Long John Baldry - It Ain't Easy 1971

It Ain't Easy features a British blues/rock lineup befitting the man behind the Long John Baldrymoniker. This album returns Baldry to a decidedly edgier and hipper audience, with a literal cast of all-stars on some of the more adventurous material he had covered to date. This is no doubt due, at least in part, to the involvement of rock superstars Rod Stewart and Elton John. (In fact, John confesses to have taken the last name in his stage moniker from Baldry's first.) Among their contributions to the project,Stewart and Elton divided the production tasks -- each taking a side of the original album. Immediately,Baldry sheds the MOR blue-eyed pop soul image. The backing band on Stewart's side include fellow Faceand future Rolling Stone, Ron Wood, on electric guitar and acoustic guitarist Sam Mitchell, who appeared on many of Stewart's early-'70s solo albums. His contributions to this side are numerous, including an especially potent solo on Leadbelly's "Black Girl." This authentic duet featuring Maggie Bellon co-lead vocals is a definite return to the Mississippi Delta for the song which is also known as the bluegrass standard "In the Pines." Other highlights from Stewart's sector include the humorous and self-biographical leadoff track "Conditional Discharge," which is paired with the full-tilt boogie of "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock & Roll." Arguably the oddest cover version on this album is also among the best; "Morning Morning" from head Fug Tuli Kupferberg is given new and surprisingly fresh life by Baldry. Highlights from Elton John's side include Randy Newman's "Let's Burn Down the Cornfield," which would have fit perfectly on John's Tumbleweed Connection album. Additionally, "Rock Me When He's Gone" was actually recorded by John, although his version remained unissued until the 1992 odds and sods compilation Rare Masters. AMG.listen here

RE-POST: Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Reinforcements 1975

What a surprise this album was to Brian Auger fans. Leaving behind the Jimmy Smith-meets-Santanagroove the band had been working, Reinforcements finds the Oblivion Express veering onto the Average White Band's turf. Most of the tracks, in fact, sound like they were lifted right off the first couple of AWBalbums. The music is uniformly strong, but the change in direction unfortunately did nothing to increase the band's audience, and may have sounded to some like a too-blatant attempt at commercial acceptance. Auger's electric piano and organ continue to dominate the solo space, and provide the connection to the band's earlier sound. Alex Ligertwood's soulful vocals here are stronger than any previous outing. Although it is unlike any other Oblivion Express recording, Reinforcements provides a tasty glimpse of British blue-eyed soul in the mid-'70s. AMG.listen here

The Colin Anthony and His Beat Combo - Colin Is Fab! 1966

The Colin Anthony Combo, who first formed in 1959 and turned professional in 1963 after appearing as a support group to The Beatles at the Bath Pavilion, are getting together for one night tomorrow to perform in Randalls Bar at Bath City Football Club.
Colin Anthony was yet another of the countless young Brit-beaters to invade Germany in the early 60´s, but unlike most of his colleagues he didn´t stay long and left only a few traces on the club scene. Which is a pity, cause his ´64 Fontana LP "Colin Is Fab" is an unknown Merseysound gem. "Yield Not To Temptation" was a hit for Bobby Bland, and Anthony and his band do a great job here with their uptempo gospelbeat-arrangement. When the equally fine single "Crazy Beatle Boots" flopped, Colin dived down into oblivion or, more likely, went home and changed his stage name.
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RE-POST: Them - Them in Reality 1971

Them in Reality kicks off with a version of Them's best known song, "Gloria," but anyone who doesn't recognize this as the same band that introduced Van Morrison's garage rock classic to the world is to be forgiven for not making the connection. Them in Reality was cut in 1971, long after Morrison had quit to go solo, and bassist Alan Henderson was the only original member still on board; after parting ways withJerry Cole, who played guitar and drums as well as singing lead on Them's previous album, Hendersonrecruited guitarist Jim Parker and drummer John Stark, and their extended interpretation of "Gloria" (which segues into a similarly stretched out take of "Baby Please Don't Go") sounds more like a second-rate Cream knock-off than anything else. At least Them in Reality displayed a more distinct personality than 1970s Them, even if it is borrowed; Parker and Stark wrote most of the songs, and their sturdy hard rock jams allow Them to sound like a band rather than an under-funded studio project as they did withCole. (They also managed to anticipate the opening guitar figure of "Sweet Home Alabama" by three years on "Let My Song Through.") But this music bears practically no relation to the hard-as-nails blues rock that was Them's calling card in the mid-'60s, and the recording of "Gloria" only makes it glaringly obvious that this is a different and far less satisfying kettle of fish. Them in Reality proved to be the group's last album, though Them's demise only made official something that anyone who had listened to this album already knew. AMG.listen here

RE-POST: Julie Driscoll - 1969 (1971)

Julie Driscoll's (now Tippetts) first move away from the blues-oriented pop of the Brian Auger band turned out to be this prophetic slab of wax that revealed her penchant to transcend the trappings of rock and pop for something more adventurous. To this end, Driscoll employed the help of many of the Canterbury scene's best-known musicians, including Carl Jenkins, Elton Dean, future husband Keith Tippetts, and guitarist Chris Spedding. The set opens with what would become an anthem for Driscoll, the horn-laden rocker "A New Awakening," in which she details the benefits of the search for new ground emotionally and mentally. In addition, with its knotty, arpeggio-laden horn lines and angular arrangement by Tippetts that puts the track on the left side of the standard rock and pop fence. "Those That We Love," a simple acoustic tune with Driscoll on acoustic guitar and Tippetts on piano and celeste with Jeff Clyne on bass is a striking treatise on how much we hurt the ones we love the most, and how those who love us forget us most. Beautifully textured vocal lines open up all over the body of the tune, soaring into darkened corners and illuminating them. One of the most striking things about this slab is how the listener can hear Driscoll's voice begin to open up to the possibilities of life after pop, that there was an entire universe waiting to be explored in song, nuance, and technique. The band provides not only sympathetic, but inspired support in her stead. Other notables here include the guitar freakout orgy of "Break-Out," the chamber/salon song of "The Choice," and the jazzed out balladry (in Canterbury style) of "Leaving It All Behind." Despite its age, 1969 holds up shockingly well, and is still very forward thinking in its musical approaches. Driscoll's/Tippetts' rugged, open-heart emotionalism is truly transcendent here, and this aspect of her wonderful voice has aged not one bit in over 30 years. AMG.listen here

RE-POST: Lawrence Hammond - Coyote's Dream 1976

Not a very well known entity in the Takoma catalog, this LP is a solo outing by a singer, songwriter, and picker who had previously been involved with a psychedelic country combo based originally out of Antioch, Mad River. The Ohio group predictably flowed its way onto the San Francisco scene during an era when hippies and, more importantly, hippie musicians embraced country & western.

The music of this cultural fusion was well documented and includes some famous masterpieces. Despite some obvious drawbacks, Coyote's Dream rates right up there with any great country rock moment, sometimes even surpassing the threshold with a track such as "Trucker's Nightmare," a superb, hard-edged ditty that doesn't appear to have ever been included on any of the numerous compilation sets devoted to songs about truckers. Ignoring this album may have been something of a religion, yet certain listeners seem to cling to it. For example, a highly accomplished steel guitarist carefully copied the vinyl to distribute in burned CD form to other prospective fans, complete with hand-drawn cover and notes in which no knowledge of any particular sidemen accompanying Lawrence Hammond is admitted. Actually, some of the sidemen are the same dudes who played on similar material from the period that achieved much more commercial success, particularly fiddler Byron Berline. The fine pedal steel player isBill Weingarden.

Hammond`s singing style may have been one of the problems if reactions of music critics can be trusted, not always the right philosophy but basically considered reasonable in this case following careful comparison of said voice and said criticism. Yes, "a voice to crisp an aardvark's nose hairs" is a little mean. Meanness may be excused as a reaction, however, after absorbing a few of the man's stylistic mannerisms, among them a falsetto maneuver as uncomfortable as someone unwanted sitting down at a campfire.

"I spent the entire album listening to each word, waiting for another one of those falsettos in sheer dread" commented a member of the network that had received dubs of the project as a further distribution of the steel guitarist's original donation. The reactions of a varied group of enthusiastic music listeners is interesting in any case, demonstrating the great appeal of this LP as clearly as it underscores the frightening aspects of Hammond vocalizing.

A critic who had always seemed kind of kinky -- yet an expert in country & western of all sorts nonetheless -- admitted that he had become a prisoner of the first track, unable to proceed further, not out of dislike but the total opposite. Feelings like this about a song entitled "George Gudger's Overalls" will not seem extreme to anyone who has experienced the song itself. It is one of the few songs in the history of music about a pair of pants, and if that is not enough includes a round of indecent exposure , the songwriter coming up with good rhymes for both "in the raw" and "in the nude." Another reaction touches on lyrics as well, speculating whether even the great Roger Miller had managed to come up with a rhyme based on the name of union thug Jimmy Hoffa. Unfortunately, the latter listener became more enamored with Hammond than was emotionally healthy, lapsing into a severe depression when nobody actually showed up to "sit a spell" and "drink a few" as promised in an endearing portrait of "Uncle John Mills." Not exactly sure of what to make of the following reaction, it is included because of the relevant reference to twangy guitars, a really attractive part of the entire album: "Hey this was the first thing I listened to after replacing one of my headphone ear pieces with a wad of scotch tape. I am not sure what happened to the earpiece, I think it got dragged the length of the corridor in a hotel on a marble floor. Anyway I like the scotch tape better, it twitches and tickles my ears when the guitars are twangy, I like it so much I am going to revisit my entire country collection."

The record also sounded good to a film projectionist who while not admitting it actually was experiencing even worse playback deficiencies then the aforementioned head-taper, as opposed to home-taper. "I had the soundtrack to Exodus playing in the background, it sometimes drowned out Coyote's Dream." Finding a copy in pristine audio conditions to form an individual judgment will no doubt take longer than listening, the album features only eight songs and lasts just a bit longer than a half-hour. AMG. Thanks to B.!

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Colosseum II - Strange New Flesh 1976

Several years after the original art rock supergroup Colosseum disbanded, drummer Jon Hisemanformed Colosseum II, a more jazz fusion-oriented outfit featuring guitarist Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy) and keyboardist Don Airey. Their eclectic debut, Strange New Flesh, shows some impressive chops from all involved, with an emphasis on Moore's soulful guitar leads. Vocalist Mike Starr, while not an immensely engaging singer, does a nice job keeping up with Hiseman and bass player Neil Murray. Highlights include the technically showy but blissfully irreverent ode to Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moog," a nice version of Joni Mitchell's "Down to You," and the funky "Gemini and Leo." AMG.listen here

Queen - A Day At The Races 1976

In every sense, A Day at the Races is an unapologetic sequel to A Night at the Opera, the 1975 breakthrough that established Queen as rock & roll royalty. The band never attempts to hide that the record is a sequel -- the two albums boast the same variation on the same cover art, the titles are both taken from old Marx Brothers films and serve as counterpoints to each other. But even though the two albums look the same, they don't quite sound the same, A Day at the Races is a bit tighter than its predecessor, yet tighter doesn't necessarily mean better for a band as extravagant as Queen. One of the great things about A Night at the Opera is that the lingering elements of early Queen -- the pastoral folk of "39," the metallic menace of "Death on Two Legs" -- dovetailed with an indulgence of camp and a truly, well, operatic scale. Here, the eccentricities are trimmed back somewhat -- they still bubble up on "The Millionaire Waltz," an example of the music hall pop that dominated Night, the pro-Native American saga "White Man" is undercut somewhat by the cowboys 'n' indians rhythms -- in favor of a driving, purposeful hard rock that still could have some slyly hidden perversities (or in the case of the opening "Tie Your Mother Down," some not-so-hidden perversity) but this is exquisitely detailed hard rock, dense with minutiae but never lush or fussy. In a sense, it could even function as the bridge between Sheer Heart Attack and Night at the Opera -- it's every bit as hard as the former and nearly as florid as the latter -- but its sleek, streamlined finish is the biggest indication that Queen has entered a new phase, where they're globe-conquering titans instead of underdogs on the make. AMG.listen here

Spirit - Farther Along 1976

This 1976 reunion of Spirit without Jay Ferguson, but with the inclusion of Matt Andes, brother of original bassist Mark Andes, who is also here, has some very special moments. The title track is a little R&B-folk number by Randy California, Andes, and Cassidy, while the second song, "Atomic Boogie," is California indulging himself again in musical excess. The entire band is listed as co-writers on this tune only, so they can all shoulder the blame for the weakest track on an otherwise excellent album that features many collaborations by the various musicians. "World Eat World Dog" is a nice slice of the old-style Spirit by John Locke, California, and Ed Cassidy, setting a mood and featuring conducting and arrangements by David Blumberg. "Stoney Night" continues in this vein, horns battling the bubbling guitars and providing proof that the collective forces of Spirit were truly a unique and important rock group. The John Locke instrumental "Pineapple" doesn't need words to convey the Hawaiian theme which runs through much of California's music. He doesn't have to write the song to influence it heavily. The percussion and vibes are magical, while John Locke's keyboards more than hint at what was missing when the band crafted recordings or played live without him. Al Schmitt's production shines on "Colossus"; the award-winning engineer for so many artists and Jefferson Airplane producer is in his element here. Note the Don Henderson-orchestrated instrumental version of the group's FM nugget "Nature's Way," which ends the set. This third Mercury release in the mid-'70s takes a couple of songs to get going, but the collaboration with the Andes brothers and John Locke puts Cassidy and California back into a true band setting, and the package becomes a very musical and cohesive unit. "Phoebe" is another luscious instrumental (three of the dozen titles are music with no words), while a Beatles-style "Once With You" and "Diamond Spirit," with its inclusion of the title track melody at the end, allow California to front a full Spirit without battling the strong personality of a Jay Ferguson. The Andes brothers, who backed up Ferguson with his Jo Jo Gunne band, are more interesting in this setting as well, and give support to California's music. Had the Staehely Brothers from the Feedback album combined here rather than the Andes boys, the direction would have totally changed, and it is an interesting thought to ponder. The five discs that make up the four Mercury 1970s releases from Spirit have great merit, and the best of this music could be combined with Epic/Legacy's Time Circle double CD to make for a nice four- or five-disc overview of this important set of sounds from an underrated band. AMG.listen here

Jeff Beck - Wired 1976

Released in 1976, Jeff Beck's Wired contains some of the best jazz-rock fusion of the period. Wired is generally more muscular, albeit less-unique than its predecessor, Blow by Blow. Joining keyboardist Max Middleton, drummer Richard Bailey, and producer George Martin from the Blow by Blow sessions are drummer Narada Michael Walden, bassist Wilbur Bascomb, and keyboardist Jan Hammer. Beck contributed no original material to Wired, instead relying on the considerable talents of his supporting cast. Perhaps this explains why Wired is not as cohesive as Blow by Blow, seemingly more assembled from component parts. Walden's powerful drumming propels much of Wired, particularly Middleton's explosive opener, "Led Boots," where Beck erupts into a stunning solo of volcanic intensity. Walden also contributes four compositions, including the funk-infused "Come Dancing," which adds an unnamed horn section. While Walden's "Sophie" is overly long and marred by Hammer's arena rock clichés, his "Play With Me" is spirited and Hammer's soloing more melodic. Acoustic guitar and piano predominate the closing ballad, "Love Is Green"; Beck's electric solo gracefully massages the quiet timbres. Wired is well balanced by looser, riff-oriented material and Walden's more intricate compositions. Walden and Hammer give Wired a '70s-era jazz-rock flavor that is indicative of their work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Bascomb's throw-down, "Head for Backstage Pass," finds Bailey skillfully navigating the mixed meters while Beck counters with a dazzling, gritty solo. Hammer's "Blue Wind" features an infectious riff over which Beck and Hammer trade heated salvos. As good as "Blue Wind" is, it would have benefited from the Walden/Bascomb rhythm section and a horn arrangement by Martin. One of Wired's finest tracks is an arrangement of Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat." Beck's playing is particularly alluring: cleanly ringing tones, weeping bends, and sculpted feedback form a resonant palette. Bailey and Middleton lend supple support. Within a two-year span, the twin towers Blow by Blow and Wired set a standard for instrumental rock that even Beck has found difficult to match. On Wired, with first-rate material and collaborators on hand, one of rock's most compelling guitarists is in top form. AMG.listen here

David Bromberg - How Lat'll Ya Play Til 1976

David Bromberg has been such an effective sideman for so long, it could be possible to not notice what a wonderful entertainer the man is when he is at center stage. How Late'll Ya Play 'Til?, Vol. 1 catchesBromberg and a crack band having a fine time on mostly humorous tunes. Of course, Bromberg does play guitar throughout the album, but the real attraction here is his bluesy vocal turns and his razor-sharp comedic timing. Though "Will Not Be Your Fool" is his signature piece and is very well performed here, the highlight is the incredible "Bullfrog Blues." The exact nature of this hilariously rambling talking blues couldn't be conveyed in anything less than the 16 minutes that Bromberg takes to perform it, and if it could be communicated it shouldn't, because there are delightful surprises here. Like all great live albums, How Late'll Ya Play 'Til? will make you extremely sad that you weren't in the audience the night it was recorded, and determined not to repeat the error should the chance present itself. AMG.listen here

Al Kooper - Act Like Nothing's Wrong 1976

Kooper's sixth solo release opens daringly enough, with his own funky version of "This Diamond Ring," which he transforms completely from its Drifters-inspired origins. Most of the album is in a mid-'70s soul-funk vein, with Tower of Power turning up elsewhere and Kooper trying (with considerable success) to sound soulful on songs like "She Don't Ever Lose Her Groove" and "I Forgot to Be Your Lover." The playing throughout is excellent, with guitars by Kooper himself (who also plays sitar, Mellotron, organ, and synthesizer) as well as Little Beaver and Reggie Young, with Joe Walsh sitting in on one song, and horn arrangements by Kooper and veteran soundtrack composer Dominic Frontiere. The real centerpiece is the epic-length "Hollywood Vampire," which can't quite sustain its seven-minute length. The funkier numbers work, but some of the rest, like "In My Own Sweet Way," don't come off so well. This is two-thirds of a pretty fair album, and only lacks consistency. AMG.listen here

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Trout mask replica 1969

Trout Mask Replica is Captain Beefheart's masterpiece, a fascinating, stunningly imaginative work that still sounds like little else in the rock & roll canon. Given total creative control by producer and friendFrank Zappa, Beefheart and his Magic Band rehearsed the material for this 28-song double album for over a year, wedding minimalistic R&B, blues, and garage rock to free jazz and avant-garde experimentalism. Atonal, sometimes singsong melodies; jagged, intricately constructed dual-guitar parts; stuttering, complicated rhythmic interaction -- all of these elements float out seemingly at random, often without completely interlocking, while Beefheart groans his surrealist poetry in a throaty Howlin' Wolfgrowl. The disjointedness is perhaps partly unintentional -- reportedly, Beefheart's refusal to wear headphones while recording his vocals caused him to sing in time with studio reverberations, not the actual backing tracks -- but by all accounts, the music and arrangements were carefully scripted by the Captain (aided by John "Drumbo" French), which makes the results even more remarkable. As one might expect from music so complex and, to many ears, inaccessible, the influence of Trout Mask Replica was felt more in spirit than in direct copycatting, as a catalyst rather than a literal musical starting point. However, its inspiring reimagining of what was possible in a rock context laid the groundwork for countless future experiments in rock surrealism, especially during the punk/new wave era. AMG.listen here

Ian A. Anderson - A Vulture is Not a Bird You Can Trust 1971

Ian A. Anderson (born 26 July 1947) is an English magazine editor, folk musician and broadcaster. He first came to prominence as a member of the Bristol based country blues scene of the 1960s, performing live and on record, both solo and with Mike Cooper. The middle initial was added at a later date to avoid confusion with Ian Anderson of the band Jethro Tull. In the early 1970s he founded the record label The Village Thing, for which he was also a producer. This label "championed" a number of folk musicians, predominantly from the Bristol area.

With Maggie Holland, he performed in Hot Vultures, before becoming immersed in world music and forming a number of collaborations with musicians from various nations and genres. By this time, he had moved from the west country to Farnham, Surrey. It was here that, in 1979, he founded Southern Rag, as a local quarterly folk music magazine, in a simple A5 format. After 13 issues it had become very popular and respected well beyond the local area so the editor took the decision to make it a glossy, A4 sized magazine with national distribution, under a new title, Folk Roots. It was later to become a monthly publication and became well-known not only for its authoritative writing and outspokenness but for its campaigning for wider acceptance of both British folk music and world music. It is now renamed fRoots.[1] Anderson has actively promoted world music, supporting tours by artists, particularly from Africa, who were previously unknown in the U.K.

As a spin-off from these activities in the 1980s, he founded an independent record label, Rogue Records, which provided a platform for both established and new artists, concentrating on world music. The label was the first to release recordings in the U.K. by Senegal's Baaba Maal, Madagascar's Tarika, Gambian kora duo Dembo Konte and Kausu Kuyateh, and Tex-Mex accordionist Flaco Jimenez. He has also founded a record label, The Weekend Beatnik, which specialises in the reissue of folk and world music albums in CD format.

Anderson has presented the occasional series for BBC Radio 2, hosted a World music program on "Jazz FM" and then spend 10 years broadcasting on the BBC World Service. He now hosts "fRoots Radio" on the web.[2]

Currently he is collaborating, as one third of Blue Blokes 3, with Lu Edmonds (formerly of the Mekons, Billy Bragg’s Blokes, 3 Mustaphas 3, The Damned, Kirsty MacColl's band and others) on vocals, cumbus, saz, guitar and more, and Ben Mandelson (Billy Bragg’s Blokes, 3 Mustaphas 3, Tiger Moth, and more) on vocals, mandolin, baritone bouzouki, banjo, tenor guitar, etc. Thanks to
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Atlanta Rhythm Section - Smiling Dog Saloon 1975

Often described as a more radio-friendly version of Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Allman Brothers, the Atlanta Rhythm Section was one of many Southern rock bands to hit the upper reaches of the charts during the late '70s. Hailing from the small town of Doraville, Georgia, the beginning of the Atlanta Rhythm Section can be traced back to 1970. It was then that a local recording studio was opened, Studio One, and the remnants of two groups (the Candymen and the Classics Four), became the studio's house band. One of the facility's head figures, Buddy Buie, soon began assembling the session band -- singer Rodney Justo, guitarist Barry Bailey, bassist Paul Goddard, keyboardist Dean Daughtry, and drummer Robert Nix. After playing on several artists' recordings, it was decided to take the band a step further and make the group of players a real band, leading to the formation of the Atlanta Rhythm Section.

Buie soon became an invisible fifth member of the fledgling band; he served as their manager and producer, in addition to providing a major hand in the songwriting department. Finding time between sessions to record their own original material (which was initially, entirely instrumental), an early demo wound up landing the band a record deal. The group's first few albums failed to generate much chart action (1972's Atlanta Rhythm Section, 1973's Back Up Against the Wall, 1974's Third Annual Pipe Dream, 1975's Dog Days, and 1976's Red Tape), but it was during this time that Justo was replaced with newcomer Ronnie Hammond, which would eventually pay dividends for the group. Although they had gained quite a bit of radio airplay down south, their record company began to put pressure on the quintet to deliver a single that would break them nationally. The demand worked -- the Atlanta Rhythm Section scored a Top Ten single, "So Into You," on their next release, 1976's A Rock and Roll Alternative, which was the group's first album to reach gold certification.

But this wouldn't be the group's commercial peak, as they scored the highest charting album of their career in 1978, the Top Ten Champagne Jam, which spawned two hit singles -- "I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight" and "Imaginary Lover." To keep up their high profile, the Atlanta Rhythm Section soon became one of the hardest touring bands of the entire Southern rock genre (including a performance at the White House for then-president Jimmy Carter). But the group's commercial success would be fleeting -- it appeared as soon as mainstream rock fans embraced the Atlanta Rhythm Section, they just as quickly forgot about them. Each subsequent album -- 1979's Underdog and live set Are You Ready, 1980s The Boys from Doraville, and 1981's Quinella -- sold less than the previous one, resulting in the band's split shortly thereafter.
In the wake of their split, the Atlanta Rhythm Section has reunited sporadically for tours (although only a few original members would be present), and issued their first all-new studio album in more than a decade in 1999, Eufaula. Additionally, some of country-rock's biggest names have gone on to record Atlanta Rhythm Section covers -- Travis Tritt, Wynonna Judd, and Charlie Daniels, among others. AMG.
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