Canned Heat - Hooker'n Heat 1971

When this two-LP set was initially released in January 1971, Canned Heat was back to its R&B roots, sporting slightly revised personnel. In the spring of the previous year, Larry "The Mole" Taylor (bass) and Harvey Mandel (guitar) simultaneously accepted invitations to join John Mayall's concurrent incarnation of the Bluesbreakers. This marked the return of Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (guitar) and the incorporation of Antonio "Tony" de la Barreda (bass), a highly skilled constituent of Aldolfo de la Parra (drums). Sadly, it would also be the final effort to include co-founder Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, who passed away in September 1970. Hooker 'n Heat (1971) is a low-key affair split between unaccompanied solo John Lee Hooker (guitar/vocals) tunes, collaborations between Hooker and Wilson (piano/guitar/harmonica), as well as five full-blown confabs between Hooker and Heat. The first platter focuses on Hooker's looser entries that vacillate from the relatively uninspired ramblings of "Send Me Your Pillow" and "Drifter" to the essential and guttural "Feelin' Is Gone" or spirited "Bottle Up and Go." The latter being among those with Wilson on piano. Perhaps the best of the batch is the lengthy seven-minute-plus "World Today," which is languid and poignant talking blues, with Hooker lamenting the concurrent state of affairs around the globe. "I Got My Eyes on You" is an unabashed derivative of Hooker's classic "Dimples," with the title changed for what were most likely legal rather than artistic concerns. That said, the readings of the seminal "Burning Hell" and "Bottle Up and Go" kept their familiar monikers intact. The full-fledged collaborations shine as both parties unleash some of their finest respective work. While Canned Heat gets top bill -- probably as it was the group's record company that sprung for Hooker 'n Heat -- make no mistake, as Hooker steers the combo with the same gritty and percussive guitar leads that have become his trademark. The epic "Boogie Chillen No. 2" stretches over 11 and a half minutes and is full of the same swagger as the original, with the support of Canned Heatigniting the verses and simmering on the subsequent instrumental breaks with all killer and no filler. The 2002 two-CD pressing by the French Magic Records label is augmented with "It's All Right," with a single edit of "Whiskey and Wimmen." AMG

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Bruce Cockburn - Night Vision 1973

A little darker this time out (hence the title), Bruce Cockburn's fourth album find even greater rewards. Backed by a complete band, many of the songs hold up better through time. Sure, there's still the light-hearted folksy bits like "The Blues Got the World...," but there's also a gutsier sound exemplified in "You Don't Have to Play the Horses" and even a trick out of the Tom Waits song-style on "Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long." No matter what type of music you're looking for, there's something here that will tickle your fancy. AMG.

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Terry Smith - Fall Out 1969

Terry Smith's rare late-'60s LP was an accomplished set that showcased his fluid, modern bop-influenced jazz guitar in both big band and small combo settings. Smith plays much in the style of American guitarists working in similar territory during the period, such as Wes Montgomery and Grant Green. The arrangements and playing by the backing musicians on this album, recorded in London, are a little stiffer than what you'll hear on most U.S. sessions, but they get the job done tastefully enough. The vibe gets a little more uninhibited on the two tracks featuring just Smith, organist Bob Stuckley, and drummer Chris Karen. As those two tracks ("Fall Out" and "Early Morning Groove") are the only two Smith originals, one suspects that this is the kind of material that was closest to his heart at the time. Otherwise most of the record is given to interpretations of standards, including "My Man's Gone Now," Cole Porter's "I Love You," and the Bacharach-David compositions "The Look of Love" and "Windows of the World." While pop star Scott Walker produced, there's no strong resemblance between this and the music Walker was recording at the time, though Walker did make suggestions regarding the material. AMG.

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Barbara & Ernie - Prelude To... 1971

Soul singer Barbara Massey and jazz guitarist Ernie Calabria paired up for this rare 1971 album. With Calabria having worked with Nina Simone and Harry Belafonte, among others, and Massey having sung backup for artists including Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, and Herbie Hancock, the pairing was an inspired one and resulted in this superb soul-jazz outing. Massey has a dry yet passionate and evocative vocal quality that often brings to mind Grace Slick. Fittingly, the duo takes on Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love," turning the Summer of Love anthem into a steamy and hypnotic soul-funk jam. Elsewhere, the duo touches upon such varying styles as folk, Latin, and psychedelic rock with cuts like "For You" and "Do You Know?," bringing to mind such similarly inclined acts as the Free Design and Bill Withers. Anyone who has even a passing interest in this kind of '70s cross-genre aesthetic will certainly want to seek out Prelude To.... AMG.

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After All - After All 1969

After All may have only been a band in the loosest sense of the term, but its only record is a quite wonderful -- if ultimately difficult to categorize -- one-shot relic of the transitional late-'60s. The four members of the combo were actually friends and acquaintances in different bands on the Tallahassee, FL, rock circuit before culling their skills together, along with lyrical assistance from young local poet and songwriter Linda Hargrove, when an opportunity to record an album in a Nashville studio presented itself. The resulting piece of work is the type of strangely compelling hybrid album that could only have come together in the musical gumbo of the post-psychedelic era. 
Drummer and primary vocalist Mark Ellerbee wrote most of the music, and his songs are basically freeform, open-ended tone poems that eschew typical verse-chorus and melodic considerations (although the odd melodic hook or harmony surfaces from time to time) for music that is much more amorphous and improvisational. There are elements of rock, R&B, blues, progressive, classical, avant-garde composition, and, to an even greater degree, jazz weaving through the music, while a thick hallucinatory cloud hovers over the whole of the album, giving it an oddly surreal and even ghostly demeanor. It is a complex and ambitious mix that doesn't always come off seamlessly, but is by and large an engaging amalgam, exploring similar territory to that being investigated during the period by much higher profile bands such as Chicago, Procol Harum, and Blood, Sweat & Tears (Ellerbee's singing, in fact, is a dead ringer for David Clayton Thomas). Each band member displays near virtuosity on his instrument, which allows After All to harness all its sonic influences and renders the music exciting to hear even when the songwriting drags the slightest bit or loses its way. But, for the most part, the songs are rather outstanding. "Intangible She" and the psychedelic "A Face That Doesn't Matter" play with the foreboding, seedy flair that frequently made the Doors' songs seem like such ominous musical prophecies, while "Blue Satin" is a bit more swirling and romantic but maintains an edgy sense of intangible mystery, represented by the flute that threads through the song's final moments. "Let It Fly," on the other hand, is pure groove, and maybe the best example of the band's playing capabilities (if not the best song), while "And I Will Follow" builds a slow, tensive burn to match the yearning nature of the lyrics before turning more wistful. Hargrove's beautifully lustful and longing words frequently create an interesting tension with the spacier instrumental interplay, and the music is even more enigmatic as a result. After All is not easy to fully enter, but it is well worth the effort. As obscurities from the era go, it may not be one of the most fascinating, but it may have some of the most accomplished musicianship. AMG.

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Quincy Jones - Mellow Madness 1975

Released not long after Quincy Jones was operated upon for life-threatening brain aneurysms, the music community was glad to have this album around (you can almost sense Q's own relief as he holds his forehead on the cover). Basically, though, it continues the polished, percolating soul direction that Qinitiated with Body Heat, alienating purists but entertaining R&B audiences that rushed to buy it. The album is given its commercial edge by two new Jones discoveries, George Johnson (guitar, vocals) and Louis Johnson (bass), who would leap to fame the following year on their own as the Brothers Johnson. One attraction for jazz listeners is Toots Thielemans' "Bluesette," in which the Belgian virtuoso does a nice guitar/whistle cameo and Frank Rosolino blows some fine trombone, but the track is not helped by the overdubbed soul voices. AMG.

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Santana - Caravanserai 1972

Drawing on rock, salsa, and jazz, Santana recorded one imaginative, unpredictable gem after another during the 1970s. But Caravanserai is daring even by Santana's high standards. Carlos Santana was obviously very hip to jazz fusion -- something the innovative guitarist provides a generous dose of on the largely instrumental Caravanserai. Whether its approach is jazz-rock or simply rock, this album is consistently inspired and quite adventurous. Full of heartfelt, introspective guitar solos, it lacks the immediacy of Santana or Abraxas. Like the type of jazz that influenced it, this pearl (which marked the beginning of keyboardist/composer Tom Coster's highly beneficial membership in the band) requires a number of listenings in order to be absorbed and fully appreciated. But make no mistake: this is one of Santana's finest accomplishments. AMG.

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Alan Bown - Listen 1970

Alan Bown made an improbable rock star -- though it could be argued that he was never really a "star." With the trumpet as his instrument, he wasn't even a terribly likely rock & roll bandleader, but he definitely was that, and for a lot of years. And if his bands' recordings had been as successful as their live shows, he'd likely have been a star and then some.

Any musical aspirations that he harbored were invisible until he completed a stint in the Royal Air Force at the outset of the 1960s. He found a music scene that was booming throughout England with an important extension to Germany, and which encompassed not only rock & roll but also blues, R&B, and jazz. The latter two areas were where Bown's interest lay, and he was soon a member of a group called the Embers that was booked into the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, working on the same bills as such Liverpool-based artists as Tony Sheridan, the Beatles, the Undertakers, et al. He returned to England after the extended engagement and joined the John Barry Seven, led by the trumpeter/arranger John Barry. He was actually more involved with the group than Barry, whose burgeoning careers as a record producer and film music composer were taking off in a big way and keeping him busy outside of performing. When Barry disbanded the group in 1964, Bown picked up the pieces and formed an outfit of his own -- his proposed name was ABC, standing for Alan BownCommunity, but at the behest of his manager he chose the Alan Bown Set instead. The sextet was an immediate success as a live act, and it became an audience and critical favorite in London.

Oddly enough, Bown and company never even thought about a recording contract, intending the band as a vehicle for steady work for themselves, doing what they enjoyed. It wasn't until a couple of years into their history that Tony Reeves (the future member of Colosseum), an A&R man for Pye Records, spotted the Alan Bown Set and got them under contract, which resulted in a string of 45s and half of an LP called London Swings that included part of their live show, in tandem with Jimmy James & the Vagabonds. The Pye contract ended in late 1967, and the group was then signed to the British division of MGM Records, to an imprint called Music Factory. By this time, they'd modified their image and sound -- the interest in R&B and soul was fading somewhat in the London clubs, even as psychedelic music was starting to become all the rage. And so, for its MGM/Music Factory releases, a somewhat longer-haired and more flamboyant version of Bown's band was seen, and in lieu of the Alan Bown Set, the group was simply known as the Alan Bown!, complete with exclamation point. They cut a song called "We Can Help You," which had originated with the British band Nirvana -- and the Alan Bown version started to make a splash in England in terms of exposure.
But on the week of the record's actual release, disaster struck on both sides of the Atlantic simultaneously. A strike at the plant where the record was pressed and due to ship from prevented its release, at precisely the moment when it had to be in stores. And MGM Records chose to abandon the Music Factory label -- though the Alan Bown! would remain with the company on the MGM label proper, this also meant that the company abandoned all promotional and distribution efforts involving the Music Factory releases. "We Can Help You," despite a string of promotional appearances by the band on its behalf (including the television show Top of the Pops), was left to die and rot on the vine, and the accompanying LP, called Outward Bown, was ignored. A pair of singles that followed, "Toyland" b/w "Technicolour Dream" and "Story Book" b/w "Little Lesley," both failed to chart.
The album included the group's psychedelic pop version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," which the Alan Bown! had been doing in their live shows as well -- the record label would never consider it for a single release, but Jimi Hendrix (who apparently knew their version) was more successful with his own Track Records label and got a hit single out of the same song.

A contract with Deram Records, the progressive rock imprint of English Decca, followed, along with a pair of singles and a self-titled LP, and there was also a lineup shift that, for a time, brought Robert Palmer into the group as its lead singer. But despite a lot of touring and television exposure, and the reconstituting of its sound and image in a much more progressive rock vein, the group's moment had clearly passed by the start of the new decade. Even a signing to the Island label failed to re-ignite their commercial prospects, though Bown did keep a version of the band -- including Mel Collins on saxophone -- together for touring purposes as late as 1972. After that last tour, Bown himself -- following a short stay in a band called Jonesy -- moved on to a producer's spot with British CBS Records, where he was one of those involved with the signing of Mott the Hoople and Sailor. By the 1980s, he had long since abandoned performing in favor of the business side of the music business and started his own production and publishing company. Thanks to the continued reissue of his '60s-era recordings, however, he remains a much-loved and fondly remembered figure as a performer, from the British beat era into the psychedelic period. AMG.

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Black Sugar - Black Sugar 1971

Black Sugar is a funky Latin-rock band from Peru, mercifully reissued for a latter-day audience by Lazarus Audio Products. "Viajecito" is the essential track -- the waka-waka guitar intro is the main attraction, although the basic track is funky, Latin, and mostly instrumental. "The Looser" and "Funky Man" also are hip, but lyrics on the corny side keep them from heavy play. The lead-in tracks on each side, "Too Late" and "Understanding," are solid, and the rest are decent ballads. Although the singing is not the greatest, the acoustic guitar and conga interplay on the lighter tracks sound like something from Sabu Martinez' Groovin' with Sabu album. "Pussy Cat" is an ambitious jazz instrumental; with its Latin percussion, funky bass, and strings (not to mention the title), it could have been a cut from one of the better "blaxploitation" soundtracks. Black Sugar may not change many lives, but it does occupy a vital corner in the rare world of Latin funk. AMG.

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Amory Kane - Just To Be There 1970

Though American, Amory Kane was based in the U.K. when he recorded this, his second album; Fairport Convention bassist Dave Pegg, in fact, is one of the accompanists. It's a somewhat drifting, laid-back singer/songwriter effort that doesn't strike out with much force or distinction. There's a bit of Donovan-like wistfulness, as well as something of a utopian hippie-era brotherhood feel à la "Get Together," which is in fact covered for one of the LP's tracks. But the tunes are on the bland side, and the songs sometimes have an awkward wordiness. Bits of pastoral period psychedelic touches float around the arrangements, like ghostly wind noises, hand percussion, and eerily reverbed plucks, scrapes, and licks. Even by the lowered expectations folk-rock-psychedelic collectors might bring to very obscure records such as this, however, it isn't anything special. AMG.

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Baden Powell & Vinicius de Moraes - Os Afro-Sambas De Baden E Vinicius 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. Vinícius de Moraes was a fundamental figure in Brazilian music. As a poet, he wrote lyrics for a great number of songs that became all-time bossa nova and samba classics. As a composer, he wrote some good music, and as an interpreter, he left several important albums. From a musical family, he began very early to write poetry. Here is their encounter and the result is just genial.  

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African Brothers Band (International) - Yaa Amponsa Special 1974

Ghana's African Brothers Band has thrived and survived through three decades of social and political transition and turmoil throughout their homeland. They have reigned supreme atop the highlife hierarchy almost since their inception. They're currently led by Nana Kwame Ampadu the Third, and record at Ambassador studios in Kumasi. A couple of years ago, they did their first shows in England since 1984. The African Brothers emerged as superstars in 1967, with their first hit "Ebi Tie Ye." They were part of the new highlife sound that fused rock and reggae bits into a tight, multiple guitar front line, accenting lyricist and leader Nana Ampadu's exhaustive, metaphor-driven sermons drawn from stories of the animal kingdom. They have several releases available on the international market, plus many other cassette-only items not sold outside Ghana. AMG.

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It's A Beautiful Day - Marrying Maiden 1970

The second long-player from It's a Beautiful Day is an exceedingly more pastoral effort than the band's self-titled debut. As many of the Bay Area groups -- most notably the Grateful Dead with Workingman's Dead and American Beauty -- had begun to do, the band realigns its sound from the dark psychedelia and proto-prog of its earlier works and into a lighter and earthier country-flavored rock. Marrying Maidendoes, however, continue highlighting both the sextet's stellar instrumental proficiencies as well as vocals -- featuring the entire band -- throughout. "Don and Dewey," the album's opener, is a hot-steppin' spotlight for David LaFlamme's classically trained violin work. Presumably, the tune is an ode to the late-'50s/early-'60s R&B duo of the same name. The track has distinct hints of the concurrent contributions that LaFlamme had been making in an incipient incarnation of Dan Hick & His Hot Licks. It likewise sets the tenor for the remainder of the disc's down-home feel. The cover of folkie Fred Neil's "The Dolphins" is notable for Fred Webb's honky tonk piano fills and LaFlamme's vocals, recalling some of the earliest New Riders of the Purple Sage sides. One of the more solidly unifying factors linking the NRPS and It's a Beautiful Day is the guest appearance by Jerry Garcia, who is featured on two numbers. As he had done on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Teach Your Children," Garcia lends a few distinct pedal steel guitar riffs to the perky "It Comes Right Down to You." The track also features former Charlatan Richard Olsen on, of all things, clarinet. Another sign of the times is the pickin' and grinnin' on the appropriately titled "Hoedown" -- on which Garcia adds some fiery banjo fretwork. AMG.

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Isao Suzuki - Touch 1975

Isao Suzuki & His Fellows featuring Kunihiko Sugano and the prominent leader of the Jazz Rock style during the eighties in japan, guitarist Kazumi Watanabe. Recorded in the late 1975 at Tokyo Epicurus Studio, released under Three Blind Mice label, "Touch" consists in an eclectic selection of styles ranging from Swing, Bossa Nova to Jazz rock (the opening song over 11 minutes with the Kazumi's long guitar riff), all involving various remarkable inspirational grooves from Suzuki. Titles include "Touch" composed by Mr. Suzuki, "On The Trail" from Jazz composer & concertmaster Ferde Grofé, "She's Funny That Way" to the bossa arrangements (based on a original composition of Richard Whiting) with an expanded solo of Kunihiko Sugano, and the representative song of the Thelonious Monk's genius, the jazz standard "Round about Midnight".

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Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)

With its endless, droning minor-key riff and mumbled vocals, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is arguably the most notorious song of the acid rock era. According to legend, the group was so stoned when they recorded the track that they could neither pronounce the title "In the Garden of Eden" or end the track, so it rambles on for a full 17 minutes, which to some listeners sounds like eternity. But that's the essence of its appeal -- it's the epitome of heavy psychedelic excess, encapsulating the most indulgent tendencies of the era. Iron Butterfly never matched the warped excesses of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," either on their debut album of the same name or the rest of their catalog, yet they occasionally made some enjoyable fuzz guitar-driven psychedelia that works as a period piece. The five tracks that share space with their magnum opus on In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida qualify as good artifacts, and the entire record still stands as the group's definitive album, especially since this is the only place the full-length title track is available. AMG.

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