Sam Cooke - Mr. Soul 1963

Sam Cooke released two albums in 1963, and the second, Night Beat, is often cited as the best of all his long-players. But the first, Mr. Soul, shouldn't be ignored, despite some flaws in its conception and execution. At the time, the powers-that-were at RCA Victor didn't know which audience to aim for with Cooke's albums. LPs were seldom huge sellers among teenage listeners, so the notion of trying to connect to an adult audience -- à la Nat King Cole -- probably seemed logical, and Mr. Soul suffered somewhat from this uncertainty of purpose and audience; it is a soul album, to be sure, but by the standards of the time a somewhat tentative one in many spots. Unlike Night Beat, which was an exercise in production restraint, Mr. Soul is over-produced and relies too much on strings where they aren't needed and choruses that are overdone, even when they work. But Cooke rises above all of it, and turns even some of the more questionably arranged songs, such as "Send Me Some Lovin'," into mini-masterpieces. A couple of tracks off of this album, "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" and "Nothing Can Change This Love," were part of Cooke's live repertoire at the time and have, indeed, found a separate life on various compilations, but the rest was unavailable for over 45 years, until Sony/BMG re-released most of Cooke's RCA library. The best of that rest -- which is most of it -- shows him still rising to the peak of his powers, his voice wrapping itself around lyrics and melodies that might seem too familiar ("Cry Me a River," etc.) and bland, and making them much more significant and powerful than they seemingly have a right to be. The strings are overworked at times, but where they are held back, as on "Little Girl," their presence only adds to the impact of the track -- and elsewhere, Cooke quietly overpowers them. Modern listeners should bear in mind that, as a soul album, this is a fairly laid-back record -- those expecting anything like the exuberance of Otis Redding, or Clyde McPhatter or Ben E. King, may be disappointed at first; Cooke does work up a sweat on various parts and phrases, but a lot of what is here, by virtue of the label's wishes for a crossover record, is what might be terms "cool" soul -- smooth and sometimes bluesy, in a low-key way, quietly emotive on numbers such as "These Foolish Things," with the hot moments in special abundance on numbers like "Chains of Love" and "Send Me Some Lovin'." But even in these cool, restrained settings, Cooke's was still one of the finest voices of his century, and worth taking in for every breath and nuance. AMG.

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Graham Bond with Magick - We Put Our Magick On You 1971

Even in his mid-'60s prime, Graham Bond's forte had never been original material. At his best, he compensated for his limitations as a composer by incorporating many covers into his repertoire and surrounding himself with some great musicians, like the pre-Cream Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. By the early '70s, he was working with a lesser caliber of supporting players, relying almost wholly on his own songs, and focusing many of his lyrics on obscure "magickal" concerns. As the unfortunate consequence, the music itself became a pedestrian blend of blues-rock with elements of soul and jazz, albeit one that was more eccentric and interesting than those of many of his journeyman peers mining similar styles. Less sprawling than the similar, preceding Holy Magick by virtue of not containing a side-long medley, it really isn't all that bad, just unmemorable. There's a bit of a burnt-out progressive-psychedelic-blues fusion feel, and certainly a bit of early Dr. John in the invocational chants and mood at times, particularly on "Ajama" and "I Put My Magick on You." The album was combined with the 1970 Bond LP Holy Magick on a single-disc CD reissue on BGO. AMG.
 

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Gallagher & Lyle - The Last Cowboy 1974

The pop duo phenomenon that spawned such acts as Simon & Garfunkel, Brewer & Shipley, and Seals & Crofts was predated by the duo formed by songwriters, guitarists, and vocalists Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle. Initially attracting attention as songwriters of Dean Ford & the Gaylords' single "Mr. Heartbreak's Here Instead," Gallagher and Lyle went on to record as a duo and as members of McGuinness Flintand Ronnie Lane's group Slim Chance. Gallagher and Lyle continued to balance their performances and recordings as staff songwriters for the Beatles' Apple label, writing "Sparrow" and "International" for Mary Hopkin. The title track of their sixth duo album, Breakaway, was later covered by Art Garfunkel.

Gallagher and Lyle first played together in Largs, a small town near Glasgow in Ayrshire, Scotland. Relocating to London in 1967, the duo became full-time writers at Apple. Three years later, they joined with Tom McGuinness and Hughie Flint to form McGuinness Flint. Although McGuinness Flint recorded two successful singles, "When I'm Dead and Gone" and "Malt and Barley Blues," the group disbanded in 1971. Recording their self-titled debut duo album for Capitol, Gallagher & Lyle switched to the A&M label by their second effort. Their first release on A&M, however, was a reissue of their debut album. In the spring of 1974, Gallagher and Lyle joined Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance, remaining with the group until May 1974. Gallagher and Lyle balanced their work with the band with additional duo albums, How Come and The Last Cowboy. They continued to record on their own following the breakup of the group. Breakaway was released in 1975, Love on the Airwaves in 1977, and Showdown in 1978. Switching to the Phonogram label, they recorded their final album, Lonesome No More, in 1979. Following a tour to support the album, Gallagher and Lyle went their separate ways. Lyle continued to write, in collaboration with Terry Britten, reaching his peak with "What's Love Got to Do with It," covered by Tina Turner, and "Just Good Friends," recorded by Michael Jackson. AMG.

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Thee Image - Inside The Triangle 1975

US mid-70s hard rock band from Miami, Florida.
Thee Image was formed in 1974 by Mike Pinera (Cactus/Blues Image/Iron Butterfly/New Cactus Band), Duane Hitchings (Buddy Miles), and Donny Vosburgh (Buddy Miles). The name of the group was taken from a Miami psychedelic rock venue. They released two albums, "Thee Image" and "Inside The Triangle", both in 1975 and on Manticore Records (ELP's UK-based record label). Their music is heavy rock with strong hints of funky. Disbanded in early 1976.

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Ramones - Rocket to Russia 1977

The Ramones provided the blueprint and Leave Home duplicated it with lesser results, but the Ramones' third album, Rocket to Russia, perfected it. Rocket to Russia boasts a cleaner production than its predecessors, which only gives the Ramones' music more force. It helps that the group wrote its finest set of songs for the album. From the mindless, bopping opening of "Cretin Hop" and "Rockaway Beach" to the urban surf rock of "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" and the ridiculous anthem "Teenage Lobotomy," the songs are teeming with irresistibly catchy hooks; even their choice of covers, "Do You Want to Dance?" and "Surfin' Bird," provide more hooks than usual. The Ramones also branch out slightly, adding ballads to the mix. Even with these (relatively) slower songs, the speed of the album never decreases. However, the abundance of hooks and slight variety in tempos makes Rocket to Russia the Ramones' most listenable and enjoyable album -- it doesn't have the revolutionary impact of The Ramones, but it's a better album and one of the finest records of the late '70s. AMG.

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The Web - Theraphosa Blondi 1970

One presumes that whoever was responsible for green-lighting this LP -- on a pretty big British label -- either didn't last long at his position or was in such favor at the company that he couldn't get fired no matter what impractical decisions he made. In short, records from the early progressive rock era don't get much stranger, inconsistent, or uncommercial than this one. It's beyond bizarre, which doesn't mean that it's very good. The biggest drawbacks are the vibrato-laden lead vocals, which sound kind of like Ray Collins of the Mothers of Invention might have if he: A) wasn't nearly as good a singer; and B) was singing without a trace of satirical irony. And in fact, much of the opener, "Like the Man Said," sounds like a humorless variation on the early Mothers of Invention -- the complex, shifting song structure and blend of rock and experimentalism are there, but none of the wit or knowing comedy is evident. It gets more distasteful than that when the track incorporates Jethro Tull-like sections and glides into a histrionic cover of "Sunshine of Your Love." Yet the very next cut is a sensitive middle-of-the-road pop ballad for which the quasi-operatic singing is wholly ill-equipped. Next is a percussive instrumental with an African-meets-West Indies flavor; then there's a seeming, and again wildly incongruous, attempt to emulate Burt Bacharach's smooth late-'60s pop with "1,000 Miles Away," though the singer surely ain't no Dionne Warwick. By the time it's followed by a swinging jazzy flute-paced instrumental, "Blues for Two T's" (actually the best thing on the album), it's apparent this band was thoroughly confused as to what direction to pursue. More messy zigzagging follows with the exotica of "Kilimanjaro," which is the kind of thing you might have expected to hear at a Hawaiian lounge bar in the 1950s (though the singing would likely have been better), and an ill-conceived cover of "Tobacco Road" that shifts into an early jazz-rock version of "America" (from West Side Story). As to who might have bought this record when it was released, that's anyone's guess; it's not just an unappetizing mixture, but it must have also been thoroughly unmarketable. AMG.

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Airto Moreira - Free 1972

Other than a couple of obscure efforts for Buddah in 1970, this was percussionist Airto's debut as a leader, and this is still his most famous record. A brass section arranged by Don Sebesky is heard on two tracks, and such all-stars as keyboardist Chick Corea, flutist Hubert Laws, the reeds of Joe Farrell, and even pianist Keith Jarrett and guitarist George Benson make worthwhile appearances. Flora Purim joins Airto in the one vocal piece ("Free"), and "Return to Forever" receives an early recording. The music combines together jazz, Brazilian music, and aspects of fusion and funk quite successfully. AMG.

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Savoy Brown - Blue Matter 1969

The third release by Kim Simmonds and company, but the first to feature the most memorable lineup of the group: Simmonds, "Lonesome" Dave Peverett, Tony "Tone" Stevens, Roger Earl, and charismatic singer Chris Youlden. This one serves up a nice mixture of blues covers and originals, with the first side devoted to studio cuts and the second a live club date recording. Certainly the standout track, indeed a signature song by the band, is the tour de force "Train to Nowhere," with its patient, insistent buildup and pounding train-whistle climax. Additionally, David Anstey's detailed, imaginative sleeve art further boosts this a notch above most other British blues efforts. AMG.

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The Wild Magnolias - The Wild Magnolias 1973

This debut marked a milestone for New Orleans music as it was one of the first major-label records from a Mardi Gras Indian tribe; this was soon to be followed by another great tribe band, the Wild Tchoupitoulas. Not to be confused with Native American tribes, the Mardi Gras Indians are part of an African-American gangland tradition dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. What began as street confrontations resulting in brawls developed into something more formal, with elaborate handmade costumes and song contests. Beginning as a practice group formed by leader Big Chief Theodore "Bo" Dollis and Joseph "Monk" Boudreaux of the Golden Eagles tribe, the Wild Magnolias caught the eye of local promoters and were recorded in 1973 with the New Orleans Project. The tribe consisted of Dollis and Boudreaux on lead vocals, with the former on tambourine and the latter on congas; with James "Gator June" Smothers or "Gate" Johnson, Jr., "Crip" Adams, and "Bubba" Scott all on background vocals and percussion instruments. They were backed by the New Orleans Project, which featured some of the cream of the studio crop in the Crescent City: guitarist Snooks Eaglin, Earl Turbinton, Jr. on reeds and winds, Willie Tee on keyboards, percussion, and background vocals, bassist Julius Farmer , drummer Larry Panna, conguero Alfred "Uganda" Roberts, and Norwood "Gitchie" Johnson on bass drum. Dollis and Boudreaux lead the group through the Indians' street call and response chants, which become mantra atop a series of furiously funky, extended New Orleans grooves. Along with inspired originals like "Handa Wanda," the traditional numbers such as "Two Way Pak E Way," and historical numbers such as "Saints" ("When the Saints Come Marching In") and "Shoo Fly" ("Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me") are radically and steamily re-arranged to provide maximum party flavor. This is an exciting non-stop dancefest and an excellent introduction for anyone interested in the music of the Big Easy. AMG

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The Woods Band - The Woods Band 1971

The Woods Band's only album sounds a good deal like early Steeleye Span, as might be expected since it was fronted by Terry Woods and Gay Woods, who had comprised two-fifths of the lineup that played on Steeleye Span's first album. Though the Woods Band lacked a singer on the order of Maddy Prior or an instrumentalist on the level of Martin Carthy, it's still a pretty good record, and it's not as if Gay Woods isn't a very good woman British folk-rock singer herself. Too, it's not just a Steeleye Span spinoff, with a considerably more rock-oriented sound than Hark! The Village Wait, the Steeleye Span debut album on which Terry and Gay Woods played. Split evenly between traditional tunes and originals (with Terry Woods the principal songwriter), tracks like "Noisey Johnny" and "Lament and Jig" are very much in the rocked-up jigs'n'reels format that was a cornerstone of British Isles 1970s folk-rock. However, "Dreams" (originally recorded as "Dreams for Me" in an acoustic folk arrangement by Terry Woods' band Sweeney's Men in the late '60s) is very much in the quality harmony folk-rock style of the Sandy Denny-era Fairport Convention. Gay Woods proves herself an able interpreter of the sad trad folk ballad on "January's Snows." More surprisingly, "Promises" is decent Band-like folk-rock with bluesy licks that owe much to the style of the Rolling Stones at their most laid-back; "Everytime" follows the same mood, but in a duller and overlong fashion. AMG.

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