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I have only made one scandinavian comp so far [edit: Here is Sweden and Norway] and I know there is still a lot of untapped potential for more, so here is my effort to represent Denmark's great heavies. Having been aware only of bloggers favourites like Moses, "Terje Jesper & Joachim", Blues Addicts and Hurdy Gurdy, I was pleasantly surprised at the quantity and quality I found after digging deeper. Like a lot of countries connected to mainland Europe, jazz/fusion rock seemed to be a particular favourite style of the Denmark's 70's prog outfits, though I have only included a couple of bands that were known for that genre, concentrating mainly on my predilection for the heavier fuzz-laden side of things...

Track 1's Hair hail from Denmark's capital, Copenhagen (Danish: København). They only made one album but they showed great talent, ranging from west coast-style psych to faster hard rockers like the track I used here; "Supermouth".

Moses

I used the Moses track 'Changes' on my last scandinavian comp, here is my second pick from them; "Skaev" (Danish slang for 'stoned'), They were from the west Jutland peninsula town of Esbjerg and played mainly high-energy, hard psych/blues, with a few sabbathian riffs rising from the depths. This album was unearthed by the German label, Shodoks. Fleur De Lis were from the northern town of Aalborg. They made one album in 1972 and it's a varied multi-instrumental mix with male and female vox, ranging from folk to great hammond fuzzers like this instrumental track, "In Love".

Burnin Red Ivanhoe were another Copenhagen band, and one of the more successful here. They made a name for themselves in the european prog scene along with Danish contemporaries like Secret Oyster and Day of Phoenix. During the short life of the original lineup between 1969 and 1972 they released 4 albums. This comp's title track 'August Suicidal' is taken from a 1974 re-incarnation of the band that made one album, featuring former members Karsten Vogel, Bo Thrige Andersen, Ole Fick, with Kenneth Knudsen (drums) of Secret Oyster, and Karsten Lyng (vocals) from Day Of Phoenix.

Terje Jesper & Joachim

"Terje Jesper & Joachim" originated from the beat group "The Unknown". The track here, "Ricochet", is some excellent raw, punky blues. Formed in 1968, they made one album and split in 1973. It was released by Spectator Records, a small Danish label that was home to a few bands in this comp. It was the first one to specialise in home-grown psych and prog therefore it's a good place to start if you want to investigate further. The band consisted of Terje Bandholdt (drums), Jesper Schmidt (guitar) and Joachim Ussing (bass). Ussing and Bandholdt would later play together in the band "Mo-i-ra-na", who I featured on my first heavy blues comp, "54: Late Night Woman Blues".

Copenhagen's Beafeaters are one of the earliest bands on here. Along with another Danish beat group "The Defenders", they were a launchpad for many rock musicians including Ole Fick (Burnin Red Ivanhoe, Secret Oyster), Nils Henriksen (Culpeper's Orchard, Mo-i-ra-na), Carsten Smedegaard (Midnight Sun) and Povl Dissing. I have included two tracks that were back-to-back on their 1967 debut. "Shakin' Fingerpop" is a groovy slab of freakbeat and "Night Flight" is a delectable psych instrumental with an almost space-rock feel and some innovative tape samples that lend even more to the hammond-lead, dreamy ambience.

The Old Man & The Sea were from Horsens, in the east of the Jutland peninsular. Their only record was a concept album based on Ernest Hemingway's last major work of fiction, "The Old Man and the Sea", an epic story of a wise old fisherman's battle with a large marlin. With their excellent heavy progressive musicianship, the band were reasonably successful and played lots of live shows, including Denmark's Roskilde Festival, along with opening slots for big name tours like Led Zeppelin and Ten Years After.

Secret Oyster

Secret Oyster was a jazz rock band that took it's name from the track "Secret Oyster Service" on Burnin Red Ivanhoe's second album, a band with which they shared members. Though most of their material veers towards the jazz fusion side of things, which is not so much to my particular taste, I had to include this track as I especially like the hypnotic intro/outro, with awesome phased keys and riffing. Some of you guys out there may dig the funky, saxy middle part....let me know if you do!

When Hurdy Gurdy formed in Denmark, the driving member was an english singer/bassist called Mac MacLeod. MacLeod seems to have been in interesting character and at the time was engaged in some correspondence with pop star Donovan who it is said, originally wrote the song "Hurdy Gurdy Man" for Mac. Due to numerous legal and work visa problems for various members, the band moved between The UK and Denmark a couple of times, at one point playing their rendition of "Hurdy Gurdy Man" to Donovan. He wasn't so happy with their heavy take on it and released his own version which became one of his defining hits. Whilst in the UK they did some recordings produced by Chris White and Rod Argent of The Zombies, from which this non-album track 'Tick Tock Man' is taken. MacLeod had left the band by the time they got around to releasing an album, he went on to join the post-Zombies band Argent for a while.

Blues Addicts

Blues Addicts recorded their sole album in 1970, the same year as Terje Jesper & Joachim, and they later shared a member with that band, bassist Joachim Ussing. Another later member, Carsten Valentin (C.V.) Jorgensen, went on to some solo acclaim and continues to make records now as a singer/songwriter who's main focus is 'biting social satire'. He has performed at Roskilde festival as recently as 2010. "Simple Expression" is some expressive bluesrock with seering leads from guitarist Ivan Horn.

Sume formed in Sorø, in the Region Sjælland, east Denmark. History recalls that founding members Malik Høegh and Per Berthelsen were from Greenland and met in Denmark while studying. It also says they were  "Greenland's first recorded rock band", though all three of their albums are labelled as Danish releases. If anybody out there can clarify their history that would be great! They had a quirky, catchy sound with progressive hints, not often heavy but groovy as hell at times and they certainly have some interesting ethnic flavour which I can only guess is some Danish/Greenland folk heritage coming through.

Daisy, Lucifer 45

I found Daisy via a couple of friend's recommendations who both came across this track on youtube around the same time. Apparently this single has only just come to light digitally. They made an album in 1975 and they included singer, songwriter and author Lars Muhl from Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark. 'Lucifer' starts out well enough but heavies-up nicely around the half-way mark and has some stella guitar/hammond interplay. The b-side was called 'Zimmerman', though I have been unable to find that.

Pan are another band that I have used on my previous scandinavian comp, and I go back to the same s/t  album for this short and wicked instrumental groove-out, 'They Make Money With The Stars [Pt 2]'. Revealed by Danish obscurity label Frost, it appears that Copenhagen's Pocket-Size never released anything, and we only have Frost's 2003 retrospective made from live recordings and demos. It's a shame as this track shows their solid skills with some big stoned chops, ably assisted by great hammond.

Sensory System (1974)

The penultimate band here is 'System'. They made two albums in 1974-5 and 'While Nixon Plays The Piano' is taken from the first one called 'Sensory System'. It's a great, adventurous album, a convincing display of long multi-part song structures with plenty of heaviness, compelling axemanship and a fair amount of prog moves. It does remind in places of Budgie and Rush, partly because the decent frantic vocals are vaguely reminiscent of Geddy Lee and Burke Shelley, but also because it often reaches the level of those bands. A word of warning, don't bother with the second album, 'What We Are', it is far inferior and if you hear it first don't let it put you off looking for the excellent debut.

Young Flowers

Copenhagen's Young Flowers bring us the final track, they were one of Denmark's earliest heavy blues/psych bands, obviously indebted to Cream. They made two albums, both in 1969, and were the first Danish rock band to play in Canada and the US. The group consisted of Jens Henrik Dahl (guitar) from The Defenders, Peter Ingemann (bass and vocals), who had played in the Seven Sounds and Ken Gudman (drums) who also came from The Defenders. 'Slow Down Driver' is, in the main, some fairly pedestrian blues rock, but the psychedelic segues in between the verses are quite mesmerising, and there is definitely an emphasis on the guitar fuzz which a lot of you will dig.

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As most of you will know by now, Jon Lord, original keyboardist with Deep Purple, passed away recently. Sad and thought-provoking news as it always is when rock gods leave us, I realised it was the perfect time, by way of some tribute, to finish off the hammond organ and keyboard comp I've been formulating for a while. Having now received the inspiration for it's theme and last, fitting track, here is 73: Hammond Lord. A collection of tracks with wicked hammond organ.

No doubt many of the bands here would have sounded very different if it were not for Jon Lord, one of the founding and longest-standing members of Deep Purple. He took an instrument that was originally designed as a cheaper alternative to church pipe organs, and pushed it to the limits with classically-trained skills and mega-amplification. The guitar's total domination of hard rock was gone for ever.

Where better to begin than with the track that boasts the talents of the man himself? 'Santa Barbara Machine Head' were a band put together briefly to record some jams for Immediate Record's series of blues albums called "Blues Anytime". "Santa Barbara Machine Head" featured Jon Lord, Ronnie Wood (guitar), John 'Twink' Alder (drums) and Kim Gardner (bass). You are right to recognise those names, 1967 was the year and these guys were just starting their careers, or had already been in some successful bands by that time. Wood (later of the Stones) and Kim were both in The Birds and The Creation, Twink would go on to bands including The Pretty Things and The Pink Fairies.

Birth Control's track is taken from their third album, 1972's Hoodoo Man, and Wolfgang Neuser was the keys man here. Starting out as it means to go on with the sound of air raid explosions, plenty of rock solid hammond riffs follow. To me, this sounds like Tony Iommi playing hammond...which can't be bad!

Pocket-Size

The third track is from the UK band Aadvark. Early on they included Paul Kossof and Simon Kirke who later went on to Free, but when they recorded 'Copper Sunset' they had changed to a keyboard-lead prog act with Steve Milliner (previously of Black Cat Bones) providing the fuzzed-up hammond riffs. Copenhagen's Pocket-Size first appeared on my last comp and unfortunately there is very little known about them, their only recordings were retrospectively released by Frost Records in recent times and 'In One Or Another Condition' shows their solid skills with some big stoned chops, ably assisted by great hammond.

Waterloo were a Belgian band that have cropped up here before in my Belgian comp, and they more than deserve credit for their intricate multi instrumental hard prog, often lead by plenty of awesome hammond.

Gudny Aspaas (Ruphus)

Ruphus are a rarity for TDATS, as they are from Norway, a country quite severely lacking here so far. Rest assured that I will redress that balance at some time, and in the mean-time take in this blinding track featuring the amazing vocal power of songstress Gudny Aspaas, accompanied by some hard as nails prog riffs. Tortilla Flat were a German act who made one album, though the track I used here, 'Life', was first aired as a single in 1970. Guitarist Michael Koch would later be in Jeronimo who I used way back on Vol5.

London's Quatermass (taking their name from a BBC science-fiction series) had a link to Deep Purple. All three of them had and would play in Ian Gillan-related projects like Episode 6 and Gillan. Their prog sounds were confident and accomplished right from the off and were in some ways fairly ahead of their time for 1970. Plenty of innovative electronic embellishment went along with Peter Robinson's keys and hammond. Unfortunately they didn't market well and only made one album, but they definitely had the talent and scope to become established.

8 Track

Conversely, Colorado's Sugarloaf were a less interesting, radio-friendly band who had enough success from a couple of singles to make 4 albums. I guess there's a good indicator of the power of american radio. Their biggest hit 'Green Eyed Lady', while musically proficient and slick, played it pretty safe, and I was about to give up on researching them when the scathing guitar introducing 'Hot Water' suddenly jumped out at me from their second album 'Spaceship Earth'. The riff was followed satisfyingly by cool hammond and I was delighted to find another unexpected, worthy inclusion.


Eyes Of Blue were Welsh, and one of those incredibly important bands that seemed to be a breeding ground for an entire country's rock history, as I found making the Welsh Vol56. Q III was a single b-side from 1969 with lots of great psychedelic hammond.

Pacific Sound

Berlin's Murphy Blend made one album in 1970 and the excellently named Wolf-Rüdiger Uhlig was the keys man. Bass player Andreas Scholz would later go on to Blackwater Park, who recorded one of my favourite tracks of all time, the mind-numbingly epic "Rock Song". Pacific Sound, from Neuchâtel, emerged from the Swiss ballroom covers-band scene and managed to record one album of mostly originals before calling it a day. The hard-edged tracks like Forget Your Dream had a distinctive fresh sound, and were quite manic.


Attila just had to be included here! Some of you may know that it was a one-album band that featured a very young Billy Joel on heavily distorted hammond, along with friend Jon Small, after they had both left The Hassles. Definitely aiming for shock value, they had a kind of proto-Manowar album cover, with decidedly smaller biceps of course! Billy describes them thus: "End of the sixties, I was in a two-man group. We were heavy metal, we were going to destroy the world with amplification, we had titles like 'Godzilla', 'March of the Huns', 'Brain Invasion'. A lot of people think [I] just came out of the piano bar... I did a lot of heavy metal for a while. We had about a dozen gigs and nobody could stay in the room when we were playing. It was too loud. We drove people literally out of clubs. It was great, but we can't stay in the club."

The Trip

The compilation ends on another link to Deep Purple. The Trip were a London band, started by an Italian called Riki Maiocchi. They recruited Ritchie Blackmore right at the start and soon moved to Italy. Blackmore quit and came back to the UK in time to join Deep Purple. By the time they recorded their debut, most original members were gone (including Riki Maiocchi) and they had mutated into one of Italy's first hard progressive bands. "Caronte [Part 1]" features incredible use of hammond by the talented Joe Vescovi, as atmospheric in some parts as he is heavy in others.



01. Santa Barbara Machine Head - Rubber Monkey (1967)
       from album 'blues anytime vol. 3'
02. Birth Control - Buy! (1972)
       from album 'hoodoo man'
03. Aardvark - Copper Sunset (1970)
       from album 'aardvark'
04. Pocket-Size - Opus III (1970)
       from retrospective 'in one or another condition'
05. Waterloo - Why May I Not Know (1970)
       from album 'first battle'
06. Ruphus - Trapped In A Game (1973)
       from album 'new born day'
07. Tortilla Flat - Life (1970)
       single
08. Quatermass - Up On The Ground (1970)
       from album 'quatermass'
09. Sugarloaf - Hot Water (1971)
       from album 'spaceship earth'
10. Eyes Of Blue - Q III (1969)
       single
11. Murphy Blend - At First (1970)
       from album 'first loss'
12. Pacific Sound - Forget Your Dream (1971)
       from album 'forget your dream!'
13. Attila - Holy Moses (1970)
       from album 'attila'
14. The Trip - Caronte [Part 1] (1971)
       from album 'caronte'

*nb: this post contains the word 'hammond' 14 times.

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TDATS 7: Rooms Behind Your Mind

Now and again one of my comps gets pulled by the file upload sites, and I get quite a lot of requests to re-post them. I have been planning to do so for a while so here is another TDATS 're-issue', Volume 7: Rooms Behind Your Mind. I've taken the opportunity to do some extra research on the tracks, upgrade the sound quality of most of them and add lots of vintage pix. It's been great giving these tracks a re-listen too; as in most of my early comps, heavy proto-metal riffs were the main focus and this one is packed with them! Please re-enjoy Vol7 and let me know what you think! Cheers, Rich.

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During my searches I often find great bands that had releases on Deram, it was clearly a forward-thinking label that was not afraid to take risks on the new hard rock and progressive sounds of the late 60's and early 70's, along with cutting-edge pop of the time. Here is a compilation of some of the best, most of which make their TDATS debuts. There are many other bands that I could have included (Eyes Of Blue, Room, Walrus and Zakarrias are just a few) but I have used them previously and wanted to keep this comp mostly fresh.

A bit of history :- Deram Records was originally set up in 1966 as an outlet for a new recording technique called 'Deramic Sound', which used the latest recording technology of the time to make stereophonic sound more natural and convincing. It was a subsidiary of Decca records, the name "Decca" dates back to a portable gramophone called the "Decca Dulcephone" patented in 1914 by musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel and Sons. That company was eventually renamed The Decca Gramophone Co. Ltd.

And so we begin......Jerusalem made one album that was produced by Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, who wrote these words for the s/t album's liner notes: "This is the first album by Jerusalem, a band which excites me very much; they are rough, raw and doomy with their own strong identity. As they are young and a bit green, they don't follow many rules, so their material is almost crude - but still immensely powerful in content. I believe that, whenever possible, the work of writers and players in their formative stages should be recorded; before inhibition and self-consciousness set in, before fire and aggression die down, and while they are still absorbing influences and doing things which others might consider 'uncool'. Most important though, before they might develop that self-imposed rigidity which afflicts so many. I hope none of these things happen to Jerusalem, we'll have to wait and see......I hope you like it as much as I do." This album has since been remastered by Rockadrome.

Keef Hartely Band

Keith Hartley started his career as replacement drummer when Ringo Star left Liverpool outfit Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Keith later helmed a number of albums starting with 'Half Breed', from which this track 'Think It Over' is taken,  featuring Miller Anderson's awesome wah guitar. Miller will come back to us on track 7....

Rockets are bit of a fun entry here, they were a Paris band who's only Deram release was the Canadian issue of their 1976 debut LP. They mainly played a glammy synth/pop sound but I like the track here, and it's NWOBHM-ish guitar runs.

Bulldog Breed were a kind of early version of the wonderful band T2 (See Vol2& Vol40), they both shared Keith Cross (guitar), Peter Dunton (vocals, drums) and Bernard Jinks (bass). Their single album, 1969's 'Made in England' is well worth checking out as a good example of where hard rock riffs were mutated out of heavy psych.

Clark Hutchinson's total output was patchy at best, but the track here 'Free To Be Stoned' is their worthy passport to underground rock history. This paean to the weed is uniquely fun, groovy and something you must hear at least once in your life!

Stud featured Taste drummer John Wilson, Taste bassist Richard "Charlie" McCracken and Blossom Toes guitarist Jim Cregan. They made a couple of albums that were a curious, mainly unfocussed mixture of prog, jazz and hard rock, but they turned out a few good tracks and 'Sail On' is breezy, catchy prog-lite with a tough backbone that will sound good while cruising to your next destination.

Miller Anderson was a Scottish guitarist who was in two of the other bands here, Keef Hartley's as mentioned, and later in Chicken Shack who comes up soon. He is great singer and player, though most of his solo material is quite soft, 'Nothing In This World' is probably one of the most infectious and instantly likeable tracks I have ever come across. Miller has played with other names like Savoy Brown, and pertinently he played on John Lord's 'blues project' shows last year.

Chicken Shack

Chicken Shack are up next, a catch-all blues band that has included many musicians of status over the years, including Christine McVie (Then known as 'Christine Perfect'). Stan Webb's guitar is at times totally blistering when he really lets go, and 'Daughter Of The Hillside' is a great example, his tone and magical use of wah is pure rock fury.

We take a rare departure towards jazz on the next track, Johnny Almond was a multi-instrumentalist who went on to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Mark-Almond. On his 'music machine' albums Almond's talents include tenor, alto and baritone saxophones, flute, alto flute, organ, vibes, mellotron and bass clarinet. Get ready for big grooves with 'Solar Level'.

Very little is known of Megaton, other than they included English guitarist Les Humphries and keyboardist Jimmy Bilsbury (both were previously in the Les Humphries Singers) who recorded this sole album in Germany. It's an weird mix of hard rock and latin percussion. At times it clearly borrows from Led Zep, but it is also equally based on soul and funk. Though it's probably best described as a shameless exploitation album of the kind that there were lots at this time, it has some great moments and lots of it's own period character.

Soulful groove continues with Sunforest's track 'Magician in the Mountain'. They were three American girls (Terry Tucker, Freya Houge and Erika Eigen) who sought a fortune together in London, got noticed by a Decca talent scout straight away and quickly recorded one album which did not do well, but their spot in history was cemented by Stanly Kubrik's use of two songs for the soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange; 'Overture to the sun' and 'Lighthouse Keeper'.

Frijid Pink

A blogger's favourite, Detroit band Frijid Pink's claim to fame in their time was a heavy cover of House Of The Rising Sun. Other than that their first two albums are some well-regarded frantic fuzzy blues with great vibrato vocals. The band was so popular in their native Detroit area that a fledgling Led Zeppelin (who were just then getting started from the remnants of The Yardbirds) opened for them at Detroit's Grande Ballroom. Frijid Pink often shared billing with the likes of the MC5, The Stooges and The Amboy Dukes.

The compilation ends with the UK's East of Eden. They used a novel mix of instrumentation including electric violin, with studio effects, to become one of the earliest progressive rock bands. I was happy to find a rare example of a 60s promo video for the track "Northern Hemisphere" here.

TRACKS

01. Jerusalem - When The Wolf Sits (1972)
       from album 'jerusalem'
02. Keef Hartley Band - Think It Over [edit] (1969)
       from album 'half breed'
03. Rockets - Ballade Sur Mars (1976)
       from album 'rockets'
04. Bulldog Breed - I Flew (1969)
       from album 'bulldog breed'
05. Clark Hutchinson - Free To Be Stoned (1970)
       from album 'retribution'
06. Stud - Sail On (1971)
       from album 'stud'
07. Miller Anderson - Nothing In This World (1971)
       from album 'bright city'
08. Chicken Shack - Daughter Of The Hillside (1972)
       from album 'imagination lady'
09. Johnny Almond Music Machine - Solar Level (1969)
       from album 'patent pending'
10. Megaton - Wanna Be Your Hero (1971)
       from album 'megaton'
11. Sunforest - Magician In The Mountain (1969)
       from album 'sound of sunforest'
12. Frijid Pink - End Of The Line (1970)
       from album 'frijid pink'
13. East Of Eden - Northern Hemisphere (1969)
       from album 'mercator projected'

Thanks for listening! Rich.

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By extremely popular demand, I have revamped and re-upped volume 42, a proto-punk themed comp that I put a lot of time and thought into last year and one that I'm particularly happy with. As far as I can surmise it was deleted due to the mere mention of a certain band in the description, and not because of any of the tracks I used. A portent of the oncoming 'nazi' apocalypse maybe?

Here it is in it's entirety with a few factual additions/revisions and some pix. If you like your fuzz spiked with speed, Enjoy!

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For Vol 72, I concentrated on Denmark [edit: Here is Norway]. Here is the second in my Scandinavian quadrilogy, a Swedish special. The name is from Norse mythology, Midgarðsormr is the sea serpent that encircles the world, which it's feared will fall apart if he ever releases his bite on his tail. Lets hope that doesn't happen in the next hour at least.

What has become clear is that Sweden has by far the largest and most varied rock history of all the norse countries, so it's been a pretty mammoth task listening through it all to find the right-sounding bands for this one. I'm sure there is still a lot more to find so don't expect this to be the last Svenska volume... Sweden's 'Progg' movement was one of the reasons. It can be likened in many ways to Germany's Krautrock scene; musical collectives exploring ways to use avant-garde rock music in their left-wing, anti-commercial protests against the establishment. While the sound of the 'Progg' movement is not the driving force for this comp, it appears in a few tacks and if you want to know more I recommend a box set called "The Essence of Swedish Progressive Music 1967-1979: Pregnant Rainbows for Colourblind Dreamers".

We start with a band that has a link to Sweden's most successful musical export, and to a few bands that have appeared on the blog. 'Baltik' was a one-off studio project that included occasional Abba guitarist Janne Schaffer and Roxy Music/Quatermass/Hard Stuff/Ian Gillan Band bassist John Gustafson. Janne played guitar for many of Abba's hits and is a well known prog-jazz& guitarist in his own right, he also worked with John Gustafson in the Swedish band Ablution. Baltik's "Leslie Briggs" is a great heavy opener which can easily be described as the earliest in 'prog-metal', though not typical of their album which was a curious mixture of folkish prog with a few heavy moments.

Björn Famne e.p.

The most information I can find on Björn Famne's 'Vampire' is on oscarowski's Youtube clip : "..private release recorded in the religious Falk studios in Sweden... the rest of the tracks veer towards classic guitar (no other instruments) and it is believed that this song was recorded when the sound engineer was out to have a coffe or something... what would the "almost priests" working there have said if they found out... hahaha. Compiled on the great 'Who will buy these wonderful evils'...."

Stockholm's November have appeared here before, way back on Vol2 and here is another stunning timeless sounding track that sounds as though it could have been recorded last week by a contemporary stoner rock band, though it is actually from 1972. November really were a talented bunch and had a distinctive approach to their heavy blues-tinged riffs. Though they were only together for three years, thankfully they made three albums in that time. The awesome production job is the other aspect that belies this recording's age.


Asoka were from Malmö and their background was in older band 'Taste Of Blues'. The sound changed a lot and resulted in their manic and unusual s/t album which had a playful air while maintaining the heaviness. Wildmarken were from the Sollefteå area. It's been hard to find info on them even though they were together for 5 years and had two albums on EMI, there is a little here on progg.se. They were pretty average commercial hard-ish rock but I do like this track "Vad Vill Dom" (Eng: What do they want?) which has a cool phased riff and menacing, grinding pace. Tomas Jansson and Janne Åhman went on to 'Circus' who made one e.p.

Next up is a couple of linked tracks; from 'Epizootic' and 'E.F. Band'. They both included Bengt Fischer and Pär Ericsson. Little is noted regarding Epizootic, they had one apparently self-released album called 'Daybreak' with some multi-instrumental prog and their track here 'Sunset, Emotion' is a heavy hammond-assited slab. EF Band ('EF' was derived from the first letter of Ericcson and Fischer's names) were based in Gothenburg. They made some impact in the NWOBHM scene, English member Roger Marsden went on to Angel Witch and guitarist Andy La Rocque (aka Anders Allhage) joined King Diamond. They were included on the 1st instalment of the classic 1980 'Metal For Muthas' compilations and had three albums before breaking up in 1987. 1979's 'Self Made Suicide' was their first single which was recorded at Red Ball studio in Shropshire, UK.

Kebnekaise (the name taken from that of Sweden's hightest mountain) have quite a prominent place in Swedish rock history stretching back to the mid sixties. They evolved from Baby Grandmothers, who was one of the country's first heavy psych bands and supported Jimi Hendrix's Swedish appearances in 1968 along with Mecki Mark Men, another of Sweden's formative heavy psych acts. Kebnekaise resulted from a coming together of members of these bands and some more including 'Homo Sapiens' and Tages, an accomplished band that were Sweden's best answer to The Beatles.

The Baby Grandmothers' guitarist Kenny Håkansson was the driving force of Kebnekaise and as was popular in the progg scene, folk influences crept in too. It's hard to describe the first Kebnekaise album, but it's definitely unique. There's elements of everything that was happening in commercial and underground progressive rock of the time, and plenty of extremity, but it's all infused with quirky Swedish melody and personality. For instance, the track 'Resa Mot Okänt Mål' is fast and brutal by anyone's standards and it's over-laid with pinky'n perky style speeded up vocals.

Neon Rose

Scorpion

Gothenburg's Midsommar began life focusing on political subjects with their first album but the next one in 1972 was musically far stronger and rocked hard in places with hints of November vibe in the guitar riffs, and some pretty good brass backing it up. Scorpion's 'I Am The Scorpion' one-album curio was produced by american producer and cult music figure Kim Fowly, who later managed The Runaways, how it came about that he was involved in this obscutity is still for me to find out.... It also has drummer Pelle Holm who was in a late lineup of Kebnekaise. 'Hey Girl I'm Ugly' is a catchy piece of acid-bluesy rock.

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On Saturday 25th of August 2012, Scott Sroka (aka DJ Cheesus) dedicated his entire 'Electric Lounge of Aural Ecstasy' show on Core of Destruction Radio to a 3 hour Day After The Sabbath tribute.

Scott, currently living in São Paulo, Brazil, has been presenting on Core of Destruction for the past year. He was a contributor to the excellent stoner rock community blog 'Sludge Swamp', that sadly closed its doors a year or so ago. Sludge Swamp helped me out in making a name for TDATS back when I started doing this, and also hosted demos for a few of the New Zealand bands that are joined up on the forum I started up when I was over there: www.stonerdoom.co.nz.



For the show he chose at random one track from each of the first 39 volumes and played them all along with cool commentary, after having made a great job on some extra research with assistance from co-host Stargazer. He plans to do another part soon. Here is the show to download from [mf] or [mg].

Tracklist:

First Hour:
01. Sir Lord Baltimore - Helium Head
02. Moxy - Can't You See I'm A Star?
03. Blackwater Park - Rock Song
04. Speed, Glue & Shinki - Stoned Out Of My Mind
05. Orang-Utan - Chocolate Piano
06. Master's Apprentices - Death Of A King
07. Killing Floor - Out Of Uranus
08. May Blitz - For Mad Men Only
09. Southern Cross - Harris Street
10. Titanic - Something On My Mind

Second Hour:
11. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - St. Anthony
12. Nazareth - Hard Living
13. Crystal Haze - Flame
14. Bubble Puppy - Hot Smoke and Sassafras
15. The 31 Flavors - Distortions Of Darkness
16. Head Over Heels - Right Away
17. Fifty Foot Hose - Red The Sign Post
18. Death - Rock-N-Roll Victim
19. Orange Peel - Faces That I Used to Know
20. Días De Blues - No Podrán Conmigo
21. Bakery - No Dying In The Dark
22. Peacepipe - The Sun Won't Shine Forever
23. Pat Travers - Makes No Difference
24. Hillary Blaze - Opening
25. Forever More - Promisses of Spring
26. Oda - Gabriel

Third Hour:
27. Eden's Children - If She's Right
28. Rhapsody - Strange Vibrations
29. Clown On A Rope - Fresh Blueberry Pancake
30. The Osmonds - Gotta Get Love
31. The Viola Crayola - I Know You Don't Have A Car
32. Socrates Drank The Conium - Who Is To Blame?
33. Novak's Kapelle - Hypodermic Needle / Smile Please
34. Farmyard - All In Your Head
35. Shocking Blue - Long and Lonesome Road
36. Nokemono - From The Black World
37. Tritons - Drifter
38. Johnny Winter - Guess I'll Go Away
39. The Storm - Experiencia sin Organo

Scott's 'Electric Lounge of Aural Ecstasy' show is on Core of Destruction every Saturday 3 pm CST (us)/ 4 pm EST (us) / 9pm GMT / 10pm CET.

Many thanks to Scott and I look forward to the next part!
Rich.

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Volume 76 is a Native American special. I was inspired to make this one while I was researching for vol65, the southern rock set. I came across a band from Chicago called Winterhawk, and I was suffering some confusion about their albums, which different sources were showing  as having conflicting names and dates. Eventually I worked out that those sources were getting the facts mixed up with another equally obscure band of the same name, that had released albums around the same time as the Chicagaons. This other band's album cover showed a tough looking all-Native American group, and I just had to hear it! They played hard rock with really strong Red Indian flavour, the likes of which I had never come across, and I was immediately intrigued as to whether any other bands like this existed. I did not find any that were directly comparable to Winterhawk, but as is usually the case, I did find a whole bunch of great stuff that I could never could have predicted...

Redbone

So we start at the beginning with......Redbone was formed by Californian brothers Pat & Lolly Vegas, of mixed Native American and Mexican heritage. They recorded a lot during the 60s under various names before forming Redbone (a Cajun slang term referring to their mixed blood) in 1969. Pat claims that they were inspired to form an all-Native rock band by a suggestion from their friend Jimi Hendrix, and by his pride in his Native American heritage. They were one of the most successful bands on this comp and continued to record until 2005. I love the haunting intro of ‘Chant: 13th Hour’ from their second album, 1970’s ‘Potlatch’.

Lincoln Street Exit, later known as ‘XIT’, was started by four guys in Albuquerque, all of Native American descent. There is a track here from each incarnation. At first they did not overtly display this heritage (listen to the hard psych sound of “Straight Shootin’ Man” from their first album) but as they progressed, their name shortened to XIT as new producer/member Tom Bee encouraged a move to politically-themed lyrics and First Nation pride and imagery. They did enjoy some success and were quickly signed to Motown record’s ‘Rare Earth’ Label. Like Redbone, the political aspect affected their saleability in the US, but not in the rest of the world. The XIT track ‘I Was Raised’ appearing here, is from their 1972 Motown debut LP ‘Plight Of The Redman’.

Tom Bee is a name that will appear again here. A member of the Dakota tribe from New Mexico, Tom was inspired by Leonard and Marshall Chess who ran the Chess record label in the 1950s. Founding an R&B label, ‘Lance Records and Music’ in the 1960s, Bee sold 45 rpm singles from the trunk of his car. Later, as a producer, he worked with artists like The Jackson Five and Smokey Robinson and started labels expressly for promoting Native American music. It’s thanks to his efforts that the Grammys now include a Native American category, for which he has subsequently been a nominee, along with a lot of other awards that recognise his contributions to native music. He made a solo album in 1994 called ‘Color Me Red’.

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Buffy Sainte-Marie was an artist of Cree Canadian descent who has had a long and eventful life in music. She has been recording since the early sixties, and active in protesting for ‘Indigenous peoples of the Americas’ rights, which includes those of South America. Her ‘folk-protest, long-haired girl with guitar’ image reminds me somewhat of Joan Baez, who was also born in 1941. The track appearing here “He’s a Keeper of the Fire” is from her (at the time) least well received album, 'Illuminations'. It divided fans as it was the first big departure from her original sound; her first ‘rock’ record. In retrospect it is regarded as a unique and interesting work, with it’s heavy use of electronica and the cutting-edge Buchla synthesizer, and arrangement contributions from Peter Schickele (aka PDQ Bach). This brought to my mind another pleasing connection to Joan Baez; Schickele arranged Joan’s  'Noël' and 'Baptism' LPs around the same time, and later the Silent Running soundtrack that Joan sung on.

If there's one band that could give Skynyrd a run for their money it's this one....Jacksonville, Florida's Blackfoot were originally called Hammer, they changed their name to Blackfoot to represent the American Indian heritage of bassist Greg T. Walker, drummer Jakson Spires and singer/guitarist Rickey Medlocke (Spires is part Cherokee, Medlocke part Sioux, and Walker part Eastern Creek, a Florida Indians tribe). Their name is from the ‘Blackfoot Nation’, that originated from a powerful buffalo-hunting society of the northern plains with most of their settlements in Montana, Idaho, and Alberta. I used the band back on Vol65 and for me they are one of the best Southern rock bands ever. Medlocke often plays in Lynyrd Skynyrd, and he heads a new lineup of Blackfoot this year.

Geronimo Black

Jimmy Carl Black was of Cheyenne heritage, he was the original drummer of Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention. Zappa disbanded the Mothers in 1969 and in 1970 Jimmy formed Geronimo Black (named after his youngest son) with sax player Bunk Gardner who was also from The Mothers, and others including Denny Walley from Captain Beefheart's Magic Band and sax player Tjay Contrelli  from Love. Geronimo only made one album in 1972, which is a mix of hard rock, R&B and jazz with well-integrated stings and horns and “Low Ridin’ Man” is my personal pick. There is also a polemic track called ‘An American National Anthem’ written by Black about Indian killings; "Indian Land is stolen, 52 million dead, each one's head is scalped by a trick taught by white man hunters coming over the land"

Todd Tamanend Clark

Todd Tamanend Clark (b. 1952 Greensboro, Pennsylvania, US) Is a DIY musician with Lenape and Onodowaga ancestry that has been self-recording his own obscure, unique music since the seventies. Todd Clark is his English name, from 1990 he began using his full name of Todd Tamanend Clark which was inherited from his grandfather. The name Tamanend originates from the Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley. His music is a Smörgåsbord of sci-fi influenced, proto-punk glam pysch experimentation, and he is an enthusiast of archaic electronica like Moogs and Theremins. I found the tracks I used here on the Anopheles Records retrospective ‘Nova Psychedelia’ which spans the first decade of his career from 1975-1985. His most recent album of original material was 2004's 'Monongahela Riverrun' and he is working on a new record right now..

Jesse Ed Davis

Oklahoman Jesse Ed Davis was born in 1944 to a Muscogee Creek/Seminole Father and a Kiowa mother.  He made a name for himself around Oklahoma, playing with the likes of John Ware (Emmylou Harris drummer), John Selk (Donovan's later bass player) and Jerry Fisher (Blood, Sweat & Tears vocalist). His longest band membership was with Taj Mahal, for whom he adeptly played guitar and piano in many styles including blues, rock, country and jazz. It is said that after watching a Taj Mahal show one night, Duane Allman was amazed by Jesse’s innovative slide guitar interpretation of the riff in Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” and he borrowed it for what became one of the Allman Brother’s signature tunes.

Jesse became an in-demand session guitarist and recorded with John Lennon and George Harrison, and was invited to record or play live with Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Leonard Cohen, Keith Moon, Jackson Browne and Steve Miller. He performed with The Faces as second guitarist throughout their final US tour in 1975 and played with American Indian activist and poet John Trudell in the collective called the Graffiti Band.

Sadly, Jesse battled drug addiction on and off throughout his career and in 1988 it eventually killed him at the young age of 43, in Venice, California. The track I have used is from his second solo album, 1972’s ‘Ululu’.

Link Wray was from the same pre-Elvis generation as the likes of Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis or Chuck Berry and he remained influential right up until his death, though he never achieved the same level of recognition. His story goes right back to the beginning of the electric guitar’s use in rock & roll. “Fred Lincoln Wray Jr” (b. 1929) had a hard childhood; he is quoted as saying “Elvis, he grew up white-man poor. I was growing up Shawnee poor” (the tribe of his ancestry) and he recalled his family being in fear of the North Carolina Klu Klux Klan. He signed up for the Korean War and contracted tuberculosis while serving. During recovery he had a lung removed. The affect this had on his vocal abilities encouraged him to compensate by focussing on the guitar and it's  heaviness, so he was one of the first artists to make the guitar a lead instrument.

After a career-lull in the sixties and it’s rebirth in the seventies, his legacy has been recognised as one of sonic attitude and innovation rather that technical ability. His seminal 1958 track ‘Rumble’, on which he has been credited with the invention of the power chord and popularisation of amplifier distortion, was radio-banned to stop it from inciting violence in the new gang culture-aware youth of the times. He received redemptive acceptance as a rockabilly icon in the eighties and a new life in Europe enabled him to continue performing right up until his 2005 death from heart failure at age 76. He was inducted into the Native American Music Hall Of Fame on June 8, 2006. Link rarely recorded two albums that sounded similar, and the track I have used, ‘Tecolote’ from his 1975 album ‘Stuck In Gear’, is a good example of where he was at that point in time.

Sun Country article

Sun Country was started by brothers Lee & Stephen Tiger, sons of Buffalo Tiger, a chief of the Floridian Miccosukee Tribe. As teens they gigged in Miami garage bands including the Renegades and a brief incarnation of NRBQ. The brothers formed ‘Sun Country’ in 1968 and played at the inaugural Miami Pop Festival of that year. In 1969 they played the ‘Big Rock Pow Wow’ at the Seminole Indian Reservation in Hollywood, Florida. Headlined by The Grateful Dead, it ran for three days in May, also featuring Chicago, Edgar & Johnnie Winter. They toured the West Coast in 1969, playing venues including the famed Whisky-a-Go-Go and opening for acts including Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention.

Lee & Steve Tiger

Upon signing to Bernard Stollman's ESP label, Sun Country issued its self-titled record in 1969. It fared poorly, but by 1972 the Tiger brothers were back as ‘Tiger Tiger’, who have been playing since. While readying their 5th LP ‘Native to This Country’ in 2006, Stephen Tiger suffered a fatal fall at his Miami home, at the age of 57. Lee Tiger vowed to continue, recruiting Stephen's son Joey and former Blues Image/Alice Cooper guitarist Mike Pinera to round out the lineup. The track I have used is ‘Dog Legs’, it is the most Native American-flavoured track from their first record. They re-recorded the song in 2000, so what I have done here is mixed the old and new together, it starts with the 1969 version and at around the 2:10 mark it merges in to the 2000 version.

J.J. Light is actually Jim Stallings, who also played bass with the Sir Douglas Quintet. His solo music started in the early 60's with some doo-wop style singles. In 1969 he recorded his only LP, called ‘Heya’, under the pseudonym ‘J.J. Light’,  a name coined by the album’s producer, “the notorious” Bob Markley of ‘West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band’ fame. I have joined a couple of his tracks; ‘Follow Me Girl’ is a fuzzrockin’ pop gem, and ‘Indian Disneyland’ is a great Bob Dylan-esque social commentary which draws from his Navajo Indian roots. For curious reasons unknown, to myself at least, the album was never issued in the US but sold very well in Europe, Japan, South America, and New Zealand.

Tom Bee’s name appears again, as producer of Winterhawk’s 1979 ‘Electric Warriors’ LP. Nik Winterhawk Alexander, a Cree Indian who led the all-native hard rock band, was quoted: "Music is a very sacred part of Native American lifestyles. If a person of a tribe possesses a rattle or a drum or a stick to beat the drum, those articles are treated with great respect. Winterhawk carried that same reverence toward music, because the ability to play music is a gift".

According to RYM, the band comprised: Nik Alexander (vocals, guitar), Frank J. Diaz de Leon (bass, vocals), Alfonso Morris Kolb (drums), Frankie Joe (guitar), Jon Gibson (drums, vocals) and Doug Love (bass, vocals). They recorded two albums between 79-80 but apparently were better regarded as a live band, playing together from 1971 until 1984. The track I have used here; ‘Selfish Man’ is one of the best on the comp and it’s a great mix of hard rock with loads of Red Indian character.

'In Circle' LP

The compilation ends with a thought provoking track found on the b side of a single. Chief Dan George (b. 1899) was a chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation from Vancouver. He was a writer and an actor too, appearing in movies like ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ with Clint Eastwood.

In 1973 a Canadian band called Fireweed made an album called ‘In Circle’ and the Chief sung on it. ‘Indian Prayer’ is a spoken word recitation of a traditional Native American prayer, of which an English translation was made famous by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887. Two tracks from the album were released on this single with the a-side being a cover of Gene Austin’s My Blue Heaven.

Chief Dan George

Tracks:
01. Redbone - Chant  13th Hour (1970)
       from album 'potlatch'
02. Lincoln Street Exit - Straight Shootin' Man (1969)
       from album 'drive it!'
03. Buffy Sainte-Marie - He's A Keeper Of The Fire (1969)
       from album 'illuminations'
04. Blackfoot - Dancin' Man (1976)
       from album 'flyin' high'
05. Geronimo Black - Low Ridin' Man (1972)
       from album 'geronimo black'
06. Todd Tamanend Clark - Rumor Has It / Mathematics Don't Mean A Thing (1979)
       from retrospective 'nova psychedelia'
07. Jesse Ed Davis - Red Dirt Boogie, Brother (1972)
       from album 'ululu'
08. Link Wray - Tecolote (1975)
       from album 'stuck in gear'
09. Sun Country & Tiger Tiger - Dog Legs (1969)
       from albums 'sun country' & 'southern exposure'
10. Xit - I Was Raised (1972)
       from album 'plight of the redman'
11. J.J. Light - Follow Me Girl / Indian Disneyland (1969)
       from album 'heya!'
12. Winterhawk - Selfish Man (1979)
       from album 'electric warriors'
13. Chief Dan George and Fireweed - Indian Prayer (1973)
       from album 'in circle'

Thanks for listening! Rich

By more popular demand for a comp that has been unavailable for a while, I have revamped and re-upped Volume 31, a great mix of manic stoned fuzzers from around the world. It's delights include a nice'n heavy Stevie Wonder cover, an early pre-fame Ronnie James Dio and a great Argentinian stoner band's cover of a space-rock classic.

I have added a lot of extra information on each band, speeding-up deployment by lifting it all directly from various sources on the net. Enjoy!----Rich.

Download from: [mf] or [mg]
Volume 77 is a mix of the best in US fuzz, psych, heavy blues and hard rock from between the heavenly years of 1969 and 1973. They are all new to TDATS, I love'em all and it's another blast so let's go...

I found a little article regarding Jamulhere. "Jamul's album, though being issued on the small Lizard label, may be not so obscure, but the band surely is. Named after a small town somewhere out in the back country near San Diego, there is almost no information available on this outfit. They are: Steve Williams, Bob Desnoyers, Ron Armstrong and John Fergus. Their music is mostly heavy blues rock with extremely powerful vocals. Best songs are "Tobacco Road" with a strong guitar solo and thundering blues harp, "Ramblin Man" (not the Allman Brothers' song) and the apocalyptic "Valley Thunder". Their cover of the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash' is a bit lame, although it has a good progressive Guitar solo. There are 2 or 3 other songs, that seem to be mere fillers. But still - this is better than some of the 100-dollar-records you see for sale. - Originally came with a set of stamps depicting the musicians. The band were involved with Steppenwolf's management and the sound is similar to the early years of that band."

Mariani, Reviewed by: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck: "A trio called Mariani originally recorded Perpetuum Mobile in 1970. In 2001 Akarma Records resurrected this sought after collectable. A young 16-year-old guitarist was making some noise then, his name was Eric Johnson. Many music lovers found out about Johnson through his breakthrough album Ah Via Musicom in 1990. After The Ventures had initiated me and opened my ears to instrumental rock, I heard Johnson's song "Trademark," which was enjoying a steady rotation on FM radio. Enamored by the new sound, I consequently started my search for all the instrumental guitar music that I could get my hands on.

This reissued classic rock-blues album comes packaged in gatefold sleeve with the original stunning artwork and lengthy and informative liner notes that fill up both sides of the inner sleeves. I really did not know what to expect when I put this platter on my turntable. I thought it might have been one of those castaway recordings that you hear 30 years after the fact. This however was not the case. Johnson, Vince Mariani (drums, vocals), and Jay Podolick (bass, vocals) were a powerful trio. Johnson was only a 16-year-old kid but he sounded years beyond capabilities as a lead guitar player."

Jump's album was from 1971: "This progressive pop-rock quartet was led by lead guitarist / vocalist Dennis Tracy, along with lead vocalist / organist Scott Thurston, bassist Mark Spiwak and drummer Don Gorman. They met on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles one night, and quickly found management in the shape of The Doors right-hand man Bill Siddons (who had time on his hands while The Doors were on hiatus following the recording of LA Woman.) 

After a week’s rehearsals, they signed the Janus (asubsidiary of Chess) at the Beach House in Santa Monica, California, and Flew to San Francisco to cut an album at the legendary Wally Heider’s Studios before they’d so much as played a gig. Overseen by Fred Catero – famed for his work with Bob Dylan, Santana and others – the Sessions took three weeks (and were filmed by UCLA film Student Reed Hutchinson, though it has yet to resurface). 

Their first gig was in front of 5000 people at the San Bernardino’s Civic Aufitorium. Following the album’s release on the Janis label in the summer of 1971, they undertook two nationwide tours, including a performance at the massive week-long Celebration of Life festival in Macrea Louisiana that June. Despite a strong commercial sound (and a German release for the LP on Bellaphon), the split later the year over musical direction (Thurston and Spiwak favored a more traditional rock/blues sound, while Tracy was more interested in classic songwriting). After the split, Tracy embarked on a solo career, including a 1974 album on which he was backed by Thurston and Spiwak, meanwhile, became a leading Session Musician and long-time member of Iggy Pop and Tom Petty’s bands."

An RYM review of Landslide by RDTEN1: "It's interesting to note that in the early and mid-1970s Capitol Records had some fantastic acts signed to recording contracts.  Unfortunately, the label's focus was on boogie bands such as Grand Funk Railroad, relegating even more deserving outfits like Food and Long Island's Landslide to instant oblivion. 

In terms of bibliographical information, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of stuff readily available on this New York quartet.  What little I've found comes from the liner notes on their LP. The line up consisted of drummer Tommy Caglioti, Joseph Caglioti, singer Ed Cass, bassist  Bobby Sallustio and lead guitarist Billy Savoca.  Prior to forming Landslide, Joseph and Tommy Caglioti  and Sallusito had played in the blues band Trax.  Following it's break up, Sallustio dropped out of music to attend college, but within a short period, decided to form a new band with his former partners.  The three promptly recruited vocalist Cass and guitarist Savoca (who had been playing in the band Gullotos).  The five piece began playing local clubs as Hot Waks before metamorphosing into Landslide. 

Released in 1972, their sole album "Two Sided Fantasy" was apparently a self-produced effort (credited to Proud Productions, Inc.).  With four of the five members contributing material the album offered up an enjoyable mix of blues-rock ('Everybody Knows (Slippin')'), Manassas-styled Latin-flavored rock ('Doin' What I Want') and conventional hard rock ('Happy').  Exemplified by tracks such as the leadoff rocker 'Doin' What I Want' ' the album offered up strong melodies, taunt vocals and Savoca's always tasty guitar.  While the entire album is good, highlights include 'Dream Traveler' (be sure to check out Savoca's lead guitar) and the closer 'Happy'."

Summerhill

Summerhill information taken from http://psychedelic-rocknroll.blogspot.co.uk: "Summerhill were formed in Los Angeles in 1968 by Doug Burger (keyboards), Larry Hickman (bass guitar), Alan Parker (vocals, lead guitar) and Del Ramos (drums, percussion). Produced by David Briggs and recoreded at Wally Heider Studio in San Francisco during 1969, their eponymous album Summerhill (Bill Cosby's record label Tetragrammaton T-114) features ten original compositions, all four members contributed material giving the album a diverse, but occasionally unfocused feel.

Summerhill's only and underrated album possibly failed to find an audience because it never settles on any particular style, plus I assume that Tetragrammaton Records were pretty underground, despite having Deep Purple's 'The Book Of Taliesyn' on their catalogue. The set certainly sported a late-1960s West Coast vibe, bouncing all over the musical spectrum, including Hendrix-Rock style (Bring Me Around), Sunshine Pop (Soft Voice), Curt Boettcher-influenced Psychedelic Folk-Rock (Follow Us), a touch of Jazz (What Can I Say), and brushes with more experimental moves (check out the aural meltdown on side two's The Bird). 

Elsewhere Summerhill's album was interesting for showing the band as an early exponent of Country-Rock. Alan Parker's pretty Country-flavored ballad The Last Day was every bit as good as anything being released by The Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield, or Poco (who's Rusty Young provided pedal steel guitar. Alan Parker's Fuzz guitar propelled My Way (Hard for You) would have sounded right at home on one of Byrds' Preflyte album. 'Friday Morning's Paper', which is a magically psychedelic concoction of staggering drums, veiled vocals, drugged strings and Raga guitars belonging on any compilation of this sort. 

Even better was the Fuzz guitar and feedback drenched in the killer guitar Pop song 'It's Gonna Rain'. A great slice of harmony rich, lysergic soaked Rock. Tetragrammaton also tapped the album for a single in the form of The Last Day" b/w Soft Voice."

More The Third Power information here. "The Third Power formed in 1967 near Detroit in Farmington Hills, MI by Drew Abbot (Guitar, Vocals), Jim Craig - (Drums, Vocals) and Jem Targal - (Bass guitar, Vocals) after playing around for several years in various bands. They Quickly emerged as a favourite on the local club circuit thanks to their bone-rattling sound. Third Power arrived with one of the most descriptive epithets a Power Rock Trio ever possessed. 

Their heavy attack fast made them favourites at the Grande Ballroom, Eastown Theater and just about every other concert venue in the area. In 1970 The 3rd Power recorded the album 'Believe' was recorded for the Vanguard Records. But 'The 3rd Power - Believe' was deemed too heavy for the label's direction and lacked the support that could have made it more of a hit. This decision by Vanguard Records to drop The Third Power from their roster almost immediately after Believe's release made it an instant collectable.

Despite production and support by the legendary Sam Charters, Vanguard's utter lack of comprehension of the work (they didn't really know what to do with the band and dropped them after hearing the recording), poor distribution and non-existent promotion erased any chance the record had to stand on its considerable merit. Vanguard Records executives thought the album was too heavy, never gave it any promotional support and dropped the band literally days after the album was released. Believe (Vanguard Records VSD-6554) is purely studio; way too produced and laden with overdubs impossible to duplicate live, at least with the technology available then and it was not strong enough to capture the all important top 40 FM market and most importantly, did not sell well outside of Detroit and related environs. 

Jem Targal had the vocal chords for serious Rock singing and Drew Abbot's supercharged guitar work ranked with the best in the city. In the early '70s Drew Abbot performed as an opener with various Motown Records session bands. Having been managed by Punch Andrews, Drew Abbot knew Bob Seger; in fact, Third Power had often opened for Bob Seger. In 1972 when Seger decided he wanted to give up guitar playing responsibilities, Drew Abbot was asked to join Bob Seger's band. 

When "Punch Andrews" and "Bob Seger" decided to create a new image for "Bob Seger" by starting the "Silver Bullet Band" in 1974, "Drew Abbot" was the only member asked to stay on."

Charisma info found at Red Telephone's great blog: "Charisma came about from diverging roots emanating from 3 directions. The core of Charisma was Rich Tortorigi (drummer) and George Tyrell (bass player). Both were members of a New Britain, Connecticut soul band called The Mantiques. The Mantiques had been one of the three main horn-based bands in New Britain in the mid to late 60’s, along with Detroit Soul and The Paramounts. Paramounts drummer, Tyrone Lampkin went on to play with Gutbucket and the Parliament Funkadelics.

In 1968, Rich Tortorigi recruited Tom Majesky to play guitar with The Mantiques, following their breakup. Tom enlisted Bernie Kornowicz, former bassist of The Last Five, to share guitar and organ duties. The final addition to the group was folk singer Mike DeLisa to sing lead. Tom and Bernie brought the rock and roll element to the Mantiques and Mike brought the band an element of folkiness."

Atlee were a hard-rock quartet from California. All the tracks on their sole album were penned by Atlee Yeager and demonstrate the band's skill and their sense of humour: Jesus People, Dirty Sheets, Dirty Old Man, Let's Make Love are just some highlights of a very consistent album. Damon also played in the group. Two members who would join the group Highway Robbery, Don Francisco and Mike Stevens, were involved with the band during the release of the album. Still working with Michael Stevens, Atlee Yeager would go on to issue another album on Chelsea in 1973 called Plant Me Now And Dig Me Later. 'Will If You Will' is taken from that album.

I have put the 'Lost Nation' track on as a half-time breather, it's not very heavy, it's just a great song! "Don't let the cover of this obscure Detroit album put you off - it depicts the band behind a balustrade on whose lower wall is graffiti on a predominantly ecological theme, but this is no hippie-rock, or back-to-nature concept album. This is serious progressive rock, soundwise somewhere between Uriah Heep and Rare Bird - busy keyboards, strong vocals, neoclassical movements, and some excellent heavy guitar. Not strictly within the main thrust of this book, this quintet merit an entry for including Ron Stults, formerly of revered heavy garage kings The Unrelated Segments. Craig Webb also had a spell in Frijid Pink."(info taken from Orexisofdeath)

4th Cekcion were an obscure and rare Texas based horn rock outfit. Very Good!! Released by the small Bellaire, Texas-based Solar Recording Corporation, 1970's "4th Cekcion" was produced by Fred Carroll. It's horn rock with a plenty of non-cheesy attitude and there's a few fine cuts to be found on it. Expect to hear some more on the forth-coming second brass / horn rock comp...




Five by Five were late a sixties band that had a little success with some singles and made one album in 1968. Though clearly tallented musicians, they never really found an identity, but their last single, included here, shows them heading in a harder-rocking direction and they pull it off very well so it would have been nice to see where they could have gone. 'Good Connection' gives this volume it's name.

The Cryan Shames made quite a name for themselves in Chicago as a sixties pop group and went in a slightly harder direction their final album in 1970 and the track I used here is an interesting mix of pop, prog and hard riffs. Here is Tymeshifter's review from RYM: "The Cryan shames career seems to have followed a similar ark to that of their contemporaries The Critters. But the latter's early pop albums were not their best, and they seemed more suited for the harder stuff they put out on their final LP. The Cryan Shames, on the other hand, produced some of the best pop oriented albums of their time, and those first two are excellent examples of the genre.

But here on this final release, they seem to want to break out of that mold, and find themselves in an area to which they were not as comfortably suited. Though still containing ample amounts of light pop, it is punctuated with harder, much more progressive flavored rock, as well as overtly evident psych effects. Oddly, though apparently their sole release geared towards the underground set, this is the one of their albums not to escape the typical horn and orchestrated production techniques their earlier, more commercially oriented albums did."


I found a nice write-up on Mason over at rockasteria.blogspot.co.uk: "The years 1968-1974 brought about the awakening and evolution of the Tidewater-Chesapeake Bay music scene The ocean front and tidal inlets with their military influences of Norfolk and the commercialism of Virginia Beach tourism brought the money to support a thriving hot bed of live music. British infusion brought Cream, Hendnx, Traffic, Mountain, and Blind Faith influences and began an evolution from the beach music of the R&B roots. Mason was formed to combine these roots and resulted in a trio of multi talented musicians playing the stages of Peabody's Warehouse and The Dome to Alex Cooley's in Atlanta's Electric Ballroom Especially memorable was the Fan district of Richmond where on any given weekend night.

Mason would be playing across the street from other clubs that were featuring bands headed up by Bruce Hornsby. Bruce Springsteen (Steel Mill), and Lynyrd Skynyrd. However. Mason was the only band at this time (1971) to actually have recorded and released an LP. Morgan Hampton played both piano and sang; but his impeccable beat and drive on drums set Mason apart from most of the R&B drummers of this time. Steve Arcese had the vocal uniqueness which drew from his deep roots in classic R&B His virtuosity on the B3 Hammond organ drove walls of sound up and down the East coast.

As Mason's music expanded. Steve branched out to guitar and bass, setting the group apart as a multi faceted presentation of music styles James Galyon's musically diverse skills accented Morgan's and Steve's virtuosities James played flute, saxophone, Lyricon, bass, keyboards, and acoustic and electric guitar. The combined sounds initially drew five to six hundred listeners each performance in 1969, but by 1973 Mason was performing in concerts to audiences of over 15,000."


RDTEN1 over at RYM come's up trumps again with a great history of super-obscure outfit Owen-B: "Owen-B (named after the band's black and orange 1954 Mercury), has an interesting, if rather convoluted background. Born and raised in Mansfield, Ohio singer/guitarist Terry Van Auker and multi-instrumentalist Tom Zinser got their starts playing in a number of local bands, including Tommy Z and The Sleepers.  By 1967 the two were playing in an outfit known as Wildlife.  Popular on the local club scene, an audition for Columbia went well, but the company's interest was contingent on the group agreeing to dump then lead singer Lou Basso.  Reluctantly the rest of the band agreed to the personnel change, subsequently recording a number of demos for the label.  The partnership was brief, resulting in the release of one instantly obscure single: 'Time Will Tell' b/w 'Hard Hard Year'. Back on the club circuit, 1969 saw another personnel change with former Crazy Elephant/Music Explosion drummer Bob Tousignant (aka Bob Avery) signing on.  Another name change followed, with Owen-B emerging. 

Unable to interest another major label in their material, the group elected to go the self-issued route.  Consequently 1970's cleverly-titled "Owen-B" was released on their own Ohio-based Mus-i-col label.  Self-produced, anyone expecting to hear another set of mid-1960s blue-eyed soul/garage was probably somewhat disappointed by the album.  Similarly anyone buying into dealer hype claiming this was a set of mind melting psych was gonna be disappointed.  Those comments aren't meant to be taken as criticisms since the collection's quite commercial and somewhat of a lost classic.  Featuring ten band-penned originals, musically the set bounced all over the spectrum, including stabs at stoner acoustic folk ('All We Are Asking'), pop ('My Friends'), country-rock ('Weekend'), and conventional hard rock ('Share'). Normally something as diverse wouldn't hold up particularly well, but when packaged with killer melodies, great harmony vocals, some first-rate guitar (courtesy of Terry Van Auker ) and a real sense of fun and enjoyment you ended up with one of the rare exceptions to the rule.  Personal favorites include 'Leavin' It All Up To You' and 'Out On My Own' (which add a bit of progressive complexity to the mix) and ''.  Easy to see why folks hype the album, even if it isn't for the right reasons.  Shame they didn't record a follow up set."

Track list:

01. Jamul - All You Have Left Is Me (1970)
       from album 'jamul'
02. Mariani - Re-Birth Day (1970)
       from album 'perpetuum mobile'
03. Jump - Love Wit Chu Mama (1971)
       from album "jump"
04. Landslide - Happy (1972)
       from album 'two sided fantasy'
05. Summerhill - Bring Me Around (1969)
       from album 'summerhill'
06. The Third Power - Gettin' Together (1970)
       from album 'believe'
07. Charisma - Bizwambi, Ritual Dance Of The Reptiles (1970)
       from album 'beast and friends'
08. Atlee Yeager - Will If You Will (1973)
       from album 'plant me now and dig me later'
09. Lost Nation - Tall Ivory Castle (1970)
       from album 'paradise lost'
10. 4th Cekcion - Find Yourself Another Way (1970)
       from album '4th cekcion'
11. Five By Five - Good Connection (1970)
       single
12. The Cryan' Shames - Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith & Jones (1968)
       from album 'synthesis'
13. Mason - Tell Me (1971)
       from album 'harbour'
14. Owen-B - Thank You For Listening (1970)
       from album 'owen-b'

Thank You For Listening! Rich.
     

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Flutes. There, I said it. Before the more metal-minded of you out there run for cover, keep listening.......nothing exemplifies and defines that authentic progressive rock sound we all love more than a well-placed touch of virtuoso flute. Let me reassure you, all the tracks in this exhilarating volume also pass the TDATS seal of approval for heaviness, groove or fuzz. There has been a recent resurgence of interest in the prog-rock instruments of old with bands such as Blood Ceremony and Circulus bringing flutes back to the front of the stage.

Flute is not usually a priority for me in my searches, which is why I really appreciate it on the occasions that I come across some I like. The welcome addition of flute adds an extra element to all of the inclusions here, for instance, the Dug Dug's 'Smog' has heavy riffing that is followed closely by the flute and it adds strikingly to the over-all feel of the song. I have tried in the main to choose tracks where the instrument is an important part of the music, if not the driving force, rather than just a casual embellishment. The one exception to this is probably Fashion Pink, where the flute could be seen as a bit of an after-thought, but it still adds nicely to the  ambience and trouser-flapping groove. Rufus Zuphal are notable for how they gave the flute a monstrous sound by feeding it through various effects. For this volume I must make special thanks to the helpful crowd at the TDATS fb group and flute rock afficianado Julia Miodyńska, creator of weekly prog rock radio show Epoka Żelaza in Poland. The artwork is taken from the wonderful works of Leah Jay (linkedin) and you can see more at leahjayart.com.

Our opener 'Friday: 3 P.M' is a short segue track taken from The California Earthquake's 'Reformation' which was a fairly ambitious Christian progressive concept album (don't let that put you off too much!). Good use of brass and wood-wind conjures up the feeling of a 70's action movie with a cool soundtrack and overall it has a wide scope of sounds with some rocking moments like 'Let There Be Light'.  A very interesting curio indeed. Apparently this was a studio-only project made by an ensemble that included established session musicians like Jim Gordon (drums - played with Duane Allman, Jack Bruce & John Lee Hooker),  John Guerin (drums - played with Frank Zappa & The Byrds) and soul singer Roy Smith (vocals).

Tomorrows Gift

Track 2's Tomorrow's Gift were from Hamburg, they were a proto-prog band with plenty of heavy moments and on the first album they had a charismatic female singer in Ellen Meyer. Interestingly, guitarist Carlo Karges later played with German pop star Nina on hits like '99 Red Balloons'. Many of the tracks on their 1970 debut have an occult feel; I find this enhanced by Ellen's english pronunciation which is far from perfect and gives the vocals an odd quality which makes them sound even more like the strange incantations of a witch!

Fashion Pink

Another German band follows, Baden-Baden's 'Fashion Pink' were the original incarnation of krautrock prog-jazzers Brainstorm. This track has such a cool vibe, a really strong groove with wicked guitar and the whole thing is improved by it's flute embellishment.

Tako was a Serbian band that made a couple of albums before disbanding in 1981. The track here is from their self-titled 1978 album. It's a short instrumental with a stately intro which soon toughens up to the Ian Anderson-style of vocalised flute aggression, nice.

Tako

Next up is Mexican band Dug Dug's, and the use of stabbing echoed flute on this track from their second album is fantastic. It lends the sharp flighty feel that only flute can one second, and then forceful insidious nastiness the next.

Janko Nilović

Montenegrin Janko Nilović (birth name) is one of the most prolific and well-known creators of library music and I have used this catchy funk track from his 1975 record 'Soul Impressions'. He has made over 200 records and singles under at least 10 pseudonyms. There is now a great interview with the man himself here.

We have yet another German group now, Aachen's Rufus Zuphall. They are often likened to Jethro Tull and their breakthrough came in 1970 in front of a 30.000 crowd at the Jazz Festival in Bilzen, Belgium. Actually planned as a sideshow, they then played as the only amateur band to share the main stage with such stars as Black Sabbath, Cat Stevens or May Blitz and were celebrated by the press as 'surprise of the festival'.

Plumb Nelly

New York's 'Creedmore State' formed in 1970 and after success as a regular at the rock club "Ungano's" they signed to Capitol Records under the new name 'Plum Nelly'. They recorded one album called 'Deceptive Lines' and while touring it they supported big names such as Jimi Hendrix & Fleetwood Mac. Album track 'Lonely Man's Cry' was backed by a local group called The Sweet Inspirations which was lead by by Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston's Mother. 'The Demon' is the longest cut on this comp, it has a slightly progressive structure and a great mix of contrasts, along with some nice flute of course!

Gravy Train were from Lancashire, UK They made four albums over their obscure career, which started out on the famed Vertigo label . Unfortunately their output was patchy and they never really capitalised on their strengths, but these were considerable when they got the sound right and on their best tracks they sounded like Tull with the extra heaviness of Sabbath. The track here "Can Anybody Hear Me?" shows this.

Goliath

'Maajun (A Taste of Tangier)' is a track that I liked immediately, it came over as a condensed, speeded-up version of one of my favourite ever TDATS inclusions, the epic Rajah Khan by Renaissance. They both share an eastern feel, built upon ethereal female vocal shapes, with a tough groove that shows itself now and again. Goliath are not so easy to find info about, the lineup was Linda Rothwell (vocals), Malcolm Grundy (guitar), Joseph Rosbotham (woodwinds), John Williamson (bass) and Eric Eastman (drums, percussion). Thier only album, 1970's 'Goliath', was issued on CD by the Spanish Estrella Rockera Label in 2004. Apparently Linda Rothwell had a couple of solo singles on the Chapter One label in the early 70s.

'Progresiv TM' were from Romania and there was 6 years between their two albums. They had a very original and quirky sound, somewhat in-line with the genre-mash up eccentricities of other great eastern europen bands of the time. After reading about them, they are often compared to out-there Italian prog of the times, in sound, but also because the Romanian accent and language is similar to that of Italian. The guitar tone is nice and thick, another aspect that seems to be compared to Sabbath, but the writing is very different, it is tight and unpredictable, and the flute sheen makes a great contrast to the heaviness.

Quintessence were a band heavily influenced by the Beatles-approved psychedelic interest in Indian mysticism and raga music. As you probably know this is not the style of music that TDATS would normally delve into but on this single version of Notting Hill Gate they turned up the fuzz guitar a little and it's a cool track.

Heat Exchange

The next track is from a Canadian group called Heat Exchange. This Toronto-based 5 piece were clearly very talented and showed great musical versatility. Unfortunately they did not make an album, though they earned a recording contract to do so, and the scant information available so far on the series of singles they made does not reveal what happened to them. 'Reminiscence' is some frenetic prog which is quite tight and technical but accessible too, they could have been huge. I found a guy on YouTube who is the son of Flute player Graig Carmody, so I asked him for information on the band and this was his reply: "If I recall my dad's story correctly, they struggled to find a strong commercial hit--they landed a recording contract and Scorpio Lady was their first attempt at a commercial hit. It did pretty well in Toronto, landing in the top 40 countdown for some time. But the rest of their stuff was really creative and unusual, and I think they didn't want to veer too far away from that. A year later their momentum faded, and things just fell apart from there. My dad still plays after many years of repairing instruments as his profession, just in a couple local bands. If you're curious, here's a video of him in recent days."

Milwaukee's Shag was first know as 'The Shags' and made some garage singles in the mid 60s. They recorded a demo in 1969 at Pacific High Recording, The Grateful Dead's studio, but parted ways soon after. The demo has since been remastered and released by Gear Fab records, revealing another band that was clearly very creative and could have been a big name. I found a great interview with guitarist Paul Gordon Elliott on Klemen Breznikar's brilliant blog here. The track I used here 'Gypsies In The Forest' has relentless pace, lead by aggressive flute riffing which easily gives Tull a run for their money.

Jade Warrior

The penultimate inclusion is from Jade Warrior, who rose from the ashes of a few 60s bands including 'Second Thoughts', Tomcat, and the more well-known 'Unit Four plus Two' and July. By the time of their 1971 debut they had developed a considered layered sound that was a unique addition to the rising proto-prog sounds of the time. The track I have used here is from that debut and it shows their often bass-lead sound, with scything fuzz guitar and hints of oriental mystery. "A Prenormal Day at Brighton" is a strange title and I am yet find out what it means, answers on a post-card please! Various members have continued to make music under the Jade Warrior name and there is news of forth-coming releases on their site.

The comp ends on a rousing Canadian track from Ontario's The Hunt, who have connection to the bands Offenbach (see Vol58) and  Toronto's Dillinger. They don't score many points on originality, following closely in the flight-path of a certain lead balloon, but they do it very well and expand upon Zep's repertoire with expressive flute.

Tracks:

01. The California Earthquake - Friday 3 P.M. (1971)
       from album 'reformation'
02. Tomorrow's Gift - Tenakel Gnag (1970)
       from album 'tomorrow's gift'
 03. Fashion Pink - I'm a Man (1971)
       from retrospective 'encore'
04. Tako - Minijatura (1978)
       from album 'tako'
05. Los Dug Dug's - Smog [english version] (1972)
       from album 'smog'
06. Janko Nilović - Drug Song (1975)
       from album 'soul impressions'
07. Rufus Zuphall - Prickel Pit (1971)
       from album 'phallobst'
08. Plum Nelly - The Demon (1971)
       from album 'deceptive lines'
09. Gravy Train - Can Anybody Hear Me (1971)
       from album '(a ballad of) a peaceful man'
10. Goliath - Maajun (A Taste Of Tangier) (1970)
       from album 'goliath'
11. Progresiv TM - Rusinea Soarelui (1973)
       from album 'dreptul de a visa'
12. Quintessence - Notting Hill Gate [single version] (1969)
       single
13. Heat Exchange - Reminiscence (1972)
       single
14. Shag - Gypsies In The Forest (1969)
       from retrospective 'shag 1969'
15. Jade Warrior - A Prenormal Day at Brighton (1971)
       from album 'jade warrior'
16. The Hunt - I Was Only Dreaming (1977)
       from album 'the hunt'

Thanks for listening! Rich.

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Dose o' blues number two....A few screaming, agonising blues crucifixions mixed in with the usual unstoppable fuzz, coming at you like the train that just keeps'a rolling.......

Arthur Lee

Arthur Lee was the guitarist with LA's psych band Love, he also made a few solo albums along the way before his unfortunate death from leukaemia in 2006. Our intro track is from the time of his first, 1972's 'Vindicator', and is included on the bonus-tracks version. It's such a great riff in this track and it's almost like doom rock, and we all know that blues and doom are pretty much the same thing....Fun Fact: "Lee’s [pre-Love] composition, 'My Diary' was his first to do well. It was written for R&B singer Rosa Brooks who performed and recorded it. The song included a man by the name of Jimi Hendrix (think you may have heard of him) on the electric guitar. Lee had seen him play with the Isley Brothers and asked for him. This is considered by many to be the first known studio recording of Jimi Hendrix playing guitar."

Track 2 is from a fave album of mine by the UK's Jodo. I have never been able to find a lot of info on them, though the members are Earl Jordan (vocals), Jon Taylor (guitar), Rod Alexander (bass) and William E. Kimber (drums). They made one very accomplished hard bluesy rock album in 1971 called 'Guts'. Earl Jordan is known to have sung in the 'Green Bullfrog' sessions with members of Deep Purple that I used back on Vol59. Guts is chock-full of awesome playing, swaggering riffs, and was engineered by Martin Birch who later worked with big names like Sabbath and Iron Maiden.

Mahogany back cover

Mahogany were a UK band who's guitarist John Mackay was also in a pub band called Brewers Droop with a young Mark Knopfler. I have not found much info on Mahogany but have found a scan of the album's  rear jacket with liner notes so here it is word-for-word, by american journalist/critic 'Marion Fredi Towbin' : "Produced by Tony Clarke, Engineered by Robin Thompson. There has been a lot of talk lately of a blues revival, nourished in Britain and overflowing to our shores. Names like John Mayall, Jo-Ann Kelly and Eric Clapton have become increasingly well-known and respected Stateside, and appearances by British blues artists have drawn S.R.O. crowds at the Fillimore East and West as well as the numerous smaller clubs and concert auditoriums throughout the United States. Now there's a new British blues group to reckon with, MAHOGANY. On This, their début Epic album, MAHOGANY proves that original blues material (they composed everything on the album), if played with skill and vitality, can elicit from an audience that pure gut level reaction - "I've-Been-There-Too" - which has always been the earmark of the blues. 
       MAHOGANY is comprised of four young performers, each of whom has had extensive musical experience prior to joining the group: Stephen Darrington (organ), Joseph Southall (bass), John Mackay (lead guitar, lead vocalist) and Paul Hobbs (drums). Although there are only four members of MAHOGANY, their musical skill is considerable; between three of them they play no less than ten instruments including trumpet, violin and classical guitar. (Drummer Paul Hobbs says somewhat apologetically that he only plays drums as they are, for him, "a lifetime.")
       (As I write this, I'm listening to MAHOGANY, drinking a fine English Tea, and thinking about the American Revolution--the 18th-century one. What, I wonder, would our great-great grandaddies--who severed their lives so totally from that of British subjects--think of our 20th-century coming together?)
       Back to the blues . . . like the great blues artists (and I'm thinking Muddy Waters in particular), MAHOGANY'S music doesn't bring you down. Organist Stephen Darrington describes his compositions as "innumerable drunken 12 bar blues" filled as they are with wronged lovers, drinking bouts, packing up and parting times--but like the best of blues they're exhilarating, cathartic, and sometimes even happy."

Hurriganes

I found the Hurriganes while researching for the Finnish TDATS (w.i.p), they are not really heavy enough to fit usually but this track goes nicely in this comp, they were apparently a very important band in Finland and highly regarded. 'It Aint What You Do' is taken from their most popular album, 1974's 'Roadrunner'.


The 5th track is from a Dutch (Nijmegen) band called Cobra. They shared drummer Cor van der Beek with another band that appears here later, Livin' Blues, and made a string of singles between 70-73. 'Midnight Walker' is the b-side to the more commercial 'The War Will Be Over Soon'.

Track 6 comes from another UK band, Ipsissimus. It seems they took their name from the tenth level of Aleister Crowley's magical order, the A∴A∴ 'Lazy Woman' is an absolute stormer and this band had talent. The single a-side was an equally-cool cover of the Rupert's People/The Fleur de Lys track Hold On. It was produced by Norman Smith of Beatles/Pink Floyd fame and I thank this page for the information.

Track 7 and we are half-way through. I must thank my online friends over at Sonidos Primitivos, they post albums and make the odd compilation of their own too, and it was this one on which I heard 'The Underground Electrics'. They are apparently yet another name used by the heavy fuzz psych-exploitation session band I used back on Vol16, 'The 31 Flavors', aka 'Firebird'. They made one Crown label album 'Hey Jude' as the electrics and you can find more info at HeavyPsychManBlog or RedTelephone66. 'The Syndicator' is a simplistic song but the sound is as crunchy as a peanut butter sandwich made with extra bolts.

Track 8 gives this volume it's name. Freedom were a UK band that had connection to a few other notable bands, by Clark Hutchinson bassist Walt Monagan (see Vol74), and Procul Harum (singer Bobby Harrison). Bobby Harrison and early Freedom member Ray Royer had both been in the original incarnation of Procol Harum for their début 'Whiter Shade Of Pale', but were ejected soon after for Robin Trower and Barry Wilson.

So, by the time of the 2nd album, 'Freedom', which I have used here, the lineup stabilised to a heavy blues power trio with a really strong three-part harmony thing going on as Walt Monaghan (bass), Roger Saunders (guitar) and Bobby Harrison (drums, vocals) were all great singers. 'Dusty Track' is a long song with a relaxed pace, but that riff never tires...

No prizes for guessing where the The Illinois Speed Press were from. They started life as The Rovin' Kind and moved to California. By the time the band had recorded their first album the core of the band was Paul Cotton (guitar, vocals) and Kal David (guitar, vocals) and they played together to give the band a very cool dual guitar sound, credited as inspiring Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington to form Lynyrd Skynyrd. They were a regular at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood, and played at the first Newport Pop Festival, held in Costa Mesa, California, which was the first festival to record an attendance of over 100,000 paying rock fans. Kal David also played on the 'Merryweather & Carey' album that is featured in the TDATS Neil Merryweather special; Vol68. Paul and Kal have played some reunion shows under the speed press name in recent years.

Livin' Blues

Livin' Blues (from Den Haag, Holland) were a long-lasting blues troupe (recording into the 90's) who's lineup over the years was like a who's who of Dutch rock history, touching on Brainbox, Cobra (as mentioned previously), Shocking Blue, Q65, Sandy Coast and Gold Earring to name just a few. The track I have used here is two consecutive tracks that appeared on their third album, 1971's 'Bamboozle'. I particularly like the way 'Overture' morphs into a progressive jam around the halfway mark, but keeps the bluesy harmonica the whole time.


Next up is Boston's Dirty John's Hot Dog Stand. The album 'Return From the Dead' is a rollicking good-time blast of horns, blues and psych. It has recently been re-issued on the UK Kismet label. I have found a few brief accounts of this very short-lived curiosity: "Ace guitarist Kenny Paulson played on early rock classics such as Suzy Q by Dale Hawkins, and Tallahassee Lassie by Freddie Cannon before his career was derailed by heroin addiction. Following debilitating stints in jail and hospital in the late 1960s, he cleaned up and formed this quartet with former Ill Wind guitarist Carey Mann. Their sole album of guitar-led rock was released in June 1970, though sadly Paulson succumbed to his addiction in 1981."

"Good ole boy blues bar rock with gruff vocals- still the kinda thing you can hear coming out of an unlit local dive on some endless afternoon whenever the door swings open. Fuzz is definitely in evidence & one song is particularly Blue Cheer-ish & has sharp breakbeats as well (a version of 'Blue Skies'). Kenny Paulson played in Dale Hawkins' band & on Freddy Cannon records, & this band pairs him up with a guy from Ill Wind."

"A strange and crude psychedelic blues-rock album from a short-lived band based in Boston circa 1969-1970. One member (PJ Colt) later released a solo album in 1976 (associated with "Skunk" Baxter of Ultimate Spinach, Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers fame). Several vocalists ranging from a growly split-octave style to white-bread blues style to rock-n-roll howl style. An intriguing record on an unlikely label (Flying Dutchman). Mostly original compositions with a couple of covers (Blue Skies, Next Time You See Me). The originals range from hard-rock Led Zeppelin riff-based arrangements (I Won't Quit), to Johnny Winter style white-bread blues (Hard Drivin' Man). Some are beyond comparison (Waiting For Yesterday, River) and have melodic but unusual chord structures and are steeped in psychedelic washes of wah-wah or slap-back guitars and elaborate horn arrangements. The album is extremely rare, and even more so because a manufacturing error resulted in many copies with only one playable side." [The Dragonfly @ RYM]

Ernie Joseph

Big Brother Ernie Joseph was a Californian commune/family type group who recorded their first album in Hollywood. Before Big Brother, singer-guitarist Ernie Joseph was known as Ernie Orosco and was in many Santa Barbara outfits including Ernie and The Emperors, Ernie's Funnys and Giant Crab (for Giant Crab see Vol27). I have used their rip-roaring cover of a blues standard "St. James Infirmary Blues" which was popularised by Lois Armstrong but actually has roots in an English folk song about a soldier who uses his money on prostitutes, and then dies of a venereal disease! Ernie Joseph put's in an impassioned performance on this track which sounds like it must have been one of his career-best.

Burning Plague

Nearing the end now, we have a Belgian (Brussels) band called Burning Plague. They emerged from the split of Brussels band 'Four Of A Kind', the other splintering group that resulted was Kleptomania (see Belgian special Vol61). They made one album which  is now regarded as one of the very best of it's kind from Belgium and during their brief spot in the lime-light they played festivals like Belgium's premier Bilzen Rock & Jazz festival in 1970. Even so, English-born guitarist / singer / main composer Michael Heslop was disappointed with the CBS label support so dismantled the band and joined Doctor Downtrip (see Vol46 and Vol61), who made a few great tracks but didn't really go anywhere with their 3 albums which grew less and less interesting.

So another volume ends, I hope you enjoyed this dose of blues catharsis, and it plays out with 'Bad Luck Feeling' from The Meating, a really excellent progressive blues single. I thank the brilliant Aussie blog Rock On Vinyl for this info: "The Australian blues veteran, Matt Taylor has been playing his brand of Australian-twinged blues music since the mid-'60s. His first band, the Bay City Union, was formed in March 1966 and was one of Australia's first traditional Chicago blues bands. They issued one single, "Mo'reen"/"Mary Mary," in April 1968 before breaking up in July 1968 due to a general lack of interest in blues bands. Taylor briefly sang with the Wild Cherries before forming the Horse, and then briefly stepped in as lead singer with Cam-Pact for a two-week tour of Sydney during early 1970. He then joined blues band Genesis in February, who released a collaborative single with Carson County Band, titled "Bad Luck Feeling"/"Back Home" under the banner the Meating. They toured until August 1970 when Taylor left to join Chain."

Track list:

01. Arthur Lee - You Want Change for Your Re-Run (1972)
       from album 'vidicator'
02. Jodo - Nightmare (1971)
       from album 'guts'
03. Mahogany - Best Woman, Best Friend (1969)
       from album 'mahogany'
04. Hurriganes - It Ain't What You Do (1974)
       from album 'roadrunner'
05. Cobra - Midnight Walker (1971)
       single
06. Ipsissimus - Lazy Woman (1969)
       single
07. The Underground Electrics - The Syndicator (1968)
       from album 'hey jude'
08. Freedom - Dusty Track  (1971)
       from album 'freedom'
09. The Illinois Speed Press - Get In The Wind, Pt. II (1969)
       from album 'the illinois speed press'
10. Livin' Blues - Bamboozle / Overture (1972)
       from album 'bamboozle'
11. Dirty John's Hot Dog Stand - And Now I'm Comin' Home (1970)
       from album 'return from the dead'
12. Big Brother Ernie Joseph - Saint James Infirmary (1971)
       from album 'confusion'
13. Burning Plague - Life Is Nonsense (1970)
       from album 'burning plague'
14. The Meating - Bad Luck Feeling (1970)
       single

Thanks for listening! Rich

Download from  [mf] or [ds] or [mg]
pass:  tdats
I have been on the look-out for more Australian heavy-hitters ever since Vol21. It has been a long and enjoyable voyage of discovery and I have found an absolute ton of stuff. What has become very apparent is that after the new rock genre explosions of the 60s to early 70s, they moved with total gusto into the mid-late 70's with a prevailing hard rock / pub rock sound. Compare the number of bands like this to the number of Aussie progressive or psych acts and there is no doubt of it. Maybe the pioneering, farming and blue collar working man ethic of Australia has a lot to do with it, like in Detroit, guys just wanted to get down the pub after work, get drunk and rock out. The other factor is 'Sharpie Rock', a fashion, attitude and straight-forward punkish sound that arose in the early seventies. A definite influence is of course one classic Australian band in particular which may well be the ultimate good-time, bluesey hard rock band of all time, so it's not too hard to see where the heritage may have started. Since posting this I have had an enlightening comment from a reader called 'proggy' and I just had to add it here: "It wasn't as a romantic picture as you've painted.... all I recall from those times was a sense of bleakness, long hot summers (different to today), little money. A lot of narrow minded squares and dunder-headed blokes with beards,tats and no brains....a bikey pub in the main street, Liverpool speedway, fights and drags between holdens,valiants and fords all the time ..... oh, and almost no appreciation for any music differing from the norm..... Sebastian Hardie grew up near where I live telling stories of being chased out of pubs by irate patrons.... and then come the 80's ....arrgh!!!! lol! - Skyhooks music was a good commentary on the times..."

Geeza

We begin with Geeza, their track is the one on this comp that I came across first, and I guess it laid down the sound that I mostly looked for after deciding what this one was going to be about. They spent their early days driving around Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney, playing where they could on the back of a flatbed truck, AC/DC did a similar thing soon after. The band began life in 1973 and early on were called 'The Geeza Rock'n'Roll Show'. They had an extravagant, glammy stage image which is another similarity to some of AC/DC's earlier exploits, and even played in drag sometimes. By 1977 they had straightened and hardened up somewhat, now called Geeza they recorded their one and only album, 'Street Life'. By 1979 they were no more but have sporadically played in various re-incarnations since.

Desert Rat released one album in 1978. They were made up of Jerome ? (vocals), Denny Stibbard (guitar), John Dee (drums) Ian John Ryan (bass) and John Moon (guitar). Ian John Ryan was previously in two great but short-lived bands, Chook and Melbourne's The Ash, that both appear on my first Australian comp: The Day After The Sabbath 21: Uluru Rock. Also, John Moon and Ian John Ryan were both in Melbourne bloozers 'Buster Brown'. 'Need Your Love' is uplifting, singalong fun!

Fox

Fox were Peter Laffy (guitar), Neil Hodgson (bass, keyboards), Michael Upton (vocals) and Les Oldman (drums). There is not much to go on for the band's history; according to Rock On Vinyl, Peter Laffy played in Aussie bands Freeway, Mondo Rock and Jim Keay’s Southern Cross. Their track here 'Times Come To Change' is one of the comp's most ambitious and distinctive; an anthemic acoustic backbone, embelished with electric lead and a few welcome hints of jarring fuzz, it's a shame it's over so soon!

Marcus Hook Roll Band

Track four gives this comp it's name, while it doesn't really count as music from obscure artists, the album remains quite obscure (it was to me at least) but on reflection is probably one of the most important albums in aussie hard rock history. As a teenager, George Young and his family emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland to Sydney in 1963. While stationed in a migrant's hostel he met up with future members of The Easybeats, including Dutch guitarist Harry Vanda [Johannes Vandenburg] and English singer Stevie Wright. None of the Easybeats were natives of Aus, and drawing on the popular sounds of the UK, they quickly became the premier Sydney rock band. After the band's relocation to London and subsequent demise, most members returned to Australia. Young and Vanda worked together on various projects, of which the Marcus Hook Roll Band was one. George's precise staccato rhythm style can be heard on 'Goodbye Jane' as it could earlier on Easybeats tracks like St. Loius, a sound that would also become the signature of George's younger brother Angus, who, along with other Young brother Malcolm, played on the sole Marcus Hook Roll band album 'Tales of Old Grand-Daddy' (1973). The rest is history. I have joined my fave two tracks from the album, the track 'Ape Man' is especially fun, maybe it was a hard rockin' response to The Kinks?

Stockley See Mason Band

Track six is from The Stockley See Mason Band. 'The Last One To Know' is a tour de force of co-operative wailing guitar work, as it is a super group of sorts with three established guitarists. I found some great info posted by Micko in the Midoztouch forum. His whole post can be read here. "....here's the SSM Band's album from 1979 "Beg Steal Or Borrow". As would be obvious to those who are into knowing who the musos are in the bands we loved back then, each of these 3 guys already had an amazing pedigree as guitarists, singers & songwriters with some of our best bands when they came together in 1978. Chris Stockley had played in Cam-Pact, Axiom, The Dingoes, Greg Quill's Southern Cross & had tenures with Rock Doctors, Jimmy Barnes & Broderick Smith among many others to come.

Same See had been an early member of Sherbet before making his name with Flying Circus, Fraternity, Greg Quill's Southern Cross & later on John Farnham's band, Goanna, Zarzoff Brothers & again Brod Smith.

Add Glyn Mason's pedigree & it's very apparent what a talented band we have her. Glyn came to Australia from NZ with The Rebels (formerly Larry's Rebels), then quickly found himself part of the Chain line-up that recorded Live & Live Again. After replacing Jeff St John in Copperwine for a short time he formed the groundbreakinbg country rock group Home who recorded 2 albums, then he joined Mike Rudd in Ariel to share vocals & writing duties. He was also a prominent performer at the Andy Durant Memorial Concert."

Canned Rock

In 1979 a live charity album was released, for the benefit of the Australian Children In Need. The hilariously (and rather cynically) entitled record 'Canned Rock' was recorded during specially laid on shows in 1978 for the entertainment of the clientèle of Paramatta Jail. It was released on the Albert label, Ted Albert being the label-owner who worked with the afore-mentioned George Young and Harry Vanda through the 70s.

Feather

A number of important artists played, including Kevin Borich, a young Rose Tattoo (huge in Germany; I was lucky enough to see them at Wacken Open Air in 2007) and a Sydney band called Feather, who feature as track 6 here. Feather was a short-lived development from well-regarded hard rock/prog-psychers Blackfeather, who's killer GTK tv show Stones cover appeared back on Vol8.

U-Turn

Halfway through, and time for a U-Turn. I really like the metallic grind of this track 'Small Talk'.  Definitely one of the most obscure bands here and so far all I have found is a few tantalisingly low-res cover scans and some notes at Midoztouch :- "A band from Sydney I can’t tell you much about this one. Until I bought this album I had not heard of them although I was living in Melbourne at the time they were around so it is possible that they were a popular band playing around Sydney.

What I do know is that this appears to be their only album release. It is released on ‘Lazer Records’ and as it is produced by Sherbet producer Richard Lush (which suggests that someone was prepared to throw some money behind them) and the hairstyles were fashioned by a Faces fan. Also special mention is made of Cold Chisel and Angels producer Mark Opitz for ‘all his help’.

Musically U-Turn remind me of 70s UK good-time rock bands and the album does have some catchy tunes such as ‘I Like It’ and  ‘Lady of Light’. Other than guitarist Shane Pacey, who composed or co-composed the album with other band members, the rest of the band do not seem to have gone on to any band of note. Pacey did re-emerged a decade later in the blues band Bondi Cigars."

Stevie Wright

We return to the Easybeats legacy for the eighth track, Stevie Wright's 'Black Eyed Bruiser'. Stephen Carlton Wright was born in Leeds, UK and his family emigrated to Melbourne when he was nine, then moved to Sydney where he joined The Easybeats. After achieving much success and living through that band's international trials and tribulations, 'little' Stevie Wright found himself back in Australia as a solo artist, and his 1975 album 'Black Eyed Bruiser' was the product of one of the incarnations of his self-named band. This track features his old band mates George Young and Harry Vanda so it has that direct, solid-riffing AC/DC sound in spades, and prophetically I find Stevie's vocals sound eerily reminiscent of the current Acccadacca singer Brian Johnson. There is some extensive further reading to be had here on Rock on Vinyl.

Track nine brings us to a band that appear twice on this volume (later as 'Contraband'). Finch began in Sydney as 'Stillwater' in 1973, soon becoming Finch. They produced a few singles and in 1974 contributed five tracks to the cult surfing movie Soundtrack 'Drouyn', which are more in the heavy psych vein and I'll include on the next aussie comp which will return to the psych. In 1976, just before moving to Melbourne, they released the 'Thunderbird' LP and I think the track 'Crystal Country Gorge' can be see as their career masterpiece; it has the riffs of the Accadacca generation but it's a long-ish track that also retains some early 70s psych heaviness and subtlety, making it one of my faves in this set. After some line-up changes, guitarist Bob Spencer exited for Skyhooks (later on this comp), and vocalist Mark Evans joined, having just been ejected from AC/DC. We'll return to these guys for the final track...

Taste - Knights of Love

Taste are up next, another Melbourne band, with Joel Witenberg (drums, vocals), Ken Murdock (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Joey Amenta (guitar, vocals), Michael Tortoni (bass, vocals) and Virgil Donati (drums). They had a histrionic approach, and at times a metallic sound which sets them aside in this collection. Though they are clearly indebted to Queen's melodrama, they were a much younger band than the rest here, so perhaps they were also taking notice of the beginning of the NWOBHM at the time. It's said that Queen liked them and used to play Taste's 'Boys will be Boys' on tour before they went on stage. Taste’s lead singer and songwriter Ken Murdoch said in a recent interview: "I started singing in shitholes when I was 15, By the time I was 17, I was a veteran of pub rock alongside Joey and Michael. We had been booed, spat upon, and ignored until we got it right and that’s something bands don’t have anymore. But once you get it right and that crowd love you something magical happens between the two of you. I don’t see that happen much anymore,". Amenta left to join Redhouse (included later) in 1977, according to Rock on Vinyl's article Taste achieved quite a lot of success with two top-twenty albums, playing to audiences as large as 13,000, so it seems a shame they called it quits early on and I have been unable to find out why as-yet, but they have reformed and gigged quite recently and even made a new ten track album.

Skyhooks

Skyhooks are one final band that stand apart from the others here and were unique in their country at the time. Their image and stage antics were considered outrageous in conservative early-70s Australia. They sung observantly about issues that concerned young people at the time (endearing themselves to the student intelligentsia) like buying drugs, suburban sex and the gay scene. Their make-up and flamboyant clothes on stage projected a glam image though their social commentary and sound had more similarity with what would later be called punk, which also was approved of by the sharpies and pub rockers. They sung about people and places in their own country which was a novelty at the time that other bands were more likely to sing about American ideals and locales. The version of Revolution used here is a 1975 US single version that differs from the 1974 album cut.

Redhouse

Nearing the end with track twelve is Redhouse, who were originally from Geelong, Victoria. For a time in the mid-70s they were a very big draw around Victoria with great stage presence and guitar showmanship, though their only album, 1976's 'One More Squeeze' had some good tunes like the one included here, it failed to convey their raw qualities and critics say the production was too commercial-sounding. Interestingly, they started out in life as The Red House Roll Band, with regional success before their album coming from a single that was based on a tune from the UK counter-culture movie 'Oh Lucky Man'. 'I Got Love' is a good-time rocker in the best tradition of innuendo-filled lyrics and some tremendous guitar interplay.

Bullet - Mover

For the thirteenth track I must once again thank Robin Wills at Purepop for unearthing a hell-for-leather stomper of a single. 'Mover' is the b-side of the single 'Rock My Lady' from Bullet, who were previously know as Bullett (extra t). Again we can cheer Robin for a great track that would be lost in the midst of time otherwise. It was released on The Atlantics' own label, a legendary Aussie surf rock band who I will include at some point if I can get a heavy surf rock comp out....

Contraband

The comp ends on a track from Contraband, who were the final incarnation of Finch. After signing a US record deal they had to change their name, and their final album appeared in 1979. I do like the brilliantly machismo album cover featuring the band, brandishing machine guns, pointlessly stationed around a grounded flying boat, and the tune is another anthem to the thing that Aussies do best. See you at the bar!




Track list:

01. Geeza - Too Much Goin' On Here (1977)
       from album 'streetlife'
02. Desert Rat - Need Your Love (1978)
       from album 'home from the front'
03. Fox - Times Come to Change (1974)
       from album 'what the hell is going on'
04. Marcus Hook Roll Band - Goodbye Jane / Ape Man (1973)
       from album 'tales of old grand-daddy'
05. The Stockley See Mason Band - The Last One To Know (1979)
       from album 'beg steal or borrow'
06. Feather - Here With Me (1978)
       from compilation 'canned rock (live at parramatta jail, 1978)'
07. U-Turn - Small Talk (1977)
       from album 'living in the city'
08. Stevie Wright - Black Eyed Bruiser (1975)
       from album 'black eyed bruiser'
09. Finch - Crystal Country Gorge (1976)
       from album 'thunderbird'
10. Taste - Witches Brew (1977)
       from album 'knights of love'
11. Skyhooks - Revolution [US Single Version] (1975)
       from album "living in the 70's"
12. Redhouse - I Got Love (1976)
       from album 'one more squeeze'
13. Bullet - Mover (1975)
       single
14. Contraband - To Drunk To Know (1979)
       from album 'contraband'

Thanks for listening! Rich

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Here is Norway, the 3rd in my Scandinavian quadrilogy, after Denmark: Vol72 and Sweden: Vol75. Norway was not a hard country to research. Compared even to Finland, there seem to have been few bands in the 60s and 70s, and almost all of what there was is well-documented and cross-referenced. There were a few surprises though, Rain and The Hugger Muggers are two extra-obscure names that I could have easily missed, and St. Helena was a late entry as they never had an official release. A special mention and thanks goes to Mick Mullin, who kindly responded to my request for help in restoring the St. Helena track. My thanks goes to all the other people who also offered, Mick's was the best-sounding to my ears. You can visit his studio services here. I must also thank the people behind the awesome resource at Rockipedia.no for it's extensive band bio's, I think they have everything Norge covered. The cover image is the Fantoft Stave Church in Bergen, which I visited in 2010.

So what did I learn about Norway? Although the pool was small, almost every band I found had a worthy track to contribute, the standard was very high. Norway's population is very small at around 5 million. That is slightly smaller than Finland, and half that of Sweden, where I found a lot more material to use for Vol75. Two of the most important 'seed' bands were Oslo's The Vanguards and The Beatniks, they were the springboard for many of the names that appear here. While not really TDATS material per se, I did find a few Vanguards covers where they added a nice heavier vibe to the original, and have included one here; I never would have believed I'd be using a Cliff Richard song down the line. Tromsø's The Pussycats deserve a mention too, recording three albums and many singles during the 60s.

So to track 1. Aunt Mary were from Fredrikstad. They started in 1969 with the original name of 'Progress' and included Jan Groth (vocals, organ), Bjørn Christiansen (guitar, vocals), Svein Gundersen (bass, vocals), Per Ivar Fure (flute, harmonica, saxophone) and Ivan Lauritzen (drums). 'Stop Your Wishful Thinking' is the b-side from their 1971 single 'Jimi, Janis & Brian' which was actually an adaptation of Marvin Gayes hit "Abraham, Martin And John". Producer Johnny Reimar suggested that the band turn it into a tribute to departed heroes Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Brian Jones. The single was the band's breakthrough, with particularly strong sales in France and Denmark. The BBC banned it because the three people that were sung about were all strongly associated with drugs.

'Stop Your Wishful Thinking' is also a bonus track on the Progressive Line label's 2002 re-master of the band's 1972 Album, 'Loaded'. Aunt Mary's third album 'Janus' is probably considered as their finest effort, by this time they had incorporated more elements of progressive rock, but it was their last at that time. They have recorded and played occasionally since, and here's a clip of them playing in 2008.

Ruphus

Oslo's Ruphus formed in 1970, by 1972 their lineup had solidified to Asle Nilsen (flute, bass), Hans Petter Danielsen (guitar),  Kjell Larsen (guitar), Håkon Graf (keyboards), Gudny Aspaas (vocals), Rune Sundby (vocals) and Thor Bendiksen (Drums). With a full complement of instrumentation, two guitarists and two singers (male and female), the debut LP had a great sound; immediate, heavy and progressive without the self indulgence commonly associated with prog rock.

New Born Day

Later the band changed a few members, briefly including Freddy Dahl of Junipher Greene (coming up here later) and moved out of TDATS territory into slick Jazz rock, but they remained very well-regarded and were successful in Europe, especially Germany. 'Coloured Dreams' is from this first (and best) album 'New Born Day', one of the most consistently good albums here and highly recommended. The riff is instantly memorable, it strikes the perfect balance between prog and hard rock and has a joyful, celebratory feel too. I especially dig the charismatic vocals of Gudny Aspaas, the only female singer on this volume.

Track three is a great example of some Norge Freakbeat. 'The Hugger Muggers' introduce some prominent names; Terje Rypdal (also of The Dream, included later), and percussionist Kjell Asperud, who was later in 'The New Beatniks' & Titanic (featuring later). After this early forray, Terje became a well-regarded Jazz guitarist in the Norwegian jazz community, and recorded many solo records. Classical studies at Oslo University also lead to work on orchestral productions like the Norwegian production of musical Hair, and appearances on movie scores including Michael Mann's Heat. Terje's concise and excellent little solo in 'Come On Up' is what really makes this track!

Bazar

Oslo's Bazar is one of the few bands here to sing in their native tongue. By the time of their second album, 1974's Drabantbyrock [trans: 'Suburbia Rock'] their members were Rolf Aakervik (vocals, guitar), Per Vestaby (bass, harmonica), Ole Henrik Giørtz (drums) and Bent Patey (guitar, piano, flute, vocals). With Rolf 's lyrical skills, the band employed a politically radical approach, bringing to light their views on such subjects as social inequities in society, Norway's fight against the EEC, and the U.S. war in Vietnam. After Bazar's demise, Per Vestaby took control, becoming a big name while taking the band through later incarnations; 'Freddy', 'Can Can' and 'Mercury Motors'.

Willy Bendiksen is a name that joins three bands on this compilation. In his early career he played drums in St. Helena (based in Hammerfest), Høst (Østfold) and Flax (Oslo), among other bands. This makes him something of Norwegian heavy prog star. All these three bands were fine examples of a unique Norwegian take on progressive rock, with excellent musicianship and some powerful metallic playing at times. I have used a couple of Høst tracks before, back on Vol4 and Vol28, and Flax appeared back on Vol13 And Vol30. They had a similar sound, and shared more members than just Willy. The sound was inventive and unconventional, combining razor-sharp riffing, sudden time changes, with a fair amount of drama and atmospheric changes in the vocals and varied song compositions.


Freddy Lindquist enters to tie up a bit more Norge rock history. He was involved as guitarist in The Vanguards and The Beatniks, the two seminal Norwegian bands of the 1960s, for a short time he was in the Vanguards at the same time as the previously mentioned Terje Rypdal. He was to move on to Jumbo (coming up), and then to record one solo album in 1970 called 'Menu', from which track 7 is taken; the groove-laden 'Sundae Sellers'. I found a great Interview with Freddie here. In 1969 he formed Freddy Lindquists Orchestra, a Chicago/BS&T-like big band rock ensemble who played live with the excellent singer Gudny Aspaas, before she was in Ruphus.

As a comparison, the next track I chose is The Vanguard's 'Move It!', and it's the oldest tune here (1966 - Cliff Richard cover). I found it on what seems to be a fan-made career anthology, here. They certainly heavy it up a bit compared to the original. Like a lot of rock bands in the 60's, The Vanguards and The Beatniks began making their names, and livelihoods, by mainly playing covers of the popular bands from America and the UK and Cliff Richard's backing band The Shadows were a particularly strong influence on both of them to begin.
The next track is another Freddy Lindquist band, Jumbo. They only made two singles in their short tenure and this 45 single 'U.F.O.' shows them veering into hard rock, especially towards it's end where the guitar tantalisingly speeds up, as though a thrashy riff is about to appear. Work on an album was started by the band, but they split up soon after, eventually it was completed by duo Svein Finjarn (Jumbo guitar, vocals) and Leif Jensen (Jumbo drums) under the band name Finjarn-Jensen.

On to track 11, I found the Rain track on a compilation called "Maiden Voyage: A Wide Selection Of Grooves From Norway '66 - '76", mostly in a big-band film score style, and this track was indeed used in the score to a movie, called 'Rivalen'. 'Whine and Wail' comes in smoothly, tabla drums and shimmering groove worthy of a modern stoner band like Sungrazer. It builds up as new instruments subtly introduce themselves; hints of brass edge their way in and the intensity builds in a wonderful way to the money-shot wah guitar solo. An absolutely fantastic track and one of my favourites here.

Rain

The excellent Shadoks label has recently issued a Rain collection and here is what they have to say about it: "RAIN, Norway's most well kept secret has been betrayed and solved! This great band has only released a very rare 45 EP as a soundtrack for the Norwegian movie RIVALEN. Very much like Frank Zappa and The Mothers, RAIN's complex compositions are based on the skills of modern classic composers such as Varèse and Strawinsky. As a strong influence they've mentioned Vanilla Fudge. 10 great tracks with horns and orchestra arrangement, with great fuzz guitar, hammond organ and amazing vocals. A Norwegian rock band who had the urge to exceed limits, both musically and technically. Rain was Carl Jørgen Kiønig - drums / Knut Heljar Hagen - organ, piano, vocals, bass / Åsmund Feidje - guitar, violin, vocals, bass. This album was recorded in 1969/70, beside 7-own compositions they play mind blowing versions of A Day in the life, Strawberry Fields Forever and Isolation. Their very complex and difficult arrangements required a lot of practice to turn their concerts into a total experience with a spectacular psychedelic light-show and experimented with 'surround' sound." To my delight I also found a recent interview with Rain member Åsmund Feidje here at the enlightening psychedelicbaby blog.

The Dream

Having just discovered the Rain issue on the Shadoks site while I sit here writing this, low and behold I see a release just below Rain of another band I was planning on using. Here is The Dream's description from the same place: "...recorded in 1967, it was the LP with legendary guitarist Terje Rypdal after the 2 albums he made with The Vanguards. A year later Terje recorded his first solo album also for Polydor. The album Get Dreamy has great original songs full of wild fuzz guitar, swirling hammond organ, sound effects and strong vocals. The musicals influences could be Cream and Jimi Hendrix with the lyrical touch of Procol Harum..."

Junipher Greene

Junipher Greene was probably Norway's first progressive rock band, their name became more widely known after praise from critics for a 1970 performance in  support of Deep Purple, where it is said they played the heavy masters off the stage. Their debut record, 1971's 'Friendship', was Norway's first ever double-LP, and is considered a classic. Rightly so, as it's light-years ahead of anything else in the country at the time, Importantly, Junipher Green would supply a member to the newly-formed Ruphus, Freddy Dahl. They also contributed Keyboardist Helge Grøslie to Titanic, the band mentioned earlier who developed from The Beatniks. They made another album in 1973 called Communication after being stripped down to a three-piece, which was considered a step-down as they moved away from the inventive hard-edged prog to a more commercial direction. 'A Spectre Is Haunting The Peninsula' is a striking track with railroading hammond in the vain of Uriah Heep and some speedy proto-metalic guitar riffing.

Prudence - Tomorrow May Be Vanished

Prudence, from Namsos, released their first single in 1970, it was a cover of Deep Purple's 'Into The Fire'. The NRK (Norsk RiksKringkasting AS - Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) banned the single, due to the b-side 'Come along to Copenhagen' which was about going to the Danish town to have fun with marijuana and LSD. As they developed their own sound, they helped in creating the term 'trønderrock' which was used to describe their heavy prog rock infused with folk instruments like mandolin, flute and accordion. According to an article at rockipedia.no, the band's innovative skills were widely acknowledged, and although they gained some success in Denmark, playing Roskilde Festival in 1973, they never quite achieved as much success as they could have done and were dogged by bad luck with shows, internal strife, money and labels. In 1974 they missed an important slot at Norway's Ragnarock festival when Titanic suffered equipment problems and caused delays. The misfortune continued after their 3rd album when bassist Kjell Ove Riseth injured both hands and lost fingers in a saw-mill accident, ending his time in the band. They have played now and again since splitting in the mid-70s, and last year they were invited to play at the opening of Rock City, a civic center designed to promote and help rock music in Namsos, a town that is apparently very proud of it's musical heritage.

Saft LP

Saft was formed by Ove Thue (vox), Trygve Thue (guitar), Tom Harry Halvorsen (flute 1970-1972), Rolf Skogstrand (bass 1970-1972) and Magne Lunde (drums 1970-1972). They were the core musicians who worked on the 1970-71 production of hippy musical Hair at the Den Nationale Scene theater in Bergen, an LP of which was released by Polydor in 1970. They came to fame after winning a radio show pole called 'Europatoppen', beating Slade, the UK's entrant, to 2nd place. They made three very different albums but their 1971 self-titled debut is of most interest to TDATS and it's track here is called 'Min'. A funny little song that is definitely not aiming for any philosophical achievements.

Titanic - Eagle Rock

The final track is from Titanic, who I used way back on Vol10. They were Norway's most famous rock export, and as mentioned, developed from the The Beatniks. Following the stereo-typical career path of bands that started in the 60s, they went from rock'n'roll, to psych, to hard rock as Titanic. Having listened to their back-catalogue, i'd say they were a patchy band who were capable of absolutely killer efforts like 'Dying Sun' and  'Something On My Mind', but their albums were a little too diluted with attempts at main-stream acceptance. It's alleged that for similar reasons, they intentionally sought out an English singer, in the form of the very good Roy Robinson. They believed this would help ensure international success more so than a lead singer's Norwegian accent. I have used 'One Night In Eagle Rock' here, it is taken from their 3rd album 'Eagle Rock' which was most recently re-issued by Repertoire Records in 2000. It's a great, dramatic track in the mold of a Deep Purple/Uriah Heep hammond-powered epic.


01. Aunt Mary - Stop Your Wishful Thinking (1971)
       single
02. Ruphus - Coloured Dreams (1973)
       from album 'new born day'
03. The Hugger Muggers - Come On Up (1967)
       single
04. Bazar - Drabantbyrock (1974)
       from album 'drabantbyrock'
05. St. Helena - Salvase [edit] (1973)
       from bootleg 'early daze'
06. Flax - Clever Man (1976)
       from album 'one'
07. Høst - Gorobin (1976)
       from album 'hardt mot hardt'
08. Freddy Lindquist - Sundae Sellers (1970)
       from album 'menu'
09. The Vanguards - Move It (1966)
       unreleased
10. Jumbo - U.F.O. (1969)
       single
11. Rain - Whine and Wail (1970)
       from retrospective 'norsk suite'
12. The Dream - Do You Dream (1967)
       from album 'get dreamy'
13. Junipher Greene - A Spectre Is Haunting The Peninsula (1971)
       from album 'friendship'
14. Prudence - Mild Grey Fog (1972)
       from album 'tomorrow may be vanished'
15. Saft - Min (1971)
       from album 'saft'
16. Titanic - One Night In Eagle Rock (1973)
       from album 'eagle rock'

Thanks for listening! Rich.

No comp here, just a quick thanks to everyone who has been listening and supporting the blog since I started it in 2009. It continues to go from strength to strength and you can expect more of the same from me. Don't be afraid to make suggestions either; join up in the Face Book group or email me at: aftersabbath@live.co.uk

Download MP3s from: [mf]
As you know, I don't usually post modern bands on here, and I am not about to start doing so regularly as this blog has a definite theme, but as it's Christmas i'm going to do something a little out of the norm. Boston, MA's Elder are one of my favourite current bands and they were kind enough to send me an exclusive video a while back of a TV performance they recorded live in 2010. So above is the video (the band starts at about the 02:50 mark) and here is the audio that I have ripped from it in 320k and made into a live EP: Elder MP3s

I think this recording really catches their psychedelic doom sound perfectly, the guitar/bass tones are gorgeous, the psychedelic interludes are mind-frying and the riffs are infectious.

Setlist:
01. Riddle Of Steel part 1
02. Hexe
03. White Walls
04. The End
05. Dead Roots Stirring

Thanks to Elder (pages: facebook, bandcamp, LastFM) and thanks again to everyone who listens here!
Merry Christmas, Rich.

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Firstly, happy forthcoming new year to you all! Volume 82 is the third German collection I have made, after the krautrock special Vol19 and the Deutsch special Vol33. It has a bit of everything, 60's psych, hard rock/blues, krautrock and even some metallic gallop at the end. There is such a depth of quality music from this period in Germany's history you could spend a life-time looking for it all!

Apocolypse

Apocalypse, from Kiel, started life as 'Die Anderen' (trans: The Others) in 1966 (who appear here later). After becoming 'Apocalypse' in 1968, they recorded one album before splitting. One name connected to the band that most Germans will know is singer Jürgen Drews. He is now the self-appointed "King of Mallorca", a favourite holiday island of Germans, where he is a frequent entertainer. He was also in the 'Les Humphries Singers', a popular group started by an Englishman in Germany that had many singers, including John Lawton of later Uriah Heep and Lucifer's Friend fame, who will be mentioned later here. Apparently the Apocalypse album is an early production job of Giorgio Moroder, which does not surprise after hearing the quality and atmosphere of it. Thanks to 'albgardis' and his amusing review at RYM for this information. 'Life Is Your Profession' has an epic, rousing intro and ends up in some great progressive psych.

Subject ESQ.

Munich's Subject ESQ. made one album in 1972. It's a complete smörgåsbord of heavy, jazz, and Canterbury-scene flavoured prog and 'Alone' is the go-for-broke track into which they crammed as much as they could, it's totally addictive and totally great! What you get is a Deep Purple-hammond riff, in between a bunch of insane flute, harmonica, saxophone, acoustic and wood-wind segues, topped off with lyrics about a 'little bee'....Only in Germany. If you want to hear more, they morphed into 'Sahara' with some personnel changes and made two albums.

Track 3 is a thick slice of deeply lysergic psych from a mystery band apparently called 'The Uncertain Midnight'. It first appeared in the great obscure Krautrock series of comps called 'Kraut! Demons! Kraut!' and all that's known is it's an acetate that was made in Ludwigsburg, 1969.

GÄA, from Saarland, named after the Greek goddess of earth, were made up of Werner Frey (guitar, lead vocals), Helmut Heisel (bass), Günter Lackes (organ, piano, vocals), Stefan Dörr (drums, vocals), Werner Jungmann (congas, vocals) and Peter "Bello" Bell (bass, flute, vocals). They shared a couple of members with Blackbird who appeared on Vol70. They only made one album, 1974's 'Auf der Bahn zum Uranus' (trans: On the train to Uranus) and it's a shame that's all there is as it's one of the best-kept secrets in krautrock. As you can tell from the track I used here 'GÄA', they perfected long, emotive, spacey jams with ethereal guitar and flute. A one of a kind album.

'Brother T. & Family' are one of many of Hamburg's Lucifer's Friend (Vol2) related bands that popped up, along with Asterix (Vol5), Electric Food (Vol13) and Pink Mice (not heard yet). Apparently BT&F were the original LF lineup minus John Lawton, and Peter Hesslein on guitar/vox. Completing them was Dieter Horns (bass, vocals), Peter Hecht (keyboards) and Joachin Reitenbach (drums). Brother T. was the bluesiest of the bunch, it would seem that these guys' multiple bands would put them into the 'exploitation' bracket, they seem to have been attempting almost every brand of rock there was around that time and Lucifer's Friend was the one that won through with the most notoriety.

Frob

Track 6 takes us somewhere a little different, with Frob, from Rheda-Wiedenbrück. They are regarded as a very good jazz-fusion act which is not the kind of stuff I usually delve into but this track 'Spheres' caught me from their sole album. They take a break from the rest of the album and relax the frantic pace, exploring the outer-reaches with a spacey trip.

The Petards

Schrecksbach's The Petards are a recent find for me and one of those acts that i'm surprised I have not already frequently encountered in various places, as they had a few solid releases and some really great tunes. They started in the late sixties as a fairly typical freak beat/psych band but by the third album had tightened up into a frequently hard-rocking act with the psych edge remaining, they also kept a certain progressive pop side to them, all this resulted in albums that can't really be pigeon-holed easily. What ever you like, you'll find plenty worth hearing, especially on the two later albums, 'Hitshock' (1969) and 'Pet Arts' (1971). One thing I have noted, listening to them all, is the main singer's improving ability to sing with an English accent, which is almost perfect by the time they recorded 'Flame Missing Light' included here. On this long, expressive and tumultuously doomy track from the 'Pet Arts' LP they really seem to have started developing their own sound. It's a shame that they stopped after this, though they did reappear in 1981 with an album called 'Burning Rainbows' which I have not heard yet.

'Die Anderen' were mentioned here earlier, as the band that became Apocalypse. This track is taken from 1968's 'Kannibal Komix' album. Included here as a bit of fun, they were a strange mix of orchestrated pop with silly vocals and a touch of heavy psych, mostly evident on this comp's title track, 'Neurotic Reaction'. The album was issued in the US with the band name incorrectly printed as the album title. Later, the album was chosen by the US filmmaker George Moorse as soundtrack for his film “The House In White”.

Nine Days Wonder

Mannheim's 'Nine Days Wonder' have a few connections to bands I have already used. It is actually the latter name of Maternal Joy, who's excellent, tooth-rattlingly groovy b-side 'Fat' was used on the extra-heavy Vol70. They also included saxofonist/keyboardist Freddie Münster, who played on one of my all-time fave records, Night Sun's 'Mournin' (1972), an album of such mind-blowing heaviosity that, if you have not heard it yet, I recommend you stop reading this blog right now and go listen. They started in 1966, but by the time of their later albums, N.D.W. were leaving the sixties/early seventies far behind with their own unique sound. By then they had adopted elements of Bowie and Roxy Music's glam, and a certain amount of jarring, almost proto-punk attitude. Equally, they could drift off into space with tracks like Moment. No individual track from 1975's 'Only The Dancers' can really define them, from which I have taken 'Frustration', so I recommend listening to the whole thing. There is a great Nine Days Wonder interview here.

Elfenbein

There is not a lot to say about Elfenbein from Bad Homburg, Hesse. The members are listed as Jack B. Menzel (vocals, bass), Michael Dertscheny (guitar, vocals) and Clemens Müller (drums, percussion) and they made one album in 1977 with a hard rock/metallic sound, as was emerging more and more in the latter part of the 70's. They wrote 9 solid straight-ahead rockers for 'Made In Rock' which I think will be of interest to those of you who are into the emerging NWOBHM-influenced sound.


Elegy's track is the second & final song here that was brought to light by the 'Kraut! Demons! Kraut!' series. It's an awesome track with an instantly memorable riff and great flute. Here is what the liner notes have to say: "Elegy left England in order to find fame and fortune on the continent. They toured extensively around Switzerland, Bavaria and Austria, where they recorded this single for the Atom label in 1969. After this amazing mixture of Brit Prog and KRAUT  the band vanished without trace. Another great UK group that never recorded at home." This story reminds a little of Universe who I used back on Vol40.

And so nearing the end, we have Schloss. I have been unable to find a lot of info on this one-album band. One interesting thing is that they featured a drummer previously of My Solid Ground, who show up on Vol3, Vol16 and Vol42 - as you can see I like them rather a lot. These guys sound nothing like M.S.G. however, they are Germany's answer to Status Quo. So, what you get is no-nonsense, heads-down mid-paced blusey hard rock, with a hint of southern rock here and there. An interesting example of a style that was not common over there at the time. The band comprised Klaus Luley (guitar, vocals), Roger Käschner (bass) and Willi Waid (drums). The name of the album 'Weltschmerz' translates to 'world-weariness', but there seems to be some confusion about what the intended album name actually is,  I have also read that the album was self-titled as 'Schloss', let me know if you can clarify this! According to RobotsForRonnie, "...the band's self-titled debut was released in the US but went virtually unnoticed. The band fizzled by the next year, with Luley later reappearing in Tokyo, Craaft and Douglas. The post-split activities of Kaeschner and Waid are unknown."

We finish up on another band veering into metal, like Elfenbein. Hanover's Désirée played a remarkably ahead of it's time chugging brand of early metal, much more in line with the UK's NWOBHM bands like Judas Priest or Thin Lizzy than much else I have heard from Germany at the time. The singing, although in English, is an unfortunate weak point as it's quite high pitched and indistinct, and this is not helped by the basic production. But persevere and you will find some excellent galloping metal and guitar interplay. The more I listen, the more I can overcome the short-falls.

They really remind me of a one-album Anglo-German band called Cold Feet that I have used a couple of times before, back on Vol22 and Vol67.  The similarity does not stop at the sound, but also reaches to the album art which also shows a scantily-clad 'lady of the night' type character in black and white. Not an unusual theme for a band in the seventies I know, but still eerily similar taking into account the year, country and sound, I wonder if there is some connection here.... Apparently most of the original Désirée lineup are back together now in a new band called 'New Fancy'.


01. Apocalypse - Life Is Your Profession (1969)
       from album 'apocalypse'
02. Subject ESQ. - Alone (1972)
       from album 'subject esq.'
03. The Uncertain Midnight - Leaving The World (1969)
       acetate
04. GÄA - Gäa (1974)
       from album 'auf der bahn zum uranus'
05. Brother T. & Family - Oh Love (1970)
       from album 'drillin' of the rock'
06. Frob - Spheres (1976)
       from album 'frob'
07. The Petards - Flame Missing Light (1971)
       from album 'pet arts'
08. Die Anderen - Neurotic Reaction (1968)
       from album 'kannibal komix'
09. Nine Days Wonder - Frustration (1974)
       from album 'only the dancers'
10. Elfenbein - Lost Son (1977)
       from album 'made in rock'
11. Elegy - No Direction (1969)
       single
12. Schloss - Neighbourhood (1975)
       from album 'Weltschmerz'
13. Désirée - Woman (1976)
       from album 'make it with a smile'


Thanks for listening! Rich

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Welcome to TDATS 83, the Swiss special. Switzerland is not a country that crops up very often in searches so I gladly took on the challenge of finding the best hour's worth of hard, progressive and psychedelic 70's rock I could of the country. Switzerland didn't produce such a large volume of it's own music, which is understandable for a small country. Also, the country's talent blurs over it's borders, especially with Germany and Austria so it got absorbed into the great music of those, especially Germany, along with Italy and France. I presume Swiss musicians are just as likely to have ended up working in any of the four countries bordering it as at home, or further afield in Europe. I must thank the blog williamtellsguitar for giving me many pointers!

Toad

Toad, from  the City of Basel in the canton of Basel-Stadt, were one of the most skillful bands in Switzerland. They shared two members with Brainticket (mentioned later), drummer Cosimo Lampis and bassist Werner Fröhlich, but they were very different to those psychonauts. They were completed by Italian guitar wizard Vittorio "Vic" Vergeat, who has a website from which I took this snippet:"VIC VERGEAT wrote and recorded his first song at age 15 with the BLACKBIRDS, 3 years later he moved to London to record the first TOAD album, produced by MARTIN BIRCH (IRON MAIDEN, DEEP PURPLE). When TOAD returned to Switzerland, the record hit the top of the charts and with the release of TOMORROW BLUE the band established itself as one of the leading CULT group of the 70's". After Toad, Vittorio attempted a solo career which didn't work out, but he's continued to play in various other bands and still does now, including The Vic Vergeat Band. For this comp I have used 'No Need', taken from their second album, 'Tomorrow Blue', which is a great example of how naturally Vittorio could peel off those blazing blues licks.

Spot

Spot were Pavlo Pendaki (vocals, keyboards), John Woolloff (lead guitar, vocals), Andre Jungo (bass) and Philippe Dubugnon (drums). They made one album in 1971 that was limited to only 450 copies so it is very collectible  Their most obvious influence was Led Zep, though that is not particularly obvious in the track I chose here, "Oh What A Day', the heaviest of the album which was equally full of folky ballads and not really a 'must have', although I did dig about four tracks on it. The track I chose here, 'Oh What a Day' is definitely a good'n, it has an excellent hammond-powered riff with that awesome sludgy 70's sound.

Round House

Something a bit different now, Zurich's Round House were an ensemble with a wind section that were comparable to Chicago in that slightly jazzy, soul-rock kind of way. Not a type of band I include often, but they did have a lot of insistent groovy riffs in the mix which is why I also used them back on Vol60: Brassrock Special. They only recorded two albums and 'Alchemy Is Good For You' is taken from their second, 1972's 'Down To Earth'.

Although their name and album art would have you think they were a hard rock band, Zurich's Krokodil had roots in blues rock and soon began to take on psychedelic trappings, although they could also rock out if they wanted. They came to be regarded as part of the krautrock sound, with their frequent extended trips like Linger, which has tablas and sitars melting into harmonica, exposing their blues heritage. The track I used, 'Rabatz', is from their fourth album 'Getting Up For The Morning', which has a pretty awful cover depicting the band in seductive poses just waking up in bed, but it comes out looking like a bunch of junkies waking up for their first fix of the day haha.

Kedama

Kedama made a limited number of their only self-made album 'Live at Sunrise Studios', and it certainly has the feel of a one-session live set, which is impressive as it's fairly complex prog. It's mostly lead by the considerable keyboard skills of Richard Rothenberger, who produces a staggering range of sounds from a big keyboard rig (see photo - and there is a great photo archive here). Richard uses mellowtron and all manner of sounds, but it all works and never feels like too much as the extended song lengths give each passage time to develop fully, and it's all equally backed up by Christian Linder's Fripp-like guitar and Peter Suter's subtle drumming. A really great album that I think will be of interest to post-rock fans and those who like long experimantal instrumentals, the track I used here, 'Finale', is almost like one album condensed into 12 minutes, and is the kind of thing that retro-prog bands like Zombi and Titan are trying to hark back to.

The best way to present the doomy single from Zurich's Mother Sunday is to use the exclusive interview with keyboardist/singer André Lehman that I found on this blog: "Mother Sunday was formed in ca. 1969 under the name “The Juice”. We consisted of a guitar player by the name of Gégé, a drummer whose name I cannot remember and myself on keyboards and vocals. Our repertoire consisted of current chart hits cover versions and we were a very busy band on the weekends with three to five halfhour gigs in different locations a night. We never had a permanent bass player, always guests, once even a young girl by the name of Heidi.

By 1970 a new bass player joined as a guest, his name was Michel. He was a real crazy hippie with extremely long hair and he introduced us to “substances” to open our minds. LSD changed our attitude to music instantly and from there we were open minded to experimental live jam music. 
At the time in Zurich (Switzerland) there was a rock club in the old part of the city called “Star Club”. Many later great worldwide success acts played three 45 minute sets every evening for three weeks on a very small stage like “Spooky Tooth” “The Nice” and “Black Sabbath”. We hung out with the Black Sabbath guys a great deal and started to get into the dark groove musically. That’s when we changed our name to Mother Sunday and from then on the days of covering chart material were over. We went creative. Our repertoire built up on a general tune but always with open improvisations during gigs all depending on our state of mind. Soon a fan base of like minded people developed and followed us to wherever we went to play. 
The line up was Rolf Sydler (16 at the time!) on drums, Michel Leuenberger on bass, and me André Lehman on keyboards and vocals. We toured the country a lot and also did many gigs in southern germany and western france and played quite a few high profile open air festivals.
In 1971 we were offered a deal for a single by Moon Records, the owner being a good friend and the drummer of Sysiphos, a great experimental swiss band!!! The single reached the “BLICK” top ten in Switzerland for a couple of weeks.

The band stayed together for another two years doing many gigs but things went downhill when the parents of the drummer were so concerned about their sons health or sanity or whatever you want to call it and basically lured him out of the band with money and fancy cars etc. We auditioned many potential replacements over months but since we were such a close knit outfit we were unable to find and therefore split up.

After that, I got involved in the music industry and for over 30 years I headed record companies, owned a record company, produced many bands etc. I now try to live a quiet life here in Ireland and have again found the time to go back to my musical roots by producing my own stuff at home for my own pleasure or for the pleasure of those who are interested."

Tusk's single, from 1970, was one of the first ever Swiss hard rock releases. They included guitarist Volker Armand and keyboardist Philippe Kienholz who would both go on to join Tea, another well-regarded Swiss band. 'Child of my Kingdom' reached number 7 in the charts so must have been many Swiss kid's first introduction to hard rock, excellent, and it's a great song too! I found and translated some Tusk information from this wiki: "The hard rock group Tusk was founded in 1969 in Zurich and had their first gig at the supposedly fourth October 1969 as the opening act for Deep Purple at the Casino in Montreux on "Super Pop Montreux". In the summer of 1970 came with the Single Tusk Child of my kingdom until number 7 in the Swiss charts. The band captivated by an oriented Deep Purple sound and by their charismatic singer Ernst "Fögi" Voegeli , who Mick Jagger was taken as a model and was putting on a proper stage show. He caused a sensation but also, above all, because he did not conceal his being gay. "Fögi was a hero, a pioneer, a revolutionary", novelist Frank Martin said later."

Brainticket

Half-way, and we get taken deep into the helix by Basel's Brainticket. They were started by Joel Vandroogenbroecka, a Belgian jazz piano prodigy who started the band after inspiration from the likes of Amon Düül II, Can and Tengerine Dream. It's been said that listening to Brainticket is the closest you can get to an altered mindstate without smoking or popping anything. They suffered a lot of censorship due to the perception of their connection with drugs, which admittedly they didn't do much to avoid;  They labelled their debut album, 'Cottonwoodhill', with the tag-line "Only listen once a day to this record. Your brain might be destroyed”. Brainticket have announced more performances in 2013, including the famous SXSW festival in Texas and a tour with founding├┤awkVVind member Nik Turner, along with some punk luminaries.

After Shave

Along with Toad, Bienne's After Shave were one of the only notable Swiss hard rock bands to recorded decent albums. They were different to Toad in that they had less guitar flash and a gruntier, heavier sound. Think Budgie rather than Cream. I like the 1972 debut album, Skin Deep',  so much that I used 'Near The Sun' way back on Vol10, and in writing for this volume I just discovered they made a second album in 1974 that was never officially released, apparently due to a studio bill dispute. I have managed to track down the second album, 'Strange Feeling', in mp3. So, along with a track from the first, 'Skin Deep', I include the final track from the second album; 'Skip The Race'. There is a great bio of the band here, from which I learn't that just after signing an English singer, Barry James Brown, they were all set to be signed by EMI-england on the strength of a new single 'So You're Gone Away'. At the final hour EMI dropped them as they decided the song was too similar to a successful single they had just released by the new english band 10cc. This dealt a death strike to the band, though excellent guitarist Pierre-Alain Kessi has remained in music and won awards as one of Switzerland's best.

Ertlif

Basel's Ertlif are up next. They made one self-titled, privately released semi-hard prog album in 1972 with lots of Procul Harum style organ work. It is reasonably consistent throughout with decent vocals from Richard John Rusinski, sung in English. This is a very early Swiss prog release, one of the first in fact. My favourite tracks of theirs are 'Plastic Queen', which is only available as a bonus on re-issues and 'The Song' which is an original track from the album. The band are apparently still a going concern and they have a recently updated site with a biography in Swiss at http://www.ertlif.ch/bandstory.html, and there is some more info at Alex Gitlin's site.

Krokus

Track 12 comes from Pacific Sound, with mournful organ work. You can read a little about them back in Vol73 when I used them previously, and on to our penultimate track from Solothurn's Krokus. They started out with an identity crisis, their self-titled debut in 1976 was a full-on prog rock album with a budget Roger Dean rip-off cover to boot. The second album was more in the style of classic hard rock like Deep Purple, and from the third on wards, 1978's 'Pain Killer' (Swiss title, aka. 'Pay It In Metal' elsewhere) they took it upon them selves to become Switzerland's answer to AC/DC. As the imagery of Heavy Metal exploded in the 80's they took it in and the AC/DC sound turned on to Metal, they reached enough notoriety to have their song 'Eat The Rich' covered by Motorhead.

Lear

The compilation ends with a mysterious band called Lear. There was a series of releases called 'Swiss Rock History' in the 90's, Lear was the subject of Volume 1, a band called Taurus was in Vol 3, though I'm dammed if I can find out who Volume 2 was. The Lear material has strong female vocals, great guitar and nice driving Hammond organ. Quite an unusual setup for this county. If anybody can shed any more light on this band then please drop me a line, I do not even know what year these Lear recordings were made, the vague period of 1969-79 is stated from what I've seen so far.


01. Toad - No Need (1972)
       from album 'tomorrow blue'
02. Spot - Oh What A Day (1971)
       from album 'spot'
03. Round House - Alchemy Is Good For You (Don't You Know It) (1972)
       from album 'down to earth'
04. Krokodil - Rabatz (1972)
       from album 'getting up in the morning'
05. Kedama - Finale (1976)
       from album 'live at sunrise studio'
06. Mother Sunday - Midnight Graveyard (1971)
       single
07. Tusk - Child Of My Kingdom (1970)
       single
08. Brainticket - Black Sand (1970)
       from album 'cottonwoodhill'
09. After Shave - Skin Deep (1972)
       from album 'skin deep'
10. After Shave - Skip The Race (1974)
       from album 'strange feeling'
11. Ertlif - Plastic Queen (1972)
       from album 'ertlif'
12. Pacific Sound - The Drug Just Told Me (1971)
       from album 'forget your dream'
13. Krokus - Werewolf (1978)
       from album 'pain killer' (aka. 'pay it in metal')
14. Lear - Good Bye People (1979)
       from album 'swiss rock history vol. 1'

On Saturday 15th of September 2012, Scott Sroka (aka DJ Cheesus) dedicated another 'Electric Lounge of Aural Ecstasy' show on Core of Destruction Radio to a 3 hour Day After The Sabbath tribute, having transmitted his first tribute (to the first 39 volumes) on the 25th August, which I posted here.

Scott, currently living in São Paulo, Brazil, has been presenting on Core of Destruction for over a year. He was a contributor to the excellent stoner rock community blog 'Sludge Swamp', that sadly closed its doors a while ago. Sludge Swamp helped me out in making a name for TDATS back when I started doing this, and also hosted demos for a few of the New Zealand bands that are joined up on the forum I started up when I was over there: www.stonerdoom.co.nz.


For this second show he chose at random one track from each of the volumes between 40 and 75, and played them all along with cool commentary, after having made a great job on some extra research with assistance from co-host Stargazer. Here it is in three 1 hour parts: download from [mf] or [mg].

First Hour:
01. Charlie & Esdor - Fuck The Cops
02. The Dog That Bit People - The Monkey and the Sailor
03. Modrý Efekt & Radim Hladík - Armageddon
04. Coloured Balls - Heavy Metal Kid
05. Módulo 1000 - Nao Fale Com Paredes
06. Oz Knozz - Peanut Butter Yoni
07. Francois Wertheimer - L'automne
08. Three Man Army - Polecat Woman
09. The Funkees - Breakthrough
10. October Cherries - Are You Ready
11. Birtha - Free Spirit
12. Wicked Lady - Why Don't You Let Me Try Your P.C.P
13. Andromeda - Return To Sanity [Alt. mix]

Second Hour:
14. The Soul Bros. Inc. - Girl In The Hot Pants
15. Three Dog Night - Fire Eater
16. Band Of Light - The Cat
17. Goodthunder- Barking At The Ants
18. Love Sculpture - Nobody's Talking
19. The Twilighters - Nothing Can Bring Me Down
20. Sex - Had To Rape Her
21. Pugsley Munion - Take My Soul
22. Blood, Sweat & Tears - Go Down Gamblin'
23. Esperanto - On Down The Road
24. Nautilus - 20,000 Miles Under The Sea
25. Incredible Hog - Tadpole

Third Hour:
26. Sandy Coast - Shipwreck
27. Swampgas - Eulogy
28. Stepson - Suffer
29. White Boy & the Average Rat Band - Leaving Tonight On Vacation
30. Neil Merryweather - Road To Hades / Escape
31. Eden Rose - On The Way to Eden
32. Message - Smile
33. 6 Feet Under - What Would You Do?
34. System - While Nixon Plays The Piano
35. The Trip - Caronte [Part 1]
36. Frijid Pink - End Of The Line

Scott's 'Electric Lounge of Aural Ecstasy' show is on Core of Destruction every Saturday 12 pm PST / 2 pm CST (us)/ 3 pm EST (us) / 8pm GMT / 9pm CET. Here is a blog where you can download all of his previous shows: http://theelectriclounge.blogspot.co.uk

Many thanks to Scott and I look forward to the third part! The next TDATS is coming very soon and will be a Brazilian special....
Stay tuned....Rich.

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I first dug in to Latin American bands back on Vol43:'Transfusión de Luz'. That one ended up using mostly Argentinean bands, a country that certainly had more than it's fair share of heavies! This new volume is the result of my searches for Brazilian bands, and it's been a lot of fun doing it. I had a few left over from 43, and it was TDATS reader Diego de Almeida who recently encouraged me to finish it by sending a few more band names. What I've found is that there were not a lot of Brazilians at any time in the 70s that set out to make the heavier kind of stuff I usually look for. The country did apparently have more than it's fair share of beat & mersey-sound copy cats in the 60s, and lots of great psychedelic singles were produced, and the prevailing sounds of the 70s were the Tropicália and MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) acts rather than anglo/euro/US influenced rock and prog.

I guess you could say that Brazil's Tropicália scene was comparable to Germany's 'Krautrock', being that it was intertwined with the emergent avant-garde counterculture of the young generation. It reminds me of Norway's 'Trønderrock' (see Vol81) and Sweden's 'Progg' (see Vol75) movements, with it's frequent use of traditional and folk music. It also faced Brazil's socio-political turmoil and like Franco's Spain, was up against a dictatorship's attempts at censorship. Two of it's leaders, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, were arrested by Brazil's military regime and forced into exile in London. According to RYM, the record 'Tropicália ou Panis et Circencis' represented an important coming-together of musicians in 1968 that helped establish the scene.

Naná Vasconcelos

As I often like to do, I have book-ended this collection with a couple of novelties. Track one, 'No Norte do Polo Sul' (1972), sets the mood with some traditional Brazilian sounds from a percussionist called Naná Vasconcelos who was born in Pernambuco. It also includes the guitar skills of Nelson Angelo. Naná spent a lot of time in New York where he worked with many names including Brian Eno. He specialised in the traditional Brazilian berimbau and he has been frequently honoured for his work; named as Percussionist Of The Year by Down Beat jazz magazine many times.

Rio de Janeiro's O Terço (trans:'The Rosery') formed in 1968 and became one of the first Brazilian progressive rock groups. By their second album, the record of theirs which is most interesting to to me, they were veering from folk to heavier sounds and the track I used, 'Deus', is a great piece of doomy psych with a mellon collie atmosphere. Flavio Venturini (keyboards, vocals) and Sergio Magrão (bass, vocals) left in 1976 and joined '14 Bis', who I checked out but was not so impressed by.

O Terço

Going off on a bit of a tangent here, there were actually two 70s Brazilian bands called '14 Bis'. The other was an apparently unrelated band that only recorded one single, a few years before the formation of the O Terço spin-off. The name seems to have been taken from the name of an early bi-plane invented by Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont, which you can read about here.

Lar de Maravilha

São Paulo's Casa das Máquinas was started by Luiz Franco Thomaz, aka 'Netinho' of the 60s band Os Incríveis, the act that also contributed a member to Som Nosso de Cada Dia (coming up soon). They made a few hard-ish tracks like this comp's namesake, 'Liberdade Espacial' which has a nice'n groovy riff. Over-all they were not a particularly heavy or consistent band, and they tended to change their sound over their three albums with almost every song. I found the second album to be the most interesting of their three, and it's where we find our track, which for them, is an unusually straight-forward rocker. The rest of 'Lar de Maravilhas' is quite experimental and atmospheric, swathed in moog. It is regarded as a classic originator in Brazilian prog, thought it is not doing anything new for 1975, it's one of the better examples from the country.

The Kris Kringle LP 'Sodom' has some of the earliest examples of hard rock from the country. It was apparently recorded by a Sao Paulo band that was originally called Memphis, which consisted of José Eduardo França Pontes (aka Dudu França or Eduardo França), Marco Antonio F. "Nescau" Cardoso (bass), Cláudio Callia keyboardist), Alberto Niccoli Jr. (drums) and Juvir M. "Xilo" Moretti (guitar). França seems to have been involved in a lot of music and he has his own wiki page here, which says that Memphis also recorded under the names ‘Joe Bridges’, ‘Beach Band‘ and ‘Baby Joe’, so they could be seen as something of an exploitation band.

Dudu França

The track I used here, 'Sarabande' (a dance that uses a specific type of rhythm), is one of about four heavy cuts from the Kris Kringle record, another good one being 'What You Want'. Yet another name Memphis played under was 'The Clocks', who's 1973 s/t album is not as exciting as Kris Kringle. It's better-produced, but mainly predictable, pedestrian pop and rock'n roll. The final cut 'Rock and roll' (Velvet Underground cover) is quite good, with some harder moments.

Som Imaginário

Rio de Janeiro's Som Imaginário (Translation: 'Imaginary Sound') achieved good success in Brazil and made three varied and musically excellent albums between 1970 and 1973. They originally got together as the backing band for MPB star Milton Nascimento, and a particular show he put on called "Milton Nascimento, ah, e o Som Imaginário" which is where they took their name from afterwards. Milton was a singer/song writer who is still making music now. They consisted of Wagner Tiso (keyboards), Zé Rodrix (organ/percussion/vocals, flute), Robertinho Silva (drums), Tavito (12-string guitar), Luís Alves (bass), Laudir de Oliveira (percussion), Toninho Horta (guitar) and Nivaldo Ornelas (saxophone). I have used a track called 'Ué' (trans:'Huh') from their second album, 1971's self-titled, not to be mistaken for their 1970 debut, which was confusingly also self-titled. I love the way it starts out in a joyous, celebratory manner which is juxtaposed by the grinding fuzzy riffage that it ends in, brilliant.

Gal Costa

According to AllBrazilMusic they participated in a 1971 short film called 'Nova Estrela' (trans:'New Star') which also included Gal Costa, a famous Salvador pop star who's music crossed over into Tropicália, and on tracks like 'Cultura e Civilizacao', into psychedelia. Thanks to TDATS reader Thalita Santos, firstly for sending me some bands to check out, also for helping me out with some of the translations for this article, and for sending me a link to André José Adler; the director's blog that has a long account in Portuguese regarding Nova Estrala, and the early history of Som Imaginário. Here is a Google-translated extract of his thinking behind the film: "My idea was to start with images of the group accompanying Gal (she stumbled take part in, that was all I needed) and then explode in the progression of music for free outdoor shots. In beautiful places where I was going with Luiz Fernando and Luli. Of course the Cinematography had to be by Luiz. everybody agreed the idea, including Milton Nascimento. I listened the song countless times, with the text of Fredera, At one point needed a beautiful woman, a magical figure to give it a 'Iemanjá' because the pictures the would be very sea. She would make the offering (which was neatly armed by my brother George) would vanish and the sea itself. And had to have a child that would be the very expression of a new star. Easy, Tania Scher and her daughter Claudia who was 2 years old and was a magical sweetness."

A Bolha - Sem Nada EP (1971)

Track 6's O Bando, from São Paulo, made one album of progressive psychedelic pop with a horn section and a female singer; Marisa Fossa. The opening instrumental included here, 'É assim falava Mefistófeles' (trans:'Thus spoke Mephistopheles') sounds like crazy chase scene music and it's a lot of fun! A Bolha (Trans: 'The Bubble'), another band from Rio de Janeiro, made two albums from '73-'77, but the track I have used is from a 1971 3-track EP. They must have been taking more robust dietary supplements when they made it as it's the heaviest, most lysergic record they made, before falling foul to the later-70s trend for a more commercial, cleaner sound on their two albums.

São Paulo's Beatniks made a 4-track Ep in 1968 (one is tempted to ask if there were any countries that didn't have a freak-beat band with that name!) which included the obligatory Hendrix cover, this time being Fire. I have used the final track from it, Beatniks original 'Alligator Hat'. It's a rip-roaring, mad performance full of silly singing and all the better for it. They have perfectly caught that raw, in-your-face fuzz sound (maybe mono recording helps this?) that perfectly exemplifies the naive, reckless abandon of the late 60s. There is a good account of The Beatniks here.

Perfume Azul do Sol - Nascimento (1974)

Half way and time for a chill-out. São Paulo's Perfume Azul do Sol (trans:'Blue Perfume Of The Sun') made one album in 1974, and they introduce some great plaintive vocals and (in some other tracks) piano, from songstress Ana Maria. It's a nice song and the album 'Nascimento' (trans:'Birth') is a good listen, it's like west coast psych with a latin feel. They included guitarist/bassist Pedro "Pedrão" Baldanza who was also in 'Som Nosso de Cada Dia', appearing later in this comp. The band was completed by Benvindo (acoustic guitar, vocals), Jean (electric guitar, backing vocals) and Gil (drums). It is very hard to find any more information on this rarity other than that which is given on this excellent blog, 'Brazilian Nuggets', which is where I came across it.

Rock da Mortalha

A rare departure from the fuzz and prog; we reach track 10 and it's time for some Heavy Metal! So far this is the only Brazilian band I have come across playing this heavy in the 70s. According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, a handful of metal bands did form in the late 70s but none recorded until the 80s. Rock da Mortalha has been revealed on a few blogs in recent years, though it took me a while to source the mp3s as all the links are dead. From the Ipiranga district of São Paulo, Orlando Lui (Bass and Vocals) and Mark Baccas (Guitar and Vocals) first called themselves 'The Bizimbetas'. They evolved into a metallic band and found a drummer named Julinho. Wearing the requisite metal garb of black robes, audiences recount their strong theatrical stage presence. Their only available recording thus-far is a bootleg of a show reportedly made around 1976. I have had trouble extracting and translating useful/reliable information from what I have found so I will leave you to read more on three sites, here, here and here. There is even a facebook group for the band, here. Although the track I included, ‘Satânico Estripador’ (trans:'Satanic Ripper'), is a very basic recording, it’s easy to hear the potential they had and how different they are to anything else on this comp. Mick Mullen has done another awesome job of remastering this track for me, after having helped out on Vol75 and Vol81. If you'd like to hear the improvements he has made, have a listen to the original, and his studio services contact details can be found here.

Loyce e Os Gnomes

The Loyce e Os Gnomes track is available on a compilation called 'Brazilian Fuzz Bananas' which describes the band as coming from Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. The performers names are listed as Loyce, Massaro, Fael, Raphael (guitar), Nile and Padulla. The track was originally included on a 4-track EP called 'O Despertar dos Mágicos'. Translated, that is 'The Dawn of Magic', which was a cult 60s book by two french journalists that was popular in hippie culture. I found an account of it which seems to have been written by someone who's first language is not English, so here it is in entirety, make of it what you can: "From Von Daniken to Dan Brown, they have all used this book as a source.Wittingly or unwittingly, The Dawn of Magic was the cult book of the 60s. Bergier and Pauwels were two French Journalists who practically invented the genre of Aliens visiting earth, to the legend The Holy Grail. The Priory of Sion. 


Rosicrusions and The Bavarian Illuminati. Its all came from this book. Bergier and Pauwels were two right wing French journos who some how managed to get access to the French National Archives. They forged documents in relation the Priory of Sion to support their political agenda , which was to undermine the left and the communists in post war France by alleging that Mary Magdalene came to France in the 1st century AD bringing with her the child of christ.That the Merovingians protected her descendants and the Royal Family of France was related by blood to the Royal family of Davis through Christ! I know it sounds strange so please read the book". There is also more information here and here. As Dusted Magazine's review describes the track 'Que é Isso?' (trans:'What is That?'),  it is a very early example of nihilistic Brazilian fuzz and I love the dragging, shuffling pace. This is what good psych is all about, stretching out time... another particularly good track on that comp is 'God Save The Queen', by a very obscure one-single-only band called '14 Bis', which I will use at some point in the future. As mentioned previously, one of two Brazilian bands with that name.

Os Novos Baianos

We take another departure from the fuzz for a band called Os Novos Baianos. They were a classic 'MPB' band (short for 'Música Popular Brasileira'), a genre that was initially approved of by Brazil's military government because they saw it as a patriotic alternative the the influence of the rock and pop music invasion from abroad; it stuck to Portuguese lyrics and retained a lot of traditional identity. The track I have used is very cool, and something of a departure from their usual sound. After forming in Bahia they moved to Rio de Janeiro and after their successful second album, 'Acabou Chorare', the whole band moved to live communally on a farm. They usually played with acoustic and traditional instruments, but from time to time would use electric guitars. What I like is that on the electrics it becomes apparent, even to my hard rock-battered ears, what talented and tight musicians they were. You can hear it with this track I used from their 1976 album, 'Caia na Estrada e Perigas Ver' (rough trans:'Hit The Road and Face the Peril').

Som Nosso de Cada Dia

Formed in 1970 in São Paulo, Som Nosso de Cada Dia (trans:'Our Daily Sound') aimed for progressive rock with elements of psychedelia. They had many members; Manito (keyboards, horns), Pedrão (guitar, bass), Pedrinho (drums), Egídio Conde (guitar), Marcinha, Dino Vicente Rangel, but played as a trio most of the time. Saxophonist Manito, was in the 'Os Incríveis' (trans:'The Incredibles') in the 60s, one of the most popular beat groups. The album 'Snegs' (1975), is considered one of the classics of Brazilian rock and they once opened a show for Alice Cooper in Maracanãzinho. 'Bicho do Mato' opens with a some strong hammond organ which gives way to moog.

Blow Up's 2nd album (1971)

São Paulo's Blow Up were originally known as The Black Cats. They made two albums as 'Blow Up' (both self-titled), named after Michelangelo Antonioni's cult 60s movie, which have become highly collectible. From what I can gather they went through the usual problems of a struggling band. They had some success with a couple of singles, one of which was a soft ballad called 'Rainbow' in 1976. Included on this compilation, it was used on a TV series called 'Anjo Mau' (Bad Angel). They did not capitalize on this for various reasons and the band has existed as a live covers act since then. The track I have used, from the 2nd album, is by far the stand-out on what is otherwise a very soft pop album (as is the first) which does have some fuzz guitar here and there. 'Tá Cozendo o Tempo' (trans:'Time to Bake') is a nice example of some psychedelia influenced pop with samba flavour. Thanks again to Brazilian Nuggets for this information and if you can read Portuguese I'm sure you will be able to decipher a lot more useful information from here.

Módulo 1000

Módulo 1000 are one of the better-known bands here. Even though they only made one record it is definitely one of the best from that time in the country. Considering that Brazilian prog rock was next to non-existent in 1970, and this is the band's first album, it is impressively rich and it’s clear the band were listening to and taking notice of what was happening in experimental progressive/heavy rock around the world. There is a comprehensive interview with guitarist Daniel Cardona Romani and Luiz Paulo Simas (organ, piano, vocals) here. In that interview he explains, what is also very clear from listening to the album, that they were directly influenced by Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. This may not be such an unusual choice of influences, but I can safely say that it was unique for a Brazilian band in that year and the album is consistently good. As such, it's definitely one of the first in this comp that you should investigate further and it's a great shame the band did not exist long enough to release any more albums. They did however record a single under the name 'Love Machine', called 'The Cancer Stick / Waitin' for Tomorrow'.

Joelho de Porco

São Paulo's Joelho de Porco (trans:'Pork Knee' or 'Pig's Knee') is regarded as one of the first Brazilian bands with an overtly 'punk' attitude. While the music was not particularly so on the debut LP I have used here, the lyrics are said to have been in the socio-politically conscious vein of other proto punk attitude bands like Australia's Sky Hooks (Vol80) or the UK's Third World War (Vol42). The band broke up after a 2nd album but founder Tico Terpins reformed it in 1983 with the addition of Zé Rodrix, mentioned earlier as an original member of Som Imaginário. Argentine rocker-come-punk Billy Bond moved to Brazil and also worked with Tico in the late 70s. Apparently Tico joined 'Billy Bond and the Jets', but I am unable to translate well enough to tell how much involvement Billy had in Joelho de Porco. Though he is listed as a member on RYM, this may have been later on in the 80s. The track I used here, 'Aeroporto de Congonhas', brings some welcome glam quirkiness, with it's unusual dynamics and dramatic shifts in rhythm.

O Peso - Em Busca Do Tempo Perdido LP

Rio de Janeiro's O Peso (trans: 'The Weight') made one album in 1975. It's a very anglo american-worshiping rock'n roll/blues based record called 'Em Busca do Tempo Perdido' (trans:'In Search of Lost Time'). They were Luiz Carlos Porto (vocals), Gabriel O'Meara (guitar), Constant Papineau (piano), Carlos Scart (bass) and Carlos Graça (drums). It's not very heavy so I'd hesitate to call it hard rock, though a couple of tracks are almost there, these are of course my faves. 'Não Sei de Nada' (included here, trans:'I do not know anything') has a great riff all the way through with Robert Plant-like vox, and 'Lucifer' has some agreeably Lynyrd Skynyrdian guitar. The playing is good, and the vocal performance is impassioned through-out but the record's lack of identity is given away by the fact it has all the cliches ticked-off; the ballad, the slow blues/harmonica one (called 'Blues'!), the acoustic one, the heavy one etc...these guys could have been much better with more direction and focus as the musical chops on display are more than good enough.

Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti

The closer is from a band that was fronted by Brazilian star Rita Lee, who made a few albums with a glam rock backing band called Tutti Frutti. '...Tem uma Cidade' (trans:'...There is a city') is the fade-out final track from Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti's 1974 album 'Atrás Do Porto Tem Uma Cidade' (trans:'Behind the port there is a city') and a nice way to end in some moody fuzz, although it is not indicative of the rest of the album which doesn't really fall in to TDATS territory. Tutti Frutti made a Rita-less album in 1980, which is nothing to write home about. Rita came to fame as a singer in São Paulo's 'Os Mutatntes', one of Brazil's most famous and influential bands. They were not a heavy band in general but they mixed things up a lot, often employing fuzz. They came out with a few heavy nuggets like the track 'A Hora E a Vez Do Cabelo Nascer', which Brazilian thrash metal titans Sepultura covered! After Rita split in 1973 to strike out on her own, they became 'Mutantes' and updated their sound with some heavier prog like 'Cidadão Da Terra'.

Os Mutantes

'Os Mutantes' started very young in the mid-60s and had an eclectic approach which was fostered by respect for The Beatles, in particular. They'd plenty of native flavour; they are regarded as part of the 'Tropicália' movement, mixing Brazilian culture with foreign arts, poetry and music (especially African), avant-garde and populist alike. This came about after they met Gilberto Gil (mentioned earlier), a musician and spokesman for the movement who was for a period exiled by Brazil's military government, but would later serve as Brazil's Minister of Culture from 2003 to 2008.

An interesting coincidence that I have noticed in the bunch of bands I used here is that no less than three of them chose to make both of their first two albums self-titled, thus they had the same names; O Terço, Som Imaginário and Blow Up. Of course, I've noticed bands have done this before, but three within this collection is strange! As bands must be aware that this is bound to cause problems and mistakes for people trying to order/buy or differentiate between their records, especially back in the pre-information age, it makes you wonder why they (or maybe their labels) did it.

This ties in with another thing I noticed about a lot of the Brazilian bands I listened to while choosing for this volume; despite them all being technically very good musicians, they tended to be unsure of what over-all sound they were aiming for, they lacked direction over an album, or over their range of albums. The result being that the style a band chose from song to song could vary wildly, to the point where they sounded like different bands playing them; often it was clear to me that a band might for instance have been thinking, "right, this one will be our Deep Purple rocker, this one will be our blues song, this one will be our soft pop hit-maker, and this one will be our wah wah-filled Hendrixy one etc....you get my drift. I can offer no explanation why this has been more apparent with the Brazilain bands I studied, maybe there's just an eclectic, restless nature to Brazilians!

To get back to my first point, it seems to back up the idea that they were consciously re-inventing themselves from song to song or album to album, and so they called their second album by the same name as the first, as though the first album had never happened. Please feel free to comment on this, and please let me know if you do not agree with me here too! Eclectic or not, I love all the tracks I have chosen here so enjoy, and adeus for now!

Tracks:

01. Naná Vasconcelos - No Norte do Polo Sul (1972)
       from album 'africadeus-n.angelo-novelli'
02. O Terço - Deus (1972)
       from 2nd album 'o terço'
03. Casa das Máquinas - Liberdade Espacial (1975)
       from album 'lar de maravilhas'
04. Kris Kringle - Sarabande (1971)
       from album 'sodom'
05. Som Imaginário - Ué (1971)
       from 2nd album 'som imaginário'
06. O Bando - ...É assim falava Mefistófeles (1969)
       from album 'o bando'
07. A Bolha - Sem Nada (1971)
       single
08. Beatniks - Alligator Hat (1968)
       single
09. Perfume Azul do Sol - 20000 Raios de Sol (1974)
       from album 'nascimento'
10. Rock da Mortalha - Satânico Estripador (1976)
       live bootleg
11. Loyce e Os Gnomes - Que é Isso? (1969)
       single
12. Novos Baianos - Barra Lúcifer (1976)
       from album 'caia na estrada e perigas ver'
13. Som Nosso de Cada Dia - Bicho do Mato (1975)
       from album 'snegs'
14. Blow Up - Tá Cozendo o Tempo (1971)
       from 2nd album 'blow up'
15. Módulo 1000 - Salve-se Quem Puder (1970)
       from album 'não fale com paredes'
16. Joelho de Porco - Aeroporto de Congonhas (1976)
       from album 'são paulo - 1554 / hoje'
17. O Peso - Eu Não Sei de Nada (1975)
       from album 'em busca do tempo perdido'
18. Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti - ...Tem uma Cidade (1974)
       from album 'atrás do porto tem uma cidade'