Offenbach - Bulldozer (1973 canada heavy progressive mixed with hard rock and blues rock - 2008 remastered & expanded edition - FLAC)

BULLDOZER may be one of Offenbach's most obscure albums, however it is an important one from a historical perspective since the music composed for it helped launch Offenbach's career and defined the group's sound for years to come.

By 1970, keyboardist and vocalist Gerry Boulet, his brother and drummer Denis Boulet, guitarist Johnny Gravel, and bassist Michel Lamothe had grown tired of playing cover songs as Les Gants Blancs.

They changed the group's name to Offenbach Soap Opera, and began writing original songs in English.

In early 1971, their new manager, Lucien Ménard, introduced the group to poet, musician and director Pierre Harel, with whom he was working on a new film entitled Bulldozer.

The band needed money, so Harel hired them to help write a soundtrack for the movie. Harel also encouraged the band to compose rock songs in French rather than in English, an idea Gerry Boulet found preposterous.

Harel's talents as a songwriter were soon evident, as within no time he helped compose "Câline de blues" and "Faut que j'me pousse", which would later become two of Quebec's most popular rock songs.

By the spring of 1972, Harel's film was still not finished, however the band had enough original music and decided to record its first album, Offenbach Soap Opera which featured some music from the Bulldozer soundtrack.

The album was released that summer and received little airplay as rock music sung in French was something new. To pay the bills, the band, which had now shortened its name to Offenbach, was relegated to playing English cover songs again in hotel clubs throughout Québec, lugging around a Hammond B-3 organ and Davoli sound system.

A disenchanted Denis Boulet quit music and was replaced by Roger Belval who had played with Gravel in the groups Les Venthols and Les Héritiers. After a gig in La Sarre, Harel had an epiphany in which he visualized the band playing the Mass for the Dead at St-Joseph's Oratory in Montreal.

His vision soon came true, and on November 30, 1972, Offenbach performed a show sung in Latin before 3,000 people, yielding a live album entitled St-Chrone de Néant which was released in early 1973.

Meanwhile the group continued to compose music for Harel's movie, and finally that spring the soundtrack to Bulldozer was recorded. Work then began on editing the film and synchronizing the music.

In the summer of 1973, while Offenbach was performing on the Plaines of Abraham in Quebec City, a French cinematographer named Claude Faraldo became enthralled with the band.

By fall, Faraldo had lured the group to France to star in a film and record a new album. Then finally, after nearly more than three years in the making, Harel returned to Montreal to launch the film Bulldozer on Valentine's day 1974, starring Donald Pilon, Mouffe, Pauline Julien and Yvan Ducharme among others.

Offenbach's album of the same name was released simultaneously with little fanfare while the rest of the group was still in France unable to afford plane tickets for the return trip to Montreal.

Harel decided not to go back to France where the band was leading a life of debauchery which was being filmed by Faraldo.

However, many new songs had already been written by Harel, which would be featured on Offenbach's next three albums: Tabarnac (1975), Never Too Tender (1976), and the eponymous Offenbach (1977).

Harel continue to collaborate with Offenbach, writing more big hits for the group until he formed Corbeau with Lamothe and Belval in 1977 (from CD notes).

Track List:
01.Bulldozer (chanté ) (04:40)
02.Hey Boss (04:34)
03.Magie Rouge (04:07)
04.Câline de doux blues (05:02)
05.Solange Tabarnac (00:27)
06.Marche de Peanut (02:08)
07.Bataille (02:46)
08.Bulldozer Thème (sax) (03:03)
09.Qu'est-ce qui te prend (02:47)
10.S.O.S. (03:14)
11.Ah Comme on s'ennuie (03:09)
12.Faut que j'me pousse (02:38)
13.Adios Amor (03:19)
14.S.O.S. (Alternate Take) (03:23)
15.Ah comme on s'ennuie (Long Version) (04:13)

Offenbach:
*Gérald Boulet: Vocals, Piano, Organ, Saxophone
*Roger Belval: Drums
*Jean Gravel: Guitar
*Pierre Harel: Vocals, Piano
*Michel Lamothe: Bass, Acoustic guitar
*Mouffe: Vocals (S.O.S)


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Rumplestiltskin - Rumplestiltskin-Black Magician (70-71, uk blues heavy & prog - FLAC)

This great band was comprised of some of the best musicians in the UK at the time, although, probably for contractual reasons, they weren't allowed to use their real names.



Bassist Herbie Flowers and guitarist Alan Parker were the main characters in this hard rock band, as was vocalist Peter Lee Stirling, who'd been in Hungry Wolf.

They released two fairly rare albums in the early seventies and split, with the various members getting involved with the likes of Donovan, Sky, Lou Reed and Marianne Faithfull.



Both albums were released on CD by Repertoire Records a number of years ago and are certainly worth checking out.



Rumplestiltskin was created by American producer Shel Talmy, his intent was to create a supergroup from highly respected, seasoned session man (including Clem Cattini and Peter Lee Stirling) to rival the rock monoliths of the day.



A uniquely talented British heavy rock band, Rumplestiltskin was the brainchild of American producer Shel Talmy.

It was his idea to form a ‘supergroup’ that might rival the highly successful outfits that dominated the early Seventies, such as Status Quo and Led Zeppelin.



Instead of picking young, untried rockers, Talmy brought together highly experienced professional session men.

Among them was drummer Clem Cattini.



Although ‘Rumplestiltskin’ wasn’t a hit, it was nevertheless a serious project, as can be heard on the eight powerful tracks on their classy album, first released in 1970.

The band also featured singer Peter Lee Stirling, who later scored a hit single with ‘Beautiful Sunday’ under the name of Daniel Boone.



The first album is good bluesy rock with longish organ and guitar solos but nothing particularly progressive about it.



Black Magician was released on Bellaphon, the same label as Nektar. (by 60s-classic-rock.com)



Tracklist:

01.Make Me Make You (+)

02.Poor Billy Brown (+)

03.Knock On My Door (+)

04.No One To Turn To (+)

05.Mr. Joe (Witness For The Defence) (+)

06.Pate De Fois Gras (+)

07.Rumpletstiltskin (+)

08.Squadron Leader (+)

09.Lord Of The Heaven And The Earth (++)

10.Can't You Feel It (++)

11.Evil Woman (++)

12.I Am The Last Man (++)

13.Lonliness Is What My Life's All About (++)

14.Trough My Looking Glass (++)

15.Black Magician's Daughter (++)

16.I'm So Afraid I'll Leave Unsaid (++)

17.I Am Alone (++)

18.I've Had Enough Of The Army (++)

19.Wimoweh (++)



Personnel (on Rumplestiltskin album)(+):

*Peter Charles Green - vocal

*Jeremy Eagles - keyboards

*Rupert Baer - drums

*Andrew Balmain - guitar

*Jackson Primrose - bass



Personnel (on Black Magician album)(++):

*Peter Lee Stirling - vocal

*Alan Hawkshaw - keyboards

*Clem Cattini - drums

*Alan Pariser (Alan Parker) - guitar

*Herbie Flowers - bass



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VA - Negro Prison Blues And Songs, Recorded Live At The Mississippi & Louisiana State Penitentiaries (1947 us blues, gospel, a cappella & work songs )

(Sleeve Notes, by Alan Lomax) :

"…I ain't got long, I aint got long
In this murd'er's home…"
—Mississippi Prison Song

These recordings were made in 1947 in the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. The singers were all Negro prisoners, who, according to the practice of Mississippi, were serving out their time by working on a huge state cotton plantation in the fertile Yazoo Delta. Only a few strands of wire separated the prison from adjoining plantations. Only the sight of an occasional armed guard or a barred window in one of the frame dormitories made one realise that this was a prison. The land produced the same crop; there was the same work for the Negroes to do on both sides of the fence. And there was no Delta Negro who was not aware of how easy it was for him to find himself on the wrong side of those few strands of barbed wire. As one of the prison work-songs ironically remarked…


"It aint but the one thing I done wrong,
I stayed in Mississippi just a day too long…"

My father, John A. Lomax, and I crossed these fragile prison barriers frequently during the '30's and '40's in our search for American folksongs. Because we were collecting for the federal folksong archive, but, more especially because we were Southerners, we were treated with courtesy and helped by the officials in charge. Yet, we could not fail to see that most of the guards were untrained men, who were employed because they knew how to "handle and drive niggers." We learned with horror that there were some sadists among them who took pleasure in persecuting beating and torturing the helpless prisoners. We also met many sincere and kindly men who were trying to better the lot of the prisoners, but they were hampered by the limitations of the institution itself. A comment in the New York Post (Jan. 9, 1957) confirms my own impression of a generation ago…


"The state penitentiary system at Parchman is simply a cotton plantation using convicts as labor. The warden is not a penologist, but an experienced plantation manager. His annual report to the legislature is not of salvaged lives; it is a profit and loss statement, with the accent on the profit…"

Under these conditions the typical Southern prison farm has perpetuated Southern attitudes and traditions which go back to the period of slavery, or the even more cruel system of leased-labor. In fact, many of the songs we recorded in the '30's and '40' s reflect the miseries of those early days.

Between 1900 and 1930. conditions in the prison had greatly improved, according to the old-timers. We. ourselves, could see that reforms were in progress on every hand. And I feel sure that the recent passage of Federal Legislation, backed by enlightened Southern white opinion and the pressure of the Southern Negroes now fighting for their civil rights, have wrought further changes in the Southern pen. since our visits there. Nonetheless, penal institutions have a notorious resistance to change, and I can. only hope there has been radical alteration. In any case, these songs are a vivid reminder of a system of social control and forced labor that has endured in the South flor centuries: and I do not believe that the pattern of life can be fundamentally re-shaped until what these roaring and ironic choruses is understood.

One must not forget that the deep South was carved out of the wilderness largely by forced Negro Labor, and to sounds like those recorded here. The tradition of singing at all work, the solo-chorus style, the subtle rhythms, the part singing, even some of the scales and tunes are part of the African musical tradition which the Negro slave brought to the New World. The listener has only to compare Band 1, Side A, and Band 4, Side B with available African recordings to see that true African polyphony and poly-rhythm have somehow survived in the Southern U. S. until our own epoch.

But in language, in content and function, these songs are as American as the Mississippi River. They were born out of the very rock and earth of this country, as black hands broke the soil, moved it, reformed it, and rivers of stinging sweat poured upon the land under the blazing heat of Southern skies. These songs are mounted upon the passion that this struggle with nature brought forth. Even more importantly, they tell us much of the story of the slave gang, the sharecropper system, the lawless work camp, the chain gang, the pen.

In these work songs, one feels the incredible vitality of the slave turned John Henry; one tastes the bitter anger which has driven him to so many acts of violence, and filled his heart with fantasies of aggression (see Stackerlee. Band 7, Side B) ; one learns of his often casual and brutalized relationships with women; one listens to verse after verse of sardonic irony and of veiled protest. Here is the dark, fertile soil which gave rise to the blues. Indeed, this recording, made in the heart of the Mississippi Delta where the blues took shape at the turn of the century, provides the background for America's most important song-form.

The wildest and most beautiful of these American Negro work songs come from the penitentiary where the old Southern system of forced labor reaches its apogee. These songs and the prison system that produced them affect the lives of all Southern negroes in the most direct fashion, for there comes a point in the life of every Negro in the deep South, when he must either resign himself to a life of subservience, leave the South, or rebel. This rebellion might be expressed in a thousand ways—refusal to step aside for a white person to pass, a sullen look, a dispute over wages or prices, a refusal to comply with Jim Crow rules, even a theft or an act of violence.

Whatever its nature, the rebel and all his friends knew he was a marked man—he had been "impudent and sassy"—he was now, or would soon be at the mercy of the "laws". Sooner or later, unless he was very fortunate, he would be jailhouse or chain-gang bound. And with a conviction against him, he must be very, very careful not to wind up in the pen. There he would certainly have "the impudence taken out of him."


In the southern penitentiary system, where the object was to get the most out of the land, the labor force was driven hard. The men rose in the black hours of morning and ran all the way to the field, sometimes a distance of several miles, with their guards galloping along behind them on horseback. The swiftest workers headed each gang and others were compelled to keep pace with him. Anyone who did not keep up or who rebelled was subject to severe punishment. I saw men who haoT worked so long and hard that their feet had turned into masses of pulpy bones. I heard everywhere of men working till they dropped dead or burnt out with sunstroke. So in these prison camps the rebel was turned into a hardened criminal or he was brought to his knees.

"Knocking a joe" or self-mutilation was one way out. The sight of a one-legged or one-armed man who had chopped his own foot or hand off with an axe was a common one. Those who "made it", that is, served their sentences and walked into the free world again intact in mind and body, had to be "mighty tough peoples."

Every Southern Negro knew, at least by hearsay, what going down the river (going to the pen) was like, and it was in good part the shadow of this penal system which kept the rural Negro in a state of outward subservience over all the years since Reconstruction.

In the pen itself, we saw that the songs, quite literally, kept the man alive and normal. As the gangs "rolled under the hot broilin' sun", the roaring choruses of the songs revived flagging spirits, restored energy to failing bodies, brought laughter to silent misery. The rhyming works leaders were always improvising something new about women—women faithless and faithful—women coming with pardons—women, a worrysome and wonderful thing to a poor prisoner. He laughs to think…


"When she walks, she feels and rocks behind,
Ain't that enough to worry a convict's mind…"

Then his mind turns to his own despair…
"I'm choppin in this bottom with a hundred years,
Tree fall on me, I don't bit mo' care."

Many of these prisoner rhymes reveal their artistry only when one hears them sung. The flow of the vowels, as voiced by these singers, is music in itself. The syncopated clash and bite of the consonants creates its own counterpoint to the rhythm of the work. The imagery is often brilliant, the language Homeric ariH dry in its directness…


"Be my woman, gal, I be yo' man,
Ev'y day be Sunday, dollar in yo' hand."

I went back to the Mississippi pen with the first portable tape machine that came on the market, for I wanted to record the sounds that were always too rich to be well recorded by the disc machines of former years. Even in 1947 I could see that the custom of work-song singing was dying out at Parchman, where we had recorded our finest singing in the early '30's. The old-timers had lost their voices, and most of the young prisoners regarded the practice as "old fogeyism."

The young prisoner "22" was an exception; he had developed a new style, (contrast Band 1, Side B to Band 4, Side B) but he could not tell me whether he was "bopping" it or not. I suspected he was. In any case, his bunch produced a polyphonic style that seems remarkably African—perhaps yet another instance of the ever-fresh spirit of Africa at work in the New World. More importantly. these songs, coming out of the filthy darkness of the pen, still touched with exquisite musicality, are a testimony to the love of truth and beauty which is a universal human trait.

Track List :
01.Murder's Home
02.No More, My Lawd
03.Old Alabama
04.Black Woman
05.Jumpin' Judy
06.Whoa Buck
07.Prettiest Train
08.Old Dollar Mamie
09.It Makes A Long Time Man Feel Bad
10.Rosie
11.Levee Camp Holler
12.What Makes A Work Song Leader?
13.Early In The Mornin'
14.How I Got In The Penitentiary
15.Tangle Eye Blues
16.Stackerlee
17.Prison Blues
18.Duckin' And Dodgin'
19.My Baby Got To Go
20.Penitentiary Blues
21.Lonesome Blues
22.They'll Miss Me When I'm Gone
23.Rock Me Mama

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David Clayton-Thomas - David Clayton-Thomas (69, uk blues, soul and pop rock - Flac)

This 1969 album was issued soon after the singer had made his recording debut with Blood, Sweat & Tears, taking both himself and the band to superstardom.

Clayton-Thomas has said that this LP was a cash-in, compiled by a producer who located unreleased pre-Blood, Sweat & Tears tapes that Thomas made in Canada, and then dubbed them with horns to make them sound more like Blood, Sweat & Tears.
The result isn't entirely disreputable, but in the manner of such records, there's a curious exploitative feel about the product, right down to its basic artwork and total lack of liner notes and musician credits.

It consists almost entirely of blues, R&B, and soul covers on the order of "I Got a Woman", "Stormy Monday", "Tobacco Road", "Boom Boom," and "Poison Ivy" (Clayton-Thomas is awarded the writing credits for a couple of tunes that are in fact covers of Howlin' Wolf's "Who's Been Talkin'" and Elmore James' "Done Somebody Wrong").

It's not too imaginative, as the set is basically that of a blues-soul-oriented mid-'60s cover band.
But Clayton-Thomas does sing the material reasonably well, the backing combo grooving along in a slightly jazzy soul-rock mode, with organ and occasional raw garage rock guitar.

The overdubbed horns do sound awkward, though, as if they're indeed trying to shove the tracks in a more Blood, Sweat & Tears direction.

If this was going to have been released at all, it would have been better to leave the original tapes unaltered. (by Richie Unterberger from amg)

Track List :
01.I Got A Woman
02.Say Boss Man
03.Who's Been Talkin'
04.Call It Stormy Monday
05.Done Somebody Wrong
06.Tobacco Road
07.Boom Boom
08.Good Lovin'
09.Poison Ivy
10.Howlin' For My Darling

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David Clayton-Thomas - David Clayton-Thomas (72, uk blues, soul and pop rock - Flac)

Surrey-born David Thomsett moved with his Canadian-born father & musical English mum back to the suburbs of Toronto when he was just a 6 year-old child.

Hot-blooded and driven, he left home at 14, waded through reformatories, farm jobs and bar bands until he finally hit pay dirt with Blood Sweat & Tears in 1968.
By the time he was 30 (and with his name changed), Clayton-Thomas was ready to release his 1972 debut solo LP - and having fronted the mighty Blood, Sweat & Tears as it's funky and fantastic vocalist - it was simply more of the same.

(...) Co-produced by B, S & T buddies Bobby Colomby and Joel Sill, it was released in April 1972 on CBS S 64755 in the UK and Columbia KC 31000 in the USA. (...)

Highlights are Edgar Winter's post-Woodstock anti-war anthem "Dying To Live" which is given a powerful rendition with strings that strengthen the melody and message rather than drown it (lyrics above).

The "After The Gold Rush" classic of "Don't Let It Bring You Down" by Neil Young is also treated to a strange solitary French Horn opening that really works - it takes a good song and moves it to somewhere different - very cool.

But the real peach here is his gorgeous vocal to Gram Parson's much-covered "She".
Clayton-Thomas does it more than justice - he almost makes it his own.
His lone "daddy was a junkie..." song about his favourite haunt "North Beach Racetrack" is a funky-as-f**k guitar romp where he roars a B, S & T mannerism "...tell the truth boy!" It's excellent and features slick guitar work from all three, Paul Cannon, Steve Cropper and Thomas himself.

The sound is superb throughout, punchy and vibrant.
There is hiss on some of the quieter songs like "Once Burned", but it's not too much to detract.

A niggle would be that the writers for "Dying To Live" and "Sing A Song" are wrongly credited in the booklet (their corrected above), but apart from that - this is a great reissue of a criminally forgotten Seventies gem.

Clayton-Thomas went on to make two more albums during the period - "Tequila Sunrise" in 1973 and "Harmony Junction" in 1974.
They're available elsewhere.

I've always had a soft spot for Blood, Sweat & Tears and anything that sounds like them.
Check out the funky and righteous cover of Paul Kelly's "Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord" (it was a minor hit in 1970 on Happy Tiger Records) or the gorgeous cover of "She" - you'll be hooked. (by Mark Barry from Reckless Records Store, London)

Track List (personnel) :

01.Magnificent Sanctuary Band [Dorsey Burnette cover]
(featuring Mike Deasy & David Cohen on Guitars with Clydie King & Vanetta Fields on Backing Vocals)

02.We're All Meat From The Same Bone [Gary Zekley song]
(featuring Steve Cropper of Booker T & The MG's on Guitar with Bobby Colomby of Blood, Sweat & Tears on Tambourine)

03.Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord [Paul Kelly cover]
(featuring Paul Cannon with Steve Cropper on Guitars, Jay Spell on Keyboards with Clydie King and Vanetta Fields on Backing Vocals)

04.Dying To Live [Edgar Winter cover]
(Arranged & Conducted by Klaus Ogerman, it also features Hugh McCracken & Sal DiTroia on Guitars, Frank Owens on Piano with the Strings Arranged by Julie Held)

05.Sing A Song [Gary Wright cover (formerly with Spooky Tooth)]
(featuring Mike Deasy & David Cohen on Guitars with Clydie King & Vanetta Fields on Backing Vocals)

06.She [writers Gram Parsons and Christ Etheridge/Flying Burrito Brothers cover]
(featuring duet vocals with Patricia Holloway, Hugh McCracken and Sal DiTroia on Guitars with Frank Owens on Piano)

07.Don't Let It Bring You Down [Neil Young cover]
(arranged and conducted by Jimmy Guiffre, Various Brass Players with Bobby Colomby on Drums)

08.Once Burned [Todd Rundgren cover]
(featuring Mike Deasy & David Cohen on Guitars with Clydie King & Vanetta Fields on Backing Vocals)

09.North Beach Racetrack [David Clayton-Thomas song]
(features guitars by Steve Cropper, Paul Cannon and David Clayton-Thomas with Jay Spell on Piano and Drums by Richie Simpson)

10.Caress Me Pretty Music [Anita O'Day cover]
(featuring Paul Griffin on Guitar with Bobby Colomby on Drums)

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Alex Harvey-The New Band - The Mafia Stole My Guitar (1979 scotland mix of blue-eyed soul, hard, glam and theatrical rock - Wave audio format)

This 1979 outing saw Alex Harvey returning to the rock music world for what would be his final album.

It's no big surprise that The Mafia Stole My Guitar sounds a lot like the Sensational Alex Harvey Band: the music remains the same unusual but intriguing blend of prog ambition and punk energy and it also contains a few of Harvey's trademark oddball cover versions (example: his surprisingly straight-faced cabaret version of "Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody").

What is a surprise is how consistent The Mafia Stole My Guitar is, especially in light of the uneven final albums of his last band.
While the album never coheres the way classic Alex Harvey outings like Next did, each of the songs feels inspired and benefits from a carefully-crafted sound:"Wait For Me Mama" contrasts a wailing, impassioned vocal from Harvey with a tightly-controlled, gypsy-flavored groove from the band while "Oh, Spartacus" is a Roman adventure tale that takes the story of its title character and gives it a glam rock beat.

The Mafia Stole My Guitar also adds finds Harvey shifting his sound in a new direction, with the saxophone taking an upfront role in the arrangements and adding a jazzy flair to the proceedings.
A good example of this new jazziness is the cover of "Shakin' All Over", which alters this classic Johnny Kidd and the Pirates hard-rock nugget by raising the tempo to an amphetamine level and adding all sorts of jazz-fusion inspired riffing over the top.

This album also contains one of the loveliest songs in the Harvey canon in "The Whalers (Thar She Blows)", a surprisingly gentle and lyrical song layered with plenty of gentle synthesizer and saxophone shadings. The end result is a rocking yet stately-sounding slab of music that is unmistakably the work of Alex Harvey.

While it's tragic that Harvey would never record again after this album (he died of health problems in 1981), the Mafia Stole My Guitar remains a fine addition to his legacy. (by Donald Guarisco from amg)

Track List :
01.Don's Delight
02.Back In The Depot
03.Wait For Me Mama
04.The Mafia Stole My Guitar
05.Shakin' All Over
06.The Whalers (Thar She Blows)
07.Oh Spartacus!
08.Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody

Personnel :
*Alex Harvey - guitar, vocals
*Matthew Cang - lead guitar, keyboards, vocals
*Simon Chatterton - drums, percussion, vocals
*Tommy Eyre - main keyboards, vocals
*Gordon Sellar - bass, vocals
*Don Weller - sax, bolo horn, vocals

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The Senstational Alex Harvey Band - Framed (1972 scotland mix of hard rock, blues and glam rock - MP3 320K and FLAC )

Framed is basically blues-rock. On one track ('Isabel Goudie') Harvey goes for a mock-"epic" sort of presentation, probably with prog-rockers of the time as the object of his ridicule, and a couple of tunes venture alternatively into folk-rock and/or heavy metal territory, but the core of this album is blues-rock.

Four four beats, twelve bar structure, you know the drill. But it's blues-rock done like never before - or after. Positioning themselves in the middle of the glam epoch, Harvey and the band transform blues-rock into glam theater.

They go for a BIG sound, and if I didn't hate to break up the perfect alignment of the review, I'd have made that BIG several sizes larger - it's B-I-G, B-I-G, as in really really big.

Enormously loud everything - guitar, drums, pianos, shouted vocals, going at Zeppelinish volume and more than that. The attitude, however, is not Zeppelinish. It's a head-spinning cross between macho posturing and cabaret brawling, yet done extremely tongue in cheek: there's no mistaking Harvey's mock-barroom attitude for the real thing.

Which, of course, firmly places him in the glam camp: everything loud, tacky, and glossy, yet everything self-consciously ironic at the same time, widely grinning at its own destructive decadence. Music that is perfect for satisfying your lowliest urges and ridiculing them at the same time - music you can't do without!

The main attractions of Framed are, of course, (a) the excellent skill of guitarist Zal Cleminson, who rarely uses his instrument to show off but always uses it to make the music powerful and attractive, and (b) Harvey's own vocal stylizations, replete with exaggerated Cockney-isms and/or bluesmaster howling where it is necessary.

It doesn't always work, but it works more often than not, and anyway the very fact that it works at least sometimes already speaks volumes - this is, after all, an extremely unimaginative kind of music-making, and it takes real inspiration to make it outstanding.

And it's outstanding on the very first track - the title one, a cover of the old Leiber/Stoller original, slightly lyrically shifted to suit Harvey's own lyrical needs.

The very intro is classic: the sound of a cell door slammed shut opens it, and then you have that slow, unnerving cymbal chuckling, at times interrupted by the five-note guitar riff - slow, slow, slow, as if it were taking full time to enjoy itself and give the listener a pre-taste of the POWER that will follow.

The combination of this goofy slowness (and it is goofy!), Harvey's Cockney accent ('they asked if my name was Alexander 'n ah sed wwwwwhhhyyy sssshaaaaaaaauuuww'), Cleminson's short but effective guitar solo and the ecstatic chorus simply makes 'Framed' one of the best "comic" blues-rockers of the Seventies.

Then the insults begin coming. I take 'Hammer Song' to be a venomous parody on the "folk rock" thing - a nonsensic 'epic ballad' ('don't let the sun go down, said the man with the fire firing the furnace... I've been buried in the snow, and I keep on firing, keep on firing, keep on firing... firing the furnace!' is a typical lyrical quote from the song) that sends me rolling every time I hear it; and, like I already said, 'Isabel Goudie' with its three parts, one of them called 'Coitus Interruptus', by the way (I presume you know what that means, right?), most certainly mocks the progressive strain of the time. It's not very memorable, but it's extremely funny at the least - which is less than I can say for a lot of prog, of course.

These tracks don't kick ass, though. What does kick ass is the terrific rocker 'Midnight Moses', with an unforgettable riff the kinds of which were only being written back when Black Sabbath, Budgie, Blue Oyster Cult, and Deep Purple ruled the heavy premises - a spoof on 'Midnight Rambler' or what? Whatever the answer is, it's just one of those classic glam-rockers which totally shake your behind off and at the same time revel in the realization of their own idiocy.

A true marvel. I'm also a sucker for 'Buff's Bar Blues', which is just what it bills itself as, but how can you resist a bar blues with lyrics like "Drinking Aspumanti, reading John McLain/His sister in the grubber and his brother was the same, he's got the Buff's Bar Blues"? It's one of the goddarn funniest bar blues I've heard in my life, and no, I'm not inclydyng Skynyrd yn thys catygory.

The cover of 'I Just Wanna Make Love To You' seems somewhat overlong to me (although the slow mastodontic arrangement is immaculate by itself); but it's fully redeemed by the fast-paced 'Hole In Her Stocking', the eerie half-hard rock, half-carnival number 'There's No Lights On The Christmas Tree, Mother, They're Burning Big Louie Tonight' (which tells the story of exactly that subject, if you're curious), and the blasphemous 'St Anthony' (which, if I'm not mistaken, uses the metaphor of St Anthony's temptations as an excuse to tell a particularly seedy S&M story), which is as red-hot funky as anything in the epoch and finishes the album with a whole shotgun blast (I mean, METAPHORIC shotgun!).

And throughout, Alex is being sly, funny, intelligent, and powerful. There's really not a bad track included, although, like I hinted, some might be overlong; I'd personally like to have him lambast some other musical sub-genre to shreds than to waste such an awful lot of time on 'Isabel Goudie'.

It's kinda funny, though, that once Harvey adopted the tongue-in-cheek glammy attitude instead of the more sincere approach to music-making that he used to have, that he actually started to find some real popularity. Kinda speaks volumes of the epoch, doesn't it? (George Starotin's).





Track List:
01.Framed
02.Hammer Song
03.Midnight Moses
04.Isabel Goudie
05.Buff's Bar Blues
06.I Just Want To Make Love To You
07.Hole In Her Stocking
08.There's No Lights On The Christmas Tree
09.St Anthony


[ Thank you FLAGELLANT for sending this post ]
CODE: 57958 or click here (password is cod_number+phrockblog)

Alex Harvey - Considering The Situation (scotland mix of blue-eyed soul, hard, glam and theatrical rock, 2CDs - Wave audio format)

Prepare to cruise down Action Strasse again with this comprehensive retrospective of the career of Alex Harvey prior to and including the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, one of the most original and innovative hard rock/glam/proto-punk bands of the 1970s.

Disc One is devoted to Harvey's pre-SAHB efforts from the 1960s, containing only one SAHB track at the end - "The Harp" (originally the B-side of "There's No Lights on the Christmas Tree Mother, They're Burning Big Louie Tonight!," SAHB's first single), showing the band at their most Celtic-mediaeval.

It begins with Alex Harvey's Soul Band recordings from the early Sixties, mostly covers of American blues/R&B standards done in a much more authentic manner than most early UK blues acts (Davies, Korner, etc.).

Interestingly enough, two of these songs were later done by SAHB - "Framed" and "I Just Want to Make Love To You".

Harvey's early recordings show little trace of his Glaswegian accent, sounding much more Afro-American (his early singing was along the lines of Chuck Berry or Guitar Slim).

"Penicillin Blues" features one of the most outrageous sex/drugs triple entendres ever.
The version of "St. James Infirmary" recorded with Alex' brother Leslie of Stone the Crows fame sounds like it could have been recorded late at night in a cheap hotel in Memphis' red light district in the 1920s - as fine a recreation of early acoustic blues as ever done by white men. "Ain't That Just Too Bad" shows Harvey adapting to Merseybeat; unfortunately, this did not bring success.

Other standouts on the first disc are "Roman Wall Blues" (an adaptation of a poem by W.H. Auden), and the original versions of "Midnight Moses" and "Hole in Her Stocking" (think Captain Beefheart meets Austin Powers).

However, save the chilling acoustic original version of "Isobel Goudie," the tracks which SAHB later redid are inferior to the later versions.

Fine as the originals are, Zal Cleminson's guitar playing (up there with ANY rock guitarist of his time) and Chris Glen's superb bass playing made a big difference when the songs were redone on "Framed," the first SAHB album.

The second disc covers SAHB's career, taking material from seven of the eight albums (there is nothing from "The Penthouse Tapes").

Certainly this is material that everyone should own, and if one does not have the original albums this is a fine introduction to one of the most seminal, underrated and unique rock bands of its era.

However, if I had compiled the album, I would have included the original studio version of "Faith Healer," with its eerie guitar/synth interplay, controlled menace and Alex' eerie, dark vocals which in so many ways set the tone for the post punk death rockers and goths of later times, from "Next" rather than the more celebratory live version.

To represent "Rock Drill," SAHB's final and least consistent album from 1978, I would have included "Nightmare City," an apocalyptic punkish tale of zombies and cannibalism with a shredding Cleminson guitar solo which showed how much contemporary cutting edge bands like the Damned, Stranglers and Radio Birdman owed to SAHB, rather than "Water Beastie" (an example of Harvey's fascination with the Loch Ness Monster).

It is remarkable how timeless and lasting SAHB's oeuvre is today, so many years later, and how so much in the interim owes a direct debt to Glasgow's finest.

One wonders what Alex would have done if he had lived; he was possessed of an immense, unique talent spanning a huge stylistic range, and would probably have been a poster boy for bad boy rockers growing old along with Jerry Lee Lewis, Keith Richards and Neil Young (all of whom are younger than Alex, for what it's worth).

With SAHB's outrageous stage act and surrealist guerrilla theater tactics verging on performance art, one could only imagine what they would have achieved in the video era.
It is a shame that Harvey's planned stage musical, "Vibrania" (based on the Vambo character, "the Robin Hood of the tenements"), never took shape.

Still, even if Alex is no longer with us, the music and legacy of "The Last of the Teenage Idols" live on, and are beginning to reach a whole new generation who may have been "much too young to know the difference".

"Considering the Situation" should accentuate this and at the same time make long time fans take another walk down Action Strasse.
Pick this up and don't piss in the water supply. (by Michale Snider)



Track List :

CD 1
Alex Harvey And His Soul Band
01.Shout
02.Framed
03.I Just Wanna Make Love To You
04.Elevator Rock (previously unreleased)

Alex Harvey
05.St James Infirmary

Alex Harvey And His Soul Band
06.Penicillin Blues
07.Reelin' And Rockin
08.Ain't That Just Too Bad

Alex Harvey
09.Agent 00 Soul
10.Work Song

from "Hair" Rave-Up
11.Hair
12.Birthday

Alex Harvey
13.Roman Wall Blues
14.Midnight Moses
15.Hammer Song

Rock Workshop
16.Hole In Her Stocking
17.Wade In The Water

Alex Harvey
18.Isobel Goudie (previously unreleased)
19.The Harp (previously unreleased)

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
20.The Harp

CD 2
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
01.Midnight Moses
02.Framed
03.There's No Lights On The Tree, Mother - They're Burning Big Louie Tonite!
04.Buff's Bar Blues
05.Swampsnake
06.Next
07.The Last Of The Teenage Idols
08.The Hot City Symphony Part 1: Vambo
09.Sergeant Fury
10.Tomahawk Kid
11.Action Strasse
12.Give My Compliments To The Chef
13.Faith Healer (Live)
14.Delilah
15.Boston Tea Party
16.Water Beastie

Alex Harvey
17.I Love Monsters Too

[ Rip and Scans by DR BELL OTUS ]
CODE: 57202 or click here (password is cod_number+phrockblog)

Al Kooper - Rare & Well Done (1964-2001 us, psychedelic rock, rhythm and blues, pop, country and jazz, remaster edition - MP3 320k and FLAC)

Rare & Well Done, is a two disc collection that fully represent the album's title. All the tracks were 24-bit remastered with Kooper's own supervision. Disc one is a 19-track collection of hard to find and previously unreleased material from the Kooper vaults, while disc two features plenty of the artist's best known work, in solo and various band formats. For longtime fans, this collection is a welcome addition to their Kooper collection. For anyone else who's even mildly curious about Kooper's legacy, this album works as a nice springboard from which to begin exploring the man's vast catalogue. As it usually is with such releases, not everything here works and not every "rare" found here needed inclusion, but overall Rare & Well Done is an indispensable look back at one of rock music's most prolific artists.

The "Rare" disc opens with a new demo, "I Can't Quit Her 2001". It's not the best song on the disc that the collection could have started with. In fact, it's a bit schmaltzy and sounds like something that you might hear Paul Schaffer's band doing on Letterman. It's certainly not the best version of this classic, as the live version included on the "Well Done" disc proves. However, things fall into place and start to genuinely rock with track two, Kooper's 1964 demo of "Somethin' Goin' On". Amazingly soulful, gospel tinged and incredibly deep, "Somethin' Goin' On" seems light years away from everything else that was coming out in '64 -- especially Beatlemania. Kooper's voice instantly moves one emotionally as much as those fantastic piano, organ, and guitar parts. Stunning. But then again, the disc manages to dip down for a moment as "Autumn Song" sounds like a mid-'80s fusion/muzak piece.

It would have been better had the contents of this disc been arranged chronologically as the time warps back and forth through the years certainly mess up the grooves more than once. Kooper's own phrasing of some of the words here, like "winter" also seem a bit silly as if he were just goofing off on the track. "I Can't Stand The Rain" which follows is a bit better, though the horn section sounds like nothing more than synth brass. These are the kinds of rarities that may have been better off left on the shelves. Still, one can't argue with the slow cooking "Baby Please Don't Go" offered here in a live version from 1971 and getting and eight-and-a-half minute workout. Kooper's amazing piano work on the track just simply burns, as does his vocal prowess once again.

Giving Big Joe Williams a run for his money, "Baby Please Don't Go" encapsulates not only the blues here, but also takes on funk and classical vestiges that must simply be heard to be appreciated. The band's solo spots are equally remarkable, with the other-worldy synth break being especially dazzling. But then the record shifts once more and we're back into smoove rock territory with "I Let Love Slip Through My Fingers", a number on which Kooper seems to be doing his best Lou Rawls impression that turns out to be not so good in the end. The sax and guitar parts are overwrought and cheese up the track way too much. "The Earthquake of Your Love" restores the good groove with an undeniably Seventies bounce and charm.

This time, Kooper vocally sounds almost like Steve Miller. And that's not too strange, considering Miller himself went on to create such plastic, yet likable boogie like "Abracadabra" a bit later on. Getting back to the downright essential tracks on the disc, of important note is the inclusion of Al's very first single from 1965, "New York's My Home (Razz-A-Ma-Tazz)". Again, this long lost Sixties chestnut doesn't sound much like anything else going on at the time with its pretty flute and string arrangement outdoing the Fab Four (again), and that indelible swinging jazz outbreak at the middle of the tune being especially captivating. If Kooper wasn't influencing both Brian Wilson and Lennon and McCartney at this time, then I'd damn sure be surprised as Al had created his own "mini-epic" right here . . . in 1965 . . . in two-and-a-half minutes.

The "English Hall" cover of XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" is also excellent. Dare I say that it's even better than XTC's. Sure. I'm not so taken with that group that I can't see that their career has been spotty through the decades. But even better than that is Kooper's blistering version of Dylan's "Went To See The Gypsy", an outtake from Bob's New Morning LP that rock fiercer than Dylan's own take. Of course, that version was so subdued (yet equally great) that it wouldn't be difficult to rock harder. But here, Kooper's band injects stunning guitar parts that do sound distinctively Sixties, but all the better. Also of interest is Kooper's instrumental rehearsal version of "Hey Jude" from 1969 with orchestra. Kooper jazzes the Beatles tune up with swinging horns and lickety-split drumming. It sounds a bit like a Vegas spectacular, but it's by no means horrible.

Hearing someone with Kooper's talent reconfigure such a song in this format is impressive. Although it is hard not to laugh at "The Big Chase", a piece of incidental music that was left out of an episode of TV's Crime Story. It sounds like Jan Hammer and Harold Faltermeyer got together and created the most hellish cop music they could think of. Lots of fun (seriously). Turning to the "Well Done" disc of the collection now, the old fans should finally start feeling like they're on familiar territory as nothing on the CD here hasn't been released before. Things start with a live 1994 take of "I Can't Keep from Cryin' Sometimes" recorded with the Blues Project. Once again, Al is in his element when he has a band behind him that complements his own talent. The organ work, the guitar licks are both hot, and Kooper puts in some of his most soulful vocalizing. Tasty.

Set the Way Back Machine for 1968 then, because it's time to hear Blood, Sweat and Tears' "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know". Again, there's a stunning amount of soulfulness ripping through this track with the undeniable organ and vocal parts (especially those of the backup singers). A slow burner if there ever was one, it's followed up with a 1975 version of "This Diamond Ring" complete with funky keyboards a-la Billy Preston's "Outa Space". Personally, I dig this version a lot more than the original by Gary Lewis and the Playboys.

There's still no getting over the Kooper/Bloomfield (as in Mike) number "Albert's Shuffle" from '68. Here it is once again in all of its blistering glory. The blues as pounded out by two of the best. All you have to do is hear that organ and guitar and those horns and that's all it takes. Next thing you know, you're somewhere else. All great music should move you. Here's a number that does it every time. And the movement continues with the classic "Bury My Body" recorded with Shuggie Otis in 1969 and "Season of the Witch" with Stephen Stills in 1968. It's truly a joy to hear Kooper's phenomenal work from the Sixties here all laid out.

The man was clearly an inspired and enviable musician at that point in his career. "New York City (You're A Woman)" is also great. Here, Kooper's organ sounds just like Booker T.'s good old Hammond B-3. And who could forget such brazen opening lines like "New York City you're a woman / Cold hearted bitch ought to be your name / Oh you ain't never loved nobody / Yet I'm drawn to you like a moth to flame/ . . . Yeah"? This piece of classic funkiness is then followed with a damned great live version of "I Can't Quit Her" from 1994 that shows just how great the song really is (you wouldn't know it from that limp version that opened the "Rare" disc as stated earlier).

The classics just keep on coming from there, from the fantastic "I Stand Alone" to another slow burner, this time in the form of "I Got a Woman". Also included is the closing "Love Theme from The Landlord", which is the only Al Kooper disc not currently on CD. All in all, "Well Done" lives up to its name and then some It's just too bad that the "Rare" portion of this collection didn't include an equal portion of indispensable tracks. The nuggets from the Sixties and Seventies are cool and wonderful, but with only a couple of exceptions, like "Making Plans for Nigel", and "The Big Chase", the rest of the rarities kind of bring about a cringe-inducing element, proving once and for all that there was a very good reason a lot of the tracks here were previously unissued.

Yet the "Well Done" disc is impeccable, making this collection a must-have. It's great to have all these tracks in once place. Al Kooper continues to play a highly influential part in the music industry. His well-documented history up this point has been preserved beautifully and put on display for all to hear in this collection. Thanks for the memories, Al (by Jason Tompson).

Disc 1
1.I Can't Quit Her (Kooper/Levine)
2.Somethin' Goin' On (Kooper)
3.Autumn Song (Kooper)
4.I Can't Stand the Rain (Bryant/Miller/Peebl)
5.Baby Please Don't Go (Williams)
6.I Let Love Slip Through My Fingers (Kooper)
7.The Earthquake of Your Love (Kooper)
8.Bulgarya (Kooper)
9.Nuthin' I Wouldn't Do (For a Woman Like You) (Kooper)
10.New York's My Home AKA the Street Song [Razz-A-Ma-Tazz AKA the Street (Kooper)
11.Making Plans for Nigel (Moulding)
12.I Believe to My Soul (Charles)
13.Went to See the Gypsy (Dylan)
14.Rachmaninoff's Birthday (Kooper)
15.Hey Jude (Lennon/McCartney)
16.Living in My Own Religion (Kooper)
17.The Big Chase (Kooper/Calello)
18.They Just Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore (Kooper)
19.A Drive Through the Old Neighborhood (Kooper)

Disc 2
1.I Can't Keep from Cryin' Sometimes (Kooper)
2.I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know (Kooper)
3.This Diamond Ring (Kooper/Levine/Brass)
4.Albert's Shuffle (Bloomfield/Kooper)
5.Bury My Body (Kooper/Price)
6.Season of the Witch (Leitch)
7.New York City (You're a Woman) (Kooper)
8.I Can't Quit Her (Kooper/Levine)
9.I Stand Alone (Kooper)
10.Flute Thing (Kooper)
11.You Never Know Who Your Friends Are (Kooper)
12.I Got a Woman (Charles/Richard)
13.Brand New Day (Kooper)
14.Love Theme (Kooper)

Other releases by Al Kooper, posted on PHROCKBlog
1968 - Child Is Father to the Man with Blood, Sweat & Tears
1968 - Super Sessions with Mike Bloomfield and Steve Stills
1968 - Fillmore East The Lost Concert Tapes 12/12/1968 with Mike Bloomfiled
1968/1969 - I Stand Alone/You Never Know Who Your Friends Are...Plus
1969 - The Live Adventures Of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper
1969 - Kooper Session - Al Kooper introduces Shuggie Otis
1970 - Easy Does It

[ Rip and Scans by MARIOS ]
Previous posted at PHROCK on Thursday, May 28, 2009
CODE: 52608

Al Kooper - Easy Does It (1970 us, psychedelic, blues, folk rock, 2008 remaster - MP3 320k and FLAC)

This is the third solo effort from rock & roll wunderkind Al Kooper. Originally issued as a two-LP set, Easy Does It (1970) is a diverse album that reveals the layer upon layer of musicality that has become synonymous with the artist. He draws deeply upon his skills as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and equally engaging arranger.

The extended run-time of the double album format likewise allows Kooper to thoroughly exhibit his wide-ranging and virtually mythical adaptability as an artist whose sheer talent defies the boundaries of genre or style. The set kicks off with the youthfully optimistic rocker "Brand New Day." This is the first of two tracks Kooper used in his score for Hal Ashby's directorial cinematic debut, The Landlord, a highly affable counterculture classic starring Beau Bridges.

The haunting "The Landlord Love Theme" is also included, and is poignantly dovetailed with one of the disc's profoundly affective epics. "Buckskin Boy" is an uptempo rocker that lyrically offers a brutally honest assessment of the Native American situation, which was quickly becoming a national plague upon the social conscience of the country in the early '70s. The song is replete with Kooper's dynamic chord changes and trademark phrasing. The "morning after" fallout from a particularly potent experience with LSD is credited as the inspiration behind "Sad, Sad Sunshine."

The cut features some heavily Eastern-influenced lead sitar work reminiscent of the sounds of Donovan circa Hurdy Gurdy Man (1968) and the burgeoning Canterbury-based progressive folk movement of the late '60s and early '70s. There is a decidedly Yankee contrast on the country-rocker "I Bought You the Shoes (You're Walking Away In)" as well as the cover of John Loudermilk's "A Rose and a Baby Ruth." Other well-placed cover tunes include a classy, soulfully subdued reading of Ray Charles "I Got a Woman'" as well as the spacy and well-jammed-out version of "Baby Please Don't Go."

Throughout the 12-plus minute side there are definite recollections of the extended instrumental interaction that defined Kooper's former band, the Blues Project, as well as some of the inspirational improvisation heard on the original Super Session (1968). This performance alone is more than worth the time and effort of seeking out Easy Does It.
by Lindsay Planer


Tracks
1. Brand New Day (Al Kooper) - 5:10
2. Piano Solo Introduction to I Got a Woman - 2:00
3. I Got a Woman (Ray Charles, Renald Richard) - 4:30
4. Country Road (James Taylor) - 4:22
5. I Bought You The Shoes (You're Walking Away In) (Bob Brass, Irwin Levine, Kooper) - 1:57
6. Introduction - 0:50
7. Easy Does It (Kooper) - 5:25
8. Buckskin Boy (Kooper, Charlie Calello) - 3:10
9. Love Theme from The Landlord (Kooper) - 3:12
10.Sad, Sad Sunshine (Kooper) - 5:04
11.Let the Duchess No (John Gregory, Jim Roberts) - 3:17
12.She Gets Me Where I Live (Kooper, Calello) - 3:34
13.A Rose and a Baby Ruth (J.D. Loudermilk) - 3:29
14.Baby, Please Don't Go (Big Joe Williams) - 12:26
15.God Sheds His Grace on Thee (Kooper, Calello) - 3:27

Musicians
*Rick Marotta - Drums, Vocals (Background)
*Wayne Moss - Guitar
*Joe Osborne - Bass
*Earl Palmer - Drums, Guitar (Steel)
*Alexis Rodgers - Guitar, Drums
*Al Rogers - Drums
*Stuart Scharf - Guitar
*Tommy Tedesco - Guitar
*Stu Woods - Bass, Vocals (Background)
*Charlie McCoy - Bass, Harmonica
*John Miller - Bass
*Joe Jr. Corero - Drums
*Stu Scharff - Guitar
*Lyle Ritz - Bass
*Keith Allison - Guitar
*Pete Drake - Pedal Steel, Guitar (Steel)
*John Miller - Bass
*Freddy Weller - Guitar
*The Blossoms - Vocals, Background Music
*Louie Shelton - Guitar
*Peter Ivers - Harp
*Kenneth A. Buttrey - Drums
*Charlie Daniels - Bass, Guitar
*Bobby Colomby - Conga, Drums, Vocals
*Tom Cosgrove - Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
*George Devens - Percussion
*Milt Holland - Percussion, Tabla
*Larry Knechtel - Piano, Keyboards
*David Bromberg - Guitar, Guitar (Steel), Pedal Steel
*Al Kooper - Organ, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals, Electronic Effects, Ondioline, Vibraphone, Vocals (Background), Sitar, Guitar (Electric), Piano
*Joe Beck - Guitar
*Fred Lipsius - Saxophone, Soloist

Other releases by Al Kooper, posted on PHROCKBlog
1968/1969 - I Stand Alone/You Never Know Who Your Friends Are...Plus
1968 - Child Is Father to the Man with Blood, Sweat & Tears
1968 - Super Sessions with Mike Bloomfield and Steve Stills
1968 - Fillmore East The Lost Concert Tapes 12/12/1968 with Mike Bloomfiled

[ Rip and Scans by MARIOS ]
originally published in PHROCK at Saturday, May 23, 2009
CODE: 51420

Mouse And Traps - The Fraternity Years (1966-1968 us garage, psychedelic, folk, blues and pop rock - rare Big Beat records compilation - FLAC)

This Tyler, TX band achieved their greatest international fame a half-decade after they first laid down the Dylanesque "A Public Execution" in the mid-60s.

The exposure came from the song's inclusion on Lenny Kaye's legendary "Nuggets" double LP and revitalized interest in the group's entire catalog of singles.

The resulting interest spawned early vinyl-mastered reissues on New Rose, and finally, this authoritative CD release drawn from the original master tapes.

Mouse is Ronnie Weiss, a singer whose normal singing voice is a dead-ringer for Dylan's nasal delivery.

"A Public Execution," Weiss' 1966 kiss-off to an ex-girlfriend, found the sort of disjointed regional radio success that never gained the critical mass needed to chart nationally.

The band developed fans in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Ohio and Kentucky, but never graduated beyond their contract with the Cincinnati-based Fraternity Records.

The single's B-side, the horn-lined "All for You" is perhaps more indicative of the R&B material the band turned out in live performances across oil patch towns in East Texas. Still, this was the mid-60s, and like Jim Sohns of The Shadows of Knight, Mouse lent a cocky edge to the band's blues.

The follow-up single, "Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice," sounds even more like the Shadows of Knight, with bedspring-twangs of fuzz guitar punctuating the mile-a-minute vocals and R&B band rave-up.

It's a truly sweltering piece of mid-60s garage rock. The flipside, "I Am the One" introduced the band's proclivity for folk-rock, which also included the Byrds styled buzz and jangle of "I've Got Her Love" and the Dylanesque "Like I Know You Do."

The latter was the flipside of a novelty (written by one of the label's investors) "Would You Believe," that's been omitted from this collection (and by all reports, to everyone's advantage).

Mouse tackled other styles, including the baroquely styled "Hand in Hand" and "As Far as the Sea," and the twangy production pop of "Promises, Promises."

Even further afield, the record company's search for commercially viable sides resulted in the bubblegum "L.O.V.E. Love," the wistful "Sometimes You Just Can't Win" (also recorded by the band's studio mate, John Fred of Playboy band fame), and the 1968 organ-led psych sides "I Satisfy" and "Look at the Sun."

None had much sales impact, but they did provide space for infectious B-sides like the rocking "Lie, Beg, Borrow and Steal" and the harmony laden "Requiem for Sarah."

Big Beat's 25-track collection sports seven previously unreleased tracks, including a ripping cover of The Yardbirds "I'm a Man," a funky, James Brown styled take on "You Are My Sunshine," the party-time arrangement of Dallas Fazer's "Mohair Sam," and the original protest folk-rocker "Nobody Cares."

One might have hoped for the band's non-Fraternity sides (originally released on Hanna-Barbara and Epic), or the novelty "Would You Believe," but their absence is a nit.

An introductory essay from the band's producer and detailed liner notes from reissue producer Alec Palao round out a solid package documenting a mid-60s Texas garage band that should have been more widely known in their own time. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com].

I Satisfy:


Track List:
01.A Public Execution
02.Maid Of Sugar, Maid Of Spice
03.Nobody Cares
04.Cryin' Inside
05.I'm A Man
06.Lie Beg Borrow And Steal
07.I Got Her Love
08.I Am The One
09.Like I Know You Do
10.Sometimes You Just Can't Win
11.All For You
12.Do The Best You Can
13.Look At The Sun
14.You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)
15.Promises Promises
16.I Satisfy
17.Requiem For Sarah
18.L.O.V.E. Love
19.Ya Ya
20.Good Times
21.Hand In Hand
22.You Are My Sunshine
23.I Wonder Where The Birds Fly
24.Mohair Sam
25.As Far As The Sea

Mouse And Traps:
*Dave Stanley (bass guitar)
*Jerry Howell (keyboards)
*Ken "Nardo" Murray (drums)
*Bugs Henderson (lead guitar)
*Ronny "Mouse" Weiss (guitar, vocals)
*Doug Rhone (guitar)


[ Thank you MCLEHAST for sending this post ]
Rip and scans nade by torrents
CODE: 51042