JAN AKKERMAN - PROFILE 1972

What can a man do with a guitar?

Being referred to as one of the best guitarist on the globe this moment had to come: the ultimate guitar solo record. To be more specific: the ultimate guitar side of a record.

Side one is filled with the Fresh Air piece, roughly based on some strange concept I don't understand really well. The sub-parts itself however correlate with their titles. The song opens with psychedelic keys played by Akkerman himself on Fender piano, a great atmospheric start. Soon the Wrestling to get out part begins and a non-melodic jazz extravaganza is about to unfold. The title being the best way to discribe Akkerman's guitarplaying: it's like a mad rage to do the extreme. You will hear sound you've never heard before and speed beyond the imaginable. The basslines by Bert Ruiter (Focus) and drums by the masterfull Pierre van der Linden guide us to the best of hard jazz/rock or heavy fusion (which do you prefer?). I love the groovin' bassplaying. Fresh air - blue notes for listening is again a track with a title that doesn't need no explanation when you've heard it. One of the few relaxing tracks of the album. Jan Akkerman drops the speed for atmospheric guitar play, reminding me a bit of Robert Fripp. This is a welcome piece of music between two storms. For after this we'll get to hear some more Akkerman solo's of mad musicianship. This is the best track Jan Akkerman ever recorded in my opinion.

Side two. I don't listen to it very often but it is a midiocre collection of lute and blues songs which don't mach at all. I'm not even goin to tell something about it.

Conclusion. Now.. can a one side record make a masterpiece. I think in this case it does. The Fresh Air suite is a progressive masterpiece, a Fusion end point (this is fusion in the extreme) and a guitar axeman track of the highest skill. One of my most important records in my collection. Five stars! (but just for side one).

Tracks :

01. "Fresh Air" 19:55
a. Must be my land
b. Wrestling to get out
c. Back again
d. The fight
e. Fresh air - blue notes for listening
f. Water and skies are telling me
g. Happy Gabriel ?
02. "Kemps Jig" 1:34
03. "Etude" 1:33
04. "Blue Boy" 2:26
05. "Andante Sostenuto" 4:09
06. "Maybe Just a Dream" 2:35
07. "Minstrel/Farmers Dance" 1:46
08. "Stick" 3:39

FOGHAT - FOGHAT 1972

Breaking away from Savoy Brown to form this band, the members of Foghat knew from the start what sort of record they wanted to make. With heavy emphasis on the hard boogie, Foghat got down to work with the help of Dave Edmunds and crafted a hard rock gem. Covering Chuck Berry's "Maybellene," they goosed the beat up until it was almost a precursor of the heavy metal yet to come. Interspersing covers with original material, they immediately found a place for themselves in the rock world. ~ James Chrispell, All Music Guide
















Tracks :


1. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (Willie Dixon) - 4:21
2. "Trouble Trouble" (Dave Peverett) - 3:20
3. "Leavin' Again (Again!)" (Peverett, Tony Stevens) - 3:36
4. "Fool's Hall of Fame" (Peverett) - 2:58
5. "Sara Lee" (Peverett, Rod Price) - 4:36
6. "Highway (Killing Me)" (Peverett, Price) - 3:51
7. "Maybellene" - 3:33 (Chuck Berry)
8. "A Hole to Hide In" (Peverett, Price, Roger Earl) - 4:06
9. "Gotta Get to Know You" (Deadric Malone, Andre Williams) - 7:44

ROLLING STONES - NOW! 1965

Although their third American album was patched together (in the usual British Invasion tradition) from a variety of sources, it's their best early R&B-oriented effort. Most of the Stones' early albums suffer from three or four very weak cuts; Now! is almost uniformly strong start-to-finish, the emphasis on some of their blackest material. The covers of "Down Home Girl," Bo Diddley's vibrating "Mona," Otis Redding's "Pain in My Heart," and Barbara Lynn's "Oh Baby" are all among the group's best R&B interpretations. The best gem is "Little Red Rooster," a pure blues with wonderful slide guitar from Brian Jones (and a number one single in Britain, although it was only an album track in the U.S.). As songwriters, Jagger and Richards are still struggling, but they come up with one of their first winners (and an American Top 20 hit) with the yearning, soulful "Heart of Stone." ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide


Tracks :

Side one

1. "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (Solomon Burke/Bert Berns/Jerry Wexler) 5:05
2. "Down Home Girl" (Jerry Leiber/Arthur Butler) 4:11
3. "You Can't Catch Me" (Chuck Berry) 3:38
4. "Heart of Stone" 2:58
5. "What a Shame" 3:03
6. "Mona (I Need You Baby)" (Ellas McDaniel) 3:35
Side two

7. "Down the Road Apiece" (Don Raye) 2:55
8. "Off the Hook" 2:36
9. "Pain in My Heart" (Allen Toussaint) 2:12
10. "Oh Baby (We Got a Good Thing Goin')" (Barbara Lynn Ozen) 2:06
11. "Little Red Rooster" (Willie Dixon) 3:04
12. "Surprise, Surprise"

FOGHAT - ROCK AND ROLL 1973

Foghat essentially was a reversal of a band that didn’t include Kim Simmonds. Simmonds, the mainstay of Savoy Brown, had “Lonesome Dave” Peverett (who was in Savoy Brown for multiple albums), Tony Stevens, and Roger Earl in a configuration of Savoy Brown that produced the fine Looking In album before the three slipped the confines of the band in 1971 and formed Foghat. They brought in Rod Price, whose blues guitar and slide methods matched what the other three were feeling and the rest was history.

They produced the first album that yielded the classic interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You” as well as Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene.” But the real winner in Foghat’s career was the unsung Rock and Roll album, so named because of the cover shot of a rock and a roll. The album otherwise did not sport a title past the band’s name.

Rock and Roll was released in 1973 and contained a bluesy mix of rock found on 9 excellent songs. The album’s only cover tune, “Feel So Bad,” allowed Foghat to further define their sound, a trait that they took even further on Energized with a fiery version of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day” and Big Joe Turner’s “Honey Hush.” While “Feel So Bad” doesn’t really show off Foghat’s capabilities to their fullest, it still is a welcome and enjoyable song. Price’s slide is all over on this song.

Other standouts in an already excellent album, perhaps their best, are “What a Shame,” a song that was already recorded and on the charts prior to this album’s release but remixed for inclusion here; the superb “It’s Too Late,” a cooker of a road song in “Road Fever,” and the untouchable “She’s Gone.”

All of Foghat’s albums should be revisited with Definitive Editions, especially replacing the meager releases that we have today with pumped up booklets and digipak casing.

Foghat would go on to bigger things – bigger stadiums, more album sales, and flashier lifestyles – but before they got there with songs like “Fool for the City,” “Slow Ride,” and other hits, they cut their teeth with albums that were never revisited in style. Rock and Roll is one of those. I call it their best achievement.

If you became a Foghat fan during their Fool for the City years and after, excellent. I encourage you to dig deeper and give Rock and Roll a try. If you were there from the beginning, following the boys from Savoy Brown to a new incarnation, dig the album out and enjoy some of the old days. But if you are younger than all of this, and need a “new” sound, let me suggest Foghat’s first three albums, Foghat, Rock and Roll, and Energized. Where you go from there is up to you.

(http://www.musictap.net/Reviews/FoghatRockAndRollCD.html - Reviewed by - Matt Rowe)

Tracks :

1. "Ride, Ride, Ride" - 4:24
2. "Feel So Bad" - 5:09
3. "Long Way to Go" - 5:07
4. "It's Too Late" - 3:52
5. "What a Shame" - 3:57
6. "Helpin' Hand" - 4:41
7. "Road Fever" - 4:22
8. "She's Gone" - 3:12
9. "Couldn't Make Her Stay" - 1:57

NED DOHENY - HARD CANDY 1976

Ned Doheny's music really defies categorisation - West Coast, but very funky; sometimes disco-flavoured; with jazz undertones; and his voice is superb. This album exudes sheer class.

'Hard Candy' is his second album, originally released as an LP in 1977 but latterly released twice on CD in Japan, first as a conventional CD and latterly as a card-sleeved LP replica CD. His subsequent albums - including the outstanding 'Prone' and the excellent 'Life After Romance (+5 Bonus Tracks)' - were also released in Japan.

Tracks :

A1 Get It Up For Love

A2 If You Should Fall

A3 Each Time You Pray

A4 When Love Hangs In The Balance

B1 A Love Of Your Own

B2 I've Got Your Number

B3 On The Swingshift

B4 Sing To Me

B5 Valentine (I Was Wrong About You)

MONTORO - ESENCIA 1991

Spanish to English translation...

In 1991 the Andalusian band called Montoro, edit a single album called "Essence" for the record label pequenya Profile - Divucsa, seal Barcelona, where he also recorded musicians as diverse as Burning, Lola Flores and Donkeys. embryo group of The Last of the Fila.
The truth is that I found Montoro for the search of groups who were influenced in part by Triana and thus the only known album appeared in the early 90's de Montoro.
... and actually, the sound of Montoro is very influenced by the Andalusian rock Triana, although it is true that its composition and instrumentation is a light Anyos group Jesus De la Rosa, Tele Palacios and Eduardo A. Rodway.
The combination of flamenco and electric guitar makes appear reasonable, although the keyboard of one of the brothers who make up the Canton sound distant and foreign.
We have a first issue touches very commercial and air "The Last of the Row" that has raged for those Anyos in its own way of playing rock Andalusia. The only issue that would save would be the third "Captive on whether" a subject close to 10 minutes long which accommodates the rhythmic changes and some developed but that the theme after all has many resonances to the sound of Triana.

Tracks :


UN CUENTO DE FANTASMAS
SUEÑO ZINGARO
CAUTIVO EN SI (Reflejos De Amor)
MANOJO DE SUEÑOS
ADIOS AL PASAR
HOMENAJE A JESUS DE LA ROSA
HOY HE VUELTO AL DOLOR

BOB SEGER - BEAUTIFUL LOSER 1975

Beautiful Loser winds up sounding more like Back in '72 than its immediate predecessor, Seven, largely because Bob Seger threaded reflective ballads and mid-tempo laments back into his hard-driving rock. He doesn't shy away from it, either, opening with the lovely title track. And why shouldn't he? These ballads were as much a part of his success as his storming rockers, since his sentimental streak seemed all the more genuine when contrasted with the rockers. If anything, Beautiful Loser might err a little bit in favor of reflection, with much of the album devoted to introspective, confessional mid-tempo cuts. There are a couple of exceptions to the rule, of course -- "Katmandu" roars with humor, and his cover of "Nutbush City Limits" shames Tina Turner's original -- but they are the only full-throttle rockers here, with "Black Night" coming in as a funky, swaggering cousin. It's the exact opposite of Seven, in other words, and in its own way, it's just as satisfying. Occasionally, it might be a little too sentimental for some tastes, but it's all heartfelt and he's written some terrific songs here, most notably the album's heart of "Jody Girl" and "Travelin' Man." Seger had started turning inward, searching his soul in a way he hadn't since the since-disowned Brand New Morning, and in doing so, he was setting the stage for his first genuine blockbuster. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks :

Beautiful Loser
Black Night
Katmandu
Jody Girl
Travelin' Man
Momma
Nutbush City Limits
Sailing Nights
Fine Memory

JOHN DENVER - AN EVENING WITH JOHN DENVER 1974

For those who know or have heard of John Denver, his life, his songs, and his experiences have been legendary. Bursting onto the scene in the early '70s, Denver used his skill of folk-rock and mastery of composition to bring light and heartfelt spirit to the world of music. This compilation is remarkably engineered and produced. "I've been looking forward to this for a long, long time," said Denver during this live recording for RCA at the California Universal Amphitheater in August/September of 1974. He also tells the audience, most attentive to say the least, that he worked on his songs late into the evening on the beach's lifeguard stands the first time he arrived in California in the late '60s. It was a long journey to the top of singing stardom, just eating in order to play for people in the early days. This is a different record from those of his individual ones. It is here that Denver is backed up by a phenomenal orchestra conducted by Lee Holdridge. Dick Kniss is there to back him up on bass guitar. Steve Weisberg adds the electric guitar, steel pedal, and dobro. Herb Lovelle sits in on drums, Hal Blaine adds the percussion, and John Sommers puts added touches with rhythm guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin. The album begins with Denver's song of encouragement, "Farewell Andromeda." "Welcome to my morning/Welcome to my happiness/It pleases me to have you here for just a little while," sings Denver. Then it's off to the races with the uptempo Beatles cover "Mother Nature's Son," in which Denver received much praise for playing, keeping the spirit of the Fab Four alive. "Summer" takes the listener to their favorite vacation spot in the midst of a memory-filled season. He throws in Randy Sparks' song "Toledo" for laughs. The artist receives from the audience a strong reception for the hilarious tune. A song about Denver's uncle, "Matthew," brings to the listeners a lesson "that joy is the thing you should be raised on/And love is just a way to live and die." Denver gives the audience his version of Jim Connor's "Grandma's Feather Bed," another crowd pleaser. After quite an entertaining ending, he introduces his beautiful song "Annie's Song" in sentimental fashion, a song written and played in love of his wife. As the record seems to show, the list of songs flow with a great emphasis of highs and lows, such like the momentum of a roller coaster. It is after the soothing, sweet ballad for Annie that Denver puts on all the stops, pressing full forward with the intense and passionate tune "The Eagle and the Hawk." This song has the theme of the environment written all over its melody, as does nearly all of the artist's work. Another ballad is played with sheer eloquence and sincerity by Denver, "My Sweet Lady." This is certainly an album filled with the artist's best, and one must wonder how he manages to fit all these tunes into one concert for the listeners' enjoyment. A wonderful version of "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" ignites the audience with another rousing of applause, as do "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and his most well-known hit, "Rocky Mountain High." This is a must even for the casual John Denver listener. Only by fully taking in the music can listeners see his vision of good music and passion for protection of the environment. -- Shawn M. Haney

Tracks :

1. The Music Is You

2. Farewell Andromeda (Welcome To My Morning)

3. Mother Nature's Son

4. Summer

5. Today

6. Toledo

7. Matthew

8. Rocky Mountain Suite (Cold Nights In Canada)

9. Sweet Surrender

10. Grandma's Feather Bed

11. Annie's Song

12. The Eagle And The Hawk

13. My Sweet Lady

14. Annie's Other Song

15. Boy From The Country

16. Rhymes & Reasons

17. Forest Lawn

18. Pickin' The Sun Down

19. Thank God I'M A Country Boy

20. Take Me Home, Country Roads

21. Poems, Prayers And Promises

22. Rocky Mountain High

23. This Old Guitar

WIZZ JONES - WIZZ JONES 1969

Jones became infatuated with the bohemian image of Woody Guthrie and Jack Kerouac and grew his hair long. His mother had started calling him Wizzy after the Beano comic strip character "Wizzy the Wuz" because at the age of nine Raymond was a budding Musician. The nickname stuck throughout his school years and when he formed his first band "The Wranglers" in 1957 the name became permanent. Bert Jansch later said "I think he's the most underrated guitarist ever". In the early 1960s he went busking in Paris, France, and there mixed in an artistic circle that included Rod Stewart, Alex Campbell, Clive Palmer (Incredible String Band) and Ralph McTell. After a couple of years in Paris he married and returned to England to raise a family. In 1965 his only single was released: Bob Dylan's "Ballad of Hollis Brown". By this time the skiffle boom was over but one of the stars of that movement, Chas McDevitt, used Jones' guitar-playing on five albums in 1965 and 1966. Another musician on those sessions was the bluegrass banjo-player, Pete Stanley. In 1966 Jones and Stanley released an album Sixteen Tons of Bluegrass, but this partnership broke down in 1967, as Jones then turned solo.
Jones started to became a singer-songwriter. His first solo album was Wizz Jones in 1969. Up to 1988, ten solo albums followed and he played on Ralph McTell’s single "Take It Easy" in 1974. In a way Ralph was repaying Wizz for his help in getting McTell established on the scene, Steve Tilston was also guided by Wizz, through the easy stages of his career. Wizz was once described a having 'a right hand worthy of Broonzy', the Broonzy in question is of course Legendary Country Blues Guitarist Big Bill Broonzy. Jones is quite proud of his 'Musicians' Musician' status on the scene, always he couldn't be bothered with proper fame! Most of his recordings from this period are long out of print. A brief excursion as a member of the traditional folk band Lazy Farmer in 1975 produced an album that was reissued in 2006. Wizz has always maintained a high level of popularity in Germany, since the mid - 1970's, he stills tours mainland Europe every year. The early 1990s were a quiet period. He almost disappeared from public view. When in the mid-nineties he appeared on the Bert Jansch television documentary Acoustic Routes, there was renewed interest in his work. In 2001 he led John Renbourn and other members of Pentangle on the album Lucky The Man. In 2007 The Legendary Me and When I Leave Berlin were reissued on CD by the Sunbeam record label.

WIZZ:
Around this time I was gigging with banjo player Clive Palmer at places such as Les Cousins in Greek Street, Soho. It was there that I met Roy Harper who had recently recorded his first album "Sophisticated Beggar" for producer Pierre Tubbs. Pierre had told Roy that he was looking for artists with original material to record for Liberty and United Artists records. Roy's retort had been "Pierre why don't you record some ORIGINAL PEOPLE like Wizz Jones and Clive Palmer?"

So that was how I got to make my first solo LP (Pierre went on to record Clive as part of Henry Bartlett's group "The Famous Jug Band").

I even persuaded one of my old busking friends Long John Baldry to write the sleeve notes.

It was also the first time I recorded the fine Alan Tunbridge song "A Common Or Garden Mystery" with Beverley Martyn and it was my plan to make that the title of the album. However I was over-ruled and persuaded to climb on to a diesel engine at Clapham Junction for the photo shoot for the LP sleeve!

Tracks :

1. "Teapot Blues"
2. "Shall I Wake You from Your Sleep?"
3. "A Common or Garden Mystery"
4. "I've Got a Woman with One Leg"
5. "Shukkin' Sugar Blues"
6. "Earl's Court Breakdown"
7. "Oh My Friend"
8. "Blues and Trouble"
9. "Can't Stop Thinkin' About It"
10. "Dazzling Stranger"
11. "At the Junction"
12. "American Land"
13. "I Wanna See the Manager"
14. "Corrine's Blues"
15. "Grapes of Life"
16. "Guitar Shuffle"

FLO & EDDIE - THE PHLORESCENT LEECH & EDDIE 1972

Self-described as the Partridge Family and Redd Foxx on one album, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, otherwise known as Flo & Eddie, presented one of the more eclectic duos in the history of rock & roll. Their friendship and musical partnership, which began in their high school choir in Westchester, CA, led at first to a surf band called the Crossfires, which changed its name tothe Turtles after its members graduated high school. The Turtles had some of the sweetest, most feel-good sounds in pop music, but underneath the melodic pop there was always an undercurrent of mischief. When the band broke up in 1970, Volman and Kaylan became members of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, which provided them a perfect breeding ground for their quirky ways. Performing under the name the Phlorescent Leech & Eddie, they eventually shortened their moniker to Flo & Eddie. They recorded seven solo albums, eventually producing inexplicably weird reggae albums, but their real name was made by their radio show, which started out in the mid-'70s in Detroit, but eventually ended up on KROQ in California and was syndicated by nearly 50 stations at its peak. Flo & Eddie scored two low-budget films, Dirty Duck and Texas Detour, and, surreally enough, also worked on music for several kids' television shows, including the animated series Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears. ~ Stacia Proefrock, Rovi

Tracks :

Flo & Eddie Theme

Thoughts Have Turned

It Never Happened

Burn The House

Lady Blue

Strange Girl

Who But I

I Been Born Again

Goodbye Surprise

Nikki Hoi

Really Love

Feel Older Now

Goodby Surprise

Feel Older Now

There You Sit Lonely