Steamhammer - MK II (1969)

Crossover Prog
From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Easily Steamhammer's crowning achievment (certainly as far as progheads are concerned) ,
 although many rockers will prefer Mountains. The main difference with this album and other Steamhammer albums is Steve Joliffe
 who is not unknown to progheads since he went through Tangerine Dream , albeit on their controversial Cyclone ,
the only TD album to have acoustic instruments and yes! Vocals!!!!

Hardly controversial Mk II album, though as it is simply their most refined album ,
 much thanks to the afore-mentioned Joliffe who playds KBs but also flutes and saxes.
Martin Pugh and Kerrian White make a solid duo on guitars but clearly the addition of KBs and winds is the difference.
Easily the highlight is the 16 min+ Travelling tune but also noteworthy are the bonus tracks
which are non-album rarities except for the single version of Junior's Wailing (present on their debut album).
A real classy album and a must for early 70's loving progheads.

4 stars Steamhammer's second album shows great evolution: their first album was rooted exclusively in blues. This album is more jazzy than the first, thanks to the addition of saxophonist/flutist Steve Joliffe. Mr. Hugues Chantraine got it right: prog-rock fans will probably enjoy this album and will find it more interesting than "Reflections" or "Mountains"; the compositions are more inventive, arrangements are more immaginative and the overall performance of the band is better. Highlights: "Supposed to be Free", "Contemporary Chick Con Song" (both are still bluesy, but more ambitious than other efforts), the short "Sunset Chase" (a beautiful acoustic guitar solo which reminds me Leslie West), "6/8 for Amiran" (with this unusual tempo structure), "Passing Through" (with his fake ending) and the wonderful "Another Travelling Tune". Highly recommended for anybody who ever thought how a prog-blues album would sound.
M. B. Zapelini | 4/5 | 2005-8-8
Studio Album, released in 1969

Tracks Listing

1. Supposed To Be Free (5:59)
2. Johnny Carl Morton (4:38)
3. Sunset Chase (3:02)
4. Contemporary Chick Con Song (3:49)
5. Turn Around (3:36)
6. 6/8 For Amiran (3:04)
7. Passing Through (5:17)
8. Down Along The Grove (0:47)
9. Another Travelling Tune (16:23)
10. Fran And Dee Take a Ride (2:58)

Total Time: 49:30
Additional Tracks:
11. Junior's Wailing (single version) (3:30)
12. Windmill (4:28)
13. Autumn Song (4:09)
14. Blues For Passing People (6:26)

Total Time: 69:33

Musicians

- Steve Jolliffe / flute, harpsichord, keyboards, saxophone (Alto), vocals, wind
- Kieran White / guitar, harmonica, Jew's-Harp, vocals
- Mickey Bradley / percussion, conga, drums
- Steve Davy / bass, guitar (bass), vocals
- Martin Pugh / guitar, guitar (electric), vocals 

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For lossy copy take a look here below;

Steamhammer - MK II (1969)(Repertoire Records)

Kin Ping Meh – Concrete (1976) [double live album] RE-POST

Their 5th album, live in concert. Great prog!! ...or just hard rock
Very rare out of print double CD...

1976 / 1995 (Nova / Second Battle)

As far as I am aware, there were no other German bands like Kin Ping Meh, who chose their name in the Chinese language! In 1970, this quintet assembled in Mannheim: Werner Stephan (lead vocals), Joachim Schafer (guitar, piano, vocals), Fritz Schmitt (organ, piano), Torsten Herzog (bass) and Kalle Weber (drums). They played live extensively during their early years, performing a rough hard rock modeled on British bands like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Spooky Tooth. Soon, Kin Ping Meh were discovered by Polydor's talent scouts. Joachim Schafer left the band just before the recording of their first album. He was promptly replaced by Willie Wagner (guitar, harmonica, vocals), who joined the band in the Windrose Studio. Indeed, Wagner wrote the stand-out track of this album, the opening 11-minute 'Fairy-Tales', a haunting heavy rock song with long, 'progressive' guitar and organ solo parts. Even if you do not find this style attractive, you'll sense the great enthusiasm of the band. There were also some mellow, folky songs on the album, like 'Too Many People', recorded live and boasting an irresistible chorus. 'Kin Ping Meh' was produced by the experienced rock veterans Achim Reichel and Frank Dostal. The engineer was none other than Konrad Plank. The album is highly recommended for fans of groups like Epitaph, Zarathustra, Frame, etc. It's now quite rare (selling for more than 300 DM) as the first and only vinyl edition was only pressed at around 5,000 copies.

Torsten Herzog and Willie Wagner left Kin Ping Meh in 1972. The band had already been expanded with Alan Joe Wroe (bass), Uli Gross (guitar, although he left again within months) and Gagey Mrozeck (guitar, ex-2066 & Then). 'No. 2' (1972) followed the path of its predecessor - it was filled with great quality heavy progressive rock. Besides their self-written material, Kin Ping Meh were also bold enough to make an 11-minute version of 'Come Together', culminating in a long instrumental jam - a highlight of the album! Fans of early Kin Ping Meh should also check out the double album, 'Hazy Age On Stage' (1991), featuring great live tracks recorded in Sprendlingen in January 1973 and also some studio out-takes from 1972. When vocalist Werner Stephan left in May 1973, it marked the end of Kin Ping Meh's first phase. Regrettably, none of their following albums could match their first two. Gagey Mrozeck recommended Geff Harrison (his old friend from 2066 & Then) as a replacement for Werner Stephan. The quintet of Harrison, Mrozeck, Schmitt, Wroe and Weber recorded 'Kin Ping Meh III' (1973) with added choir and brass. Unfortunately, most people find their 'new' sound far less appealing than their previous one. 'Virtues And Sins' (1974) was a further slide towards a more standard Anglo-American influenced rock. Schmitt left in 1975, and was replaced by Chris Klober (keyboards, ex-Curly Curve). He only participated on the double live album, 'Concrete' (1976) before the band fell apart. Geff Harrison set out on a solo recording career, but only with moderate success. Mrozeck and Weber embarked on an ill-fated attempt to keep the band going with Michael Pozz (vocals), Ron Sheepmaker (keyboards) and Chuck Trevor (bass), resulting in the sixth and final Kin Ping Meh album for Bacillus - a superfluous affair!

-------

The career of rock band Kin Ping Meh from Mannheim lasted almost exactly seven years and reached quite a few heights. But it still left the band rather disillusioned in the end. Drummer Kalle Weber's resume from the Spring of 1977: "If you're not a pop star, you're still the asshole." Together with amateur musicians Werner Stephan (vocals), Joachim Schafer (guitar, piano), Frieder Schmitt (organ piano) and Torsten Herzog (bass), Weber had formed Kin Ping Meh in 1970. The name Kin Ping Meh (meaning "branch of a plum blossom in a golden vase") is taken from a Chinese 16th century novel depicting the life and customs of that time. On September 15, 1970 the band gave their first concert. Over the next months, they took part in seven important talent competitions. They won them all and were offered a recording contract from Polydor. From now on, everything went very quick - the important Sunday paper "Bild am Sonntag" had a two-page report about the band in January and their first single was released in February. 'Everything's My Way' made the Top 5 of various radio playlists and March saw the band tour with The Hollies. In May it was back to the studio to record the second single, 'Everyday'. After guitarist Willie Wagner replaced Joachim Schafer, the band from Mannheim recorded and produced their debut album in autumn 1971, and in December it hit the stores. The band was almost constantly touring at that time and supported acts like Uriah Heep.

1972 was a very good year for Kin Ping Meh. They wrote the music for a drug musical called 'Rausch', composed the soundtrack for ZDF series "Sechs unter Millionen" (Weber said in an interview: "We tried to make good rock music because for us, this job is an important milestone, a big step ahead in our career") and thus joined the short list of German rock bands who had achieved something similar, e.g. Can with 'Spoon', their song for a Durbridge crime movie, or Popol Vuh for the Herzog movie 'Aguirre, der Zom Gottes'. Almost simultaneously, they opened the Sailing Olympics in Kiel, went on tour with Rory Gallagher and Golden Earring, and released their second album, 'No. 2'. In their annual vote, the readers of magazine "Popfoto" voted them among the Top 5 in the category, 'Most Promising Band'. But they had to pay a high price for constantly being on the road - 1972 saw a drastic change in the line-up. Willie Wagner, Werner Stephan and Torsten Herzog left the band to be replaced by Gerhard "Gagey" Mrozeck, Uli Gross, British bass player Alan Joe Wroe and his fellow countryman Geff Harrison. With this line-up, Kin Ping Meh recorded 'III', the band's third album, in the Summer of 1973. The album featured a wind section and a female choir. It was mainly because of singer Geff Harrison's influence that the band developed a hard rock image. "The people mainly want to really rock, to be happy and to get to see something. And that's all true in our case", the band explained in a 1973 "Musik Express" interview and added: "There is not much demand for space and cosmic rock right now." Kin Ping Meh played concerts with hard rock superstars like Deep Purple and Slade and appeared on a couple of television shows.

Their fourth album, 'Virtues & Sins' (1974), earned them comparisons to the Rolling Stones, Free, The Faces and Spooky Tooth. 1976 saw the release of 'Concrete', a live album that was the last LP under their old recording contract. After the end of the recording contract, Harrison and Wroe left the band. The remaining band members tried a new beginning. With new band members and a new contract with Bellaphon, they recorded 'Kin Ping Meh' (1977), but were unable to continue their success story, mainly because of weak vocal performances. In the Summer of 1977, the band finally disbanded.

Gerhard Mrozeck at first joined a funk rock formation called Ooh La La and later on played very successfully in the bands of Edo Zanki and Herbert Gronemeyer. Geff Harrison started a solo career. He even made two very successful tours through the GDR. November 1982 saw a Kin Ping Meh revival concert at Berlin University, but the new Kin Ping Meh mainly consisted of members of the Harrison Band. Mrozeck and Weber did not take part. Drummer Kalle Weber died of a heart attack in 1995.

CD1:

1) Light Entertainment (4:15)
2) Come Together (5:35)
3) Too Many People (4:27)
4) Me and I (4:43)
5) I Want to Die A Millionaire (8:01)
6) Night-Time Glider (6:48)
7) East Winds (7:04)

CD2:

8 ) High Time Whiskey Flyer (11:54)
9) Blue Horizon (7:19)
10) Dancing in the Street (3:39)
11) Don't Force Your Horse (4:43)
12) Good Time Gracie (3:42)
13) Rock Is the Way (6:43)

Musicians:

- Geff Harrison / vocals
- Alan Joe Wroe / bass
- Uli Gross / electric guitars
- Gerhard Mrozeck / guitar
- Chris Klober / keyboards
- Kalle Weber / drums and percussion

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And for lossy go here below;

Kin Ping Meh – Concrete (1976) [double live album]

The Flock 1975 Inside Out (Sonic re.Creation vinyl)

3 stars! Gone is the wind section (which is not necessarily a bad thing IMO). Gone is Jerry Goodman (which is not necessarily a good thing IMO). He was replaced by another great violin player : Mike Zydowsky who joined the band in 1973 or so for their touring over Europe.

The music here is less jazz oriented than on their first two albums and there are some very good tracks in here. Still, jazz is very much present during the longest song from this album : "Back To You". It goes along with the poorest : "Hang On" which is a funky / soul song which is best avoided, believe me.

The best number out of this album is "Metamorphosis". Fantastic violin play from Mike and wonderful beat. If only they would have produced more of these. The closing part is simply gorgeous. Full of classicism. Vibrant, poignant, emotional : you name it. THE highlight of course.

Frank Pappalardi (from "Mountain") produced the album which was recorded during a short reunion. Unlike some purists (not on this site), I can't write that this album is bad. It holds several very good violin breaks, nice compositions ("My OK Today" is another one). The closing number is also very intense : powerful drumming, impressive keys and great bass play. Another highlight.

This is a good album after all. But there is no trace of this work on their official website as if the band would like to hide this release.
Review by ZowieZiggy
---------

4 stars First up is the name, it's FLOCK, as opposed to THE FLOCK, as the band changed their style of music from a horn laden ed jazzy/rock fusion to a prog rock/pop hybrid band. And what a change. The album cover says it all, a typical prog cover if ever there was. Six tracks (three tracks each side of the LP) of very good music; that can be played as a sort of background music, or turn the volume up music and give it a damn good listen to. My personal favourites are Back To You, and Metamorphosis from side one, and Hang On and My OK Today from side two.  I played my first copy till it wore out. And my feelings have not changed, it's so good to own it again. If ever you fall lucky and see this album, don't hesitate, buy it immediately.
  Review by jonboy

Tracks:

A1. Music for Our Friends
A2. Back to You
A3. Metamorphosis

B1. Hang On
B2. My Ok Today
B3. Straight Home

Musicians

- Jerry Smith / bass, vocals
- Fred Glickstein / guitar, vocals
- James L. Hirsen / keyboards, vocals
- Ron Karpman / drums, vocals
- Felix Pappalardi / vocals
- Mike Zydowsky / violin

First posted on:5/23/13, 6:18 AM
Pacific Daylight Time

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For lossy go here below:

The Flock 1975 Inside Out (Sonic re.Creation vinyl)

Tully - Live At Sydney Town Hall 1969-70

Chapter Music presents two
rare live recordings from quintessential Sydney prog group Tully, including their 1970
performance of Australia’s first ever rock opera. These recordings capture the band in their
first incarnation, before they joined forces with members of revered folk-psych band
Extradition to explore more contemplative territory.
Sights & Sounds Of 69, from a May show
of the same name, is the only live Tully recording to have survived the intervening four
decades, and documents a typically far-ranging, mind-expanding performance.
Perhaps
Australia’s greatest living composer, Peter Sculthorpe wrote Love 200 specifically with
Tully and vocalist Jeannie Lewis in mind. The work, commemorating Captain Cook’s expedition
to map the Transit of Venus in 1769, was dismissed by the stuffy classcial establishment at
the time, but Sculthorpe now calls it simply “one of my best works.” Heard here for the first
time since the early 70s, Love 200 is an astounding piece, both elegant and jarring, serene
and chaotic.
Sadly, all three of Tully’s studio albums are still to be officially reissued.
Until then, Live at Sydney Town Hall, 1969-70 is a fascinating insight into the early work
of one of Australia’s most heralded, but least heard bands.


Formed in late 1968, Tully the
First were wild, expansive and unpredictable, their live shows now the stuff of legend.
Terry Wilson (vocals), Richard Lockwood (reeds), Michael Carlos (organ), John Blake (bass)
and Robert Taylor (drums) employed extended improvisation, spacious dynamics and an intuitive
intensity, so impressing Australian jazz icon John Sangster that he called them “the best band
in the world at the time.”

In mid 69, Tully became the house band for love-rock musical Hair,
recording the original cast album later that year. They also starred in a six part
live-in-studio series Fusions, which premiered on ABC TV in August 1969. Ken Firth
(later of the Ferrets) replaced John Blake on bass in December 1969.

After Tully’s
1970 self-titled debut, Wilson and Taylor left the band, which then assimilated Extradition’s
Shayna Stewart and Colin Campbell before releasing two more albums, Sea Of Joy (1971) and
Loving Is Hard (1972), both markedly different from their fiery and often thunderous early form.
 Sadly, all three of Tully’s studio albums are yet to be officially reissued.

Live At Sydney Town Hall CD
By Tully
Released July 2010 (CH76)

Tracks Listing

1. Love 200 (20:04)
2. Sights & Sounds of 69 (32:09)

Total Time: 52:13

 Musicians

Michael Carlos (keyboards)
Richard Lockwood (flute/sax/clarinet/piano)
John Blake (bass)
Ken Firth (bass)
Robert Taylor (drums)
Terry Wilson (vocals/guitar/flute)

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Or for lossy go here below:

Tully - Live At Sydney Town Hall 1969-70

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Edgar Broughton Band - Sing Brother Sing 1970 (2004 remaster)

004 EMI/Harvest CD Remaster of the Broughton's 2nd album originally released in 1970, with an additional eight bonus tracks including the singles 'Out Demons Out' and 'Up Yours' which makes this the definitive version for all your Edgar freaks.

Radical, political, hairy freaks influenced by Captain Beefheart, Zappa, psychedelia, jazz, folk and the blues the Broughton's played a seminal part in the late 60's early 70's UK underground scene alongside Hawkwind and The Pink Fairies. Playing free concerts and benefit gigs nationwide and building a reputation for incendiary, intense and shamanic performances the Broughton's were a major influence on the anarcho-punk scene of the late 70's as well as one of the UK's most original, and now long forgotten, psych rock bands. Live performance was the mainstay of the band's reputation but they also left behind a half dozen studio albums that are astonishing for their creativity, musicianship and songwriting ability.

All the songs on 'Sing Brother Sing' wallow in a hippie-ish, kick-backed experimental blues-rock style, extenuated to perfection by Edgar Broughton's resonant grumble and vocal staunchness, and surrounded by chem lab mixtures of guitar and bass. The group's peculiar instrumental outputs give odd tracks such as "There's No Vibrations but Wait," "Momma's Reward," and the two parts of "Psychopath" progressive rock-type tendencies with a homemade wit, which would be the band's most daunting characteristic outside of Edgar Broughton's singing. Although the Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa comparisons are unavoidable, the rest of Sing Brother Sing's facets and odd instrumental avenues emit a distinctness that remains the whole album through. The quaint but humorous English air that encircles "Officer Dan" and "Old Gopher" reflects Broughton's adept satirical approach, maybe without him even knowing it. Held together with elements of jazz, rock, and blues, the music on Sing Brother Sing is captivating because of its raw integrity, and in its refusal to adhere to structure, formula, or to travel a beaten path.

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From rear: Originally released as Harvest SHVL 772 in June 1970.
Tracks 1-11, 16-17 Digital Remasters (P) 2004.
In Barcode-Box: 07243 8 64124 2 3 / UK: 8 64124 2 / F: / Place of manufacture as stated on label. Marketed and distributed by EMI. Printed in the EU.
From booklet:
Bonus tracks: Track 11 released as A-side of Harvest HAR 5015 in April 1970.
Track 12 recorded at Abbey Road Studio Two 9th February 1970 - Previously unreleased.
Track 13 alternate version. Recorded at Abbey Road Studio Two 20th July 1969 - Previously unreleased.
Track 14 and 15 recorded at Abbey Road Studio Two 10th June 1969 - Previously unreleased.
Track 16 A-side of single. Released as Harvest HAR 5021 in May 1970.
Track 17 B-side of single. Released as Harvest HAR 5032 in November 1970.
Track 18 previously unreleased Peter Jenner version. Single version released as A-side of Harvest HAR 5032 in November 1970.
Tracks 12 - 14 mixed from the original Eight Track tapes by Paschal Byrne and Mark Powell at The Audio Archiving Company - 20th January 2004.
CD remastered by Peter Mew at EMI Abbey Road studios.



Tracklisting:

1. There's No Vibrations But Wait!
2. Moth: The Moth/People/Peter
3. Momma's Reward (Keep Them Freak's a Rollin')
4. Refugee
5. Officer Dan
6. Old Gopher
7. Aphrodite
8. Granma
9. Psychopath: The Psychopath/Is for Butterflies
10. It's Falling Away
11. Out Demons Out
12. Rag Doll
13. There's No Vibrations But! Wait [Alternate Version]
14. Locket
15. We've Got the Power
16. Up Yours!
17. Freedom
18. Apache Dropout [Peter Jenner Version]

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Achim Reichel & Machines -1970-DieGrüneReise + Erholung 1973

 

Die Grune Reise (The Green Journey)
A.R. & Machines Krautrock

Review by siLLy puPPy
Collaborator PSIKE Team (From Progarchives.com)
5 stars This is definitely Krautrock but unlike most contemporaries that were distancing themselves from the blues and rock influences of the 60s, A.R. & MACHINES fully utilized a blues based guitar sound on this album. What makes this so trippy is that they added guitar loops, effects and feedback like there's no tomorrow. It can sound like a very accessible sound one moment and then suddenly burst into extremely trippy worlds where the only thing that's for sure is that echos and feedback are plentiful, but all with an underlying catchiness.

Achim Reichel (A.R.) started out in Germany quite innocently as a pop-star in the beat group The Rattles in the 60s and actually played alongside The Beatles at a few points. They were successful on the charts in several countries and were the first German group to ever hit the charts in the US. After many years of doing the pop thing, Achim opted for something different. Something very different. Taking with him the pop sensibilities of his past, he added a healthy dose of surreality and trippiness making this debut as A.R. & THE MACHINES one strange bird.

This was an instant classic for me as I love the combo effect of the accessible and the strangeness. The highlight for me is the final cut Wahrheit Und Wahrscheinlichkeit (Truth And Probabilty) which has to be THE most tripped out piece of music ever. It is all echo all the time with Mr Reichel basically yelping out whatever strikes his fancy at the moment with the occasional guitar breaking in for a little break. This fantastic album satisfies my innermost psychedelic needs time and time again. One of the most tripped out albums in existence!

Die grüne Reise:
01. Globus 02:57
02. In the Same Boat 02:05
03. Beautiful Babylon 05:02
04. I'll Be Your Singer - You'll Be My Song 02:24
05. Body 01:59
06. A Book's Blues 01:35
07. As If I Have Seen All This Before 05:33
08. Cosmic Vibration - An Afternoon Concert 04:43
09. Come On, People 02:52
10. Truth and Probability (A Lexicon for Self-Knowledge) 11:40

Achim Reichel: All instruments (1 to 10),

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Recorded live on August 4th 1973 at Fabrik in Hamburg:
And his (6th) solo album, Erholung, a live album from 1975, originally issued by Brain (bootlegged by Germanofon, back in ’91).



















Erholung:
11. Gute Reise 12:10
12. Atmosphäre 07:03
13. Alles Inclusive 10:30
14. Erholung 06:56

Achim Reichel: Guitar, Tape (11 to 14)
Peter Franken: Drums (11 to 14)
Olaf Casalich: Percussion (11 to 14)
Jochen Petersen: Soprano Saxophone (11 to 14)
======================================================
Remastered CD 2006
Label: Melting Pot, Ireland, MPMC 06001

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Achim Reichel & Machines -1970-DieGrüneReise + Erholung 1973

Edgar Broughton Band - Keep Them Freaks A Rollin'- Live At Abbey Road, December 1969

Edgar Broughton Band: Edgar Broughton (vocals, guitar); Arthur Grant (vocals, bass guitar); Steve Broughton (drums).

A legend in its own lifetime, Keep Them Freaks a Rollin' was, as its subtitle makes plain, recorded live at Abbey Road Studios in 1969, as a possible first album by the then newly signed Broughton Band. However, the tapes were shelved in favor of a more conventional studio recording, and only one excerpt ever made it out, a harshly edited 45 of the closing "Out Demons Out," already established as the band's live tour de force. The full-length version, however, remained unheard and, like the rest of the show, it eventually faded into mythology. The tapes were finally resuscitated in 2004, to herald EMI's CD remastering of the full Edgar Broughton Band catalog. And, though 35 years had now passed, the primal energy and majesty of the Broughtons in full flight still burns through. Egged on by a studio full of friends and fans, the band recounts its entire period live show, with a churning "Smokestack Lightning" and an evil "Dropout Boogie" pinpointing the two influences that collided to create the Broughtons' own unique brew. "American Boy Soldier," still one of the most potent protest songs of the entire Vietnam era (and an equally valid component in the modern-day outfit's live show) is spellbinding and, at almost 15 minutes, spotlights the band's improvisational powers to perfection. And then there's "Out Demons Out," restored to its full ten-minute glory once again, and still capable of swaying the stoniest heart. Would history have been different had this become the band's debut album? Probably not -- and besides, what would have become of Wasa Wasa if it had? But still, any survey of the British underground through the early '70s would be woefully incomplete without an evening spent with this album and, alongside Hawkwind's Doremi Fasol Latido, the first Pink Fairies album, and Mick Farren's Carnivorous Circus, it remains the key to what that entire movement was all about.
 ~ Dave Thompson
****************
See also: Julian Cope's head heritage: https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/2186/


Trackslisting:   

01 Smokestack Lightning    (Chester Burnett)   
02 What Is A Woman For?    (R.E. Broughton)
03 Yason Blues    (R.E. Broughton, S. Broughton, A.J. Grant)   
04 Refugee    (R.E. Broughton)   
05 Dropout Boogie    (Don Van Vliet)   
06 American Boy Soldier    (R.E. Broughton, S. Broughton, A.J. Grant)   
07 Momma's Reward (Keep Them Freaks A Rollin')    (R.E. Broughton)   
08 Out Demon's Out    (R.E. Broughton, S. Broughton, A.J. Grant)    

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Achim Reichel & Machines · Echo (1972) +IV (1973) = 2 on 1

A.R. & Machines biography
Producer, composer and musician from Hamburg (Germany), Achim Reichel is a key figure in the explosion of krautrock. Reichel was first a founder member of "The Rattles" at the beginning of the 60's. In 1968 he formed the "Wonderland band" with the drummer Frank Dostal. Late 60's he launched his first solo musical project called A.R and the machines. Musically it provides a supreme sonic musical voyage turned to cycled psychedelic guitar playing with lot of echoes and delay. The first album was published in 1971 in collaboration with Frank Dostal. The album presents an ambitious collection of spacey rock jams featuring a lot of electronic effects and arrangements. This album prefigures "acid" trips of krautrock guitar / minimal electronic explorers like Manuel Gottsching. The guitar freakouts and the weird imagination of the first effort continue to prevail in the following inspired, confused and various Die Grune Reise, A.R. IV, Autovision (generally a mix between guitar soudscapes and psych pop orientated songs). Reichel decided to abandon the project after 5 studio albums. Today A.R and the machines remains a high class standard of hypnotic space-echo guitar inventions.

: : : Philippe Blache, FRANCE : : :

Echo · 1972:
1 Einladung (Invitation) 20:25
2 Das Echo der Gegenwart (The echo of the presence) 10:04
3 Das Echo der Zeit (The echo of time) 13:04
4 Das Echo der Zukunft (The echo of the future) 18:00
5 Das Echo der Vergangenheit (The echo of the past) 19:32
Total Time: 81:05

Vocals: Achim Reichel, Klaus Schulze, Matti Klatt
Guitar: Achim Reichel, Helmuth Franke
Clarinet: Norbert Jacobsen
Jew's Harp: Arthur Carstens
Saxophone: Jochen Petersen
Drums: Dicky Tarrach, Lemmy Lembrecht
Percussion: Hans Lampe, Kalle Trapp, Lemmy Lembrecht, Rolf Köhler

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IV · 1973:
1 Vita a) cave explorers + birdmen 5:25
2 Vita b) the man in kidleather 10:43
3 Vita c) thin is the skin of ecstasy 5:47
4 Aqua: every raindrop longs for the sea 23:00
Total Time: 44:55

Achim Reichel: Guitar
Helmuth Franke: Guitar
Frank Wulf: Sitar
Hans Hartmann: Double Bass (still active with live concerts every week in Berlin)
Claus-Robert Kruse: Electric Piano
Jochen Petersen: Soprano Saxophone, Flute
Hans Boche: Drums
Matti Klatt: Percussion
Olaf Casalich: Percussion
Conny Plank: Engineer

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For lossy click link below :

Achim Reichel & Machines · Echo (1972) +IV (1973) = 2 on 1

Yesterday's Children 1969 - Yesterday's Children

An obscure little diamond shining out from under the shadow of its big name contemporaries. A consistently entertaining bluesy hard rock album from the late 60's.
Yesterday's Children were an American proto-metal band who enjoyed a brief but unsuccessful three year career during the late 60's. They released three singles and one self titled album before splitting up in 1969. Apart from a few spurious pieces of information scattered over the internet and a transcription of a short interview with guitarist Don Howard Krantz not much else is really known about the band.

Listening to this album it's difficult to understand why the band didn't garner more interest and attain at least some level of cult status at the time. Their music is immediately appealing and shows them to be accomplished musicians with a good grasp of how to construct decent bluesy hard rock songs with a light dusting of psychedelia. Guitarist Don Howard Krantz is a fine performer and the rough-edged vocals of Bob Huling fit the mood perfectly. Album highlight 'Sad Born Loser' is a rollicking number with an instantly appealing crunchy riff interweaved with double tracked lead fills and a suitably throaty vocal performance. 'What of I' introduces itself with a typically 60's flavoured psychedelic bassline but before you can pull a 'White Rabbit' out of your hat we are treated to a classy lead break from Krantz and the song shifts into a competent mid-tempo bluesy rocker.

The smatterings of psychedelia make it fairly obvious that these guys are a product of the 60's but you can almost sense them trying to break out of the mold and rock out for all they are worth. It would be stretching the imagination to say that the music sounds heavy in this day and age but it's certainly got a lot of punch that was missing from most of the music at the time. The psychedelia influences go straight out of the window on the proto-metal song 'She's Easy' with its driving riffs and pounding rhythm. The blues influences are quite strong and indeed it would take the likes of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest to squeeze those influences out of their repertoire and attain that true heavy metal sound but this is still powerful stuff for its time. 'Evil Woman' sounds naive and amateurish when compared to the sort of stuff that Led Zeppelin would be putting out over the pond on their debut shortly after this was released but it is enjoyable nonetheless. 'Hunter's Moon' is another highlight with its dark acidic riffing, bluesy wahed soloing and loose drumming and apart from a few contributions from Huling on vocals it's basically an extended jam.

This really is a long forgotten gem. The music is consistently entertaining throughout the album and apart from a couple of numbers which do seem rather formulaic you can enjoy this one from start to finish. Vanilla Fudge, Cream and The MC5 are often considered as three of the major influences on the future development of hard rock and metal. This obscure little band from Connecticut show, however, that these glory boys weren't the only ones trying to build upon their blues and psychedelic influences and attempt to deliver something distinctly harder edged.

Review

by menawati
Edition Akarma AK 179

01. Paranoia
02. Sad Born Loser
03. What of I
04. She's Easy
05. Sailing
06. Providence Bummer
07. Evil Woman
08. Hunter's Moon

Reggie Wright - lead guitar
Denis Croce - vocals
Richard Croce - guitar
Chuck Maher - bass
Ralph Muscatelli - drums

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Airlord - Clockwork Revenge 1977

 A great benefit of the internet is that many long lost records are being (re)discovered. This little gem is from an antipodean band who would likely have received no exposure in the northern lattitudes. Which is a shame because their only album is of great interest to those who like the Genesis side of 70s Prog, awash with memorable melodies, inventive arrangements and a high standard of musicianship. The sound is warm and friendly in typically 70s fashion, well produced but not stifling the natural flow of ideas.

There seems to be two main singing voices, one of whom sounds like an early Peter Gabriel on steroids, while the other is a plummy tenor akin to Ray Thomas. Fortunately, the latter is the more prominent, and with some excellent rich high harmonies the Moody Blues comparison is quite striking, nowhere more than the superb Out Of The Woods. Guitars dominate the instrumentation, often with acoustic varieties providing excellent rhythmic support. Both guitarists get the chance to shine with some excellent lead runs and solos, though just occasionally a little extra spark of inspiration would come in handy. Keyboards largely fulfill a background role, mostly filling in the gaps, but the rhythm section is very good and the bass is especially inventive and forward in the mix.

The standout songs are also the two longest - Ladies Of The Night and Out Of The Woods - each succeeding in combining wonderful songwriting with changeable 'symphonic' arrangements and scintillating rock-guitar work-outs. A couple of masterpieces there, and the rest of the album isn't far behind, except perhaps for the story-telling opening track which tries much too hard to recreate the battle of Epping Forest with overblown vocal theatrics! The finale (You Might Even Be) returns to a similar style but is more successful in marrying the theatrics with a strong sense of melody.

Despite the Gabriel-like vocals, this is no Genesis clone but an interesting, superior venture into their territory, quite at home with the likes of Fantasy or England. Had it been produced five years earlier it may well have made an impact. In retrospect, a terrific album that will appeal to lovers of Classic Prog and well worth the effort to seek it out.
(Review by Joolz  progarchives.con)
 
    Studio Album, released in 1977
New Zealand group (recording in Australia)
Symphonic Prog

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Clockwork Revenge (6:39)
2. Pictures In A Puddle (4:03)
3. Ladies Of The Night (9:46)
4. Earthborn Pilgrim (4:58)
5. Out Of The Woods (7:18)
6. Is It Such A Dream (5:11)
7. You Might Even Be (4:27)

Total Time: 42:22

Line-up / Musicians

- Steve MacKenzie / vocals, guitar
- Ray Simenauer / vocals, guitar
- Brad Murray / bass, vocals
- Alan Blackburn / keyboards
- Rick Mercer / drums

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Pekka Pohjola - Pihkasilma Kaarnakorva + Harakka Bialoipokku (1972-1974)

 

 Review by Eetu Pellonpaa
From Progarchives.com
5 stars Late Pekka Pohjola's debut album stands for me as the ultimate highlight among Wigwam member's solo recordings, and also a stylistic peak on his own solo career. Though the later recordings have certainly their merits, I was blown away by the energies of this iconic outburst of young talent's furious bass guitar assault. Virtuosic skills are ruthlessly displayed like capercaillie males do on their fight for proprietary rights for the females. Composed jazz-sequences are contrasted with more open improvisational spaces. Pekka's classical music education is implemented on the currents of more tender keyboard and violin driven curls, and traditional folk music is also blended to the stylistic palette. This very fine album culminates in my ears to the entity of two long tracks, which were partly also on Wigwam's live repertoire. There are some wah-wah treated bass licks, and very sensual movements evolving to ecstatic bass guitar solos on freeform musical interplay phases. I hope this record would be reissued on vinyl, as wonderful it is, have not found it with reasonable price yet. I also guess the album might not be most interesting from global perspective, locating more to the local progressive rock scene of 1970's Finland. As instrumental I think it is anyway internationally accessible.
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By Salviaal From Progarchives.com   
4 stars While still in Wigwam, Pohjola decided to make this jazzy solo album. In some ways the compositions are similar to Wigwam, after all Pohjola contributed a good deal to 3 of their proggiest albums. The main difference between this and Wigwam is the lack of any poppy hooks. Jukka Gustavson even contributed keyboards so that essentially makes it instrumental Wigwam. The first track has a typical Pohjola theme, but more than half of it is taken up by an overlong jam which if nothing else, shows just how good a bassist Pohjola already was at the age of 20! The next few tunes have that typical joyful feeling. "Armoton idylli" is a very bouncy humppa (popular Finnish style of the early 20th century) tune, and here we already hear Pohjola's skill at arranging winds, although he would take that to another level on his next album. This is a great album of quirky fusion, with no perfect comparison to a better known artist, but the closest I can think of is Zappa's Waka/Jawaka. In some ways this one and "Harakka Bialoipokku" have a more immature sound than the rest of his catalogue, but that's a big part of their charm.


Studio Album, released in 1972

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Metsonpeliä ~ Capercaillie games (10:33)
2. Virtojen kiharat ~ Curls of streams (5:28)
3. Armoton idylli ~ Merciless idyll (3:47)
4. Nipistys ~ Pinch (3:32)
5. Valittaja ~ Complainer (10:22)

Total Time: 33:42

Line-up / Musicians

- Pekka Pohjola / bass, violins, piano, final organ (5)

- Jukka Gustavson / organ, piano (4)
- Reino Laine / drums
- Risto Pensola / clarinet
- Pekka Pöyry / soprano sax, flute 

______________________________________________________________________

 I love this album. (Progarchives.com)
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Review by Progbear
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars Pohjola hit one out of the ballpark on his second solo outing. Here he's joined by a trio of saxophones, which add a brassy big-band feel to some tracks and a sort of makeshift orchestration to others. Sort of like a miniature Gil Evans Orchestra, this is where Pohjola's skills for arrangement, making a few instruments sound like a lot, really comes into its own. The scores for the reeds, combined with Pohjola's rich, sonorous bass and classically-tinged piano, sounds fuller than anyone might imagine.

Beginning with the solo piano piece "Alku", the sounds vary from the subtly building "Ensimmäinen aamu" to the brilliantly swinging album-closer "Elämä jatkuu". It all adds up to a classic of instrumental progressive, crossing borders between symphonic and jazz fusion effortlessly, as though there were no distinction. A fascinating album.
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Studio Album, released in 1974

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Alku ~ The beginning (2:10)
2. Ensimmäinen aamu ~ The first morning (5:35)
3. Huono sää / Se tanssii... ~ Bad weather / Bialoipokku dances (6:55)
4. ...ja näkee unta ~ Bialoipokku's war dream (4:35)
5. Hereilläkin uni jatkuu ~ Bialoipokku's war (4:42)
6. Sekoilu seestyy ~ The madness subsides (4:18)
7. Elämä jatkuu ~ Life goes on (6:42)

Total Time: 34:57

Line-up / Musicians

- Pekka Pohjola / bass, piano
+ Coste Apetrea / guitar (6)
- Eero Koivistoinen / soprano, tenor & sopranino saxes
- Bertil Löfgren / trumpet (2-5)
- Paroni Paakkunainen / Alto & baritone saxes, piccolo
- Tomi Parkkonen / drums, percussion (1 to 4)
- Pekka Pöyry / alto & soprano saxes

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Kebnekajse - Resa mot okant mal 1971

You could say that KEBNEKAJSE were more or less formed out of the ashes of the legendary Swedish band MECKI MARK MEN, where three soon-to-be KEBNEKAJSE members were playing. KEBNEKAJSE's debut album "Resa mot okänt mål" (A Journey to destination unknown) is a Swedish classic, although it differs a lot from the albums that would follow. This album was released before KEBNEKAJSE discovered the Swedish folk music. Now it has finally been available in the CD format, 30 years after the original LP release.

The music is loud guitar based hard rock with reminiscences to CREAM, MECKI MARK MEN, MOUNTAIN, NEON ROSE and NOVEMBER. The sound was somewhat typical British but the sparse lyrics were in Swedish. Perhaps it's quite unfair to say so, but I have always considered the guitarist Kenny Håkansson to be the most important member in the band. It was he who gave KEBNEKAJSE their unique sound with his original guitar sound and playing.

This album contains for instance the wonderful instrumentals "Frestelser i stan", "Orientens Express" and "Resa mot okänt mål" together with four other magnificent songs. The beautiful cover artwork by Kenny Håkansson, Rickard Trädgårdh, Rolf Scherrer and Pelle Lindström is worth a special mentioning too.

If you're a fan of early 70's Swedish hard rock in the likes of NEON ROSE, NOVEMBER, SOLID GROUND and TRETTIOARIGA KRIGET you will definitely love this album too. Highly recommended!
(by Greger progarchives.com)

Tracks:
1. Tänk på livet (4:58)
2. Frestelser I stan (4:47)
3. Orientens express (2:06)
4. Resa mot okänt mål (7:14)
5. Jag älskar sommaren - solen och varma vindar (10:47)
6. Förberedelser till fest (3:33)
7. Kommunisera! (5:12)

time: 38:37

Line-up/Musicians
- Gunnar Andersson / chorus
- Pelle Ekman / drums
- Mats Glenngård / chorus
- Kenny Håkansson / guitar, vocals
- Pelle Lindström / chorus
- Bella Linnarson / bass
- Tomas Netzler / chorus
- Rolf Scherrer / guitar 

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Starfire - Starfire 1974

-Fairly average psych prog album from 1974 by this band from California. Some nice swirly organ and fuzzy guitar.
-Somewhat hard, semi-commercial prog rock, featuring some good guitar, and decent song writing. Nothing extraordinary here, but a good, solid album.

Tracklisting
1. Comfort Me (3:10)
2. My Love Is Gone (4:58)
3. Many Moods Ago (3:06)
4. Birth of the Sun (7:05)
5. Island (3:27)
6. Slippery (3:23)
7. Merry Crises (4:13)
8. To Wonder Life Alone (7:04)
Duration: 36:26


Line Up:
Chris Muis - lead vocals
Robert Mitchell - guitar, backing vocals
Robert Sephton - bass, backing vocals
Dennis Hovenden - drums
Randy Kelley - keyboards

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High Tide - Sea Shanties (1969)

5 stars Metalised psychedelic rock, the music impacts like nuclear force and settles within you. Led Zep, Deep P, Black Sabbath and assorted bands where supposed to be heavy, but this stands alone (we are talking about 1969) as the predominant ultimate heavy metal attack. Even compared with regular (80's) Heavy Metal (Metallica, Iron Maiden) High Tide has been there, seen it and done it already. Rougher, louder and better at it, if I may add.

Entrenched deep within the psychedelic scene High Tide explores the field in a new direction, forcefull guitar riffing, high paced rhythms (and some slow paced passages thrown in for good measure) makes High Tide stand with one foot in late 60's psychedelica and the other in 80's heavy metal, everything passes by, from The Doors (Walking Down Their Outlook) Iron Maiden (Death Warmed Up), till Led Zeppelin combined with Arthur Brown (Futilist's Lament).

This is one of those albums all must hear, certainly if you enjoy psychedelics and heavy metal, and like in my case preferably combined, Black Sabbath is great, this is better.
tuxon | 5/5 | 2008-2-23 progarchives.com
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5 stars High Tide's debut album, Sea Shanties, seriously is an underrated/unknown gem. This album is a great meld of early metal and psychedelic rock. Tony Hill wrote, sang and played guitar on every track here, and he is the reason why Sea Shanties is my personal favorite guitar album of all-time. This guy absolutely shreds on most of the tracks here. The opening track, "Futilist's Lament", starts things off in a blaze of glory, but the next track, "Death Warmed Up", is not only the album's crowning achievement, but possibly the group's as well. It features Hill's full-fledged guitar assault take on the violin of a very talented Simon House. This song is a choatic, freaked out masterpiece. Things settle down with the atmospheric "Pushed, But Not Forgotten", and the awesome "Walking Down Their Outlook". The next track,"Missing Out" has some rather weak vocals from Tony Hill, but the jamming he and House does on this song more than makes up for it. The album closes with "Nowhere", which is a dramatic and fine way to end this terrific album. The interplay with Hill's guitar and House's violin is heard all throughout the ablum, and is one of Sea Shanties awesome qualities. The rhythm section consisting of drummer Roger Hadden and bassist Peter Pavli is solid, as these guys are better than your average drummer and bassist in my opinion. Sea Shanties, along with the group who made the album, should not be overlooked.
Kyle | 5/5 | 2006-12-11 progarchives.com
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Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

Studio Album, released in 1969

Tracks Listing

1. Futilist's Lament (5:17)
2. Death Warmed Up (9:08)
3. Pushed, But Not Forgotten (4:43)
4. Walkin Down Their Outlook (4:58)
5. Missing Out (9:38)
6. Nowhere (5:54)

Bonus tracks on 2006 remastered edition:

7. The Great Universal Protection Racket (11:24)
8. Dilemma (5:14)
9. Death Warmed Up (demo) (7:35)
10. Pushed, But Not Forgotten (demo) (4:01)
11. Time Gauges (6:24)http://youtu.be/DHIQkfp0s68

Musicians

- Roger Hadden / drums
- Tony Hill / guitar, vocals
- Simon House / violin, programming, piano
- Peter Pavli / bass

Releases information

LP Liberty LBS 83264 /   CD Eclectic Discs (2006) with bonus tracks.

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For lossy go below:

High Tide - Sea Shanties (1969)

Blue Goose - Blue Goose 1975

                                        Hard, crunchy, guitar driven, blues-psych madness!!!!

Blue Goose is a really great record out of the UK from 1975 that sounds more like it's from 1972 or 1973. Just a real loud jammin, hard, heavy, psych/blues boogie sound with great guitars, keyboards and some harmonica. Everything I love about early 70's rock and a real lost gem!!!

Eddie Clarke(of Motorhead) left the band just prior to the recording of this album. He was replaced by Mike Todman but still saw a songwriting credit on one song.

The very last song, Inside Yourself, is the real highlight for me - a fantastic drawn out psych-blues jam that goes on and on and on. I never wanted it to end!!! It's really too bad this was their only album....

Incidentally, the cover of this great LP is a really high quality embossed logo job. While it is available on CD outta Japan as an import, apparently amazon's not carrying it and that's a damn shame, cuz this really is a top favorite in my 'great lost 70's' collection and other folks should hear it!!!

Fans of this record should also check out Stray Dog, Jeronimo, Demian, Head Over Heels, Jericho, Second Life and Tin House.(By Tuco; Amazon.com)
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Blue Goose - Blue Goose 1975 (Japan 2004)

Tracklisting:

01. Stuttin' Stuff
02. The Chorus
03. Call On Me
04. Loretta
05. Snowman
06. Over The Top
07. Let Me Know
08. Inside Youself

 





Line Up:

   Alan Callan – synthesizer, guitar, vocals
   Mike Todman – guitar
   Nick Hogarth – keyboards
   Nick South – bass
   Chris Perry – drums

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Spettri - Spettri ( 1972 )

 Spettri biography
SPETTRI was a five-piece band from Florence, formed by brothers Ugo and Raffaele Ponticiello in 1964. They had a fairly long career and released several singles during the height of the Italian beat era although their sound gradually evolved and by the turn of the decade they had turned to performing covers of songs by contemporary heavy rock groups from the UK and USA. The band also underwent a number of personnel changes during the intervening years and among the musicians who came and went was drummer Mauro Sarti of CAMPO DI MARTE fame. The youngest member of the Ponticiello clan, Vincenzo, joined in 1971 thus making the venture a real family affair.

Between 1970-71 the band had also written enough original material for a full-length album that was later recorded in a single session on 13 October 1972, with a sound that is rather primitive and badly produced. However, the album never saw the light of day until 2011 when Black Widow Records released a re-mastered version of the self-titled work almost on the eve of its 40th anniversary. It's a concept album that portrays one man's search for his inner self by means of a séance, although it's also an allegory on the selfishness and hypocrisy of modern society and the erosion of humanity. The protagonist's journey to the abyss is aptly accompanied by a dark atmosphere of heavy guitar riffs and Hammond organ that together sounds like a collision of BLACK SABBATH and DEEP PURPLE.

SPETTRI had a good live activity but eventually disbanded in 1975; according to the album's liner notes the various band members followed different musical paths due to ''growing public indifference to refined music'' around that time. Describing SPETTRI as ''refined'' might strain the listener's credulity somewhat as the main appeal of this band seems to be characterised by its very defects, its rawness and its sheer exuberance.

- seventhsojourn
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 Hard and heavy Hammond hour

Spettri began in the mid 1960s as another band of the Italian beat and went through several line-up changes before arriving at their new and heavy sound around 1970. The band members were strongly influenced by heavy period bands like Sabbath, Purple, and Colisseum. They composed this album and it became the staple of their live show. It was recorded in 1972 but never released until Black Widow reissued it this year. It's a concept album with four long parts about a man dealing with spiritual problems and his search for answers. Unlike many RPI bands all around Spettri at the time they were not pursuing much of the Italian song tradition, serious avant-garde or classical music influences. Rather, Spettri is going for the English hard rock/heavy prog neighborhood of their heroes and I would say the sound is well described as Purple-ish with a shot of Sabbath. Tons of Blackmore vibed guitar leads and a heavy dose of organ behind spirited and theatrical vocal performance. Here and there are bits of acoustic guitar interlude for some contrast but this is mostly about the heavy, with oodles of riffs and ominous atmospheres. ....../......    (more at Progarchives.com)
Review by Finnforest


Studio Album, released in 2011

Songs / Tracks Listing


1. Introduzione (0:55)
2. Prima Parte: Stare Solo (5:32)
3. Seconda Parte: Medium (9:55)
4. Terza Parte: Essere (12:03)
5. Quarta Parte: Incubo (11:00)

Total Time 39:25


Line-up / Musicians


- Ugo Ponticiello / vocals
- Rafaelle Ponticiello / electric and acoustic guitars
- Vincenzo Ponticiello / bass
- Stefano Melani / Hammond organ
- Giorgio Di Ruvo / drums

Releases information

Originally recorded in 1972. Remastered and released for the first time in 2011 by Black Widow Records.

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Tramline - Somewhere Down The Line (1968)

Tramline was a hard-rocking blues-based quartet, not too different from Free and other guitar-heavy outfits of the late '60s,
and for a time even shared label affiliation with the latter band. Formed by John McCoy (vocals, harmonica),
Mick Moody (guitar), Terry Sidgwick (bass, vocals), and Terry Popple (drums).
Chris Blackwell plucked them from the club scene in 1968 and signed them to Island Records,
whence they began work on their debut LP, Somewhere Down the Line (with Blackwell producing).
The band made enough worthwhile noise to get some exposure on the BBC's Top Gear, hosted by John Peel,
but the album never sold in large numbers. Island wasn't done with them, however, and in 1969 a second LP,
Moves of Vegetable Centuries, was forthcoming, this time produced by the renowned Guy Stevens
and emphasizing Moody's guitar in the mix. It didn't do any better than the first album, however,
although one cut off the album, a cover of Traffic's "Pearly Queen," got a lot of exposure to the
underground press and in prog rock circles when it earned a place on the Island sampler album You Can All Join In.
The group had split by 1970, with McCoy and Sidgwick evidently leaving music behind while Moody passed
through Juicy Lucy and Snafu before achieving huge success with Whitesnake; Popple tagged along for a time in Snafu,
as well as working with Matthew Fisher and Alan Hull, and passed through the lineup of Radiator.
.
(info by CGR)
.
1. Harpoon Man
2. National Blues
3. Sorry sorry
4. Look Over Yonder Wall
5. Rock & Roll Woman
6. Somewhere Down The Line
7. Mazurka
8. Statesborough Blues
9. Killing Floor

Line Up:
John McCoy (vocals, harmonica)
Mick Moody (guitar)
Terry Sidgwick (bass, vocals)
Terry Popple (drums)

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Laing, Hunter, Ronson & Pappalardi - The Secret Sessions (1978)

FEATURING:
Corky Laing
WITH: Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson AND Felix Pappalardi

Plus special guest appearances by Eric Clapton, Dickey Betts, Leslie West, John Sebastian and Todd Rundgren

"This record is an assortment of secret sessions," says legendary drummer Corky Laing. "It was so secret that at one time the record company couldn't even find the tapes."   

Corky Laing, best known as the thunderous drummer behind the dense magnitude of rock icon Mountain needed something of substance to dig his teeth into. And in 1978 it came to him by way of Elektra/Asylum president Steve Wax, who approached Laing with an offer to create a superstar band of sorts, assembling the best of a working all-star line up. Wax suggested Laing give Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople) a ring in an effort to pair the two and build a nest for song writing. The partnership proved productive, with the song "Easy Money" immerging as the first creation. Its lyrics reflected a loose observation of a society drenched in sinuous overindulgence - a time Laing openly refers to as the "Champagne and Credit Card days." 
  
 Rundgren's passion for harmonies had the entire band in the recording studio immersed in vocal calisthenics for days and nights at a time. Some of the secret session's songs sprang from conversations and meetings Laing had during his many years in rock and roll. "I remember one night in LA when Greg Allman came over to my hotel after an argument with Cher. He seemed pissed out of his mind and just kept repeating, the key don't fit that lock anymore." The humor of the incident was the inspiration for the song "The Best Thing."   
On another occasion, Laing was jamming with Paul Butterfield late one night when Butterfield started playing the song "Just When I Needed You Most" written by Randy Van Wermer. The secret sessions were eventually flown to Criteria Studios in Miami where they were engineered by Steve Klein. Pappalardi came along to lend a hand and was first to suggest using Leslie West. "When we called, he was ready to roll! He was so ripe; he played some of his best stuff almost to the point of excess", enthuses Laing. In addition to the secret sessions within, two bonus tracks appear on this album that were originally on Laing's first studio effort, "Makin' It On the Street". "On My Way To Georgia", a blues-y number written by Laing and Leslie West, hosted the star studded talents of Eric Clapton and Dickey Betts. A second number, "Growing Old With Rock and Roll" still remains one of Laing's personal themes. In his never ending pursuit of musical creativity, Laing has formed a band with former Spin Doctors' guitarist and writer, Eric Schenkman, who are recording a joint project under the band name Cork. 

"Silent Movie", a slow rocker, lyrically told the story of a high school relationship run amuck and confirmed the Hunter/Laing collaboration. To fill in the musical gaps, the two sent out a flood of calls in an effort to bring in added depth and top-notch talent. And it was Mick Ronson that made the perfect fit. The need for a bass player led to Laing calling up his old Mountain band mate, Felix Pappalardi. The superstar cast was now in place. The atmosphere in the studio soon became an open party jam with cases of beer and the thick haze of reefer stoking the album tracks. Laing admits, "Those were great sessions because there were no expectations." Midway through the band's recording, Elektra/Asylum changed upper management. Laing's budget was soon cut short. A new wave of heavy hitters were filling the record racks with names like The Cars and Elvis Costello. "The project was dropped like a bad transmission", says Laing. "We took a couple months off and regrouped in Bearsville, NY in the fall of 1978, which was an exciting place to be." Laing based his operation in Levon Helm's recording studio. To help out with vocals, Ian suggested a call go out to Todd Rundgren, living close by along a narrow wooded path, remember red by Laing as a real life "Sleepy Hollow".

2011 Petrock Records [Floating World Ltd.] FLOATM6 120

Tracklist: from 1978
01. Easy Money    
02. Silent Movie - (with John Sebastian)    
03. I Ain't No Angel    
04. The Best Thing - (with Todd Rundgren)   
05. I Hate Dancin'    
06. The Outsider - (with Todd Rundgren)   
07. Just When I Needed You Most   
08. Lowdown Freedom

Bonus tracks from 1977:  
09. On My Way To Georgia - (with Eric Clapton/Dickey Betts) 
10. Growing Old With Rock 'N' Roll

Line Up:

Corky Laing - vocals, drums
Ian Hunter - vocals, keyboards
Mick Ronson - guitar, backing vocals
Felix Pappalardi - bass, backing vocals

Leslie West - guitar on tracks 4, 6 & 8
John Sebastian - harp on track 2
Todd Rundgren - organ, backing vocals on tracks 4 & 6
Eric Clapton - guitar on track 9
Dickey Betts - guitar on track 9

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