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Number nine bread street is a pub, an obscure little building found down a narrow once-cobble street, A collection coin flip from Wakefield cathedral, almost hidden in the shadows. Number nine bread street and it's five thirty, late afternoon the five door bolts are drawn. A yellow block of light falls on the pavement. Inside the glass globes blaze, the coal fire crackle is the only sound to break this early silence. Soon the news boy will enter over the pale dunes of deal sawdust lying on the flagged floor. This is an old pub clinging to an old tradition.The setting is peacful, nothing until six o'clock, six thirty when the door again opens and number nine bread street gradually shrugs to life. Pearls of drizzle on cropped hair and a guitar. The one long bar with its elbow-rubbed sheen stands the press of customers, more talk and blue curls of tobacco smoke haze drifts over all.A banjo glints next to the guitar, a whistle of music, the regular voices tune up with a burst of laughter. The singing begins, a crowd of likely and unlikely characters range their voices through the rafters.Number nine bread street, this is another night here, the place resounds with song and local talk while strangers are bearing lovely ideas away in odd cornersNumber nine bread street is a record
Jim Capaldi struck out on his own following the break-up of Traffic and the result is the upbeat Short Cut Draw Blood. This album produced hit singles in the form of such tracks as "It's All Up to You," "Love Hurts" and the FM staple "Johnny Too Bad." Aided by a wide variety of musician friends and dipping into a wide range of musical styles, there is something for everyone on Short Cut Draw Blood. While some cuts still have a thrown together sound to them, this album holds together even better than his first release. A fine look at the mid-'70s in terms of just how wide a variety of music could be contained on one album by one personality. ~ James Chrispell, All Music Guide
The Web are perhaps best known for their progressive rock classic I Spider (available on Esoteric Recordings), an album of innovation that continues to draw comparisons with the work of Van Der Graaf Generator at that time. The Web began life as a jazz and soul influenced outfit, fronted by singer John L. Watson, enjoying Top Ten hit singles throughout Europe.By the time of Theraphosa Blondi the band underwent a metamorphosis, with their music taking on more Jazz and Progressive influences, resulting in an excellent album that is rightly seen as a precursor to both the album I Spider and the band'sevolution into the group Samurai.
Marsupilami's debut album is about as ungainly as the group's name in its strident, mordant, early progressive rock. There was a very large undertow of obscure albums with morose melodies, fuzz guitars, and organ at the end of the 1960s and very beginning of the 1970s. Marsupilami falls squarely into that bag, although it's differentiated from the American records of that type by a sort of British-European seriousness and early prog rock-jazz touches, particularly in Jessica Stanley Clarke's flute. The songs are long, winding, and portentous, with touches of the gothic and the funereal, especially in the organ and Dave Laverock's bowed guitar (particularly on the closer "Facilis Descencus Averni"). They're rather samey-sounding and unmemorable, though, and not so dark as to be as truly chilling as they might have wished. If you're looking for something in the same general ballpark that's almost equally obscure, Julian's Treatment's A Time Before This album (also from 1970) is much better than this LP, which was reissued on Get Back in 1999. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide Tracks : 01-Dorian Deep02-Born To Be Free03-And The Eagle Chased The Dove To It's Ruin04-Ab Initio Ad Finem (The Opera)05-Facilis Descensus Averni
The album opens with the rocker "Down the Road", which isn't really prog, but smokes nonetheless. Then we get the title track, which is not just the best song on the album, it's probably Kansas' best song, and should by all rights be considered a prog classic. All the elements are there - overall symphonic sound, multiple sections, long instrumental breaks, heady politically/environmentally conscious lyrics and great composition. Whenever someone gratuitously bashes Kansas, I always wonder if all they've heard is "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind", and have never had the pleasure of a track like "Song For America". One of my favorite concert moments was getting to see Kansas play at a tiny bar and standing five feet away from Phil Ehart as he tore through the impressive drum parts of this song. To this day, I'm convinced that Mr. Ehart is possibly the most underrated drummer in rock.Unfortunately the best track is followed immediately by what is probably the worst. It's a melodramatic, overblown tale of a grieving widower who's wife's ghost comes back to comfort him (with suitably bombastic and emotional music to match). Even when I was a hard-core Kansas fan I never liked this song - it just seems like the blueprint for way too many bad neoprog songs."Lonely Street" is a down-and-dirty blues tune (in 11/8 if I'm counting correctly) that's about as dark lyrically as anything the band ever did. The narrator tells of how he killed a man for raping his woman. Steve Walsh goes for the gusto on this one, and those who dislike his voice would hate it. But it's another highlight in my book. The guitars smolder and smoke, and the violin adds some nice touches. I just wish the lyric "So half crazed I shot him, and I cried in the blood on that jail house floor" had been changed to "killed" instead of "shot". How would the protagonist have gotten a gun in jail? A nitpick I know, but it's always bugged me."The Devil Game" kind of foreshadows the days of the early 80s, when Kerry Livgren would take over control of the band and turn it briefly into a Christian rock group. Except that this song is a fairly good rocker (if you can overlook the "don't let the devil use you" lyrics), while most of Kansas' early 80s work is not so hot.The album ends with another lengthy track, "Incomudro". I seem to remember reading somewhere that the name came to Livgren in a dream, and doesn't really have any particular meaning. The song is another big, bombastic number with long instrumental, symphonic prog sections and occasional philosophical lyrics. Not a bad track, but in all my years as a Kansas fan I never thought "you know, I really need to hear Incomudro today". There's a big drum solo that's a bit disappointing given Ehart's skill, and finally the song and album end in grand prog fashion with the music speeding up until it finally reaches an explosion (literally).If you don't mind a bit of the "classic rock" sound with your symphonic prog, and you haven't bought this album yet, give it a try. The band's other early work would probably also appeal (everything from the self-titled first album through the live Two For the Show).review by Bob EichlerTracks : 1. Down the road (3:43)2. Song for America (9:59)3. Lamplight symphony (8:11)4. Lonely street (5:43)5. The devil game (5:03)6. Incomudro - Hymn to the Atman (12:12)
Crosby, Stills & Nash is the eponymous first album released by Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969 on the Atlantic Records label. It spawned two Top 40 hits, "Marrakesh Express" and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," which peaked respectively at #28 the week of August 23, 1969, and at #21 the week of October 25, 1969, on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The album itself peaked at #6 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.The album was a very strong debut for the band, instantly lifting them to stardom. Along with the Band's Music From Big Pink of the previous year, it helped initiate a sea change in popular music away from the ruling late sixties aesthetic of bands playing blues-based rock music on loud guitars. Crosby, Stills & Nash presented a new wrinkle in building upon rock's roots, utilizing folk, blues, and even jazz without specifically sounding like mere duplication. Not only blending voices, the three meshed their differing strengths, Crosby for social commentary and atmospheric mood pieces, Stills for his diverse musical skills and for folding folk and country elements subtly into complex rock structures, and Nash for his radio-friendly pop melodies, to create an amalgam of broad appeal. Eventually going multi-platinum, in addition to the abovementioned singles, Crosby, Stills & Nash features some of their best known songs in "Wooden Ships" and "Helplessly Hoping." "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" was composed for Judy Collins, and "Long Time Gone" was a response to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.This album proved very influential on many levels to the dominant popular music scene in America for much of the 1970s. The success of the album generated gravitas for the group within the industry, and galvanized interest in signing like acts, many of whom came under management and representation by the CSN team of Elliot Roberts and David Geffen. Strong sales, combined with the group's emphasis on personal confession in its writing, paved the way for the success of the singer-songwriter movement of the early seventies. Their utilization of personal events in their material without resorting to subterfuge, their talents in vocal harmony, their cultivation of painstaking studio craft, as well as the Laurel Canyon ethos that surrounded the group and their associates, established an aesthetic for a number of acts that came to define the "California" sound of the ensuing decade, including The Eagles, Jackson Browne, post-1974 Fleetwood Mac, and others.In 2003, the album was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.The album has been issued on compact disc three times: mastered by Barry Diament at Atlantic Studios in the mid-1980s[1]; remastered by Joe Gastwirt at Ocean View Digital and reissued on August 16, 1994; reissued again by Rhino Records as an expanded edition using the HDCD process on January 24, 2006.
The band was founded by songwriter and producer Kenny Young, who had composed the song "Under The Boardwalk" for the Drifters in 1964. Young had worked off and on with Australian singer Susan Traynor for a number of years in the United States.As an uncredited member of the Charmettes, produced by Young, Traynor had scored a minor hit single with "Please Don't Kiss Me Again" and she had later appeared on Young's album Last Stage For Silverworld, where she was listed as "Amanda". Both Traynor and Young then relocated to England in 1968, after Young had written a song for Reparata and the Delrons called "Captain of Your Ship", which had been a British hit.He then discovered Northern Irish singer Clodagh Rodgers on a television show, who had recently released a single called "Play The Drama Till The End". The partnership produced three years of hit singles, beginning with "Come Back And Shake Me". With this, Rodgers became something of a blueprint for Fox, as she recorded demos of some of the songs which would eventually surface on the first Fox album in 1975, as well as earlier Young tunes.Meanwhile, Susan Traynor was in a folk group called Wooden Horse, which released two albums before breaking up. After his success with Rogers, Young founded Fox with Irish singer Herbie Armstrong, recruiting Traynor as lead singer. She adopted the stage name Noosha, a scrambled version of her own name, and a glamorous image inspired by Marlene Dietrich, wearing elegant dresses to contrast with the scruffy looks of the rest of the group.The band's self-titled debut album was released on GTO Records in 1975 to critical acclaim. The lead single, "Only You Can", was a Top 10 UK single, the follow-up "Imagine Me Imagine You" also reached the top 30 and "He's Got Magic" was a hit in some European countries. Also the track Love Ship was played extensively on Radio Caroline, and was subsequently adopted as one of their theme tunes in the 1970's. Shortly after the release of their first album, the band made a cameo appearance in the film Side By Side.However, Noosha was relegated to backing vocals for half the songs on the late 1975 follow-up album, Tails Of Illusion, with the other songs sung by Young. The album enjoyed neither the critical nor the sales success of its predecessor; without Noosha's distinctive voice, casual listeners did not associate the songs with the band that had recorded "Only You Can". Roger Taylor of Queen added backing vocals to the song "Survival".The band returned to the charts in April 1976 when "S-S-S-Single Bed" was a surprise Top 5 UK hit and topped the Australian charts. Again, though, the band failed to capitalize upon its momentum, and the weaker accompanying album Blue Hotel, which was only released the following year, failed to yield any further singles, even though Noosha was reinstated as lead singer on all its tracks.Noosha Fox left the band after Blue Hotel. Armstrong and Young continued to work together in the band Yellow Dog, while Armstrong went on to work with Van Morrison and Solley later joined Whitesnake. Noosha launched a solo career, and her first single, "Georgina Bailey", written and produced by Young, briefly entered the Top 40 in the UK (reaching number 31) in 1977. However, its title and subject matter (about a girl whose uncle turns out to be gay) were reminiscent of Rod Stewart's then-current single "The Killing of Georgie", and the single's relatively weak chart placement meant that her planned solo album, already partly recorded, was shelved.In 1979, Noosha Fox tried again to start her solo career with a single, "The Heat Is On", on Chrysalis Records. It flopped, but a cover version by ABBA's Agnetha Fältskog was a big European hit four years later. Noosha recorded several singles in the early 1980s for the Earlobe label but none were successful, and she evidently retired from the music business, but not returning to Australia as many believe.Fox reformed briefly in 1980, releasing the New Wave-influenced "Electro People", written as the theme music for the Kenny Everett Show. The band considered a reunion in the early 1990s, but the tracks recorded at this time were unreleased until 2004, when they appeared as bonus tracks on the Tails of Illusion CD.It was reported in 2007 on BBC Radio 4's "The Music Group" that Noosha Fox is recording a solo album of electropop, and has her own website.
Produced by Gary Katz, recorded by Roger Nichols this album contains the hit single "Rikki don't lose that number" which became the band's biggest hit, reaching #4 on the charts right after the release of the album. Pretzel logic also includes a Duke Ellington's cover (East St. Louis Toodle-oo) and a tribute to saxophonist Charlie Parker (Parker's band). The album has been placed, in 2003, at #385 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.For sure, Pretzel logic was a unique beast when it hit the record stores. Back in 1974 it was impossible to listen to something similar. It was an incredibly fresh mixture of pop, jazz and rock, with lyrics so strange that it was/is sometimes hard to understand the whole meaning of the song (hence the title "Pretzel logic", I assume!!!).While their first two albums were mostly rock-oriented and -inspired, this "Pretzel logic" has a more jazzy taste. Nonetheless it lacks the somewhat cold atmosphere of the subsequent Becker & Fagen albums: perfect in every detail, food for mind more than food for soul. Don't get me wrong: I simply love all their albums but some of their juvenile freshness has started to lack after Pretzel logic was released. This might be caused by the decision to stop live performances (they stopped touring after Pretzel logic) but, in some sense, the duo started to talk more to the mind than to the heart.The reason why I've decided to include Pretzel logic into our list of audiophile recordings is simple: this album, besides being an excellent recording considering it dates back to 1974, is a good test for any system that aims to reproduce a lively swing. If your system is not adequate in the "timing" department then this album would sound boring and lifeless. Try following the simple rhythm of the title track or of "Barrytown" (my two faves): you shouldn't be able to stop your feet from stomping! These tracks are groovy to the n-th power! The bass lines of the title track - doubled by Jeff Porcaro's powerful drumming - are purely sensual, they are simple but extremely powerful and SHOULD be easy to follow, during the whole track. If they get lost among the rest of the instruments, something in your system needs a reality check.The same applies to "Barrytown", a song that possesses a joyous pace that should be naturally reproduced by your system. The song is only apparently simple: try to follow the patterns of the keywords and of the electric guitar...they are quite intricated indeed! Try to follow each one separately. Is it easy or confusing? [Answer: it should be EASY]. Another song with an urge is "Monkey in your soul": again PRaT ability of the system is under severe test here!On the other hand, the slow rhythm of the hit "Rikki don't lose that number" sounds a bit a-la Joe Jackson if I may ...only years before Joe published his first album! Its opening keyboard riff, directly taken from '64 Horace Silver's "Song for my father", is extremely catchy and involving, the system should preserve its slow and almost hypnotic cadence. Again, try to refrain your feet from stomping!This album is also a good test for vocals. You shouldn't expect the quality you can hear on modern audiophile recordings (which are more real than real, actually) but there should be NO trace of harshness or distortion, even during choirs. Voices should come out natural and easy on the ear. Actually, the whole album should sound easy, it's something you should be able to listen many times in a row (being 35 minutes long, that's not difficult!).Overall dynamics isn't anywhere near the best today's recordings so don't expect goose bumps in this specific department. This relaxed atmosphere makes the album even easier to enjoy. Finally, 3D soundstaging, being Pretzel logic a 1974 pop/rock recording, isn't impressive. Width, height and depth of the virtual are clearly limited. Not the same applies to focus and precision, which are quite good even by today's standards. ( http://www.tnt-audio.com/topics/pretzel_logic_e.html )
Pure Prairie League is an American country-rock band whose roots began between 1964 and 1969 in Waverly, Ohio with Craig Fuller, Tom McGrail, Jim Caughlan and John David Call. The band's name was chosen by McGrail after a 19th century temperance union mentioned in the 1939 film Dodge City. The band has had a long run, active from the early 1970s through to the early 1980s, and reborn in the mid 2000s.Although the band has its roots in Waverly, Ohio, it was actually formed in Columbus, Ohio, and had its first success in Cincinnati. Although Fuller, McGrail, Caughlan, and Call had played together off and on since high school, the first Pure Prairie League recording was a George Ed Powell penned composition, "Down to Pieces" with Powell (acoustic guitar and vocal), Fuller (lead guitar and vocal), McGrail (drums), Kenny May (bass) and David Workman (pedal steel guitar). The original stage band was Fuller, McGrail, Powell, Phil Stokes on bass, and Robin Suskind on guitar and mandola. Steel guitar player, John Call, joined the band in 1970. His steel guitar improved the country songs and sparked guitar duels with Fuller that contributed greatly to the rock/country, signature sound of the band. Caughlan, who had played drums and guitar with Fuller, Call and McGrail in earlier bands, took over on drums when McGrail quit the band just before their first album. Lanham replaced Stokes who left at the same time. After the eponymous first album release and a nationwide tour in 1971, the band split up with Call, Caughlan, and Lanham leaving before the second album. This left Fuller and Powell to record Bustin' Out in Toronto with Billy Hinds (drums) and Michael Connor (piano) would become regulars in the Pure Prairie League line-up for years to come. Michael Reilly, the longtime bass player and front man for the band, joined the band for the Two Lane Highway album and plays with the current band.By far Pure Prairie League’s biggest hit is Craig Fuller’s ode to an on-again/off-again relationship, "Amie", from the 1972 Bustin' Out LP. Over the years "Amie" has become part of the standard reportoire for legions of cover acts, as the singalong nature and multi-part harmony of its chorus lends itself well to audience participation. Other hits for the band include "Two Lane Highway", "I'm Almost Ready", and the musically less-representative pop song, "Let Me Love You Tonight". The latter two feature Vince Gill on vocals, who sang and played guitar with the band in the early 1980s before moving on to become one of Nashville, Tennessee’s biggest stars. Meanwhile, Craig Fuller took a stint as lead singer for the jam/funk/rock band Little Feat in the late 1980s. But after almost a twenty year gap the fourteenth Pure Prairie League album "All In Good Time" was released in 2006, composed primarily of Fuller songs, as was the very first back in 1971.
Pure Prairie League is an American country-rock band, the roots began between 1964 and 1969 in Waverly, Ohio with Craig Fuller, Tom McGrail, Jim Caughlan and John David Call. The band's name was chosen by McGrail after a 19th century temperance union mentioned in the 1939 film, Dodge City. The band has had a long run, active from the early 1970s through to the early 1980s, and reborn in the mid 2000s.Although the band has its roots in Waverly, it was actually formed in Columbus, Ohio (sixty miles north of Waverly), and had its first success in Cincinnati. Although Fuller, McGrail, Caughlan, and Call had played together off and on since high school, the first Pure Prairie League recording was a George Ed Powell penned composition, "Down to Pieces" with Powell (acoustic guitar and vocal), Fuller (lead guitar and vocal), McGrail (drums), Kenny May (bass) and David Workman (pedal steel guitar). The original stage band was Fuller, McGrail, Powell, Phil Stokes on bass, and Robin Suskind on guitar and mandola. Steel guitar player, John Call, joined the band in 1970. His steel guitar improved the country songs and sparked guitar duels with Fuller that contributed greatly to the rock/country, signature sound of the band. Caughlan, who had played drums and guitar with Fuller, Call and McGrail in earlier bands, took over on drums when McGrail quit the band just before their first album. Lanham replaced Stokes who left at the same time. After the eponymous first album release and a nationwide tour in 1971, the band split up with Call, Caughlan, and Lanham leaving before the second album. This left Fuller and Powell to record Bustin' Out in Toronto with Billy Hinds (drums) and Michael Connor (piano) would become regulars in the PPL line-up for years to come. Michael Reilly, the longtime bass player and front man for the band, joined the band for the "Two Lane Highway" album and plays with the current band.PPL’s biggest hits include Fuller’s "Amie"; "Two Lane Highway", and the musically less-representative pop song, "Let Me Love You Tonight". Vince Gill, who sang and played guitar with the band in the early 1980s and recorded an updated version of "Amie" for their greatest hits album, moved on to become one of Nashville, Tennessee’s biggest stars. A fourteenth album was released in 2006, composed primarily of Craig Fuller songs, as was the very first back in 1971. They also are known to have a Norman Rockwell cowboy named "Sad Luke" appear on most of their album covers.
Number nine bread street is a pub, an obscure little building found down a narrow once-cobble street, A collection coin flip from Wakefield cathedral, almost hidden in the shadows. Number nine bread street and it's five thirty, late afternoon the five door bolts are drawn. A yellow block of light falls on the pavement. Inside the glass globes blaze, the coal fire crackle is the only sound to break this early silence. Soon the news boy will enter over the pale dunes of deal sawdust lying on the flagged floor. This is an old pub clinging to an old tradition.
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