Al Kooper - You Never Know Who Your Friends Are 1969

Al Kooper's second solo album is a bit more uneven than its predecessor, I Stand Alone, for understandable reasons -- it would have been nothing less than a miracle for Kooper to have matched the consistency and daring of that album, and he doesn't have quite the same array of memorable tunes here. He's still ranging freely, however, through pop, jazz, R&B, and soul, with some songs that are among the most glorious of his output. "Magic in My Sock" is a good enough opener, making up in its virtuoso horn parts and guitar for what it lacks in the melodic invention; "Lucille" is hardly the best ballad that Kooper has ever written, but it forms a good bridge to "Too Busy Thinkin' About My Baby," a Motown cover that's one of the highlights of Kooper's entire output -- from a black singer this track would be a priceless gem, but coming from Kooper it's extraordinary in its every nuance. You get some blues instrumental (principally piano-based) and an abortive but entertaining effort at pop/rock with the title tune, and then Kooper plunges into arty balladry with the hauntingly beautiful "The Great American Marriage/Nothing." He goes back into Motown territory, just as successful as before, on "I Don't Know Why I Love You," and back to moody art song with Harry Nilsson's "Mourning Glory Story." Kooper returns to the soulful side of the rock on "Anna Lee (What Can I Do for You)" and finishes with "I'm Never Gonna Let You Down" -- the latter would be worth the price of the album by itself, a soaring, more lyrical and moody original classic that manages to be unpretentious yet epic in its treatment. AMG.

listen here

The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup 1968

The Foundations were a British soul group of mixed cultures who were able to duplicate the Motown sound and ended up with two top 5 singles in the US. The group formed in 1967 in London owned the Butterfly Club and they played nightly as well as worked the kitchen and the bar. Their first single was "Baby Now That I Found You" which was UK #1 and peaked at #11 on the Hot100. This led to a US tour with  Big Brother and the Holding Company, Maxine Brown, Tim Buckley, Solomon Burke, The Byrds, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and The Fifth Dimension. After a change in lead singers, they released their biggest hit "Build Me Up Buttercup" which peaked at #3 for three weeks in January of 1969, going gold in the process.  They remained popular in the UK and "Buttercup" was their crowning moment but they were unable to maintain the chart momentum and was their last US hit. The song found a new life in the Cameron Diaz comedy "There's Something About Mary", then again in 2020 used in the film "The Kissing Booth 2" and in a series of Geico Insurance commercials near the end of 2021.

listen here

The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Eda Wobu 1969

Eda Wobu is an album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris in 1969. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, and Malachi Favors Maghostut. 
 

listen here

Jean-Luc Ponty - Electric Connection 1969

The innovative violinist Jean-Luc Ponty was making a strong impression in the United States in 1969, a year in which he made four notable American recordings that solidified his reputation a few years before he formed his own fusion band. For this little-known effort, Ponty is joined by a big band arranged by Gerald Wilson and including pianist George Duke (an important early collaborator), altoist Bud Shank, flutist Tony Ortega and guitarist Wilbert Longmire. Highlights include "Summit Soul," Ponty's "Hypomode Del Sol" (which sticks effectively to one chord), and Ron Carter's "Eighty-One." AMG.

listen here

Levee Camp Moan - Levee Camp Moan 1969

Taking their name from the old blues number Levee Camp Moan they were formed in the late 60s when the five members, manager, and roadies lived in a country farmhouse in Bracknell. The name of the farm was Peacock Farm.

It was here that they were able to leave their equipment permanently set up. Being relatively isolated, the band could rehearse as often as they liked. In this rural setting, they worked on blues standards influenced by the likes of Otis Rush. Buddy Guy & Junior Wells together with Muddy Waters and Skip James. Also, the contemporary white blues of the time by Canned Heat, Savoy Brown and Paul Butterfield, etc. also provided a great source of inspiration. The band built up a following on the British Blues Circuit, playing at the Marquee, Crawdaddy, Klooks Kleek, Eel Pie Island, and Rikki Tik clubs. They toured extensively with Chicken Shack, Canned Heat, and Muddy Waters. In early 1969 they entered Virgin Sound in Windsor to lay down eight tracks, recorded on a four-track machine, for their debut album. At the time of its creation, the term private pressing would have had no relevance in music circles and would have offered little insight into the nature of the project. The LP was every bit the archetypal private pressing unrefined and free from record company interference, the band was able to retain a thrillingly raw edge making sure that Levee Camp Moan remained a primitive yet vital effort full of aggression and spirit.

listen here

Bonnie Koloc - You're Gonna Love Yourself In The Mornin 1974

Folk singer/songwriter Bonnie Koloc was a major presence in Chicago's songwriting scene during the 1970s, recording two albums for the major Epic label at the end of that decade. Born February 6, 1946, Koloc grew up on the outskirts of Waterloo, Iowa, in difficult circumstances. Her father made a meager living at a John Deere tractor factory, and her parents divorced when she was 12. "I wore a lot of hand-me-downs, and I thought that people who had indoor johns must be rich," she told The Chicago Tribune in 1988. But she loved singing from the age of three. At the University of Northern Iowa, she did poorly in classes because she was beginning to find club gigs, and she dropped out in 1968 to travel to Chicago and try to make her way in the city's burgeoning folk music scene. A fixture at the Earl of Old Town club, she rivaled John Prine and Steve Goodman in popularity in the early '70s. With a distinctive songwriting style shaped by jazz and blues inflections (the Ed Holstein composition "Jazzman" became one of her trademarks, and she also often appeared in his club, Holstein's), she was signed to the Ovation label and released the album After All This Time in 1971. Five more albums on Ovation followed, with enough success that Koloc was signed to Epic, issuing the Close-Up and Wild and Recluse albums in 1976 and 1978, respectively. She took time off to begin a second career as a visual artist in the early '80s but returned with the Flying Fish album With You on My Side in 1987. In 2010 she issued Beginnings, collecting live recordings of some of her early shows in Chicago and downstate Illinois. As of the late 2010s, Koloc was living in Iowa and teaching art but often returned for performances in Chicago, where she has maintained a strong fan base. An appreciation of her role in the city's folk scene has been impeded by a lack of CD reissues of much of her work and its absence from major online music services. AMG.

listen here

Archie Shepp - Yasmina, A Black Woman 1969

There is some intriguing music on this 1969 recording. Tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp met up with members of the Chicago avant-garde school for the first time, including Art Ensemble of Chicago members Lester Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, and Malachi Favors, on the lengthy "Yasmina," a track that also includes drummers Philly Joe Jones, Art Taylor, and Sunny Murray. On "Sonny's Back," there is an unlikely tenor tradeoff between Shepp and Hank Mobley, while "Body and Soul" give Shepp a showcase opportunity. Although this set is not essential, it is unique enough to be recommended to avant-garde collectors. AMG.

listen here

The Search Party - Montgomery Chapel 1969

There were many psychedelic albums like this issued in small press runs in the late '60s: folky, bittersweet melodies that tilted toward the downright sad and melancholy; high-strident female vocals sharing duties with less memorable, more normal-sounding male singing; a studied over-seriousness to the vocal delivery; a naïve, questing for the meaning of life tone to the compositions; and organ residing in a halfway house between the LSD trip and the mortuary. Even if you take it as a given that most of these albums have a dated pretentiousness that many would poke fun at, however, this is certainly one of the better such efforts in this mini-genre and possessed of some real musical appeal in spite of its considerable flaws. Most of the arrangements have an understated, effective (if somewhat creepy) eeriness. Songs like "Speak to Me," "Renee Child," "Poem By George Hall," and "The Decidedly Short Epic of Mr. Alvira" are good time-capsule mood pieces in their evocative otherworldliness, at times sounding a little like a psychedelic seance. Although the brief liner notes do intimate that the musicians were "trying to produce relevant, religious music," any religious overtones are pretty subtle. As often happened with bands whose strengths lay in these approaches, they tend to lose much of their charm when they try to rock out, piling on too many gimmicky, clichéd fuzz guitar riffs. And even one of the gentler numbers, "All But This," is too uncomfortably close to Jefferson Airplane's "Comin' Back to Me" to merit praise. It's a worthwhile obscurity if you go for this sort of thing in a big way, though, and has more concision than most projects of the sort, with just one of the cuts (the nine-minute "So Many Things Have Got Me Down") lasting more than five minutes. AMG.

listen here

The John Howard Abdnor Involvement - Intro To Change 1969

Obscure Garage Psych Act from Texas. John Howard Abdnor probably owed his brief musical career to the generosity of his father. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, John Howard Abdnor Sr. was a well-to-do businessman who had made a killing in the insurance business. By the early 1960s Abdnor Sr. had turned his attention to music, whereas the founder and owner of AbnakRecords, he enjoyed quite a bit of local success with acts such as soulster Bobby Patterson (who attended college with Abdnor Sr.'s son) and The Five Americans. Like a good dad, Abdnor Sr. also financed son John Howard Abdnor's own musical aspirations, which included a myriad of mid-1960s releases credited to a slew of alias including Jon and Robin (Robin being his wife), Jon Abnor, Jon and the In Crowd, Jon Howard, H. Rabon, and The John Howard Abdnor Involvement which released a self-produced private pressing Psych album in 1969.

listen here

Please - Seeing Stars 1969

Please was formed by Peter Dunton and Bernie Jinks in late 1967. They had just returned to Britain from Germany where they had played with Neon Pearl, which also included their third member Jurgen Ermisch. The fourth original member Adrian Gurvitz later co-founded Gun. Unfortunately, this line-up left no vinyl legacy or unreleased recordings that have been located behind it. They disbanded in May 1968 when Peter Dunton joined The Flies for whom he wrote both sides of their Magic Train 45. When The Flies split up at the end of 1968, Dunton reformed the band (line-up 'B'). Rob Hunt had also been in The Flies. They recorded all the cuts compiled on this album. Please split again in April 1969 when Peter Dunton joined Gun. The remaining members recruited a new drummer and renamed themselves Bulldog Breed. They later cut the Made In England album. In the Autumn of 1969, Peter Dunton quit Gun to reform Please with Bernie Jinks and Nick Spenser (ex-Neon Pearl). This incarnation was relatively short-lived as they had difficulty recruiting a suitable keyboard player. In early 1970 Dunton, Jinks, and a later Bulldog Breed member Keith Cross joined forces to form T2, who was responsible for the excellent It'll All Work Out In Boomland album. One of T2's tracks, No More White Horses also crops up in a radically different form on Please's 1968/69 retrospective.

listen here

Tommy James & The Shondells - Crimson & Clover 1969

Crimson & Clover, the highest-charting album by Tommy James & the Shondells (it made the Top Ten), marked the arrival of the group's psychedelic style and featured the chart-topping title tune "Crystal Blue Persuasion," which just missed the top of the charts, and the Top 40 hit "Do Something to Me." It's hard to believe that the elegant, eclectic pop recordings of this album were made by the same people who turned in the rockers "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony." But James & the Shondells were pop professionals ready and willing to follow the Sgt. Pepper's trend into experimentation, as long as it panned out commercially. Even the most dedicated hack gets lucky, however, and Tommy James was lucky more often than most. "Crimson & Clover" and "Crystal Blue Persuasion" retain a campy appeal ages after the '60s, and if the filler on the album is even sillier now than it was then ("Hello, banana, I am a tangerine," indeed!), it's no less fun. AMG.

listen here

Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul 1969

Released at the tail end of the '60s, Hot Buttered Soul set the precedent for how the soul would evolve in the early '70s, simultaneously establishing Isaac Hayes and the Bar-Kays as major forces within black music. Though not quite as definitive as Black Moses or as well-known as Shaft, Hot Buttered Soul remains an undeniably seminal record; it stretched its songs far beyond the traditional three-to-four-minute industry norm, featured long instrumental stretches where the Bar-Kays stole the spotlight, and it introduced a new, iconic persona for the soul with Hayes' tough yet sensual image. With the release of this album, Motown suddenly seemed manufactured and James Brown a bit too theatrical. Surprisingly many, the album features only four songs. The first, "Walk on By," is an epic 12-minute moment of true perfection, its trademark string-laden intro just dripping with syrupy sentiment, and the thumping mid-tempo drum beat and accompanying bassline instilling a complementary sense of nasty funk to the song; if that isn't enough to make it an amazing song, Hayes' almost painful performance brings yet more feeling to the song, with the guitar's heavy vibrato and the female background singers taking the song to even further heights. The following three songs aren't quite as stunning but are still no doubt impressive: "Hyperbolicsyllabicsequedalymistic" trades in sappy sentiment for straight-ahead funk, highlighted by a stomping piano halfway through the song; "One Woman" is the least epic moment, clocking in at only five minutes, but stands as a straightforward, well-executed love ballad; and finally, there's the infamous 18-minute "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and its lengthy monologue which slowly eases you toward the climactic, almost-orchestral finale, a beautiful way to end one of soul's timeless, landmark albums, the album that transformed Hayes into a lifelong icon. AMG.

listen here

Rita Graham - Vibrations 1969

Rita Graham’s career as a jazz vocalist was jump-started when Ray Charles produced an album of lush standards for her in 1969. The album, Rita Graham Vibrations is the only major project that Ray Charles produced for a female artist on his label Tangerine Records (TRC-1507). As the lead vocalist in Rita and the Tiaras, Ms. Graham recorded the UK Northern Soul Classic, Gone with the Wind is My Love (Rita and the Tiaras). A stint as one of Ray Charles’ Raelettes was followed by a two-year featured spot with the Harry James Orchestra, on European and Far East tours, and a series of recordings produced by TV composer Mike Post. Rita was featured with jazz great Oscar Peterson, Mercer Ellington and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and comedian Redd Foxx.  She originated the role of Coretta Scott King in Woodie King Jr.’s production of the Martin Luther King, Jr. doc musical, Selma, off-Broadway.

Ms. Graham recorded and produced a live CD of jazz and blues standards Rita Graham Live at Sambuca Atlanta, where she was “The First Lady of Sambuca” from 1999 to 2009. Currently, Rita performs with several Atlanta bands and is featured with Sammy Blue and The All-Star Georgia Music Revue. While on tour in the Philippines, Ms. Graham experienced a stunning episode of deja vu, envisioning a historical incident, feeling certain that she had actually been present there in the past. She recalled vivid childhood dreams of that incident that inspired her fascination with life after life. This incident culminated in Rita’s book Karma Rising, a suspense novel about past life regression.

listen here

Joe Cocker - With A Llittle Help From My Friends 1969

Joe Cocker's debut album holds up extraordinarily well across four decades, the singer's performance bolstered by some very sharp playing, not only by his established sideman/collaborator Chris Stainton, but also some top-notch session musicians, among them drummer Clem Cattini, Steve Winwood on organ, and guitarists Jimmy Page and Albert Lee, all sitting in. It's Cocker's voice, a soulful rasp of an instrument backed up by Madeline Bell, Sunny Weetman, and Rosetta Hightower that carries this album and makes "Change in Louise," "Feeling Alright," "Just Like a Woman," "I Shall Be Released," and even "Bye Bye Blackbird" into profound listening experiences. But the surprises in the arrangements, tempo, and approaches taken help make this an exceptional album. Tracks like "Just Like a Woman," with its soaring gospel organ above a lean textured acoustic and light electric accompaniment, and the guitar-dominated rendition of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" -- the formal debut of the Grease Band on record -- all help make this an exceptional listening experience. The 1999 A&M reissue not only includes new notes and audiophile-quality sound, but also a pair of bonus tracks, the previously unanthologized B-sides "The New Age of Lily" and "Something Coming On," deserved better than the obscurity in which they previously dwelt. AMG.

listen here

Albert Ayler - New Grass 1969

Possibly the most notorious Albert Ayler release and universally misunderstood (i.e., hated) by fans and critics alike. When New Grass was released in 1969 it received a hostile outcry of "sell-out." Listening to New Grass in hindsight; it must be taken into account that even though commercial elements are apparent -- a soul horn section, backup singers, boogaloo drumming from Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, and electric rock bass -- Ayler's vocals and tenor playing could hardly gain commercial radio exposure at any time. It's likely Impulse prodded Ayler to move into a more pronounced blues-oriented sound and he went willingly. Ayler wasn't a stranger to R&B or gutbucket blues; he had started his career playing saxophone with Chicago bluesman Little Walter in the '50s. Ayler's screeching tone remains intact on New Grass, but it's mixed with definite R&B riffs like the obvious honkin' nod to "Slippin and Sliddin" on "New Generation." Ayler's attempt to explain himself on the opening track with "Message from Albert Ayler," reveals his impending dread over a controversy concerning the material. It is a problem many artists face at some point in their careers when trying to move in a different direction, no matter what the reason; they may end up losing a majority of their audience by taking a foreign approach. AMG.

listen here

Jerry Moore - Life Is A Constant Journey Home 1967

This 1967 reissue is definitely of its time. recorded shortly before his ordination as a preacher, Jerry Moore’s “Life is a Constant Journey Home” is a meditative plea for peace and faith, delivered in a smooth plaintive voice and utilizing many of the familiar folk, country, Soul, and light blues of era. Moore’s message is subtly Christian, but its overtly compassionate and fiery defense of love is certainly all-inclusive.

With light soulful blues, and lyrics gently chiding, the title song opens things up with a mellow but edgy tone. This is a call to wake up, a search for a fast track to insight and redemption. Again, the music is dated and might seem more appropriate to an ad for a senior citizen health product than a memorable invocation to eternal love, but Moore’s voice, like that of more recently, Alexi Murdoch or Stuart Staples, has a gritty world-wise depth behind the lush croon.

listen here

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys 1969

Make no mistake, Willy & the Poor Boys is a fun record, perhaps the breeziest album CCR ever made. Apart from the eerie minor-key closer "Effigy" (one of John Fogerty's most haunting numbers), there is little of the doom that colored Green River. Fogerty's rage remains, blazing to the forefront on "Fortunate Son," a working-class protest song that cuts harder than any of the explicit Vietnam protest songs of the era, which is one of the reasons that it hasn't aged where its peers have. Also, there's that unbridled vocal from Fogerty and the ferocious playing on CCR, which both sound fresh as they did upon release. "Fortunate Son" is one of the greatest, hardest rock & rollers ever cut, so it might seem to be out of step with an album that is pretty laid-back and friendly, but there's that elemental joy that by late '69 was one of CCR's main trademarks. That joy runs throughout the album, from the gleeful single "Down on the Corner" and the lazy jugband blues of "Poorboy Shuffle" through the great slow blues jam "Feelin' Blue" to the great rockabilly spiritual "Don't Look Now," one of Fogerty's overlooked gems. The covers don't feel like throwaways, either, since both "Cotton Fields" and "The Midnight Special" have been overhauled to feel like genuine CCR songs. It all adds up to one of the greatest pure rock & roll records ever cut. AMG.

listen here

Ars Nova - Ars Nova 1968

Ars Nova's first release was an intermittently intriguing eclectic psychedelic rock with a slight classical influence, as well as some unusual instrumentation in the bass trombone of lead singer Jon Pierson and the trumpet and string bass of Bill Folwell. The songs -- often linked by brief interludes -- are a mixed bag, though, that seem to indicate confusion over direction or a bit of a psychedelic throw-in-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach. There are haunting tunes with a folk-rock base and a faint Renaissance ballad melodic influence, jaunty narratives with a vaudevillian air that bear the mark of then-recent albums such as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and harder-rocking period psychedelic tracks with a bent for unpredictable bittersweet progressions and vocal harmonies. It's unusual, and in some senses attractive. But to be less charitable, there's a sense of listening to a generic psychedelic band that sounds better than many such acts mostly by virtue of benefiting from Elektra's high-class production, here handled by Paul Rothchild of Doors fame. Put another way, the songs themselves aren't as good as their arrangements. "Fields of People," about the best of those songs, might be the most famous one here due to getting covered in an elongated treatment by the Move, who did a better job with it than Ars Nova. [The 2004 CD reissue on Sundazed adds historical liner notes by Jon Pierson.]

listen here

Bobby 'Blue' Bland - Spotlighting The Man 1969

Bobby Bland earned his enduring blues superstar status the hard way: without a guitar, harmonica, or any other instrument to fall back upon. All Bland had to offer was his magnificent voice, a tremendously powerful instrument in his early heyday, injected with charisma and melisma to spare. Just ask his legion of female fans, who deemed him a sex symbol late into his career.

For all his promises, Bland's musical career ignited slowly. He was a founding member of the Beale Streeters, the fabled Memphis aggregation that also included B.B. King and Johnny Ace. Singles for Chess in 1951 (produced by Sam Phillips) and Modern the next year bombed, but that didn't stop local DJ David Mattis from cutting Bland on a couple of 1952 singles for his fledgling Duke logo.

Bland's tormented crying style was still pretty rough around the edges before he entered the Army in late 1952. But his progress upon his 1955 return was remarkable; with saxist Bill Harvey's band (featuring guitarist Roy Gaines and trumpeter Joe Scott) providing sizzling support, Bland's assured vocal on the swaggering "It's My Life Baby" sounds like the work of a new man. By now, Duke was headed by hard-boiled Houston entrepreneur Don Robey, who provided top-flight bands for his artists. Scott soon became Bland's mentor, patiently teaching him the intricacies of phrasing when singing sophisticated fare (by 1962, Bland was credibly crooning "Blue Moon," a long way from Beale Street).

Most of Bland's savage Texas blues sides during the mid-to-late '50s featured the slashing guitar of Clarence Hollimon, notably "I Smell Trouble," "I Don't Believe," "Don't Want No Woman," "You Got Me (Where You Want Me)," and the torrid "Loan a Helping Hand" and "Teach Me (How to Love You)." But the insistent guitar riffs guiding Bland's first national hit, 1957's driving "Farther Up the Road," were contributed by Pat Hare, another vicious picker who would eventually die in prison after murdering his girlfriend and a cop. Later, Wayne Bennett took over on guitar, his elegant fretwork prominent on Bland's Duke waxings throughout much of the '60s. The gospel underpinnings inherent to Bland's powerhouse delivery were never more apparent than on the 1958 outing "Little Boy Blue," a vocal tour de force that wrings every ounce of emotion out of the grinding ballad. Scott steered his charge into smoother material as the decade turned: the seminal mixtures of blues, R&B, and primordial soul on "I Pity the Fool," the Brook Benton-penned "I'll Take Care of You," and "Two Steps From the Blues" were tremendously influential to a legion of up-and-coming Southern soulsters. Collected on the 1961 LP Two Steps from the Blues, they produced one of the classic full-lengths of modern blues.

Scott's blazing brass arrangements upped the excitement ante on Bland's frantic rockers "Turn on Your Love Light" in 1961 and "Yield Not to Temptation" the next year. But the vocalist was learning his lessons so well that he sounded just as conversant on soulful R&B rhumbas (1963's "Call on Me") and polished ballads ("That's the Way Love Is," "Share Your Love With Me") as with an after-hours blues revival of T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday Blues" that proved a most unlikely pop hit for him in 1962. With "Ain't Nothing You Can Do," "Ain't Doing Too Bad," and "Poverty," Bland rolled through the mid-'60s, his superstar status diminishing not a whit.

In 1973, Robey sold his labels to ABC Records, and Bland was part of the deal. Without Scott and his familiar surroundings to lean on, Bland's releases grew less consistent artistically, though His California Album in 1973 and Dreamer the next year boasted some nice moments (there was even an album's worth of country standards). The singer re-teamed with his old pal B.B. King for a couple of mid-'70s albums that broke no new ground but further heightened Bland's profile, while his solo work for MCA teetered closer and closer to MOR (Bland has often expressed his admiration for ultra-mellow pop singer Perry Como). Bland began recording for Jackson, Mississippi's Malaco Records in the mid-'80s. His pipes undeniably reflected the ravages of time, but he endured as a blues superstar of the loftiest order, resurfacing in 1998 with Memphis Monday Morning, and five years later with Blues in Memphis. Bland died in Memphis in June 2013 at the age of 83. AMG.

listen here

Amon Düül - Psychedelic Underground 1969

Some albums just have the perfect name, and Amon Duul's debut nails that to a T. Obscure upon release and obscure even now, for all the cult appeal, Underground is music at its most experimental and relentlessly uncommercial, using late-'60s inspirations as a launching ground for what came to be described as Krautrock. Psych-folk was another common term, one which applies just fine to much of the music here, feeling like an enthusiastic medieval festival gone just out of control enough, and with electricity to boot. Taken from a jam session from the previous year, but treated with many studio effects that enhance the strangeness of the collection, Underground rocks to its own weird beat. Opening track "Ein Wunderhubsches Madchen Traumt von Sandosa" captures what sounds like a great experience for everyone involved, a 17-minute composition heavy on the drums and percussion, with a basic, chugging guitar riff in one channel and chanting, call-and-response vocals located throughout the mix. At one point the jam is faded out in favor of piano parts, train noises, and the like, only to be brought back in again just as strongly, before finally fading into the gentler "Kaskados Minnelied," a mix of acoustic and electric guitars, along with a stringed instrument of some sort, that favors drones as much as it does soft riffs. The tracks on the second side have the same understandable vibe, but some are sparer in comparison, as with the keening strummed guitar/vocal combination "Im Garten Sandosa" and "Mama Duul und Ihre Sauerkrautband spielt auf," which is mostly clattering percussion in one stereo channel! You could say the sound quality isn't the best, but given the year of recording and the prevalence of lo-fi production approaches in more recent years, it doesn't sound that bad at all. AMG.

listen here

Brother Fox And The Tar Baby - Brother Fox And The Tar Baby 1969

Psychedelic rock band from Boston, Massachusetts active in 1968-70 featuring former members of Profits and Front Page Review. The album of the American psychedelic rock band "Brother Fox And The Tar Baby" was published in 1969 on a small label "Oracle Records", but in the same year, one more edition of the record was made, already a solid company like Capitol Records. The group was formed in Boston (Massachusetts) in 1968 and already in 1970 disappeared. Nevertheless, the arrangement of tales of Bratz Lysa and Smolyan Chuchele on rock music is one of the brightest pages in the history of Boston psychedelia.

listen here

The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Les Stances a Sophie (Soundtrack) 1970

In 1970, the members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago were living as expatriates in Paris. The group had only recently expanded to its permanent quintet status with the addition of drummer/percussionist Don Moye when they were asked by New Wave director Moshé Mizrahi to provide the soundtrack for his movie Les Stances a Sophie. The result was one of the landmark records of the burgeoning avant-garde of the time and, simply put, one of the greatest jazz albums ever. On two of the tracks, the Art Ensemble is joined by vocalist Fontella Bass, at the time the wife of trumpeter Lester Bowie and riding the success of her pop-soul hit "Rescue Me." She's featured most prominently on the opening number, "Theme de Yoyo," an astounding piece that has achieved legendary status as the finest fusion of funk and avant-garde jazz ever recorded. The mix is indeed seamless, with Moye and Favors laying down a throbbing, infectious groove, Bass singing the surreally erotic lyrics with enormous soul, and the horn players soloing with ecstatic abandon. The remaining pieces cover a wide range stylistically with no less beauty and imagination, including two variations on a theme by Monteverdi, intense free improvising, and soft, deeply probing sonic investigations. Their extensive knowledge of prior jazz styles, love of unusual sound sources (the so-called "little instruments), and fearless exploration of the furthest reaches of both instrumental and compositional possibilities came into full flower on this record. AMG.

listen here

The Casuals - Hour World 1969

Three times winners on Opportunity Knocks, British television’s hugely popular talent show of the late 60s, the Casuals subsequently left the UK for Italy, where they became a leading attraction. Alan Taylor (b. Halifax, Yorkshire, England; guitar, bass), Johnny Tebb (b. 1 October 1945, Lincoln, England; organ), Howard Newcombe (b. Lincoln, England; guitar, trumpet) and Robert O’Brien (b. Bridge Of Allan, Central Scotland; drums) were based in Milan for several years before returning to Britain in 1968, when their single, ‘Jesamine’, entered the charts. The song was originally recorded by the Bystanders as ‘When Jesamine Goes’, but the Casuals’ inherently commercial reading coincided with a prevailing trend for emotional ballads. The single ultimately reached number 2, but later releases were less successful and ‘Toy’ (1968), which peaked at number 30, was their only other hit. The Casuals continued to record superior pop: Move leader Roy Wood wrote and produced the polished ‘Caroline’ (1969), but as the decade closed, so their style of music grew increasingly anachronistic. AMG.

listen here

Wilbert Longmire - Revolution 1969

Guitarist Wilbert Longmire and George Benson were friends, and Benson introduced him to Bob James. James was starting Tappan Zee and looking for artists to sign. Longmire made the debut release Sunny Side Up in 1978 and came back the next year with Champagne. Neither generated much interest, but the third release, With All My Love, got some radio action for the instrumental "Hawkeye." Longmire studied to be a barber before opting for a musical career. AMG.

listen here

Spirit - Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus 1970

Although Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus has the reputation of being Spirit's most far-out album, it actually contains the most disciplined songwriting and playing of the original lineup, cutting back on some of the driftings and offering some of their more melodic tunes. The lilting "Nature's Way" was the most endearing FM standard on the album, which also included some of Spirit's best songs in "Animal Zoo" and "Mr. Skin." AMG.

listen here

Grin - 1+1 (1972)

Kicked off by the delicious pop confection "White Lies," 1+1 is the best of Nils Lofgren's work with his trio Grin. That single never got higher than number 75, though, and the album sold very little outside of Lofgren's home base in the northern Virginia and Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable recording produced by Neil Young associate David Briggs. Lofgren's guitar playing is strong throughout, and the songs are often cleverly constructed and quite catchy if lightweight. His high-pitched singing voice sounds better when he's not trying to be gravelly and works fairly well in the power pop settings that inform most of this disc. AMG.

listen here

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I (1969)

Led Zeppelin had a fully formed, distinctive sound from the outset, as their eponymous debut illustrates. Taking the heavy, distorted electric blues of Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Cream to an extreme, Zeppelin created a majestic, powerful brand of guitar rock constructed around simple, memorable riffs and lumbering rhythms. But the key to the group's attack was subtlety: it wasn't just an onslaught of guitar noise, it was shaded and textured, filled with alternating dynamics and tempos. As Led Zeppelin proves, the group was capable of such multi-layered music from the start. Although the extended psychedelic blues of "Dazed and Confused," "You Shook Me," and "I Can't Quit You Baby" often gather the most attention, the remainder of the album is a better indication of what would come later. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" shifts from folky verses to pummeling choruses; "Good Times Bad Times" and "How Many More Times" have groovy, bluesy shuffles; "Your Time Is Gonna Come" is an anthemic hard rocker; "Black Mountain Side" is pure English folk; and "Communication Breakdown" is a frenzied rocker with a nearly punkish attack. Although the album isn't as varied as some of their later efforts, it nevertheless marked a significant turning point in the evolution of hard rock and heavy metal. AMG.

listen here