John Braheny - Some Kind Of Change 1968

Singer/songwriter John Braheny's most well-known song is "December Dream," recorded by Linda Ronstadt & the Stone Poneys for their second album. An unreleased version was also done by Fred Neil in the late '60s, and was issued about 30 years later on the compilation The Many Sides of Fred Neil. Braheny also did an interesting, extremely obscure solo album on the small Pete label in 1970 that included his own version of "December Dream." The LP was quite eclectic and eccentric for the singer/songwriter genre, also containing some off-kilter psychedelic-influenced material without sacrificing a folk-rock base. Some Kind of Change is an odd mixture of folk-rock, California singer/songwriter, and very slightly unhinged psychedelia. While there are songs here and there that are un-eyebrow-raising, Southern California 1970 singer/songwriter rock, the more interesting tracks suggest an anxious man being pushed toward a dazed and distraught state of mind. Think of more normal, far less worrisomely troubled acid folk in the Skip Spence mode, and that's somewhat along the right track. Odd psychedelically treated voices, reverb, and effects decorate about half the cuts, effectively weaving around Braheny's tense and yearning voice. "Don't Cry for Me" is quality spooky blues acid folk, with its constant haunting refrain "Don't cry for me/I'm free" suggestive of a man who's obtained freedom at some cost to his grasp of reality. "Free Fall" is another highlight, somewhat reminiscent of Tim Buckley's stranger earlier numbers like "Hallucinations," but not imitative. Other weird detours, not all of them successful, crop up, like the eerily bittersweet blues-psych instrumental "Silver Cord," and "Tour Line Ladies," built around the narrative of a Hollywood tour guide that goes on at least twice as long as it should. In a less offbeat mood, this also has his own quality version of "December Dream," an outstanding melancholy folk-rock love song. This is an LP deserving of a CD reissue, although that prospect might be unlikely given that it doesn't fit into any comfortable niche of rock that's been revived for the collector market. AMG.

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Nina Simone - High Priestess Of Soul 1967

Perhaps a bit more conscious of contemporary soul trends than her previous Philips albums, this is still very characteristic of her mid-'60s work in its eclectic mix of jazz, pop, soul, and some blues and gospel. Hal Mooney directs some large band arrangements for the material on this LP without submerging Simone's essential strengths. The more serious and introspective material is more memorable than the good-natured pop selections here. The highlights are her energetic vocal rendition of the Oscar Brown/Nat Adderley composition "Work Song" and her spiritual composition "Come Ye," on which Simone's inspirational vocals are backed by nothing other than minimal percussion. AMG.

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José Feliciano - Souled 1968

One of the most prominent Latin-born performers of the pop era, Puerto Rican guitarist, singer, and composer José Feliciano found mainstream success in the late 1960s with his appealing mix of flamenco guitar, bolero, folk, and easy listening pop music. Already a success in Latin America, Feliciano scored a major American hit with his 1968 cover of the Doors' "Light My Fire," before inciting controversy with his jazzy rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" during the World Series in October of that year. His 1970 Christmas pop classic "Feliz Navidad" went on to become one of the most ubiquitous songs in the holiday canon. Throughout the '70s and '80s, he remained a popular touring and recording artist, releasing a variety of Spanish- and English-language albums, guesting on albums by major artists like John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, and Bill Withers, and composing for television shows like Chico and the Man and Kung Fu. Feliciano's success extended into the next century as he continued to explore a variety of musical styles, earning a pair of Grammy Awards for his 2008 album Señor Bachata and recording a high-profile collaboration with Jools Holland on the 2017 jazz and R&B set, As You See Me Now. In the seventh decade of his career, he was still in demand, releasing a pair of albums in 2022, Right Here Waiting and Love & Christmas. AMG.

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Spot - Spot 1971

Rock group based in Geneva. Spot's single, eponymous album was released in 1972 on Evasion, a label mainly specialized in pop and folk artists, and is one of Switzerland's rarest collector's items from the 1970s. Part of its mystique comes from the fact that its only availability outside the relatively few copies of the LP in existence was on a bootleg vinyl release.

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The RFD - Lead Me Home 1971

USA 1971 obscure Christian folk-rock album with an appealing, understated feel. Close male/female vocal harmonies and ringing guitars create a secular late 60’s California sound, with strong songwriting that reaches back to a Byrds / Simon & Garfunkel hook sensibility. 

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Nelson Ângelo e Joyce - Nelson Ângelo e Joyce 1972

Musically, the 70s marked the emergence of countless songs of a social nature and protests against the military dictatorship here in Brazil and, in the midst of all this turmoil, here comes the only album of the same name by Nelson Ângelo and Joyce. A little-known pearl of Brazilian music. Dating from 1972, it is an album that recalls the colorful meanders of this era. It comes from the interior, from the humid confines of the forests and, at the same time, it has the sweet thrill of LSD and all its psychedelic transcendence.

The tracks on this rare LP move through soft nuances reminiscent of the hippie movement. He elegantly combines typical Brazilian sounds with external influences from his time, mesmerizing Brazilian samba and folkloric touches. The delicacy in the composition of the songs is observed in the track Comunhão which, if listened to with your eyes closed, can give you the incredible sensation of being in a country house, surrounded by nature, in some country town lost in a good time.

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Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich - If Music Be The Food Of Love 1966

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich followed up their self-titled debut LP with the tongue-in-cheek If Music Be the Food of Love...Then Prepare for Indigestion (1968). The quintet of Dave "Dee" Harman (guitar/vocals), Trevor "Dozy" Davies (bass), John "Beaky" Diamond (rhythm guitar), Michael "Mick" Wilson (drums), and Ian "Tich" Amey (lead guitar) return with another batch of strong Brit-pop compositions, including a pair of their most prolific sides, "Bend It" and "Hideaway." While all but unknown stateside, the combo became hugely popular throughout Europe -- which may well account for the distinctly conspicuous Mediterranean flavor on the former. Their left-of-center sense of humor surfaces on the Noel Coward-esque potty platter "Loos of England." Matching their obvious wit was an equally sharp musicality, effortlessly transcending concurrent pop music styles. Their range at once incorporated the full-throttled backbeat of "Bang" and the decidedly hip "Hideaway" and "Hands Off!" "Shame" is an edgier tune, with a mod progressive slant that would not be out of place from the likes of the Yardbirds. This is contrasted by the emotive "All I Want" or the cover of Robert "Bumps" Blackwell's "Hair on My Chinny-Chin-Chin," which is perhaps best known via the Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs version. While the prospect might sound odd, it seems no more out of place than the Who's reading of "Heat Wave," for instance. Interested parties should note that the 2003 reissue of If Music Be the Food of Love... contains 14 supplementary mono and stereo bonus track mixes, including "Touch Me, Touch Me," "Zabadak," the proto-punk "He's a Raver," and others. AMG.

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Bohemian Vendetta - Bohemian Vendetta 1968

Quintet (Nick Manzi, Brian Cooke, Chuck Monica, Victor Muglia, Randy Pollock) from New York's Long Island, who backed Faine Jade on his Introspection album in 1968. That same year, they recorded and released a self-titled album for the Mainstream label. The trippy "All Kinds of Highs" has been reissued on CD. AMG.

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Return To Forever - Light As A Feather 1972

Always tied to a confusing time line, the first released recording from the original configuration of Return to Forever was actually their second session. An initial studio date from the ECM label done in February of 1972 wasn't issued until after the band had changed in 1975. The Polydor/Verve recording from October of 1972 is indeed this 1973 release, featuring the same band with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Airto Moreira, Joe Farrell, and Flora Purim. There's no need splitting hairs, as both are five-star albums, showcasing many of the keyboardist's long enduring, immediately recognizable, and highly melodic compositions. Farrell's happy flute, Purim's in-the-clouds wordless vocals, the electrifying percussion of Airto, and Clarke's deft and loping electric bass guitar lines are all wrapped in a stew of Brazilian samba and Corea's Fender Rhodes electric piano, certainly setting a tone and the highest bar for the music of peer groups to follow. "Captain Marvel" -- the seed for the band sans Farrell and Purim that was expanded into a full concept album with Stan Getz -- is here as a steamy fusion samba with Corea dancing on the keys. By now the beautiful "500 Miles High" has become Purim's signature song with Neville Potter's lyrics and Corea's stabbing chords, and unfortunately became a hippie drug anthem. Perhaps Corea's definitive song of all time, and covered ad infinitum by professional and school bands, "Spain" retains the quirky melody, handclapped interlude, up-and-down dynamics, exciting jam section, and variation in time, tempo, and colorations that always command interest despite a running time of near ten minutes. "You're Everything" is a romantic classic that surely has been heard at many weddings, with another lyric by Potter sung in heaven by Purim, while the title track is Purim's lyric in a looser musical framework with Clarke's chart coalescing with Corea and Farrell's pungent flute work. As much as the others have become icons, the extraordinary sound of Farrell on this date should never be trivialized or underestimated. The final track, "Children's Song," was a springboard for several of Corea's full-length album projects, and is heard here for the first time via a trio setting in a slow, birthlike motif. The expanded version of this recording includes many alternate takes of four of these selections, but also includes "Matrix," which was not on any RTF albums, and there are four versions of "What Game Shall We Play Today?," which was only available on the ECM release. From a historical perspective, this is the most important effort of Corea's career, quite different than his prior previous progressive or improvising efforts, and the pivotal beginning of his career as the most popular contemporary jazz keyboardist in history. AMG.

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Mushroom - Freedom You're a Woman 1978

Mushroom were a Brooklyn-based act that veered between smooth AOR and ballsy blues rock on their only record, 1978's privately-pressed 'Freedom You're A Woman'.

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Yes - Yes 1969

Yes' debut album is surprisingly strong, given the inexperience of all those involved at the time. In an era when psychedelic meanderings were the order of the day, Yes delivered a surprisingly focused and exciting record that covered lots of bases (perhaps too many) in presenting their sound. The album opens boldly, with the fervor of a metal band of the era playing full tilt on "Beyond and Before," but it is with the second number, a cover of the Byrds' "I See You," that they show some of their real range. The song is highlighted by an extraordinary jazz workout from lead guitarist Peter Banks and drummer Bill Bruford that runs circles around the original by Roger McGuinn and company. "Harold Land" was the first song on which Chris Squire's bass playing could be heard in anything resembling the prominence it would eventually assume in their sound and anticipates in its structure the multi-part suites the group would later record, with its extended introduction and its myriad shifts in texture, timbre, and volume. And then there is "Every Little Thing," the most daring Beatles cover ever to appear on an English record, with an apocalyptic introduction and extraordinary shifts in tempo and dynamics, Banks' guitar and Bruford's drums so animated that they seem to be playing several songs at once. This song also hosts an astonishingly charismatic performance by Jon Anderson. There were numerous problems in recording this album, owing to the inexperience of the group, the producer, and the engineer, in addition to the unusual nature of their sound. Many of the numbers give unusual prominence to the guitar and drums, thus making it the most uncharacteristic of all the group's albums. AMG.

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Leonard Cohen - Death Of A Ladies' Man 1977

One of the most controversial partnerships in either man's career was inaugurated the day Leonard Cohen and Phil Spector decided to make an album together. In the course of just three weeks together, the pair had written 15 new songs, described by Spector as "some great f*ckin' music." And though the recording took somewhat longer, Death of a Ladies' Man still emerged as an album that, while it certainly lives up to Spector's billing, can also be viewed as the most challenging record of both Cohen and Spector's careers. Certainly, Cohen fans were absolutely taken aback by the widescreen wash that accompanied their idol's customary tones, and many hastened to complain about the almost unbridled sexuality and brutal voyeurism that replaced Cohen's traditionally lighter touch -- as if the man who once rhymed "unmade bed" with "giving me head" was any stranger whatsoever to explicitness. It is also true that a cursory listen to the album suggests that the whole thing was simply a ragbag of crazy notions thrown into the air to see where they landed.

Pay attention, however, and it quickly makes sense. The brawling "Memories" bowls along, an echo-laden vaudeville drinking song that invites everyone who hears it to join in with the so-perfectly timed refrain of "won't you let me see...your naked body." "Iodine," meanwhile, swings on one of Nino Tempo's most seductive rhythm arrangements, while Steve Douglas' sax squalls behind Cohen and co-singer Ronee Blakley's rambunctious duet; and anybody looking for a dance smash to sidle wholly out of left field could turn to "Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On," a number that not only captured an almost irresistible funk edge, but also roped Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg into its rambunctious backing chorus.

Cohen himself has never been happy with the record -- Spector's mix, he complained, stripped "the guts out of the record," but when he suggested the producer have another go, his entreaties were ignored. Finally agreeing to write the album off as "an experiment that failed" and trust that his fans would be able to pick out its "real energizing capacities," Cohen allowed it to be released as Spector left it -- and then effectively retired for the next five years. His judgment, and that most commonly passed down by rock history, has not been borne out by time. Alongside Songs of Love and Hate, Death of a Ladies' Man represents the peak of Cohen's first decade or so as a recording artist, both lyrically and stylistically stepping into wholly untapped musical directions -- and certainly setting the stage for the larger scale productions that would mark out his music following his return. It might even be his masterpiece. AMG.

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John Blair - Southern Love (1976

John Franklin "Ellington" Blair was an American violinist & guitarist, born November 8h 1943 Toledo, Ohio, died June 3rd 2006 in New York, NY, USA. Dr. John Blair (or Master John Blair) grew up in California and began taking violin lessons as a child, graduating with honors from Lincoln High School in San Diego in 1961. Blair became a heavy academic, holding degrees from Eastman and Curtis conservatories. He even founded a school (The Universal Natural System). He is best known as the inventor of the Vitar, an acoustic combination of violin and guitar. He featured on many jazz funk LPs in the early 1970s and released a few sought after psych-funk releases on Mercury, Columbia and CTI. During the 1980s he disapeared off of the map, never to return. He died of heart failure, homeless. 

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Alta Tension - Alta Tension 1970

Alta Tensión ("High Tension") was an Argentian rock band formed around 1968. The project was made up of guitarist Héctor Starc (Aquelarre), Vitico on bass and Alejandra Aldao on vocals. Part of Alto Tensión was made out of people from the TV program with the same name. Alta Tensión released their only - self-titled - album and a couple of singles in 1970 where most tracks were sung in English. After Vitico left due to "commercial reasons" the band folded. AMG.

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Zappatta Schmidt - It's Gonna Get You 1971

Not much info about this one just that writing mainly credits to Eddy Grant (who also produced the lp) from The Equals. Give it a try.

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