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This is a re-issue of Volume 34, a New Zealand special I did some time ago that has been unavailable for a long time. I have added an extra track, another from The La De Da's, and a lot more information on the bands. A special thanks must go to Bruce Sergent who's site has an amazing directory of NZ rock. I have also improved the cover art, it's a portrait by NZ artist Charles Goldie (1870-1947) of Tāmati Wāka Nene, a successful Maori chief who was influential in affairs during the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. I still get a lot of requests to re-up this so here it is, and it has spurred me into action to look at New Zealand again...I have another hour's worth of new tracks now so expect the second NZ volume very soon indeed! If you are are interested in things Antipodean, check out the two Australian volumes I have done so far; 21 and 80.

Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival

Being a remote country with small population, the scene's pool of talent tends to blend with larger countries like Australia, America and the UK, where many artists were drawn to further their prospects for success. While there was very little of the heavier stuff I usually look for around in NZ at the time, there was plenty of good-ol' rock and roll, and certainly a number of guitarists influenced by Hendrix. It turns out one of most aggressive tracks here is one of the oldest, in Bluestar's 60s punky psych anthem 'Social End Product'. Similarly to Australia, the Yes/Genesis styles of progressive rock were very rare too. The closest examples I have found so far were Living Force (on here) and two more; Airlord and Think who will both be on the next NZ volume. Due to it's secluded location it often took a long time for the heavier, less-commercial sounds to filter down, many big 70s artists like Led Zep and Sabbath had been established for years before they first visited the country to play live.

The first major outdoor event, The Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival, was not until 1973, but it was a good one....with Black Sabbath and Fairport Convention as the big international head-liners. Two of the artists appearing in this comp were also there, The Human Instinct's Billy TK (with The Powerhouse) and The La De Da's, along with others that I will include in the next NZ comp; Butler and Mammal. Ticket (on this comp) were billed but apparently didn't play, according to Wikipedia: "Ticket never appeared. They were scheduled to appear and to tour Australia and Canada with Black Sabbath but singer Trevor Tombleson had a throat infection and guitarist Eddie Hansen's 'beloved yellow rig' was blown up by Sabbath's guitarist [Tony Iommi] who was using it onstage without permission. Hansen refused to go on after that."

A quote from JPJ audio's site, who appear to have worked on the stage sound: "The Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival was held over 3 days. between the 6th and 8th of January 1973. It was the first major music festival held in New Zealand and attracted over 18,000 people. The venue, a farm about 3km north of the town centre, was a a natural amphitheatre and a perfect outdoor rock concert venue". Young festival promoter, Barry Coburn, recounts memories of Black Sabbath in an NZ Herald article here and the full-size poster can be seen here.

Tracks

01. Jesse Harper - Midnight Sun [edit] (1969)
       from album 'guitar absolution in the shadow of a midnight sun'
02. Ticket - Awake (1972)
       from album 'awake'
03. Dave Miller/Leith Corbett and Friends - 353527 Charles (1970)
       from album 'reflections of a pioneer'
04. The Underdogs - It's a Blessing (1970)
       from album 'wasting our time'
05. The La De Da's - How Is The Air Up There? (1966)
       from album "la de da's"
06. The La De Da's - The Place (1973)
       from album 'rock and roll sandwitch'
07. Space Farm - Space Farm (1972)
       from album 'Space farm'
08. Timberjack - Come to the Sabbat (1971)
       single
09. Farmyard - All In Your Mind (1971)
       from album 'back to fronting'
10. The Bluestars - Social End Product (1966)
       single
11. The Human Instinct - Black Sally (1971)
       from album 'stoned guitar'
12. Ray Columbus & The Art Collection - Kick Me (1967)
       single
13. Living Force - Hari Bol (1977)
       from album 'living force'
14. Jesse Harper - Jug-A-Jug Song (1969)
       from album 'guitar absolution in the shadow of a midnight sun'

Jesse Harper (Doug Jerebine)

Ticket

Ticket were one of NZ's early prog/psych bands that had success in Australia too, where they supported Black Sabbath's first tour. They were started in Auckland by drummer Ricky Ball (Ex-Challenge, Ex-Beatboys, Ex-Courtiers) and guitarist Eddie Hansen (Ex-Challenge, Ex-Revival). They relocated to Christchurch and fully developed their progressive psych sounds to the point at which they were ready for a stint in Australia, where they held a month-long residency in Sydney's Whiskey-Go-Go. They stayed in Oz longer than planned and recorded their second album "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" there. They split in 72 after returning to NZ, reportedly due to Eddie needing a break from the rock n'roll excesses that were typical of the times. Ball, Hansen and Paul Woolright all played on Lindsay Marks' eponymous 1973 album. Ball was briefly in Band of Light (Vol54) before converting to Hare Krishna and joining Living Force (here later) with Harvey Mann. Ticket have played some reunion shows in NZ, very recently with other classic bands Dragon and Hello Sailor.

Dave Miller is a kiwi who moved over to Australia after leaving Christchurch's 'Dave Miller and the Byrds'; "...one of the best R&B cover acts to appear in the early sixties, faithfully reproducing all manner of Chuck Berry and Chicago blues originals on stage." and initially formed The Dave Miller Set. After they split three of them formed Blackfeather (Vol8). Leith Corbett (Ex-"Heart n' Soul"), another Kiwi, soon abandoned Blackfeather to work with Miller again on the 'Dave Miller/Leith Corbett and Friends' 1970 album ‘Reflections Of A Pioneer’ which '353527 Charles' is taken from. It's a varied album ranging from fuzzy psych, to contemplative instrumentals to hard rocking blues.

The Underdogs

The Brew links us to another band here, The Underdogs, whose guitarist Harvey Mann played with Doug Jerebine while in The Brew together. They evolved in Auckland from the Underground Blues Band in 1966. and quickly acheived a reputation as a wild live act. They played on the national TV pop show "C'mon!" and lasted until 1970 (with a brief late-70s reformation) after many lineup changes and an unsuccesful relocation to Wellington. Many members moved on to other notable bands, some of which also appear on this comp; singer Murray Grindlay went on to an incarnation of Cruise Lane (appearing on the next NZ volume), bassist Neil Edwards was in Human Instinct (this volume and Vol3) and Headband (next NZ volume), Harvey Mann later lead Space Farm (this volume) and Living Force (this volume) and finally drummer Glen Absolum played with Ticket (coming next).

The La De Da's (1974)

The La De Da's formed in Auckland in 1963 (first as The Mergers). They enjoyed reasonable success in both New Zealand and Australia, spanning the decades and changes in rock sounds, until their split in 1975. I have included two tracks here, the first is from their earlier pop psych days in NZ, and as a demonstration of how they changed, the next track is from their final album which was recorded in Australia after they had adopted the prevalent boogie blues style of bands like Chain and Buster Brown. Original guitarist extraordinaire Kevin Borich continued after the La De Da's with Kevin Borich Express and The Party Boys, won many Australian awards and played with many notable names like Renee Geyer (see Vol71).

Space Farm

Space Farm were formed by Harvey Mann (Underdogs, Ticket) and Glen Absalom (ex-Underdogs) with bass player Billy Williams. They started out as 'The Australasian Rock Squad' and recorded one eponymous album in 1972 which 'Space Farm' is taken from. A great outfit playing hard rock / power trio sounds. The full line-Up was Glen Absolum (Drums), Harvey Mann (Guitar), Billy Williams (Bass Guitar) and Bob Gillett (Saxophone). In February 1971, when the Underdogs, whom at that time consisted of Harvey Mann, Glen Absolum and Neil Edwards, released their "Wasting My Time" album, and it failed to sell in great numbers, Neil Edwards decided to leave the group and join Human Instinct. Harvey and Glen added a new bass guitarist, Billy Williams, and to beef up the sound, Bob Gillett was added on saxophone. Also required was a new name, so they became the Australasian Rock Squad. Bob Gillett had been playing with Breeze prior to joining. Billy Williams came from Classic Affair. In September 1971, Gillett decided to become a part-time member of the group, so they rechristened themselves Space Farm.

Space Farm LP (1972)

Space Farm only recorded one album for Zodiac. It was self-titled and released in 1972. This album was re-issued on the Little Wing label in 1989 under the name "Going Back To Eternity". The album was largely ignored by the public, but Space Farm continued to pull crowds and they remained at the forefront of the underground movement until their demise in 1973. Towards the end of the band, there had been drastic changes within. Harvey began to forego drugs and alcohol and these changes were reflected in his song writing and performances. After the group ended, Harvey took a sabbatical and when he returned to the scene it was as a member of the Krishna faith. He later joined Living Force with Glen. Billy Williams joined Ticket and Blerta before heading to Australia and great success in a number of Australian groups. In 2000 Ascension Records released their original album on CD.

Timberjack

Timberjack's track is unbridled, ridiculous fun, with great flute and string section production. They evolved from Wellington's Dizzy Limits and were a short-lived band that achieved chart success and infamy with their 1971 cover of Black Widow's 'Come To The Sabbat'. It reached number 7 on the national charts and was a Loxene Golden Disc finalist, which caused outrage from staunch church-goers. With good sales, no doubt spurred-on by the controversy, Timberjack seemed set for a full-scale attack on the country, but "Sabbat" was both highlight and swansong for the group. They split up before the year was out. Extensive Dizzy Limits and Timberjack information, with interviews, can be found here.

Farmyard - Back To Fronting LP (1971)

Farmyard were a Wellington group who were around only for a short time from 1970 to 1971. The lineup was: Rick White (Rhythm Guitar/Vocals), Tom Swainson (Drums), Milton Parker (Lead Guitar), Andy Stevens (Saxophone) and Paul Curtis (Bass Guitar). Rick White, previously of the Relics and Tom Thumb, started with the group but was later replaced by Bernard Lee. Their first single for Polydor in 1970 was "Learnin' 'bout Living"/"Da Woirks". It was successful enough to gain entry in to the 1971 Loxene Gold Disk Awards. A self-titled album was also released and came in a plastic bag with a poster. A second single "Nothing's Happening Here"/"Me, The Dog, Ma And Dear Ol' Dad" also came out in 1970 and was included on their second album called "Back To Fronting" released in 1971. Their third and last single was "Which Way Confusion Part 1"/"Which Way Confusion Part 2", taken from their first album and appeared during 1971. Both of their albums were repackaged in 1991 into a double album called "Looking For A Place" on the Little Wing label. After Farmyard disbanded, Tom Swainson joined Wellington underground band Arkastra in February 1972, and Redeye in 1976.

The Bluestars

The Bluestars began life as the Nomads around 1961. Murray Savidan and Roger McClay were school friends at Auckland Grammar, where they played at school concerts. John Harris was recruited on drums and his friend Rick van Bokhoven joined as a singer. When Roger McClay left the group in early 1964, a reshuffle moved Savidan to bass, Harris to lead guitar and van Bokhoven to rhythm guitar. A new recruit was Jim Crowley, who took over the role of drummer. At this point they changed their name to the Bluestars, the line now being: Rick van Bokhoven (Rhythm Guitar/Vocals), John Harris (Lead Guitar/Vocals), Murray Savidan (Bass/vocals) and Jim Crowley (Drums). Modeling themselves on the Shadows style of music, they started playing at church and youth group dance engagements, but after hearing the Beatles first album, they made a major change to their style of music. This proved successful and they started selling out venues around Auckland's eastern suburbs. While the majority of the music was covers, they did do some original stuff and in 1964 they were invited to record a couple of these as demos for Eldred Stebbing's Zodiac Records. Nothing seemed to come from this, so they continued playing the suburban dance circuit, steering clear of the inner city clubs. Still wanting to release a record, they engaged Terry Hayman as their recording manager. Terry claimed to have contacts at Decca Records in London. He was right, and he got them signed to Decca, making the Bluestars the first New Zealand group to score a debut record contract in Britain. They still didn't actually have anything recorded, so Hayman arranged for NZBC engineer Wahanui Wynyard to record some songs at the Radio Theatre in Auckland. Four songs were recorded during the session. They were "Please Be A Little Kind", "I Can Take It", "Just Fell In Love With You" and "Baby Come Home". Although a rushed session, a tape was still sent off to England. Decca obviously liked what they heard, as they released a single of "Please Be A Little Kind" backed with "I Can Take It" in December 1965. The single was released in Britain and the Continent, as well as the US, Japan and Australia. Whilst getting some favourable reviews, it was not a hit. Early 1966 saw its release in New Zealand. Receiving valuable airplay, it made it to number 12 on a local chart, but because they were only known around Auckland, it never featured on the national chart. But because of their new found fame, they started playing larger venues, to larger audiences. The group went back to the studio to prepare a follow-up single. Three songs were recorded, "It's The End", "S'pose We're Away" and "Don't Wanna Be Lonely Anymore". Unfortunately Decca didn't like any of them and rejected them all. That concluded their relationship with Decca. As an answer to this rejection, John Harris wrote "Social End Product". It was released on Allied International in September 1966 with "I'm Over Here" on the flipside. With the release of this single, controversy was never far from the group. Towards the end of 1966, Rick van Bokhoven decided to leave the group. He later joined a version of the Music Convention in 1969. Jim Crowley also felt like a change and gave up the drums to play the organ. In 1967, a new recruit was found to play drums. He was Eric Jackson, from the recently disbanded Jamestown Union. In order to be able to have a regular place to play, as well as their suburban dance gigs, they decided to open their own club. A venue was found in Remuera and was named the "Gallows". It was a short lived venture and because of noise complaints by wealthy neighbours was forced to close down hardly before it began. One last single was recorded for Allied International in February 1967. It was "I'm A Little Man" / "Sherlock Sweet". Almost immediately after that the group broke up. Jim Crowley moved to Sydney, playing drums for Matchbox in 1969, and the others drifted into other non music related careers. A CD of their songs has recently been released called "The Bluestars (not from Birmingham!)".

Billy TK, Larry Waide and Maurice Greer. The Human Instinct 1970

The Human Instinct is a continuation of the group, the Four Fours. The transition to Human Instinct began in 1966 when Trevor Spitz, founding member of the Four Fours, decided to leave when the other group members wanted to embark on a trip to England to seek their fortune and fame.

Trevor was replaced by 19 year old Maurice Greer. Hailing from Palmerston North, Greer had formed his first band when he was 14, and two years later joined Manawatu's number one group, the Flares Show Band. In 1963 Greer and his brother Frank opened their own Palmerston North nightspot, the Flamingo, and the following year Maurice formed the Big Three with ex-Flares Peter Knowles on guitar and Trevor Harrison on bass. It was with Big Three that Greer first used a restructured drum kit, allowing him to play while standing, to allow him to better handle lead vocals. In 1965 Greer formed the Saints, (not to be confused with the Christchurch Saints from 1962), with Doug Rowe on bass, Dave Hurley on guitar and Winston Cartelli on vocals. They played in the Manawatu area, but in order to get greater recognition they were soon gigging in Wellington, before moving up to Auckland, which is where Greer came to the attention of the Four Fours.

He passed an audition to join the group and his first recording venture with them was the very successful "Go Go". Within six months he was on his way to England with the rest of the group. Dave Hartstone had been planning this trip for some time and arranged for them to take up a residency on board the Fairsky in return for reduced fares to England. It was during that voyage that it was decided that a name change was required to something more fitting for a group about to conquer the hip UK market. Human Instinct was the name decided upon. Three months would pass before they got their first paying gig, but in the meantime they caught up with all the new sounds and what was hip in the fashion world. At the beginning of 1967 they auditioned for a booking agency. Playing an impressive version of the Beach Boys classic, Good Vibrations, they were successful over a number of other hopeful groups and soon found themselves gigging regularly, even landing a support role for the Small Faces on a tour of Northern England.

A recording contract was signed with Philips, who released three singles for them on the Mercury label. All songs were written by Dave Hartstone. The first release was "Can't Stop Around"/"I Want To Be Loved By You My Friend" in 1967. The "Can't Stop Around" song has often been referred to as "Can't Shop Around" and "Can't Stop Loving You". The single was not successful, but the follow-up "Rich Man"/"Illusions" received the following favourable review in "New Musical Express": "A pounding up-tempo piece with ear-catching lyrics and some weird guitar sounds. Self-penned and out of the ordinary". Unfortunately the review didn't help with sales and the third single release, a remake of the Four Fours "Go-Go" backed with "I Can't Live Without You" fared even worse. As a result, Philips terminated the contract, but they were immediately picked up by Decca for release on their Deram label.

The first Deram single in 1967 was "A Day In My Mind's Mind"/"Death Of The Seaside" and this was followed by a Byrds cover, "Renaissance Fair"/"Pink Dawn" in 1968. Human Instinct once again failed to achieve recording success in Britain and Decca soon lost interest in them. Most of the two years the band had been in England was spent on the road. It was not a lifestyle that Bill Ward was happy with so he decided to return to New Zealand. Dave Hartstone had no plans for leaving England, while Frank Hay also decided to return to New Zealand for a break. Maurice Greer was undecided, as he had been offered the drummer's seat with the new Jeff Beck band, the line-up which also included Rod Stewart. In September 1968 he decided to return to New Zealand to reform a new line-up with the hope of eventually returning to England.

Back in New Zealand Maurice replaced Bill Ward with a friend of his from Palmerston North, 21 year old Billy Tekahika, who had been with the Sinners. Billy was later better known as Billy TK. Frank Hay stayed for a short time, but when Maurice decided to take the band on a national tour, he decided to leave and was replaced by Michael Brown. During the tour Michael left to join Dunedin band, the Klap, and was replaced by Peter Barton. After the tour, a short residency was taken up at the Bo Peep in Auckland, before Greer, Barton and Tekahika flew to London in February 1969 for a second assault on Britain. When they arrived there, they immediately bought a massive PA and lighting system and attracted an audience who wanted to experience the mountain of sound. The group's repertoire at this stage was all original. Although Greer handled most of the vocals, the focal point of the trio was Billy TK, who was becoming a guitar legend in his own right.

The second visit only lasted three months, but during that time they did meet up with Doug Jerebine, previously with the Embers and the Brew. Doug was in England also trying to crack the London scene. He was there recording under the name Jessie Harper. Doug had impressed Maurice and in time Human Instinct were to record seven of his songs. On their return to New Zealand, they began recording an album at Astor studios in Auckland. About half way through it Peter Barton left the group and Larry Waide was brought in to complete the album. Released late 1969, the album was called "Burning Up Years". From it came the single "I Think I'll Go Back Home"/"You Really Got Me".

Work then began immediately on the second album. It was recorded in June 1970 and released as "Stoned Guitar". From it came the singles "Midnight Sun"/"Idea" and "Black Sally"/"Tomorrow". These were the only two of their singles to be released with picture sleeves. Below is both sides of "Black Sally"/"Tomorrow". Larry Waide left the group after recording the second album, as musical directions began to change. His position was filled in February 1971 by former Underdogs bass player Neil Edwards. No sooner had he joined and the group was back in the studios to record their third album. This was called "Pins In It" and was released in June 1971. One single, "Rainbow World"/"Highway", was issued from this album.

At the same time as its release, the group headed to Sydney for a three month tour. It was not a happy time for the band and at the end of the visit, Billy TK announced that he was remaining in Australia. This basically signalled the end of Human Instinct as a heavy rock band. Instead of replacing Billy with another guitarist, Maurice decided to go for a totally different sound and added Graeme Collins, previously with Dedikation, on keyboards. This configuration didn't last very long and in 1972 Maurice started again with a completely new line-up which consisted of himself, Martin Hope, from the Fourmyula, and John Donoghue, from Timberjack, both on guitar, and Glenn Mikkelson (also known as Zaine Griff) on bass. This combination concentrated on country rock.

From late 1971, Maurice divided his time between his music and nightclub construction with his brothers, Barry and Frank. They were responsible for opening quite a few clubs in Auckland, notably Hatchett's, Granny's, Shantytown, Ruby's Saloon and Croft's, as well as quite a number of  others around the country. Human Instinct released another single "Texas Sparrow"/"Children Of The World" in 1971 and two more albums. One in 1972 called "Snatmin Cuthin" and the other in 1974 called "The Hustler". 1972 saw a single on the Zodiac label called "Down The Hall On Saturday Night"/"Simple Man" and then in 1975 the final single on Family "Tropical Paradise"/"Dixie Holiday". Between 1972 and 1982 there were many combinations of the group. Others to have had a stint with the band were Phil Whitehead, Steve McDonald, Peter Cuddihy, Andrew Kaye, Chris Gunn, John Parker, Malcolm Weatherall, Len Whittle, Kevin Fury, Steve Hubbard, Murray Hancox, Stuart Pearce and Peter Woods. Around 1982, the Human Instinct was formally disbanded by Maurice Greer. After his time with the band, Billy TK went on to form Powerhouse. Recently the first three albums by Human Instinct have been re-issued on CD by Ascension Records, along with a CD of all of their singles.

In late 1975, when the line-up consisted of Greer on drums, Whitehead on guitar, Mikkelson on bass, and McDonald on keyboards, a recording session for an impending album was done. The group at that time had been playing together for around 18 months at the Shantytown nightclub under Auckland's Civic Theatre. Several months passed before a rough mix-down of the tapes were performed. By the time the sessions were finished, the Human Instinct had moved on to a new residency at Crofts and there style of music had changed, along with new members in the band. The project was subsequently shelved. In 2001, the session tapes were located at Stebbing's warehouse and a long slow process of restoring and re-mastering the tapes took place with the final result being the release of that 1975 album on CD called "Peg Leg - The Lost Tapes". Interview with STeve McDonald http://www.ashack.co.nz/nzmusic/musicians/steve_mcdonald.htm

Here some info about Ray Columbus I found at Derek's Daily 45:"Ray Columbus was the first rocker to have a hit outside of New Zealand with his crack band the Invaders (his "She's A Mod" cracked the top of the Australian charts in 1964). A number of hits followed, and Ray & The Invaders were at the top of their game down under. Ray wished more than anything to get the band to the US, but was never able to get a work permit. However, around 1966 he married a California woman and ended up in San Francisco and local mods the Art Collection, featuring Richard Frost, became his backing group. I was fortunate enough to talk to Richard at the end of 2010, and he explained that the bay area had no idea what to do with this outlandish, extroverted New Zealand mod wildman! Ray self-released this record (with a re-recording of "She's A Mod" as the flip) and there is a very rare clip of the band performing this song in an SF teen club and they were incredibly powerful as a live act."

'Living Force' LP (1977)

The origins of Living Force can be traced back to 1973, when both Ticket and Space Farm were in disarray. Harvey Mann and Eddie Hansen had been friends for a long while, and had both tired of the hippie-drugs lifestyle. Along with Glen Absolum, they moved into an Auckland flat and began playing together, whilst cleansing their bodies of all the harmful products they had been used to consuming. They were also searching for spiritual happiness. After six months, Eddie Hansen went back to Christchurch, where he formed a short lived group called Rock Squad. But by the end of 1974, he was in Sydney playing with Phil Key's Band Of Light, with Billy Williams and Danny Davidson. In mid 1975, Hansen, Williams and Davidson had left Phil and returned to Christchurch, adding Trevor Tombleson to their line-up they formed Sky Pilot, a three month venture. While this was happening with Eddie, Harvey and Glen had continued practising with a variety of Auckland musicians. By mid 1975 they had settled on a line-up, adding Murray Partridge, Ivan Thompson and Gary Clarke, and calling themselves Living Force, they debuted at Maurice Greer's Auckland club, Croft's. Murray Partridge had been with Freshwater, Gary Clarke was from Carson and Ivan Thompson had been an original member of Dragon. They had only been going for a few months when Murray Partridge was replaced by Eddie Hansen. There were not many groups in New Zealand who could boast a guitar line-up equal to Harvey and Eddie, but it soon became evident that they were not into the style of music that fans had previously been accustomed. The lyrical content of Living Force was more concerned almost exclusively with spiritual matters, a joyous celebration of Krishna beliefs. Long, drawn out and mostly extraneous solos were the order of the day. Radio Hauraki had organised a concert in Auckland's Albert Park. One of the bands to play was Living Force, and after they had meandered along for over half an hour on one song, 90% of the 2000 strong crowd decided to leave. All that was left were the jubilant Krishna devotees. The boys in the band didn't seem to notice. Thirty minutes after the scheduled completion time for the concert, they showed no signs of finishing, so the power was cut off. Imagine doing that to Mann and Hansen in their hey-day.

Living Force (l-r) Harvey Mann, John Pepper, Glen Absolum, Mike Fisher & Matt Matepi

Living Force had a cult following, mainly made up of middle-aged hippies and Krishna followers. With this support, they managed to stay around until 1979, recording a self-titled album along the way in 1977 and releasing a single from it on the Atlantic label, "Jaya"/"Matter Monster". The group did have a number of personnel changes during their time. Ivan was replaced by John Pepper and when Gary left he was replaced by Matt Matepi. The other important change occurred when Eddie left mid-way through the album sessions, but was back with them by November 1977. In July 1978, they all flew to San Francisco, where they recorded an album's worth of material with Santana engineer Glen Kalatkin. Unfortunately nothing was to ever come from this material and they returned home in December with an additional member in tow. She was American vocalist Mona Hollguin. At this time Glen Absolum left and he was replaced by Mike Fisher. Hollguin soon returned to the States and in February 1979 Harvey Mann left and teamed up with Absolum to form Appaloosa. Before the end of the year, Living Force had disbanded.

Thanks again for listening. Kia ora!
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!

Download from: [mf] or [mg]
pass:  tdats
For Vol 72, I concentrated on Denmark [edit: Here is Norway, and Finland]. 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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password:  tdats
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]
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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.

Another 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. UPDATE: I have recently been reading a great book about Aussie rock history called 'Blood, Sweat & Beers' by Murray Engleheart and I found these comments regarding the Paramatta Jail gig: "Chris Turner [Rose Tattoo]: 'The first thing I remember is that the actual prisoners were telling the screws to fuck off, and the screws did because they [the inmates] were lifers. They dragged us backstage at the concert hall and gave us some home brew, which just knocked my bloody tits off! Made out of potato peelings and stuff in old Fanta and Coke cans and they were smoking dope.'

Angry Anderson of Rose Tattoo

Peter Wells [Bufalo, Rose Tattoo]: 'Potato fucking booze! Have some of this! It was the worst shit! Oh God! It was like Metho and two fucking green potatoes! Got nicely fucked up on all that stuff.'

Chris Turner: 'They were showing us all their tattoos and stuff. When they closed the big gates onto where the lifers are, that was just horrible. You can imagine it: it doesn't matter if you commit one murder or ten murders because there's no future once you're a lifer. That was the scary part that I found. I thought it wouldn't matter if this guy throttled me right here and now. It wouldn't matter to him at all.

Somehow a show at Adelaide's Yatala Prison had been far more intimidating. Chris Turner: 'They didn't laugh, those prisoners. They were serioulsy heavy'.

Angry Anderson [Buster Brown, Rose Tatto]: 'The first time we arrived at Yatala the superintendant said, 'We've got a big surprise waiting for you', and and we walked out and half the audience were bald which meant you had a room full of people who looked just like me - all tattooed and bald - which was quite a frightening experience'."

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

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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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For the 90th comp and I set myself the difficult and time-consuming challenge of making searches for a second collection of the heaviest and most progressive old New Zealand rock I could find. Not expecting to be very successful, I was amazed to find enough original bands to complete another hour of the small and remote country's finest riffing. My efforts were greatly assisted by the existence of two NZ compilations that have clearly saved some very obscure acts from oblivion; the Jayrem Records "New Zealand pop 1964-72" volumes 'Out from the Cold' and 'Get the Picture'.

Following on from the NZ Vol34, this volume includes two more acts that appeared at The Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival; Wellington experimentalists Mammal and Maori Rotorua/Christchurch rural rockers Butler (much humble gratitude again to Mick Mullin for re-mastering the Butler track). There are a couple of rare examples of later-70s styled NZ prog with Wellington's Airlord and Auckland's Think, and an abundance of great hard-fuzzing singles, courtesy of the afore-mentioned Jayrem compilations. Mantis were originally a Fijian funk band that secured a residency in a Wellington club. Two more points of interest, Quincy Conserve are certainly one of the only Kiwi horn rock bands I ever found, and Roy Rutanen's acid folk is a great find, with his Jim Morrison-like vocals. It looks like Wellington, the capital of NZ, was the place to be back then. Over half the bands I used were from there.

Tracks:
01. The Selected Few (Wellington) - Get the Picture (Pretty Things cover) (1966)
       single
02. Butler (Rotorua) - Southern Magic (1973)
       from album 'butler'
03. Lutha (Dunedin) - Here and Now (1973)
       from album 'earth'
04. Kaye Wolfgramm and Cruise Lane (Auckland) - Ego (1972)
       single
05. Taylor (Wellington) - Simpsons World (1972)
       from album 'taylor'
06. The Dedikation (Upper Hut)
           - Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith & Jones (Cryan' Shames cover) (1969)
       from album 'the dedikation'
07. Airlord (Wellington) - Ladies of the Night (1977)
       from album 'clockwork revenge'
08. Sam Hunt / Mammal (Wellington) - Beware the Man (1972)
       from album 'beware the man'   
09. Roy Rutanen - Sinful Man (1972)
       from album 'roy rutanen'
10. The Quincy Conserve (Wellington) - Common Man (1971)
       from album 'epitaph'
11. The Retaliation (Wellington) - Morning Dew (1969)
       single
12. Headband (Auckland) - Good Morning Mr Rock n' Roll (1971)
       from album 'happen out'
13. The Roadrunners (Wellington) - LSD (1967)
       single
14. Mantis (Fiji/Wellington) - You Don't Love Me (1973)
       from album 'turn onto music'
15. Think (Auckland) - Our Children (Think About) (1976)
       from album 'we'll give you a buzz'

Mammal, 1973. Left to right: Tony Backhouse, Julie Needham, Kerry Jacobson, Mark Hornibrook, Robert Taylor, Rick Bryant

Track 8: from Wellington's "Mammal", is taken from an album which was their collaborative effort with "New Zealand's best known poet" Sam Hunt. Many of the tracks begin with Sam's recitations of his poems, which lead into songs that are themed around the poems. 'Beware the Man' is a fast and eccentric hit of psych. Mammal seem to have had an interesting and unusual career, especially for an NZ band, but there is an unfortunate paucity of recorded material to judge them by as they only printed one single (in addition to the Sam Hunt album). I found a great account of the band here with a lot of pictures.

The album's cover scans include the insert that came with it and here is what is printed on it: "Sam Hunt lives on Bottle Creek and in the past few years has achieved a high reputation as a poet and a bit of notoriety as a pisshead. Now he's accepted by the poetry establishment, the NZBC features him on TV, but his poetry's lost none of its guts and style. Now he's off the booze, writing better than ever. Sam's big, wooly headed, a bit mad. His poems are like songs . . direct . . . like Bob Dylan's poetry a little, rhythmically . . . like rock. Mammal is solid. They love the best music and they've made something else of Sam's words: something beautiful, loud, deep, heavy, lyrical . . . whatever. This LP is the first by Sam Hunt and Mammal. Let it be the first of many to get to you."

Roy Rutanen LP (1972)

So far, this is the only information I can gather regarding Roy Rutanen on-line, and it's mostly unsubstantiated. He was from New Zealand and recorded one self-titled album in Australia, released on MCA through Astor Records in 1972. He also made two singles on MCA. They were "Your Day Is Comin' / Hey You" [1970] (MCA 1167 - both non-album tracks), and "Plastic World / The Old Man" [1971] (MCA 1230 - both from the album). The track I have used, Sinful Man, is from the album. It's the most brooding, agressive one on there, amongst a collection of largely soothing pastoral music that has been described variously has acid / psych / folk / country rock and features mostly acoustic guitar, flute and electric bass, with some lap-steel guitar and fuzz guitar.

The Plastic World single was engineered by Spencer Lee, who also produced the Sydney hard rockers Buffalo (see Vol1 and Vol21). So far I have only managed to find a few low-res front cover scans of the album, which show a cross-legged guy sitting on grass playing acoustic guitar, partially obscured by a tree, with a blonde-haired girl watching in the foreground. I can only guess this guy is Roy, and I have not found mention of any other names who played on the record. He sings slightly more aggressively on Sinful Man and sounds agreeably like Jim Morrison, but this is not the case on all the songs. As for now, a mystery...

Quincy Conserve 1972 L to R: Mike Conway,Dave Orams,Kevin Furey,Johnny McCormick,Barry Brown-Sharpe, Malcolm Hayman and Rufus Rehu.

Track 10 introduces The Quincy Conserve, who debuted at Wellington's Downtown Club in February 1968, were one of the most talented and professional groups to appear on the New Zealand music scene in the late sixties, Wellington's first 'supergroup'. Releasing 4 albums, They had an eventful career which you can read all about on Bruce Seagent's brilliant site here, and included bass player Dave Orams from The Underdogs which I featured back on Vol34. Being a large multi-instrumentalist ensemble/showband with a revolving door lineup, they held residencies at a few Wellington clubs over their time, including the Cornhill Tavern and the Speakeasy Bar in Manners Street. After being signed to EMI they performed backing for pop singer Allison Durbin and another interesting note is they were billed along-side another act appearing later in this comp, Lutha. That was at the James Hay Theatre in Christchurch in 1972, and that resulted in a live album including both acts (and others from the night) called "Live".  Their powerful sound is demonstrated by the driving horns-assisted track I used here, 'Common Man', taken from their second album 'Epitaph' (1971).

'On The Beach' movie, inspiration  behind the song 'Morning Dew'.

Another super-fuzz single now, a cover of 'Morning Dew' from The Retaliation. A recent comment on my Youtube channel prompted me to look into the song's interesting history. It was popularised by The Grateful Dead's 1967 cover, but was first performed by Fred Neil and Vince Martin in 1964. The song was written by in 1961 Canadian folk singer Bonnie Dobson in keeping with the anti-nuclear sentiments at the time of the cold war, and has a post-apocalypse theme that was inspired by the 1959 WWIII movie 'On the Beach' staring Gregory Peck.

As for The Retaliation, they were a Wellington-based pop group around for a very short time in 1969. Phil Pritchard (guitar) had spent the later part of the sixties in Australia and when he returned to his hometown, Wellington in late-1969, he had a very short stint with this group, before deciding to form an underground band, to play original material, called Highway. Barry Leef (vocals) had recently been with the Simple Image. The rest of the band was made up of Nick Bagnall (Bass Guitar) and Mike Darby (Drums). They only released one single during their short time and that was "If You Think You're Groovy"/"Morning Dew" for HMV in 1969. (thanks to Bruce Sergent for this info) I have been looking for the Highway album, but as yet no luck....it looks like it could be a heavy one...

Headband

Headband take us onwards, into some awesome  rock n' roll flute soloing (not something I say very often). In 1970 Tommy Adderley was inspired by the then current line-up of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, to form a group; Bluesbreakers had an unusual line-up, including an electric violin, but no drums. This was the sound Adderley had in mind. It didn't take too many rehearsals, however, before Tommy realised that this drumless unit wasn't working out, so Jimmy Hill was brought in on drums. At this point, the group was renamed Headband. Headband debuted at Molly Hatchetts nightclub in February 1971. This club closed shortly after, so Adderley purchased the old Bo-Peep club in Durham Lane in Auckland. He refurbished it and re-opened it as Grannys in June 1971. This gave Headband a permanent venue to play and became the venue at which great bands like Dragon and Ragnarok debuted.

In late 1971 Jack Stradwick (formerly with Action) left and was replaced by Billy Kristian, who along with Jimmy Hill had previously played in Ray Columbus's Invaders. With this line-up and Alan Quinnell (Guitar) and Ronnie Craig (Guitar) an album called "Happen Out" was recorded for HMV. A single was taken from it, "Ballad of Jacques Le Mere"/"The Error Of My Ways". It reached number 14 on the national charts. Two further singles came from the album, "Good Morning Mr Rock'n'Roll"/"Dip Tank" and "Love Is Bigger Than The Whole Wide World"/"The Loving Tree", with the latter reaching number 12 in September 1972. Another single "Time"/"Paranoia" failed to sell.

Headband did a Universities tour during 1972, but apart from that they seldom performed outside Auckland. The group disbanded in 1973, with Adderley concentrating on his nightclub. After numerous run-ins with the law, he was forced to close the venue in 1976. Tommy resurrected Headband for a national tour, single and album in 1975. He had a new line-up featuring himself, Dick Hopp and Hill, plus bassist Neil Edwards and keyboards player Len Whittle. The album was called "Rock Garden" with a single "I Get High (On Music)"/"Hey Little Schoolgirl" coming from it. Nothing more came from the group after this.

The Road Runners

The Roadrunners were from the Lower Hutt, just north of Wellington and formed in 1964. With an average age of sixteen, they were a sensational live r&b band. During 1965 they had a residency at the Intermezzo Coffee Lounge for a short while. The Roadrunners were managed by their friend Jim Pilcher, who later went to the UK in a similar role with the Fourmyula.

This band was the starting point for Chaz Burke-Kennedy and Glyn Mason, who both went on to larger things. Chaz was a member of the Underdogs, Jigsaw and Fresh Air, while Glyn was with the Bitter End and  Jigsaw, before replacing Larry Morris in the Rebels. Noel Koskella (Bass Guitar) and Tim O'Connor (Drums) completed the band. Glyn eventually moved to Australia, and joined Chain in 1970. After a spell in England, he came back to Australia, where he joined Ariel in 1975 and later the Stockley See Mason Band (see the Aussie Vol80). In 1966, it just happened that the Roadrunners were forced into a temporary hiatus while guitarist Chaz Burke-Kennedy began to explore the delights of life as a recluse. This left drummer Tim O'Connor free to join the Derelicts for a short time, returning when Chaz decided to venture out into the wide world again.

The group never recorded, but did do a demo session. This session contained a song called "LSD", which has been located and can be heard on the CD "Get The Picture" from the Legenz series, produced by Jayrem Records. Another track from the session was "Get Out Of My Life Woman" and can be found on the other CD in the series, "Out From The Cold". (thanks to Bruce Sergent for the info)

Mantis LP "Turn Onto Music" (1973)

Mantis were a Fijian rock group that came to Wellington and took up a residency at one of the clubs. Their style was very mainly funk but for the track included here I have used the most straight-ahead rocking one.While they were in Wellington they recorded an album in 1973 called "Turn Onto Music". They consisted of Joe Heritage (Bass Guitar / Vocals), Ronnie Sammuel (Keyboards), Paul Stephen (Drums), Waisea Vatuwaga (Lead Guitar / Vocals) and Reuben Davui (Guitar / Vocals). The LP was released on the Vertigo label. Two singles came from the album, "Night and Day"/"Time Is Tight" and "Turn On The Music"/"Get Down". (thanks to Bruce Sergent for this info)

Think 'We'll Give You a Buzz' LP (1976)

Think were an Auckland progressive/art rock group who formed in 1976. Phil Whitehead and Don Mills came from the disbanded outfit Beam, with Phil Whitehead actually having had a short stint with Human Instinct in-between. They produced an album in 1976 called We'll Give You A Buzz and a single "Arrived In Time/Big Ladies" the following year. One further single came in 1979 with "Good Morning/Peanut Joe". Kevin Stanton was also a member at one time. He later went on to play with Mi-Sex. All other sources apart from their myspace site are rare. The band comprised of Alan Badger - Bass, Ritchie Pickett - Vocals, Don Mills - Keyboards, Neville Jess - Drums,Phil Whitehead - Guitars. (thanks to ProgArchives and Bruce Sergent for the info)

Thanks for listening, Kia Ora!

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This volume mines a time period and style that I don't often concentrate on, the latter part of the 70s and what is often called AOR. Here I am using the term as defined by RYM:

"[Adult Oriented Rock]...characterized by a rich, layered sound, slick production and a heavy reliance on pop/rock hooks, which led to its huge popularity in the late 70s and early 80s".

This volume could also be seen as a document of where US/Canadian rock was going in the latter part of the 70s. Don't worry, it's not a sea-change for the blog, just an interesting diversion in all things 70s.
        from album 'puttin' on the dog'

Rex Smith LP (1976)

Tantrum band photo 1979

(l-r) DJ Andy Fox with Tony Bourge

Here's a recent interview with Budgie guitarist Tony Bourge, recorded for a community radio station in Bristol, south-west England. Tony talks about the past and his new recordings. You can download the whole thing in mp3 and here's the blurb: Without doubt a very special Rockshow this week as ex-Budgie guitarist, the man who committed that legendary “Breadfan” riff (and so many more!) to vinyl, Tony Bourge joins Andy Fox in the GTFM Rockshow studio to talk about his days in one of Wales’ finest ever bands and introduce tracks from his long time coming solo album “Crank It Up“. The link with mp3/podcast download is over at the GTFM blog. Happy listenin'

For those that don't know, Budgie, from Cardif, Wales, was one the other early hard rock/metal bands that was there right at the beginning along with Sabbath, Led Zep and all the others. Covered by the likes of Soundgarden, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, and with songs like 1973's Breadfan their place in history is secured......
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01. The Village S.T.O.P. - Vibration (1969)
       single
02. The Lyme - Measles (1969)
       single
03. Sex - I'm Starting My Life Today (1971)
       single
04. Bush - The Grand Commander (1970)
       from album 'bush'
05. Ax - Babies Falling From The Sky (1970)
       from retrospective ep 'you've been so bad'
06. Morse Code Transmission - Never Ever Easy To Do (1971)
       from album 'morse code transmission'
07. Noah - Something's In My Way (1972)
       from album 'peaceman's farm'
08. Brave Belt - Waterloo Country (1972)
       from album 'brave belt II'
09. Long Time Comin' - Part of the Season (1972)
       single
10. Ronnie and Natalie - 6 Times (1975)
       single
11. Sun Band - Good Feeling (1972)
       single
12. Rose - Ride The Subway (1973)
       from album 'hooked on a rose'
13. Heat Exchange - Philosophy (1973)
       single
14. Twitch - Pick Up Is Illegal on 401 (1973)
       from retrospective ep 'things'

(l-r) Paul Marcoux, Steve Urech, Fraser Loveman

So to begin, 'The Village S.T.O.P.' single is a heavily Hendrix-influenced fuzzy a-side from 68-69 and according to Museum Of Canadian Music the band was Fraser Loveman, Paul Marcoux, Nick Urech, Steve Urech and Jim Hall. It's stated in a couple of places including MOCM that UK-born singer Fraser Loveman was previously a member of The British Modbeats, later on he starred in theater shows of  "Hair" and "Annie Get Your Gun". There is more info on that site relaying stories of The Village S.T.O.P. performing a revolutionary 'freak out' section of their live set where the lights would go out and the band would whip their clothes off to reveal luminously-painted bodies (sometimes naked apparently) and do crazy dances.

The Village S.T.O.P. in body paints

Here's a quote from Fraser, found at MOCM: "Niagara bands were so overlooked and underproduced Ha! Ha! We appeared naked with just flourescent body paint (black light). We were huge on the eastern seaboard. Then Alice Cooper stole our act. But I'll tell ya one thing - The Village STOP outplayed anybody and put on a show like you wouldn't believe. We played gigs where major acts refused to go after us. The sheer force, colour, acrobatics and staging was unparralled at the time. The pix speak for themselves!" There is more information and photos with comments by Fraser here at MOCM.

The Lyme 45 (1969)

Here is some information on The Lyme, courtesy of the MOCM, including a mention of Randy Bachman's 'additional guitars': "The Lyme`s only release, the superb double-sider ‘I’m Only Dreaming’ b/w ‘Measles’, was purportedly the first stereo 45 released in Canada. And the record might even have scaled some local charts had it not been overshadowed by the Guess Who’s massive top-ten hit ‘These Eyes’, which was released just several months before. In fact, both bands were managed by the Quasimodo Agency, led by Don Hunter and Ray White. What’s more, these Lyme sides were produced by a young Randy Bachman (who also played guitar on both tracks), himself just months away from superstardom south of the border. 

The short-lived band came to be after the leader Terry Read had come back to Winnipeg from Burlington with Rick Keens to join up with Wade George and the rest of the band. However, Rick left the band shortly thereafter before the band recorded any material. Mark Thiessen replaced Keens as the bassist for all of the recordings including a demo version of "Morning Dew".  The Lyme debuted on National TV on the weekly afternoon CBC show that Chad Allen hosted along with the Guess Who. 

Both tracks on this single (along with two more unreleased tracks, one which was co-written by Randy Bachman) were recorded at the Peg’s Century 21 studios. The languid, organ-led ‘I’m Only Dreaming’ no doubt had its eyes on the AM charts, while the more-electric b-side features trippy, double-tracked vocals and a moody, downer vibe.  Both ‘I’m Only Dreaming’ and ‘Measles’ would find their way onto the excellent 2-CD set Buried Treasures, Winnipeg Rock Gems 1958-1974, issued back in 2009 by the venerable Super Oldies Record label. 
-Robert Williston 

All members were from Winnipeg, Manitoba; George Crakewich : lead vocals, Gary Sherbanow : guitar, Terry Read : keyboards, Wade Gargan : drums, Rick Keens : bass guitar (replaced by Mark Thiessen), Mark Thiessen : bass guitar (replaced Rick Keens), Randy Bachman : additional guitars"

Sex - The End Of My Life LP (1971)

Quebec's Sex appeared on TDATS before with their controversially-lyricised song 'I Had To Rape Her'. Here I am using a much less shocking track that was a single of theirs taken from the second album. It's a wicked slab of groovy blues rock. I found some information on the band on the Prog Quebec site and here it is: "Sex  was formed by Yves Rousseau (guitar), Robert Trepanier (vocals, bass, flute, harmonica), and Serge Gratton (drums). They released a self-titled album in 1970. The LP features rudimentary hard rock tracks based on heavy blues, a style prevalent in Britain at the time. (In fact, one could describe the album as a cross between Budgie and Black Sabbath.) This strong blues influence could explain it being labeled as "psychedelic" by some. Lyrics are sung in English with a heavy French accent, which was still mostly the case in Quebec, until Dionysos, who played many shows with Sex, broke the trend by singing all in French. Song titles and lyrics are consistent with the group's name, and contain some disturbing themes. Highlights on the album include 'Come Wake Up' and 'Not Yet', both of which were released as a single.

Sex - The End Of My Life LP (1971)

1971 saw the release of a second LP entitled 'The End Of My Life'. Their obsession with the group's name returned with a vengeance, this time producing tracks like 'Syphilissia' and an overall concept concerning a young man whose sexual "coming of age" involves heartbreak followed by promiscuity, then terminal infection, and ultimately imminent death. The band added Pierre (Pedro) Ouellette on sax and flute, lending a little more variety to the music. The album opener, 'Born To Love', starts off as psych-blues for the first minute, embarking suddenly on a jazz-rock penchant for the next, and bringing in a prog twist for its conclusion. "I'm Starting My Life Today" is an interesting blues-rock venture that was chosen as album single. 'Emotions' is not so successful, initially bordering on prog-rock with a frantic sax-and-xylophone intro that recalls Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, but settling immediately thereafter into a rudimentary (though adequately performed) blues. Some tracks can find a distant comparison to post-psych group Blue Öyster Cult. Only the 8-minute title track that closes off the album succeeds in completely breaking past the psychedelic/blues barrier into the realm of the progressive, with enjoyable stylings resembling early  Jethro Tull. Like label-mates W.D. Fisher, Sex was managed by Pierre Gravel out of Granby, and both bands' vocals (sung in broken English) detract the listener somewhat from the now dated sounding music. Also, like W.D. Fisher, Sex failed to bridge the gap from the psychedelic 1960's into the progressive realm of the 70's, when true inspiration, originality and musicianship finally exploded in Quebec music."
Toronto's Bush pedaled a particularly funky brand of hard rock. They only released one album, from which I have used the track "The Grand Commander". The band were Roy Kenner (vocals), Domenic Troiano (guitar), Penti "Whitey" Glan (drums), Hugh Sullivan (keyboards) and Prakash John (bass). Following is their article over at Canadian Bands.com : "Also an alumni of Robbie Lane & The Disciples, when Dominic Troiano left Mandala in 1969, he was looking for a change from the high class big band r&b rhythms. Along with Mandala-mates vocalist Roy Kenner and Pentti 'Whitey' Glan on drums, they moved to Arizona early the next year to get different musical vibes and a fresh start. They recruited bassist Parkash John and began playing the circuit, cutting their teeth on the harder blues based riffs and less sophisticated material they were trying out on a hungry market looking for something different to wet their appetite.
They caught the attention of Reb Foster, an LA disc jockey while he was in Arizona. Foster ran a management company through his Cuordoroy Records that was affiliated with ABC/Dunhill Records. He agreed to manage the band and had them signed to Dunhill in early 1970. Bush in fact was the first band to sign with Cuordoroy. They got bigger gigs, opening for the likes of Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night, but found themselves in the middle of a nightmarish R&R political BS situation as they prepared to release their first lp. ABC/Dunhill sued Cuordoroy, and Bush became the football, punted back and forth with no one ever scoring. Their first and only lp was self-titled and like the band's name, straight forward, simple, catchy and easy. Tracks like the lead off "Back Stage Girl, "Got To Leave The City,""Messin' Around With Boxes" and their only single "I Can Hear You Calling" all showed Troiano and company were looking for a different direction, straight to the bones driving rhythms. The reminiscent "Yonge St. Patty" paid homage to 'the girls from home,' not far from where Troiano grew up.

They carried along the dusty trails but by early the next year, they were broke. The band packed it in, but Troiano and Kenner weren't out of work for long. The James Gang came knocking on Troiano's door to fill Joe Walsh's guitar duties, and he convinced them Kenner would be the perfect vocalist for them. Troiano then would go on to join The Guess Who and cut several solo albums, as well as form his Black Market project before becoming immersed in production and behind the scenes work, scoring a number of soundtracks for film and television. Kenner would also appear on again off again in Troiano's solo projects, as well as in Black Market, as did John, who also went on to record with Alice Cooper, along with Glan.


The album was re-released in 1995, but not without controversy. Around the same time that Troiano was remastering the album, a band came out of Britain with the same name. To avoid legal hassles, they changed their name to Bush X for their Canadian release. The original Bush did indeed re-release their only lp, but oddly - with a different cover. Also included were four live tracks from the last show they ever performed at LA's Bitter End club with Three Dog Night.

Two years later, Troiano and Gavin Rossdale, leader of the British band held a press conference in Toronto to announce they'd been given permission to use the 'Bush' name on recordings. Troiano succumbed to prostate cancer in 2005."

Ax

In 2010 Rise Above Relics released "AX - You've Been So Bad" a limited edition 10" ep of 600 copies. Amazingly the master tapes of these three killer tracks, recorded in 1970, were salvaged by baking and mastered for the first time ever. This obscure 70's Canadian hard psych band from Kitchener, Ontario were around since the late 60's and the members were John Frederiksen, Jack Smith, Gary Gross (vocals) and Brian Shearer.

Despite being a popular draw in their local area, these guys sadly faded into obscurity without ever releasing anything... until now that is.

Morse Code Transmission - debut LP (1971)

Morse Code Transmission were from Quebec and the song I have used is taken from their debut s/t 1971 album. Following is a small bio taken from The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia. They comprised Christian Simard (keyboards, vocals), Michel Vallee (guitar), Jocelyn Julien (guitar) and Raymond Roy (drums). If you'd like to read further there's a more extensive history here at Canadian Bands.com
Ontario's Noah appear at the midway point. Like a few bands on here, they had support from Randy Bachman who occasionally played 2nd guitar with them live and, along with production duties, allegedly played on parts of the the bands second (and final) album 'Peaceman's Farm' (1972). The album is a mix of rural sounding rock which is perfectly complemented by Paul Clapper's husky vocals as you can hear on 'Something's In the Way'. It is less pop-orientated then their debut, which is still a pretty good record but quite different to Peacaman's Farm, closer to what they recorded under their previous moniker 'Tyme And A Half'. Other band members included Barry "Buzz" Vandersel (lead vocals, bass), Marinus Vandertogt (lead & rhythm guitar, vocals), Peter Vandertogt (drums, percussion, vocals), Ron Neilson (lead guitar; replaced Clapper) and Al Manning (guitar; replaced Neilson). My gripe with this album is that while it's all of good quality, it's weighted a bit to too much towards balladeering, the four or so 'rocking' tracks on it are brilliant and I would have more of them!

Noah - Peaceman's Farm LP (1972)

Here is some more information from the Canadian Pop Encyclopedia: "The band started originally playing local clubs around Trenton, Ontario in 1964-65 as Buzzy And The Belvederes. The band featured 'Buzzy' Vandersel’s (who was 14 at the time of the band's inception), his older cousins Peter & Marinus Vandertogt and finally, lead singer Paul Clapper. The band was re-christened Tyme And A Half by Nimbus 9 Productions' manager Al MacMillan during the recording of their first single "It's Been A Long Time". They would release the song and a second single in 1969. The group landed a deal with RCA-Victor through their Nimbus 9 producer Jack Richardson, and with a final name change to NOAH, released their eponymous debut in 1970. 

Paul Clapper, unhappy with the direction the band was taking under the leadership of Al McMillan, left and was replaced by Ron Neilson as they toured the debut album. However, Neilson also left and Noah carried on as a three piece. Moving to ABC/Dunhill their 1972 album 'Peaceman's Farm' was produced by Randy Bachman. Bachman also wrote the song "Sussex" for the record and played guitar on several tracks as did keyboardist Jim Morgan. The song "World Band" would later be covered by US group GRIFFIN. 

The album not only recieved great reviews in RPM, Cashbox and Billboard magazines, but increased their profile as one of the featured acts in the Canadian music industry's summer Maple Music Junket. Noah began extensive touring in the USA to promote the album in the Spring of 1972 and Bachman toured with them. One stint included a live broadcast on radio station WCMF in Rochester, New York. Al Manning joined the group at this time as well. 

With the group on it’s way to big success, it was back into the studio for production of their third album 'California Man'. During the recording of a re-working of Bachman's "Sussex", Vandersel took ill and was rushed to the hospital. Recording was completed in mid-1973 but shortly thereafter Vandersel was rushed to the cancer ward of Kingston General Hospital in Kingston, Ontario for examination which confirmed the growth of a malignant brain tumor. After two years of chemotherapy treatments (and a temporary remission) Vandersel succumbed to his illness in the fall of 1975 at the age of 23. The group disbanded following his death and the 'California Man' album remains unreleased to this day. - with notes from Ron Neilson and Keven Rector." After Noah, At least one member (Al Manning) went on to Coyote, which is mentioned in this article.

Brave Belt - s/t debut LP (1971) with Randy Bachman (left)

Not an obscure artist I know, but one that seems to have been involved in the industry at the time and many of the bands in this comp, Randy Bachman re-appears for track 8. Brave Belt were a transitional band for him, moving from the pop/commercial rock of The Guess Who and other acts he was involved with in the 60's/early 70's, towards the tough rural rock sound that Bachman Turner Over drive is known for. The transition is displayed perfectly by comparing the first two Brave Belt records, the fist having a psychedelic pop sound with some great tracks like Wandering Fantasy Girl and the second having rockers like the song I am using here, 'Waterloo Country', which established the BTO sound. Following is some background found at Canadian Pop Encyclopedia, and there's more here at Canadian Bands.com: "[Brace Belt were] Chad Allan (vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards), Randy Bachman (guitar), Robin Bachman (drums) and C.F. Turner (vocals, bass). During the 1960's Randy Bachman was a founding member of Chad Allan & The Expressions who would go on to fame and fortune as the Guess Who. Bachman had been slugging it out for 10 years by the time the band struck gold with #1 hits like "These Eyes", "Laughing" and "American Woman" and decided to leave the group while they were on top. Upon leaving the band, he released a solo album called 'Axe' for RCA in 1970. The album did little and Bachman found himself yearning for the creativity of a collaborative atmosphere. He called his old Guess Who cohort Chad Allan and they decided to put a new band together. Allen would supply vocals, keyboard and rhythm guitar while Bachman's younger brother, Robin, would handle drums. 

Brave Belt - II (1972)

The trio became Brave Belt and headed into the studio to record their debut album with Bachman doing double duty on bass guitar. As fate would have it, they landed C.F "Fred" Turner as bassist just as 'Brave Belt' was completed (Turner doesn't appear on the album). The album was released in 1971 on Reprise Records. By 1972's 'Brave Belt II', the band was starting to show its heavier side particularly with the new addition of C.F. Turner's songwriting and gritty truck driver vocals which appeared to conflict with Chad Allan's vision of the band. Allen contributions to the record were minimal and he quit before the record was released. ('Brave Belt II' would eventually be re-issued following the success of B.T.O under the auspicious handle of 'Bachman-Turner-Bachman As Brave Belt')

With the limited success of the first two albums Randy Bachman began hunting for a better record deal which he found with Mercury/Polydor. By then, Chad Allan had been replaced by another Bachman brother, Tim, on guitar and the direction of the band slid into an even heavier mode. By this time, 'Brave Belt III', was the intended next record but with a new label and band direction the group changed gears, literally, and became 'Bachman Turner Overdrive' or B.T.O. for short."

Long Time Comin' label

Ronnie and Natalie Pollock (maybe?) - "Winnipeg Tribune"

Facts on Winnipeg's 'Ronnie and Natalie' are sketchy and confusing too, but their song here is a winner, high-octane rock n roll with a punky performance from the female singer in her call and response vocals. Their surname in production credits is Pollock, so I can only guess that they were married, or brother and sister. It seems that they are fundamentally connected with a band called Stumpwater, who I used before with a brilliant heavy track 'Turn Me On Woman' on Vol70. Stumpwater may have been the backing band on the track included here; '6 times', which was the b-side to Turn Me On Woman on a single that is stated to have been released in 1972 (though elsewhere it says 1975). MOCM also atributes Ronnie and Natalie to two other singles, both of which are pop music. Here is some information on the single at MOCM that makes a connection to 'Guess Who' through guitarist Steve Heghi, though I have not yet found mention of that name being a Guess Who guitarist. It also says that Dave Chapman was the arranger and performer of 6 Times, though I can only guess that the female vocals are those of Natalie Pollock.
"heavy sounds from north of the border. Little-known in collectors circles outside of Winnipeg. Low down and dirty. .... 

Stumpwater / Ronnie and Natalie Split 45

Steve Heghi (Kilowatt, Guess Who): guitars on "6 Times" 
Siggs & Johnson: vocals 
Rick Shmylkowski 
Lorne Tummon 
"Turn me On Woman" writen by Lorne Tumman 
"6 Times" arranged and performed by Dave Chapman 
Additional vocals by Stiggs & Johnson
Produced by Natalie and Ronnie Pollock 
Golden Boy Music 
Firehead Productions 
Recorded in Winnipeg at Century 21 Studios 
"Nifty" Natalie Pollock co-hosts The Pollock and Pollock Gossip Show".

MOCM also provides a link to a cryptic website that claims Natalie was co-host on "The Pollock and Pollock Gossip Show" which looks like it was a public access TV show.

NEW UPDATE: I have found some revealing information on Wikipedia here: "Natalie Pollock is a former musician and talk show host, and has campaigned for Mayor of Winnipeg three times. She attended Grant Park and Kelvin high schools in Winnipeg, and audited courses in Political Science at the University of Manitoba. She and her brother Ron Pollock worked as musicians in the 1960s and 1970s, under the names "Ron and Natalie O'Hara". Dionne Warwick produced one of their songs in 1968, and three of their songs hit Billboard Magazine's easy-listening charts in the early 1970s. Pollock later ran her father's podiatrist office, and unsuccessfully sought a Liberal Party nomination in the buildup to the 1984 federal election. In the late 1980s, she and her brother hosted a cable-access television program called "The Pollock and Pollock Gossip Hour". A report in the Winnipeg Free Press asserts that the program featured "off-beat political interviews" and "often-provocative dancing by Natalie". The show was canceled in 1990."

'You Know There’s Nothing To It / Good Feeling' 45 (Sun Band - 1972)

Sun Band (formed Saskatoon, SK) was Wayne Rollack (drums), Brian Will (bass), Gerry Bowers (guitar), and Rod Salloum (keyboards). The track I chose, 'Good Feeling', is a b-side to 'You Know There’s Nothing To It'. Here is the bio at RYM:  "Sun Band was formed by Rollack, Will, and Bowers, shortly after leaving high school. Six singles were produced around 1972 by Randy Bachman: “Where Have You Been”, “Fixing My Ways”, “Thinking of the Days”, “Mr. Stevens”, “You Know There’s Nothing To It”, and “Good Feeling.” Salloum joined shortly after. The band played mostly in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, and North Dakota. 

In 1974, they went into the Tommy Banks studio, but never produced an album. The next year, A&M records contacted the band, wanting to hear more, but the band folded in 1975. Rollack is now a music teacher with the Saskatoon Public School Division. Will plays with the Paul Tobin Band and C95 Magic Band. Salloum works with independent artists, splitting his time between Saskatoon and Vancouver. Bowers has not played for some time."

Rose - Hooked on a Rose LP (1973)

On to track 12, Rose started in the very early 70s and released their debut 'Hooked on a Rose' in 1973. At this point they were nearer the sound of Deep Purple on their heavy tracks (exemplified by the track I use here; "Ride the Subway") which is understandable as the LP was produced by John Stewart who had reportedly worked with Deep Purple & Jon Lord (though I have been unable to deduce which records as yet). They adapted early on to the production and sound of AOR and you can them in this later phaze on Vol91.

Twitch - s/t 7" EP (1973)

Twitch finishes up this volume, here is the intro to the recent retropsective EP released by Supreme Echo: "Canada's long lost doom/proto-punk legends finally unleashed! Distancing themselves from the bustling local psych scene, they formed in 1971 on the rural outskirts of Vancouver becoming a hard rock trio unlike any other local group. Band leader Ian prompted the guys to wear bloody horror-fantasy make-up and bizarre outfits, becoming the first (and only) in Vancouver to do so (also believed to be first to use smoke & fog) packing full house night after night. Late March / early April they did two recording sessions documenting the entirety of original compositions - a mere four songs resulting in two 45 singles. The first 45 was issued in May and the second in August, both pressed in roughly 100 copies. Comparable to early Pentagram, Crushed Butler, Edgar Broughton Band, Stone Bunny, Troyka, early Alice Cooper, Wicked Lady, Bang, Dust, and others. Brace yourselves folks, Twitch's story will rewrite Canadian underground history! A true bone-cruncher! Now compiled onto one EP with orange repro labels, deluxe picture sleeve (not fold-over), and 16 page booklet with detailed history & tons of photos. Fully authorized, limited edition of only 600 copies. (Supreme Echo, 2012)

Twitch -'Pick Up Is Illegal on 401'  demo (1973)

Reviews: "...looking like Norwegian Death Metallers twenty years ahead of their time...obscuro 1973 Vancouver rockers who graduated from the Sixties teen garage scene, compiling their first two 45s over two sides. “Things” is the centerpiece, a brooding bad-trip sounding proto-punker that bridges the gap between Sixties garage and psych (even if the band held the burgeoning “psych” movement in disdain) which was backed with the biker-rock “Pickup Is Illegal on 401 (Hitchhiker’s Blues)”..." - RK / Terminal Boredom, June 2012

"Glam-rooted hard rock from Vancouver circa 1973, with the morbid death wish of Alice Cooper folded in as a last-ditch attempt for notoriety... a band that was musically ahead of its time, and was likely pushing things along to some degree...menacing, brooding, simple yet memorable downers, with a penchant for mean riffs and body paint...strange, but effective, and interesting enough to merit closer inspection by aficionados of both the era and the underground rock history of western Canada..." - Doug Mosurock / Still Single, July 2012".

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Welcome to the second heavy brassrock special! Shown by the narrow date bracket of these tracks (1969-1973) this was a phenomenon of the late 60's/early 70's. This style of rock with a horn section originated in the US after bands like Chicago Transit Authority and Blood Sweat & Tears found success with the formula. It blends rock with elements of soul, Latin, jazz and funk and the wind/brass sections that come with them. Some elements of hard and progressive rock occasionally crept in too; check out the brilliant track from Puzzle which is an unashamed, multi-instrumental prog freak-out. The majority of the bands appearing here played in the up-beat, easily accessible way of Chicago and BS&T, and the vocalists tend to be of the big band-leading crooner type. SOD, Melting Pot and The Gasoline Band are rooted in funk & soul, which have of course always been heavily reliant on brass sections. In true TDATS tradition, these picks are the hardest-rocking examples of their respective styles that I could find...

One thing I like about listening to this music is how it conjures images of old crime movies, perfect for a Dirty Harry or Steve Mcqueen chase scene. And a warning, be prepared to read some very long detailed band line-ups! Along with the usual rock instrumentation you'll see mentioned the likes of Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Flugelhorn, Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Flute, Harmonica, Harpsichord, Harp, Congas and Bongos. By the nature of this music and the range of musical skills it requires, there's no room for amateurs here, so those of you preferring tight arrangements are going to dig this. There's some equally great guitar skills on here too, take a listen to Aura, The Gasoline Band, SOD and Jug Session.

I must say thanks to Youtube contact Rocky B for inspiring this comp. I was pretty much done after the first brassrock TDATS (Vol60) until a few knowledgeable comments from Rocky, the self-styled 'King of Hornrock', appeared on my channel. I grilled him for a list and the result is the inclusions (that make up about half of this volume) from 4th Cekcion, SOD, Melting Pot, Loadstone, Puzzle, Gasoline Band and Aura - all super-obscure acts that I may not have come across without his tips. Good man!

Tracks
01. Swallow - Something Started Happening (1972)
       from album 'out of the nest'
02. 4th Cekcion - I Don't Have To Hide My Face Anymore (1970)
       from album '4th cekcion'
03. SOD - Things I Wanna Say (1971)
       from album 'sod'
04. Melting Pot - As I Lay Dying (1971)
       from album 'fire burn, cauldron bubble'
05. Trifle - New Religion (1971)
       from album 'first meeting'
06. Loadstone - Keep on Burning (1969)
       from album 'loadstone'
07. Puzzle - The Grosso (1973)
       from album 'puzzle'
08. Jug Session - Easy Here (1970)
       single
09. The Gasoline Band - Ein Grosses (1972)
       from album 'the gasoline band'
10. Silk - Not A Whole Lot I Can Do (1969)
       from album 'smooth as raw silk'
11. Aura - Truckin' (1971)
       from album 'aura'
12. Warehouse - Na-na-na song (1972)
       from album 'powerhouse'
13. Swegas - Child of Light (1971)
       from album 'child of light'

Swallow LP front

Swallow start the comp in an upbeat way (can horn rock be anything else?) with the aptly-titled 'Something Started Happening'. This is a band I came across a while ago on the southern rock blog Skydog's Elesium. They are not a southern rock band but they had a connection to Atlanta Rhythm Section who undoubtedly were (see southern rock Vol65). ARS members Barry Bailey and J.R. Cobb played on the second and final Swallow album, but I have chosen a track from the first album that was called 'Out of the Nest'. Here's what allmusic.com has to say:

"The first album from Swallow was produced by Jean Paul Salvatori, who put together the excellent Bootleg Him! double LP of Alexis Korner material this same year, 1972. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter of Ultimate Spinach, later with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, appears on "Come Home Woman," an original from bassist Vernon Miller Jr., who was part of the band who opened for the Beatles in 1966, the legendary Barry & the Remains. Miller's presence adds collectability to this debut. "Come Home Woman" would have been perfect for Alexis Korner, come to think of it, a bluesy lament which begins with Baxter's wonderful guitar work and picks up steam, letting George Leh open up and battle the horns -- the voice and instruments stir things up so fine. "Aches and Pains" is one of the four Vern Miller Jr./George Leh co-writes, and it is gospel-tinged blues which spills over onto "Common Man." There's real personality here, music perhaps a little too earthy for the Blood, Sweat & Tears crowd, but authentic to the max. Recorded and mixed where Aerosmith cut "Dream On" and where Jonathan Edwards of Orphan tracked "Sunshine,""Out of the Nest" is post-Bosstown serious singing and playing. 

Swallow - band image (2nd LP inside)

Leh's got that Nick Gravenites gravel growl on "Something Started Happening," a tune with charging dynamics, perhaps this band's strong suit. Miller's "Brown Eyed Baby Boy" is a plea for love with a solid hook that would work well for the Remains since that group started recording again in the new millennium. The Staple Singers' composition "Why Am I Treated So Bad," also covered by Cannonball Adderley and the Sweet Inspirations, adds another dimension to the mix, the organ of Bob Camacho getting to have its say. Mick Aranda's creative drumming is also worthy of note. Out of the Nest is an excellent document of early-'70s Boston roots rock/blues music with just a touch of jazz."

Other players not mentioned above were Phil Green (gtr), Kerry Blount (Sax), Gordon Kennedy (trombone), Andy Harp & Jay DeWald on trumpets and Parker Wheeler (harp).
Released by the small Bellaire, Texas-based Solar Recording Corporation, 4th Cekcion's s/t LP was produced by Fred Carroll and was played by Louie Broussard (drums), Richard Cantu (woodwind), Greg Isaacs (vox, keys), Mike St. Clair (bass) and Stewart Rojo (gtr, brass) and Gary Weldon (brass). According to Badcatrecord's review: "A couple of the members remained active in the Texas music scene, reappearing in 5 Easy Pieces (Louie Broussard) and The Funk Factory (Greg Isaacs, Richard Cantu, Stewart Rojo and Gary Weldon)"

The album is a nice find, featuring a fair number of hard tracks with psychedelic overtones that steer it away from the commercial sheen of Chicago and BS&T etc, which is why I used them previously on Vol66.

SOD debut LP (1971)

SOD's track starts with a mildly latin, Speghetti Western feel that builds into some big grooves embellished with further latin flavoured percussion and even some flute. Their debut s/t album (1971) is another good example of hornrock with tasteful use of brass and a fair amount of tough riffs. Finding useful information at Badcatrecords, yet again, here's a few interesting facts.

This Los Angeles band share a member with another band that I chose for this volume; drummer Larry Devers who was previously in Loadstone (track 7): "I formed the band [SOD] in Las Vegas, Nevada in the late 1960s.  We cut two albums of which I have zero copies. Before SOD I had a group called Loadstone that cut one album on Barnaby. I don't have a copy of that one either." SOD's second album 'Face The Music' (1972) was produced by David Axelrod,  a new name to me that seems to warrant further investigation as he had an extensive solo career and is regarded as an originator in the fusion of Jazz/R&B with rock and psych.

Jay York

SOD (and other bands) drummer Jay York was also an NWA Wrestler: "Jay York was a musician, and briefly quit wrestling in 1972 to become the percussionist for the rock band Delaney & Bonnie. He replaced their longtime percussionist Sam Clayton when Clayton and bassist Kenny Gradney left that band to join legendary rock band Little Feat (they’re still in that band today)." Wrestling under the name 'The Alaskan'. He also worked as a bouncer at Hollywood's Classic Cat strip club. At only 57, he died of liver disease in October 1995.

Saxophonist Rick Kellis: "..went on to become an in-demand sessions player, supporting virtually everyone imaginable. He's also recorded some jazz-oriented solo material..". Finally, Bassist Cal Arnold: "I was the bass player in SOD on Decca Records - Robert 'California' Arnold...I have also recorded with Clydie King 'Brown Sugar' - RCA/Chelsea 1973; Edgar Winter's White Trash 'Recycled' CBS/Blue Sky 1977; Billy Branch 'The Blues Keep Following Me Around' - Verve Gitanes 1985."

Both SOD LP covers

Here's the Doscogs.com liner notes from the debut LP: "Robert "California" Arnold (bass, tuba, percussion, vocals), Jay "The Alaskan" York (Congas, Bongos, Harmonica, Percussion, Vocals), Larry Devers (Drums, Vocals), Don Phillips (Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Guitar, Vocals), Joseph "Jojo" Molina (Organ, Piano, Harpsichord, Trumpet, Percussion), Richard "Rick" Kellis (Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Flute, Percussion, Vocals) and Michael Green (Trumpet, Trombone, Flugelhorn, Percussion, Vocals)."

Melting Pot LP - 'Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble'

After finding The Melting Pot album on Rocky B's recommendation, I posted the track 'As I Lay Dying' (appearing here) on Youtube. Later some comments from band members appeared on the clip. The band consisted of Dick Gentile (lead vocals, keyboards), Howie McGurley (sax, trumpet), Steve Nichols (trombone), Joe Rudd  (lead guitar), Mickey Smith (RIP 1971 - lead guitar), Jerry Thompson (drums, percussion), Kenny Tibbets (lead vocals, bass, keyboards) and Bill Witherspoon (lead vocals, sax). Ronnie Witherspoon commented: "I am a founding member of the Melting Pot, I left the band after the terrible contract with Phil Waldren and No Exit Music. No other albums were recorded, I do have a CD of the LAST FIVE, a straight ahead progress fusion funk/rock band, from 1972 & 73."

Melting Pot label

Bad Cat records has this to say: "Phil Walden was apparently the money behind the group, helping to arrange for a contract with the small Ampex Records label.  Produced by Johnny Sandlin, 1971's "Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble" album was also recorded at Walden's Capricorn Studios.  That connection is mildly interesting in that this group's sound is about as far away from Southern rock as you can get." Ronnie Witherspoon: "That [Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble] was the only album, and it was recorded partially at Cybertechniques in Dayton, and then the project was moved to Capricorn, done over and sold to Ampex." Read more comments on the Youtube page.

Trifle

The UK's Trifle appears for track 5, 'New Religion'. Along with the Puzzle and Swegas cuts, this is a longer, more progressive and adventurous work than the majority of the comp, with slow-burning intensity and a foreboding atmosphere. The band was George Bean (vocals), Rod Coombes (percussion, drums), Patrick 'Speedy' King (bass), Barry Martin (sax), John Pritchard (trumpets), John Hitchen (guitar), Dick Cuthel (horns) and Brian 'Chico' Greenwood (percussion, drums). This is what the Tapestry of Delights says: "Evolving out of George Bean and The Runners, this group was managed by Robert Stigwood. They also acted as a backing group for other artists. “Dirty Old Town” was a Dubliners track. Bean died in the early seventies, whilst drummer Rod Coombes went on to Juicy Lucy, RoRo, Stealers Wheel and The Strawbs." According to DJ Matthew Africa another track, 'One Way Glass', from Trifle's only album 'First Meeting', was sampled in the Kick-Ass movie trailer. The album has since been re-issued by Cherry Red records.

This is what Allmusic.com says about the band's founder, George Bean: "George Bean was one of the relatively uncommon folk-or-folk/rock artists of mid-'60s England who actually got to record for a major label. He first signed to English Decca in 1963 and released four singles through them over the next two years, of which the most notable was his superb folk-pop version of the Mick Jagger/Keith Richards song "Will You Be My Lover Tonight?" None of these records charted, though his self-penned B-side of 'She Belongs to Me,''Why Must They Criticize?' (both released credited to George Bean & the Runners), was later covered by the In Crowd on their way to becoming Tomorrow. Bean moved to British CBS for one single and appeared in the movie Privilege, where he sang "Onward Christian Soldiers." He subsequently formed the group Trifle, which was managed by Robert Stigwood, with future Strawbs member Rod Coombes in the lineup, but he died before they got to record for the Pye Records progressive rock offshoot Dawn Records."

Loadstone LP front

We reach the half-way point with Loadstone and, maybe also from Las Angeles (more on this soon), as the connection with SOD's Larry Devers would suggest. They have one of the oldest tracks here; 1969. 'Keep on Burning' is this comp's namesake, it's a short, high energy song with a blazing fuzz guitar break at the halfway mark. Horn Rock Heaven refers to the band as 'a group of Las Vegas hired-gun musicians' (John Sterling and Terry Ryan later played on Eric Burden records), and interestingly also states that it was produced by Dave Grusin (this is confirmed at www.grusin.net), who also played piano on the track 'Dayshine'. Grusin was a successful musician, producer, composer, conductor and film/tv score writer. I have liked lots of his work and stuff like the Candy soundtrack certainly showed he had an affinity with psychedelic music.

This is the information found in Fuzz, Acid and Flowers (Vernon Joynson): "This album is of interest for Flowerpot, an [epic, progressive] 15 minute-long psychedelic suite which takes up the whole of Side Two. Complete with sound effects, phasing, screams, echo loops and bird noises, the track was recorded in one take, with the voices overdubbed later.

Loadstone LP rear cover

The group formed in Las Vegas, NV. Devers, Abernathy and Phillips were backing Bobby Darin at the time when he went on his hiatus to find himself, leaving them looking for a gig. Ryan, Douglas, Sterling and Cernuto were freelance musicians in Vegas looking for work. Thanks to a guitar player by the name of Mike Richards, who originally was in the group, they got together and formed a cover band to make some cash. The band worked a club in Vegas called 'The Pussycat A Go Go' where Andy Williams used to hang out. He signed the band to his label, Barnaby Records, because of the big following the band attracted to its live performances. Andy also got Dave Grusin to produce the album as well as play piano on one track, Dayshine. The album was recorded in a two week period in the Summer of 1969 and other than record promotion concerts and a few club gigs in L.A., the band never toured.

The albums lack of sales caused the group to slowly dissolve to working lounge gigs in Vegas. When that was over the band members went on to other groups. Today, all the members are still working as musicians in one capacity or another except for Douglas, who passed on in 1991. The groups energy in live performance could never really be captured on record. The horn sound created by the Trumpet, Trombone and Sax with the funky rhythm section was truly incredible.

Barnaby Records still owns the masters, with a few tracks never released. Dave Grusin is mostly known as a jazzman and soundtrack composer. (Vernon Joynson / Stephane Rebeschini w/thanks to Sam Cernuto) Musicians: Barry Abernathy (bass), Sam Cernuto (trombone), Larry Devers (drums), Steve Douglas (aka HUSCZKA) (trumpet, fluegel horn), John Phillips (tenor sax, flutes, oboe, bassoon), Terry Ryan (keyboards), John Sterling (guitar)."

Puzzle LP front (1973)

Puzzle were mainly a light and un-interesting (in TDATS terms) BS&T style horn pop band, but one track from their first album warrants inclusion here, 'The Grosso', a big diversion from their normal output and absolutely brilliant in my opinion. It has many parts, and a lot of different instrumentation. Though it passes through a lot of moods, from frantic riffing, to evil, strangulated vocals, to maudlin introspection, it never looses intensity. It seems for this one track they set-aside their derivitive, cheesy inclinations and played something progressive, adventurous and heavy. Maybe it was one of those cases of a band briefly breaking-away from their commercial/label obligations to play something exciting instead? Who knows. So far I have not been able to find much info on Puzzle, but here's a snippet from the WFMU radio blog: "...The band's first album, Puzzle was recorded in Hollywood in 1973 (its followup was released a year later, under the strikingly uninspired name 'The Second Album'). Most tracks were written by drummer/vocalist John LiVigni - though [The Grosso] was co-written by Lawrence Klimas (sax and flutes). [Producer – Bob Cullen] For me, the only 'Puzzle' is what this band was doing on the Motown label...".

Puzzle 1973

Through Discogs.com I found that 'John Valenti' was a member, and here is his Wikipedia entry: "John Valenti (born John LiVigni) is an American singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. He began his career as lead singer and writer for a pop band, Puzzle. Puzzle released two solid albums on Motown Records in 1973 (Puzzle I) and 1974 (Puzzle II). They were one of the rare white groups on Motown. With a sound often reminiscent of the early Chicago Transit Authority. They were a horn pop soul band with John's vocals recalling Stevie Wonder. They owed a lot to Chicago, their inspiration, including back to back self-titled albums. Though they never made the Hot 100 singles or Top 200 albums, they made two very credible albums. John eventually went solo. He released one album in 1976, entitled Anything You Want, on Ariola Records. It peaked at #51 on the U.S. Black Albums chart on the strength of the title track, which had been released as a single and which peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100. As of 2007 Mr. Valenti still performs."

Jug Session - Easy Here 45 (1970)

Jug Jession are the only band here to have put out just one single, but it's good, one of the heaviest in this comp maybe! 'Easy Here' is a short but heavy rocker with a hint of Hendrix (as has the b-side 'Runnin' Down' even more so), except for the horns of course. So far I have only found two useful references to them, one on Alex Gitlin's Nederpop Encyclopedia and one on Collector's Frenzy. They state that they were based in Noord-Brabant, a southern province of The Netherlands. The members were Huib van der Broek (guitar), Ben Koot (guitar), Robert Kraak (fender bass), Anton Verhagen (vocals), Emmanuel Cooymans (drums) and Otto Cooymans (organ, piano). A couple of these weren't mentioned on Gitlin's site, but were Anton Verhagen and Otto Cooymans would go on to symphonic rock group 'Otger Dice' and Vitesse (Otto also playing in Fontessa before that) and Emmanuel Cooymans would go on to instrumental group Strato. In this interview, Otto Cooymans briefly mentions Jug Session: "..when I left boarding school at 17, i found myself in a bluesrock band called Jug Session together with Anton Verhagen. We even did a tour in Germany and played in front of a few 1000 people and the people went crazy.." (Thanks to Marc Joseph for the translation).

Gasoline Band LP front and band photo

The Gasoline Band are up next. Again, a very hard band to seek info on, until I found an old official website that is. It was started in Berlin in 1969 by two Americans - NYC Composer/Pianist Fred Schwartz and Jazz Trumpeter/298th Army Bandsman Larry "Fish" Brown Jr. After gigging and attracting further (mostly american) members they signed a contract with UK label Cube and recorded their only album in London. The record is generally quite a smooth, soulful affair, except for two heavy tracks in the middle; 'Ein Grosses' (featured here) and the more progressive 'Schrapnel'.

Ein Grosses is by far the most guitar-heavy, starting and ending with groovy rolling riffs which sandwich some flashy instrumental spotlights, including some backwards-recorded gat work. Brilliant song! The full band listing for the one and only album, as per Discogs.com is George Thompson Jr. (bass), Joe Ogé (congas), William Goffigan (drums), Brian Bevan (vocals, guitar), Fred Schwartz (keyboards), Major Wilburn Jr. (tenor sax), Charles Bowen Jr. (alto saxophone), Jerome Johnson (trombone), Jim Dvorak & Ronald Phillips (trumpets). Discogs refers separately to two of the American guys; Jim Dvorak (Brooklyn) and William Goffigan (Maryland). There's a clip of Dvorak playing trumpet in london recently, here, and a further list of his involvements at almusic.com here.
The Silk track at number 10 is fast and insistent with cool vocals. They were not a horn band as such, but had some horn arrangements layed on their only album 'Smooth As Raw Silk' (1969). Here's a great write-up for Silk I found at Bad Cat Records :- "This short-lived Cleveland-based outfit is probably best known for having served as a springboard for singer/guitarist Michael Stanley Gee of future Michael Stanley band fame.

Silk - Smooth As Raw Silk LP

Like half of the teenagers in the United States, by 1965 the combination of girls and money proved irresistible to the teenaged Gee, who started his career playing in a number of local groups including The Scepters.  By 1968 Gee was attending Hiram University and joined a late-inning version of Clevelabd's Beatles-inspired The Tree Stumps showcasing the talents of Gee, guitarist Chris Johns, drummer Courtney Johns, and keyboardist Randy Sabo.  Playing dances and local clubs won the band a cult following and released a couple of singles, but met with little financial reward and by 1969 the Stumps had morphed into Silk.  Silk did little and on the verge of calling it quits, a performance at a Cleveland club attracted the attention of producer Bill Szymczyk who'd been sent on the road by ABC Records to look for talent.  (The same trip saw him sign Joe Walsh and the James Gang to a contract.)

Signed to ABC, the band were teamed with producer Szymczyk (who also co-wrote several tracks).  The group's 1969 debut "Smooth As Raw Silk" served to showcase the band's broad and versatile repertoire.   Gee and Sabo split vocal duties and while both were professional, neither was overwhelming (Sabo actually struck me as the better of the two).  All four members contributed the writing chores (a cover of Tim Rose's 'Long Haired Boy' and the country tune 'Custody' were the lone non-originals), the results found the band touching base on a wide array of genres ranging from country ('Custody'), to sensitive singer/songwriter moves, and even horn rock ('Not a Whole Lot I Can Do').  The results were never less than professional, but the lack of focus left you kind of wondering who these guys really were - at times it almost came off as a demo intended to show they could do it all.  The collection got off to a nice start with the effects laden 'Introduction' (dedicated to airline pilots everywhere) and the psych-rocker 'Foreign Trip'.  From that point on things became very hit or miss. Sporting some nice twin lead guitar work from Johns and guest guitarist Harry Porter 'Skito Blues' was an excellent rocker.  Almost as good was the raucous 'Come On Down Girl'.  At the other end of the spectrum taking on the then-taboo issue of divorce and children the C&W-flavored 'Custody' was easily the strangest song.  Coming in a close second, 'Scottish Thing' somehow managing to meld a trance feel with bagpipes.  The song was also interesting in that it was dedicated to Elektra's Jac Holtzman (even though the band was signed to ABC).   

Smooth As Raw Silk rear (CD)

- Opening up with some tasty Gee bass and some Stax-styled horns, 'Not a Whole Lot I Can Do' found the band switching orientation with a killer slice of blue-eyed soul.  Showcasing how good Gee's voice could be, this track actually rocked out.  rating: **** stars

Ultimately [the LP] was maddeningly inconsistent; almost sounding like a wedding band trying to show they could cover all sorts of musical genres ...  The album actually managed to hit the top-200 charts (peaking at # 191) but with little support from ABC (the company didn't even release a single),  the quartet subsequently called it quits."
Moving on to Aura, this is another band with scant on-line information, though they made a consistent s/t album of heavy horn rock in 1971. I have chosen the song 'Truckin' from it. This is how Vernon Joynson's Tapestry Of Delights describes them:"A Powerful Horn-Jazz-Rock outfit from Los Angeles. The stand-out cut is Life Is Free on side 2. Chuck Greenberg (flute, sax) and Terry Quaye (congas) also guested on the album."

Aura LP (1971)

Eventually I found a few nuggets on a blog belonging to a guy called Ron Romano. He was not in Aura, but he was in a later-70's band called Giant City. Now, Aura's formative name was Giant City. In tribute to the original band that Ron's Giant City took their name from, he posted up mp3 rips of Aura's 1971 album and some info regarding the band. After a while some members and colleagues/friends/fans of the original Giant City/Aura band came across this and have posted some informative comments there. The rips are still there and you can read the comments at the bottom of this page.  Here's a comment from Andy Foertsch (Aura trombone player) "...Thanks for the good words. [Aura] was a great ride and some of us are still in touch. BTW, most of us hated the name “Aura” but Mercury made us change it [from Giant City] for a real BS reason. Jerry Smith was in The Flock before he was with us. Last I heard, and this is old news, he had something to do with Hohner but I don’t know what. There weren't too many copies of the [Aura] album made, I think only about 10,000, if that many. I have linked my page to your site so that people, where I live now, Florida, can listen. There’s also a web page, “horn rock heaven” that has one of our tunes and 100's from different bands of our era, They’re writing a book and going to do a bit about us. Peace." Andy also commented that Aura played a reunion show at the Chicago Pop Festival in November 2009.

Aside from Andy, the rest of Aura (according to Tapestry Of Delights) were: Sam Alessi (organ, piano, vibes), George Bar (vocals, trumpet), Fred Entesari (sax), Dennis Horan (drums), Al Lathan (vocals, percussion), Jerry Smith (bass, vocals) and Bill Waidner (guitar).

Warehouse - Powerhouse LP (1972)

The next track is from an album which I found out about for Vol86, and was pleasantly surprised by, as it's a horn rock album with some quite rocking moments, a real rarity to come from Holland. It's by a mysterious band called Warehouse from Friesland, and there is very little information available. I am indebted to Marc Joseph, guitarist in band Vitamin X, for alerting me to this album and finding extra information for me. It was produced by Tim Griek who was previously the drummer in the symphonic prog band Ekseption.

The Crash

The players are listed as Harry Zijlstra (gtr, vox), Quido Hereman (vox, percussion, gtr), Jan De Jong (Bass), Jan De Lang (percussion), Klaas Bootsma (keys), Jaap Van Der Veer (sax) and Andries Zijlstra (trumpet, vox). The album sounds quite commercial but it has some good tracks like 'It's life', and 'The Na-na-na Song' is uplifting fun. Most of Warehouse were in a 60s beat band called The Relays, who later formed The Crash. The Crash made a 7'' called ''Last Week / One Rainy Day'' in 1969 which sold more than a 1000 copies within 3 months of release.

Warehouse

Warehouse developed from The Crash in 1969, partly as a reaction to Dizzy Man's Band (from Volendam) which was a band to also feature a brassy soul-rock vibe. Warehouse made one album, from which I have used the track 'Wild One'. The record company (Imperial) wanted them to go commercial/professional but they refused and didn't get a contract. Around 1972 John Eskes joined who was previously in Art461/Canyon. In 1974 some members had to commit to their family lives and Warehouse split, but 3 of them (Jan de Lang, Quido Hereman, John Eskes) started Zig Zag Trio, later called Zig Zag Band. John Eskes is still active and the leader of Big Band Leeuwarden 73.

Swegas 'Child of Light' LP cover

This set ends with Swegas, a UK band that were not very hard hitting but had some great progressive tracks. The one I chose here is the longest cut, the title track from their fist released album 'Child of Light'. Swegas have a website where you can read their bio, and stream both their albums, including an unreleased demo album, a live one and a single, all in their entirety: http://www.swegas.com/. Here's a few  snippets: "...the band rehearsed endlessly....in a room at the London Ambulance Service in Waterloo Road....during the Spring period of 1970 they had a regular spot upstairs at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club - Swegas one night - Genesis the next! They then embarked on a three month tour of Europe starting in Oslo on May 20th...[during which]...their blue mini bus was breaking down continually and through lack of money spent a number of nights sleeping under the vans. They ended up in the famous Top Ten club sharing the bill with the Boston Show Band (featuring the then unknown Gary Glitter). They liked their drummer Billy Hogan so when Maurice left shortly after Billy was offered the job..."

Thanks for listening......horns up!!
Rich

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Welcome to TDATS 94! For this edition I have chosen to interview Klemen Breznikar. He lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia and he's the editor-in-chief of a psych rock webzine called "It's Psychedelic Baby" [IPB]. Those of you who frequently use the net to search out obscure rock may well have come across IPB already, as it has covered a wide range of related subjects since it started three years ago. During this time IPB has attracted contributions from around thirty voluntary writers, including some of the old-school artists themselves like folk musician Dave Bixby and Djin Aquarian of Ya Ho Wha 13. Amongst many things, IPB contains regular columns from writers, many first-time scoop interviews with artists from the last fifty years that Klemen has tracked down, and coverage of new bands in the psychedelic arena, via interviews, record reviews and live reviews.

In a similar way to the book review/interview I did with Ra'anan Chelled for Volume 85, I've also taken this opportunity to compile an hour's worth of favourite tracks from acts that appear in articles I read on IPB, all of which included interviews with one or more of the original members. IPB has conducted interviews with countless bands that have appeared in TDATS before and for this comp, apart from Finland's 'Charlies', all the artists are new to TDATS so it's been a great learning experience for me. Over half of the tracks appearing are from the '60s, and the rest are from the early '70s. There's a bit of everything here, Bakerloo and Corpus's blues rock, Charlies and Pluto's hard rock, Harvey Mandel's experimental jazz guitar, the Strawb's folk prog, White Lightning and Wildwood's hard garage rock, and plenty of psych like The Outsiders of course. One more mention, Thanks to Mick Mullin (guitarist in Zodiak) for improving the sound quality on the BOA track, good work again!

Following the interview with Klemen is a summary of each band in the comp with a link to their IPB article...take it away Klemen...

Klemen Breznikar

Q01. To begin, can you tell us some of the major events and influences in your life that lead you to start "It's Psychedelic Baby"?

"When I was just a little kid I found my dad's vinyl collection. At the time we didn't have turntable so I was just looking at the cover artwork and wondered to myself about how they sound.

Later I got a turntable and also at the times, there was this big »music blog« culture, where you could find really rare albums. One of the first albums, that influenced me to become obsessed with psychedelic is »Electric Music For Mind and Body« by Country Joe & The Fish. This was the foundation for me. Out of this I'd found bands like Quicksilver Messenger Service, Grateful Dead, Ultimate Spinach and many others.

I think the main reason to start Psychedelic Baby was getting in contact with C.A. Quintet [vol85] and Ya Ho Wha 13 members, which led to an interview with them. After this I got an idea, that I should expand and do more interviews and articles."


Q02. Are you a musician yourself?

"I'm not in a band, but I like to play some acoustic guitar just for my soul. To relax and to have a little bit of fun."


Q03. You cover a wide range of styles in your webzine, TDATS is mainly about the heavier side of rock, but Psychedelic Baby equally features styles like symphonic prog, raga, folk and acoustic artists. Could you tell us about what your favourite styles are?

"People sometimes confuse, that It's Psychedelic Baby is only for psychedelic music, cos of the name, but that is not true. It all began mostly as a psychedelic-oriented mag, but we've covered like you said a lot of different music genres. I don't like putting music in framework. Anything, that is featured on the magazine is somehow interesting…

My favourite style? Uh, hard to say. I will tell you about what I listen the most, but I can't really say what's my favourite. I think, that my turntable get's a really high amount of late 60s psych and heavy psych and a lot of loner folk, but like I said I'm very open minded when it comes to music."


Q04. I think the transitional period between the mid/late '60s and early '70s was the most fascinating and fertile time in rock history. What are your opinions on why there was such a creative explosion during those times and what other periods interest you most up until the current day?

"The Period between the late 60s and early 70s was incredible, but sometimes we forget, that these days we also have a lot of great and interesting music, but the problem is, that back in the 70s you had amazing bands like Led Zeppelin on top of the charts, cos »Rock« music was the most popular one and you had thousands of bands, that never had the chance for exposure until now, I guess. These days the culture changed and »Rock« became kind of underground, which can produce quite a lot of amazing bands.

The main reason for such an explosion of sounds came from various of reasons. One of them were for sure Vietnam war and consequently all the protests and resistance by students also in France, Germany…

Then a lot of new music gear emerged and that gave an opportunity to produce new, interesting sounds…

People got tired and they wanted to start something new and in a way they managed to create something very unique.

Other periods? Maybe hardcore punk scene is interesting, cos of sociological background and these days I'm surprised how big the scene for psychedelic, doom and all kind of other alternative stuff has become, thanks to internet, which can connect people like never before."


Q05. How are the featured artists chosen for your magazine? Are they voluntary submissions from your writers or do you delegate the writing jobs after deciding what you would like to appear?

"I trust my writers' taste in music. If they found something interesting, they will start working on it, but most of the time we get submissions from labels and bands, that would like us to hear their music and out of that we decide what we will cover. Sometimes it can be really hard, cos of so many artists…

For instance there is a section called »Underground of the day«, which is made by Roman Rathert who is doing interviews with less known bands of today and there you can find tons of new stuff…

The other way around is a search for really obscure bands. We found members and then we do an article about their music and in that way we managed to add a small piece of the puzzle to underground rock music."


Q06. Could you comment on any Psychedelic Baby articles that are particular favourites of yours?

"Huh, that's a hard one. Nicholas Davis wrote a nice article about psychedelia which captured the essence of the word and there is another one called »Music as Medicine«, which is also highly interesting read, then Martin Okun made a series of interesting articles; especially an article called »Hippie Punk Fusion«!, which captures the details how the two genres shed together. Then there are columns by Djin Aquarian of Ya Ho Wha 13 and columns by Rich Haupt, who started Rockadelic label, which released tons of unreleased heavy psych material etc. So it's really hard to say what's my favourite. These days we have so many articles, interviews and columns. I think everyone can find something interesting while browsing through the magazine."


Q07. Do you have any interesting stories regarding how you got in contact with any of the artists for your exclusive interviews?

"Yes, tons of them, but to expose one or two. There was a band back in the early 70s called »Earthen Vessel« and they recorded an amazing Xian heavy psych LP. There was almost no information about them, but I somehow managed to get in contact with the guy who knew the guitarist. Later I managed to get the whole band together to answer questions about the album making. They are living in different parts of the world and to know, that you are the first that is interviewing them for the very first time is something special. There are many similar stories, that happened…

Matija and Klemen with Jura Havidič of Fire

My favourite is perhaps an interview with Jura Havidič of Fire, which was a band from Croatia, but didn't make any noise around here. They were recording an LP in Holland and they did a mini tour of Germany. Kraftwerk once opened for them, which was kind of funny. Me and my dear friend Matija Štumberger somehow located Jura and we went to Zagreb and did this long interview. Jura played some of his old songs for us in his little studio and gave a nice interview. So really great time doing this one."
[I used the fire song 'Could You Understand Me' back on Vol7]


Q08. What is the future for "It's Psychedelic Baby"? Do you have any further plans regarding your love of rock music; any other magazines/books or other types of project in mind?

"Yes, there is a plan to release a physical edition of Psychedelic Baby Magazine. It will be huge issue with 120 A4 pages and various of chapters dedicated to specific themes. But I'll let you know more in the following weeks. Those interested should stay in contact through Facebook fanpage. I think the physical issue will be something special, cos it will include interviews from specific genres but the complete issue will work as a whole.

Other plans? Well, we would like to organize some concerts or even a festival for this kind of music. We are in search of some sponsors, that can back us up. There is so many things in my mind right know and lot's of ideas and hopefully at least some of them will come true."


Q09. Can you tell us something about being a psychedelic rock fan in Slovenia? Do you get much opportunity to watch old bands live?

"Slovenia is a very small country, but we are lucky enough, that we have a very special place called Metelkova, which is alternative place for all kind of arts, but especially for alternative music. Here you can see tons of bands from the States or any other places in the world playing. From pretty well known bands to less known bands. I think it's great to have something like this in homeplace. Hopefully Metelkova will manage to work also in the near future.

You mean bands from the late 60s and 70s? [Yes] Well, there aren't a lot of that coming in our country."


Q10. Are there any other bars, venues or record shops etc that would be good to check out for anyone who finds themselves in Ljubljana or wider Slovenia?

Like I said, Metelkova is a special place for alternative culture, then you have Factory Rog, which is another underground place, that held some cool concerts. For instance Embryo were here about a year ago. If you go to the centre of Ljubljana, which is a capital city you'll find some cool places like Bikofe and also a record store, super cool book store for mysticism and esoterica called Behemot."


Q11. Can you recommend and comment on any artists/bands from Slovenia or surrounding countries, old or new?

"Since Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia in the past there was quite a rock scene. You had bands from Slovenia like Buldožer (very Zappa influenced), Izvir (jazz rock), then there was a lot of good folkies including Tomaž Pengov and folk bands like Sedmina and "Kladivo, Konj in Voda".

Croatia and Serbia produced some amazing bands including Time, Igra Staklenih Perli, Pop Mašina and my favourite of them all – Fire!

These days there aren't a lot of bands from Slovenia, that I like that much. I like Crazed Farmers, which are Beefheart inspired avant-rock and maybe I missed a few bands, but I really can't remember anything else that would stand out at the moment."


Q12. Could you tell us about some of your favourite current or new artists from around the world?

"Oh yeah sure. Well lately just a couple of weeks ago I fall in love with two albums. First one is by Psicomagia, which are in my opinion the most amazing bands out there and the second one is the new one by Aqua Nebula Oscillator.

You should also check Montibus Communitas if you wish to travel across amazonian rainforrest in your mind."


Q13. What have you learnt from your experiences of editing/writing "It's Psychedelic Baby"? Do you have any useful advice for rock fanatics who are considering starting a blog or similar project themselves?

"It's an amazing feeling when you know people are grateful for your work and to help many artists to get exposed is really something special too. Sometimes it is really hard to find and select everything, that is interesting, but we are trying our best.

My advice is just to be open to various of music. Listen closely, spin it often and maybe you'll find something special, that you'll thought you'd never find."


Q14. Finally, on behalf of "It's Psychedelic Baby", do you have anything further to say to readers out there?

"Thank you Rich for your interest in It's Psychedelic Baby and thanks to all you guys for the support. Oh, and remember like Nik Turner of Hawkwind once said in my interview: »Keep taking the tablets, (LSD) and all the natural psychedelics, communicate with the Gods, help each other to get high in a positive way, help each other generally, raise your consciousness, don’t harm yourself or others, love one another, have funnnnnn!!?!"

Thanks Klemen!


Track list

01. Bakerloo [UK] - Once Upon a Time (1969)
       from album 'bakerloo'
02. Charlies [Finland] - Feeling That Feeling (1970)
       from album 'buttocks'
03. Wildwood [US] - Plastic People (1968)
       from album 'plastic people'
04. Corpus [US] - Cruising (1971)
       from album 'creation a child'
05. Wild Turkey [UK] - Twelve Streets of Cobbled Black (1971)
       from album 'battle hymn'
06. Axe [UK] - Peace of Mind (1969)
       from album 'axe'
07. Farm [US] - Jungle Song (1969)
       from album 'farm'
08. Devil's Kitchen [US] - (You've Got Your) Head On Right (1968)
       from album 'devil's kitchen'
09. Harvey Mandel [US] - Snake (1968)
       from album 'cristo redentor'
10. Trilogy [US] - I'm Beginning To Feel It (1970)
       from album 'i'm beginning to feel it'
11. The Outsiders [Nertherlands] - Doctor (1968)
       from album 'CQ (complete polydor tapes)'
12. Pluto [UK] - Down and Out (1971)
       from album 'pluto'
13. Strawbs [UK] - Tomorrow (1972)
       from album 'grave new world'
14. White Lightning [US] - Bogged Down (1968)
       from album 'strikes twice 1968-1969'
15. BOA [US] - A Restful Sleep (1971)
       from album 'wrong road'.

Bakerloo

The original line up of Bakerloo included John Hinch on drums who went on to form Judas Priest. Bill Ward of Black Sabbath also drummed for them briefly. They played with Earth (pre-Black Sabbath) on a UK tour called 'Big Bear Ffolly' and they were the support act for Led Zeppelin's début show at London's Marquee Club on 18th October 1968. Various Bakerloo members went on play in Colosseum, Humble Pie, May Blitz, Graham Bond, Vinegar Joe and Uriah Heep. The track I have chosen here, 'Once Upon a Time', was not originally on their s/t 1969 album, it was a b-side to their 'Driving Backwards' single. It starts the comp in an awesome way with that warm, welcoming steel-string acoustic sound that Zep often used. Bakerloo interview with bassist Terry Poole

Charlies

Charlies were from Lahti southern Finland. The members were Wellu Lehtine (vocals, harmonica, Moroccan clay drums, cowbell), Eero Ravi (guitar), Pitkä Lehtine (bass, tambourine), Kusti Ahlgren (drums, Moroccan clay drums, kettles) and Igor Sidorow (flute, saxophone, piano). There are a couple of re-issues available, of two albums, and 'Feeling That Feeling' is from their second and final album called 'Buttocks' (1970). Charlies interview with guitarist Eero Ravi

Wildwood

Stockton, CA's Wildwood struck me very hard when I first heard the 2012 archival release 'Plastic People' on Frantic Records, I immediately thought "now here's a band with a unique, intense sound that really should have been successful". They worked hard, laying on and promoting gigs for bigger names and acting as their support. They were billed with Grateful Dead, Steve Miller, Elvin Bishop, The Doobie Brothers, Ike & Tina Turner and Cold Blood amoungst others. Rather tragically I think, label disinterest more or less killed them and they only released two singles in their lifespan. I found a review of Plastic People here, which some members of the band have added comments to. Wildwood interview with Mark Stephen Ross & Frank John Colli

Corpus

Corpus, from Corpus Christi, Texas, made one privately-pressed album of 1001 copies. They played around Texas; Austin, San Antonio, and in the lower south. Achieving local success, according to the IPB interview they disbanded due to difficult circumstances like heavy drug use, which was a shame as their LP is solid and amazingly professional-sounding for a private press, as 'Cruising' will attest. Corpus interview with Gilbert Pena & Rick De Leon

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey was formed by bassist Glen Cornick after his dismissal from Jethro Tull. The first of their two albums, 'Battle Hymns' (1971), is of main interest to TDATS, as it has a few great heavy prog cuts like Butterfly. In it's life the band toured the UK and US with Black Sabbath, and included members past and present of Babe Ruth, Eyes of Blue, Man, Ancient Grease, Gentle Giant and Cozy Powell's Hammer, amoungst many others. The second album was far less exciting, and I see them as something of a wasted opportunity as LP # 1 had some great proto-metallic prog which was very ahead of it's time, they could have been at the forefront of metal with Sabbath, Judas Priest et al with a bit more development, had they so desired... Glenn Cornick interview about Jethro Tull, Wild Turkey

Axe

Guerssen Records issued the acetate 'Axe Music' by Northampton, UK's 'Axe' (aka 'Crystalline') in 2012. A fascinating listen it is too, with a clear line from dreamy, heavy psych into heavy metal, all embellished with the ethereal and delicate vocals of Vivienne Jones. Axe supported the likes of Free, Wishbone Ash & The Who. The vocals were one of the things that John Peel didn't like, so he rejected their demo for radio exposure. Things could have been very different if that had not been the case, they had an unusual sound, similar to that which is popular now with female-fronted 'occult' acts like Purson and Blood Ceremony. Axe/Crystalline interview with Tony Barford

Gary Gordon - Farm

'Farm' was from Southern Illinois. It's Psychedelic Baby comments that they sounded similar to The Allman Brothers. They made only one privately-pressed LP in 1971, which Shadoks issued on CD this year, most of the members were just out of high school which makes this a very impressive effort! There is some great rural US rock on here, including another awesome track 'Cottonfield Woman' which I hope to use later. The Jungle Song, which I used here, is a cool instrumental indeed. Farm interview with Gary Gordon & George Leemon

Devil's Kitchen

Halfway now and out of the farm, into the 'The Devil's Kitchen'. They were from Illinois but moved to San Francisco and the archival album that had a 2011 release on Lysergic Sound Distributors (LSD) was taken from master tapes that laid forgotten for over 40 years. "They played all the major venues in The Bay Area and Los Angeles during this time period, opening for many very well-known bands, including The Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Santana, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Allman Brothers, Big Brother And The Holding Company with Janis, The Charlatans and others".  '(You've Got Your) Head On Right' is a funky, groovy slice of fuzz. Devil's Kitchen interview with Robbie Stokes

Harvey Mandel (with Eric Clapton)

Harvey Mandel was briefly in Canned Heat in the late '60s, and is again now. He's a had a long and involved career working with many notable names including Bob Dylan, and has also made many solo albums. 'Snake' is taken from his 1968 debut, 'Cristo Redentor'. He displays a unique mixture of jazz, blues and psych here which sounds so fresh it could have been recorded yesterday. Harvey "The Snake" Mandel interview

Trilogy LP (1970)

Trilogy has connection with another band here, as they both included drummer Bernie Pershey. Trilogy was a spin-off from White Lightning that didn't last long but recorded one LP, on which the title track 'I'm Beginning To Feel It' is by far the stand out track. Bernie Pershey interview (White Lightning, Trilogy)

The Outsiders

The Outsiders were a great garage psych band from Amsterdam, Netherlands. They made many singles and two albums before splitting in 1969. The albums were going into uncharted territory, especially for a band in the conservative pop habitat of 1960s Holland, and fans were no longer interested as they left the pop music way behind. You can see where they were going with the dark track I used here, 'Doctor'. The Outsiders interview with Ronnie Splinter

Pluto

Pluto was formed in early 1970. Guitarist Alan Warner had been in The Foundations, quite a successful soul / rock band from London that toured internationally for four years, supporting the likes of The Byrds, Tim Buckley, and had some chart hits. He also once auditioned for Thin Lizzy when they were still called The Black Eagles. Pluto supported Lindisfarne at the Marquee Club, and tour partners included Genesis, Caravan and Fairport Convention. They split not long after their 1971 s/t album from which 'Down and Out' is taken. Pluto interview with Paul Gardner & Alan Warner

Grave New World LP (1972)

Originally known as the Strawberry Hill Boys (from St Mary's Teacher Training College, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, London), The Strawbs were mainly known for being a progressive folk rock band. For a short time they had Rick Wakeman on keyboards and one of the first things they ever made was a 1968 recording with Sandy Denny called 'All Our Own Work' which wasn't released until the '70s after the band had changed considerably. I have chosen a great track from 1972's Grave New World album, 'Tomorrow' which contains less of their usual folk sound and goes in a heavier, epic prog direction. Here is an interview with guitarist Dave Lambert who joined shortly after and was part of the band's incarnation that made it big in America: Fire, King Earl Boogie Band, Strawbs interview with Dave Lambert

White Lightning

Nearing the end, and we reach the afore-mentioned White Lightning, from Minneapolis. It was started by guitarist Tom "Zippy" Caplan after leaving The Litter in 1968, and only released one single under that name before recording an album with the name shortened to Lightning. Since then many White Lightning recordings have been released in archival releases by labels like Arf Arf. Lightning supported the likes of Jethro Tull and The Amboy Dukes. They were quite heavily promoted but it was not be and broke up soon after the name change. In this interview Tom states that he is not happy with the production of the Lightning album: The Litter, White Lightning & Lightning interview with Tom "Zippy" Caplan

BOA - Wrong Road LP (1971)

The concluding track of this TDATS is from an extreme rarity that as been re-issued by archival labels such as Arf Arf. BOA made one privately-pressed LP in 1971 called 'Wrong Road'. It was a very amateurish affair, recorded in a "tupperware warehouse" according to drummer Richard Allen. Each song was recorded live in one take, with minimal mics set up and no production or mixing at all. The band started as 'Anvil' and only played locally at parties etc. The music is a mixture of garage rock and early hard rock and 'A Restful Sleep' is the longest and most adventurous song on the album, of which only 200 were pressed. BOA Interview with Richard Allen & Ted Burris


Phew! If you've got this far....thanks for listening.....also thanks to Klemen and It's Psychedelic Baby; keep up the good work of revealing the forgotten and fading history of rock, Rich.

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