Saturday, October 21, 2006
Turquoise - The Further Adventures Of Flossie Fillett
01 Tales Of Flossie Fillett
02 Flying Machine (Second Version)
03 Sister Saxophone
04 53 Summer Street
05 The Sea Shines
06 Village Green
07 Saynia
08 Sunday Best
09 Woodstock
10 Stand Up And Be Judged
11 Woodstock (First Reduction)
12 Flying Machine (First Version)
13 Leana (backing Track)
14 What's Your Name
15 Mindless Child Of Motherhood
16 You're Just Another Girl (As The Brood)
17 Wrong Way (As The Brood)
18 The Turquoise 1968 Christmas Record
03 Sister Saxophone
04 53 Summer Street
05 The Sea Shines
06 Village Green
07 Saynia
08 Sunday Best
09 Woodstock
10 Stand Up And Be Judged
11 Woodstock (First Reduction)
12 Flying Machine (First Version)
13 Leana (backing Track)
14 What's Your Name
15 Mindless Child Of Motherhood
16 You're Just Another Girl (As The Brood)
17 Wrong Way (As The Brood)
18 The Turquoise 1968 Christmas Record
Personnel:
VIC JANSEN bs A B
GUS PETERS ld gtr, piano A B
EWAN STEPHENS drms A B
GEOFF SYRETT gtr A B
BARRY HART B
45s:
1 53 Summer Street/Tales Of Flossie Fillet (Decca F 12756) 1968
2 Woodstock/Saynia (Decca F 12842) 1968
1 53 Summer Street/Tales Of Flossie Fillet (Decca F 12756) 1968
2 Woodstock/Saynia (Decca F 12842) 1968
This Muswell Hill outfit was closely linked to Ray Davies - hence the strong Kinks' influence in some of their songs. Keith Moon and John Entwistle took a keen interest in them and they were produced and managed by Tom Keylock, The Rolling Stones' tour manager.
Both of their 45s are now quite sought-after and collectable, but aside from 53 Summer Street, the other three sides have been compiled. The Kinks' influence circa Autumn Almanac is evident on Tales Of Flossie Fillet, which is full of jangling acoustic guitars and appealing melodies and harmonies. Woodstock was similar in style, although with the addition of a fifth member, Barry Hartby their sound had been filled with some punchier guitar work and a Hammond organ. (Incidentally Woodstock was not the Joni Mitchell song that Matthews Southern Comfort took to No 1.) The flip side, Saynia, was every bit as good - a melancholic ballad about a lost love with strong vocals and ideally suited harmonies and instrumentation.
The group deserved more success.
Compilation appearances include: Woodstock on The Psychedelic Scene (CD), Rubble, Vol. 11 - Adventures In The Mist (LP), Rubble, Vol. 6 (CD), British Psychedelic Trip, Vol. 3 (LP) and Great British Psychedelic Trip, Vol. 2 (CD); Tales Of Flossie Fillet on Rubble, Vol. 6 - The Clouds Have Groovy Faces (LP) and Rubble, Vol. 4 (CD); Tales Of Flossie Fillett and Saynia on The British Psychedelic Trip, Vol. 1 (LP) and Great British Psychedelic Trip, Vol. 1 (CD).
(from the liner notes...)
Cult UK pop-psych heroes Turquoise burst forth from Muswell Hill with two of the most perfectly formed pop singles of 1968 then went the way of so many of their contemporaries and vanished back to the building sites and tax offices of north London. But this story goes a lot deeper than that... Friends and neighbours of Ray and Dave Davies, Ewan Stephens, Vic Jansen and Jeff Peters would watch with envy as The Kinks rose to global fame during the mid-1960s, eventually forming a band of their own. A little of the brothers' influence inevitably rubbed off on The Brood (for 'twas they) with Dave producing demo sessions for them and touting the results round the labels to no avail. Through Dave, they were soon being managed by John Mason, the infamous 'car dealer to the stars', who had his clients Keith Moon and John Entwistle produce another session for them in 1967. Mason then hooked The Brood up with another of Mason's clients, Tom Keylock, The Rolling Stones' tour manager, who, along with Kirk Duncan of the Spencer Davis agency, secured them a recording contract with Decca, a publishing deal with Apple and a name change to Turquoise. The next few months were spent rehearsing at the Stones' space in London's Docklands, visiting various London recording studios, running with The Who and The Kinks and generally having a ball being young pop stars in swinging London. Although only two singles appeared - "53 Summer Street"/"Tales Of Flossie Fillett" and "Woodstock"/Saynia", now much-loved classics of the psychedelic pop genre - the band cut several tracks during this time which remained unreleased until now. However, the lack of a hit single and the fickle nature of the pop business inevitably resulted in Turquoise's premature demise in 1969. Ewan Stephens forged a solo career, cutting further singles for Decca while Jeff Peters and latter day Turquoise member Barry Hart formed the hard-rockin' Slowbone who cut the album "Tales Of A Crooked Man" in 1974. "The Further Adventures Of Flossie Fillet" brings together every surviving recording made by The Brood and Turquoise between 1966 and 1969, including a virtual album's worth of prime 1968 pop in a Kinks/Who/Small Faces/Move style as well as alternate versions and demos. It features liner notes by noted psych/Apple authority Stefan Granados and brand new in-depth interview material with Turquoise main man Jeff Peters. The complete surviving recordings by this cult north London pop-psych act, most of which have never been heard before! Features the much-loved singles "53 Summer Street", "Tales Of Flossie Fillett", "Woodstock" and "Saynia"! Mates of The Kinks, The Who, Apple and the Spencer Davis agency. Ultra-hip credentials! Beautifully re-mastered in the usual Rev-Ola style! In-depth liner notes by Stefan Granados featuring brand new interview material with Turquoise main man Jeff Peters. Stuffed to the gills with fantastic original photos and memorabilia from the band's own archives !A landmark release and a MUST for all fans of quality UK '60s pop, pop-psych, The Kinks, The Who, Small Faces, The Beatles.Hell, everybody really!
ENJOY!
Edgar Broughton Band - 1973 - Oora
Edgar Broughton Band - 1973 - Oora
1. a) Hurricane Man 2) Rock 'N' Roller
2. Roccococooler
3. Eviction
4. Oh You Crazy Boy
5. Things On My Mind
6. a) Exhibits From A New Museum b) Green Lights
7. a) Face From A Window b) Pretty c) Hi-Jack-Boogie d) Slow Down
8. Capers
Edgar Broughton : Lead Vocals, Electric & Acoustic Guitar.
Victor Unitt : Electric & Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Harmonica.
Art Grant : Bass Guitar.
Steve Broughton : Drums, Percussion, Vocals.
guests:
David Bedford : Piano.
Madeline Bell, Doris Troy, Lisa Strike : Backing Vocals.
The five albums The Edgar Broughton band recorded for EMI’s “progressive” label, Harvest between 1969 and 1973 were full-on sonic attacks that took no prisoners. They also contained some truly thoughtful and beautiful music of great originality.
By the time Oora was released The Edgar Broughton Band had been in Morgan studios in Willesden since mid-June recording material for what would become their final album for Harvest. Like their previous vinyl effort, sessions also took place in Olympic Studios in Barnes. It was here that the band resumed their relationship with arranger David Bedford, who wrote and conducted orchestral arrangements for Hurricane Man / Rock n’ Roller and Things on My Mind.
The tracks Rock n’ Roller, Oh! You Crazy Boy, Things on My Mind, Exhibits From a New Museum and Face From a Window all featured the backing vocals of Doris Troy, Madeline Bell and Lisa Strike.
Oora was released in May 1973, in an elaborate sleeve designed by artist Barney Bubbles (noted for his work with fellow musical anarchists Hawkwind), the album was perhaps the most sophisticated of all The Edgar Broughton Band’s releases for Harvest, notably on the track Face From a Window / Pretty / Hi-Jack Boogie / Slow Down.
The Edgar Broughton Band left EMI Records after the release of “Oora” and Victor Unitt departed the fold.
Biography:
Formed in Warwick, England, the Edgar Broughton Band arrived on the London underground music scene in 1968. Led by the Broughton brothers, vocalist/guitarist Edgar and drummer Steve, and fleshed out by bassist Arthur Grant and guitarist Victor Unitt (who also briefly served with the Pretty Things), they soon signed with the Harvest label, and issued their debut Wasa Wasa -- a collection of underground electric blues jams anchored by Edgar's Captain Beefheart-like vocals -- in late 1969. The Edgar Broughton Band returned in 1970 with Sing Brother Sing, which reached the U.K. Top 20 and spawned a pair of minor hit singles, "Out Demons Out" and "Apache Drop-Out" (a fusion of Beefheart's "Dropout Boogie" and the Shadows' "Apache"). The group seemed poised for a major commercial breakthrough, but even as their brand of heavy rock was flourishing thanks to groups like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, the Broughton Band made an about-face, and their music became considerably more quiet and politically-charged. Their chart momentum stalled, and a 1971 self-titled effort failed to catch on.
After both 1972's Inside Out and 1973's Oora met a similar fate, the group left Harvest for NEMS. Legal wrangles locked them out of the studio for a number of months, but they finally resurfaced in 1975 -- minus Unitt, who'd been replaced by guitarist John Thomas -- with Bandages. A brief break-up followed, but in 1978 they returned with Live Hits Harder. By the release of 1979's Parlez Vous English?, the group had expanded to a six-piece, and was now going under the name the Broughtons. The record was their last, but they continued on, eventually returning to the Edgar Broughton Band moniker and touring throughout the 1980s and 1990s. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
1. a) Hurricane Man 2) Rock 'N' Roller
2. Roccococooler
3. Eviction
4. Oh You Crazy Boy
5. Things On My Mind
6. a) Exhibits From A New Museum b) Green Lights
7. a) Face From A Window b) Pretty c) Hi-Jack-Boogie d) Slow Down
8. Capers
Edgar Broughton : Lead Vocals, Electric & Acoustic Guitar.
Victor Unitt : Electric & Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Harmonica.
Art Grant : Bass Guitar.
Steve Broughton : Drums, Percussion, Vocals.
guests:
David Bedford : Piano.
Madeline Bell, Doris Troy, Lisa Strike : Backing Vocals.
The five albums The Edgar Broughton band recorded for EMI’s “progressive” label, Harvest between 1969 and 1973 were full-on sonic attacks that took no prisoners. They also contained some truly thoughtful and beautiful music of great originality.
By the time Oora was released The Edgar Broughton Band had been in Morgan studios in Willesden since mid-June recording material for what would become their final album for Harvest. Like their previous vinyl effort, sessions also took place in Olympic Studios in Barnes. It was here that the band resumed their relationship with arranger David Bedford, who wrote and conducted orchestral arrangements for Hurricane Man / Rock n’ Roller and Things on My Mind.
The tracks Rock n’ Roller, Oh! You Crazy Boy, Things on My Mind, Exhibits From a New Museum and Face From a Window all featured the backing vocals of Doris Troy, Madeline Bell and Lisa Strike.
Oora was released in May 1973, in an elaborate sleeve designed by artist Barney Bubbles (noted for his work with fellow musical anarchists Hawkwind), the album was perhaps the most sophisticated of all The Edgar Broughton Band’s releases for Harvest, notably on the track Face From a Window / Pretty / Hi-Jack Boogie / Slow Down.
The Edgar Broughton Band left EMI Records after the release of “Oora” and Victor Unitt departed the fold.
Biography:Formed in Warwick, England, the Edgar Broughton Band arrived on the London underground music scene in 1968. Led by the Broughton brothers, vocalist/guitarist Edgar and drummer Steve, and fleshed out by bassist Arthur Grant and guitarist Victor Unitt (who also briefly served with the Pretty Things), they soon signed with the Harvest label, and issued their debut Wasa Wasa -- a collection of underground electric blues jams anchored by Edgar's Captain Beefheart-like vocals -- in late 1969. The Edgar Broughton Band returned in 1970 with Sing Brother Sing, which reached the U.K. Top 20 and spawned a pair of minor hit singles, "Out Demons Out" and "Apache Drop-Out" (a fusion of Beefheart's "Dropout Boogie" and the Shadows' "Apache"). The group seemed poised for a major commercial breakthrough, but even as their brand of heavy rock was flourishing thanks to groups like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, the Broughton Band made an about-face, and their music became considerably more quiet and politically-charged. Their chart momentum stalled, and a 1971 self-titled effort failed to catch on.
After both 1972's Inside Out and 1973's Oora met a similar fate, the group left Harvest for NEMS. Legal wrangles locked them out of the studio for a number of months, but they finally resurfaced in 1975 -- minus Unitt, who'd been replaced by guitarist John Thomas -- with Bandages. A brief break-up followed, but in 1978 they returned with Live Hits Harder. By the release of 1979's Parlez Vous English?, the group had expanded to a six-piece, and was now going under the name the Broughtons. The record was their last, but they continued on, eventually returning to the Edgar Broughton Band moniker and touring throughout the 1980s and 1990s. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Friday, October 20, 2006
The Petals
The Petals - 1993 - Parahelion
Parahelion is The Petals' first album, released by November Rain. The songs here are essentially psych-pop, with additional folk and occasional rock elements, and are all ultra-melodic. This CD is totally fantastic, packed full of completely brilliant songs. It's an album I want to play all the way through; there are no specific favourites and no duffers here, all songs are superb. I can't praise this album enough, it's a real classic. I've been listening to this a lot of late and I'm sure I'll be listening to it for a long time to come as well.
by Kim Harten @ Bliss Aquamarine
01 Imaginations Daughter 2:30
02 Castle Days 2:47
03 If I Open 3:00
04 Panciflight 2:29
05 Wrong Side of the Looking Glass 2:10
06 Rule of Three 3:16
07 Fade Away Eliza 2:15
08 Parahelion 4:47
09 Eight Swords 2:56
10 Boats 2:36
11 Step Out Today 2:21
12 Ground Sloth 2:14
13 Cedric Stone 2:53
14 Bird House 2:26
15 Come and Stay 2:06
The Petals - 1994 - Cadis Center
Cadis Center also on November Rain. This is yet another psych-pop masterpiece! The songs vary from delicate folky tracks (such as Silver) to music with a strong rock influence (such as Old Blue Dress and Tim's Song) as well as a whole host of more poppy tracks, such as Project Magnet, a supremely catchy song about flying saucers, which comes complete with UFO sound effects, and which makes me grin from ear to ear whenever I listen to it! I've had this song on the brain so much lately! Once again, there's not a duff track to be heard on this album. I've come to the conclusion this band can do no wrong!
by Kim Harten @ Bliss Aquamarine
01 Everett Reuss 3:34
02 Unicorns 3:27
03 High Pants 1:54
04 Silver 2:20
05 Wood Sorrel [instrumental] 1:49
06 Old George 2:26
07 Cadis Valley Tinker 3:01
08 Howdy Wowdy Vine 1:55
09 Potato Bug 2:33
10 Goddess 1:58
11 Project Magnet 2:20
12 Sheldon's Cavern 3:35
13 Old Blue Dress 4:44
14 The Years Have Come to Pass 2:56
15 Tim's Song 2:30
16 Colors of My Mind 3:53
The Petals - 2003 - Butterfly Mountain
01 Brown Cow 2:53
02 Seed Separator 2:57
03 Daydream Stash 3:20
04 Pallid Mask 3:55
05 A Place in the Shade 2:52
06 Autumn Latch 3:43
07 Living Room 4:45
08 Sarsaparilla 3:26
09 Rex, Sandra and Jasper 3:23
10 Stone Circle Dancers 2:25
11 Butterfly Mountain 4:52
12 Neutron Star 4:17
Nine years after their second album, Cadis Center, the Petals reconvened for another round of vintage psychedelic pop songs. Butterfly Mountain is so faithful to staples of the genre that it gains an ironic or meta-musical dimension. Are these songs genuine or do they hide a commentary on their own nature? The fact that the lyrics often play on double entendres while referencing every possible psychedelic symbol only enhances the feeling that the Petals aim for something between vintage flower power and Weird Al Yankovic's twisted sense of irony. Verses like "And I see by your handle you're a saucepan/You fry up all of my old spam/On a lonely mushroom day" (from "Brown Cow") or "Counting the freckles on your face/They stand in pretty contrast/And I often play connect the dots/In my secret daydream stash" (from "Daydream Stash") have that kind of strangeness that may not hit you on first listen, but will eventually bring you back just to make you understand correctly. And what about the excellent "Seed Separator," where the agricultural machine is an object of desire and dream, a symbol for the "gates of time"? If the lyrics hold so many gems, the music also features a lot of pleasant items: sitar in "Brown Cow," banjo, dulcimer, and recorder. The quartet of Cary Wolf, Laurie Kern, Tim Kern, and J.D. Tessier is joined by a dozen guests who blend seamlessly into the polished sound of the group. More playful than the Green Pajamas' Northern Gothic and more overtly pop than the Lazily Spun's debut album, Butterfly Mountain scores another point for the Camera Obscura label.
by François Couture~AMG
and here you can listen,
the Petals cover to Hawkwind's "Hurry On Sundown"
from "Assassins of Silence_A Tribute to Hawkwind"
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Heron - 1972 - Twice as Nice & Half the Price
Heron - 1972 - Twice as Nice & Half the Price
part I part II
Track List
1. Madman
2. Take Me Back Home
3. Love 13 (Lone)
4. Something Inside
5. Miss Kiss
6. John Brown
7. Big A
8. Winter Harlequin
9. Sound Of The Music
10. Your Love & Mine
11. You Really Got A Hold On Me
12. Great Dust Storm
13. My Turn To Cry
14. This Old Heart Of Mine
15. Minstrel & A King
16. Getting 'Em Down
17. I Wouldn't Mind
18. He's A Poor Boy
19. Devil
20. Wanderer
21. Harlequin
This second Heron album from 1972 was originally released as a double album at the price of one; hence the title.
The album shows a greater variety of musical styles than the 1970 debut album. Still it's the acoustic folk-style that's predominant, mixed with some more rocking tunes. Most of the album was recorded out in the open outside a Devon country cottage, which gives the album an unique atmosphere.
Their songwriting is even more convincing here than on their debut. Their have 2 excellent songwriters in Gerald T. Moore and Roy Apps ( who is still with the band ).
Here on their early records it's Moore who is shining the most. His songs "My Turn to Cry", "Minstrel and the King", "The Devil" and "Big A" are simply outstanding. Roy Apps' strongest contributions here are probably "Take Me back Home" and "Your Love and Mine". Another favourite out mine is their charming version of Woody Guthrie's "The Great Dust Storm".
A shame that a lot of people are not aware that the band is still together and recording fine new material from time to time, released on their own Relaxx label.
Roy Apps has once stated that the album probably ought to have been cut down to a single album; maybe . . but it would have been extremely hard to pick out the tracks that would have to go!
This album is highly recommendable!!
part I part II
Track List
1. Madman
2. Take Me Back Home
3. Love 13 (Lone)
4. Something Inside
5. Miss Kiss
6. John Brown
7. Big A
8. Winter Harlequin
9. Sound Of The Music
10. Your Love & Mine
11. You Really Got A Hold On Me
12. Great Dust Storm
13. My Turn To Cry
14. This Old Heart Of Mine
15. Minstrel & A King
16. Getting 'Em Down
17. I Wouldn't Mind
18. He's A Poor Boy
19. Devil
20. Wanderer
21. Harlequin
This second Heron album from 1972 was originally released as a double album at the price of one; hence the title.
The album shows a greater variety of musical styles than the 1970 debut album. Still it's the acoustic folk-style that's predominant, mixed with some more rocking tunes. Most of the album was recorded out in the open outside a Devon country cottage, which gives the album an unique atmosphere.
Their songwriting is even more convincing here than on their debut. Their have 2 excellent songwriters in Gerald T. Moore and Roy Apps ( who is still with the band ).
Here on their early records it's Moore who is shining the most. His songs "My Turn to Cry", "Minstrel and the King", "The Devil" and "Big A" are simply outstanding. Roy Apps' strongest contributions here are probably "Take Me back Home" and "Your Love and Mine". Another favourite out mine is their charming version of Woody Guthrie's "The Great Dust Storm".
A shame that a lot of people are not aware that the band is still together and recording fine new material from time to time, released on their own Relaxx label.
Roy Apps has once stated that the album probably ought to have been cut down to a single album; maybe . . but it would have been extremely hard to pick out the tracks that would have to go!
This album is highly recommendable!!
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
V.A. - Glastonbury Fair Festival 1971
Note that it was Glastonbury Fair, not Fayre.
The costs were picked up by rich hippies such as Arabella Churchill (who is still involved - running the Theatre/Circus areas) and Andrew Kerr. There was no alcohol for sale on site, and all food was vegetarian.
The first (temporary) Pyramid Stage was built of scaffolding and plastic sheets.
About 12,000 attend, to see David Bowie, Joan Baez, Traffic, Hawkwind, Pink Fairies, Fairport Convention, Edgar Broughton Band, Melanie, Quintessence, Family, Arthur Brown & Brinsley Schwarz.
A triple album is released, which includes a side from the Grateful Dead, who were meant to play but didn't.
There's some fantastic photos of the festival online here.
(This was the last "proper" festival at Worthy Farm until 1979, although groups of upto about 1,000 turned up most years anyway for an unschedualed festival).
"The front cover, it's just the wonderful pyramid pictured above. In fact the whole sleeve unfolds into one big poster. The track list is on a separate sheet ("The Electric Score") which was slipped into the back of the plastic protective sleeve. This LP also included a photo booklet of the event with weird hippy stuff and a cut-and-fold miniature silver pyramid."
01 Grateful Dead - Dark Star [23.59]
02 Brinsley Schwartz - Love Song [4.03]
03 Mighty Baby - A Blanket In My Meusli [15.53]
04 Marc Bolan - Sunken Rags [2.26]
05 Pete Townshend - Classified [3.48]
06 David Bowie - Supermen [2.40]
07 Hawkwind - Silver Machine & Welcome [7.20]
05 Skin Alley - Sun Music [4.46]
09-12 Daevid Allen and Gong - Glad Stoned Buried Fielding Flash And Fresh Fest Footprints In My Memory [22.56]
13 Pink Fairies - Do It [4.06]
14 Pink Fairies - Uncle Harry's Last Freak-Out [19.34]
15 Edgar Broughton Band - Out Demons Out [20.19]
Glastonbury Fair - 1971
"Imagine, we're going to concentrate the celestial fire and pump it into the planet to stimulate growth." - Andrew Kerr. Andrew Kerr was what you might call an intellectual hippy. Former director of the research team which had worked on Randolph Churchill's biography of his father, Sir Winston, his interests now lay in the area of the earth's spiritual energies. This included ley lines, numerology, and the geometry used for ancient buildings such as Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids. Together with Randolph's daughter Arabella, he now wanted to organise a 'fair in the medieval tradition' at the Summer Solstice, when the earth's energies are at their peak. Michael Eavis' farm was the obvious choice: it was in the Vale of Avalon, close to Glastonbury Abbey, a building and location of great power; and Eavis had shown his willingness to host an event by the previous year's festival. The centrepiece of the Fair was a pyramid, doubling as a stage, one tenth the size of the Great Pyramid at Giza, which was built over a 'blind spring', a place where the earth releases and absorbs energy. The festival, which was free, attracted about 12,000 people. It was described at the time by Somerset's medical officer as having conditions like those in a refugee camp, and recalled recently by Michael Eavis as 'very pretty, very romantic'. The bands who played read like a Who's Who of the British hippy underground, plus some who had already gone overground: David Bowie, Traffic, Pink Fairies, Hawkwind, Fairport Convention, Edgar Broughton Band, Quintessence, Brinsley Schwartz, Family, Arthur Brown. And Melanie. The Grateful Dead famously did not show up, having to satisfy themselves with playing the real Great Pyramids five years later. The Fair attracted local and national media coverage, mostly of an incredulous nature. The Observer, calling it 'one of the weirdest events ever staged in modern Britain', was more interested in Andrew Kerr's ideas. The Sun concentrated on orgies in the mud, naked hippies dancing on stage, and beetroot-dyed junior asprin being sold as LSD. The local press was more concerned with noise and damaged fields. Michael Eavis went back to being a dairy farmer for the next eight years. Arabella Churchill is still involved with the festival, organising the theatre and circus events. If anybody knows what happened to Andrew Kerr, who will be 63 by now, I'd be fascinated to know.
Labels: Opa-Loka, Various Artists 
Hello to All.
We have a lot of requests and a lot of deleted previous posts.
We're doing our best to complete all requests and re-uploads....
Have patience. And enjoy the music !!!
Lighthouse - 1969 - Lighthouse
01 Mountain Man (Prokop-Devereux-Cole) (4:18)
02 If There Ever Was A Time (Prokop) (5:01)
03 No Opportunity Necessary (Havens-Williams-Price) (3:00)
04 Never Say Goodbye (P. Hoffert-B.Hoffert) (3:00)
05 Follow the Stars (Prokop) (4:00)
06 Whatever Forever (Hoffert-Prokop) (4:59)
07 Eight Miles High (McGuinn-Crosby-Clark) (5:08)
08 Marsha Marsha (Prokop) (3:22)
09 Ah I Can Feel It (Prokop) (4:49)
10 Life Can Be So Simple (Prokop-Devereux) (4:57)
Recorded in 1969 at Eastern Sound Studios.
Lighthouse
Personnel: DICK ARMIN cello A
RALPH COLE gtr A
DON DINOVO violin A
PAUL HOFFERT keyb'ds, vibes A
KEITH JOLLIMORE sax, flute A
BOB McBRIDE vcls A
PETER PANTALUK tpt A
SKIP PROKOP drms A
HOWARD SHORE sax, flute A
LARRY SMITH trombone A
LOUIS YACKNIW bs A
VICTOR CAUVIN
Personnel: DICK ARMIN cello A
RALPH COLE gtr A
DON DINOVO violin A
PAUL HOFFERT keyb'ds, vibes A
KEITH JOLLIMORE sax, flute A
BOB McBRIDE vcls A
PETER PANTALUK tpt A
SKIP PROKOP drms A
HOWARD SHORE sax, flute A
LARRY SMITH trombone A
LOUIS YACKNIW bs A
VICTOR CAUVIN
ALBUMS: (up to 1975)
1( ) LIGHTHOUSE (RCA Victor 4173) 1969
2( ) SUITE FEELING (RCA Victor 4241) 1969
3( ) PEACING IT ALL TOGETHER (RCA Victor 4325) 1970
4( ) ONE FINE MORNING (GRT 1002) 1971
5( ) THOUGHTS OF MOVIN' ON (GRT 1010) 1971
6( ) LIGHTHOUSE LIVE! (GRT 1014) 1972
7( ) SUNNY DAYS (GRT 1016) 1972
8( ) CAN YOU FEEL IT (GRT 1039) 1973
9( ) GOOD DAY (Polydor 6028) 1974
10( )THE BEST OF LIGHTHOUSE ( ) 1975
NB: (4) also issued on Evolution (3007) 1971.
(5) also issued on Evolution (3010) 1971.
(6) also issued on Evolution (3014) 1972.
(7) also issued on Evolution (3016) 1972.
(8) also issued on Polydor (5056) 1973.
45s: 1 Eight Miles High/Got A Feeling (GRT 1230-90) 1969 -
2 Eight Miles High/If There Ever Was A Time (RCA Victor 0224) 1969 -
3 Feel So Good/ (RCA Victor 0285) 1969 55
4 The Chant/ (RCA Victor 479808) 1970 38
5 Fiction Of 26 Million/Just A Little More Time (RCA Victor 1059) 1971 -
6 Hats Off (To The Stranger)/Sing Sing Sing (GRT 1230-04) 1971 9
7 One Fine Morning/Little Kind Words (GRT 1230-10) 1971 2
8 Take It Slow/Sweet Lullaby (GRT 1230-19) 1971 12
9 I Just Wanna Be Your Friend/1849 (GRT 1230-25) 1972 54
10 Sunny Days/Lonely Places (GRT 1230-39) 1972 4
11 You Girl/Merlin (GRT 1230-46) 1972 17
12 Broken Guitar Blues/Letter Home (GRT 1230-52) 1972 34
13 Pretty Lady/Bright Side (GRT 1230-63) 1973 9
14 Can You Feel It/Is Love The Answer (GRT 1230-61) 1974 19
15 Good Day/Going Downtown (GRT 1230-77) 1974 66
NB: (6) also issued on Evolution (1041) 1971.
(7) also issued on Evolution (1048) 1971.
(8) also issued on Evolution (1052) 1971.
(9) also issued on Evolution (1058) 1972.
(10) also issued on Evolution (1059) 1972.
(13) also issued on Polydor (14198) 1973.
(15) also issued on Polydor (14246) 1974.
This was one of the most significant groups to come out of Canada in this era and was put together by drummer Skip Prokop in 1968. A horn rock band, they are often considered to be Canada's answer to Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Prokop earlier played in Toronto bands Riverside Three and later The Paupers. Also featured in the band was guitarist Ralph Cole, who'd been in several Michigan-based bands and it was also notable for an ambitious string and horn section, including Grant Fullerton and Victor Pinky Dauvin from Toronto-based Stitch In Tyme and saxophonist Howard Shore. Dauvin later went solo as Pinky. Their first big break came when they were drafted in as last minute replacements for Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield, who'd cancelled a show at Toronto's Rockpile. After this they went on to play at the Newport, Monterey and Boston Globe jazz festivals, the Atlantic City Pop Festival and the Isle Of Wight Festival. They were competent musicians but their early albums for RCA lack drive and are mostly disappointing. On their first eponymous album there are two good tracks:- Whatever Forever with nice melodies, few horns and fine swirling organ and trumpet solos, and the cover version of The Byrds' Eight Milers High, which features lots of excellent fuzz guitar leads. On Suite Feeling there's the long instrumental track Places On Faces Four Blue Carpet Traces, where the band manages to achieve some musical coherance. The result is a good piece of jazz-rock (comparable to Blood, Sweat and Tears' work), featuring longish solo excursions using organ, drums, vibrophone, trumpet and fuzz guitar. Interesting too is their cover of The Beatles' A Day In The Life, which closes with Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra. Suite Feeling included also a bad cover of The Band's Chest Fever and plagiarism of The Weight entitled Eight Leaves. Peacing It All Together was recorded in New York instead of Toronto, like the previous albums. Here the outstanding track is On My Way To L.A., which is basically a psychedelic song of the Jefferson Airplane school, with a catchy melody line, violin licks, guitar leads and horn extravaganzas in the end. A gem that needs a new (and better) cover version. Also Little People is strong enough, and of lesser interest are: Mr. Candleman, in The Band vein, the mellow tracks Sausalito and Daughters And Sons, and The Country Song, which must be the first and only country rocker with brass arrangements!
1( ) LIGHTHOUSE (RCA Victor 4173) 1969
2( ) SUITE FEELING (RCA Victor 4241) 1969
3( ) PEACING IT ALL TOGETHER (RCA Victor 4325) 1970
4( ) ONE FINE MORNING (GRT 1002) 1971
5( ) THOUGHTS OF MOVIN' ON (GRT 1010) 1971
6( ) LIGHTHOUSE LIVE! (GRT 1014) 1972
7( ) SUNNY DAYS (GRT 1016) 1972
8( ) CAN YOU FEEL IT (GRT 1039) 1973
9( ) GOOD DAY (Polydor 6028) 1974
10( )THE BEST OF LIGHTHOUSE ( ) 1975
NB: (4) also issued on Evolution (3007) 1971.
(5) also issued on Evolution (3010) 1971.
(6) also issued on Evolution (3014) 1972.
(7) also issued on Evolution (3016) 1972.
(8) also issued on Polydor (5056) 1973.
45s: 1 Eight Miles High/Got A Feeling (GRT 1230-90) 1969 -
2 Eight Miles High/If There Ever Was A Time (RCA Victor 0224) 1969 -
3 Feel So Good/ (RCA Victor 0285) 1969 55
4 The Chant/ (RCA Victor 479808) 1970 38
5 Fiction Of 26 Million/Just A Little More Time (RCA Victor 1059) 1971 -
6 Hats Off (To The Stranger)/Sing Sing Sing (GRT 1230-04) 1971 9
7 One Fine Morning/Little Kind Words (GRT 1230-10) 1971 2
8 Take It Slow/Sweet Lullaby (GRT 1230-19) 1971 12
9 I Just Wanna Be Your Friend/1849 (GRT 1230-25) 1972 54
10 Sunny Days/Lonely Places (GRT 1230-39) 1972 4
11 You Girl/Merlin (GRT 1230-46) 1972 17
12 Broken Guitar Blues/Letter Home (GRT 1230-52) 1972 34
13 Pretty Lady/Bright Side (GRT 1230-63) 1973 9
14 Can You Feel It/Is Love The Answer (GRT 1230-61) 1974 19
15 Good Day/Going Downtown (GRT 1230-77) 1974 66
NB: (6) also issued on Evolution (1041) 1971.
(7) also issued on Evolution (1048) 1971.
(8) also issued on Evolution (1052) 1971.
(9) also issued on Evolution (1058) 1972.
(10) also issued on Evolution (1059) 1972.
(13) also issued on Polydor (14198) 1973.
(15) also issued on Polydor (14246) 1974.
This was one of the most significant groups to come out of Canada in this era and was put together by drummer Skip Prokop in 1968. A horn rock band, they are often considered to be Canada's answer to Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Prokop earlier played in Toronto bands Riverside Three and later The Paupers. Also featured in the band was guitarist Ralph Cole, who'd been in several Michigan-based bands and it was also notable for an ambitious string and horn section, including Grant Fullerton and Victor Pinky Dauvin from Toronto-based Stitch In Tyme and saxophonist Howard Shore. Dauvin later went solo as Pinky. Their first big break came when they were drafted in as last minute replacements for Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield, who'd cancelled a show at Toronto's Rockpile. After this they went on to play at the Newport, Monterey and Boston Globe jazz festivals, the Atlantic City Pop Festival and the Isle Of Wight Festival. They were competent musicians but their early albums for RCA lack drive and are mostly disappointing. On their first eponymous album there are two good tracks:- Whatever Forever with nice melodies, few horns and fine swirling organ and trumpet solos, and the cover version of The Byrds' Eight Milers High, which features lots of excellent fuzz guitar leads. On Suite Feeling there's the long instrumental track Places On Faces Four Blue Carpet Traces, where the band manages to achieve some musical coherance. The result is a good piece of jazz-rock (comparable to Blood, Sweat and Tears' work), featuring longish solo excursions using organ, drums, vibrophone, trumpet and fuzz guitar. Interesting too is their cover of The Beatles' A Day In The Life, which closes with Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra. Suite Feeling included also a bad cover of The Band's Chest Fever and plagiarism of The Weight entitled Eight Leaves. Peacing It All Together was recorded in New York instead of Toronto, like the previous albums. Here the outstanding track is On My Way To L.A., which is basically a psychedelic song of the Jefferson Airplane school, with a catchy melody line, violin licks, guitar leads and horn extravaganzas in the end. A gem that needs a new (and better) cover version. Also Little People is strong enough, and of lesser interest are: Mr. Candleman, in The Band vein, the mellow tracks Sausalito and Daughters And Sons, and The Country Song, which must be the first and only country rocker with brass arrangements!
After a change in personnel and label, Lighthouse recorded, again in Toronto, One Fine Morning, which was much better than the previous albums, and at last they had a hit with the eponymous song. One Fine Morning has strident guitar chords, a horn section which blends in perfectly, catchy melody, strong vocals by their new singer Bob McBride, jazzy piano and guitar solos. A gem of the horn rock genre! This along with Love Of A Woman, a soulful jazz-rocker featuring great solo sax work, are the best tracks of the album. The rest, except the soul/gospel influenced Hats Off (To The Stranger), Show Me The Way and Sing Sing Sing are more mellow, but on Step Out On To Sea and Old Man there are segments of strong Chicago-like horn instrumentation. Of interest also is the peaceful Little Kind Words, which has a very good melody, ideal for late night audition. The following album, Thoughts Of Movin' On, was a step back. The material consists of mediocre, undistinctive and ordinary compositions, also lacking the band's previous occasional imaginative instrumentation and solo excursions. Although the more rocking tracks are What Gives You The Right, Insane and Rockin' Chair (the latter comparable to Rod Stewart's material), the most interesting is the soft and melodic song You And Me, which closes with a flute solo. In 1972 they made further personnel changes. With their new bassist Al Wilmot from SRC (he had also played previously, along with Ralph Cole, in Thyme), they recorded Sunny Days, probably their best album. Although there's nothing very catchy, with commercial potential, like One Fine Morning, the album as a whole achieves a high standard and contains some excellent tracks. At last, Ralph Cole's guitar, which was pushed aside or buried under the horns on the two previous albums, resumes a leading role. The outstanding tracks are: You Give To Me, which begins as a slow song with wonderful melody, and then becomes very fast with adventurous improvisations by guitar, sax and something sounding like an organ, although it is probably L. Smith's mellophonium; the tight and energetic Lonely Places, and the slow bluesy Beneath My Woman, featuring sax, imposing viola and guitar solos. The personnel changes had continued in 1973, and the band went again to New York, to record Can You Feel It. This was an attempt to attain commercial status, and tracks like Set The Stage, Pretty Lady and Is Love The Answer are more mainstream and poppy (the latter with some Steely Dan influence). However, most of the compositions are well crafted and good enough, making this album as a whole more satisfying than Thoughts Of Moving On. Same Train has a fine Beatlesque, sixties psych melody line (if only there was a sitar here!); Magic's In The Dancing and Disagreeable Man are in the horn rock genre direction, the former with electric viola solos, the latter with an impressive, gypsy sounding violin intro, and Can You Feel It is a very catchy dance number, featuring good guitar work. Of lesser interest are the slow and mellow Lonely Hours, with trombone solos and trumpet fillings and No More Searching, which is comparable to Joe Cocker's material. In 1974, when Skip Prokop left the band, Ralph Cole became the central figure for a while, but the group disbanded in 1976. The original members reformed in September 1982, playing four shows at the Ontario Place Forum. The following year there was another reformation involving Hoffert, Prokop and Cole from the original line-up, Danny Clancy as lead singer and Donald Quan on keyboards. The occasion was a concert in Toronto's City Hall Square. In the nineties Prokop got into Christianity and hosted his own weekly radio programme of Christian rock and gospel music called 'Rock In The Hard Place'. (CA/Vernon Joynson)
ENJOY!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
St. John Green - 1968 - St. John Green
St. John Green - 1968 - St. John Green
01 - 7th Generation Mutation - 3.19
02 - Canyon Women - 3.01
03 - Devil And The Sea - 2.18
04 - Do You Believe - 2.11
05 - Help Me Close The Door - 1.02
06 - Messages From The Dead - 4.09
07 - Goddess Of Death - 2.25
08 - St. John Green - 3.05
09 - Spirit Of Now - 2.33
10 - Love Of Hate - 2.11
11 - One Room Cemetary - 3.43
12 - Shivers Of Pleasure - 3.19
“‘St. John Green’ is one of the great lost records…Somebody will reissue it someday and people will start crying and jacking off and smoking dope to it. It’s a great record. There’s only a handful of records that I’ve made that are great.”
-Kim Fowley to Mike Stax (“Ugly Things” magazine issue #19, 2001)
Through mutual associations in Topanga Canyon, St. John Green connected with Fowley sometime in 1968, and he in turn spurred them on to outdo or to die all over what would be their sole album…So they wound up doing both.
“St. John Green” is by turns frightening, dark, funny and stupid as it reeks of bad trip freak outs in matte black painted rooms with no furniture lit only by a single red bulb and burning cigarette ends. What emanates forth immediately from this darkness are the mystic incantations of vocalist/bassist Ed Bissot who is mean, moody, magnificent AND for his sins is stuck in a garage of sick creep psychedelia for all eternity. His delivery is so full of promises -- not threats -- you begin to feel that this guy who exists precariously balanced over a yawning chasm between Jim Morrison and Arthur Brown without trying at all really MEANS IT. And he is shored up all the way by a fine-tuned band in total sync with his visions of the four D’s --death, doom, damnation and dread -- in a weirdly accomplished album that runs a gamut of styles -- from supernatural ruminations to the cheapest of goofball novelties.
Bissot’s massive intonations open the apocalyptic “7th Generation Mutation”, where his early death god in a garage vibe bears more than a passing resemblance to Robert Calvert’s space age narratives that threaded Hawkwind’s “Space Ritual Alive.” A total lack of drums makes his hypnotic bass line the only percussion as it sways pendulum-like above the restrained and gagged music which has already cut out from one speaker and lurks behind his initial intonation of “In the darkness of my empty cage, a being from Venus speaks to me” which then switches to a massively echoed snotty sneer:
”I have seen your planet suffer seven nuclear wars…
I’ve seen your civilisation rise from its ruin
Only to crumble once more to ash.
Noah’s Ark was a period of time, and not a boat.
It is through such misconceptions
Your beliefs are weakened and your faith lost…
WHY CAN YOU NOT SEE…?
Earth is born of molten lava
Torn from the breast of a violent star.
Man is created
And rises from the dust-fringed edges of the cooling mud
To love...To conquer…To kill...
AND HE WILL!”
Tape speed wind chases this insistently freaky track into the fading gloom and late night Booker T & The MG’s outtake from “Gris-Gris” vibe of the Fowley-penned “Canyon Women”, a place where sexually rhythmically percussion hangs in the background like swamp gas silhouetting the band as they respond to Bissot’s vocals with low, bullfrog refraining as over-recorded organ and casual grunts pass by in the shadows. “Devil And The Sea” is the psychic link between The Doors’ “When The Music’s Over” and Alice Cooper’s “Black Juju” as those familiar prominent organ swells cut in, out and all around Bissot’s vocals of truly beacon-in-the-wilderness qualities. “Do You Believe” is all corn-fed and howling harp as Bissot starts vocally delivering in down home, religious revival tones against distinctly Fraternity of Man/Holy Modal Rounders backing. “Go!” commands Fowley from behind the glass for the next gross-out, “Help Me Close The Door” signaling commencement of a somber Bissot narration painting a portrait of a broken man with the paint roller. It’s cheap pathos galore over a lullaby piano rock-a-bye-ing as several species of small furry animals chirp continually along with little girls’ persistent calls of “Daddy?” Tears well up until the surprise final set up line of “If you have any heart at all…You’ll help me close the door!” that causes all studio denizens to erupt in cackling glee at the egg on your face. “Messages From The Dead” follows with a mid-tempo “Mystic Eyes” beat and prominent 2-fingered bass. Bissot has just hooked himself a one-way ticket onto that down bound train to Sheol with ol’ Satan hisself, and with each passing level the flames shoot higher and higher: here represented by hugely recorded organ smears all up and down the keyboard against a backwards hi-hat pattern. After seven levels of Hell have been traversed, Bissot’s finally had enough of those flames licking up his body so he’s now down on his knees pleading right before the organ-led coda, “No, God….don’t burn me down in hea-uh! Please don’t burn me down, God!” So they tightly burn down the track instead -- in a way Fowley would later describe as “Vanilla Fudge minus the fucking bubblegum.”
Side two is just as diverse, great and fucked up. “Goddess of Death” is a sleep-walking creep-out supreme with all the eeriness of “You’re Lost Little Girl” by The Doors. Descending organ quietly curls like smoke in the background as electric guitar piano-type notes are plucked as Bissot intones from a waking dream: ”And we walked into the endless valley…Looking back in tears while the echoes of life faded from our ears…We walked into the cold silence, being careful not to step on those who had passed out there in previous times…and I ask, ‘Why are we here? Why are we here? Why are we here?” The band responds only with the swaying chant, “Why? Why? Why? Why?”…and neither are graced with an answer. Spook-eh!
Leave it to Fowley to compose St. John Green’s own signature tune, entitled (naturally) “St. John Green” and of course sounds like nothing else on the album. Bissot’s vocals now switch to Dylanesque overtones as they spread over a dum-dum re-vamp “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” filling the background with a clutch of piano, tuba-tone bass and heavily sustained organ that clump around great lyrics like ”Just because we’re so young and deadly/Why did we have to lose our light?” Next up is the quicker paces of “Spirit Of Now”, akin to the later basement psychedelia of The C.A. Quintet. Here, guitarist Bill Kirkland is finally allowed a solo for the first time on the record, and it’s fantastic -- followed by a sprinting organ solo by Mike Baxter, whose arrangements throughout are strong, fine-tuned and as consistently weird as his neatly-placed organ fills. “Love Of Hate” is an elegiac vocal (what else?) intonation accompanied by organ alone, with Bissot channeling words from and about the world beyond the grave. The Fowley-penned “One Room Cemetery” is the terrifying highlight of side two as elements of free form freak outs scatter behind Bissot’s intonations from a dark and lonely place as tom-tom rolls, solidly plucked bass lines and random, skittering guitar all conspire to creep you out. Over ominously building drums, Bissot hurls out echoed grunts, calls for bo-weevils to meet him in his one room cemetery and calmly free associating all over the place with “We’re playing with the world… We’re playing with the world…When a love song has gone wrong…where does a sad girl go? Where does the sad girl go when her love song is over? We’re playing with the world…We’re playing with the world…” right before all fades to black with a single, jerked musical curtain pull.
But as weirdly dark and epic that “St. John Green” well and truly is, where can it go but sign off but with “Shivers Of Pleasure”, a bouncy showbiz coda: all jaunty piano, lounge hi-hats and vocal A-Z alphabetical dedications like: ”F is for Fowley: is he putting us on?”, “T is for Teenage girls” (accented by a non-too subtle pelvic thrust grunt, “Uuhhh!”) and so on, cracking sophomoric jokes in a manner altogether out of context with the rest of the album. It’s kinda disconcerting in its clean cut kid delivery, but then again, it may be an intentional move in case if too many people got the wrong idea whilst hanging onto each of Bissot’s every word, taking them too far upon the album’s termination by offing themselves outright…
For maximum effect, play in absolute darkness.
~ Reviewed by The Seth Man ~
01 - 7th Generation Mutation - 3.19
02 - Canyon Women - 3.01
03 - Devil And The Sea - 2.18
04 - Do You Believe - 2.11
05 - Help Me Close The Door - 1.02
06 - Messages From The Dead - 4.09
07 - Goddess Of Death - 2.25
08 - St. John Green - 3.05
09 - Spirit Of Now - 2.33
10 - Love Of Hate - 2.11
11 - One Room Cemetary - 3.43
12 - Shivers Of Pleasure - 3.19
“‘St. John Green’ is one of the great lost records…Somebody will reissue it someday and people will start crying and jacking off and smoking dope to it. It’s a great record. There’s only a handful of records that I’ve made that are great.”
-Kim Fowley to Mike Stax (“Ugly Things” magazine issue #19, 2001)
Through mutual associations in Topanga Canyon, St. John Green connected with Fowley sometime in 1968, and he in turn spurred them on to outdo or to die all over what would be their sole album…So they wound up doing both.
“St. John Green” is by turns frightening, dark, funny and stupid as it reeks of bad trip freak outs in matte black painted rooms with no furniture lit only by a single red bulb and burning cigarette ends. What emanates forth immediately from this darkness are the mystic incantations of vocalist/bassist Ed Bissot who is mean, moody, magnificent AND for his sins is stuck in a garage of sick creep psychedelia for all eternity. His delivery is so full of promises -- not threats -- you begin to feel that this guy who exists precariously balanced over a yawning chasm between Jim Morrison and Arthur Brown without trying at all really MEANS IT. And he is shored up all the way by a fine-tuned band in total sync with his visions of the four D’s --death, doom, damnation and dread -- in a weirdly accomplished album that runs a gamut of styles -- from supernatural ruminations to the cheapest of goofball novelties.
Bissot’s massive intonations open the apocalyptic “7th Generation Mutation”, where his early death god in a garage vibe bears more than a passing resemblance to Robert Calvert’s space age narratives that threaded Hawkwind’s “Space Ritual Alive.” A total lack of drums makes his hypnotic bass line the only percussion as it sways pendulum-like above the restrained and gagged music which has already cut out from one speaker and lurks behind his initial intonation of “In the darkness of my empty cage, a being from Venus speaks to me” which then switches to a massively echoed snotty sneer:
”I have seen your planet suffer seven nuclear wars…
I’ve seen your civilisation rise from its ruin
Only to crumble once more to ash.
Noah’s Ark was a period of time, and not a boat.
It is through such misconceptions
Your beliefs are weakened and your faith lost…
WHY CAN YOU NOT SEE…?
Earth is born of molten lava
Torn from the breast of a violent star.
Man is created
And rises from the dust-fringed edges of the cooling mud
To love...To conquer…To kill...
AND HE WILL!”
Tape speed wind chases this insistently freaky track into the fading gloom and late night Booker T & The MG’s outtake from “Gris-Gris” vibe of the Fowley-penned “Canyon Women”, a place where sexually rhythmically percussion hangs in the background like swamp gas silhouetting the band as they respond to Bissot’s vocals with low, bullfrog refraining as over-recorded organ and casual grunts pass by in the shadows. “Devil And The Sea” is the psychic link between The Doors’ “When The Music’s Over” and Alice Cooper’s “Black Juju” as those familiar prominent organ swells cut in, out and all around Bissot’s vocals of truly beacon-in-the-wilderness qualities. “Do You Believe” is all corn-fed and howling harp as Bissot starts vocally delivering in down home, religious revival tones against distinctly Fraternity of Man/Holy Modal Rounders backing. “Go!” commands Fowley from behind the glass for the next gross-out, “Help Me Close The Door” signaling commencement of a somber Bissot narration painting a portrait of a broken man with the paint roller. It’s cheap pathos galore over a lullaby piano rock-a-bye-ing as several species of small furry animals chirp continually along with little girls’ persistent calls of “Daddy?” Tears well up until the surprise final set up line of “If you have any heart at all…You’ll help me close the door!” that causes all studio denizens to erupt in cackling glee at the egg on your face. “Messages From The Dead” follows with a mid-tempo “Mystic Eyes” beat and prominent 2-fingered bass. Bissot has just hooked himself a one-way ticket onto that down bound train to Sheol with ol’ Satan hisself, and with each passing level the flames shoot higher and higher: here represented by hugely recorded organ smears all up and down the keyboard against a backwards hi-hat pattern. After seven levels of Hell have been traversed, Bissot’s finally had enough of those flames licking up his body so he’s now down on his knees pleading right before the organ-led coda, “No, God….don’t burn me down in hea-uh! Please don’t burn me down, God!” So they tightly burn down the track instead -- in a way Fowley would later describe as “Vanilla Fudge minus the fucking bubblegum.”
Side two is just as diverse, great and fucked up. “Goddess of Death” is a sleep-walking creep-out supreme with all the eeriness of “You’re Lost Little Girl” by The Doors. Descending organ quietly curls like smoke in the background as electric guitar piano-type notes are plucked as Bissot intones from a waking dream: ”And we walked into the endless valley…Looking back in tears while the echoes of life faded from our ears…We walked into the cold silence, being careful not to step on those who had passed out there in previous times…and I ask, ‘Why are we here? Why are we here? Why are we here?” The band responds only with the swaying chant, “Why? Why? Why? Why?”…and neither are graced with an answer. Spook-eh!
Leave it to Fowley to compose St. John Green’s own signature tune, entitled (naturally) “St. John Green” and of course sounds like nothing else on the album. Bissot’s vocals now switch to Dylanesque overtones as they spread over a dum-dum re-vamp “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” filling the background with a clutch of piano, tuba-tone bass and heavily sustained organ that clump around great lyrics like ”Just because we’re so young and deadly/Why did we have to lose our light?” Next up is the quicker paces of “Spirit Of Now”, akin to the later basement psychedelia of The C.A. Quintet. Here, guitarist Bill Kirkland is finally allowed a solo for the first time on the record, and it’s fantastic -- followed by a sprinting organ solo by Mike Baxter, whose arrangements throughout are strong, fine-tuned and as consistently weird as his neatly-placed organ fills. “Love Of Hate” is an elegiac vocal (what else?) intonation accompanied by organ alone, with Bissot channeling words from and about the world beyond the grave. The Fowley-penned “One Room Cemetery” is the terrifying highlight of side two as elements of free form freak outs scatter behind Bissot’s intonations from a dark and lonely place as tom-tom rolls, solidly plucked bass lines and random, skittering guitar all conspire to creep you out. Over ominously building drums, Bissot hurls out echoed grunts, calls for bo-weevils to meet him in his one room cemetery and calmly free associating all over the place with “We’re playing with the world… We’re playing with the world…When a love song has gone wrong…where does a sad girl go? Where does the sad girl go when her love song is over? We’re playing with the world…We’re playing with the world…” right before all fades to black with a single, jerked musical curtain pull.
But as weirdly dark and epic that “St. John Green” well and truly is, where can it go but sign off but with “Shivers Of Pleasure”, a bouncy showbiz coda: all jaunty piano, lounge hi-hats and vocal A-Z alphabetical dedications like: ”F is for Fowley: is he putting us on?”, “T is for Teenage girls” (accented by a non-too subtle pelvic thrust grunt, “Uuhhh!”) and so on, cracking sophomoric jokes in a manner altogether out of context with the rest of the album. It’s kinda disconcerting in its clean cut kid delivery, but then again, it may be an intentional move in case if too many people got the wrong idea whilst hanging onto each of Bissot’s every word, taking them too far upon the album’s termination by offing themselves outright…
For maximum effect, play in absolute darkness.
~ Reviewed by The Seth Man ~
Laughing Soup Dish - we are the dish
Laughing Soup Dish's tongue-in-cheek garage/psyche is so raw, wild and authentic- you'll never believe they aren't a "real" '60s band worthy of inclusion on Pebbles Volume 1!
members:
Wayne Larsen
Dave DeSantes
Kile Zimmermen
Curtis Leyhe
Jon Davies
Laughing Soup Dish was a psychedelic band from Long Branch,New Jersey. They achieved some notoriety in Greece. Some claim their name was a play on "LSD" (Laughing Soup Dish). They had several albums, most notably "Underthrow the Overground." . The band released two LPs, two 45s, and have been featured on numerous compilation albums. Their single Teenage Lima Bean only recently went out of print, as a vinyl 45 was still available for purchase (from the indie label Bomp Records) until recently.
The band never achieved mainstream success, but are regarded in cult status in the underground psychedelic/garage music world. Their music is still played on various radio stations.
Like most of the 1980s Jersey psych bands, you won't find LSD albums in the cut-out bin, as they are regarded as collector's items, and usually fetch a large price.
Trivia
Jon Davies fronted the Laughing Soup Dish when he opened for The Dead Kennedys in Dover. The band performed under the name The Secret Syde.
Their albums are infamous for their tongue-in-cheek, humorous covers, which usually depict a cartoon Soup Dish, either laughing, dancing, or both.
The insert to the X-men's debut album "X-Men" features several pictures of the band, including a photo of a van, on which there is an advertisement for a Laughing Soup Dish show. This may have something to do with the fact Dave DeSantis was, at one time, a member of both bands, and he designed the insert.
Discography
We Are The Dish
Teenage Lima Bean (45)
Underthrow The Overground(1990)
Be A Caveman: The Best of the Vox Garage Revival
References:
answers.com/topic/laughing-soupdish
Label:VOXX Release Number:200047
A1 "Acidland"
A2 "Seven seas"
A3 "Plant life"
A4 "Flowering"
A5 "Now you know"
A6 "Your so plastic"
B1 "Princess"
B2 "Black River"
B3 "Last impressions"
B4 "For the yesterdays"
B5 "No one home"
B6 "Sunrise"
Unfortunately i have only their "underthrow the overground!"album in vinyl(don't ask me to rip it) and i don't know the mp3 titles of this one.i've contacted Wayne Larsen in order to get some info about the tracks and the album cause unfortunately it's very hard to find the titles and the cover of the LP.
i hope that he will correspond...
anyway grab it and enjoy it ! great and rare band
Your Download-Link :
http://rapidshare.com/files/4807834/lsd.rar
"Hello to all my Friends! the Laughing Soup Dish also can be heard on Voxx " the Secret Team" with the track "No ones home" , the Shadowmouth Record with "Walking By the Sea" and the "Liquid Salad Dinner" bootleg containing Live and rehersal versions of many early LSD songs. I am hoping that George Markou will re release this on his Gew Gaw Lablel. Anyone wishing to contact me can at:
www.myspace.cpm/bluemaryguitar
or:
waynealarsen@msn.com
Thank You,
Wayne Larsen"
www.myspace.cpm/bluemaryguitar
or:
waynealarsen@msn.com
Thank You,
Wayne Larsen"
Labels: innocent76, L
Monday, October 16, 2006
Everyone Involved - 1972 - Either Or
Everyone Involved - 1972 - Either OrEITHER
Fragments of a Vision
Chant Song
A Sad Song
Motor Car Madness
The Master Man
A Song for the System
OR
An Anti-Social Multi-Person Song
Leaves and Paper
A Gay Song
A Liberated Man
Hallo Morning Sun
Music of the Spheres
Either/Or was the name of the (only) album performed and recorded by Everyone Involved.
I wrote all the lyrics and produced the album. I suspect the track you probably want to put on your website is "A Gay Song" but please feel free to use as many tracks as you like. The whole point of the album was not to produce a consumer item so we all contributed what we could afford which produced a print run of 1000 copies which was divided equally between the sixteen contributors. The only rule was that they were not to be sold and to this end it actually says on the disk label: "This record is free. If you paid for it you were conned."
Because we were trying to make as many copies as we could for as little money as we could, we used plain white albums (before the Beatles!) and embossed them with the title. So the only way I can send you the "design" is to use an image I produced for my own CD copies. (Above.) Hope this is all helpful.
All the best.
Alan Wakeman
*********************************
Above, an email I received from Alan Wakeman, the producer and co-writer of the 1972 "Either/Or" album. This UK band's entire album is available for free downloads at the link below. It was one of the earliest albums containing openly gay material.
Everyone Involved website
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Six Feet Under - In Retrospect 1969-70
01. Inspiration in My Head
02. Freedom
03. What Would You Do?
04. Baby I Want to Love You
05. In Retrospect
06. Fields
07. Running Around in the Sun [Reference Mix]
08. Black Movies[Instrumental]
09. Six Feet Under Theme
10. Suzy Q
11. City Blues
12. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
13. Basement Jam
14. Sonix Commercial
15. Inspiration in My Head [Alternate Take][Instrumental]
16. Freedom [Live]
17. What Would You Do?
18. Fields [45 Version]
19. Boogie Man Bash
02. Freedom
03. What Would You Do?
04. Baby I Want to Love You
05. In Retrospect
06. Fields
07. Running Around in the Sun [Reference Mix]
08. Black Movies[Instrumental]
09. Six Feet Under Theme
10. Suzy Q
11. City Blues
12. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
13. Basement Jam
14. Sonix Commercial
15. Inspiration in My Head [Alternate Take][Instrumental]
16. Freedom [Live]
17. What Would You Do?
18. Fields [45 Version]
19. Boogie Man Bash
A great psychedelic band featuring a prominent organ, female vocalist and distorted hard rock guitar, Six Feet Under released a couple of 1970 singles on Scepter before disbanding. Influenced by the Doors, Iron Butterfly and Jefferson Airplane, they favored gloomy melodies and songs reflecting the state of social unrest and psychedelic exploration in the counterculture circa 1969-70. Their legacy was greatly expanded by a CD reissue on Arf! Arf! in 1998 that included previously unreleased material that approximated what their debut album might have sounded like, along with some unissued home, live and rehearsal recordings.
Jerry Dobb and Scott Julian formed the Marc 5 in 1966 in Colonia, New Jersey. Later known as the Sonix, they decided to change musical direction in 1968 and new personnel were secured to form Six Feet Under. The first drummer didn't last long, his seat being taken by Hector Torres. By 1970, seeking a recording contract, another shake-up resulted in the exit of Torres and the acquisition of a young female vocalist to strengthen that department.
The CD retrospective comprises nineteen tracks - eight studio, five home recordings plus live and radio spots. It showcases the width of the bands hippie-acid-psych repertoire, sounding like Ill Wind one minute and Iron Butterfly the next. An excellent and welcome release with a fascinating history and track-by-track breakdown from Jerry Dobbs. And as Jerry points out, ironically it was only ousted drummer Torres who found real success and fame. After returning home to Sayerville, he'd bounce back after teaming up with a promising youngster called Jon Bon Jovi...
Six Feet Under Theme, an unreleased '68 effort, resurfaced on 30 Seconds Before The Calico Wall (CD) and their unreleased cover of Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida on Beyond The Calico Wall (CD). Their first 45 occupies similar territory - heavy acid-rock with hippie undertones..
Jerry Dobb and Scott Julian formed the Marc 5 in 1966 in Colonia, New Jersey. Later known as the Sonix, they decided to change musical direction in 1968 and new personnel were secured to form Six Feet Under. The first drummer didn't last long, his seat being taken by Hector Torres. By 1970, seeking a recording contract, another shake-up resulted in the exit of Torres and the acquisition of a young female vocalist to strengthen that department.
The CD retrospective comprises nineteen tracks - eight studio, five home recordings plus live and radio spots. It showcases the width of the bands hippie-acid-psych repertoire, sounding like Ill Wind one minute and Iron Butterfly the next. An excellent and welcome release with a fascinating history and track-by-track breakdown from Jerry Dobbs. And as Jerry points out, ironically it was only ousted drummer Torres who found real success and fame. After returning home to Sayerville, he'd bounce back after teaming up with a promising youngster called Jon Bon Jovi...
Six Feet Under Theme, an unreleased '68 effort, resurfaced on 30 Seconds Before The Calico Wall (CD) and their unreleased cover of Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida on Beyond The Calico Wall (CD). Their first 45 occupies similar territory - heavy acid-rock with hippie undertones..
Your Download-Links
part 1:
http://rapidshare.com/files/13783103/sfu_1.rar.html
part 2:
http://rapidshare.com/files/13800750/sfu_2.rar.html
Labels: innocent76, S
En Plo - 1989 - En plo
80s greek band . Unique band for the greek standards for that period of time .They certainly influenced a lot of greek bands .
En Plo were a band with a completely personal sound, drawing their musical influences not only from the likes of Savage Republic or 17 Pygmies but also from Greek ethnic folk music. Their first album ("En Plo", 1989, now deleted) is considered to be one of the best Greek underground records ever made. Swirling guitars, a very tight rhythm section and mind-blowing clarinet (!) give it an aura of melancholic research and the class of a real work of art.
Unfortunately they didn't last long and their members continued contributing to the greek underground scene with their own projects.
Your download link :
http://rapidshare.com/files/2976124/EnPlo1989EnPlo.rar
En Plo were a band with a completely personal sound, drawing their musical influences not only from the likes of Savage Republic or 17 Pygmies but also from Greek ethnic folk music. Their first album ("En Plo", 1989, now deleted) is considered to be one of the best Greek underground records ever made. Swirling guitars, a very tight rhythm section and mind-blowing clarinet (!) give it an aura of melancholic research and the class of a real work of art.
Unfortunately they didn't last long and their members continued contributing to the greek underground scene with their own projects.
Your download link :
http://rapidshare.com/files/2976124/EnPlo1989EnPlo.rar
Labels: E, innocent76
Perth County Conspiracy - 1970 - Does Not Exist
The Perth County Conspiracy - 1970 - Does Not Exist
part I part II
01 Midnight Hour
02 Epistle of the Borderliner
03 Easy Rider
04 Truth & Fantasy
05 Don't You Feel Fine
06 You Have The Power
07 Keeper of the Keys
08 Lady of the Country
09 Listen to the Kids
10 Trouble on the Farm
11 Excerpt form "As You Like It"
12 The Dancer
13 Crucifixation Cartoon
Cedric Smith (vocals, guitar)
Richard Keelan (guitar, vocals)
Michael Butler (bass)
Terry Jones (guitar, vocals)
George Taros (piano, vocals)
While the disadvantages of major labels, their questionable output and oft-myopic philosophy has been lamented in these pages over and over, the advantages of these maligned oligarchies should not be denied. If the cogs are allowed to interlock as desired it's obviously preferable for all people involved to have a record created with a big, powerful corporation backing it, rather than just what available money could afford. OK, so these cases are rare, but they do exist.
Such generous thoughts cross my mind while listening to the debut LP by Canada's PERTH COUNTY CONSPIRACY. This is because the album is a triumph of realization, more than anything else. I don't know what the PCC guys think of it now -- maybe they hate it, a lot of musicians hate their old records -- but it seems to me that whatever their ambitions were back in 1970, they couldn't have been far removed from the sounds rising from the finished grooves. This is an expensive production, with one of the most attractive soundscapes I have ever come across within the genre, which could be described as Progessive Hippie Folkpsych. Whatever studio time the PCC requested they had it, and other resources at Toronto Sound were obviously provided as needed. Even the artwork, a greatlooking gatefold with booklet insert, shows a good-natured record company at work. Of course, this isn't just any major label we're talking about but Columbia Canada, whose batting average in the early 1970s is rivaled only by that of the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays; It's All Meat, Jarvis St Revue, Ptarmigan are just a few examples of the label's remarkable output at the time (see Fraser & Debolt review below for yet another).
However, "Does Not Exist" differs from these LPs in not being a 3-figure rarity, and looking around it appears that Perth County Conspiracy were a near-household name in Canada back in the daze. Maybe this is also the reason why they haven't quite entered the psychedelic pantheon yet, especially outside their homeland. I haven't heard anything from their subsequent and rather confused discography, but this first outing alone should warrant a chair at a table within shouting distance from the musical gods.
Tuning up for the recording session
The Perth County Conspiracy band was formed in Stratford, Ontario as a typical hippie-era art/folk music commune; plenty of people involved, wives, brothers, kids and maybe a couple of shaggy dogs too. Other than contemporary folk their inclination was towards poetry and the theatre, and indeed one of the key guys ended up as a famous actor later on. Doesn't take an oracle to see that coming as literary references and ambitions are all over this LP, including recitations of Dylan Thomas and Shakespeare, the latter being a particular obsession of the band and the area they came from (as the name Stratford implies). Now if this sounds just a wee bit scary, I'm prepared to deliver the first of a handful testimonies where my opinion may differ from that of the typical 1960s/70s psych admirer. This is it: the PCC recitations are daring and pretentious, but I think they work. Yep. Two reasons why: the readings are done in a skillful manner by guys who obviously understand the difficulties involved. They don't play it safe like the sherry-sipping gentleman heard on the Moody Blues albums, but dive head first into the alliterations, rhythms and turns of classic poetry. The opening Dylan Thomas incantation is especially successful, establishing a self-assured, literary tone for the album that thousands of progressive bands could only dream of. The other reason it works is just this; that the band is able to carry that tone into the actual music, which is neither classical nor pretentious, but highly appealing folkpsych and singer/songwriter with a definite 1970 stamp.
So initially we're thrown between the exhilarating poetry of Thomas and an equally exhilarating tune right out of the CSNY/Incredible String Band intersection where Perth County resides. As with many Canadian bands there is an explicit (and physical -- ex-Spikedrivers member Richard Keelan was from Michigan and had moved up North to escape the draft) connection to the USA, linking the perceived wrongs of their own country (war, violence, pollution, etc) with those of the yankees. This makes for a rather complex trip that perhaps could only be understood then and there; in any event we are told that it is the "Americanadian way". But again like many of their maple leaf peers, there is also a strong presence of the British music scene, messieurs Heron & Williamson in particular. While I think the PCC are a bit more successful than the ISB in their cross-cultural ambitions, mainly because they don't automatically assume themselves to be geniuses, one can't deny that the avant-literary folk path that the String Band carved out from 1966 onwards was followed by thousands of bands around the world. I've also seen "Does not exist" compared to Pearls Before Swine, and it's a useful reference that captures the delicate and atmospheric nature of its best tracks.
The opening mix of half-sung poetry and hippie anthem is followed by a Brit-sounding piano-led downer trip, recalling Nick Drake and Isolation but given a nice edge by Cedric Smith, whose acidic vocals is one of the album's many strengths. We are then transported halfway across the world, out into the Californian desert where a deftly understated tribute to "Easy Rider" -- the movie -- rises from the ground like an evening campfire. Richard Keelan's vocals are more of a Steven Stills type introspection, and the difference in style between the two main guys is cleverly juxtaposed throughout the LP. The redneck gunshot at the end of "Easy Rider" is used as a bridge into a highly theatrical spoken bit, full of convoluted anti-war propaganda; graphic and unpleasant but also ironic and multilayered. This in turn works as an introduction to "Truth and fantasy", a suite of superb folkpsych mixed with short theatrical interludes. Labyrinthine? Confusing? Well, that's what the LP is like -- trips opening within trips, yet constantly moving forward. This is also why I consider this a more genuinely psychedelic album than most of the artifacts of its genre. Hey, there's nothing wrong with being pretentious as long as you pull it off. Of course, almost none of the prog-folkers do, but on this LP the Perth County Conspiracy do with flying colors, God bless 'em.
I won't detail the other tracks that round out the whopping 26 minutes of side 1, except to say that they're marvels of production value, vocal harmonies and elaborate arrangements. Over on side 2 we are first treated to the beautiful folkpsych of "Keeper of the keys" which is a good pick to play for a friend you want to convince of the album's greatness; in fact you have to be dead from the neck up not to worship this tune. This is followed by the album's one spot of weakness, the well-intended, charming, and ultimately hopeless "Listen to the kids". A merger of children's poems and a nice little CSN:ish tune, it's not the sugary Graham Nash nightmare you might envision but it's not terribly successful either; the contrast with the very grownup recitation that follows is just too sharp. As the LP as a whole clocks in at no less than 53 minutes this track could have been removed, leaving you still with an unusually generous playtime. Ah, what the hell. Flaws are part of the psychedelic world too. The Orwellian uptempo excursion of "Trouble on the farm" provides a welcome change of mood, before the Conspiracy gears up for the grand finale. First there's a bit of Shakespeare with an unexpected loungey backing, then we are treated to the "The Dancer" which parallels the introspective Albion mood of the second track on side 1, creating a neat arch-like structure for the album as a whole.
These are just preparations for the awesome acid folk epic that closes the LP in a way better than anyone could hope for. "Crucifixation cartoon" is simply stunning, a trip deep into the cranium that reminds me of that long monster track on the Search Party LP, and proof that guilt trip loner anthems are not exclusively the domain of local mid-70s private press albums; at least not if your record label is Columbia Canada. This is where it's at, daddy-o: There's a cross on every tree
When you're learning to be free which may recall the Poet's immortal: The trees in our gaze
Will show us the love that we bring them A C.O.B-like mood emerges with the inventive use of a "ukelin" to provide the lead as this masterpiece of melancholy draws to its inevitable close. The album's end signals the end of an almost physical experience, and I must admit that there really aren't that many LPs around that leave me in such a state of involvement as "Does not exist"; not just once, but pretty much every time I hear it. Helped in no small part by the Toronto money behind them it seems the Perth County Conspiracy, on their first album no less, managed to provide us with a glimpse of an absolute music beyond the veil, something not many groups have done. I realize that to an avid fan of "crude garage fuzz" or "screaming basement psych" this LP may come off as pretentious and foppish, but to anyone with at least half an ear for transcendental folkpsych it is certain to delight, and maybe surprise too, given its non-rare nature.
I was tempted to take a point off for these high-fallooting Canucks referring to their lyric booklet as a "libretto" but hell, I'll give them some leeway on that one too. Best folkpsych LP outta Canada so far! As mentioned before their discography is a bit confusing, and there is in fact another LP by them also titled "Does not exist", due to the band's strange idea to make these words part of their moniker -- as if it wasn't unwieldy enough already. So be sure to check that the label is Columbia before adding "Does not exist" to your collection. The band followed this with a live LP, also on Columbia, before moving on to private labels where they made a handful more LPs during the 1970s. I hear they recently reformed for local gigs.
Madden & Harris - 1975 - Fools Paradise
Madden & Harris (Australia) - 1975 - Fools Paradise01 Wishes
02 Fool's Paradise pt
03 The Wind At Eve
04 Margaret O'Grady
05 I Heard A Man Say
06 O'Weary bBrain
07 Cool September
08 Fools Paradise
09 Remember Me
10 A Simple Song
"This Australian duo is responsible for an exceptional fusion of progressive rock and folk, as the grooves of this album, originally released in a limited edition of 500 copies, prove. Published by Jasmine Records in 1975, Fool's Paradise manages to raise from its folkish background to a fuller rock experience, with the addition of mellotron and vintage keyboards. Dave Madden and Peter Harris are here backed up by a great rhythm section composed by Paul Baker (bass) and Doug Gallagher (drums) for an amazing session that reaches its apex in the suite that gives the name to the album. Impeccable."
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Deviants - 1968 - Disposable
Deviants - 1968 - Disposable
Song Title :
01 Somewhere To Go
02 Shadows And Wires
03 Jamies Song
04 You've Got To Hold On
05 Fire In The City
06 Lets Loot The Supermarket
07 Pappa-Oo-Mao-Mao
08 Slum Lord
09 Blind Joe Mcturks Last Lesson
10 Normality James
11 Guarenteed To Bleed
12 Sadney B Goode
13 Last Man
Mick Farren - Lead Vocals
Russell Hunter - Drums
Sid Bishop - Guitar
Duncan Sanderson - Bass
Biography
In the late '60s, the Deviants were something like the British equivalent to the Fugs, with touches of the Mothers of Invention and the British R&B-based rock of the Yardbirds and the Pretty Things. Their roots were not so much in the British Invasion as the psychedelic underground that began to take shape in London in 1966-1967. Not much more than amateurs when they began playing, they squeezed every last ounce of skill and imagination out of their limited instrumental and compositional resources on their debut, Ptooff!, which combined savage social commentary, overheated sexual lust, psychedelic jamming, blues riffs, and pretty acoustic ballads -- all in the space of seven songs. Their subsequent '60s albums had plenty of outrage, but not nearly as strong material as the debut. Lead singer Mick Farren recorded a solo album near the end of the decade, and went on to become a respected rock critic. He intermittently performed and recorded as a solo artist and with re-formed versions of the Deviants.
~AMG- Richie Unterberger
Song Title :
01 Somewhere To Go
02 Shadows And Wires
03 Jamies Song
04 You've Got To Hold On
05 Fire In The City
06 Lets Loot The Supermarket
07 Pappa-Oo-Mao-Mao
08 Slum Lord
09 Blind Joe Mcturks Last Lesson
10 Normality James
11 Guarenteed To Bleed
12 Sadney B Goode
13 Last Man
Mick Farren - Lead Vocals
Russell Hunter - Drums
Sid Bishop - Guitar
Duncan Sanderson - Bass
Biography
In the late '60s, the Deviants were something like the British equivalent to the Fugs, with touches of the Mothers of Invention and the British R&B-based rock of the Yardbirds and the Pretty Things. Their roots were not so much in the British Invasion as the psychedelic underground that began to take shape in London in 1966-1967. Not much more than amateurs when they began playing, they squeezed every last ounce of skill and imagination out of their limited instrumental and compositional resources on their debut, Ptooff!, which combined savage social commentary, overheated sexual lust, psychedelic jamming, blues riffs, and pretty acoustic ballads -- all in the space of seven songs. Their subsequent '60s albums had plenty of outrage, but not nearly as strong material as the debut. Lead singer Mick Farren recorded a solo album near the end of the decade, and went on to become a respected rock critic. He intermittently performed and recorded as a solo artist and with re-formed versions of the Deviants.
~AMG- Richie Unterberger
Friday, October 13, 2006
Ed Askew - 1968 - Ask The Unicorn
Ed Askew - 1968 - Ask The Unicorn
Song Title
01. Fancy That
02. Peter And David
03. Marigolds
04. Mr. Dream
05. Red Woman-Letter To England
06. Garden, The
07. May Blossoms Be Praised
08. 9-Song
09. Love Is Everyone
10. Ask The Unicorn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of ESP-Disk's true acid folk classics, up there with their Pearls Before Swine and Fugs albums, Ed Askew's Ask the Unicorn is one of the most unique singer/songwriter albums of the '60s. Rather than the usual guitar, Askew plays the tiple, a Latin ten-stringed instrument that's sort of a cross between a lute and a ukulele. It's a loud, trebly instrument with a lot of sustain and some interesting harmonics created by the way the strings resonate together, and it adds an intriguing instrumental texture to the album. Askew has said that the tiple also affects his vocal style on this album; because the instrument is so difficult to play, there's a strained quality to his vocals. Indeed, on the opening, "Fancy That," Askew sounds like the Violent Femmes' Gordon Gano trying to sing North African rai. Lyrically, Ask the Unicorn is nowhere near as hippie-dippy as the title suggests. Askew is a gifted, confessional lyricist, and the songs are emotionally engaging in a way that many psychedelic records are not. In a particularly interesting element of the album considering its pre-Stonewall recording date, Askew's lyrics address his homosexuality in an admirably matter-of-fact way, neither ducking the point nor focusing on it exclusively. Other tracks use a number of floral metaphors in a way similar to Georgia O'Keefe's codedly erotic flower paintings. The simply produced live-with-no-overdubs feel of Ask the Unicorn gives the album a folk-like immediacy even on the most out-there songs, like the seven-minute drone "May Blossoms Be Praised." Askew never did another commercial release after Ask the Unicorn, although a 1970 follow-up on ESP-Disk made it as far as a test pressing. In the decades since, the New York-based Askew has pursued a relatively successful career as a painter and poet, and has self-released several cassettes of new material that can be found on the fringe music tape-trading underground.
~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
Song Title
01. Fancy That
02. Peter And David
03. Marigolds
04. Mr. Dream
05. Red Woman-Letter To England
06. Garden, The
07. May Blossoms Be Praised
08. 9-Song
09. Love Is Everyone
10. Ask The Unicorn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a unique acid folk item, even by ESP standards. Askew plays the tiple, an acoustic instrument in the same world as mandolin, dulcimer and autoharp. The effect isn’t a whole lot different from guitar-and-voice, but it’s just exotic enough to have curiosity value. The instrument takes a lot of energy to play, and the effort gives Askew a strained vocal style that actually gives his music an appealing edge. The songs are odd enough (and good enough) to keep the listener’s interest despite the sparse arrangements. The lyrics are quirky and occasionally mystical, but quite effective and affecting. Askew has a bizarre sense of romanticism that fits his street poet mentality. Supposedly some of these lyrics address his homosexuality, making him way ahead of his time. He does so, though, in such abstractions that the words can be interpreted in other ways. Like all purely solo albums, after 43 minutes there’s a saminess to this, but this really is one of the best albums of its type, and is recommended highly to fans of loner folk and oddball singer-songwriters. there is apparently also a reissue retitled "Ask the unicorn" in an altered cover. [AM]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of ESP-Disk's true acid folk classics, up there with their Pearls Before Swine and Fugs albums, Ed Askew's Ask the Unicorn is one of the most unique singer/songwriter albums of the '60s. Rather than the usual guitar, Askew plays the tiple, a Latin ten-stringed instrument that's sort of a cross between a lute and a ukulele. It's a loud, trebly instrument with a lot of sustain and some interesting harmonics created by the way the strings resonate together, and it adds an intriguing instrumental texture to the album. Askew has said that the tiple also affects his vocal style on this album; because the instrument is so difficult to play, there's a strained quality to his vocals. Indeed, on the opening, "Fancy That," Askew sounds like the Violent Femmes' Gordon Gano trying to sing North African rai. Lyrically, Ask the Unicorn is nowhere near as hippie-dippy as the title suggests. Askew is a gifted, confessional lyricist, and the songs are emotionally engaging in a way that many psychedelic records are not. In a particularly interesting element of the album considering its pre-Stonewall recording date, Askew's lyrics address his homosexuality in an admirably matter-of-fact way, neither ducking the point nor focusing on it exclusively. Other tracks use a number of floral metaphors in a way similar to Georgia O'Keefe's codedly erotic flower paintings. The simply produced live-with-no-overdubs feel of Ask the Unicorn gives the album a folk-like immediacy even on the most out-there songs, like the seven-minute drone "May Blossoms Be Praised." Askew never did another commercial release after Ask the Unicorn, although a 1970 follow-up on ESP-Disk made it as far as a test pressing. In the decades since, the New York-based Askew has pursued a relatively successful career as a painter and poet, and has self-released several cassettes of new material that can be found on the fringe music tape-trading underground.
~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
SpiroGyra - 1971 - St. Radigunds
SpiroGyra - 1971 - St. RadigundsTracks :
01. The Future Won´t Be Long (4:27)
02. Island (3:39)
03. Magical Mary (6:20)
04. Captain's Log (2:00)
05. At Home In The World (2:40)
06. Cogwheels Crutches And Cyanide (6:00)
07. Time Will Tell (5:32)
08. We Were A Happy Crew (5:29)
09. Love Is A Funny Thing (2:00)
10. The Duke Of Beaufoot (7:08)
Line-up
- Steve Borrill / bass
- Martin Cockerham / guitar, vocals
- Julian Cusack / violin, keyboards
- Barbara Gaskin / lead vocals
Guest musicians:
- Dave Mattacks / drums
- Tony Cox / VCS 3
- Bill Bruford / drums Spirogyra's first album is the closest thing that comes to Comus's First Utterances. It actually pre-dates it by a few weeks! Please note that Dave Mattacks will drum on al three albums but will never be a member! He was busy in Fairport Convention at the time and will also drum for Jethro Tull during the 80's. Barbara Gaskin is also known for her work with Hatfield And The North (as one of the Northettes along with Amanda Parsons) and her work with National Health and in the 80's with Dave Stewart and Bill Bruford!
What we have here is superb folk rock , avoiding some of the clichés (no done-to-death covers of traditional tunes) , inventive enough to be classified as folk-prog. The main writer Cockerham is also often engaging in great duos with Gaskin and this is , along with the violin of Cussack and Borril's great bass lines, the main reasons for sounding so close to Comus! But where Comus was dark and demonic, Spirogyra is more political and romantic.
Many tracks are stupendous as they work very tightly and have great interplaying. Future , Island and Magical Mary are all very enthralling tracks. Comes in two of the three shorter and more reflective tracks (Captain's Log and At Home In the World) but also slightly less interesting! Cogwheels is absolutely fascinating with Gaskin underlining Cockerham's acidic vocals (much the same way Grace Slick , Balin and Kantner did in Jefferson Airplane). Time Will Tell shows how politically conscious the band was. Happy Crew is relatively slow starting because of lenghty and not entirely successful string arrangement and when it does take off, it is too short. They saved their best track to close the album. The Duke of Beaufoot is simply riveting and really holding your attention much the same way that Traffic did with John Barleycorn Must Die.
~Review by Sean Trane/Hugues Chantraine [Progarchives]
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