Jacob's Creek - Jacob's Creek 1969

This Trenton New Jersey band was lead by brothers Lon and Derrek Van Eaton, who previousle played with local garage band The Tree, along with drummer Tim Case and are best-known for the subsequent music they made for The Beatles’ Apple label.
They added guitarist Steve Burgh and singer guitarist Bruce Foster to form Elisium in 1968, which morphed into Jacobs Creek. Basing themselves in New York, they played at Andy Warhole's Factory, opened the Doors and soon signed to Columbia, who placed them with producer Al Lawrence (perhaps best known for his work with Santana).
The quintet's resulting album was issued in August 1969 complete with a lyric insert and touched on pop, rock, country, blues, psychedelia and Folk. With arrangements encompassing electric guitars, horns and sitar, unfortunately the label didn't promote it, and (despite encouranging radio play) didn't sell.
The band continue to play around New Jersey finally splitting in March 1971. Brothers Lon and Derrek Van Eaton put together some home recorded demos as a duo, Apple's manager Tony King liked what he heard and recommended the duo to George Harrisson who arranged for them to singed to Apple in September 1971 and went on to produce their album, Brother, released next year.

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Gilberto Gil – Gilberto Gil 1969

It's not only ironic that the record with Gilberto Gil's first major hit ("Aquele Abraço") is also his most experimental album; it also speaks to the diversity of Brazil's emerging pop superstar. Beginning with the loose-jointed groove-pop of "Cérebro Eletrónico" (the album's subtitle), this second of three straight self-titled LPs includes a few Carnival-styled pop songs, as on his previous album. Most of the experimentation comes at the end of side two with "2001" and "Objeto Semi-Identificado," both of which are filled with odd tape-music portions, spoken-word elements, and a reliance on studio trickery rarely seen on any Western pop albums. Even the pop songs are produced with an eye toward noise; the tropicalia anthem "Volks Volkswagen Blue" features a few psychedelic guitar lines breaking into distortion, and a small but devastatingly brassy horn section punctuating the melody. It's a very disjointed album, not quite as consistently entertaining as last year's entry, but definitely a masterpiece of forward-looking pop. AMG.

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Don Preston & the South - Hot Air Through a Straw 1969

During the 1950s, a teenaged Don Preston had the opportunity to strum his guitar for many of the day's hitmakers, including the Penguins, the Coasters, the Olympics, and the Jaguars. He went on to work with a roster of artists that included Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ritchie Valens, the Righteous Brothers, Gene Vincent, Rick Nelson, Ray Sharpe, and Jessie Hill. Influences from those years can be heard in Preston's Sacre Blues album, which blends the blues with elements of country and rockabilly. The guitarist also was a member of the Shindogs during the 1960s, along with Chuck Blackwell and Delaney Bramlett. By the following decade, he was part of Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen. Later work includes a trio of recordings with blues guitarist Freddie King. He also contributed vocals and guitar work to Leon Russell's Shelter People, and appeared at George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh. AMG.

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Motherlode - When I Die-Tapped Out 1994

The title track went Top 20 in the summer of 1969, and it is a smooth, soulful, slick, and beautiful pop classic. Nothing else on this decent album comes close to the majesty of the hit single, but the album has merit nonetheless. "When I Die" was written by vocalist/keyboard player/bandleader William "Smitty" Smith and tenor sax/harmonica player/vocalist Steve Kennedy. It has some of the elements that the Free Movement most likely borrowed for their "I've Found Someone of My Own," which went Top Five two years after this in 1971, both bands displaying heavy gospel influences which flavored their respective singles. In the case of Motherlode, the gospel is in the grooves of the album tracks. Although this competent album as a whole is better than the full-length disc by Alive and Kicking, which sent "Tighter, Tighter" up the charts a year later ("Tighter, Tighter" being, arguably, a better song, rose higher into the Top Ten), these "one-hit wonders" did create memorable recordings that brighten up radio years later. "Child Without Mother" is written by Kennedy, Smith, and electric guitarist Ken Marco, displaying fully the marvelous pop/gospel chops by the group, though it tends to jam out a bit much. Producers Mort Ross and Doug Riley had something here, and they should have capitalized on it with more than just this almost filler to surround the hit recording with, although that filler is well-constructed. The brilliant Carol Kay plays bass and "Acc. Guitar" on all tracks except the cover of the Johnny Bristol tune that Junior Walker made famous, "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)." Ken Marco's "Living Life" is another of the almost-but-not-quite tunes here. It's a surprisingly listenable album with strong musicianship, the band's sincere liner notes adding a dimension of charm missing on many discs from this era. Here an special edition with their second release Tapped Out. AMG.

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Joe Tex - Buying A Book 1969

Joe Tex made the first Southern soul record that also hit on the pop charts ("Hold What You've Got," in 1965, made number five in Billboard). His raspy-voiced, jackleg preacher style also laid some of the most important parts of rap's foundation. He is, arguably, the most underrated of all the '60s soul performers associated with Atlantic Records, although his records were more likely than those of most soul stars to become crossover hits.

Tex was born Joseph Arrington in Rogers, TX, in 1933, and displayed his vocal talent quickly, first in gospel, then in R&B. By 1954, he'd won a local talent contest and come to New York, where he recorded a variety of derivative (and endlessly repackaged) singles for King, some as a ballad singer, some as a Little Richard-style rocker.

Tex's career didn't take off until he began his association with Nashville song publisher Buddy Killen, after Tex wrote James Brown's 1961 song "Baby You're Right." In 1965, Killen took him to Muscle Shoals, not yet a fashionable recording center, and they came up with "Hold What You've Got," which is about as close to a straight R&B ballad asTex ever came. It was followed by a herd more, most of which made the R&B charts, a few cracking the pop Top 40.

Tex made his mark by preaching over tough hard soul tracks, clowning at some points, swooping into a croon at others. He was perhaps the most rustic and back-country of the soul stars, a role he played to the hilt by using turns of phrase that might have been heard on any ghetto street corner, "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" the prototype. In 1966, his "I Believe I'm Gonna Make It," an imaginary letter home from Vietnam, became the first big hit directly associated with that war. His biggest hit was "Skinny Legs and All," from a 1967 live album, his rapping pure hokum over deeply funky riffs. "Skinny Legs" might have served as a template for all the raucous, ribald hip-hop hits of pop's future.

After "Skinny Legs," Tex had nothing but minor hits for five years until "I Gotcha" took off, a grittier twist on the funk that was becoming disco. He was too down-home for the slickness of the disco era, or so it would have seemed, yet in 1977, he adapted a dance craze, the Bump, and came up with the hilarious "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)," his last Top Ten R&B hit, which also crossed over to number 12 on the pop chart.

In the early '70s, Tex converted to Islam and in 1972 changed his offstage name to Joseph Hazziez. He spent much of the time after "Ain't Gonna Bump" on his Texas farm, although he did join together with Wilson Pickett, Ben E. King, and Don Covay for a reformed version of the Soul Clan in 1980. He died of a heart attack in 1982, only 49 years old. Killen, King, Covay, Pickett, and the great songwriter Percy Mayfield served as pallbearers. AMG.

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Bronco - Ace Of Sunlight 1971

Formed August 1969 by Jess Roden following his split from The Alan Bown Set, Bronco were signed to Island Records and released two albums 'Country Home' and 'Ace of Sunlight'. Roden left the band mid 1972 to start a solo career, guitarist Robbie Blunt soon followed, the remaining members drafted in Paul Lockey on vocals (who both Kevyn Gammond and Pete Robinson knew form various incarnations of The Band of Joy) and Dan Fone on guitar, they released one last album this time with Polydor records 'Smoking Mixture'. Bronco's bass player John Pasternak died of a heart attack in September 1986. Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant fronted a tribute event for Pasternak in December of that year. Two Bronco tracks are featured on Island records compilation albums: "Love" appears on Bumpers released in 1970 and "Sudden Street" appears on El Pea (1971).
More recently the Bronco track 'Time Slips Away' has been included on the Island Records compilation 'Meet On The Ledge', released as part of Island's 50th anniversary in 2009.

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East Coast - East Coast 1973

This is a funky soul album by the group "East Coast", released on drummer Bernard Purdie's short-lived label Encounter Records in 1973. This is clearly a live party band recorded pretty straight-up in the studio. Hammond B3 organ with full tremelo versus a distorted-wah-wah guitar anchor a heavy sound. A tough brass section push through, while Blackmon's drums are all cymbal crashes. 22-year-old Gwen Guthrie has a strong soulful voice, which she obviously needed over this sort of density.

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Elton John - Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboys 1975

Sitting atop the charts in 1975, Elton John and Bernie Taupin recalled their rise to power in Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, their first explicitly conceptual effort since Tumbleweed Connection. It's no coincidence that it's their best album since then, showcasing each at the peak of his power, as John crafts supple, elastic, versatile pop and Taupin's inscrutable wordplay is evocative, even moving. What's best about the record is that it works best of a piece -- although it entered the charts at number one, this only had one huge hit in "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," which sounds even better here, since it tidily fits into the musical and lyrical themes. And although the musical skill on display here is dazzling, as it bounces between country and hard rock within the same song, this is certainly a grower. The album needs time to reveal its treasures, but once it does, it rivalsTumbleweed in terms of sheer consistency and eclipses it in scope, capturing John and Taupin at a pinnacle. They collapsed in hubris and excess not long afterward -- Rock of the Westies, which followed just months later is as scattered as this is focused -- but this remains a testament to the strengths of their creative partnership. AMG.

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Emergency - No Compromise 1974

The German based band Emergency was founded in 1970 by Czech musician Hanus Berka, who already had a career as an arranger and sideman in the States among others with Jan Hammer and Miroslav Vitous. The multicultural band consisted of Berka (sax & keyboards) fellow Czechs Jiro Matousek (keyboards), Otto Bezloja (bass) and Dusko Goykovic (trumpet), German drummer Udo Lindenberg and Englishman Barrie Newby on guitar.
The band recorded two jazz-rock records with brass arrangements for CBS. 'Emergency' (1971) and in 1972 'Entrance' with a changed line-up.
In the summer of '72 the band split up, only to be reformed in December of the same year with a complete new line-up: Berka, Peter Bischof (ex-Orange Peel, lead vocals), Richard Palmer-James (ex-King Crimson lyricist, guitar& vocals) Jerzy Ziembrowski (bass), Veit Marvos (ex-2066 &Then, keyboards), Martin Harrison (percussion) and Bernd Knaak (drums). The new line-up secured a record deal with Brain and recorded two commercially oriented records 'Get out To the Country' (1973) and 'No Compromise' (1974) the last again with a changed line-up. Both records present jazz-rock with blues and soul elements. Afterwards the band folded for good.

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Abacus - Abacus 1971

German progressive rock band Abacus released four albums during the early '70s; a self-titled debut in 1971 was followed by Everything You Need and Just a Day's Journey Away the following year andMidway in 1974. AMG.

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Baden Powell - Tristeza On Guitar 1966

Baden Powell is a Brazilian musician with a solid international reputation. A gifted instrumentalist and composer, he bridges the gap between classical artistry and popular warmth and was a key figure in the bossa nova movement.

Born in the Varre e Sai district, he was baptized after his grandfather, a musician and conductor himself, whose father was an admirer of the Boy Scouts founder. When he was four months old, his family moved to the hill of São Cristóvão in the city of Rio. His father, the violonista Lino de Aquino, promoted regular get-togethers (rodas) of chorões at his home, at which famous names of Rio's music used to play, such as Pixinguinha, his brother China, the sambista Donga, and so many others. At eight, his father took him to Rádio Nacional where Powell met Meira (Jaime Florence), a famous violonista at the time a member of Benedicto Lacerda's regional. Powell would study violão with him for five years. Through Meira, a broad-minded musician, he discovered classics such as Segovia and Tarrega, along with Brazilian masters such as Garoto and Dilermando Reis. At nine, he presented himself at Renato Murce's show Papel Carbono on Rádio Nacional, winning first place as a guitar soloist. At 13, he used to run from school, earning his first cachets at the neighborhood parties. After finishing high school, he joined the cast of Rádio Nacional as an accompanist. In that time, he traveled through Brazil with the radio's singers. In 1955, he joined Ed Lincoln's trio, playing jazz at the Plaza nightclub. The place was a focal point for musicians, journalists, and aficionados interested in jazz. It should be regarded as the second place where bossa nova was being generated (the first being Cantina do César, after Johnny Alf's first appearances), contrary to the common notion of bossa being born at Zona Sul (South side's) apartments.

At that time, Powell began to compose "Deve Ser Amor," "Encontro Com a Saudade," "Não é Bem Assim," and his first big hit, 1956's "Samba Triste," with lyrics by Billy Blanco and which would be recorded by Lúcio Alves in 1960. In 1962, he met his future partner, Vinícius de Moraes, a composer, poet, singer, and diplomat. Their first song was "Canção de Ninar Meu Bem," a great success from the beginning. Following that, they came up with "Samba em Prelúdio" (recorded still in 1962 by Geraldo Vandré/Ana Lúcia), "Consolação" (recorded by Nara Leão), "Samba da Bênção," "Tem Dó," "Só por Amor," "Bom Dia, Amigo," "Labareda," and "Samba do Astronauta" (recorded by Powell in 1964). At this point, Powell was already a renowned musician and composer, with good connections on the artistic scene and wide exposure in the media. In that year, he accompanied Sílvia Telles at her famous show at the Jirau nightclub. In 1963, he recorded his first LP, Um Violão na Madrugada (Philips). In that year, he traveled to Paris where he presented himself at the Olympia theater with great success, using a repertoire of classical music and his own compositions. He also played regularly in a season at the Bilboquet nightclub and composed the soundtrack to the movie Le Grabuje. In 1964, he returned to Brazil and recorded the LP À Vontade, which included a composition by Tom Jobim and Vinícius, "Samba do Avião." He also wrote, in that year, the samba "Berimbau" with lyrics by Vinícius. Other duo's compositions that year were "Além do Amor," "Valsa sem Nome," "Deve ser Amor," "Canção do Amor Ausente," "Consolação," "Deixa," "Amei Tanto," "Tempo Feliz," and "Samba da Bênção." The latter was included in Claude Lelouch's movie Un Homme et une Femme, under the title "Samba Saravah."

Traveling to Bahia, Powell stayed there for six months and researched the Afro traditions developed on Brazilian soil, especially the musical tradition emanating from the ancient sorcery rituals of candomblé and umbanda. The next phase of his compositional association with Vinícius would be called byPowell as the Afro-sambas, mirroring the findings of that period: 1965's "Tristeza e Solidão" and "Bocoché" and 1966's "Canto do Xangô" and "Canto de Ossanha," the latter recorded by Elis Regina in 1966 with great success. Taking Bahia folklore, Powell added his Carioca touch, bringing the Afro tradition a more Brazilian feeling. In 1999, Powell, recently converted, regretted and deplored the Afro-samba phase as "devil's music" in a controverted and disappointing interview.

In 1965, fundamental singer Elizeth Cardoso presented Powell/Vinícius' "Valsa do Amor que Não Vem" at the first Festival of Brazilian Popular Music (TV Excelsior), São Paulo, winning second place. The next year, Aluísio de Oliveira produced another album by Powell, this time for his own landmark label Elenco, that deeply engaged in the use of the best musicians, leaving the commercial side in the background; unfortunately, it caused the excellent label's demise some years later. Taking advantage of the Brazilian tour of Caterina Valente, who was being accompanied by drummer Jimmy Pratt, de Oliveira took him and recorded Baden Powell Swings With Jimmy Pratt. Also in that year, TV Excelsior promoted the National Festival of Popular Music, at which novice Milton Nascimento won fourth place with "Cidade Vazia" (Powell/Lula Freire) and Powell with Vinícius recorded their Afro-sambas "Canto de Xangô," "Canto de Iemanjá," and "Canto de Ossanha" for Forma, along with "Berimbau" and "Samba da Bênção." He also took a season with Elis Regina at Rio's nightclub Zum-Zum. The LPs O Mundo Musical de Baden Powell (Barclay/RGE), recorded in France; Baden Powell ao Vivo no Teatro Santa Rosa (Elenco); and Tempo Feliz

(Forma/Philips) were all recorded in 1966. In that period, he played in the U.S. with Stan Getz. In 1967, he recorded in Paris, France, the album O Mundo Musical No. 2, accompanied by the Paris Symphonic Orchestra. In that year, his O Mundo Musical de Baden Powell was awarded with the Golden Record in Paris and he presented himself at the Jazz Festival in Berlin, Germany, with American jazz guitarists Jim Hall and Barney Kessel. In 1968, a novice Paulo César Pinheiro (now a renowned samba composer) composed with Powell the samba "Lapinha," which was presented byElis Regina at the TV Record's first Samba Biennial, winning first place. The duo would also compose, among others, "Cancioneiro," "Samba do Perdão," "Meu Réquiem," "É de Lei," "Refém da Solidão," "Aviso aos Navegantes," and "Carta de Poeta." Also from 1968 is the LP Baden Powell (Elenco) with the famous "Manhã de Carnaval" or "Carnival," by Luís Bonfá and Antônio Maria, and the show O Mundo Musical de Baden Powell. In 1969, he recorded Vinte e Sete Horas de Estúdio (Elenco). Next year in Paris, he recorded for Barklay the three-album box set Baden Powell Quartet and the LP Baden Powell, which had Pixinguinha's songs. For Elenco, he recorded the LP Estudos. In 1972, he recorded for Philips the LP É de Lei. Solitude on Guitar was recorded the next year in Germany and in 1974, he recorded in Paris the live LP Baden Powell (Barklay/RGE), and in 1975 recorded the LP Baden Powell Trio & Ópera de Frankfurt. He then moved to Baden-Baden (Germany), staying there for four years. In 1994, already living in Brazil again, he released the record Baden Powell de Rio à Paris. In that same year, he performed together with his sons, Louis Marcel (violão) and Phillipe (piano), at the Cecília Meireles Hall in Rio, with the concert recorded and released on a CD, titled Baden Powell & Filhos, through CID. In 1995, his concert at the Montreux Festival was recorded on CD under the title Baden Powell Live in Montreux. Also in that year, he was awarded with the Prêmio Shell for his complete works. In 1996, he toured in France with Brazilian accordionist Sivuca and recorded the CD Baden Powell Live at the Rio Jazz Club. After spending several weeks in the hospital, Baden Powell died on September 26, 2000, at the age of 63. AMG.

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The Beat of the Earth - The Beat of the Earth 1968

After being discovered by fans of underground psychedelia in the late 1980s, Orange County band BEAT OF THE EARTH's sole 1967 album has grown into a classic within the field, in spite of its rarity and lack of a reissue. The improvisational music on the album cannot be easily described but most who hear it agree that it represents a unique link between mid-1960s California teen sounds and the droning acid rock of the later era.

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Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy 1977

Guitarist Al di Meola's second record as a leader is generally an explosive affair, although it does have a fair amount of variety. With Jan Hammer or Barry Miles on keyboards, electric bassist Anthony Jackson, drummer Lenny White (Steve Gadd takes his place on the "Elegant Gypsy Suite"), and percussionist Mingo Lewis on most of the selections, di Meola shows off his speedy and rock-ish fusion style. He was still a member of Return to Forever at the time and was a stronger guitarist than composer, but di Meola did put a lot of thought into this music. The brief "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" (an acoustic guitar solo) and "Mediterranean Sundance" (an acoustic duet with fellow guitaristPaco de Lucía) hints at di Meola's future directions. A near classic in the fusion vein. AMG.

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Dr. Strangely Strange - Kip of the Serenes 1969

Ireland's answer to the Incredible String Band, Dr. Strangely Strange engaged in the same type of psychedelic acoustic music with folksy arrangements. With traditional instruments like penny whistle, fiddle, harmonium, and mandolin, Dr. Strangely Strange was more solidly rooted in melody and structure than the group's flaky Scottish counterparts. Produced by British modern folk guru Joe Boyd,Kip of the Serenes is built around simple and repetitious melodies occasionally interrupted by stream-of-consciousness musical and lyrical diversions. This simplistic approach would be abandoned with their 1970 follow-up, Heavy Petting, which saw their first partnership with electric guitarist Gary Moore. AMG.

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