Archive for the ‘ Pop ’ Category

Terry Reid (self-titled)

| Classic Rock,Pop,RnB

It’s amazing how such a perfect stroke of rock n-roll can hide in the shadows. Terry Reid’s albums are an instantly likable mix of blues, rock, and blue-eyed soul. Excellent juke box fodder, you could drop a quarter on a random song from his catalog and feel confident in any bar around. Maybe classic rock radio would give the boy a spin if he hadn’t turned down that lead-singer gig for Led Zeppelin.

I guess it’s lucky for us that Terry recommended Robert Plant for the job (he was busy opening for the Stones). Needless to say, the kid can belt. One of the great unsung voices of rock, in fact. The leadoff track on this record is an aptly titled Donovan cover, Superlungs My Supergirl. Most of the rest are fine originals, shining on the toned down folk numbers, May Fly case in point.

Another case of classic management problems, Terry would remain under the radar, unhelped by Mickie Most’s contractual obligations. Reid’s music gathered some renewed interest thanks to Rob Zombie, particularly via his ultra-horrifying film, The Devil’s Rejects, soundtracked with a bunch of classic Terry Reid joints. I can firmly agree you won’t be disappointed with any Terry Reid purchase ventured, even the confusing mix of his early albums on Astralwerks, Superlungs.

“Superlungs My Supergirl”

I’m posting Terry’s 2nd, self-titled album above for its lovely 1969 grit, but his other albums, notably River and Seed of Memory, are every bit as essential. They take a more manicured 1970s approach, adding bass groovers and horns, with Seed of Memory approaching superfunk on side two, but damn if they won’t get ya. Here’s two from a personal favorite, River:

“Dean”

:D CD Reissue / Download | 2005 | Astralwerks | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1969 | Epic | search ebay ]

Al Kooper “I Stand Alone”

| Art,Garage,Pop,Prog,Psych

I Stand Alone

Al Kooper’s debut should really be heard by more people. This record was released by Columbia in 1968, sometime after Kooper had left the original Blood, Sweat and Tears. Casual listeners know Kooper as a mid-60’s Bob Dylan sideman, sometimes Mike Bloomfield/Shuggie Otis collaborator, respected record producer and keyboard player in the legendary underground New York City group, the Blues Project. Kooper left behind many fine solo records in the late 60’s and 70’s but I Stand Alone is something special, a disc that captures it’s place and time very well.

I Stand Alone is one of those records that’s inventive in a post Sgt. Pepper way, ambitious in its wide array of styles, experimental within a pop context and bound to confuse at least a few listeners. It’s amazing that Kooper’s solo work and the first Blood, Sweat and Tears record have never been reassessed for the great records they are. I Stand Alone is a strong listen all the way through, divided evenly between originals and well chosen covers. The disc opens with the title track, which was recorded in Nashville and is one of Kooper’s signature tunes. Had this strange but wonderful Nashville blue-eyed soul hybrid been released as a single it may have had a chance at reaching the charts. About half the tracks are in a pop sike vein. Kooper does a nice job covering Nilsson’s One and stretches out with the Kooperfone on an excellent reading of Traffic’s Coloured Rain. Song and Dance for the Unborn, Frightened Child is somewhat similar to one of the more arty, psychedelic cuts on Blood, Sweat and Tears debut, it’s an excellent, elaborate production though and proof that strings and horns can work well in the rock n roll format. Other tracks see Kooper cover classics by Sam & Dave (Toe Hold), Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (Hey, Western Union Man) and Bill Monroe (Blue Moon of Kentucky). Blue Moon of Kentucky, which Elvis also covered in 1969, is a wild bluegrass rockabilly take on the classic that was clearly a homage to the Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

All the covers are great and Kooper gives his own individual stamp on each song but of course it’s the originals that grab your attention. The Stonesy swagger of Camille and the dreamy Impressions-like I Can’t Love A Woman are killer soul songs and two of Al Kooper’s best in this particular style. Another classic on the album, Right Now For You, sounds like a really good British psychedelic track with very trippy Kooperfone which sounds well ahead of it’s time. This is an undeniably great album by an artist who should really be looked at with the same esteem as say a John Cale, Captain Beefheart or Frank Zappa. Al Kooper is one of New York’s great musicians and his contributions to rock music have been tremendous. In 2008, Raven reissued I Stand Alone with Kooper’s 1969 followup lp, You Never Know Who Your Friends Are on compact disc. Both lps are a must.

“I Can Love A Woman”

:D CD Reissue | 2008 | Raven | buy from Raven | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1968 | Columbia | search ebay ]

Colin Blunstone “One Year”

| Baroque,Pop,Sunshine

One Year

The Zombies disbanded before their classic Time Of The Season smashed onto radio airwaves, and lead singer Colin Blunstone took to a desk job.

One year later, he grew tired of insurance or whatever it was and got back in the studio. Armed with fellow Zombs Chris White and Rod Argent as co-writers and producers, Colin managed to record what I consider the most precious record in my collection. One Year is a very, very special record to me, so much that it’s actually hard to even mention here.

Three tracks feature backing by the band Argent, and have a lite rock feel, but the rest feature Colin’s silken voice over a tightly arranged and dynamic chamber orchestra. She Loves The Way They Love Her kicks it off with the album’s full band sound. It takes some getting used to as it’s not quite Zombies and perhaps a little too produced, but believe me, this one will get you in the long run with its amazing melody and Colin’s excellent vocal work. The other rock band songs include Caroline Goodbye and Mary Won’t You Warm My Bed, both excellent, upbeat tunes. It’s the orchestra numbers that will get you on this record though. Songs like I Can’t Live Without You, Her Song, and Let Me Come Closer To You will simply murder you.

If you are in the market for records that grow on you more and more each time you listen, this was made for you. I wasn’t sure what to think about One Year when I finally tracked it down (luckily, it’s easily available these days) but after a few years with it, it is definitely one of my favorites, certainly in the top 20: a Sunday morning staple to last my life.

“Say You Don’t Mind”

:D CD Reissue | 2007 | Water | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1971 | Epic | search ebay ]

The Youngbloods “Earth Music”

| Folk,Pop

Earth Music

It’s too bad the Youngbloods are mostly known for their classic cover version of Get Together. They are often referred to as a second rate Lovin’ Spoonful too but there was so much more to the group then these generalizations would lead you to believe. They left behind three classic records, a worthwhile oddities lp entitled Two Trips and some good live recordings.

The Youngbloods were an early folk-rock group that mixed blues, folk, good-time music, country, and rock n roll into something fresh and durable. The group’s members were guitarist bassist Jesse Colin Young, bassist guitarist Jerry Corbitt, keyboard player Banana Levinger and drummer Joe Bauer. Young had soulful, gritty vocals that stood out and in the group’s early years both he and Corbitt split the songwriting credits. While Elephant Mountain is usually regarded as their peak (and most experimental album) the first two lp’s were a dynamite mix of various roots music. The early 1967 debut album was a very consistent mix of well-chosen covers and group originals highlighted by Get Together and the classic Corbitt folk-rocker All Over The World. Earth Music came out later that year and was just as good but lacked a major hit single to propel it into the limelight.

Most of the album’s tracks were originals although there were a few excellent covers that rounded the lp out. The last song on the original lp was one of the first great cover versions of Tim Hardin’s Reason To Believe. The arrangement is sparse, the harmonies are wonderful and overall the Youngbloods turned in a fine countried version of this Hardin standard. Dreamer’s Dream, All My Dreams Blue and Don’t Play Games were great tuneful folk-rockers which were perhaps the group’s strong suit. They also found time to turn in two uptempo good time tracks, Euphoria, which came from the Holy Modal Rounders and the Wine Song. Both these songs were highlights along with the Levinger penned acid garage-rocker Fool Me which featured some fine guitar work. The most significant track may have been Sugar Babe. This was one of the first great country rock standards with great lyrics and a spirit that embodies everything that is good about that genre.

Originals were off the RCA label and easy to come by 40+ years later. The best of the cd reissues was put out by BGO in 2007 and it includes the first 3 albums on 2 discs. Anyone who is into American rock n roll or true roots music should really own these albums; the Youngbloods really deserve their due.

Debut:

“All Over The World (La-La)”

Earth Music:

“Sugar Babe”

:D CD Reissue | 2007 | Beat Goes On | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1967 | RCA | search ebay ]

The Rockets (self-titled)

| Classic Rock,Country Rock,Pop

The Rockets

The sole release by the band that would become Crazy Horse. While it may be a bit unfocused, there’s a lot of stellar, inventive material here. Lead vocalist Danny Whitten and guitarist Leon Whitshell each wrote about half of the songs. Traces of embryonic country-rock can be heard, but they mostly cling to a tougher blues-rock sound with interesting psych touches. If anything, it certainly earns originality points for Bobby Notkoff’s innovative use of the electric violin, which ranges from traditional country breakdowns (Hands in my Pocket) to some intense bow-slashing that sounds something like a steel-shed being mutilated by a chainsaw. (Let Me Go).

The album’s highpoint is undoubtedly the melancholic tour-de-force Won’t You Say You’ll Stay, which may be the best song Whitten ever wrote. Unfortunately the album actually suffers because of this”no other track comes close to touching its brilliance. And at least for the sake of consistency they probably should’ve discarded the two awkward blue-eyed soul attempts for something a little heavier in tone. But there’s still some high-quality stuff left, including the snotty, Stones-like Try My Patience and Shed Your Skin, where the ever versatile Notkoff uses the violin to capture a bizarre Eastern feel.

Even with its flaws, the Rockets is an important late 60s album that seems to have been written out of the history books.

“Wont You Say You’ll Stay”

:D CD Reissue | 2001 | Varese Sarabande | buy from amazon ]

Graham Nash “Songs For Beginners”

| Classic Rock,Folk,Pop

CSNY dismantled after 1970’s Deja Vu, to release four excellent solo albums: Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush, David Crosby’s If I Could Only Remember My Name, Stephen Stills’ Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash’s overlooked but truly excellent Songs For Beginners.

Graham Nash began his music career penning excellent tunes for the Hollies, a lovely group whose Butterfly album is desperately missing a review on this site. His tunes for the Hollies and CSN: “Dear Eloise,” “King Midas In Reverse,” “Teach Your Children,” “Our House,” etc. were always in top form. Vocally, Nash defined the sound of CSN with a high harmony part joyfully recognizable in Beginners. The ace writing continues on this record with fine tracks like “Better Days,” “Wounded Bird,” no use listing every track as there are no dull points. The production makes very few false steps, with solid choices in the arrangement and a good comfortable sound.

Songs For Beginners has a few politically minded tunes in “Military Madness,” the album’s bouncy opener, and the anthemic “Chicago,” about the 1968 Democratic Convention. The lyrics have a bright and hopeful feeling throughout, which could work in a time like today’s. We can change the world, Graham, and that sentiment remains undated by my standards.

Fans of the CSNY family are lucky folk, with such a depth of wonderful material to dig. This album is definitely as strong as anything released at the time by Neil Young, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, or all of them together.

“Better Days”

:D MP3 Album Download | amazon ]
:) Vinyl | search ebay ]

Les Sinners “Vox Populi”

| Concept Albums,Pop,Psych

Original copies of this lp are fairly expensive, sometimes selling on ebay for a few hundred dollars. It’s worth it though, as Vox Populi is one of the great early concept lps and definitely one of the best French-Canadian albums bar none.

A little history on the band known as Les Sinners: they started out in Quebec during the mid 60s and before Vox Populi released two garage pop albums in 1967, their half French/half English-sung debut Sinerisme was an excellent, defiant effort that combined rowdy fuzz rockers with attractive garage pop numbers. The similarly titled Sinnerismes followed the debut album and while not as strong as the aforementioned record, it was still a respectable slab of garage pop. Vox Populi or “voices of the people” was the group’s highwater mark, a superb concept lp centered around life and people’s attitudes toward everyday situations. This 1968 release was sung entirely in French though it’s interesting to note that a recent English version cd reissue of Vox Populi (25 Succes En Anglais) appeared in the early 1990s! Both versions are recommended and differences between the two are very few. Only the French version of Everything Will Be Fine (Le Fou Du Roi) may have the edge over its English counterpart because it begins and ends with cool, distorted vocals.

Vox Populi bears a strong resemblence in sound to the Who’s Sell Out lp and shares a concept similar to that of the Kink’s Face to Face album. Many of the songs are 2.5 to 3 minute pop-art gems and the album displays a good stoned sense of humor throughout. It’s almost useless to pick out key tracks as Vox Populi is very consistent and individual. Everything Will Be Fine, Nothing Is Happening, and Today, Tomorrow are all strong psych pop tracks with good atmospheric vocals, an “english feel” and a nice, trippy production. Other hard rocking highlights are the muscular, lean rocker Late and the brilliant Don’t You Run Away. Don’t You Run Away is a killer fuzz laden psych punker that sounds similar to a really good cut off the Outsiders’ C.Q. or the Pretty Things’ S.F. Sorrow. Another strong track, The Days Are Gone is a superb melancholy rocker that harkens back to an earlier time in rock history.

Les Sinners would go on to release another album or two during the progressive rock era though none of them matched the greatness of the debut or the legendary Vox Populi.

Early Sinners:

mp3: Sour as a Sidewalk

Vox Populi:

mp3: The Days Are Gone (Anglais)
mp3: Le Fou Du Roi (Francaise)

mp3: Don\’t You Run Away
mp3: Today, Tomorrow

:) Original Vinyl | Jupiter | search ebay ]

Kensington Market “Aardvark”

| Pop,Psych,Sunshine

Aardvark

The Kensington Market were a Toronto band that recorded two albums in the late 60s off the Warner Brothers label. Their first album, Avenue Road appeared in 1968 and was greeted with great acclaim. Avenue Road was a modest effort that was noteworthy for a few reasons, it featured decent pop instincts and solid songwriting. In 1969 the band released their final lp titled Aardvark. After the release of this disc the band broke up a few months later, leaving behind a much stronger lp than their debut.

Aardvark is a weird and wonderful mini masterpiece in which much of the Kensington Market’s reputation rests. This time out there were no silly jugband tracks and many of the album’s ideas are fully formed and well thought out. Some of the songs, like the beautifully trippy Cartoon and the ahead-of-it’s-time Help, use primitive synthesizer in all the right ways. Help sounds like a lost Flaming Lips track with its open arrangement and blissed out guitar playing. Side I Am would have had radio potential had it not been for the experimental Smile-era Beach Boys intro. It’s a stunning pop song with Penny Lane horns, fine vocals and that special, inspiring 60s magic. Other tracks like Think About The Times and If It Is Love have more of a meloncholy air but are equally excellent and reveal a more pessimistic side of the band. The experimental Americana of Half Closed Eyes is another standout composition that’s superb in an early morning folk-strum Dylan way with unusual synthesizer flourishes.

Aardvark requires a few close listens to sink in but it really is a great Beatles influenced pop album by an underrated band. This vital piece of Canadian rock n roll will be reissued on cd for the first time by Pacemaker (February/March 2008-).

“Half Closed Eyes”

:D CD Reissue | 2008 | Pacemaker | buy @ EMI ]
:) Original Vinyl | Warner Bros | search @ ebay ]

Phil Ochs “Pleasures Of The Harbor”

| Folk,Pop

Phil Ochs (pronounced “oaks”) had a practiced and stark folk vocal, with deep and pretty vibrato, which makes a bizarre contrast to his pointed lyrical content. I don’t know what it was like to hear this music in 67, but I’m not saying I wish I could have. When people refer to music as ‘dated’ it’s a turn-on; good records are timeless and it’s our ears that are ‘dated.’ Besides, it wasn’t that long ago. Forever, however, I am going to keep diving back in time for discoveries as rich as this one.

Today, I’m posting a longer track. I can’t get it out of my mind. “I’ve had her, I’ve had her…” Two listens to Pleasures Of The Harbor hooked me. It becomes a sing-a-long record, with catchy choruses: “She’s a Rudolph Valentino fan, and she doesn’t claim to understand, she makes brownies for the boys in the band.” Despite the importance of a memorable refrain, the poetics are sprinkled within the verses.

Songs have the smoky sound of a dark bar. At times shifting in mesmerizing harpsichord, brass, winds, and strings. Joseph Byrd contributes electronics on the final track. A soft lounge combo and it sounds on the lighter side of things, but Ochs has this hard edge you can’t escape.

Elektra put out his protest record, I Ain’t Marching Anymore, recently on vinyl so it would be nice see a similar treatment to the above, though I found mine for a few bucks at the shop. It makes more sense to hear Phil stretching his vox over a violently stroked acoustic, but this album is gorgeous and impossible to get over.

“I’ve Had Her”

:) Original Vinyl Search | ebay ]

Van Dyke Parks “Song Cycle”

| Americana,Art,Baroque,Concept Albums,Pop

Song Cycle

“I’ve been in this town so long that back in the city I’ve been taken for lost and gone and unknown for a long, long time.” Beyond his work with the Beach Boys, Parks had an impressive and varied career, often working with a number of other groups, as varied as Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Byrds, Tim Buckley — all the way to Joanna Newsom. His marvelous solo debut, Song Cycle, is a classic and poetic tour de force.

Musically, I imagine it as a “song spiral.” Motifs aren’t recycled or revisited as much as they are abandoned for new ideas. The orchestration is borne of the poetry, the words directing each instrumental movement. Song Cycle is an album to let yourself soak in, to stay with for a week or even a year. I also recommend listening with the lyric sheet in hand because the layered sound of ever-changing chamber orchestra can be heavy for the mind to absorb concurrently with the poetry.

Being a fan of SMiLE most likely won’t offer a free pass to Song Cycle. The album is dense and difficult to infiltrate. There are traces of inspiration here and there, possibly a glimpse to what Brian could have done with SMiLE if he’d had the encouragement Van Dyke had in Lenny Waronker.

Truthfully speaking, I can’t really understand the concept behind the album. As far as I have read, the record was meant to span a breadth of American musical styles. I know the touch of bluegrass (Steve Young singing Black Jack Davy in a clip that introduces the record) and the homage to Gershwin/Showtune styles, a taste of jazz, but I just don’t really get it. While I’m happy to enjoy what is still unknown to me, for I do love this album, I would be grateful to hear from those who can lighten the mystery of Song Cycle.

“Palm Desert”

:) Vinyl Reissue | 2007 | Sundazed | buy ]
:D CD | 1990 | Warner | amazon ]