DICKEY BETTS - ATLANTA'S BURNING DOWN 1978

Dickey Betts joined the Allman Brothers Band as second lead guitarist and singer in the late '60s. In addition to matching bandleader Duane Allman lick for lick, Betts also wrote such memorable songs as "Revival" (number 92, 1971) and the instrumental tour de force "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed." After Duane Allman was killed in a road accident in 1971, Betts and Allman's brother Gregg shared leadership of the band, with Betts writing and singing the group's biggest hit, "Ramblin' Man" (number two, 1973). Members of the band began solo careers in 1973, and Betts released his first solo album Highway Call, in 1974. The Allmans split up in 1976, and Betts formed Dickey Betts and Great Southern. The Allmans reformed in 1978, with Betts contributing "Crazy Love" (number 29, 1979), "Angeline" (number 58, 1980), and "Straight From the Heart" (number 39, 1981). But they split again, and both Betts and the Allmans were inactive for several years. Betts returned with the Dickey Betts Band and Pattern Disruptive in 1988, and in 1989 he and a couple of members of his backup band joined a second, more permanent re-formation of the Allmans. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Tracks :

Good Time Feeling
Atlanta's Burning Down
Leavin' Me Again
Back on the Road Again
Dealin' With the Devil
Shady Street
You Can Have Her
Mr. Blues Man

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SHARKS - FIRST WATER 1973

Sharks was a band formed by ex-Free bass player, Andy Fraser, upon his second (and final) departure from Free, in late 1972. They were signed to Island Records and were that label's Great White Hope for the 1970s.[citation needed] The band was highly rated by critics, especially for Chris Spedding's guitar work. The initial line-up consisted of Andy Fraser (bass, piano), Snips (vocals), Chris Spedding (guitar) and American, Marty Simon (drums).

At the start of 1973, they embarked on a UK tour and also made an appearance on the BBC TV programme Old Grey Whistle Test. On the 19 February 1973, on the way back to London from a gig in Cleethorpes, the band's car skidded and hit a tree. Fraser suffered injuries to his wrist and, during recuperation, had second thoughts about the band. The tour continued to the end of April but Fraser had some difficulties playing with the injury. Sharks' debut album, First Water, was released in April but Fraser left shortly afterwards and the band began searching for a replacement. Those considered included Tom Robinson, Ric Gretch and Boz Burrell. Mick Jagger then recommended a bass player from Memphis, Busta Cherry Jones, who joined in July 1973, along with ex-Audience keyboard player Nick Judd.

A new UK tour with this line-up began in September 1973 and ran through until March 1974, when their second album, Jab It in Yore Eye, was released. The band then toured America during April & May 1974. On their return to the UK, the band began recording their third album, to be titled Music Breakout. However, Simon was fired and replaced by Stuart Francis and Jones returned to the States. Island didn't like the masters for the third album and the band folded in October 1974.

Spedding continued his session work and solo career, whilst Snips joined Ginger Baker in the Baker Gurvitz Army and then went solo.

In 1993, Spedding and Snips began recording together again as Sharks, although the album, Like a Black Van Parked on a Dark Curve..., wasn't released until 1995. There was a one-off gig in London, in December 1995, featuring Snips, Spedding, Jackie Badger (bass), Blair Cunningham (drums) and Nick Judd (keyboards) but the band has not re-surfaced since.

Tracks :

World Park Junkies
Follow Me
Ol' Jelly Roll
Brown Eyed Boy
Snakes And Swallowtails
Drivin' Sideways
Steal Away
Doctor Love
Broke A Feeling

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[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

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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

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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 [*]

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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

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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

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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

Covers

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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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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)

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