Paul Simon - Songbook 1965

The first album to use this title is one of the most mysterious in Paul Simon's output and almost belongs more with Simon & Garfunkel's discography, given its 1965 recording date. Following the failure of Simon & Garfunkel's first, all-acoustic folk revival-style album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, Simon headed off to England to see about pursuing music over there. While he was in London, he found himself in demand as a visiting American "folksinger" (though Simon's credentials in this area were rather limited), began building up a following in the coffeehouses, and was eventually pegged for a performing spot on the BBC. Suddenly, there were requests for Paul Simon recordings, of which there were none -- as a result of his being signed to Columbia Records in America, however, he was brought into the London studios of British CBS and recorded this album with only his acoustic guitar for backup. The resulting album is spare, almost minimalist, as Simon runs through raw and unaffected versions of songs that he was known for in London, including "The Sounds of Silence," "The Sun Is Burning," "I Am a Rock," "A Simple Desultory Philippic" (in its earliest form, and far nastier than the version later done by Simon & Garfunkel), and "Kathy's Song." The notes are very, very strange, but a bigger problem is the production by Reginald Warburton and Stanley West, which isn't terribly sympathetic; the sound isn't very natural, being very close and booming, but the album is a fascinating artifact of Simon's work during the interregnum in Simon & Garfunkel's career. And there is one fascinating number here, "The Side of a Hill," which eventually resurfaced as the countermelody song in the Simon & Garfunkel version of "Scarborough Fair" (a song curious by its absence here, considering that Simon was doing it in his coffeehouse appearances) two years later. AMG.

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Yusef Lateef - The Blue Yusef Lateef 1968

Though there is some confusion about what happened to the 32 Jazz label, producer Joel Dorn's other project, his label M, is following closely in its footsteps; unique packaging and a wealth of fine material licensed from Dorn's years as a jazz producer at Atlantic Records seems its sole M.O.. On The Blue Yusef Lateef, listeners get an amazing chapter from the late '60s, an amazing period when everything in the world of jazz was changing. Lateef was big on concept recordings. He and Dorn did no less than ten during their tenure together at Atlantic. This one examines, in a painterly way, all the different ranges of emotion contained within the blues genre. With a band that included Detroit jazz gods Roy Brooks on drums and Kenny Burrell on guitar, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Hugh Lawson on piano, Sonny Red on alto, Bob Cranshaw on electric bass, and a very young Cecil McBee on acoustic bass, you get the idea that Lateef was after something different. Lateef performs on not only his tenor and flute, but bamboo and pneumatic flutes, tamboura, koto, and others; Lateef was exploring the outer reaches of the blues as they might appear and appeal to Eastern as well as Western cultures. From the opening moments in "Juba Juba," everything comes in one package -- the slow, snaky groove only the blues can provide, with the Eastern scale modalities and polyphony attached via Lateef's flute and Brook's percussion. But before becoming too ethereal, Mitchell chimes in with a barrelhouse muted trumpet and Buddy Lucas wails a shuffle on harmonica. There is also an unidentified female gospel chorus humming in the background -- reminiscent of the Staples at their spookiest. Next up is the even-more Eastern-tinged "Like It Is," sounding like it was left off "Blues from the Orient." Lawson's minor key explorations and Brooks' spontaneous actions with a variety of percussion instruments usher in a groove that only Lateef could create. It is very slow, harmonically complex, and lush in a manner that suggests exotica sans the corniness of Les Baxter. It quietly roars with a melodic polytonality courtesy of Lateef's tenor, joined by Lawson's striking mode changes in his solo. Then comes the barrelhouse romp of "Othelia," the Japanese psychedelia of "Moon Cup," and the samba-fied bluesiana of "Back Home," citing Afro-Cuban pop Machito arrangements inside a Brazilian carnival-chant created of vocal overtones and greasy rhythms. You get the picture. The Blue Yusef Lateef is one wild album. In sound, it is the very best the '60s had to offer in terms of experimentation and accessibility. This is blues you can dance to, but also meditate to and marvel at; a pearl worthy of the price. AMG.

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Ben - Ben 1971

It is one of the unwritten laws of record collecting that some of the most passionately sought LPs are often among the most disappointing albums ever made, the kind of things that you would never even give houseroom to if they weren't essential to the collection. Among connoisseurs of the British Vertigo label, an avid army who've been known to offer limbs in exchange for certain objects of high-priced desire, Ben's eponymous debut album certainly falls into that sordid category. Cut wholly in the jazz-rock shadow of labelmates Nucleus, Ben offers a shade over 38 minutes worth of aimless noodling, interspersed with flashes of soulless riffing, and crowned by drummer David Sheen's dry, dull (but mercifully underemployed) vocal. Musically, it's clear that Ben know their stuff -- technicians might well sit back and marvel at the band's actual playing abilities. But the nearly side-long suite "The Influence" simply wanders along without ever justifying the presence of the seven sub-movements that divide it up, while side two's opening, "Christmas Execution," never lives up to what is, after all, an extremely intriguing title, even if it does sound a bit Christmassy in places. Reissues on Repertoire in 1991 and Akarma in 2003 have done much to discourage all but the most avid vinyl fetishists from seeking out the original swirl-label version of this album. But, even at a reasonable price, it remains a distinctly disappointing release. AMG.

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Ambrosia - Life Beyond L.A. 1978

Ambrosia's third album (and first for Warner Bros.) is more commercial and less conceptual than their first two releases, Somewhere I've Never Travelled and the self-titled Ambrosia. The album opens effectively with the title track, which is about life, or the lack thereof, in Los Angeles. The better songs on this album, including the title track and the top ten single "How Much I Feel," were written and sung by lead vocalist/multi-instrumentalist David Pack. AMG.

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Keef Hartley Band - Seventy Second Brave 1972

b. 8 March 1944, Preston, Lancashire, England, d. 27 November 2011. Together with Colosseum, the Keef Hartley Band of the late 60s forged jazz and rock music sympathetically to appeal to the UK progressive music scene. Drummer Hartley had already had vast experience in live performances as Ringo Starr’s replacement in Rory Storm And The Hurricanes. When Merseybeat died, Hartley was enlisted by the London-based R&B band the Artwoods, whose line-up included future Deep Purple leader Jon Lord. Hartley was present on their only album, Art Gallery (now a much sought-after collector’s item). He joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and was present during one of Mayall’s vintage periods. Both Crusade and Diary Of A Band highlighted Hartley’s economical drumming and faultless timing. The brass-laden instrumental track on John Mayall’s Bare Wires is titled ‘Hartley Quits’. The good-natured banter between Hartley and his ex-boss continued onto Hartley’s strong debut, Halfbreed. The opening track, ‘Hearts And Flowers,’ has the voice of Mayall on the telephone officially sacking Hartley, albeit tongue-in-cheek, while the closing track ‘Sacked’ has Hartley dismissing Mayall! The intervening music features some of the best ever late-60s jazz-influenced blues, and the album remains an undiscovered classic. The band for the first album was comprised of Miller Anderson (b. 12 April 1945, Johnston, Renfrewshire, Scotland; guitar and vocals), Gary Thain (b. 15 May 1948, Wellington, New Zealand, d. 8 December 1975, Norwood Green, Middlesex, England; bass), Peter Dines (b. 17 December 1944, Hertford, England, d. 28 January 2004; organ) and Spit James (guitar). Later members to join Hartley’s fluid line-up included Mick Weaver (aka Wynder K. Frog) organ, Henry Lowther (b. 11 July 1941, Leicester, England; trumpet/violin), Jimmy Jewell (saxophone), Johnny Almond (flute), Jon Hiseman (who guested on percussion and congas) and Harry Beckett. Hartley, often dressed as an American Indian, sometimes soberly, sometimes in full headdress and war paint, was a popular attraction on the small club scene. His was one of the few British bands to play the Woodstock Festival, where his critics compared him favorably with Blood, Sweat And Tears. The Battle Of North West Six in 1969 further enhanced his club reputation, although chart success still eluded him. By the time of the third album both Lowther and Jewell had departed, although Hartley always maintained that his band was like a jazz band, in that musicians could come and go and be free to play with other aggregations. Dave Caswell and Lyle Jenkins came in and made The Time Is Near.... This album demonstrated Miller Anderson’s fine songwriting ability and producer Neil Slaven’s excellent production. They were justly rewarded when the album briefly nudged its way into the UK and US charts. Subsequent albums lost the fire that Hartley kindled on the first three, although the formation of his Little Big Band and the subsequent live album had some fine moments. The recording at London’s Marquee club saw the largest-ever band assembled on the tiny stage; almost the entire British jazz/rock fraternity seemed to be present, including Chris Mercer, Lynn Dobson, Ray Warleigh, Barbara Thompson and Derek Wadsworth. By the time Seventy Second Brave was released, Anderson had departed, having signed a contract as a solo artist. He was clearly the jewel in Hartley’s crown (or headgear) and the cohesion that Anderson gave the band as the main songwriter, lead vocalist, and lead guitar was instantly lost. Future recordings also lacked Slaven’s even production. Hartley and Anderson came together again in 1974 for one album as Dog Soldier but Hartley was largely inactive in music for many years apart from the occasional tour with John Mayall and sessions with Michael Chapman. In the mid-90s he had a carpentry business in Preston, Lancashire, and although it was alleged that he no longer owned a drum kit, attempts were made in the mid-90s to re-form the original line-up of this highly undervalued band (which certainly warrants reappraisal in the 21st century). However, the reunion never transpired, and Keef Hartley died on 27 November 2011 at the age of 67. AMG.

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Kevin Ayers - The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories 1974

Kevin Ayers' fifth album, The Confessions of Doctor Dream and Other Stories, is typical of his work. He sings in his distinctive deep voice with his cultured English accent (sounding a lot like John Cale) in songs set in a variety of pop styles, from hard rock to a kind of music hall approach. He is frequently playful and engaging, although his songs don't ultimately add up to much. The album's second side contains an 18-minute suite called "The Confessions of Doctor Dream," featuring a cameo by Nico, which exemplifies Ayers' amiable if unfocused appeal. AMG.

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Takeshi Inomata & Sound Limited - Sound of Sound Limited 1970

Drummer who led the jazz scene in Japan with accurate stick work and musicality and an eye on the times, Takeshi Inomata’s first album with Sound Limited was formed at the end of the 60s. Starting with the theme song “Mustache”, which is beloved as one of the most iconic songs, is a masterpiece full of dynamism and enthusiasm throughout.

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J. Teal Band - Cooks 1977

"Surprisingly good, underrated small-town hard rocker cruising on a backbone of tight jams that enhance almost every song, with a guitar-playing that is Quicksilver-like in its probing flow. Billy Hardy’s lead playing is as good as anything I’ve heard on an Lp of this kind, and unusually varied. The band also offers up a long introspective Top Drawer-ish brooder, utilizing an odd psychedelic effect which again sounds like something from a late 1960s Bay Area album. This LP isn’t unknown, but I bet a lot of people out there will be surprised by how good it is"  - The Acid Archives

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Fraction - Moon Blood 1971

Fraction was a short-lived Los Angeles garage band. In the summer of 1970, the band entered a studio and cut their only album, Moon Blood. Only 200 copies of this little psychedelic masterpiece were ever pressed, making it over the years a mega-rarity going for ridiculous sums of money. This 1999 reissue brings this fuzz and reverb festival onto compact disc for the first time and features three bonus tracks of previously unissued origin, "Prisms," "Dawning Light," and "Intercessor's Blues." Vocally, Jim Beach works the Jim Morrison side of the street while the band works the standard riffs of the era into a fuzz-overloaded stomp that sounds like a perfect period piece. Lovers of fuzz-drenched psychedelia will go crazy over this one. AMG. 

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Jackie McLean - New York Calling 1974

Jackie McLean's band on New York Calling, the Cosmic Brotherhood, plays with uncompromising passion, fury, and intelligence. The group, a generation younger than the leader, has a sound that is definitive '70s advanced hard bop. Although not as well-known as some of their contemporaries, by the time of this 1974 recording, the members of McLean's quintet had logged playing time with many of the leaders of the hard bop scene: McCoy Tyner, Gary Bartz, Sam Rivers, Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, and others. In addition to exceptional chops, the band has strong writers in trumpeter Billy Skinner and pianist Billy Gault. Their tightly voiced arrangements, punctuated by roiling power surges from the rhythm section, call to mind the work of Woody Shaw, whose classic Moontrane was also recorded in 1974. However, where Shaw's music possesses an urbane, majestic poise, Skinner and Gault go for a skittering, street-level urgency. McLean, recognizing the powerful talents in his midst -- including McLean's son, René, on tenor, alto, and soprano sax -- comes across as one among equals. It's to McLean's credit that the date bears the stamp of his band's artistry as much as it does his own. AMG.

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Chicken Shack - Imagination Lady 1972

Imagination Lady is the fifth long-player for Stan Webb's Chicken Shack. Much in the same tradition as the great British bluesmen Alexis Corner and John Mayall, Webb's revolving-door personnel landed the band several notable members, including John Almond (tenor/alto sax), Hughie Flint (drums), and Christine Perfect (keyboards/vocals). For this album, Webb (guitar/vocals) gathered a trio consisting of himself, future Gods and Jethro Tull member John Glascock (bass), and Paul Hancox (drums). Enthusiasts of the more traditional 40 Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve, and OK Ken albums have been quick to dismiss the latter-era band, often citing the whole over-amplified power metal trip as detracting from their blues origins. While certainly valid assessments, the power trio featured on Imagination Lady brings more than sheer volume to this release. As with the previous Chicken Shack long-players, this disc features several Webb originals augmented with some well-chosen cover tunes. The album opens with a ferocious cover of B.B. King's "Crying Won't Help You." This version is highlighted by Glascock's thrashing basslines and Webb's wah-wah-driven lead guitar and gin-soaked vocals. In a style akin to the Faces or even some of the rowdier moments from the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac, this trio grinds out the blues with a decidedly English edge. The folkie "If I Were a Carpenter" is speared with searing electric guitar leads that rip throughout the likewise spirited contributions from Glascock and Hancox. The tune is also afforded an unexpected sensitivity that contrasts well between the all-out sonic onslaught of the chorus and the restrained polyrhythms of the verses. In regards to original material, "Daughter of the Hillside" is without a doubt Webb's most impressive contribution to the album. It is arguably the strongest side of the disc. This straight-ahead rocker is an ideal trio effort with equal contributions from all three recalling the intense instrumentality of Cream or early Led Zeppelin. With so much potential, it's unfortunate that the 11-minute epic "Telling Your Fortune" -- which is nothing more than a 12-bar blues platform for solos from Webb and Hancox -- is so erratic. In an ironic contrast, the closing number "The Loser" is upbeat and almost pop-oriented, again displaying the immense strength of this short-lived incarnation of Chicken Shack. AMG.

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BLO - Phase II 1974

Blo fused the Afrobeat rhythms of their native Nigeria with the mind-expanding psychedelia and funk of late-'60s rock to forge a wholly original sound embracing the full spectrum of Black music. The roots of the group lay in the Clusters, already one of the most popular Nigerian highlife acts of the mid-'60s even prior to a stint as the support band for the Sierra Leone pop superstar Geraldo Pino, once dubbed "the West African James Brown." In 1970, guitarist Berkely "Ike" Jones, bassist Mike "Gbenga" Odumosu, and drummer Laolu "Akins" Akintobi left the Clusters to join Afrocollection with twin sisters Kehinde and Taiwo Lijadu (featured a decade later on the British television show The Tube), moving away from their highlife roots to explore a more pronounced Afro-Rock approach. While performing at the Lagos club Batakuto, Afrocollection jammed with Ginger Baker, the renowned drummer from the British blues-rock supergroup Cream; in late 1971, the members of Afrocollection joined Baker in forming the jazz-rock ensemble Salt, making their live debut the following year alongside the legendary Fela Kuti. Despite a series of well-received live appearances throughout Western Europe and North America, the Salt project proved short-lived, and in late 1972, Jones, Odumosu, and Akintobi formed Blo, touring relentlessly in the months to come prior to recording their EMI Nigeria label debut Chapter One. Drawing equally on the pioneering Afrobeat of Kuti and Tony Allen, as well as the American psych rock of bands like the Grateful Dead and the Byrds, the record failed to live up to EMI's commercial expectations, and after signing to Afrodisia, Blo resurfaced in 1975 with Phase II, pushing further into funk and R&B territory. Grand Funk Railroad and the Isley Brothers were the primary influences on the trio's third LP, Phase III, but as lackluster sales continued to dog the group, Blo faced greater corporate pressure to reflect contemporary musical trends -- specifically, disco, a shift culminating with 1980's Bulky Backside, recorded in London. Blo dissolved following the 1982 release of Back in Time. The retrospective Phases: 1972-1982 appeared on the Afro Strut label in 2001. AMG.

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Talking Heads - Fear of Music 1979

By titling their third album Fear of Music and opening it with the African rhythmic experiment "I Zimbra," complete with nonsense lyrics by poet Hugo Ball, Talking Heads make the record seem more of a departure than it is. Though Fear of Music is musically distinct from its predecessors, it's mostly because of the use of minor keys that give the music a more ominous sound. Previously, David Byrne's offbeat observations had been set off by an overtly humorous tone; on Fear of Music, he is still odd, but no longer so funny. At the same time, however, the music has become even more compelling. Worked up from jams (though Byrne received sole songwriter's credit), the music is becoming denser and more driving, notably on the album's standout track, "Life During Wartime," with lyrics that match the music's power. "This ain't no party," declares Byrne, "this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around." The other key song, "Heaven," extends the dismissal Byrne had expressed for the U.S. in "The Big Country" to paradise itself: "Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens." It's also the album's most melodic song. Those are the highlights. What keeps Fear of Music from being as impressive an album as Talking Heads' first two is that much of it seems to repeat those earlier efforts, while the few newer elements seem so risky and exciting. It's an uneven, transitional album, though its better songs are as good as any Talking Heads ever did. AMG.

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Incredible Hog - Vol 1 (1973)

Like so many early 70s bands, the three-piece London-based group Incredible Hog was a by-product of the 60s British Blues Boom. In an attempt to mix melodic pop with heavy rock and intelligent, meaningful lyrics, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Ken Gordon and bassist Jim Holmes, who'd actually been at school together and played in the band Speed Auction, formed Incredible Hog in early 1972, the name actually being a play on the then highly popular 'Incredible Hulk' comic book series.

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Brian Auger & the Trinity - Befour 1970

Brian Auger and his band outdo themselves on this extraordinary album, which boasts playing that is both passionate and of virtuoso caliber, and encompasses just the right repertory. From the opening of the soaring rendition of "I Wanna Take You Higher" through the jazzy interpretation of Gabriel Fauré's Pavane, the Albinoni-based Adagio per Archi e Organo, the impassioned rendition of Traffic's "No Time to Live" (sung by lead guitarist Gary Boyle), and the smooth interpretation of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" (featuring some elegant lead playing by Boyle before Auger's organ moves into the foreground), Befour delivers superb musicianship, crossing the lines between jazz and rock with touches of soul and even some lingering traces of psychedelia. The one fully experimental track, "Listen Here," which was cut in a single take of nine minutes and 22 seconds, is a hard, pounding piece driven by Boyle's jagged lead guitar and showing off the band augmented by three additional drummers (Mickey Waller, Barry Reeves, and Colin Allen) and an extra bassist (Roger Sutton) -- it reminds one somewhat of the kinds of experiments that the Nice sometimes attempted a lot less successfully. "Just You and Me" is a worthy finale to the original album, a hard-rocking showcase for each of the players. [The 2000 reissue by Disconforme includes a live cut, "Rain Forest Talking," and a rough rehearsal take of Pavane, and is remastered in 24-bit digital audio.] AMG.

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