Posts Tagged ‘ 1971 ’

Spring (self-titled)

| Prog

Spring

In 1971 the Leicestershire UK-based band Spring recorded its first album at Rockfield Recording Studios with Elton John cohort Gus Dudgeon producing. The music was recorded live to tape, with just some acoustic guitar overdubbed later. This is music awash in seas of rolling Mellotron tones — at times you’ll think you’re drowning in melancholy marzipan. At times all three Mellotrons are in use, each with a different tone, and it makes for quite a rich and ornate musical tapestry. Just close your eyes while you listen to “Grail” and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

No doubt the blues was a very popular choice for young bands in the UK in 1971, and Spring’s music reflects that. In fact, Spring toured the UK opening for The Velvet Underground before they recorded this album. But Spring weren’t doing the out-there jazz jamming of The Soft Machine or the LSD-fueled space trips of Hawkwind, or even the whiskey-soaked blues of Led Zeppelin. It’s hard to know which scene Spring grew out of, but considering that London’s airwaves were full of acid pop in the late 60s — I can hear the sounds, humor, and instrumentation of such bands as Turquoise, 23rd Turnoff, and Timebox in Spring’s music — it’s fair to assume Spring’s sound was influenced by quite a few styles and bands.

But Spring’s music isn’t all just Mellotron, and all of the playing is exceptional. “Fool’s Gold” features some excellent guitar playing and not much Mellotron, and breaks into a particularly fiesty jam. Drummer Pick Withers’s articulate use of cymbals and fleet fingers is always in the pocket and pure icing. Vocalist Pat Moran’s voice recalls John Wetton’s baritone with a touch of vibrato. The instruments were recorded with no phasing, flanging, or effects, so the recording does not sound dated in any way. But for all the tricky tempos, busy playing, and mountains of Mellotron, this is glorious, effortless music. I feel refreshed after listening to it, not tired or worn out as I would after a King Crimson album.

The album has been given one vinyl reissue by Akarma Records in Italy (which is good, because according to popsike.com original copies are fetching up to $800US). The Akarma and Repertoire CD reissues are pricey, but relatively easy to find and the sound is good.

“Fool’s Gold”

:D CD Reissue | 2004 | Akarma | buy from akarma | buy from amazon ]
:) Vinyl Reissue | 2004 | Akarma | search google ]
;) MP3 Album | download at amzn ]

Moby Grape “20 Granite Creek”

| Classic Rock,Country Rock,Folk,Pop,Psych

20 Granite Creek

20 Granite Creek was another comeback disc that Moby Grape issued in 1971 (Reprise). Just like other comeback efforts 69 and Melvilles, this one delivers the goods in a more subdued, laidback country-rock fashion.

The five original members who played on the 1967 debut are all present though Skip Spence only contributes one fascinating original, the instrumental Chinese Song. Chinese Song is incredible, completely unlike anything the Grape would record again and more proof of Skip Spence’s genius. While Spence provided the Grape with an undefinable magic, Mosley, Lewis, Stevenson, and Miller’s contributions were just as important and really an underrated facet.

My first initial reaction to 20 Granite Creek was disappointment. The record’s production reminds me of the Doors’ LA Woman, slicker than their 60s records, making the band sound like a ghost of its former self. That being said, 20 Granite Creek is a much better album than their unfocused 1969 lp, Truly Fine Citizen, which was more or less contractual filler. Each track has something new to offer and as a whole this is one of Moby Grape’s very best offerings. Songs like Gypsy Wedding and Wild Oats Moan show off the group’s loose, bluesy hard rock side and would fit in well with classic rock radio as both these songs are full of great guitar riffs and busy arrangements. Goin Down To Texas is another excellent driving roots rocker with some great guitar hooks and a vibe that’s similar to Fall On You or Omaha. Other surprising highlights are the moody oblique psychedelia of Horse Out In The Rain and the boogie rocker I’m The Kinda Man, That Baby You Can – which bears a passing similarity to prime era Little Feat.

My picks off the album are Apocalypse and About Time, two reflective gems off the first side of the original lp. Apocalypse is more of a country-rocker that comes on like the calm after a storm and highlighted by fiddle and a rock steady beat. About Time is a complex production and notable for its unique tin drum section which gives it a distinct island influence. All in all this is a great guitar oriented roots rock lp that shows Moby Grape trying different ideas in the studio while keeping things fresh and simple. The original lp is fairly easy to find and was reissued on cd (but now out of print) by San Fransisco Sound in the 90’s albeit with shitty cover art though.

“About Time”

:) Original Vinyl | 1971 | Reprise | search ebay ]

Ernie Graham (self-titled)

| Americana,Folk,Pop

Ernie Graham

Ernie Graham was a member of Eire Apparent, whose claim to fame was their Sunrise album, produced by Jimi Hendrix. His brilliant 1971 solo record often gets the ‘pub rock’ tag, but sounds closer to genuine Americana, like The Band record that never was. It doesn’t feel like most pub rock (even considering Nick Lowe’s Brinsley Schwarz filled out the backing band); it may just be because Graham hailed from England that we call it pub rock. Labels aside, this is a pretty much perfect record.

“Sebastian” is a wonderful folksy opener, but overtly dylanesque.  “Belfast,” the closer, is the other anomaly on this disc, definitely a good number but drastic in its divergent Irish style. All the tunes in between are delicately produced gems and true lost classics. Thankfully, the Dylan impersonation tones down as Ernie lets his natural voice shine through. “So Lonely” kicks in with that mellow groove and tunes like “Girl That Turned The Lever” etch their melody into your mind. A laid-back combo: acoustic guitar, touch of organ, the bass and drums sound warm and wooden, with doubled electric guitar punching it up. Even the harmonies are low key, just barely there, lending to the album’s lovely, lulling mood. The “la la” refrains to “For A Little While” and “Don’t Want Me Round You” are positively anthemic and the psyched-out shuffle of “Blues To Snowy” and dreamy feel to “Sea Fever” seal the deal.  It’s hard to believe this record could fall so far through the cracks.

Beautiful growing melodies, choruses that resonate before you even know the song. Bruce Eder calls this “perhaps the greatest unknown album of the 1970s” and I tend to agree.

The bonus tracks included on the Hux Records reissue are interesting but severely out of place, sounding like Springsteen jams. After this record, Graham would play guitar and pen tunes for Help Yourself, who released their own Cali-flavored gem from the pub rock scene, and would later form his own band, Clancy, who released two albums in 1975.

“So Lonely”

:D CD Reissue | 2003 | Hux | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1971 | Libery | search ebay ]

Mu “Mu”

| Pop,Prog,Psych,RnB

Recognize those licks? Fans of Antenna Jimmy (Jeff Cotton’s) unmistakable slide guitar work will hear it off the bat. And this may be the record to clue the skills behind the Magic Band to those who ever thought Captain Beefheart’s troupe were overrated hacks. But Mu is really a Merrell Fankhauser project, the man behind a string of awesome albums including Fapardokly and HMS Bounty’s Things.

The band happened across a copy of James Churchward’s The Lost Continent of Mu, a book about the mythical “Hawaiian Atlantis.” This provided the band name and a set of ideals (the bands’ matching those of the lost civilization) for inspiration. The fascination grew to a point that the group moved to Maui to try and find the lost city themselves.

The sound of Mu is a wholly unique mix of psychedelic rock and rhythm and blues. The interlocking rhythms and primal pulse of the Captain’s music shows its influence, but Mu is a more radio-friendly affair, think the Magic Band Lite. The tunes are largely instrumental and mildly progressive suites, with just enough structure and restraint to entice more conventional listeners. Mu benefits from this, the rare even blend of experimental with consonant songcraft. Cotton turns in some excellent slide, but also bass clarinet, and contributes a good deal of the songwriting. The rhythms are undeniably good, the songs sound better and better, and the drum break on the 9 minute Eternal Thirst (the longest track by a while) nudges the album into the realm of the hypnotic.

After an unissued follow up record recorded in Maui (included on the Sundazed 2CD set). Jeff Cotton, along with Randy Wimmer, left Mu in 1975 to study the Christian Ministry. Merrell grew increasingly fascinated with the lost continent of Mu, recording more albums based on the Mu theme and continuing to play music in the Hawaiian islands. The record they created in 1971 is remarkably fresh, out-there, and absolutely one-of-a-kind. Recommended.

“Ain’t No Blues”

:D CD Reissue | Sundazed | buy from sundazed ]
:) Original Vinyl | Lemurian | search ebay ]

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Swampwater “Swamp Water”

| Country Rock,Folk

Swamp Water

Their last album and another really good country-rock outing. This self-titled effort was released off RCA in 1971 and came packaged in a strange jacket. Swampwater’s lineup had remained the same since their self-titled 1970 debut.

In comparison to that debut, there were a few more rock n roll tracks like the album opener Ooh-Wee California, the raw Dakota, and Ol’Papa Joe. These songs were good though, with well constructed guitar solos and strong bluegrass and cajun flavors. There were a few covers too but all were standouts like the excellent heartfelt version of One Note Man, a track with nice jangly Byrdsian guitar solos and pretty fiddle, which gave the song real atmosphere. Guilbeau also resurrected Gentle Ways of Lovin’ Me, a track he had recorded on numerous occasions with many different bands. Swampwater turned in one of the best versions of this song which is highlighted by barrelhouse banjo and a delicate, sincere arrangement. Another great track, Headed For The Country, compared favorably with the country-rock era Byrds, and had beautiful, sad folk-like harmonies and fine guitar playing.

All in all the album was strong, lacking any weak moments and showcased a great band that should have been at least as well known as Poco or Commander Cody. Swamp Water is fairly easy to find on ebay, I bought a copy for around 15 dollars but it still amazes me that this lp has never made it onto cd.

“One Note Man”

:) Original Vinyl | 1971 | RCA | search ebay ]

Pete Dello “Into Your Ears”

| Baroque,Folk,Pop,Sunshine

Into Your Ears

Pete Dello was the original leader of the Honeybus, a short-lived but wonderful English baroque-pop group who only managed to release one album in 1970 (finally reissued in 2008-). For all the gems available on compilations like Honeybus At Their Best and She Flies Like A Bird: The Anthology, fans of their brand of summery, rootsy pop couldn’t be truly satisfied without an ear on Dello’s fine solo efforts.

Comparisons to the Beatles are somewhat unavoidable, from the next-level songwriting to the double-tracked voice, chamber orchestra production, but assertions of cheap imitation are unacceptable. Dello’s album is a pretty mix, most songs led with a clean acoustic guitar or piano, flavoring the sound with modest string and brass sections. This is where the record gets its baroque tag, but at times the music, like Honeybus, approaches a country-folk-rock sound. Tracks like I’m A Gambler illustrate that perfect mix of rural rock and sunshine pop, blessed with some especially tasteful percussion. The trick to the record’s charm may be the Nilsson inspired vocal treatments, either Dello’s unassuming lead or the lilting vocal turns and harmony parts.

I wouldn’t call it a perfect record, but it gets pretty close and grows to be very solid. Pete scored with his first Honeybus single, I Can’t Let Maggie Go, and gets a chance at a full showcase with Into Your Ears. Only a couple tracks push the British camp too much for my ears, so take note if you’re fond of skipping sillier tracks. If you’re looking for gems, you’ll be right on target.

“It’s The Way”

Also, don’t miss a generous lot of Honeybus-related mp3s at Colin Hare’s official Honeybus homepage.

Double Zappa |FZ| 1971-72

, | Double Zappa

This would have been good to post two days ago, considering the original Mothers chose their band name on Mother’s Day. The label tacked on “Of Invention” in an attempt to lessen the weird. By 1971, Zappa’s ever evolving band — now fronted by Flo & Eddie, the lead singers from The Turtles — proudly reclaimed their simpler title and re-upped the weirdness to a frenzied degree. To me, these two live albums from the age of 200 Motels are the most fun picks from the discography.

Fillmore East (1971)
FZ kept extensive archives of his live recordings, and Cal Schenkel’s pencil-scribbled cover (“He made me do it!” pleading on the back) must be an homage to one of the actual reels. Opening with a tasty instrumental reworking from Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Fillmore East becomes a stage play of sorts, with the Turtles assuming the role of one of Frank’s long-lived obsessions: starstruck groupies looking to get their “rocks off.” What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are is genius for its seemingly off-the-cuff yet fully orchestrated vocals, riffing all sorts of mayhem over a modified blues. And before this, the Mud Shark fits a memorable rock n roll tale over a soulful little groove. The sound they had by this show is wild: a combination of organ, Rhodes piano, Don Preston’s Minimoog, and Zappa’s gritty guitar all the while complemented by the over-the-top falsettos of Flo & Eddie (whose voices you might recognize from T-Rex’s Slider album). As usual, Zappa’s band is on top of its game.

“The Mud Shark”

:D CD Reissue | 1995 | Zappa Records | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1971 | Reprise | search ebay ]

Just Another Band From LA (1972)
“Billy was a mountain. Ethel was a tree growing off of his shoulder.” It just astounds the mind what Zappa was able to accomplish in his lifetime; case in point: the 25-minute, fully developed performance piece on side one of this record, Billy The Mountain. As a canned recording, it’s more road trip fare than casual listening, but it must have been quite a lucky few to have seen it performed live, a bizarre tale complete with character acting, theme songs, sound effects, and very catchy refrains. Side two rounds out the experience with harder rock interpretations of early Mothers classics like Call Any Vegetable and Dog Breath. Two new tracks, Eddie, Are You Kidding and the perverted Magdalena are suitably ridiculous for one of the Mothers’ nuttiest incarnations.

“Call Any Vegetable”

:D CD Reissue | 1995 | Zappa Records | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1972 | Bizarre | search ebay ]

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 ]

COB “Spirit of Love”

| Folk

Spirit of Love

COB stands for Clive’s Original Band and Spirit of Love was their first album released in 1971 off CBS. Clive Palmer is a well known British folk musician that started out as one of the original Incredible String Band members. Palmer played on their groundbreaking debut lp and shortly left the band thereafter for reasons unknown to me. Palmer spent some time playing with legendary folk-jazz guitarist Wizz Jones then went on to form the Famous Jug Band. This group released one lp with Clive Palmer on board entitled Sunshine Posibilities which came out in 1969. COB found Palmer making some of the best music of his career while teamed up with top flight musicians Ralph McTell and Mickey Bennett.

Spirit of Love has a hymal, rural English vibe that is more folk than folk-rock. Palmer’s vocals are very calm and soothing and this disc is completely acoustic in nature. Tracks like Music of the Ages and Serpent’s Kiss are simply spellbinding, sounding hundreds of years old and only getting better with the passage of time. Some of these songs have exotic instruments like the Harmonium and Dulcitone while the banjo instrumental Banjoland has unexpected ocean wave sound effects. At times, Palmer and company sound completely lost in space, as heard on the excellent Evening Air. But it’s this naive charm and willingness to sound different that makes Spirit of Love such a great, ancient folk album. Other tracks such as the beautiful Wade In The Water and When He Came Home seem to have biblical references within the lyrics and a strong gospel influence.

Although maybe too low-key for some, I feel this is one of the best English folk albums out there. The band effectively hit a rural english country folk-psych sound that’s visionary and highly original, completely different to Palmer’s prior band, The Incredible String Band. This disc was recently reissued on the BGO label though originals are pretty hard to come by. The follow up to Spirit of Love, 72’s Moyshe Mcstiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart is just as good and highly recommended as well

“Music Of Ages”

:D CD Reissue: 2001 | Spirit of Love ]
:) Original Vinyl | Search eBay for Spirit Of Love ]

Lee Hazlewood “Requiem For An Almost Lady”

| Americana,Country Rock

Requiem For An Almost Lady

The mother of all break-up albums. Hazlewood had just hit middle age at this point, so I’m sure he was already up to his neck in heartbreak. Bad for him. Good for us – because it supplied him with all the ammunition he needed to slug us in the heart with this surprisingly poignant and honest portrait of a broken man and the cold women who left him this way.

Released only in Sweden and the UK (making it pretty damn rare), this is the album where he makes his shrink proud by getting it all out. The ˜almost-lady’ actually represents all the ladies he’s lost over the years.

We find him revisiting the spoken interludes between tracks that graced his first two albums (Trouble is a Lonesome Town, The NSVIP’s), but on this one he keeps them short and not so sweet over some rather doomy guitar strumming.

It maintains, for the most part, a psych-tinged folk/country feel not too dissimilar from his late 60s releases, except this time drums are eschewed for a minimal arrangement of mainly acoustic guitars and bass. But there’s never an empty moment as any void is adequately filled by Jerry Cole’s stunning bass lines. Allow them to give you goose bumps on the tremendous I’ll Live Yesterdays, which is definitely the strongest track on the record. Hazlewood’s lyrical genius really shines here “ simply impeccable. The hurt keeps on spilling from that inimitable deep gravelly voice on the reflective weepers If it’s Monday Morning and Won’t You Tell Your Dreams.

Too bleak for you? Don’t forget who it is we’re talking about here. While it’s unquestionably a sad album, the perpetually jilted Hazlewood’s pop sensibilities still reign, turning even his most lashing fits of hostility into irresistible sing-a-longs. It’s hard to not crack a spiteful grin and join in on a chorus that spits I’d rather be your enemy, than hear you call me friend. And the countrified rockers LA lady and Stone Lost Child offer a nice balance, kicking things up to a galloping pace.

In anyone else’s hands material of this sort probably would have resulted in a self-indulgent whining session or a pointless diatribe. But Lee manages to successfully assemble his emotions into a meaningful and coherent stream of songs. All the bitterness he expresses is perfectly tempered by streaks of vulnerability, loneliness and regret.

Requiem for an Almost-Lady and a few of his other classic LPs were reissued on Smells Like Records

“I’ll Live Yesterdays”

:D CD Reissue: 1999 | Smells Like Records | Buy @ Amazon ]
:) Vinyl Search @eBay: Search Lee Hazlewood ]