segunda-feira, 11 de março de 2024

John Cale & Terry Riley - Church of Anthrax 1971

A one-time-only collaboration between former Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale and minimalist composer Terry Riley, 1971's Church of Anthrax doesn't sound too much like the solo work of either. Around this time, Riley's works were along the lines of "A Rainbow in Curved Air" or "Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band": pattern music with obsessive attention to repetition and tricks with an analog delay machine that gave his music a refractory, almost hallucinogenic quality. Though Cale was trained in a similar aesthetic (he played with La Monte Young, surely the most minimal of all minimalist composers), he had largely left it behind by 1971, and so Church of Anthrax mixes Riley's drones and patterns with a more muscular and melodic bent versed in both free jazz and experimental rock. Not quite modern classical music, but not at all rock & roll either, Church of Anthrax sounds in retrospect like it was a huge influence on later post-minimalist composers like Andrew PoppyWim Mertens, and Michael Nyman, who mix similar doses of minimalism, rock, and jazz. On its own merits, the album is always interesting, and the centerpiece "The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace at Versailles" is probably the point where Riley and Cale approach each other on the most equal footing. The low point is Cale's solo writing credit, "The Soul of Patrick Lee," a slight vocal interlude by Adam Miller that feels out of place in these surroundings. AMG.

listen here

Lee Hazlewood - Cowboy in Sweden 1970

At the turn of the '60s, Lee Hazlewood decided to leave America for Sweden. He had already spent time in the country, appearing as an actor in two television productions. Hence, his decision wasn't completely out of the blue -- especially since he had become close with the Swedish artist/filmmaker Torbjörn Axelman. The year he arrived in Sweden, he starred in Axelman's television production Cowboy in Sweden and cut an album of the same name. Judging by the album alone, the film must have been exceedingly surreal, since the record exists in its own space and time. At its core, it's a collection of country and cowboy tunes, much like the work he did with Nancy Sinatra, the production is cinematic and psychedelic, creating a druggy, discombobulated sound like no other. This is mind-altering music -- the combination of country song structures, Hazlewood's deep baritone, the sweet voices of Nina Lizell and Suzi Jane Hokom, rolling acoustic guitars, ominous strings, harpsichords and flutes, eerie pianos, and endless echo is stranger than outright avant-garde music, since the familiar is undone by unexpected arrangements. Though the songs are all well-written, Cowboy in Sweden is ultimately about the sound and mood it evokes -- and it's quite singular. AMG.

listen here

Omega - Omega 1969

Extremely rare Illinois private pressing legendary psych LP. Not much info about this album but it worth listen.

listen here

Rainbird - Maiden Flight 1971

Monstrously obscure UK prog band from 1970, 200 lps were privately made but most were destroyed, and no copies have ever been openly sold. Complex and mysterious music with flutes and mystical lyrics, meandering melodies, like the most introverted moments from the Moody Blues classic Threshold of a Dream era, Rainbird is an LP some rate as a masterpiece. 

listen here

The Illusion - If It's So 1970

By some standards, the Illusion was one of the most successful unknown psychedelic bands of their generation -- unknown, yes, but with three LPs to their credit on the Steed label. Their personnel included Michael Ricciardella (drums), Richie Cerniglia (guitar), Chuck Alder (bass), Mike Maniscalco (guitar, keyboards), and John Vinci (vocals). The Steed label released IllusionTogether, and If It's So between 1969 and 1970. The illusion was interesting enough to observers to merit a release in England in 1969. By 1971, the Illusion's albums were being sought by kids who'd never heard the band play. One of their songs, "I Love You," has made it on to compact disc. AMG.

listen here

J.J. Jackson's Dilemma - J.J. Jackson's Dilemma 1970

One of the most interesting obscure figures of '60s soul, J.J. Jackson scored a mammoth R&B hit in 1966 with one of the most infectious dance smashes of the decade, "But It's Alright." The New Yorker had worked as an arranger for Jack McDuff and Jimmy Witherspoon before his manager arranged for Jackson to come to England in 1966. Though "But It's Alright," with its classic stuttering guitar riff and sharp horn charts, sounded as authentic as any Stax/Volt single, it was actually recorded in the U.K. with British session musicians. Jackson -- a mammoth, nearly 300-pound man who also played organ -- was a grainy, good-natured belter in the mold of Otis Redding. A talented songwriter who penned much of his own material, he wrote the A-side of one of the Pretty Things' best mid-'60s R&B/raunch singles ("Come See Me"). Jackson never matched the success of "But It's Alright," but cut some singles that are highly valued by English Northern soul connoisseurs. His hard-to-find 1969 and 1970 albums found him exploring, in the manner of most other soul stars of the time, increased social consciousness in his songwriting and increasingly sophisticated horn and string arrangements. AMG.

listen here

Song - Song Album 1970

Song formed in 1969, recorded and released one album in 1970, and was history within a year. Pretty much pure power pop here, but there are a couple of heavier rock and jazz-infused tracks that veer away from it. The musicianship is solid, and I'm sure Curt Boettcher and Keith Olsen contributed some of their production and engineering wizardry to the final mix.

listen here

Three Man Army - A Third of a Lifetime 1971

The first Three Man Army album, despite its confidently trio-based title, actually teamed Paul Gurvitz and Adrian Gurvitz with several different drummers, including Buddy MilesSpooky Tooth's Mike Kellie, and Vanilla Fudge's Carmine Appice. Though the Gurvitzes could mimic the cliches of early-'70s hard rock, their material was ordinary to the point of dullness, and their guitar soloing was stereotypical almost to the point of unwitting self-parody. Many British bands in the Led Zeppelin-Deep Purple spectrum did this stuff better. There were occasional glimmers of something that went outside the genre's narrowest bounds -- a bit of pop harmonizing in "Three Man Army," acoustic guitar flavorings for "Agent Man" and "See What I Took," blues-soul organ improvisation in "Midnight," a strange lyrical grounding for "Butter Queen" ("if your name is Barbara, how come they call you butter queen?" they ask rhetorically). The two best tracks were the least typical -- "Together" is much more Beatlesque early-'70s rock with a hippie attitude (and a synthesizer) than it is hard rock, and "A Third of a Lifetime" is a genuinely pretty orchestrated instrumental ballad. AMG.

listen here

domingo, 25 de fevereiro de 2024

Leonard Cohen - The Songs of Leonard Cohen 1967

At a time when a growing number of pop songwriters were embracing a more explicitly poetic approach in their lyrics, the 1967 debut album from Leonard Cohen introduced a songwriter who, rather than being inspired by "serious" literature, took up music after establishing himself as a published author and poet. The ten songs on Songs of Leonard Cohen were certainly beautifully constructed, artful in a way few (if any) other lyricists would approach for some time, but what's most striking about these songs isn't Cohen's technique, superb as it is, so much as his portraits of a world dominated by love and lust, rage and need, compassion and betrayal. While the relationship between men and women was often the framework for Cohen's songs (he didn't earn the nickname "the master of erotic despair" for nothing), he didn't write about love; rather, Cohen used the never-ending thrust and parry between the sexes as a jumping off point for his obsessive investigation of humanity's occasional kindness and frequent atrocities (both emotional and physical). Cohen's worldview would be heady stuff at nearly any time and place, but coming in a year when pop music was only just beginning to be taken seriously, Songs of Leonard Cohen was a truly audacious achievement, as bold a challenge to pop music conventions as the other great debut of the year, The Velvet Underground & Nico, and a nearly perfectly realized product of his creative imagination. Producer John Simon added a touch of polish to Cohen's songs with his arrangements (originally Cohen wanted no accompaniment other than his guitar), though the results don't detract from his dry but emotive vocals; instead, they complement his lyrics with a thoughtful beauty and give the songs even greater strength. Some of Cohen's finest songs appeared here, including the luminous "Suzanne," the subtly venomous "Master Song" and "Sisters of Mercy," which would later be used to memorable effect in Robert Altman's film McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Many artists work their whole career to create a work as singular and accomplished as Songs of Leonard Cohen, and Cohen worked this alchemy the first time he entered a recording studio; few musicians have ever created a more remarkable or enduring debut. AMG.

listen here

Lonnie Mack - Whatever's Right 1969

With a passel of familiar faces in the cast (ex-James Brown bassist Tim Drummond, pianist Dumpy Rice, harpist Rusty York), the reclusive Mack rocks up some memorable dusties his way -- the Falcons' "I Found a Love," and Bobby Bland's "Share Your Love with Me," Little Walter's "My Babe," and Jimmy Reed's chestnut "Baby What You Want Me to Do," along with his own "Gotta Be an Answer." AMG.

listen here

Jeff Simmons - Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up 1969

The longtime bassist for Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, Jeff Simmons also issued a rare solo LP for Zappa's Straight imprint, the 1970 cult classic Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up. Born and raised in Seattle, Simmons first earned local notoriety as the singer/guitarist for Indian Puddin' & Pipe, a popular Pacific Northwest psychedelic band that in 1967 signed with producer Matthew Katz's San Francisco Sound label. Katz -- the infamously unscrupulous manager of Moby GrapeIt's a Beautiful Day, and other luminaries of the San Francisco psych scene -- structured his contracts so that different lineups could appear under a given group's name anytime and anywhere he desired, and he ultimately bestowed the Indian Puddin' & Pipe moniker on a rival Seattle act previously known as the West Coast Natural Gas. Left without legal recourse, Simmons and his bandmates (guitarist Peter Larson, bassist Phil Kirby, and drummer Albert Malosky) returned to Seattle and rechristened themselves Easy Chair, issuing their one-sided, self-titled debut LP on the Vanco label in 1968. After another name change, this time to Ethiopia, the group opened for the Mothers of Invention in Seattle and later appeared alongside Wild Man FischerAlice Cooper, and the GTOs at Bizarre Records' legendary "Gala Pre-Xmas Bash" at Santa Monica's Shrine Exhibition Hall in early December of 1968. Zappa soon after convinced Ethiopia to relocate to Los Angeles, pairing the group with producers Jerry Yester and Val Zanofsky. When nothing concrete emerged from the sessions, the group dissolved but Zappa quickly offered Simmons his own two-record deal with Straight. The first, a largely instrumental soundtrack to an obscure biker film titled Naked Angels, features a series of acid-fuzz guitar jams. It was immediately followed by Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up, a more conventionally song-oriented psychedelic opus produced by Zappa under the alias LaMarr Bruister. The album generated little attention outside of Zappa cultists, however, and Simmons was installed as bassist for the Mothers of Invention's late 1970 LP Chunga's Revenge. He left the group during production on Zappa's feature film project 200 Motels, but later returned to the fold for albums including Waka/Jawaka and Roxy & Elsewhere. By the 1980s Simmons returned to Seattle, fronting a series of local acts including the Backtrackers and Cocktails for Ladies. He also wrote an unpublished memoir, I Joined the Mothers of Invention...for the FBI, and in 2005 released Blue Universe, his first new solo material in 35 years. AMG.
 

listen here

Formerly Fat Harry - Formerly Fat Harry 1971

Formerly Fat Harry's only album is one the forgotten greats of late '60s British rock. U.K.-based but formed by Country Joe & the Fish bassist Bruce Barthol, Formerly Fat Harry meshed basic folk rock with elements of funk, jazz, and psychedelic rock; experimented with odd tempos; and quietly created some original, surprisingly intense music in the early 1970s. Fat Harry was soon signed up by the original Pink Floyd management company.

Playing a highly idiosyncratic brand of Americana that frequently experimented with jazz time signatures, the band played at two of the now legendary free concerts in Hyde Park, the 1970 Bath Festival, Phun City, and many of the clubs of the era such as The Marquee in London.

A quartet of 'musician's musicians', admired by everyone from Ralph McTell to Edgar Broughton and Michael Chapman, the group made only one LP for Harvest Records before disbanding in 1972. Though reflecting their musical and songwriting abilities, that record failed to capture their true flavor. ChrisGoesRocAMG

listen here

Tim Maia - Tim Maia 1971

Another fine album. A second foray into mostly the same ideas expressed in one prior, following classic soul/funk instrumentation, gorgeous chord changes, and showcasing a very fine voice indeed. Sometimes getting a little more of what we've heard is nothing to be ashamed of enjoying. AMG.
 

listen here

Pan - Pan 1973

Released three years after his post-Beau Brummels solo album "Candlemaker", 1973's "Pan" found Ron Elliott returning to the recording environment with the band Pan. Showcasing the talents of singer Keith Barbour, drummer Don Francisco, bassist Sherman Hayes, and lead guitarist Arthur Richards, the high-powered line-up quickly scored a contract with Columbia Records. With Elliott responsible for all of the material, musically the album was quite diverse. Tracks such as 'Long Way Home', 'Garbage Man', and 'More Than My Guitar' made it clear Elliott had been listening to more than his share of early-'70s country-rock bands - echoes of The Flying Burrito Brothers, Michael Nesmith, and Poco abounded throughout the collection. That wasn't to say Elliott had totally lost his fascination with more commercial genres. 'Love Glow (Calamity Jane)' was near-perfect top-40 pop, while 'Lady Honey' and 'Dancing To The Band' both included buoyant CS&Y-styled harmonies. Mind you, the album wasn't perfect. 'Delinga de Mattei' was a throwaway old-timey ballad, while Barbour's performance on 'The Puppet' came precariously close to the MOR material that made him a mid-'60s solo star (though there was no denying he had a killer voice). Speaking of voices, as much as I enjoyed this album, to my ears one of the set's most interesting dynamics lay in how different Barbour and Elliott were. Exemplified by tracks like ' Love Glow (Calamity Jane)', Elliott had a light, commercially-friendly voice. In contrast, Barbour had a deep, gruff, soulful voice. Hearing them sharing lead vocals on the same song ('Long Way Home'), was interesting, if somewhat jarring.

Columbia doesn't seem to have done much to promote the LP. No singles seem to have been released and you seldom run across a copy of the album. Anyhow, anyone expecting to hear Beau Brummels-styled top-40 pop was probably going to be disappointed by the set, which would be unfortunate since the album was quite enjoyable.

listen here

The Damnation of Adam Blessing - Glory 1973

Previously known as the Damnation of Adam Blessing, Glory hailed from Cleveland and recorded one album for the Avalanche label in 1973. Essentially the fourth Damnation of Adam Blessing album, Glory came about as a result of differences with the band's record label (United Artists) over the musical content and direction of the band. The album was in the process of recording but United Artists would not release it so the Damnation of Adam Blessing disbanded only to resurface as Glory. For Glory, two of the band members dropped their stage names, reverting back to their original names, and they toughened up the sound with more hard rock guitar and returned to the simple style of the early Damnation recordings. Glory features nine hard rock songs that are guitar-dominated, with good vocal interaction between the lead singers. After the release of Glory, the band broke up. Ironically, Avalanche Records was a subsidiary of United Artists that only lasted for two album releases. AMG.

listen here