Osibisa - Black Magic Night Live at The Festival Hall 1977

Recorded on July 19, 1977, this double LP (reissued as a two-CD set) contained live versions of songs that appeared on several of their 1971-1977 albums, as well as one ("Living Loving Feeling") that only came out as a single. Osibisa, who anticipated many of the features of the worldbeat sound, cover a lot of ground on this lengthy set -- maybe too much for some tastes. Sometimes the material gets close to traditional African music in its rhythms and chanting; at others, it nearly treads on jazz fusion territory, though not in a bad way. And while Osibisa singer and multi-instrumentalist Teddy Osei says in the liner notes that the band wasn't influenced by Santana, the Afro-Latin rhythms and chant-style vocals in some of the songs certainly remind you of Santana, though again not in an objectionable fashion. There's also some Rahsaan Roland Kirk-style flute playing, and a rendition of their substantial 1976 British hit "Sunshine Day" that finds them at their most pop-friendly. While they might not have been the most innovative or original of these kind of groups, overall this is a lively document of an ensemble that fused African, soul-funk, and some Latin and jazz elements when that sort of mixture was far less accessible outside Africa than it would be in subsequent decades. AMG.

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Maypole - Maypole 1970

The Story of Maypole was about freedom, people being natural, true to themselves and the others around them. We told the truth about things and what we saw. The beauty, the ugliness, the injustice, of the times.The plight of hungry hearts on their journey seeking to find true happiness. Maypole was not a typical group. Our approach was artistic and on a spiritual level. Demian's guitar style has been compared to Jimi Hendrix,Frank Marino, and Carlos Santana. The reality is, that Demian was playing just as long as the afore mentioned players. His influences were what was going on around him. The hardships of his early life made him sensitive and thoughtful about life.He was run over by a bus in Baltimore when he was just 4 years old and suffered severe injuries. Long rehabilitation helped to build his concentration, endurance and his character. His ability to make his guitar sound in so many different ways is what made the guitar interesting for him. A way to express himself with no boundaries.He lives in Germany at the moment,where his new version of The Maypole is based. Dennis Tobell- Under the stage name of Denny Romans, later to be known as Demian Bell. Principle writer and Lead Guitarist and Vocals. Born near Chicago, to a show business Father and Mother, grew up in Maryland, Ohio, and California. First started piano at age 7, then guitar at 13. First professional gig at 14, with 'The Rogues' at the Gold Horse Saloon in Folsom California. He was a member of 'The Moss' a Baltimore Blues band that won many competitions known as 'Battle of The Bands' at 15. He founded the 'Psychedelic Propellor' at 16, in Baltimore Md. Played with 'Van Morrison' and 'Moulty and the Barbarians' at 18 and 'Maypole' when 20, with Paul Welsh. Paul Welsh- Drummer and writer and co-founder with Dennis Tobell. Born in Frankfurt Germany, to a French mother and American father. Raised in Towson , Maryland. A brilliant student in History, Literature, Languages and music. His first love was music as he saw it, as a tremendous way to communicate with the masses. Playing drums since age 10, he first played with 'The Paupers', 'Daddy Warbucks'and then with 'Maypole' Paul commited suicide in 1988. Steve Mace- Writer, singer and second guitarist. Born in Baltimore, raised in Towson , Paul and Steve were next door neighbors all their lives. He also was a member of the 'Paupers', 'Daddy Warbucks', before joining 'Maypole' Kenny Ross- Singer, songwriter. Born in Baltimore and grew up in the Govans area of Baltimore. Kenny was also a member of 'The Paupers' with Paul and Steve. Kenny passed away in May 2005. John Nickel- Bass Guitar was born in Baltimore, was from the Essex area of Baltimore, and played in many area bands before joining 'Maypole'. AMG.

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The Monkees - Head 1968

This disc contains songs and snippets of dialogue from the Monkees' full-length feature film of the same name. Although their Emmy-winning television program had been cancelled in the spring of 1968, the quartet quickly regrouped and, with the assistance of budding actor/director Jack Nicholson, created a 90-minute surreal cinematic experience -- replete with matching soundtrack. Without question, both the movie and album are the most adventurous and in many ways most fulfilling undertaking to have been born of the Monkees' multimedia manufactured project. The music featured on both the screen as well as this album is a long strange trip from the Farfisa-driven bubblegum anthem "I'm a Believer." Perhaps even more telling is that Head became the first Monkees long-player not to include a Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart composition. As such, the talents of each member are uniquely showcased -- especially those of Peter Tork, whose contributions were previously too few and far between. Ironically, his acid rocker "Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again" and Eastern-flavored "Can You Dig It?" are not only among the best of the six original compositions on the soundtrack, but also among his finest Monkees offerings, period. Other notable tracks include Micky Dolenz's vocals on two Carole King works: the ethereal "Porpoise Song," which was co-authored by Gerry Goffin, and the Toni Stern collaboration on the pastoral "As We Go Along." AMG.

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Aardvark - Aardvark 1970

Unfortunately, the few times short-lived British prog outfit Aardvark's name ever comes up, it's usually due to their rock footnote status: guitarist Paul Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke were in an early version of the band before they went on to fame and fortune with Free. But when Aardvark's lone, self-titled album was released in 1970, the group hadn't even bothered to replace Kossoff, opting instead for a vocals/keys/bass/drums lineup and going for the kind of organ-led sound that had already been proven viable in an early prog context by the Nice. Aardvark's approach -- while bearing some surface similarities to the Nice -- is much less classically influenced, bearing more of a jazz/blues/R&B base, and the harder edge they achieve on a number of tracks puts them more in the company of Atomic Rooster (of course, Atomic Rooster's Carl Palmer had just joined with the Nice's Keith Emerson to form ELP by this time, but that's another story). In fact, the album's opening track, "Copper Sunset," boasts a heavily fuzzed-out organ riff that resembles nothing so much as the hard-rocking sound Jon Lord was developing at the time with Deep Purple. The album closes out with the aptly titled "Put That in Your Pipe and Smoke It," a wild instrumental free for all that finds everyone -- other than singer Dave Skillin -- pushing the proverbial pedal to the floor, and inspires tantalizing questions about what might have been if Aardvark had only lasted just a bit longer. AMG.

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Keith - 98.6 / Ain't Gonna Lie 1967

Remembered for his 1967 Top Ten smash "98.6," singer Keith was born James Barry Keefer in Philadelphia on May 7, 1949. According to legend, he earned his first record deal with Columbia after camping out on the doorstep of A&R executive Jerry Ross; the resulting single, 1966's "Caravan of Lonely Men," was credited to Keith and the Admirations. When Ross moved to Mercury Records he took Keith with him, and the singer soon cracked the Top 40 with his solo debut, "Ain't Gonna Lie; " "98.6" reached the number seven position in the first week of 1967, but except for one last Top 40 entry -- "Tell Me to My Face" -- he never again appeared on the U.S. charts. After his 1968 sophomore LP Out of Crank failed to create public interest, Keith signed to Frank Zappa's Discreet label to issue the single "In and Out of Love"; after one final album, 1969's RCA release The Adventures of Keith, he retired from performing, briefly attempting an unsuccessful comeback during the mid-1980s. AMG.

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999 - High Energy Plan 1979

Like the highly influential Buzzcocks, 999 epitomized the pop side of British punk in the late '70s. High Energy Plan owes its snarling, bratty, in your face attitude to the Sex Pistols and the Clash, but unlike those bands, 999 doesn't bring a heavy political agenda to the table. This LP (which came out in the U.S. in 1979) is an exercise in wild, raucous fun, and hook-laden gems like "Homicide," "High Energy Plan," "Let's Face It," and "Rael Rean," which are the essence of pop-minded punk. If, in the late '70s, you thought that punk and power pop were mutually exclusive, 999 was among the bands that could set you straight (much like the Buzzcocks, the Ramones, and the zany Dickies). And High Energy Plan doesn't get all of its inspiration from punk or new wave; the 1960s British Invasion rock of the Kinks and the Rolling Stones certainly had an impact on 999. Produced by Martin Rushent, High Energy Plan is among the band's finest albums and is essential listening for lovers of early British punk. AMG.

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Rust - Come With Me 1969

An Australian ("Creepy" John Thomas) and two English guys (Walt Monaghan and Brian Hillman) who got together in Germany, playing at Army bases in the Rhineland. They also got to record a fun psychedelic album, that was partly borderline pop and pastiche, and also nudged towards the underground. 

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Gong - Shamal 1976

Between Daevid Allen's departure from the band and Pierre Moerlen's official takeover of the band, there is Shamal. This transitional album contains none of the Allen-inspired psychedelia, but also very little of Moerlen's jazz influence. Shamal is, for the most part, a progressive rock album, half vocal, half instrumental. Its most accessible tune, the opening "Wingful of Eyes," had the potential for airplay if only it hadn't been so lengthy. Penned by Mike Howlett, his not-so-great-but-appealing vocal style and lyrics will grow on you, given the opportunity. "Bambooji," mostly instrumental, opens with Didier Malherbe's flute, which at times gives this tune an Asian sound. Percussion and flute dominate and yield a Scottish feeling as well. "Mandrake" is the soft, laid-back piece on the album, followed by the closing title cut, a slight foreshadowing of the sound Pierre Moerlen and company assumed on the next several albums. Moerlen, an outstanding, classically trained drummer/percussionist, along with Jorge Pinchevsky on violin color this piece with a Mahavishnu Orchestra hue, although it's still distinctly Gong. AMG.

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Blossom Toes - We Are Ever So Clean 1967

Blossom Toes existed for a brief window in the late '60s, transitioning quickly from an R&B/beat band called the Ingoes to embrace Baroque instrumentation and vivid, cheery psychedelia on their 1967 debut We Are Ever So Clean. Released just four months after the Beatles' world-shaking and similarly toned Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and weeks before The Who Sell Out, the album lived in the shadows of bigger musical events, and Blossom Toes lingered briefly in obscurity before disbanding in 1969. After a few decades passed, however, the band, and their debut album in particular, began to take on a more clearly defined importance in the bigger picture of '60s psychedelia. The bright, curious melodies of tracks like "What on Earth" are cut from a similar cloth as material the Kinks and the Pretty Things were releasing at the same time, but are filled out with an overabundance of brass, strings, and theatrical orchestral elements. "What's It For?" feels like a happier, more thoughtful cousin of the Who, and songs like this and "The Remarkable Saga of the Frozen Dog" or "The Intrepid Balloonist's Handbook, Vol. 1" carry the same charming British sense of absurdist humor as Bonzo Dog Band. Blossom Toes' song structures are unconventional, often including several sections that would most likely be cut from the average '60s pop song. Even so, they never get assertive enough to reach prog territory, keeping a mild and approachable demeanor with light vocal harmonies and bounding bass grooves on "When the Alarm Clock Rings" and getting into backwards guitar solos and paisley-colored dissonance on rocking standout "Look at Me I'm You" without losing their friendly melodic sensibilities. Childlike tunes like "People of the Royal Parks" indulge in all-out chamber twee. We Are Ever So Clean bears many of the hallmarks of better-known albums from its time, with its various pieces recalling everything from the soaring joy of the Idle Race and the happy-go-lucky mod pop of Small Faces to all of the previously mentioned bands. Despite these clear similarities, the thread of genuine excitement and naive positivity that runs throughout We Are Ever So Clean keeps the album from feeling like the result of Blossom Toes merely following the trends of their time. There's barely a trace of darkness or anxiety in these wide-ranging songs, putting the album in a rare class of well-adjusted psychedelia, a good trip with no painful comedown. AMG.

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Eric Burdon & The Animals - Love Is 1968

It's an eyebrow-raising experience to encounter the cover of "River Deep, Mountain High" that opens the Animals 1968 album, Love Is. Clocking in at nearly seven and a half minutes, it's the weirdest version of the song ever cut. Self-produced by the band, it juxtaposes vocalist and bandleader Eric Burdon's staggering abilities as a rhythm & blues singer with few peers with then-modern-day psychedelia. The Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry-penned vehicle for Ike & Tina Turner was never envisioned like this. There are moments of pure greatness in the track, a rough, garage-hewn rock and R&B foundation underscored by Burdon's blues wail is, unfortunately, completely messed over by the sound effects and his insistence on yelling "Tina, Tina, Tina..." ad nauseam in the bridge. And this is just the beginning. This version of the Animals contained enough serious players that they should have known better: Burdon, keyboardist Zoot Money, drummer Barry Jenkins, bassist John Wieder, and a young guitarist who'd been booted from Soft Machine after a very brief period named Andy Summers. For those who found charm and even inspiration in the Twain Shall Meet and Winds of Change -- both recorded in San Francisco -- Love Is may hold some sort of place in the heart. For those who looked back to the Animals catalog that included such dynamic albums as Animalism and Animalization as well as a slew of killer four-track EPs, this must have seemed like the bitter end. On the other hand, this trainwreck of an album has some interesting moments -- mainly for hearing how hard they tried to imitate other acts who were successful while at the same time trying to forge a new identity from the ruins of who they once were as a band whose day had come and gone. The utterly awful reading here of "Ring of Fire" is almost laughable. Other covers include a rave-up cum psychedelia version of Sly Stone's "I'm an Animal," Traffic's "Coloured Rain," and the Bee Gees "To Love Somebody." The latter -- which has to be heard to be believed -- begins with Summers playing Chuck Berry licks as an intro before it slows down into a completely over-the-top Don Covay-styled soul shot with Burdon underscored by a female backing chorus which counters to push him into the stratosphere. Despite its cheesy organ sound, it has enough power drumming, crunchy guitar, and a neat little piano break by Money to make it work. It's easily the best thing here even if it is absolutely mental. Burdon had heard ex-bandmate Chas Chandler's young guitar protégé Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun" from the Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut album as well. In fact, he enlisted Money's buddy, guitarist Steve Hammond (of Johnny Almond's Music Machine) to come up with a long-form psychedelic suite that evoked it and some of Pink Floyd's weirder experiments at that time. The end result, "Gemini," is hysterically funny now, and must have just seemed to be ecstatically drug-addled tomfoolery at the time. The closer, "The Madman (Running Through The Fields)," by Summers and Money would have been a killer single if they'd edited the acid-fried middle section out of it. As it stands, Love Is was a mess from a band who, once great, had completely lost its way and was on its last legs. AMG.

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Cosmic Michael - Cosmic Michael 1969

"'I am a child of Woodstock nation, I've come a long way from my home...' So sings the one and only Cosmic Michael, on this the opening track of his second album released by the Bliss label in 1970. An album now high on serious psych collector wants lists too... Cosmic Michael. Well, some regard him as a 'Godhead,' the ultimate spiritual hippy, with songs of love, freedom & peace, all delivered with just piano, vocals and kazoo...A true guru... But, what of the music? I guess these days you'd call it loner psych, but back then the term 'freak rock' might have been applied to such a release. After his eponymous, and equally enigmatic debut album released a year earlier, he'd witnessed the Woodstock festival, absorbed the vibe, and relocated to Los Angeles where he then recorded After a While, seemingly quite quickly...'I've seen The Who, and Ten Years After, Jefferson Airplane they nearly blew my mind....' The nine tracks on After a While are stoned '60s DIY rock 'n'roll. You can call it lo-fi or home made, but the message remains: Cosmic Michael preaches love and freedom, and he's a mean boogie-woogie player too. The songs run one after the other, as if part of one spontaneous recording -- the moment one ends, he's into the next, and so on. After a While is of its time, a snapshot of innocence when it was believed music could change the world, and maybe it will yet."

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Alan Silva - Seasons 1970

Don't let the miserable packaging of the reissue on CD deter you from purchasing this remarkable gargantuan effort by bassist and composer Alan Silva, for which the term "masterpiece" is not too far a stretch. The original three-LP set has been compacted to two full-length CDs. Unfortunately, there are no liner notes, and you may need a magnifying glass to decipher the list of more than 20 participating musicians, who read like a who's who of avant-garde jazz at the time this was recorded. As there are no individual tracks and the "composition" is more than two hours long, there is also reproduced from the LP a detailed time log listing the instruments at any particular moment. Unfortunately, the log is virtually useless as it corresponds to the six sides of the original LPs. That aside, this is a magnificent, rambling, chaotic, lavish, and often meandering spectacle that should be heard in one sitting to be completely appreciated. It takes the concept of "sheets of sound" to the next level. Even with its deficiencies, it is a spectacular presentation, with snippets of melodies (or more precisely, riffs) interspersed among the soloists, who include Silva, Steve Lacy, Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Robin Kenyatta, Michel Portal, and Joachim Kühn, to cite the more recognizable names. The results are absolutely thrilling, if not always inspiring, and there are many high points. While individual improvisers are difficult to identify, the level of improvisation remains consistently at the highest levels. It is wild and free, and the listener receptive to free improvisation is likely to be held in rapturous attention. Destined to be a classic of its genre, Seasons offers a full-scale radical bombardment from many perspectives, resulting in a smorgasbord of delights. While listening to so much at once is a challenge, the patient listener willing to put in the effort should be fulfilled and rewarded amply. AMG.

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John Saxby, Lionel Gibson With Cirkus - Future Shock 1977

In 1977 Cirkus made an unusual move by touring in a somewhat zany theatre production called “Future Shock”, with John Saxby and Lionel Gibson. Based on the musical, an LP of the same name was released, although none of the band members wrote any of the material. The LP was issued by Shock Records and is now very rare. The music is of a whimsical and offbeat nature, a far cry from the outfit’s prog-rock roots and therefore of limited appeal. A year later a Cirkus track called “I’m On Fire” was featured on a “Battle Of The Bands” LP but this proved to be their final offering before the five went their separate ways in the early ’80s.

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Tear Gas - Piggy Go Getter 1970

Tear Gas, the Scottish rock outfit, released a pair of albums in the early ’70s that vividly highlighted their talents for guitar-based rock. Though the band kept up a rigorous touring schedule, it only really paid off once a few band members joined with Alex Harvey as The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Still, Esoteric’s reissues of Piggy Go Getter (in its first-ever official CD release) and its follow up Tear Gas show the band’s early promise.

The Glasgow-based group originally formed in the tail end of the ’60s and included Eddie Campbell on keys, Zal Cleminson on guitar, Chris Glen on bas and vocals, Gilson Lavis on drums, and Andi Mulvey on vocals. By 1970, their lineup had changed. For Piggy Go Getter, Wullie Monroe, late of Ritchie Blackmore’s abortive pre-Deep Purple band Mandrake Root, replaced Lavis (who’d go on to play in Squeeze) and David Batchelor succeeded Mulvey. The band cut their teeth performing gigs all over Glasgow, performing originals and selections from Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, and The Jeff Beck Group (in fact, Tear Gas’s version of Beck’s “Jailhouse Rock/All Shook Up” medley appears on their self-titled album). Their live act caught the attention of Tony Calder, one of The Rolling Stones’ managers. He signed Tear Gas for the Famous Music label, a subsidiary of Paramount, and the group joined up with producer Tony Chapman and engineer Tom Allom to record their debut.

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Michael Gibbs - Tanglewood '63 1971

A landmark record in the evolution of British jazz-rock, Tanglewood '63 assembles a who's-who of contemporary musicians -- guitarist Chris Spedding, bassist Jack Bruce and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler among them -- to create vividly majestic music of remarkable scope and energy. Mike Gibbs' ingenious arrangements suggest a pop art incarnation of a traditional big band -- assembled from blistering guitar riffage, fiery brass and deeply idiosyncratic rhythms, Tanglewood '63 nevertheless retains the soulfulness of conventional jazz, and for all its mind-expanding consciousness, the music speaks to the body as loudly as it does the intellect. Most impressive is the tactile sumptuousness of Gibbs' sound -- the music boasts as many tints and textures as a Pantone Color Guide. [Reissued in 2005 as one half of a Vocalion two-fer alongside Gibbs' self-titled Deram debut.] AMG.

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