David Ruffin - Feelin' Good 1969

One of the greatest lead singers the Motown stable ever had, David Ruffin became one of the artistic cornerstones of the Temptations after his lead vocal on "My Girl" (1965) paved the way for such majestic follow-ups as "Since I Lost My Baby" (1965), "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" (1966), "All I Need" (1967), and "I Wish It Would Rain" (1968). Unfortunately, ever-mounting internal pressures within the group, coupled with Ruffin's swelling ego, led to his dismissal from the group in late 1968. His solo career got off to a promising start with the powerful ballad "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)," which cracked the pop and soul Top Ten in early 1969. His last hit to reach the Top Ten was the Van McCoy-produced dance ballad "Walk Away From Love," from 1976. After leaving Motown in 1977, Ruffin recorded for Warner Brothers and later for RCA accompanied by Eddie Kendricks. Unfortunately, Ruffin's career, marred by years of substance abuse and artistic indifference, culminated in his death from a drug overdose in 1991. AMG.

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Genya Ravan - Genya Ravan 1971

Genya was born in Łódź, Poland. She arrived in the United States in 1947, accompanied by her parents and one sister. She had two brothers, who died. These were the only family members who had survived the Nazi Holocaust in Europe.They did not speak any English. Genya Ravan was named 'Goldie' by her mother who claimed Genyusha was not American enough.
Goldie's career started in 1962 on a dare in a Brooklyn club called The Lollipop Lounge, which is also the title of her autobiography published by Billboard Books. On a dare in a bar, she jumped up to sing. "That was the first time I ever heard my voice". She was asked to join the band The Escorts, Richard Perry being one of the members. After signing to Decca Coral records and being produced by Henry Jerome, there was some success, they covered "Somewhere" from West Side Story and it went to number 1 in parts of the Mid-West. In 1963 she formed Goldie and The Gingerbreads after Genya met drummer Ginger Bianco in a Greenwich Village bar.
After seeing the band at a party for the Rolling Stones, Atlantic Records Chairman Ahmet Ertegün signed them to Atlantic subsidiary Atco Records. Goldie & the Gingerbreads were the first all-girl rock band in history to be signed to a major label and climb the charts.
While playing New York City's hot spot The Wagon Wheel on 45th Street in Times Square, Mike Jeffries, Eric Burdon, Hilton Valentine, and Chas Chandler spotted them, and wanted them to come to England. Goldie and The Gingerbreads toured with the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Kinks, and Manfred Mann. They reached the charts with their hit "Can't You Hear My Heart Beat" in 1965. The song reached #25 on the UK Singles Chart. The band stayed in London for two years.
Billed as "Goldie", she released the original version of the classic Carole King-Gerry Goffin composition "Goin' Back" in the spring of 1966. However this single was withdrawn within a week by producer Andrew Loog Oldham, due to disagreements with Goffin and King over altered lyrics. The song would be covered by Dusty Springfield three months later, making the U.K. top 10 singles chart.
Ravan and her two partners Aram Schefrin and Mike Zager formed Ten Wheel Drive in 1969. Ten Wheel Drive lasted three years. They recorded three albums for Polydor Records: Construction number 1, Brief Replies, Peculiar Friends Are Better Than No Friends. They had many fans, but the group did not take off. Genya left the band in 1971. She was signed to Columbia Records by Clive Davis where she made one album in 1972 titled simply Genya Ravan. Four more solo albums followed through the 1970s.
Ravan performed at the Atlanta Pop Festival, twice at Carnegie Hall and twice at Madison Square Garden, along with various clubs in New York City, Boston and Philadelphia, including the famous CBGB. She appeared on The Mike Douglas Show, The Johnny Carson Show, Della and The Dick Cavett Show television shows.
In 2011, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum included Goldie and The Gingerbreads in their Women in Music exhibit which travelled from state to state. Genya Ravan toured in 2013, selling out New York City's Iridium and is going back by popular demand. Jay Z sampled one of her tracks for his song "Oh God" from her Goldie Zelkowitz CD song "Whipping Post". Many Ten Wheel Drive tracks were also sampled by Hip Hop artists.
Genya appeared at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, alongside legends like Wanda Jackson, Martha Reeves, Maria Muldaur and Tracy Nelson as part of the museum's "Women Who Rock" exhibit. She and Reeves discovered a number of connections in that both worked with Richard Perry and were signed by Clive Davis. Further, one of the first songs Genya learned when she came to the US was "What Did I Do to be So Black and Blue," made famous by Fats Waller; a song Martha performed while starring in the road show of Ain't Misbehavin'. The two plan on working on a future project together.
A retrospective of her career is the subject of the Off Broadway musical Rock and Roll Refugee, which was profiled on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday on February 14, 2016.

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Narada Michael Walden - Garden Of Love Light 1976

Garden of Love Light is the debut solo recording from noted R&B-soul-dance-pop songwriter/producer Narada Michael Walden. It featured nine tracks, seven of which featured a Walden writing credit only. It was produced by Tom Dowd, who was known for his production efforts for several Atlantic recording artists, such as Aretha Franklin (Walden would team up with Franklin in the 80's to produce her hit Arista disc Who's Zoomin' Who? in 1985). The single "Delightful" charted #81 on the R&B charts.

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Gil Evans - Blues in Orbit 1969

Arranger Gil Evans's first recording as a leader in five years found him leading an orchestra that could be considered a transition between his 1950s groups and his somewhat electric band of the 1970s. Several of these charts, particularly his reworking of George Russell's "Blues in Orbit," are quite memorable, and Evans utilizes his many interesting sidemen, including the distinctive voices of trombonist Jimmy Cleveland, Howard Johnson on tuba and baritone, tenor-saxophonist Billy Harperand guitarist Joe Beck, in unexpected and unpredictable ways. A near-classic release which has been made available on CD by Enja. AMG.

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Paulinho da Costa - Agora 1977

Brazilian-born percussionist Paulinho Da Costa's first album as a leader is very much an album of its era, for good and bad. Da Costa is the preeminent Brazilian percussionist of his time, and his kinetic grooves, built on a variety of traditional Afro-Cuban percussion instruments, power these six lengthy workouts. Indeed, on the hypnotic "Terra," his percussion is nearly the only instrument. However, the rest of this album tends toward standard mid-'70s jazz-funk. As a result, the album sounds terribly dated, all wah-wah guitar, Fender Rhodes electric piano, and ARP synthesizer. On the other hand, this is not necessarily a bad thing, especially for those into camp '70s nostalgia. More to the point, as camp '70s nostalgia goes, this is really quite good! Da Costa and his primary writing partner, arranger Claudio Slon, turn out to be masters at creating percolating jazz-funk grooves with the melodic savvy of the best Brazilian pop, for a best of both worlds feel. On both the sweet bossa nova disco of "Toledo Bagel" and the carnival-style percussion and chanting of the closing "Ritmo Number One," Da Costa and his group (featuring special guests like Greg Phillinganes and Lee Ritenour, for the full mid-'70s fusion experience) are entirely at ease, loose and funky but still entirely slick. Those phobic to memories of avocado shag carpeting will want to avoid Agora, but it's worth checking out for both hipster ironists and Brazilian jazz fans. AMG.

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David Peel - King of Punk 1978

David Peel was one of the original punk rockers, with his minimalist approach to making music and lyrical sense. Thus, it was probably with a bit of amusement, and even some resentment, that on this album he was forced to embrace a label that was being bandied about by acts and artists who were pure poseurs. The fit between his political sensibilities and the posturing here works, but not as well as his more direct and natural musical inclinations from earlier albums. He's still great at turning a phrase or a lyrical sensibility that will make one smile or laugh, or (just as likely) make one angry -- and Peel's sensibilities are gotten honestly enough that they hold across the decades -- but the setting and some of the subject matter now seem more dated than much of his earlier work. AMG.

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Margie Joseph - Margie Joseph 1975

In 1975, Margie Joseph enjoyed one of her greatest triumphs when she teamed up with Blue Magic for a spectacular remake of the Philadelphia soul ballad "What's Come Over Me." That hit, which Blue Magic originally recorded in 1974, was included on the group's third LP, 13 Blue Magic Lane, but it wasn't included on Joseph's own 1975 LP, Margie. Unfortunately for Joseph, the success of the "What's Come Over Me" remake did little to help this modest-selling album -- some R&B experts felt that Atlantic really blew it by not including that gem on Margie. But while Margie didn't do nearly as well as it should have, it's solid and pleasing. With Arif Mardin serving as producer/arranger, Joseph generally has strong material to work with -- and that includes a few Carole King tunes ("Believe in Humanity" and "After All This Time"), as well as Bill Withers' bluesy "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh." Equally respectable are two songs that Joseph co-wrote with Mardin: the funky "Sign of the Times" and the lush "Stay Still" (which has so much quiet storm appeal that it was an obvious choice when saxman Ronnie Laws recorded his Fever album in 1976). Although Margie falls short of perfect, it is one of the singer's more consistent Atlantic dates and deserved a lot more attention than it received. AMG.

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Darius - Darius 1969

"I feel so bad," sings Darius with an air of resigned desperation near the end of the opening cut, "Shades of Blue," before closing the song with a truly memorable larynx-shredding scream. That sets the tone for this weird little mini-gem, a kind of downbeat psychedelic anomaly that nevertheless boasts some nifty melodic hooks and tight, exuberant playing. Darius delivers his trippy but anxious tunes with a powerful, fetching grit, bolstered by pungent organ and piano arrangements. There's a curious air of mystical disorientation on this obscurity, which deserves a wider hearing. The 2001 CD reissue, as a German import on World in Sound, adds three previously unreleased cuts, also recorded in 1969. These aren't quite up to the same level as the rest of the songs, and one, "Peace & Love," sounds like an instrumental backing track missing the vocal. AMG.

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Ten Wheel Drive With Genya Ravan - Construction #1 (1969)

This exemplary recording by songwriters Aram Schefrin, Mike Zager, and singer Genya Ravan was highly experimental in ways that Chicago, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Traffic, and other of their contemporaries wanted to be. Imagine Ronnie Spector leaving the Ronettes to join Blood, Sweat & Tears, and realize the sweet Goldie Zelkowitz from Goldie & the Gingerbreads did just that by reinventing herself here as the great Genya Ravan. The Ravan co-write, "Tightrope," is five-minutes-and-ten-seconds of psychedelic blues-jazz-funk. This is the sound Janis Joplin would refine for her Kozmic Blues experience, and while Janis Joplin and Kozmic Blues performed at Woodstock, Ten Wheel Drive were getting such a buzz they turned Woodstock down. History would, indeed, have been different had they played "I Am a Want Ad" at that event, but with Sid Bernstein as co-manager, and songs like "Lapidary," the band had a lot going for it. "Lapidary" is a complete about face, Traffic's "John Barleycorn" with a female vocalist. "Eye of the Needle," on the other hand, was an eight-minute-plus show stopper of horns and guitars that come in like some country's national anthem. With Ravan's amazing wail at the end, it becomes powerful stuff. Songwriter Louie Hoff got to arrange his "Candy Man Blues," which puts Ravan in a nightclub setting, the piano and flutes changing the mood dramatically. This is such an adventurous and remarkable record by such a talented crew, it is a shame they didn't record 20 or more platters. A Polydor executive made a statement that if they couldn't break Slade, they weren't a real company. Polydor did, in fact, fail to launch that British supergroup in America, and one wonders if these recordings were made for another label, if oldies stations wouldn't be playing Ten Wheel Drive today. "Ain't Gonna Happen" is extraordinary, showcasing a band on the prowl and a singer who pounces every chance she gets with a voice that does all sorts of wild things. If "Polar Bear Rug" and "House in Central Park" were a bit too evolved for Top 40, their A&R man should have brought them a single. Ten Wheel Drive could, like Etta James, play to those who crave this wonderful fusion of jazz and blues with a rock edge. A Ten Wheel Drive reunion, bringing this music back on-stage, is something that would make the world a better place.  AMG.

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Procol Harum - Shine On Brightly 1968

After the multi-million selling "A Whiter Shade of Pale," Procol Harum coalesced around a new lineup and cut a debut album in two days, the sales of which were only fair (because the hit song wasn't on it originally). Then they did Shine on Brightly, which initially drew on recordings going back to late 1967 -- in the course of preparing their first proper LP, the band junked an entire side of blues-based numbers in favor of the 18-minute suite "In Held 'Twas I," which rivaled anything yet heard from such established progressive rock outfits as the Nice or the Moody Blues in length and surpassed them in audacity, with an extensive spoken part surrounded by virtuoso classical and psychedelic passages (and even a featured spot for Dave Knights' bass). It all proved that they were more than a one-hit wonder and, released in late 1968, the album extended the definition of progressive rock, even as it kept much of the music rooted in established rock genres. "Skip Softly," for all of its grand piano pyrotechnics, was also a showcase for Robin Trower's bluesy, high-energy guitar attack, and "Wish Me Well" was an even better vehicle for his instrument, while "Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)" was an interesting exercise in nostalgia highlighted by Matthew Fisher's organ. AMG.

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Mary Butterworth - Mary Butterworth 1969

In the Spring of 1968, the Mary Butterworth band was formed. They enjoyed playing a variety of engagements around the Southern California area and in 1969, they recorded their one and only album entitled Mary Butterworth. This original, vinyl album was pre-sold to fans and friends only – it was never available to the general public.
The psychedelic Rock Music of the ‘60’s is still regarded, even today as some of the greatest live music ever created and Mary Butterworth will now be a lasting part of history.

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Joseph Spence - Happy All The Time 1964

Waxed for Elektra in 1964, this has better sound than the Folkways recordings and offers some of Spence's most percussive playing. AMG.

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Blackfoot - No Reservations 1975

All Native Americans, Blackfoot recorded their first album down in Muscle Shoals with a little help from the usual hangers-out there. Hard-rockin' Southern-style blues-rock comes charging through the grooves here. Of note are such tracks as "Railroad Man," "Take a Train," and the Allmanesque "I Stand Alone." AMG.

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Sun Ra - Angels and Demons at Play 1963)

Angels and Demons at Play is a jazz album by the American musician Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra.
Side one was recorded in 1960, including two tracks taken from the mammoth session either at Hall Recording Company or at the RCA Studios (both in Chicago), around 17 June 1960,[1] whilst the tracks on side two were recorded at the RCA studios, Chicago, around February 1956. Saturn Records had issued at least three of the songs ("Medicine for a Nightmare" b/w "Urnack", and "A Call For All Demons", the B-side of an early version of the song "Saturn") as 7" singles.
According to the musicologist Robert L. Campbell, the latter single was probably the very first Saturn release.[1] It was a relatively common theme of Saturn releases to feature different sessions, from different eras with different personnel, on different sides of a record. Other examples include The Invisible Shield (1962/1970) and Deep Purple (1948-57/1973).

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Buffalo Springfield - Last Time Around 1968

The internal dissension that was already eating away at Buffalo Springfield's dynamic on their second album came home to roost on their third and final effort, Last Time Around. This was in some sense a Buffalo Springfield album in name but not in spirit, as the songwriters sometimes did not even play on cuts written by other members of the band. Neil Young's relatively slight contribution was a particularly tough blow. He wrote only two of the songs (though he did help Richie Furay write "It's So Hard to Wait"), both of which were outstanding: the plaintive "I Am a Child" and the bittersweet "On the Way Home" (sung by Furay, not Young, on the record). The rest of the ride was bumpier: Stephen Stills' material in particular was not as strong as it had been on the first two LPs, though the lovely Latin-flavored "Pretty Girl Why," with its gorgeous guitar work, is one of the group's best songs. Furay was developing into a quality songwriter with the orchestrated "The Hour of Not Quite Rain" and his best Springfield contribution, the beautiful ballad "Kind Woman," which became one of the first country-rock standards. But it was a case of not enough, too late, not only for Furay, but for the group as a whole. AMG.

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Sphere - Inside Ourselves 1970

Superb Soul jazz funk / contemporary jazz album by Sphere a band formed by Larry Nozero / John Dana / Jimmy Peluio / Keith Vreeland / Eddie Nuccilli. Released in 1977 on the cult Strata records. Enjoy!

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Pure Food & Drugs Act - Choice Cuts 1972

Although blues violinist and singer Don "Sugarcane" Harris and guitarist Harvey Mandel recorded together on more than one occasion, this is the only recording they made as the very short-lived group Pure Food & Drug Act. Aside from this 1972 release's strange cover, which might be considered borderline kiddie porn in the 21st century, they do a satisfactory (though hardly outstanding) set of their own brand of blues-rock. Mostly recorded live in Seattle at the Fresh Air Tavern, some of the music was overdubbed at later mixing sessions. Harris has sounded better on violin on his own dates from this era; his two collaborations with Shuggie Otis (who doesn't appear on this release), "A Little Soul Food" and "Do It Yourself" grown tiresome quickly. The take of "Where's My Sunshine" pales in comparison to his live version on the BASF LP Sugarcane's Got the Blues. Their interpretation of the Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" is a hard rocking feature for Mandel's guitar. Oddly enough, one of the strongest cuts doesn't involve the Pure Food & Drug Act at all. A local folk musician, Jim Luff, improvised a quick introduction for the band's live set, which is used to open the record. Although it is hardly a memorable song, it has an energy that the main act never manages to achieve throughout the entire release. Fans of Don "Sugarcane" Harris can safely bypass this disc. AMG.

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Granny's Intentions - Honest Injun 1970

Granny's Intentions is a bluesy Irish country-rock band featuring Gary Moore and Joe O'Donnell among others. Caught between the cusp of two eras; homespun earthiness melding with Blues orientated rock that would flourish in the 70s, "Honest Injun" is closer to Sherwood Forest than the Mississippi Delta. Both a period piece and a collectors' item, the release of "Honest Injun" by Granny's Intention will no doubt be of immense interest to Gary Moore/Thin Lizzy fans. For such a well-chronicled musician, little information is available on Granny's Intentions, with whom Gary made his recording debut at the age of 17. Featuring the fantastic talent of Gary Moore on guitar, this classic album also boasts Neil Bridgeman of Skid Row on drums, and the legendary Johnny Duhan on vocals, who went on to become a major songwriter in his own right, penning the worldwide multi-million selling "The Voyage" which was released by Christy Moore. 

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George Duke - Feel 1974

A valued sideman, by the mid-'70s Duke would become a star and influential in his own right. For this 1974 MPS release, Frank Zappa had relinquished his studio time for Duke. The kind gesture immediately reverberated throughout jazz circles and beyond. By the time of this release, Duke's extensive resumé included two stints with Zappa's Mothers of Invention as well as some time with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. Although this would be the third album under his name, Feel's eclectic mix of fusion and rock is his debut in the genre of which he'd later become a leader. The ARP synth-adorned and buoyant "Love" features Duke's blissful, falsetto vocals and Zappa's intense and searing guitar solos. The beautiful and ethereal title track boasts one of Duke's most effective melodies. The song also shows up as "Statement," an instrumental one minute and 15 seconds in length. The funky instrumental "Old Slippers" has impeccable drumming by Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, with Zappaagain joining the fun with a gorgeous solo. A top-notch and insouciant Latin excursion, "Yana Aminah" features great double-tracked vocals from Flora Purim and well as Duke's deft synths, which replicate strings. Feel proves that, even at this relatively early stage, Duke's intelligent ear for melodies and his keyboard prowess set him apart from his contemporaries. AMG.

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The Deviants - Disposable 1968

Plenty of psychedelic groups of the late '60s embraced a sunny outlook of peace, flowers, and consciousness expansion, but some took a harder line on upending the straight society they sought to replace, and like their spiritual brethren the MC5, the Deviants (under the first-among-equals leadership of writer Mick Farren) saw their music as a vehicle for a Total Assault On The Culture. The only trouble with this was the Deviants' ideas were often a lot more exciting than their music, and while they created a sonic approximation of the rage and defiance behind the Freak Culture on their debut album, Ptooff!, their second LP, Disposable, lacks focus or direction and sounds like the work of addled would-be revolutionaries who aren't sure jut what they're fighting against this morning. Farren has claimed that he and his bandmates were flying on speed during most of the recording of Disposable, but there isn't much energy (artificial or otherwise) in these performances, and many of the tunes collapse into meandering jams performed by musicians who lack the chops or focus to make them into anything more. There are a few exceptions -- a wacky mutation of "Surfing Bird" and "Wipe Out" called "Pappa-Oo-Mao-Mao," the defiant "Slum Lord," and "Somewhere to Go," the only extended jam on the LP that manages to actually find a groove and move. But "Normality Jam" feels at least twice as long as its 4:24 running time, "Let's Loot the Supermarket" appears to have been recorded by people who lack the ambition to put on their shoes, let alone liberate needed supplies, and short tracks like "Sparrows and Wires" and "Sidney B. Goode" play like comic sketches without punch lines. Disposable is fascinating as a document of the U.K.'s anarchist hippie scene and where it went both right and wrong, but as entertainment, you're a lot better off listening to Ptooff!. Or looting a supermarket. AMG.

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Don Cherry - Where Is Brooklyn 1966

Where Is Brooklyn was Don Cherry's final album for Blue Note, and it returned to the quartet format of Complete Communion, this time featuring Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax along with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Ed Blackwell. Here, Cherry abandons his concept of recording all the album's compositions as side-long medleys; rather, each is treated separately, with spaces in between the tracks. There wasn't a need to integrate the compositions by periodically returning to their themes, so perhaps that's why Cherry doesn't really focus as much on bringing out his compositions this time around. Where Is Brooklyn is much more about energy and thoughtful group interaction than memorable themes, and so there's just a little something missing in comparison to Cherry's prior albums, even though they did also emphasize the qualities on display here. Nonetheless, it's still a fine record for what it does concentrate on; Sanders is in typically passionate form, and the rest of the ensemble members have already honed their interplay to a pretty sharp edge. It's worth hearing, even if it isn't as essential as Complete Communion or Symphony for Improvisers. AMG.

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Bennie Maupin - Slow Traffic To The Right 1977

Bennie Maupin is best-known for his association with Herbie Hancock and his atmospheric bass clarinet playing on Miles Davis' classic Bitches Brew album. Maupin started playing tenor in high school and attended the Detroit Institute for Musical Arts, playing locally in Detroit. He moved to New York in 1963, freelancing with many groups, including ones led by Marion Brown and Pharoah Sanders. Maupin played regularly with Roy Haynes (1966-1968) and Horace Silver(1968-1969), recording with McCoy Tyner (1968), Lee Morgan (1970), and Woody Shaw. After recording with Miles, he joined the Herbie Hancock Sextet. When Hancock broke up his group to form the more commercial Headhunters in 1973, Maupin was the only holdover. He led dates for ECM (1974) and a commercial one for Mercury (1976-1977), but failed to catch on as a bandleader and has maintained a low profile during the past 15 years, emerging in 2006 with the critically acclaimed Penumbra on the Cryptogramophone label. Early Reflections followed two years later. AMG.

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