually tiring of the So-Cal music scene, he hot-footed it back to Texas about 1971, just in time to be part of the nascent Outlaw Country movement. He was signed to A&M Records by legendary producer Bob Johnston, who produced his first several albums, including the stellar Geronimo’s Cadillac in 1972, Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir in 1973, and after moving to Epic Records, Michael Murphey in 1974, all recorded in Nashville with session players including a few latter day A Team members like Buddy Spicher and Kenny Buttrey.
I have to confess that I first became aware of Murphey when nearly everybody else in the listening public did, with the release of his fourth album Blue Sky Night Thunder and its multi-platinum single “Wildfire.” It was a new sound at the time, a polished version of what we now call Americana, filled with lushly recorded, very romantic songs.
As on the previous two albums, Murphey here mixes up the types of music he loved, a lot of which he had in common with other Texas singer-songwriters of the era: rock, classic country, Western ballads, gospel, folk. He kicks it off with some soulful rock on the defiant “Nobody’s Gonna Tell Me How To Play My Music.” That’s the first verse in the pull quote above, and it’s quite the rave-up with a big band, a full backing choir, and yes some ironically placed philharmonic strings. This theme seems to have been a popular sentiment among musicians in the early ’70s as things transitioned from the heady days of the anything goes ’60s to the corporate dominated arena rock ’70s — compare this one with Jimmy Buffett’s “Makin’ Music For Money,” also cut in 1974.
Michael Murphey doesn’t have a “Geronimo’s Cadillac” or “Cosmic Cowboy” hit single, but the closing track “Southwestern Pilgrimage” has at least as long a pair of legs as either of those, presaging as it did his turn to acoustic cowboy fare. (It’s one of the best and earliest examples of the adage that the final track on an album often points forward to the musician’s next effort.) It was my first favorite on the album, but lacks the poignancy and more universal themes of those that appeal to me more, nearly 50 years on: the gospel-folk “Healing Springs” with its use of water as a metaphor for art; or the gentle poetry of the quietly acoustic “Rye By-The-Sea” with its roundelay structure; or the spiritual yearning of “Observer.” Speaking of gospel, two sides of that coin are presented in the back to back “Holy Roller” and “Good Ol’ Natural Habits.” To me, though, the strongest songs are the pure Texas outlaw country songs: “You Can Only Say So Much” wouldn’t be out of place on a Michael Nesmith solo record, and both “Ace In The Hole and the played-for-laughs “Fort Worth I Love You” are just plain shit-kicking country rockers to rival any of the era’s best.
Michael Nesmith went on to cover at least one more of Murphey’s songs including one of the best, “Texas Morning,” sagely pairing it with a psychedelic cover of the old Sons of the Pioneers chestnut “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” on his final outing with the First National Band. In the end, I much preferred the truly cosmic and literate version of urbane country that Nesmith continued to turn out over the cowboy fare Murphey turned to. But after three albums of steadily declining chart numbers, Murphey on his fourth, Blue Sky Night Thunder, found an opening to a music career that has sustained him longer than I suspect he’d have had with his idiosyncratic take on country rock, even if the latter was more appealing to fringe fans like me.
by Gary Whitehouse
Tracks
1. Nobody's Gonna Tell Me How to Play My Music - 4:17
2. Healing Springs - 5:21
3. Rye by-the-Sea - 3:10
4. You Can Only Say So Much - 3:25
5. Observer - 4:55
6. Holy Roller - 3:57
7. Good Ol' Natural Habits (Craig Hillis) - 3:17
8. Fort Worth I Love You - 1:43
9. Ace in the Hole (Michael Murphey, Craig Hillis) - 3:03
10.Southwestern Pilgrimage - 3:46
All songs by Michael Murphey except where stated
Musicians
*Michael Martin Murphey - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Organ, Concertina
