Atomic Rooster - Atomic Rooster 1970

The incipient incarnation of Atomic Rooster -- with Vincent Crane (organ/vocals), Nick Graham (vocals/bass), and Carl Palmer (drums) -- was together just long enough to document its debut, Atomic Roooster (1970) -- (note: the extra O is intentional). Before the last-minute addition of Graham -- the only bassist Atomic Rooster ever had -- the band emerged from the remnants of the then recently defunct Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The material was primarily courtesy of Crane and consisted of heavier sides. His versatility is evident throughout the impressive array of styles ranging from the folk-inspired pastoral "Winter" to the bluesy horn arrangement heard on "Broken Wings." This directly contrasts driving rockers such as the album's edgy opener, "Friday 13th," or the aggressive "S.L.Y." "Decline and Fall" is a jazz-infused number boasting some exceptional if not incendiary instrumental interaction, most notably from Crane and Palmer. Lyrically, Crane reveals his penchant for dark imagery, including the fatalistic "What is the point of going on?" chorus that runs through the aforementioned "Winter" or the sexually snide "And So to Bed." Support was bolstered by strong live appearances, positive word-of-mouth, and a few significant BBC Radio sessions -- all of which resulted in Atomic Roooster making a respectable showing at number 49 on the U.K. LP charts. By the time the platter was picked up by Elektra Records in North America, the personnel had already changed with John Cann (guitar/vocals) replacing Graham. In an interesting move, they decided that Cann should also overdub guitar parts to "S.L.Y." and "Before Tomorrow," as well as provide a new vocal to "Friday 13th." The transformation didn't end there, either, as the original running order was also significantly altered. Parties interested in hearing both should locate the 2004 reissue, as the supplementary selections feature the U.S. version(s), plus a pair of uniformly excellent selections broadcast on BBC Radio -- "Friday 13th" and "Seven Lonely Streets" (aka "Seven Streets") from Atomic Rooster's follow-up LP, Death Walks Behind You (1970). Of further historical note is that the live-in-the-studio BBC recordings were documented less than a week before the departure of Palmer, effectively ending the first lineup. AMG.

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Bonnie Koloc - Wild and Recluse 1978

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.

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Bitter Blood Street Theatre - Vol. 1 (1978)

Bitter Blood Street Theatre was a performance art troupe-slash-acid rock band formed at Cincinnati's University in 1969 and active through the 1970s and disbanded by 1980. Their music was a swirling dervish of bong-hitting psychedelia with slashing hard rock guitars and a penchant for exotic instrumentation, including a few saw solos.

The band was colorful kooks in Kiss-style masks, draped in capes and/or dominatrix outfits, and the ‘street theatre’ bit involved exactly that: extras culled from the local freak scene who would perform on stage with the band, or in the audience, or out on the sidewalk in front of the club. Performances would range from a guy in a wheelchair calmly eating live locusts out of a cigar box, to flashers showing their private bits to whoever caught their eye. The band played with all the heavy hitters of the era and the area, from The MC5 to Alice Cooper (who, some believe, nicked a thing or two from Bitter’s stage performance), but never made any headway beyond Ohio’s borders. Anyway, they had the chance to open for such acts as the Allman Brothers, Joe Cocker, Mountain, Savoy Brown, MC5, Frigid Pink, and Dr. John. In 1975, the band was briefly part of the Columbia Records roster, but the exec who signed them was reportedly fired the same day, and the band was unceremoniously dropped.

They did manage to eke out one single in ’75, but the band broke up soon after, morphing into a still-active ‘fringe-rock’ outfit, Blacklight Braille. In the late 70s, BBST mainman Tom Owen was able to cobble together the band’s various demo tracks and release them as a two-volume anthology. Both are now considered minor masterpieces of 70s weird-psyche. Sadly, no vintage footage of the band has surfaced yet, so we are left to imagine what it might be like to catch these pioneering maniacs live.

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Candido's Latin McGuffa's Dust - Brujerias de Candido 1971

Candido's first album for Tico is a pure triumph. Fortunately, there's only one crossover cover ("Shadow of Your Smile"), and once that's safely programmed out (or left in as a break), listeners are left with ten tracks of impossibly dense features for Candido, each of which proves how apt his "Thousand Finger Man" title was. The studio band is mid-size, punchy, and energetic enough to prove a foil for Candido's conga, but never overly focused on themselves. Nearly every song features plenty of solo space, and the man finds great things to say even on hoary old chestnuts like "Almendra" or "El Manicero" (aka "The Peanut Vendor"). The opener, "Here Comes Candi," and the side-one closer, "Take More Candi," are two of the most frenetic arrangements Candido's ever been a part of, and they're just two songs on a joyous, celebrative album. Vocalist Gran Alfonso joins the festivities for great features on "Negrito" and the calypso tribute "Back to Back." AMG.

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Jacksons Garden - How Do I Get Into Jacksons Garden 1968

Danish soul-rock band originally from Fyn. The band was formed in 1967 and disbanded in 1969 after releasing a single LP. Live recordings from this era were released after the band reformed in 2000. Drummer Per Stan would become a producer with Danish Polydor in the '70s

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Brother To Brother - In The Bottle 1974

St. Louis native Michael Burton formed Brother to Brother with studio musicians Billy Jones, Frankie Prescott, and Yogi Horton in the mid-'70s. They enjoyed success with a good cover of Gil Scott-Heron's "In the Bottle" in 1974, scoring a number nine R&B hit. It was the only one of their releases for Turbo that made any impact. AMG.

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Alkatraz - Doing A Moonlight 1976

Alkatraz was based in Wales and was put together by bassist Will Youatt and guitarist Jimmy Davies. Will Youatt was formerly of Man and The Neutrons, whose album - The Neutrons - Tales From The Blue Cocoons also featured drummer Stuart Halliday. Jimmy Davies could previously be heard in the Welsh prog band Quicksand. Alkatraz split up while recording their follow-up album, during the onslaught of punk and new wave in Britain.

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Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Lick My Decals Off, Baby 1970

Produced by Captain Beefheart himself, Lick My Decals Off, Baby was a further refining and exploration of the musical ideas posited on Trout Mask Replica. As such, the imaginative fervor of Trout Mask is toned down somewhat, but in its place is an increased self-assurance; the tone of Decals is also a bit darker, examining environmental issues in some songs rather than simply concentrating on surreal wordplay. Whatever the differences, the jagged, complex rhythms, and guitar interplay continue to amaze. Those wanting to dig deeper after the essential Trout Mask Replica are advised to begin doing so here. AMG.

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Tomorrow's People - Open Soul 1976

Interesting album from a Soul funk disco group from Chicago, USA. Active in the mid-1970s. 

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Horse - Horse 1971

Originally released in the UK on RCA Victor in 1970, Horse's self-titled debut record is a nice mix of '70s hard rock with psychedelia and progressive overtones. Some excellent guitar work by Rob Roach and powerful vocals by Adrian Hawkins set the pace of this solid LP. This is one of those treasures that kind of faded into oblivion. While very rare and pricey, pick it up if you can find it. AMG.

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Ohio Players - Fire 1974

After greatly increasing their visibility with Skin Tight, the Ohio Players became even more visible with Fire -- an unpredictable masterpiece that boasted such explosive horn-driven funk jewels as "Smoke" and the wildly addictive title song. The Players were always best known for their hard-edged funk, but in fact, there was much more to their legacy. "I Want to Be Free," the almost innocent "Together," and the remorseful "It's All Over" demonstrate that their ballads and slower material could be first-rate soul treasures. The influence of gospel imagery and the black church experience had asserted itself on Skin Tight's "Is Anybody Gonna Be Saved," and does so once again on the intense "What the Hell" and the hit "Runnin' From the Devil." Without question, Fire was one of the Ohio Players' greatest triumphs -- both commercially and artistically. AMG.

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Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel 1973

Gram Parsons fondness for drugs and high living is said to have been catching up with him while he was recording Grievous Angel, and sadly he wouldn't live long enough to see it reach record stores, dying from a drug overdose in the fall of 1973. This album is a less ambitious and unified set than his solo debut, but that's to say that G.P. was a great album while Grievous Angel was instead a very, very good one. Much of the same band that played on his solo debut was brought back for this set, and they perform with the same effortless grace and authority (especially guitarist James Burton and fiddler Byron Berline). If Parsons was slowing down a bit as a songwriter, he still had plenty of gems on hand from more productive days, such as "Brass Buttons" and "Hickory Wind (which wasn't really recorded live in Northern Quebec; that's just Gram and the band ripping it up live in the studio, with a handful of friends whooping it up to create honky-tonk atmosphere). He also proved to be a shrewd judge of other folk's material as always; Tom T. Hall's "I Can't Dance" is a strong barroom rocker, and everyone seems to be having a great time on The Louvin Brothers's "Cash on the Barrelhead." As a vocal duo, Parsons and Emmylou Harris only improved on this set, turning in a version of "Love Hurts" so quietly impassioned and delicately beautiful that it's enough to make you forget Roy Orbison ever recorded it. And while he didn't plan on it, Parsons could hardly have picked a better closing gesture than "In My Hour of Darkness." Grievous Angel may not have been the finest work of his career, but one would be hard-pressed to name an artist who made an album this strong only a few weeks before their death -- or at any time of their life, for that matter. AMG.

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Grateful Dead - From The Mars Hotel 1974

The Grateful Dead made their reputation on the road with their live shows, and they always struggled to capture that magic in the studio. The Mars Hotel, while not a classic, represents one of their better studio albums. Jerry Garcia sounds engaged throughout and takes the vocal reigns for most of the songs on the album -- although he's not the most gifted vocalist, he proves himself able and versatile. He sings the rollicking opener, "U.S. Blues," with a tongue-in-cheek seriousness that gives the political song an edge, and he lends emotional sincerity to the atmospheric ballad "China Doll." Garcia shines on guitar during the funk workout "Scarlet Begonias," but the ensemble work is best displayed on the album's centerpiece, "Unbroken Chain." During this song, all the musicians are allowed to shine: Phil Lesh, the bassist and songwriter, provides tender vocals over a piano-based arrangement while the bridge allows the guitars and drums to stretch out in classic Grateful Dead style. This album is highly recommended for fans, but casual listeners should start with American Beauty or Workingman's Dead. AMG.

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Neil Young - On The Beach 1974

Following the 1973 Time Fades Away tour, Neil Young wrote and recorded an Irish wake of a record called Tonight's the Night and went on the road drunkenly playing its songs to uncomprehending listeners and hostile reviewers. Reprise rejected the record, and Young went right back and made On the Beach, which shares some of the ragged style of its two predecessors. But where Time was embattled and Tonight mournful, On the Beach was savage and, ultimately, triumphant. "I'm a vampire, babe," Young sang, and he proceeded to take bites out of various subjects: threatening the lives of the stars who lived in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon ("Revolution Blues"); answering back to Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose "Sweet Home Alabama" had taken him to task for his criticisms of the South in "Southern Man" and "Alabama" ("Walk On"); and rejecting the critics ("Ambulance Blues"). But the barbs were mixed with humor and even affection, as Young seemed to be emerging from the grief and self-abuse that had plagued him for two years. But the album was so spare and under-produced, its lyrics so harrowing, that it was easy to miss Young's conclusion: he was saying goodbye to despair, not being overwhelmed by it. AMG.

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Quicksilver Messenger Service - Shady Grove 1969

The third long-player from San Francisco psychedelic icons Quicksilver Messenger Service (QMS) is a direct contrast from their previous discs. Shady Grove (1969) is comprised mostly of shorter and self-contained pieces as opposed to the long and extended jams that were so prevalent on their self-titled debut (1967) and Happy Trails (1969). Ironically, the one stretched-out instrumental is courtesy of their latest acquisition -- Brit recording session guru Nicky Hopkins (keyboards). Another possible reason for the shift in style as well as personnel is the conspicuous absence of Gary Duncan (guitar) -- who is rumored to have been a "guest" of Bay Area law enforcement at the time. The band incorporate a number of different styles on the album. Kicking off the disc is an up-tempo rocking version of the traditional Appalachian folk song "Shady Grove." The QMS reading is highlighted by John Cipollina's trademark fluid fretwork and a familiar "Bo Diddley" backbeat -- reminiscent of both "Who Do You Love" and "Mona" from the live ensemble LP Happy Trails. The slow and dark "Flute Song" is a trippy minor chord masterpiece that is augmented by the shimmering effect of Hopkins' airy piano lines which mingle throughout the light orchestration. Additionally, QMS try their hand at the same country & western-flavored sound that was making the rounds with their San Fran contemporaries the Jefferson Airplane ("The Farm") and the Grateful Dead ("Dire Wolf"). However, the down-home cowboy waltz "Word's Can't Say" never gets out of the stable, unfortunately. This somewhat uneven effort would sadly foreshadow QMS's journey from psychedelia and into a much more pop-oriented sound on their follow-up, Just for Love (1970). However, enthusiasts of those albums will find much more to revisit on Shady Grove than those who favored the first two records. AMG.

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