The Chambers Brothers - The Time Has Come 1967

This, the Chambers Brothers' coming-of-age record, was a well-timed and even better-executed exercise in modern record-making. The brothers had recorded several excellent gospel-folk sides on a few labels (including CBS) in the mid-'60s. They were darlings of the folk set, and even sang backup on a few unreleased Bob Dylan sessions in 1965. By 1967, they were at loose ends. Having demoed a slightly demented song that year called "Time Has Come Today," the group entered the studio with producer David Rubinson, who was fresh from some critical acclaim after recording Moby Grape. The resulting album and subsequent title track hit were huge successes, especially on FM radio. The rest of the album shows the brothers not just embracing the psychedelic trends, but also redefining their R&B leanings. AMG.

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Ace - Time for Another 1975

There’s a knowing shrug to the title of Time for Another, Ace’s second album, an admission that this is just another round, not dissimilar to another pint of bitter served up halfway into a leisurely evening at the pub. Despite several shared traits, Time for Another is distinctly different than the casually funky Five-A-Side, extending the cool, soft groove of “How Long” throughout an entire LP. There’s a bit of boogie and twang, apparent in the relaxed shuffle of “I’m a Man,” the muted rocking of “You Can’t Lose,” and the lazy blues of “Ain’t Gonna Stand for This No More.” By and large, though, Time for Another is a very easy-rolling affair -- too easy, in fact, sounding too comfortable in its hazy surroundings, sometimes slipping into the sleepiness a third or fourth beer can lend. AMG.

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Flo & Eddie - Flo & Eddie 1973

Of all the Mothers of Invention (MOI) alumnae, the Phlorescent Leech (aka Flo) and Eddie remain one of the most musically consistent. Part of the reason could be traced back to Mark Volman (Flo) (vocals/guitar) and Howard Kaylan (Eddie) (vocals) having achieved significant success as the lead vocalists behind '60s folk-rockers the Turtles prior to hooking up with Frank Zappa in 1970. Although rarely mentioned, one-time Leaves' member and longtime Turtles' bassist Jim Pons was also recruited to be a Mother of Invention, where he, Volman, and Kaylan remained until the band was unceremoniously dissolved when Zappa was pushed off stage by unstable audience member Trevor Howell. Zappa landed ten feet below a concrete orchestra pit on December 10,, 1971 at the Rainbow Theatre in London. The incident effectively put Zappa out of commission, leaving the Mothers to find work elsewhere. In fairly short order, Volman and Kaylan were signed to Reprise Records as Flo & Eddie where they resurfaced with the excellent, self-titled Phlorescent Leech & Eddie (1972). Their second and final Reprise album -- titled Flo & Eddie (1974) -- was ostensibly created so that the duo would have a product to push during their high-profile opening slot on Alice Cooper's (then) big-budget Billion Dollar Babies (1974) tour. Primary components of the Cooper production team -- including producer Bob Ezrin, engineers Shelly Yakus and Jack Douglas, as well as Cooper's masterful design and concept team at Pacific Eye & Ear -- collectively updated Flo & Eddie's sound and image. While the results did yield a slicker and less organic product, it is actually what Volman and Kaylan bring to the festivities that arguably makes Flo & Eddie (1973) the better of the two endeavors. At the heart and soul of Flo & Eddie is their vocal blend -- which they can (and occasionally do) turn into a full-blown choir, thanks to a few vocal overdub passes. The hearty syncopated rocker "If We Only Had the Time" provides a great example of this technique. The Kinks' "Days" is the first of several superbly chosen covers. Simply stated, Kaylan and Volman effortlessly embody the song's profound sense of loss and wistful nostalgia as if the tune had been penned for them. The jaunty "You're a Lady" hearkens back to the memorably quirky melodies and catchy choruses that defined the Turtles at their best -- à la "She's My Girl" and "You Showed Me". "The Original Soundtrack from 'Carlos and De Bull'" is an odd tale of a matador that recalls Flo & Eddie's dramatic ventures in 200 Motels, and the brilliant saga of "Billy the Mountain" from their Zappa days. Another grand slam remake follows as they upgrade the Small Faces' "Afterglow" with a slightly metallic tinge -- no doubt thanks to Ezrin's handiwork. Fellow '60s survivor and Reprise recording artist John B. Sebastian lends his dulcet tones to a modern doo-wop update of the Ronettes' "Best Part of Breaking Up" that is driven by the same type of hard-hitting rhythm that accompanied Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll (Part One)". A final dip back into their MOI tenure as the "Sanzini Brothers" -- better known as Aldolph, Rip-Off, Rudolph, and Jack -- are heard performing the "horrible sodomy trick". The opening of "Another Pop Star's Life" is clearly inspired by Roger Daltery's blood-curdling wail at the climax of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again". The tale of excess and debauchery was later revealed to have been an observation on the lifestyle of Marc Bolan from T Rex. The acoustic "Just Another Town" may well have its subject matter rooted in the 200 Motels motif of "touring can make you go crazy" as they depict a substance-less nomadic existence. The Kaylan-penned seven-plus-minute "Marmendy Mill" is a pastoral epic featuring orchestration by Alan MacMillian -- whose other notable Ezrin productions include Lou Reed's Berlin (1973) and Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare (1975). The youthful ode to the freedom and innocence of childhood perfectly caps what is -- by most accounts -- the best of what Flo & Eddie are all about. AMG.

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The Bob Seger System - Ramblin' Gamblin' Man 1968

The Bob Seger System throws everything into Ramblin' Gamblin' Man, dabbling in folk, blues-rock, psychedelia, and piledriving rock & roll synonymous with Detroit. Typical of such a wide-ranging debut, not everything works. The System stumbles when they take psychedelic San Franciscan bands on their own turf. Trippy soundscapes like "Gone" drift into the ether, and the longer jams, "White Wall" and "Black Eyed Girl," meander. But the songs that do work are absolute monsters, highlighted by the title track, a thunderous bit of self-mythology driven by a relentless rhythm, wailing organ riff, and gospel chorus. It's a stunningly great record, and while nothing here quite equals it, the songs that come close (with the exception of "Train Man," the first inkling of Seger's knack for reflective, intimate ballads) are sterling examples of spare, bluesy, angry Michigan rock & roll. "Tales of Lucy Blue" has a spooky, menacing edge, "Ivory" is a great Motown-styled raver, and "Down Home" rides a manic riff and a simple blues harp to be one of the best rockers on the record. Then there's "2 +2 = ?," a ferocious antiwar song in the vein of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son," but here Seger can't imagine why the nice guy in high school is now buried in the mud. It's a frightening, visceral song that stands among the best anti-Vietnam protests. Finally, the album closes with "The Last Song (Love Needs to Be Loved)," an unabashed peace, love, 'n' understanding anthem styled in the manner of West Coast hippie pop, particularly Love. It's atypical of anything on the album or anything Seger would ever do again, but in many ways, it's the perfect way to close an exciting, flawed debut that winds up being a symbol of its times by its very diversity. AMG.

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B.J. Thomas - Everybody's Out Of Town 1970

Following up the success of “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” may have been the easiest thing B.J. Thomas ever had to do it professionally. He now had the sound, the style, and the songwriters, all he had to do was offer some more of the same, and that’s precisely what 1970’s Everybody’s Out of Town offered. The LP had the same mix of new tunes from major pop songwriters -- Bacharach & David, authors of “Raindrops,” being the most prominent, naturally -- covers of current popular tunes (“Everybody’s Talkin’,” “Oh Me, Oh My,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Jr. Walker’s “What Does It Take”), and a host of pleasant MOR material. There are some subtle differences -- there’s a little bit of a heavier soul vibe here, and Bacharach/David’s shuffling neo-vaudeville tunes somewhat oddly build upon the old-timey vibe of Butch Cassidy -- but the chief allure of the album is its softness, how it can still seem smooth when Thomas is pouring whatever remnants of his soulful past into his phrasing. This may not have much grit, but it’s not meant to: it’s lush MOR, and in that regard, it does its job well, if not without a whole lot of distinction. AMG.

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John Hiatt - Hangin' Around The Observatory 1974

John Hiatt mixed pop, folk, rock, R&B, country, and gospel on his debut album, immediately becoming an uncategorizable (and thus uncommercial) entity. Although this album was cut in Nashville, it owes more to Van Morrison than it does to Conway Twitty, and like the Belfast bluesman, Indianian Hiatt came to his influences somewhat secondhand, however sincerely he evoked them. What he really was, of course, was a singer/songwriter, albeit not in a style easily recognizable in 1974. The title indicates his position: Hiatt's songs show him as an acute observer. But the performances require him to dig in, and although he does so with alacrity, the result is too diffuse. Nevertheless, Hiatt earned critical kudos for this album, and Three Dog Night (who knew good songwriting when they heard it) covered "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here," getting a Top 40 single out of it. AMG.

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Edgar Broughton Band - Wasa Wasa 1969

Establishing themselves as an unholy collision between the still-nascent Pink Fairies and the legendary Fugs, the debut album by British free-festival favorites the Edgar Broughton Band almost literally re-created the spirit of their natural territory -- a muddy field full of sunbaked hippies -- with eight more or less epic tracks that, though their inspiration has long become the stuff of ancient history, remain essential listening to all but the most jaded ears. All maniacal cackle and frenzied riffing, the band's first single, "Evil," and the brutal bellowing of "Love in the Rain" are the most conventional numbers in that they were certainly written as crowd-pleasing stompers in the days before "Out Demons Out" established itself as the Edgar Broughton Band's all-consuming anthem. More impressive, however, are the numbers which see the band stretching both their capabilities and their audience's expectations -- the lengthy opus "Dawn Crept Away," the evocatively titled "Death of an Electric Citizen," and, best of all, "American Boy Soldier." Ranking alongside Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" as British rock's finest contribution to the Vietnam War, it is a Mothers of Invention-esque piece that blends sneering spoken word with a delightfully doo-wop-ish invocation of all that war really has to offer and all that its servants leave behind. "Shot down from my plane/Never be the same again/I was just 16 years old." As jaggedly metallic as it is theatrically ambitious, Wasa Wasa (an Eskimo phrase meaning "from far, far away") stands alongside early albums by the Fairies, the Deviants, and Hawkwind as a dramatic snapshot of a very special moment in time, as the whimsical hopefulness of the late '60s gave way to the chilled cynicism of the early '70s. And, while the band would certainly produce better songs over the next three years, they never again unleashed such a potent mood. AMG.

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Kush - Nah, Tellus Wh't Kush Means Yer Great Sausage 1975

Australian rock group active in the early 70s. Kush were a jazz-rock fusion band that existed from 1971 to 75 led by the flamboyant vocalist Jeff Duff. Kush was formed with Jeff Duff on vocals, John Santos (aka Montesante) and Colin Chapman on trumpet, Ron Anderson on piano and saxophone, Stephen Ball on keyboards, Tom Cowburn on guitar, harmonica, and backing vocals, John Ellis on clarinet, flute, and saxophone, Rob Matthews on bass guitar, and Graham McDonald on drums. The band members combined to look and sound like a local Blood, Sweat & Tears or perhaps Chicago, many of whose songs they performed. They released covers of "Peter Gunn", "MacArthur Park" and "Walk on the Wild Side" as well as originals such as "(Livin' on) Easy Street".

It was 1974’s driving ''(Livin’ On) Easy Street'', written by Kush keyboardist Steve Ball, that put the band on the map, assisted by an appearance on the popular Paul Hogan Show. Kush appeared at the 1974 Sunbury Pop Festival, "conceived and promoted as Australia's Woodstock". The band went through a few lineup changes before they quit in 1975. They released two albums: "Presents Snow White... And The Eight Straights" and "Nah, Tellus Wh't Kush Means Yer Great Sausage".

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Alexis Korner - Bootleg Him! 1972

Alexis Korner was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues".  A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, The best of all the Korner anthologies, boasting unreleased tapes and a lot of interesting one-off recordings from the various nooks and crannies of his career. AMG.

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Milton Nascimento - Minas 1975

This is another of the must-have classic albums by Milton Nascimento. Released in 1975, the album opens with the wonderful "Minas" (Novelli), a tribute to all sacred music traditions in the Minas Gerais state, which was deeply influential in Nascimento's sensibility. The album launched songs that became strong emotional hits: "Fé Cega, Faca Amolada," "Beijo Partido," the nostalgic "Saudades Dos Aviões da Panair," "Ponta de Areia," and "Paula E Bebeto." There's a preferential orchestral/choir treatment over the band's performances which strengthens the evocative bonds of ancient Minas. AMG.
 

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White Summer - White Summer 1976

White Summer was a Chicago-area rock trio that was active during the mid-1970s, Jimmy Watkins (lead vocals, guitar, drums, percussion), Rick Lowe (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals), David Wheeler (bass, backing vocals)

In 1976, the band self-released a homonymous long-player. Recorded on a shoestring at Uncle Dirty’s Sound Machine Studio in Kalamazoo, Mich., the album hints at the band’s epic if underfunded potential. The tick-tock tonic/third bassline of “The Tank” is flanked left and right by the other two instruments until the trio is sucked into a 5/4 windmill. Minutes later, tom-swirled chordal sustains frame brief lyrical passages concerning immortality. An oft-syncopated/tom-rolled pogo beat facilitates the twisty fretboard interplay of “Misty Morning,” which soon rescinds to slow lyrical verses in D#min. A tone-darting bass ostinato in Fmin propels Lowe’s wailing runs during the middle of “Omega,” which grapples with omniscient concerns throughout it generous length. Further bass/guitar dexterity is displayed in fifth gear over the half-step progression that marks this number’s climax.

Befitting to its topic, “Laugh When I Die” sears and drills Wheeler’s down-tuned tonal end like a jackhammer through granite. Back a side, “Sail” evolves from mid-paced, tom-bombarded strums and bends to an intensified maraca-sprayed trio workout.

The members of White Summer would never record again, though their lone album has witnessed a cult resurgent amidst several reissues during the 21st century.

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Truk - Tracks 1971

Hard rock band US. Still a little known group and the discography of the thinnest. Originally from Oklahoma, No Large Trucks was established in 1967 at the instigation of J. Martin "Moby" Anderson and Pat Graham, two former members of the Folkmen, now Williams And The Tellers. Former guitarist recycled keyboards, Pat uses his brother Mike to take care of the microphone. The three musicians are soon joined by guitarist Glenn Townsend (formerly Ram Rods and Standing Room Only) and drummer Danny Corner. The quintet then turns to California where the band is signed by Columbia. Co-produced by Buffalo Springfield's Dewey Martin

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Strawberry Path - When The Raven Has Come To The Earth 1971

Strawberry Path was a psychedelic/progressive rock duo from Japan, formed in 1971. Give it a listen. 

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Abel - Please World 1971

Abel was a brass rock band from San Francisco that brought with it some Latin influences. Previously, the band was known as The Prophets. Later, Tom Catalano created his own label, TomCat, and worked with Nancy Sevins, singer of Sweetwater. All of the songs on the album were written by vocalist Abel Sanchez.
 

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The Wizards from Kansas - The Wizards from Kansas 1970

The Wizards From Kansas' eponymous album finds this Midwestern group sounding more like a West Coast hybrid combining rambling, melancholy country-rock elements with harder psych-rock sounds. Their biggest influences seem to have been Northern California-based groups like the Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the Grateful Dead, and it shouldn't really come as a shock to discover that the Wizards From Kansas was recorded in San Francisco, between July and August of 1970. By the time the album was released, in October 1970, two of the band's five members had already quit the band, choosing instead to focus on playing jazz, and so the Wizards were essentially kaput, with a new album in the bins but no band available to promote it. The band's guitarist, Robert Manson Crain (who is credited here as C. Manson Roberts), wrote six of the nine originals, including the warbling, country-ish "Hey Mister," "Misty Mountainside," "Country Dawn," and "She Rides With Witches." They also cover Billy Edd Wheeler's "High Flying Bird," an awesome folk-psych track that was previously waxed by the Jefferson Airplane during one of their first recording sessions in late 1965 (it wasn't released until their 1965-1970 compendium of unreleased tracks, Early Flight). This classic was also covered by celebrated folk artists, including Judy Henske and Richie Havens, among others, but here it gets a visceral psych-rock workout, highlighted by Crain's guitar. Their lengthy cover of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Codine" is excellent as well, and obviously inspired by Quicksilver's jam version, which approximated the one popularized by the Charlatans. In 1993, the Afterglow label reissued this long out-of-print album on CD for the first time. Incidentally, the back of the original album jacket credits the bandmembers as Robert Joseph Menadier (Monster Bass & Vocal Grace), Marc Evan Caplan (Snakey Snakes & Footler Breaks), John Paul Coffin (Guitar Lead & Strings That Bleed), Robert Manson Crain (Twelve String Roll & Songs of Soul), Harold Earl Pierce (Rhythm Machines & Vocalized Dreams). AMG.

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The Allen Wayne Group - The Allen Wayne Group Is On The Road Again 1974

Another interesting unknown group from USA. The music is a mix of soul, rock, and funk elements. Dig it and give it a listen.

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Thunderduk - Thunderduk 1972

Spawned from the fertile musical grounds of Cleveland, Ohio, Thunderduk was part of a local scene that included the likes of The James Gang, Glass Harp, Bang and Dragonwyck. Their desire to play original music and their on stage antics made them one of the top draws on the club circuit in the early 70's. The combination of Phil Hilow's folk background and the versatility of Jeff Ulmicher produced a sound that included intricate rock ballads and long complicated concert pieces. 

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Comox - Comox and Friends 1974

Canadian group from Vancouver. Not much info about this lonely album released in 1974. Very interesting country rock. Give it a listen.

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Ablution - Ablution 1974

Ablution from Sweden came to be after combining bassist John GUSTAFSON and keyboard player Peter Robinson (later in Brand X) from the heavy prog act Quatermass with ex-members of Baltik: Bjorn J:Son Lindh on flutes, drummer Ola Brunkert and guitarist Janne Schaffer (best known as a session guitarist for Abba). Joining them on additional percussions were now deceased Malando Gassama and Barry de Souza on the trumpet. Together they released one self-titled album of progressive fusion with a pronounced funk sound. 
 

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Third World War - Third World War 1971

Terry Stamp and Jim Avery hold the distinction of forming Third World War probably the UK's first, for real, “aggro” band. Formed in London at the turn of the 70s, Third World War released 2 proto-punk albums (Fly Records and Track Records) in the early 70s. Third World War featured an aggression unheard of at that time. With Terry Stamp’s explosive vocals, lyrics, chopper guitar style, and Jim Avery’s West London, hard-nut, two-fisted, riff and chord approach proved unbeatable, (even thirty years on). Their socio-political agenda and proto-punk guitar style prefigured the emergence of UK “working-class” punk bands by some 5 years. Terry Stamp also recorded an album titled “Fatsticks” for A&M Records in 1975, moving to Los Angeles shortly afterward.

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This Oneness - Surprize 1975

This Oneness was a short-lived project from Minnesota that released just one studio album, Surprize, in 1975. This collection of multi-instrumentalists had an unusual beginning for a progressive rock band, coming together as the backing band for Olivia Newton-John exclusively on the U.S. leg of her 1974-75 tours. This included national television exposure, playing on one of the era's premier music shows, The Midnight Special. Their time with her inspired their album's fourth track, Song for Olivia.

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