Fleetwood Mac - English Rose 1969

For reasons that no one seems to recall in detail -- but for which we can be grateful -- when it was time to release a second Fleetwood Mac LP in America, producer Mike Vernon and the band didn't just send the existing Mr. Wonderful album across the Atlantic -- a little fine-tuning and retooling was in order. The band had just expanded by one member, to a quintet -- with the addition of guitarist Danny Kirwan -- by the end of 1968, whereas Mr. Wonderful represented them as a four-piece outfit. Additionally, the group had just toured the U.S. for the first time, as a quintet, playing to very enthusiastic audiences, and so there was some point to sending U.S. licensee Epic Records something extra, representing who they were at the start of 1969. And that became the English Rose album, offering three Kirwan-authored instrumentals, plus the hit U.K. single "Albatross," and also their previous single, "Black Magic Woman," which had been a British Top 40 hit (though it was unknown in the U.S., and preceded Santana's hit recording of it by almost two years). Half of Mr. Wonderful was still there, including the opener, "Stop Messin' Round" and "I've Lost My Baby," representing the stronger tracks from that record. Between the paring down of Mr. Wonderful and the addition of the single tracks, English Rose ended up being a stronger album than its predecessor, though without a hit single in America to drive sales and get it exposure, it barely brushed the Top 200 LP listings in the U.S. Strangely enough, despite the overlap with Mr. Wonderful, English Rose was released in England about six months later, probably to help make up for the loss of the group's contract (due to an oversight) by Blue Horizon. AMG.

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The Steve Miller Band - Brave New World 1969

Blasting out of stereo speakers in the summer of 1969, Brave New World was more fully realized, and rocked harder, than the Steve Miller Band's first two albums. From the opening storm of the uplifting title track to the final scorcher, "My Dark Hour," featuring Paul McCartney (credited as "Paul Ramon"), this recording was the strongest project before Miller's Fly Like an Eagle days. "Celebration Song" has a sliding bassline, while "LT's Midnight Dream" features Miller's slide guitar. "Can't You Hear Your Daddy's Heartbeat" sounds like it was lifted right off of Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced, and "Got Love 'Cause You Need It" also has a Hendrix-ian feel. "Kow Kow" is a wonderfully oblique song featuring Nicky Hopkins' distinctive piano style. Hopkins' piano coda on that song alone is worth the price of this album. "Space Cowboy," one of several songs co-written with Ben Sidran, defined one of Miller's many personas. "Seasons," another Sidran collaboration, is a beautifully atmospheric, slow-tempo piece. Steve Miller's guitar playing is the star of this album, blazing across the whole affair more prominently than on any other release in his lengthy career; many of the songs have a power trio feel. In addition to the fine guitar work, Miller's vocals are stronger here, and during this era in general, than they would be in his hitmaking days in the mid-'70s, when he was much more laid-back and overdubbed. Ever the borrower, adapter, and integrator, Steve Miller shapes the blues, psychedelia, sound effects, sweet multi-tracked vocal harmonies, and guitar-driven hard rock into one cohesive musical statement with this release. AMG.

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Supertramp - Indelibly Stamped 1971

Supertramp followed an unusual path to commercial success in the 1970s, fusing the stylistic ambition and instrumental dexterity of progressive rock with the wit and tuneful melodies of British pop, and the results made them one of the most popular British acts of the '70s and ‘80s, topping the charts and filling arenas around the world at a time when their style of music was supposed to have fallen out of fashion.

Supertramp was formed in 1969 by pianist and vocalist Rick Davies. Davies had been a member of a group called the Joint, who had found a financial backer in Dutch millionaire Stanley August Miesegaes; Miesegaes had grown disenchanted with the Joint, but saw promise in Davies, and he offered to bankroll a new band if Davies wanted to launch a fresh project. Davies placed an ad in the British music weekly Melody Maker, and recruited guitarist Richard Palmer, percussionist Robert Millar, and vocalist/bassist Roger Hodgson. Davies initially dubbed the new band Daddy, but to avoid comparison with a number of other paternally named acts, he changed their billing to Supertramp, taking the name from a book by Welsh author William Henry Davies. In 1970, Supertramp signed a deal with A&M Records, and their debut album was released later the same year. Dominated by extended prog-based compositions, the album didn't win a large audience, and Supertramp's lineup shifted, as Richard Palmer and Robert Millar left the group, Hodgson moved from bass to guitar, and bassist Frank Farrell, percussionist Kevin Currie, and Dave Winthrop on flue and sax joined the act. The new edition of Supertramp released the album Indelibly Stamped in 1971, but it fared little better in the marketplace than the debut, and Miesegaes cut off his funding of the group. Left to their own devices, Supertramp came close to collapse as most of the group's members moved on, but Davies and Hodgson put together a new version of the group -- Davies on piano and vocals, Hodgson on guitar, electric piano, and vocals, Dougie Thomson on bass, Bob C. Benberg on drums and percussion, and John Anthony Helliwell on sax, woodwinds, and keyboards. This edition of Supertramp boasted a more concise and pop-oriented sound than the band that recorded the first two albums, and 1974's Crime of the Century became Supertramp's commercial breakthrough, spawning the singles "Dreamer" and "Bloody Well Right." 1975's Crisis? What Crisis? didn't fare quite as well commercially, but 1977's Even in the Quietest Moments earned the band another hit single in "Give a Little Bit," and Supertramp's steady road work earned them a reputation as an impressive live act. 1979's Breakfast in America elevated Supertramp to true superstar status; three of its songs ("Goodbye Stranger," "Take the Long Way Home," and "The Logical Song") would became Top 20 hits, and the album went to number one on the Billboard charts, selling four million copies in the United States and reaching platinum status in Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Supertramp followed the success of Breakfast in America with a live album, 1980's Paris, but it wasn't until 1982 that the group released a new studio LP, Famous Last Words, and in a sense the title was prophetic -- the working relationship between Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson had become contentious, and in 1983, Hodgson, the lead vocalist on the band's biggest hits, left to pursue a solo career. With Davies taking the lead, Supertramp released Brother Where You Bound in 1985, which found the band easing back on their pop side and exploring their progressive influences; the album also featured guest appearances from Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. 1987's Free as a Bird found Supertramp experimenting with synthesizers and electronic dance music, but after a world tour in support of the album, Davies quietly retired the band. In 1996, Davies re-assembled Supertramp for a concert tour; the new lineup featured Davies, John Anthony Helliwell, guitarist Mark Hart (who had toured with the band in support of Free as a Bird), and percussionist Jesse Siebenberg. The new Supertramp went into the studio after the tour, and Some Things Never Change was released in 1997. More touring followed, which was documented on the album Live 1997. Another studio set, Slow Motion, appeared in 2002. In 2010, Supertramp regrouped for a world tour to celebrate their fortieth anniversary, but while rumors suggested Hodgson might rejoin the band for the occasion, both he and Davies issued statements saying they were not likely to ever work together again, and Hodgson mounted a solo tour concurrently with Supertramp's anniversary celebration. AMG.

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Victoria - Secret of The Bloom 1970

Trippy folk rock from the Bay Area scene of the late 60s -- the voice of Victoria set to arrangements by producer David Rubinson, and a set of tracks by hip songwriters like Jeffrey Comanor, WW Zevon, and Stephen Stills -- as well as Victoria herself.

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Christian - Christian 1972

Canadian prog rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. A rare, only album led by vocalist John Christian. Bass guitarist Terry Gottlieb previously played in 60s bands "The Zoo" and "Mad Dog", while guitarist Howard Leese later played in the famous "Heart".

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Ted Neeley - A.D. 1974

Ted Neeley came to the public's attention when he played and sang the title role in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar, both on-stage and onscreen, and then followed it up with a role in the original theatrical production of the Who's Tommy. A singer, drummer, actor, composer, vocal arranger, and record producer, Neeley was born September 20, 1943 in Ranger, Texas. He signed his first record deal in 1965, at age 22, with Capitol Records, releasing an album, the self-titled Teddy Neeley, on the imprint with his group the Teddy Neeley Five. Possessing a baritone singing voice that could rise octaves into a controlled, on-pitch rock-era scream when necessary, Neeley began taking musical theater roles in Los Angeles, which in turn led him to audition for the Broadway staging of Jesus Christ Superstar, and he was selected as the understudy for the title role, which he claimed for the L.A. stage version that had a run at the Universal Amphitheatre, then reprised for the 1973 movie. Neeley released a solo album, 1974 A.D., in, when else, 1974, then took the role of Billy Shears in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road. He continued doing musical theater, acting as well in various television dramas during the 1970s and 1980s, including Starsky and Hutch, and appeared as Curly in the NBC television movie production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Meanwhile, he performed live shows with his band Pacific Coast Highway. Neeley reprised his most famous role in the updated touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar in the 1990s, and did it again for a stripped-down version of the musical that toured from 2006 to 2010. He released a five-track EP, Rock Opera, in 2013, which included a version of the Who's "See Me, Feel Me," a duet with fellow Jesus Christ Superstar alum Yvonne Elliman on "Up Where We Belong," a take on the Bryan Adams hit "Do I Have to Say the Words?," a rendition of the Christmas classic "O Holy Night," and, thanks to some modern engineering tricks, a duet with the late Carl Anderson on "God's Gift to the World." AMG.

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Gong - Camembert Eclectique 1971

This is a classic, the epitome of the band's early Daevid Allen phase with Ph.P.'s (pothead pixies) in full, blazing glory. In its infancy, Gong was a unique prog rock band that branched out in all directions at once while most other prog bands chose simply one path or another. Camembert Electrique is a testament to that. The band's eclectic "electric cheese" rock is a mixture of psychedelic rock, spacy atmospherics and lyrics, and doses of jazz often presented with a pop sensibility, yet always intense. From the first cut on Camembert, you are transported to planet Gong via the voice of a "radio gnome" who drops in intermittently to remind you you're not in Kansas anymore. Daevid Allen leads the band through several compositions musically (not lyrically) reminiscent of, and possibly influenced by, early King Crimson -- a hard, raw-edged sound propelled by a strong guitar-sax-percussion combo. Drummer Pip Pyle played on only a few Gong sessions; he is a major figure here, as is saxophonist Didier Malherbe. Both are up front on the wailing progressive rocker "You Can't Kill Me," which also features guitarist Allen in top form. Allen's declarative "I've Bin Stone Before," the first part of an inventive three-song medley, is of particular interest; introductory church organ and avant-garde sax make this another unique Gong experience. But the real gem on Camembert is "Tropical Fish: Selene." This jazzy composition is the most involving and intricate piece on the recording. The band moves tightly through several progressive movements and Gilli Smyth scores with her trademark "space whispering." Camembert Electrique remains undated after over 40 years and hovers "strong and steamin'" over most of the Gong catalog. AMG.

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KGB - Motion 1976

KGB was a short-lived American rock band, one of the late 1970s supergroups. The name is made up of the first letters of the three main actors, Ray Kennedy (vocals), Barry Goldberg (keyboards), and Mike Bloomfield (guitar); Goldberg and Bloomfield had previously played together on The Electric Flag.

The rhythm section included Ric Grech (bass, formerly Family, Blind Faith, and Traffic) and Carmine Appice (drums, formerly Vanilla Fudge, Beck, Bogert & Appice). The members of KGB (sometimes also written as KGB) received lucrative contracts from the record company MCA in 1975 to find a supergroup. The debut album, titled KGB (starring Appice, Grech, Goldberg, Bloomfield, and Kennedy) was released in 1976 but flopped with both critics and buyers. The music magazine Sounds complained that the group lacks a musical interest group. In 1976 the second album Motion appeared with Appice, Goldberg, Kennedy, Ben Schultz, and Gregg Sutton. Mike Bloomfield refused to go to Los Angeles , where the shooting was taking place; his post was in Sausalitorecorded and mixed in. In an interview, he made derogatory comments about the project, which came to an early end after 18 months.

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The Rascals - Freedom Suite 1969

If 1968's Once Upon a Dream, was the Rascals' first reach into uncharted territory, the double length Freedom Suite released a year later, was off the map. The band dug in and wrote a single LP's worth of solid tunes including a quartet of fine singles. Foremost is "People Got to Be Free"; it spent five weeks at Number One on the pop chart (and hit number 14 on the R&B one as well). Then there's easy summer soul and gospel groove on "A Ray of Hope," which may have only gotten to number 39, but is among the most enduring cuts in the Rascals legacy. The track "Heaven," which closed the first disc of Freedom Suite, was also wrapped tightly in urban gospel. The first LP contains 11 more or less conventionally written Rascals songs.  While the four previously mentioned cuts stood out, there wasn't any filler on the first platter. Eddie Brigati and Felix Cavaliere wrote all but three songs on it, and were requisitely tight. Gene Cornish wrote a pair as well, including the killer piano soul-jazz and rock number "Me and My Friends." Arif Mardin co-produced with the band and arranged and conducted the string and horn sections. Disc two flips outis a flip out. It begs the quesation--at first--if this is the Rascals at all. There's the jazzed up (think Ramsey Lewis Trio groove) "Adrian's Birthday," which was downright funky with popping bass by Chuck Rainey, fuzzed out stereo-effects guitar from Cornish, that feels more like a basement jam than a Rascals cut, especially with the gutbucket tenor break from David "Fathead" Newman. But it is a portent of things to come with the two nearly side-long cuts that follow. First is "Boom" a 14-minute, Dino Danelli drum solo. Then there's "Cute." Running over 15 minutes, it's a jam. Beginning with Cavaliere's Hammond B-3 and Danelli's popping snare , Cornish digs deep into his soul-jazz trick bag. The track sounds more like a Prestige date by Jack McDuff up until a third of the way through when one of the three session bassists pulls out the stops and drives the trio. At five minutes it slips into improvisational territory. For most rock acts this would be the death knell, but not these guys. They let it wander for a minute or so, bring the groove back, and let it wander and come back some more. Danelli takes too long a drum break though. The track works for most of its length because the grooves are dirty and heavy with cracking breakbeats and organ and guitar vamps galore. The excesses overreach though, making the second disc somewhat superfluous. Freedom Suite reached number 127 on the chart; it would be the second to last Rascals album to produce any Top 40 singles. AMG.

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The Peppermint Trolley Company - The Peppermint Trolley Company 1968

Formed in Redlands, CA, in 1967, Peppermint Trolley Company managed to release one album and five singles. They were one of the initial bands signed to the Acta label, whose biggest success was the American Breed "Bend Me Shape Me." Only one of Peppermint's singles managed to make the charts, "Baby You Come Rollin' Across My Mind." It peaked at number 59 in the summer of 1968. They managed to keep a relatively high profile by performing the weekly TV theme songs for Love American Style and the first season of The Brady Bunch (the cast members sang the theme from the second season). The band consisted of Bob Cheevers (vocals and guitar), Jimmie Faragher (bass, guitar, and sax), Danny Faragher (keyboards), Casey Cunningham (guitar and flute), and Greg Tornouist (drums). Their success was short lived and by the early '70s the band changed their name to Bones and finally the Faragher Brothers before disbanding. Bob Cheevers gained success as a solo artist, releasing several discs in the contemporary folk genre. AMG.

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Curtis Mayfield - Give, Get, Take And Have 1976

Less sociopolitical than previous efforts, Give Get Take Have offers "Mr. Welfare Man" as its sole attempt to enlighten and enhance. Mayfield was obviously experiencing the joys of new love when he cut "Only You Babe" and "This Love Is Sweet," and the tear-jerking numbers "In Your Arms Again" and "Party Night." His aching falsetto coos and purrs, but sounds weakened on this LP. Overall, the album falls short of Mayfield's former releases, but even great artists don't always achieve their usual high standards. This was originally released on Curtom Records in the mid-'70s. AMG.

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Trini Lopez - The Rhythm and Blues Album 1965

One of the most popular performers of the 1960s, Trini Lopez won a large international following for his upbeat, likable blend of folk and rock & roll. His repertoire was steeped in folk standards and popular tunes of the day, which he favored with his instrumental style, a light yet insistent variation on early rock and rockabilly that was perfect for dancing, singalongs, and clapping, all of which Lopez cheerfully encouraged. At a time when there were few Latin musicians in rock, he was outspokenly proud of his Mexican-American heritage, and often sang in Spanish, which helped boost his appeal outside the United States. Lopez was a showman who made audiences feel comfortable and didn't play the role of the rock & roll rebel, making him accessible to youngsters and their parents alike. (Significantly, he was discovered and mentored by Frank Sinatra, not known for his enthusiasm for rock & roll.) Lopez broke through in 1963 with the album Trini Lopez at PJ's, a live recording of his nightclub act, which was followed a few months later by More Trini Lopez at PJ's; in many respects, these two albums set the template he would follow for the rest of his career, though 1964's The Latin Album demonstrated he knew how to work in the recording studio, and 1968's Welcome to Trini Country found him taking on C&W hits. 2007's The Very Best of Trini Lopez is a collection that lives up to its name.

Trinidad López III was born in Dallas, Texas, on May 15, 1937, one of six children. His father was a laborer but also had a side career as a performer in the Mexican ranchera style, and when Trini was 11 years old, his dad gave him his first guitar. He soon became proficient on the instrument, and developed a repertoire that combined Mexican folk tunes, rhythm and favorites from the likes of Jimmy Reed and T-Bone Walker, and rock & roll hits by Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. Lopez began playing on street corners to make extra money, and by the time he was a senior in high school, he had a band called the Big Beats, quitting school so he could work with the group full-time. The Big Beats regularly played nightspots in Texas, and after meeting fellow Texan Buddy Holly, the star put him in touch with his record producer, Norman Petty. While Petty helped the Big Beats land a recording deal with Columbia Records, he preferred to de-emphasize Lopez's presence in the group, and the material they cut was entirely instrumental. Understandably unhappy, he left the band, and cut a rockabilly-influenced single in 1958 for a small Texas label, Volk Records, "The Right to Rock" b/w "Just Once More." The 45 attracted little notice; the following year, he signed with King Records, and recorded a handful of rock & roll sides for them over the space of three years, none of which hit the charts. Producer Snuff Garrett approached Lopez about singing with the Crickets after Buddy Holly's death, but a series of auditions led nowhere.

While Lopez's recording career was not going very far, he was developing a reputation as an engaging live performer, and he was booked to play a residency at a nightclub in West Hollywood called PJ's. The club often attracted a celebrity clientele, and one night Frank Sinatra stopped by and caught his show. Sinatra thought Lopez had star quality, and signed him to his record company, Reprise Records. Don Costa, a producer for Reprise, felt the best way to capture the excitement of his performances was to record him live in front of an audience, and a mobile recording unit was moved into PJ's to put his show on tape. Released in April 1963, Trini Lopez at PJ's was a smash hit, rising to number two on the Top 200 Albums charts and earning a Gold Record, while the single "If I Had a Hammer" was a number three single in the United States while reaching the top of the charts in 36 other countries. Just four months later, Reprise brought out More Trini Lopez at PJ's, another batch of live recordings from his Hollywood club dates, which produced another hit single, "Kansas City." "Lemon Tree" rose to Number 20 in 1965, and 1966's "I'm Comin' Home, Cindy" would be his last visit to the Pop Top 40 in the United States, though he would regularly appear on the Adult Contemporary charts through 1968. Lopez would also become a frequent visitor to the album charts, especially with themed releases such as 1964's The Latin Album, 1965's The Folk Album, The Love Album, and The Rhythm & Blues Album, and 1966's The Second Latin Album. After the success of Trini Lopez at PJ's, his King Records material was reissued on an album called Teenage Love Songs, and the King recordings would be repackaged frequently over the years. As Lopez's fame rose, he became a top draw at venues around the world and performed regularly in Las Vegas; he also became a regular guest on television shows, ranging from The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to Celebrity Bowling and Sha Na Na. He made his big-screen debut in the movie Marriage on the Rocks (1965), starring his mentor Frank Sinatra, and he had a major role in 1967's The Dirty Dozen, though his part in the latter was cut short as he left the project before filming was completed in order to get back on the road. He starred in his own TV special in 1968, The Trini Lopez Show, and Reprise issued a soundtrack album. 1969's The Whole Enchilada was produced by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, best known for their success writing and producing for the Monkees. It was an attempt to update Trini's sound as rock and pop took the place of his more subdued style on the charts. The album didn't make the charts, and it was his last album for Reprise. In 1971, Lopez recorded a Spanish-language LP for Capitol Records, Viva, but sales were scarce, and for the rest of his career, he would work with a variety of small labels, occasionally re-recording his old hits, though he continued to tour regularly and recorded several independent albums in his later years, including 2016's Here I Am and My Christmas Gift to You, and a 2017 spiritual release, Heaven. One of Lopez's final projects was recording a song called "If by Now," written to raise money for food banks who had been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In a sad coincidence, Lopez himself contracted COVID-19, and the virus claimed his life on August 11, 2020; he was 83 years old. AMG.

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Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf 1968

Steppenwolf entered the studio for their recording debut with a lot of confidence -- based on a heavy rehearsal schedule before they ever got signed -- and it shows on this album, a surprisingly strong debut album from a tight hard rock outfit that was obviously searching for a hook to hang their sound on. The playing is about as loud and powerful as anything being put out by a major record label in 1968, though John Kay's songwriting needed some development before their in-house repertory would catch up with their sound and musicianship. On this album, the best material came from outside the ranks of the active bandmembers: "Born to Be Wild" by ex-member Mars Bonfire, which became not only a chart-topping high-energy anthem for the counterculture (a status solidified by its use in Dennis Hopper's movie Easy Rider the following year), but coined the phrase heavy metal, thus giving a genre-specific name to the brand of music that the band played (and which was already manifesting itself in the work of bands like Vanilla Fudge and the just-emerging Led Zeppelin); the Don Covay soul cover "Sookie, Sookie," which, as a single by the new group, actually got played on some soul stations until they found out that Steppenwolf was white; two superb homages to Chess Records, in the guise of "Berry Rides Again," written (though "adapted" might be a better word) by Kay based on the work of Chuck Berry, and the Willie Dixon cover "Hoochie Coochie Man"; and Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher," an anti-drug song turned into a pounding six-minute tour de force by the band. The rest, apart from the surprisingly lyrical rock ballad "A Girl I Knew," is by-the-numbers hard rock that lacked much except a framework for their playing; only "The Ostrich" ever comes fully to life among the other originals, but the songs would catch up with the musicianship the next time out. AMG.

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Stephen Miller - Stephen Miller 1970

Stephen Miller is an organ/vocalist for Linn County. He played for a crowd of known people as side man like Tom Fogerty, Elvin Bishop, The Allman Brothers Band, Clifton Chenier John Lee Hooker and others. Miller is joined on this album by Elvin Bishop and his band members.

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Taj Mahal - Giant Step - De Ole Folks at Home 1969

In less than 24 months, Taj Mahal (guitars/vocals/banjo/harmonica) had issued the equivalent of four respective long players. The electric Giant Step (1968) was released alongside the acoustic and decidedly rural De Ole Folks at Home (1968). The nine cuts on Giant Step feature support from the instrumental trio of Jessie Ed Davis (guitar/keyboards), Gary Gilmore (bass) and Chuck Blackwell (drums). They back Taj Mahal on a wide selection of covers ranging from Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Take a Giant Step" to the upbeat and soulful reading of the Huddie Ledbetter blues staple "Keep Your Hands off Her." The arrangements are unique and offer the artist a distinctive approach. Nowhere is this more evident than the practically jovial mid-tempo "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" or the freewheeling abandon that is brought to the 18-wheeler anthem "Six Days on the Road," recalling the version of "Ain't That a Lot of Love" from Taj Mahal's preceding effort Natch'l Blues (1968). Additionally, Blind Willie Johnson's "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond" stands out with a strong and soaring gospel-flavoured score. Giant Step concludes with "Bacon Fat," a number attributed here via Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson of the Band. That said, it may be better-known from the man they called Mr. Rhythm, Andre Williams, whose scattered down-home spoken interludes punctuate his February 1957 Top 10 R&B hit -- which incidentally was created under the working title "Diddle, Diddle Womp, Womp." Parties searching for an apt introduction when discovering Taj Mahal's voluminous catalogue are encouraged to consider Giant Step as a highly recommended reference point. AMG.

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