Tuesday, January 27, 2009

[BY REQUEST] TERRY BROOKS & STRANGE - HIGH FLYER / NO EXIT

Brook's earlier material reflected a distinctive hard rock and psych edge, whereas his later stage material bounced all over the spectrum. Written, produced and arranged by Brooks, 1981's "High Flyer" was divided into 'Earth' and 'Space' side. The 'Earth' side featured three rock tracks while the 'Space' side showcased four of Brooks 'softer' efforts. Normally I wouldn't subject someone to a track-by-track description of an album, but based on its wrongheaded quotient this one deserved a little more insight. 'You Will Be Loved' started the album off with a patented slice of Brooks hard-rock moves. Complete with manic vocals, mind-numbing fast and crude guitar and dumb-as-a-doorknob lyrics you either loved it, or hate it. No in-betweens with respect to this one. Similarly 'Child of the City' and 'Rock and Roll Woman' both showcased Brooks' longstanding love of echoplex, sophomoric lyrics and headache inducing leads. Mind you Brooks could certainly play guitar, but he didn't have much of a style other than loud, fast, and largely tuneless. Starting off side two 'What Kind of Man' was clearly intended to showcase Brooks' as a deep and insightful artist ... Okay, 'My Lady and Me' sported cheesy synthesizers, hysterically funny female backing vocals, and had-to-hear-to-believe lyrics ('my lady and me are from another galaxy; we're here to teach love you see'). Complete with spoken word segment and an attempt at a falsetto (disturbing to say the least - our cat was not thrilled), 'Love of the Ages' underscored the fact Brooks wasn't born to sing ballads. The title track melded spacey lyrics, a surprisingly funky rhythm and a touch of Brooks' guitar prowess.
(http://www.geocities.com/badcatrecords/BROOKSterry.htm)

Tracks :

"High Flyer" track listing:


You Will Be Loved
Child of the City
Rock and Roll Woman
What Kind of Man
My Lady and Me
Love of the Ages
High Flyer

"No Exit" track listing:

Bottom line
Woman
Mr. strange
It's a beautiful day
Rock the world
Down and dirty blues

Link : @

No Artwork

Monday, January 26, 2009

THE SACRED MUSHROOM - S/T 1969

Sacred Mushroom -- led by future Pure Prairie League member Larry Goshorn (guitar/vocals) and featuring brother Danny Goshorn (vocals) -- were a short-lived rock/blues quintet based in Cincinnati, OH. Their efforts coalesce on this, the band's self-titled debut (and only) long-player. The album contains a blend of proficient originals as well as a pair of well-chosen cover tunes, such as the blues standard "Mean Old World" and the Kinks' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else." While their name conjures images of late-'60s psychedelic or acid rock, Sacred Mushroom's roots were decidedly more bluesy than trippy. Likewise, their harder-edged performance style is well served by the tight and somewhat pop-driven arrangements, resembling artists such as the Allman Joys, Kak, or the pre-Blue Öyster Cult Stalk-Forrest Group. A few of the Larry Goshorn-penned tunes are certifiably lost classics. These include the up-tempo rocker "Catatonic Lover," which features some lyrical chord changes reminiscent of "3/5's of a Mile in 10 Seconds" by Jefferson Airplane, and the Chicago blues-style waltz "All Good Things Must End." The latter is highlighted by some inspired harp playing from Rusty Work. The opening track, "I Don't Like You," is a funky rocker spotlighting the Goshorn Brothers' tight harmonies as well as Larry's distinctive lead electric guitar licks. Another standout is their reworking of "I'm Not Like Everybody Else." The track retains a timeless pop sensibility that incorporates interweaving acoustic and electric guitar lines. "Lifeline," the most extended track on the disc, recalls the electric blues of seminal Fleetwood Mac or Stan Webb's Chicken Shack. Along the same lines is the blues boogie rendering of "Mean Old World," which might easily be mistaken for an obscure version by a mid-'60s lineup of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.

After decades of poorly manufactured European bootleg reproductions, Larry Goshorn has reissued Sacred Mushroom. Additional information can be found at http://www.goshornbrothersmusic.com/CD_mushroom_frame.htm. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide

Tracks :

1. I Don't Like You
2. You Won't Be Sorry
3. Catatonic Lover
4. All Good Things Must Have An End
5. I'm Not Like Everybody Else
6. I Take Care
7. Mean Old World
8. Lifeline

Link : @

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GANDALF THE GREY - THE GREY WIZARD AM I 1972

One could make the argument that J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings fantasy trilogy (published 1954-1955) had as significant a formative influence on the emergent hippie generation as did Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) or Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (1961). Certainly you can hear it in the twee archaisms of British folk from the era and in the more whimsical, otherworldly strains of British psychedelia (the Incredible String Band comes immediately to mind), and, in time, it would saturate '70s prog rock. It is right there, too, as a catalyst in American folk-rock (perhaps Simon & Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair/Canticle," probably the Byrds' "Renaissance Fair") and Baroque pop (Sagittarius' Present Tense, Love's "Forever Changes"), and ultimately in its acid folk (Perry Leopold's dark masterpiece Christian Lucifer). But Chris Wilson took the inspiration to its logical extreme on The Grey Wizard Am I. His nom de guerre, appropriated from the novels, is the ultimate homage, while many of the lyrics on the album were directly inspired by Tolkien's imaginary landscapes as well, and even by some of his characters. The remainder convert the ins and outs of Wilson's bohemian life in Greenwich Village into a sort of fantasy world of its own. And it is all quite delightfully, if earnestly, done -- or, to be less precious about it, The Grey Wizard Am I is often a transfixing, bewitching little relic, particularly on such songs as "My Elven Home," "Go and See," and "Sunshine Down the Line." It's not likely to have a wide appeal -- anything this eccentric, unworldly, and chimeric, no matter how well done, probably has a limited audience -- and there is not a great deal of melodic variation from song to song to push it into the upper echelon of similar recordings. Nevertheless, The Grey Wizard Am I is a lovely little pastry for fans of obscure '60s and '70s folkadelica, ideal music for playing dress-up to, or for daydreaming. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide


The Grey Wizard Am I
My Elven Home
From the Grey Havens
Here on Eighth Street
Go and See
The Christmas Song
Old Town Church
The Home Coming (The Sun Is Down)
I Don't Know Why the People
Mr. Joe's
Sunshine Down the Line
The Future Belongs to the Children
A Young Girl Just Died
Before Tomorrow
The Shadow of Tomorrow
An Elven Song of Love [*]

Link : @

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Saturday, January 24, 2009

A EUPHONIOUS WAIL - S/T 1973

Heavily influenced by San Francisco bands (Big Brother and the Trucking Company and The Jefferson Airplane quickly come to mind), the Santa Rosa, California-based A Euphonious Wail was roughly five years behind creative and popular tastes. Not that it stopped a struggling Kapp Records from signing the quintet.

Built around the talents of drummer Doug Hoffman, keyboardist Bart Libby, singer Suzanne Rey, singer/guitarist Steve Tracy and bassist Gary Violetti, the band's self-titled 1973 debut teamed them with producer Brian Ingoldsby (Lowell Levinger of Youngbloods fame reportedly also helped out). while "A Euphonious Wail" had a couple of moments, for the most part the LP was surprisingly lame and uninspired. As lead vocalists Rey and Tracy had decent, if unexceptional voices (though Rey tended to screech in the higher registers). The same type of limitations were true of the band as songwriters (all but Hoffman contributing material). Taken individually guitar and keyboard propelled rockers such as "Pony", "We've Got the Chance", "When I Start To Live" and "F#" weren't bad, but stretched over an entire album, there simply wasn't much to stand out. The band were even less successful when they tried slowing things down - check out the lame ballads "Did You Ever" and "I Want To Be a Star". (The Michael Hawes cover drawing was interesting. Depending on how you looked at it you saw something completely abstract, or possibly obscene.) Needless to say, the album vanished without a trace, followed in short order by the banD.
(http://www.geocities.com/badcatrecords/EuphoniousWail.htm)

Tracks:

1.) Pony (John Brandenburg Jr.) - 4:36
2.) We've Got the Chance (Bart Libby - Suzanne Ray) - 4:09
3.) Did You Ever (Steve Tracy) - 3:41
4.) When I Start To Live (Steve Tracy) - 4:50
5.) F# (Steve Tracy) - 3:36
6.) Chicken (Gary Violetti - Bart Libby) - 4:32
7.) Night Out (Gary Violetti - Suzanne Rey) - 2:49
8.) Love My Brother (Gary Violetti - Suzanne Rey) - 4:40
9.) I Want To Be a Star (Bart Libby) - 5:29

Link : @

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Thursday, January 22, 2009

MARTIN CARTHY - CROWN OF HORN 1976

Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days of the folk revival.
Performing with The Imagined Village at Camp Bestival - 20th July 2008

He was born in Hatfield on May 21, 1941 and grew up in Hampstead, North London. After leaving school, he worked behind the scenes at the open air theatre at Regent's Park as a prompter, then an assistant stage manager (ASM) on a tour of The Merry Widow, and then at Theatre in the Round in Scarborough. He then sang in coffee bars. He became a resident at The Troubadour Folk Club in Earls Court in the early 1960s. He joined Redd Sullivan's Thameside Four in 1961. He is a renowned solo performer of traditional songs in a very distinctive style, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar; his style is marked by the use of alternative tunings, and a strongly percussive picking style that emphasizes the melody. His debut album, Martin Carthy, was released in 1965, and also featured Dave Swarbrick playing fiddle on some tracks, although he was not mentioned in the album's sleeve notes. Carthy's arrangement of the traditional ballad Scarborough Fair was adapted, without acknowledgment, by Paul Simon on the Simon and Garfunkel album recording Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme in 1966.

He has also been involved with many musical collaborations. He has sung with The Watersons since 1972, was twice a member of the UK electric folk group Steeleye Span, was a member of the legendary Albion Country Band 1973 line-up, with members from the Fairport Convention family and John Kirkpatrick, that recorded the seminal 'Battle of the Field' album, and was part of the innovative Brass Monkey ensemble, which mixed a range of brass instruments with Carthy's guitar and mandolin and John Kirkpatrick's accordion, melodeon and concertina.

For many years Carthy has enjoyed a creative partnership with fiddle player Dave Swarbrick and, more recently, Waterson:Carthy has provided the forum for a successful partnership with partner Norma Waterson together with their daughter Eliza Carthy.

In June 1998 he was appointed an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002, and again in 2005 when he also won the award for Best Traditional Track for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men'. In the 2007 Folk Awards Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick won "Best duo".

Tracks :

1.Bedmaking, The
2.Locks and Bolts
3.King Knapperty
4.Geordie
5.Willie's Lady
6.Virginny
7.Worcestershire Wedding, The
8.Bonny Lass of Anglesey
9.William Taylor the Poacher
10.Old Tom of Oxford
11.Palaces of Gold

Link : @

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

MEIC STEVENS - OUTLANDER 1970

Meic Stevens may not be a familiar name in much of the world, but in his native Wales the singer-songwriter's stature is often compared to that of Bob Dylan. A local legend whose psych-folk influence can be heard in such contemporary Welsh groups as Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Stevens also founded his country's first independent record company, the estimable Sain label.

Stevens sang mostly in his native language, a political act not unlike speaking Basque in Spain or Cherokee in the U.S. His one English-language album is 1970'sOutlander, an outstanding marriage of musicianship and eclecticism. Arising from the same fertile soil as the work of the late-'60s icons, Stevens's album nonetheless manages to avoid easy comparisons. Its jazz-Indo-psych ragas merge seamlessly with its acid folksongs and Dylan-esque meditations on relationships and politics. Performed by a remarkable cast of musicians hand-picked by English rock tastemaker Ian Samwell, Outlander was created with a minimum of rehearsal and consists largely of first takes.

Greeted with critical acclaim upon Outlander's U.K. release, Stevens traveled Stateside for a two-week tour in the summer of 1970. But the album never crossed the Atlantic; its very first U.S. release is this expanded, remastered Rhino Handmade issue. Copies of the LP have fetched upwards of $500 on the collectors' market, a testimony to the enduring quality of its songs. Now, fans can enjoy the original album in its entirety, along with nine bonus tracks, including outtakes, alternate versions, and the 1970 B-side "Blue Sleep."

Tracks :

01. Rowena

02. Love Owed

03. Left Over Time

04. Lying To Myself

05. The Sailor And Madonna

06. Oxblood

07. Yorric

08. Midnight Comes

09. Ghost Town

10. Dau Rhosyn Coch

11. Ballad Of Old Joe Blind

12. GREAT HOUDINI

13. ALL ABOUT A DREAM (Bonus)

14. EVENING COMES UP (Bonus)

15. UPON THE MOUNTAIN (Bonus)

16. WHERE HAVE ALL MY PEOPLE GONE (Bonus)

17. YORRIC (Early Version) (Bonus)

18. THE SAILOR AND MADONNA (Early Version) (Bonus)

19. BLUE SLEEP (Bonus)

20. BALLAD OF JOE BLIND (Alternate Version) (Bonus)

Link : @ Re - Up

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Monday, January 19, 2009

MOSES GUEST - LIVE STAGES 2001

With a loping opening "Intro Jam" that bears more than passing resemblance to the meandering work of the late Jerry Garcia, Moses Guest alternates between tightly crafted, if innocuous, alternative Southern rock songs by singer/guitarist Graham Guest and obligatory improvisations that spiral up through the scales, ascending toward the final choruses. Owing much to '70s arena rock, Moses Guest manages to retain a feel of intimacy in its performances, recorded live in Colorado and Arkansas. The lyrics find occasional moments of wisdom inside the clichés. Most of the original material, though, is negligible, imagery pulled from a stock collection of songwriting truth. For genuine jam band authenticity, the band includes "I Know You Rider," a folk cover popularized by the Grateful Dead, with a fast shuffling arrangement just different enough to be fresh, but familiar enough so as not to offend the hippie traditionalists. ~ Jesse Jarnow, All Music Guide

Tracks :

Intro Jam
Over the Car/Under the Stairs
How Does It Feel?
Cellophane Man
Stealin'
Boogie Heartache/Right Down
Deeper
I Know You Rider

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Saturday, January 17, 2009

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE - BALAKLAVA 1968

Balaklava was the second album recorded and released by psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine, in 1968.

For the album, original group members Tom Rapp, Wayne Harley and Lane Lederer were joined by Jim Bohannon, who replaced Roger Crissinger. Like the group’s previous LP on ESP-Disk, "One Nation Underground", it was recorded at Impact Sound in New York City. Recordings probably took place in early 1968 – although some CD reissues state that it was recorded in 1965, this appears to be an error. Lederer left the group during, or shortly after, the recordings, and the basic group was augmented by studio musicians.

Rapp has stated [1] that he wanted to produce a themed anti-war album, and chose the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava in 1854 as an example of the futility of war. The album was dedicated to Private Edward Slovik, the only US soldier executed for desertion in the Second World War. The front cover, a detail of "The Triumph of Death" by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, showed a grotesque allegorical depiction of the horrors of war, while the back cover showed a photograph of a young girl at an anti-war protest. The cover also included the quote ”Only the dead have seen the end of war” by George Santayana, together with surreal and horrific drawings by Jean Cocteau. Incidentally, the cover contributed to the mystique surrounding the group - there were few if any photographs of its members published, and Pearls Before Swine did not perform in concert before 1971.

The album itself starts with a recording of “Trumpeter Landfrey” (his name was in fact Martin Lanfried) [2] [3], one of the original buglers from the 1854 battle. Together with the recording of Florence Nightingale later on the album, this was taken from an archive 1890 cylinder recording, which had been reissued on 78rpm records in the 1930s.

The recording segues into "Translucent Carriages", one of Rapp’s most lasting songs (which he performed, for instance, at the Terrastock 6 Festival in 2006). Simply performed with acoustic guitar, it is rendered otherworldly by breathing noises and whispered lines of commentary, including the quote from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus - "In peace, sons bury their fathers / in war, fathers bury their sons."

"Images of April", in contrast, is an evocation of nature, featuring dubbed bird song. After "There Was A Man", a simpler story-based folk song, another highlight is "I Saw The World". Its innocent but heartfelt lyric (Rapp was just 21 at the time) - "I saw the world spinning like a toy / Hate seems so small compared to it all, so why don’t you do joy ?" - is supplemented by overdubs of natural sounds including waves, as well as wind chimes and a lush string arrangement. "Guardian Angels" is a ballad recorded deliberately to sound as it if it were on a scratchy 1920s 78rpm record, and was presented as such ("recorded in Guadelope, Mexico, in 1929…" ) on the sleeve.

The generally less artistically successful second side of the original LP starts with a version of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" , followed by Rapp’s original "Lepers and Roses", a complex ballad full of allegorical classical references. After the archive recording of Florence Nightingale, the final track, "Ring Thing", is a dramatic evocation of Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' with crashing gongs and bagpipe drones. At the end, the sound of a tape spooling backwards through the album takes the listener back to "Trumpeter Landfrey" – the message seeming to be that the cycle of war and confusion is destined to continue.

The album repeated its predecessor’s critical success on the underground college scene of the late 1960s, and has subsequently been regularly rated most highly of all Rapp’s albums. Following the album's release, Rapp extricated himself from his ESP contract and signed with Reprise Records. After seven further albums he retired from music in the mid-1970s to qualify and work as a lawyer, returning to perform and record occasionally after the mid-1990s. Balaklava has been reissued several times on CD since the 1980s.

1. "Trumpeter Landfrey" – 0:35
2. "Translucent Carriages" – 4:00 (Herodotus/Harley/Rapp)
3. "Images of April" – 2:44 (Rapp)
4. "There Was a Man" – 2:59 (Rapp)
5. "I Saw the World" – 3:28 (Rapp)
6. "Guardian Angels" – 3:02 (Rapp)
7. "Suzanne" – 5:01 (Cohen)
8. "Lepers And Roses" – 5:23 (Rapp)
9. "Florence Nightingale" – 0:17
10. "Ring Thing" – 2:20 (Tolkien/Rapp)

Link : @

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Friday, January 16, 2009

BOB SEGER - SMOKIN' O.P.S 1972

A much requested official CD reissue for an album that was difficult to locate even when it was out on vinyl in 1972, Smokin' O.P.'s finds Bob Seger covering "other people's" favorites, including a few of his own. Accompanied by a tough three piece band with Skip Van Winkle's churning organ often more prominent than guitar, Seger sizzles through a short but intense 35 minute set of nine tunes. Even when reinterpreting warhorses such as "Bo Diddley," "Turn on Your Lovelight" and "Let it Rock," the band charges through with such a crisp, no-nonsense attack. These versions sound fresh, if not quite new, upon this album's remastered reissue in 2005, 33 years after it was recorded. The feeling is that these tunes were already crowd favorites, so the recording has a live electricity to it, only enhanced by subsequent years of slicker music from Seger. The slow burn rearrangement of the once folksy "If I Were a Carpenter" captures the singer at his most vibrant, mixing sensitivity with leathery, roiling rock that explodes into a throbbing crescendo, all in about 3 ½ minutes. The mood only eases up for Leon Russell's "Hummin' Bird" and Seger's one new composition "Someday," a "Turn the Page" styled piano ballad with strings. It is "Heavy Music" in the best sense. The album remains a potent example of Bob Seger at his most raw, when he was young and hungry and sounded it. --Hal Horowitz  

Tracks : 

1. Bo Diddley - Bob Seger, McDaniel, Elias
2. Love the One You're With - Bob Seger, Stills, Stephen
3. If I Were a Carpenter - Bob Seger, Hardin, Tim
4. Hummin' Bird - Bob Seger, Russell, Leon
5. Let It Rock - Bob Seger, Berry, Chuck
6. Turn on Your Love Light - Bob Seger, Scott, Joseph Wade
7. Jesse James - Bob Seger, Traditional
8. Someday - Bob Seger, Seger, Bob
9. Heavy Music - Bob Seger, Seger, Bob 

Link : @

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

FROGWINGS - CROAKIN' AT TOAD'S 2000

One pleasing development in contemporary music, serving as a counterpoint to the proliferation of vacuous, lightweight teen pop acts, is the resurgence of jam bands. Near the end of their career, the Grateful Dead, the quintessential jam band, found themselves enjoying unexpectedly wide popularity among much younger fans. Then the band called Phish inherited many of their fans with their strongly improvisational music, honed by countless live performances. so that Phish has become the kind so-called cult band that the Grateful Dead was. That, in turn, had paved the way for a host of younger jam bands, some outstanding and some not so much so. Among the first-rate groups carrying on the jazz-inspired tradition of extended instrumental improvisations, are The String Cheese Incident, Moe and Strangefolk.

This week we have a very impressive recording from what could be described as a super-group jam band, comprised of fairly well-known musicians of two generations. They call themselves Frogwings, and their new CD is Croakin’ at Toad’s.

Frogwings could be described as a kind of offshoot of the Allman Brothers Band, with founding member Butch Trucks on drums, and the current percussionist and bassist from the Allmans, Marc Quinones and Otiel Burbridge, also among the ranks of the Frogwings. Other members include Butch Trucks' nephew, the teenage guitar phenomenon Derek Trucks, who has already put out a very impressive solo albumm of his own, plus guitarist Jimmy Herring of another jazzy rock band The Aquarium Rescue Unit, Kofi Burbridge, Otiel's brother on flute and keyboards, and vocalist and harmonica man John Popper from Blues Traveler, a blues-rock band which enjoyed considerable success in its own right. Making it an even more appropriate album for a jam band is the fact that Croakin’ at Toad’s was recorded live, appropriately at a venue called Toad’s, located in New Haven, Connecticut.

Naturally, expectations for a band with the players on the calibre of Frogwings would be high, and the group fully lives up to those promises. Herring and the younger Trucks are great guitarists, Popper's fancy harmonica work adds some spice, and little touches like Kofi Burbridge's occasional flute add a lot to the sound. But while there may be some jam bands around with more technically skilled players, Frogwings really knows how to get up a groove and run with it -- in two cases on this CD for a quarter hour or more -- while keeping things interesting and showing great musical interaction. The two really long jams are instrumentals, but even the vocal tracks, sung by Popper, allow plenty of room for musical interaction, further enhanced by presence of the live audience.

With four of the seven players in Frogwings either members of the Allman Brothers or associated with the group, there is naturally a musical resemblance between the styles of the two bands, but that is nothing to complain about, with the Allmans having been responsible for some of the great rock jams going back to the early 1970s. Frogwings sometimes brings in a little Latin influence, incorporates the blues, thanks to John Popper, and can get a bit jazzy, owing to the inclinations of the two guitarists.

The album begins with one of its longest jams, and one of its best. The instrumental track Kick n Bach starts with a slow groove reminiscent of the Allmans' In Memory of Elizabeth Reed. <<>> It provides ample solo opportunities, including for Otiel Burbridge with his simultaneous bass and vocals similar to his work with the Aquarium Rescue Unit... <<>> before the piece picks up and gets into a Latin-influenced beat for the second guitar solo, which I am guessing was played by Herring. <<>>

The first of the vocals is a John Popper composition called Hurdy Gurdy Fandango. This upbeat song has much briefer solos but still provides a chance for good instrumentalizing... <<>> ... especially by percussionist Quinones. <<>>

Pattern is a joint composition by John Popper and Otiel Burbridge that is one of the highest energy rockers on the album with some musical homage paid to various Southern bands of the past. It's a track that has it moments, but does not rank as the album's most memorable. <<>>

The bluesier side of Frogwings comes out on Just One, another John Popper composition. Popper puts in one of his best performances on the CD, both vocally and on harmonica. <<>>

Also in the Southern Rock musical tradition is a joint band composition called Ganga, which the group really sinks their teeth into, including the Allmanesque dual lead guitar lines. <<>>

The album's longest jam, at over 16 minutes in length is another instrumental, this one by Herring and Otiel Burbridge. Eddie's Got a Boyfriend has a melodic line that sounds like a school-yard taunt of the title. Though the playing is quite good throughout, this is one instance where a bit more succinctness might have been helpful. <<>>

For me, the most interesting track on the CD is Deviant Dreams, in which Frogwings break out of their stylistic mode some, with some distinctive lyrics and a kind of progressive-rock direction. Otiel Burbridge is heard on his flute. <<>>

The album ends with Among Your Pillows, not its strongest track, but one marked by good instrumental work nonetheless. <<>>

Frogwings represents a kind of dream-team jam band, with members of the Allman Brothers, Blues Traveler and the Aquarium Rescue Unit combining forces in a great live album marked by solid playing and the kind of musical interaction that makes a jam band performance so memorable. And the fact that this is a live recording enhances the experience and leads the players to a higher level musically. Their material is, for the most part, worthwhile, though in a jam band situation like this, the compositions take a back seat to the improvisations by the players involved, and the latter are all world-class. (by George Graham http://georgegraham.com/reviews/frogwing.html )

Tracks :

1.Kick N Bach
2.Hurdy Gurdy
3.Pattern
4.Eddie's Got a Boyfriend
5.Just One
6.Ganja
7.Deviant Dreams
8.Among Your Pillows

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