Fair Weather - Let Your Mind Roll On 1972

Reissue of ultra-rare German pressing (1972, Hansa Records) for this eclectic musician of Amen Corner fame and well-known for his long time collaboration with Eric Clapton. Still using the moniker of the recently defunct Fairweather (after their only 1971 album), Andy Fairweather Low put out this rare prog-folk oriented project. The band evolved from a split within Amen Corner. While saxophone players Alan Jones and Mike Smith went on to form Judas Jump, Fairweather Low led Dennis Byron (drums), Blue Weaver (organ), Clive Taylor (bass) and Neil Jones (guitar) into the new band, Fair Weather. The band scored a UK Singles Chart Number 6 hit with "Natural Sinner"/"Haven't I Tried (To Be A Good Man)" in 1970[1] and recorded one album, Beginning From An End. From the latter were drawn three more singles, "Lay It On Me"/"Looking for the Red Label Pt. 2", "Tutti Frutti"/"Road To Freedom" and "Poor Man's Bum A Run"/"Don't Mess With Cupid". None charted and Fair Weather disbanded in 1971.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

Jethro Tull - Stand Up 1969

The group's second album, with Ian Anderson (vocals, flute, acoustic guitars, keyboards, balalaika), Martin Barre (electric guitar, flute), Clive Bunker (drums), and Glen Cornick (bass), solidified their sound. There are still elements of blues present in their music, but except for the opening track, "A New Day Yesterday," it is far more muted than on their first album -- new lead guitarist Martin Barre had few of the blues stylings that characterized Mick Abrahams' playing. Rather, the influence of English folk music manifests itself on several cuts, including "Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square" and "Look Into the Sun." The instrumental "Bouree," which could've passed for an early Blood, Sweat & Tears track, became a favorite concert number, with an excellent solo bit featuring Cornick's bass, although at this point Anderson's flute playing on-stage needed a lot of work. As a story-song with opaque lyrics, jarring tempo changes, and loud electric passages juxtaposed with soft acoustic-textured sections, "Back to the Family" is an early forerunner to Thick As a Brick. Similarly, "Reasons for Waiting," with its mix of closely miked acoustic guitar and string orchestra, all hung around a hauntingly beautiful folk-based melody, pointed in the direction of that conceptual piece and its follow-up, A Passion Play. The only major flaw in this album is the mix, which divides the electric and acoustic instruments and fails to find a solid center, but even that has been fixed on recent CD editions. The original LP had a gatefold jacket that included a pop-up representation of the band that has been lost on all subsequent CD versions, except for the Mobile Fidelity audiophile release. In late 2001, Stand Up was re-released in a remastered edition with bonus tracks that boasted seriously improved sound. Anderson's singing comes off richer throughout, and the electric guitars on "Look Into the Sun" are very well-delineated in the mix, without any loss in the lyricism of the acoustic backing; the rhythm section on "Nothing Is Easy" has more presence, Bunker's drums and high-hat playing sounding much closer and sharper; the mandolin on "Fat Man" is practically in your lap; you can hear the action on the acoustic guitar on "Reasons for Waiting," even in the orchestrated passages; and the band sounds like it's in the room with you pounding away on "For a Thousand Mothers." Among the bonus tracks, recorded at around the same time, "Living in the Past," "Driving Song," and "Sweet Dreams" all have a richness and resonance that was implied but never heard before. AllMusic.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

Mahogany Rush - Maxoon 1973

This Hendrix-influenced power trio from Montreal comprised guitarist Frank Marino, bassist Paul Harwood and drummer Jim Ayoub. The band released albums throughout the '70s, including Maxoom (1972), Child of the Novelty (1974), Strange Universe (1975), Mahogany Rush IV (1976), World Anthem (1977), Live (1978) and Tales of the Unexpected (1979). The band became known as Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush after 1980's What's Next, then simply Frank Marino after Jim Ayoub left. AllMusic.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

Jacques Brel - Les bourgeois 1962

Singer/songwriter Jacques Brel created and performed a catalog of literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that brought him a large, devoted following in France. His audience eventually extended internationally, making him a major influence on English-speaking writers and performers including Leonard Cohen and David Bowie, while translations of his songs were recorded by a wide range of performers from the Kingston Trio to Frank Sinatra.

Born in Brussels, Belgium, on April 8, 1929, Brel was the son of Romain Brel, who worked in an import-export firm, but later became co-director of a company that manufactured cardboard cartons, and Elisabeth (Lambertine) Brel. He began playing the guitar at the age of 15. After quitting school, he took a job in his father's plant in August 1947. During this period, he became increasingly interested in music, beginning to perform while a member of a church youth group and starting to write his own songs. In 1952, he first performed on local radio, and in February 1953 he was signed by Philips Records, which released his debut single, "La Foire"/"Il Y A," in March. Its modest success led to professional bookings locally and, soon, a move to Paris, where he built up a following in the clubs. In July 1954, he made his first appearance at the prestigious Olympia Theater in Paris, followed by his first French tour, and at the end of the year Philips released his debut album, a nine-song, 10" LP called Jacques Brel et Ses Chansons. More touring followed, and he achieved a commercial breakthrough in 1956 when his song "Quand On N'A Pas Que l'Amour" (later adapted into English as "If We Only Have Love"), released on an EP, became a hit, reaching number three in the French charts. His subsequent LP releases were Jacques Brel 2 (1957), Jacques Brel 3 (1958), and Jacques Brel 4 (1959).

In 1960, Brel earned a U.S. release with American Début on Columbia Records, a compilation of Philips tracks. In France, he switched from Philips to the recently formed Barclay Records in March 1962, his first LP release for the label being the live album A l'Olympia 1962, followed by his first studio album in four years, Jacques Brel Accompagne Pas François Rauber et Son Orchestra. After performing mainly in French-speaking territories, he was becoming a star worldwide and touring internationally much of the year. In February 1963, he made his U.S. performing debut at Carnegie Hall in New York. American poet and singer Rod McKuen began writing English lyrics to Brel's songs, and the Kingston Trio recorded "Seasons in the Sun," McKuen's version of a song Brel had titled "Le Moribond," on their Time to Think LP in 1964. That year in France, Jacques Brel, Vol. 6 and another live album, Olympia 64, appeared.

In 1965, Reprise Records licensed tracks from Barclay for a U.S. release called Jacques Brel, and Brel returned to Carnegie Hall on December 4. In 1966, Damita Jo recorded "If You Go Away," McKuen's version of the Brel composition "Ne Me Quitte Pas," and it reached the charts. The wistful song, with its alternating happy and sad lyrics and lush melody, became a pop standard recorded by dozens of singers, including Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, and Neil Diamond. Also in 1966, Judy Collins put an English-language version of Brel's "La Colombe" ("The Dove") on her In My Life album (Joan Baez covered the same song the following year on her album Joan), and Glenn Yarbrough sang "The Women" ("Les Biches") on his LP The Lonely Things. Philips Records, meanwhile, weighed in with an American Brel compilation, The Poetic World of Jacques Brel.

Brel announced his retirement from concert work in 1966, giving a final series of shows in Paris at the Olympia in the fall, but after that he had six months of performances internationally to fulfill. These included appearances in the U.S., where Reprise issued Encore, another compilation drawn from Barclay, and Vanguard Records had Le Formidable Jacques Brel. His last concert came on May 16, 1967. He was not, however, retiring from other kinds of performing: he continued to record, his next LP appropriately being titled Jacques Brel '67 (though it turned out to be his last new studio album for a decade); he starred in his first feature film, the non-musical drama Les Risques du Metièr, before the end of the year (with nine more movies to follow through 1973, some featuring his music); and he also turned to the legitimate stage, translating and taking the leading role in a French production of the American musical Man of la Mancha that opened in Brussels on October 4, 1968, and moved to Paris, where it ran from December until June 1969. (A cast album was released.)

Overseas, meanwhile, his name was given greater prominence by a New York stage production in which he did not appear, an off-Broadway revue of his songs that, keying off of speculation about his decision to stop touring, was called Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. It opened at the Village Gate in Greenwich Village on January 22, 1968. Songwriter Mort Shuman and playwright Eric Blau had translated Brel's lyrics more closely than McKuen, conveying in English the pathos and wit of his story-songs, and the effect was overwhelming -- the revue played nearly 2,000 performances, becoming one of the longest-running off-Broadway shows in history. Columbia Records released a double-LP box set of the complete show as an original cast album. The revue was revived on Broadway, in 1972 and 1981, and off-Broadway in 2006, and it was turned into a film in 1975, with Brel himself making a cameo appearance. The success of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris increased Brel's profile in English-speaking countries. In England, American expatriate Scott Walker's recording of "Jackie" (aka "La Chanson de Jacky") from the show hit the charts the month before the New York opening, reaching the Top 40. (Marc Almond's revival, drawn from his tribute album Jacques, made the British Top 20 in 1991.) "Jackie" was included on Walker's debut solo LP, Scott, which also featured Brel's "Mathilde," "Amsterdam," and "My Death" ("La Mort"), and Walker also put Brel songs on his subsequent albums Scott 2 (1968) and Scott 3 (1969). Other British Brel fans included David Bowie, who released a version of "Amsterdam" as a B-side single in 1973 while also performing "My Death" in concert, and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, which titled an album after Brel's song "Next" ("Au Suivant") in 1973. In the U.S., Judy Collins recorded "Marieke" for her Whales & Nightingales album in 1970; Frank Sinatra put "I'm Not Afraid" (a McKuen lyric for "Fils De") on the B-side of a single in 1971; Dionne Warwick scored a chart entry with "If We Only Have Love" in 1972; and at the end of 1973 Terry Jacks released a revival of "Seasons in the Sun" that hit number one in both the U.S. and the U.K., followed by a chart entry with his version of "If You Go Away."

Brel himself, meanwhile, continued to appear in French films, making his screenwriting and directorial debut with Franz in 1972 and memorably taking his final starring role opposite stone-faced Lino Ventura in Edouard Molinaro's 1973 black comedy L'Emmerdeur (released in the U.S. with the title A Pain in the A-), which was remade in 1981 with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as Buddy Buddy. In July 1974, having bought a yacht, Brel set off on what was intended to be a circumnavigation of the globe. But in October, while in the Canary Islands, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He went to Brussels for an operation to remove part of his left lung. After recovering, he returned to his boat and continued on his journey. In November 1975, he reached the Marquesas Islands, where he decided to stay. He returned to France in July 1977 to record a new album, Brel, issued in November. The LP became a massive hit, reportedly selling 650,000 copies on its first day of release and eventually topping two million copies. Suffering a recurrence of cancer, Brel again returned to France in July 1978 for treatment, but he died three months later at the age of 49. In France, Brel's reputation as one of the major singers and songwriters of the 20th century is secure. In the English-speaking world, his influence is limited by the language barrier and by his musical taste in traditional pop and cabaret, rather than the predominant style of the second half of the century, rock. Nevertheless, his lyrics, delving into personal, dark, and adult subjects, are in keeping with the trend toward frankness and seriousness of popular songwriting from Bob Dylan on and even anticipate that trend. As such, Brel is something of a French older brother to the likes of Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and all the confessional singer/songwriters who followed them. At the same time, his work, as translated into often bowdlerized English (especially in the McKuen versions), has extended his influence as a songwriter across genres. In addition to those already mentioned, the list of performers who have recorded Brel's songs is an amazingly broad selection of rock, pop, jazz, and country artists, including Karen Akers, Shirley Bassey, Acker Bilk, Ray Bryant, Glen Campbell, Ray Conniff, John Denver, Dion, Celine Dion, the Fortunes, Robyn Hitchcock, Shirley Horn, Julio Iglesias, Jack Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Brenda Lee, Ute Lemper, Vera Lynn, Al Martino, Paul Mauriat, Helen Merrill, Ronnie Milsap, Nana Mouskouri, Olivia Newton-John, Freda Payne, Pearls Before Swine, Mitch Ryder, the Seekers, Dusty Springfield, Bobby Vinton, Andy Williams, and Nancy Wilson. AllMusic.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

The Rolling Stones - Its Only Rock & Roll 1974

It's uneven, but at times It's Only Rock 'n Roll catches fire. The songs and performances are stronger than those on Goats Head Soup; the tossed-off numbers sound effortless, not careless. Throughout, the Stones wear their title as the "World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band" with a defiant smirk, which makes the bitter cynicism of "If You Can't Rock Me" and the title track all the more striking, and the reggae experimentation of "Luxury," the aching beauty of "Time Waits for No One," and the agreeable filler of "Dance Little Sister" and "Short and Curlies" all the more enjoyable. AllMusic.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

The Eclectic Mouse - Everything i got 1970

Another relatively unknown early American progressive rock gem you won't find on the other prog web sites, The Eclectic Mouse was the vehicle for one Steve Forman; a Phoenix, Arizona conductor who is still in the music business apparently, but never got around to recording a follow-up. How this album and The Eclectic Mouse came together is unknown as precious little information is available anywhere, but it was released on Capitol who had enough confidence to back it with a single release. Never on CD, copies in the original thick cardboard gatefold sleeve are hard to find and very expensive these days as its reputation continues to grow.

'Everything I've Got' is a product of it's time-when classical, pop and jazz styles fused as one. A blip on the continuum when Mason Williams' 'Classical Gas' reached the American Top 40 all the way to number two, The Nice unleashed Leonard Bernstein's 'America' while burning the American flag and psychedelia was very much in the air. This is classical rock at its best as The Eclectic Mouse plugged into the fuzzy, color splashed spirit of the new age. Now I have to say Steve Forman's blurb on the inside cover is a lot of esoteric nonsense and as an example the quote - 'We Must Feel, We Must Think, We Must Change' reads like another absolutely clueless Obama rant forty years after the fact, but I digress. The concept here is pretty much the story of a guy trying to find himself in the world and as tired as that well-worn tale sounds, musical it's a fun listen. It's not just classical, but jazz that provides the albums musical colors and the vocalists are good, no complaints there as the songs all written by Foreman are uniformly interesting. The albums single which was edited for the masses sounds like Jethro Tull mixed with Blood Sweat & Tears. Nicely done, and come to think of it that's a pretty good synopsis of the album as a whole. While it's still a little confusing trying to figure out over several listens why this record never took off, 'Everything I've Got' is a fascinating ride and one I take often.

1969 was a fantastic year for music and The Eclectic Mouse is one of the better albums you'll come across from this magical time. If you find a copy, buy and prepare to be impressed! www.glorydazemusic.com.

listen here

USA / UK

Deep Purple - In Rock 1970

After satisfying all of their classical music kinks with keyboard player Jon Lord's overblown Concerto for Group and Orchestra, Deep Purple's soon to be classic Mark II version made its proper debut and established the sonic blueprint that would immortalize this lineup of the band on 1970's awesome In Rock. The cacophony of sound (spearheaded by Ritchie Blackmore's blistering guitar solo) introducing opener "Speed King" made it immediately obvious that the band was no longer fooling around, but the slightly less intense "Bloodsucker" did afford stunned listeners a chance to catch their breaths before the band launched into the album's epic, ten-minute tour de force, "Child in Time." In what still stands as arguably his single greatest performance, singer Ian Gillan led his bandmates on a series of hypnotizing crescendos, from the song's gentle beginning through to its ear-shattering climax and then back again for an even more intense encore that brought the original vinyl album's seismic first side to a close. Side two opened with the searing power chords of "Flight of the Rat" — another example of the band's new take-no-prisoners hard rock stance, though at nearly eight minutes, it too found room for some extended soloing from Blackmore and Lord. Next, "Into the Fire" and "Living Wreck" proved more concise but equally appealing, and though closer "Hard Lovin' Man" finally saw the new-look Deep Purple waffling on a bit too long before descending into feedback, the die was cast for one of heavy metal's defining albums. AllMusic.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes - Nr. 2 (1970)

About the same time that Brigette Fontaine started releasing records that combined the traditional French chanteuse style with more radical and progressive music forms, Catherine Ribeiro was traveling a similar route, although she remained even more obscure internationally than Fontaine. Whereas Fontaine's voice is usually soft and sweet, Ribeiro can sometimes hit more harshly with lower tones, even sounding like Nico with far more emotion, over an experimental backing that can include folk-rock, progressive rock, improvisation, and more. Her unique voice certainly hints at her troubled upbringing. Born in 1941 in France to Portuguese immigrants, Ribeiro's early childhood was quite traumatic. With the constant bombs going off during the war, her mother often locked her in the cellar in the dark. Ribeiro's younger brother was six months old when he died suddenly, and when Ribeiro got older, she was often in and out of psychiatric wards. In her early twenties she became an actor, appearing in a 1962 spaghetti western Buffalo Bill and the next year in French New Wave director Jean Luc Godard's Les Carabiniers (aka The Mercenaries or the Soldiers). By the mid-'60s, she began taking her singing more seriously, and in 1966, she cut two singles for Barclay Records, one of which was a version of Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue."

In 1969, Ribeiro had a new band, 2Bis, led by Patrice Moullet, to back her on her first LP, simply titled Catherine Ribeiro + 2 Bis, released on the Festival label. On her second LP simply titled No. 2, and also on Festival in 1970, 2Bis had become Alpes, the band that would follow Ribeiro on her next several releases. Besides Moullet, who provided guitars, organ, electronics, and vocals, Alpes consisted only of Denis Cohen on percussion and organ, though a pair of Portuguese guitarists, Pires Moliceiro and Isaac Robles Monteiro, were guest musicians on one track on No. 2. On subsequent releases, which came out about one a year on the Philips label, Alpes would often change completely from album to album, with Moullet as the only constant factor. These albums, Ame Debout ("Upright Soul"), Paix ("Peace"), Le Rat Debile et l'Homme des Champs ("The Weak Rat and the Man of the Fields"), and Libertes? are some of Ribeiro's most creative, with the music composed mostly by Moullet.

Even as Ribeiro continued to work with Alpes, she also started doing albums under her name alone where, instead of her own material, she paid tribute to older artists. The first of these was the 1977 release Le Blues de Piaf, where she covered songs done by Edith Piaf, followed by the 1978 LP Jacqueries, with works composed by Jacques Prévert and Sebastien Maroto. She also worked with other artists like Peter Gabriel on the 1992 record Soleil Dans l'Ombre ("Sun in the Shade"). By the early '80s, her output had slowed down a little. In 1999, she wrote a memoir of her early childhood, L'Enfance, published by L'Archipel. AllMusic.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

The Corporation - The Corporation 1969

Formed in Milwaukee in 1968 at Cudahy's Galaxy Club where the Kondos brothers joined up with members of an outfit called Eastern Mean Time. Some months later they were heard by Capitol reps at another club The Bastille, which the band had bought into.

With a contract for an album the band journeyed to Detroit to record at Terra Shirma studios with producer John Rhys. Released in February 1969, the LP is notable for the side-long psychedelic rework of John Coltrane's India. All tracks on side one were group compositions. It was successful in several regions (No. 3 in Milwaukee) but only rose to No. 197 in the national charts.

The group made more recordings but a deal for a second Capitol album fell through and this material was eventually spread across two LPs released by the band on Age Of Aquarius, a Cuca custom label. Fuzz, Acid & Flowers.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

Edwards Hand - Stranded 1970

Originally formed in 1967 as Picadilly Line by Rod Edwards and Roger Hand, English psychedelic pop group Edwards Hand released three albums before disbanding in the mid-'70s (1968's The Huge World of Emily Small [as Picadilly Line] featured the talents of Danny Thompson, Alan Hawkshaw, Jan Barber, Herbie Flowers, and Harold McNair). The group's highly collectible eponymous debut was produced by George Martin, who worked with very few pop acts outside of the Beatles. The record received its share of critical acclaim, earning comparisons to the Bee Gees, as well as the aforementioned Fab Four. Stranded (1970) and Rainshine (1973) were also produced by Martin. AllMusic.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

O'Jays - Ship ahoy 1973

The "other" O'Jays album masterpiece, Ship Ahoy combined shattering message tracks and stunning love songs in a fashion matched only by Curtis Mayfield's finest material. From the album cover showing a slave ship to the memorable title song and incredible "For the Love of Money," Gamble and Huff addressed every social ill from envy to racism and greed. Eddie Levert's leads were consistently magnificent, as were the harmonies, production and arrangements. "Put Your Hands Together" and "You Got Your Hooks In Me" would be good album cuts, but on Ship Ahoy they were merely icing on the cake. AllMusic.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

Nils Lofgren - Nils Lofgren 1975

When Nils Lofgren released his first solo album in 1975, most fans were expecting a set confirming his guitar hero status, and more than a few listeners were vocally disappointed with the more laid-back and song-oriented disc Lofgren delivered. However, with the passage of time Nils Lofgren has come to be regarded as an overlooked classic, and with good reason -- Lofgren has rarely been in better form on record as a songwriter, vocalist, musician, and bandleader. While Lofgren doesn't lay down a firestorm of guitar on each selection (with his piano unexpectedly high in the mix), when he does solo he makes it count, and the rough but tasty chordings and bluesy accents that fill out the frameworks of the songs give the performances plenty of sinew. Just as importantly, this is as good a set of songs as Lofgren has assembled on one disc, consistently passionate and forceful, from the cocky "If I Say It, It's So" and "The Sun Hasn't Set on This Boy Yet" to the lovelorn "I Don't Want to Know" and "Back It Up," while "Keith Don't Go (Ode to the Glimmer Twins)" comes from the heart of a true fan and "Rock and Roll Crook" suggests Lofgren had already learned plenty about the music business by this time. The production on Nils Lofgren is simple but simpatico, giving all the players plenty of room to shine, and Lofgren's rhythm section (Wornell Jones on bass and Aynsley Dunbar on drums) fits the album's funky but heartfelt vibe perfectly. Lofgren has made harder rocking and flashier albums since his debut, but he rarely hit the pocket with the same élan as he did on Nils Lofgren, and it remains the most satisfying studio album of his career. AllMusic.

listen here

FR / USA / UK

The Mamas & The Papas - People Like Us 1971

The Mamas & The Papas broke up in 1968, but they still owed an album on their contract with Dunhill Records (later absorbed by MCA). So, three years later, they reunited to make People Like Us and complete their obligation. The result isn't as bad as that scenario might suggest, though the songs have more in common with John Phillips's 1970 solo album than with the group's hits of the 1960s. But the release did not rekindle interest in The Mamas & The Papas, and this was their last new album. (Originally released in October 1971 by Dunhill Records as Dunhill 50106, People Like Us was reissued on CD by MCA Records in 1989.) AllMusic.

listen here

FR / USA / UK