DEARDORFF & JOSEPH 1976

Deardorff & Joseph were not widely heard or remembered, but that doesn't mean they were forgotten or even felt. Their 1976 debut became a cult item for collectors of soft Californian '70s pop, and it also marked the first time Jeffrey Comanor's "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" was heard (a few years later, England Dan & John Ford Coley brought it into the Top Ten). At the time, the album was largely ignored, even if it was a first-class professional production firmly within the Californian commercial sound of the mid-'70s and featured musical support by such luminaries as Dan Seals, Jeff Porcaro and his brothers Mike and Joe, Dean Parks, Jim Horn, and David Paich. Perhaps there was simply too much soft rock in the market in 1976, or perhaps listeners found Danny Deardorff's voice slightly thin and whiny, two things that would have killed any hopes of big commercial success for the duo. Nevertheless, time has treated Deardorff & Joseph well. Deardorff's voice remains just this side of an acquired taste -- in contrast, Marcus Joseph's voice is sweet and friendly, perfectly fitting the breezy feel of the music -- but both the songs and production are better than average, with a nicely enveloping lush, layered sound and some very good tunes, largely written by Deardorff, who may not break from the laid-back singer/songwriter tradition but does some nice work within it. Though the album sags a bit on the slower songs, this is a remarkably consistent, enjoyable record that sounds as if it could have been a hit at the time, even if it doesn't really have a cut that sounds like a lost classic. Nevertheless, the album as a whole is a bit of a lost classic of sorts for fans of Crosby, Stills & Nash-influenced Californian soft rock singer/songwriters -- think America, Seals & Crofts, England Dan & John Ford Coley, in particular -- because it is both rare and very good. Unlike some cult items, this winds up delivering on its promise and is worth seeking out for those listeners who can never get enough of the mellow Californian sound.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracks :

01. One More Story To Tell (3:26)
02. We'll Never Have To Say Goodbye Again (3:22)
03. Chicago Blue (3:05)
04. Nighttime Love (3:00)
05. Sentimental Lady (3:47)
06. The Castle (2:39)
07. Golden Road (3:14)
08. Lovely Lady (3:03)
09. Sing My Song (2:39)
10. Little Kings Of Earth (3:50)




Artwork Inluded

AMAZING BLONDEL - MULGRAVE STREET 1974

British Folk-Rock / Prog group Amazing Blondel, one of the most unique and sophisticated bands to appear on the scene in the 1970s. After recording four wonderful albums for the Island label, the band switched to the DJM label, where they recorded four additional albums before disbanding. With the departure of John Galdwin following the recording of "England", the duo of Terry Wincott and Edward Baird continued to carry the band's tradition, utilizing well-known Rock musicians as guest artists and modifying the sound to a more contemporary rockier song format. However, the Folk elements and occasional medieval music elements were still incorporated into the music, with their vocal harmonies remaining second to none. On this album the guests include Free's guitarist Paul Kossoff, drummer Simon Kirke and keyboardist John Bundrick. This is quite different from the first incarnation of the group, but still a great testimony of the times now long gone. Worth investigation!

Tracks :

1. Mulgrave Street (7:24)
2. Iron & Steel / Leader of the Band* (4:52)
3. Light Your Light (3:03)
4. Hole in the Head (2:17)
5. Help Us Get Along (3:48)
6. See 'em Shining (2:34)
7. Love Must Be the Time of Your Life (2:32)
8. All I Can Do (2:40)
9. Goodbye Our Friends* (3:15)
10. Sad to See You Go (3:20)



Artwork Inluded

DION -SIT DOWN OLD FRIEND & YOU'RE NOT ALONE 1970 - 1971

Dion's early-'70s albums have been quite overlooked, even in comparison to his similar late-'60s folk-rock records, and even by many Dion fans. This single-disc CD pairs 1970's Sit Down Old Friend with 1971's You're Not Alone, both records showing Dion continuing to mature as a singer/songwriter and blender of folk, rock, and blues stylings. Sit Down Old Friend was a change of pace even by the standards of his mellower, folk-rockish late-'60s comeback records. This was Dion unplugged: just him on acoustic guitar (both classical and steel string), and no other accompaniment, with all but three of the songs written or co-written by the singer. There's an intimate warmth and vulnerability here that you associate with demos that tend not to be issued in this original form, instead being embellished and worked over into something slicker. For whatever reason, in this case Dion was able to slip the material through to the consumer in this unadorned format. It's a wistful and reflective set, as unplugged acoustic guitar albums tend to be. But the inherent mellowness of the format is given a harder and more emotional edge by Dion's blues leanings, and the sense of a man emerging from hard times into something better. His voice has rarely been more expressive than it is on "I Don't Believe My Race Is Run" and the cover of Jacques Brel's "If We Only Have Love." It's a quality overlooked effort of the early singer/songwriter era, though it's missing any classic or hitbound tunes that might have made it a major work. You're Not Alone was a low-key record in which Dion continued his explorations into introspective music that bridged the folk-rock and singer/songwriter styles. Whereas Sit Down Old Friend was solo acoustic, though, Dion did revert to full-band arrangements for the follow-up. Fortunately, the backing -- including notable session players Paul Griffin on organ and Hugh McCracken on both electric and acoustic guitar -- was tastefully understated, which would not often be the case the further Dion moved into the 1970s. It's respectable, yet not as good as Sit Down Old Friend and his best late-'60s folk-rock records, with a slight slide in the quality of the material, and less of the near-naked atmosphere that made Sit Down Old Friend stand out. Sometimes the slow and introspective tenor of the tunes gets sluggish, rather in the same way as Bobby Darin's folk-rock records of the 1960s, though Dion was always a better and edgier folk-rock singer than Darin was. Most of the set is self-composed, and it's fair but not exceptional singer/songwriting, with covers varying from effective (Melanie's "Close to It All") to unimaginative (the Beatles' "Let It Be"). There's just one outing into the rootsy blues that Dion had developed a flair for from the mid-'60s onward, "The Stuff I Got"; "Attraction Works Better Than Promotion" has to qualify as one of his most offbeat song titles. The CD also adds a 1973 track, "Doctor Rock'n'Roll," as a bonus cut.

Review

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks :

1 Natural Man Abbott, Holler

2 I Don't Believe My Race Is Run DiMucci, Fasce

3 Jammed Up Blues DiMucci

4 Little Pink Pony DiMucci

5 You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover Dixon

6 If We Only Have Love Blau, Brel, Shuman

7 Sweet Pea DiMucci

8 Just a Little Girl DiMucci

9 Let Go, Let God DiMucci

10 King con Man DiMucci

11 Sit Down Old Friend DiMucci, Fasce

12 Close to It All Safka

13 Sunnland DiMucci, Fasce

14 Windows DiMucci, Tuohy

15 The Vistor DiMucci, Fasce, Tuohy

16 Peacefule Place DiMucci, Fasce

17 Let It Be Lennon, McCartney

18 The Stuff I Got DiMucci

19 Blackbird Lennon, McCartney

20 Joise DiMucci, Fasce

21 Attraction Works Better ThanPromotion DiMucci, Fasce

22 Doctor Rock'n'Roll DiMucci

Artwork Included

EMMA MYLDENBERGER - EMMAZ LIVE! 1981 (2007 reissue)

Previously only available trough cassettes (79 copies produced to be exact), this third EM album (and last if you do not count the Radio Noisz Ensemble, which is the logic continuation of this venture), the superb Garden Of Delight label reissued this album very recently for our pure enjoyment. And enjoyment it is, because this lengthy (68 mins + 3 bonus tracks for 81 mins) live recording is of excellent sound quality and there are much "new" material that weren't present on the two studio albums, but rehearsed live for a possible third studio album, which would never come. Sporting a colourized version of the cassette photo as artwork, corrected running times, some group pictures, the GOD release is the usual excellent product that gives progheads so many joys over the years.

Some of the previously heard songs are in fairly different versions here, often with less vocals or presented in a different light. The superb RAA and Regenreigen Suite are both presented with excellent live alternatives. The last three songs on the original cassette were foreseen for the third album (as would the last two bonus tracks), thus giving you an idea that this third album would've at least as good as their debut and approach the second's outstanding relevance.

Of the three bonus tracks, the jig of Narrentanz is the least interesting (and already present in the first studio album), but Schäfer Von Rotterdam and Alina are superb medieval-sounding tracks that we're all used to hearing. More added value for a Live album which turns out to be just as essential as the studio ones.

Review by Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folker

Tracks :

01. Live Rückkehr aus Emmarokkoko
02. Lenyas Fantasie
03. Opus 4
04. Ferngespräch Vorwahl 030
05. RAA
06. Regenreigen Suite
07. Ala Dalona
08. Capt. Bla Blau
09. Space Fasching In Zweischlingen
10. Narrentanz (Bonus track)
11. Der Schäfer Von Rotterdam (Bonus track)
12. Alina (Bonus track)

Artwork Included

KALEIDON - FREE LOVE 1973

Despite strong differences in their musical style, these groups are often mentioned together because Kaleidon came out from the ashes of the promising Free Love after two of these band's members died in a car accident. One of the surviving members, Stefano Sabatini, formed the new group that dedicated their only album in 1973 to the old band.

Born at the end of the 60's in Rome, Free Love only released two good rock singles in their short career, one of which was used as soundtrack to a spaghetti-western film. The original line-up featured the US-born brothers Carl and Steve Stogel, Gianni Caia and a singer whose name was Tony, and it recorded both the band's singles, being pictured on their covers. Later, towards the end of 1969, the group was joined by Canadian violinist John Picard and, for a short time, singer/percussionist Ricky Cellini. The line-up became more stable in 1970 with new keyboardist Stefano Sabatini (after Tony and Cellini had left) and various concerts in Northern Italy, Switzerland and Sardinia. They seemed to have a very promising career ahead, as demonstrated by their participation in Rome's Caracalla Pop festivals in 1970 and 1971, but before the last of these two events had to suffer a line-up change when Sabatini left, replaced by Fabio Cammarota. A few months later Picard quit, moving to France.

This group broke up towards the end of the year and Caia and Steve Stogel, along with bass player Mauro Montaldo, reunited with Stefano Sabatini to tour as backing band of Mia Martini. It was in February 1972, while coming back from a concert in Sicily, that the musicians' van was involved in a road accident: two of them, Gianni Caia and Steve Stogel, died while the others, Stefano Sabatini and Mauro Montaldo were severely injured.

A concert was held at Rome's Piper to commemorate the musicians and collect some money to support their families.

A new line-up with the namd Free Love was assembled in the summer, and this included Stefano Sabatini, Carl Stogel, drummer Giovanni Liberti and saxophonist Stefano Cesaroni, later replaced by Massimo Balla for the Caracalla-Wembley concert in Rome in Autumn 1972.

From this line-up, with newcomer bassist Franco Tallarita, derived the new group Kaleidon, whose only album in 1973 was in fact entitled Free love; totally instrumental, strongly veering toward jazz, it went unnoticed, with the band having a strong line-up change right after its release and splitting after the fourth edition of the "Festival d'Avanguardia e Nuove Tendenze" held in Rome in June 1974.

After leaving Kaleidon, bassist Franco Tallarita joined Ut. His replacement Gianni Colaiacomo later played with Banco del Mutuo Soccorso.

The last Kaleidon drummer, Francesco Froggio Francica, had previously played with Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno and shortly Procession.

Stefano Sabatini was involved in the short-lived Samadhi supergroup and later Mediterraneo (featuring some ex-Samadhi members), in 1978 he moved to Los Angeles where he played with many important jazz musicians, and after returning to Italy in 1982 he has had an intense activity in the jazz field, which lasts today.

source :

http://www.italianprog.com/a_kaleidon.htm

Tracks :

1. Kaleidon (8:29)

2. Inverno '43 (6:31)

3. Dopo La Festa (7:27)

4. Polvere (6:36)

5. Oceano (6:14)

6. Free Love (4:48)

No artwork

SPIROGYRA BURN THE BRIDGES THE DEMO TAPES 1970 -1971

This is a rather intriguing compilation of pre-‘St. Radigunds’ Spirogyra music, one that would more properly be called an ‘early recordings’ than demo tapes. The band hadn’t yet grown a full-time drummer so the sound is a bit more sparse than Radigunds, and due most likely to the times and the band’s inexperience the tracks are less polished than the band’s later albums (relatively speaking – this is folk prog after all).

One of the more appealing characteristics here is the greater prominence of Barbara Gaskin’s vocals than on most of the rest of the Spirogyra music I’ve heard. She has a wonderful voice that transcends folk without veering into psych territory like so many of her peers tended to do. The result is an unsophisticated timbre that still manages to draw the listener into the band’s tales and fancies. The other standout performance comes from Julian Cusack on violin. The sporadic nature of the instrument makes for a nice compliment rather than a dominant role, which seems to suit this style of music quite well. Martin Cockerham plays a fair guitar, although he doesn’t seem to stretch himself all that often but is instead content to strum in accompaniment for the most part.

A few tracks stand out; “I Gotta Woman” (in which Cusack switches to piano), “Hey Lady” where Cockerham sings lead but in a more subdued manner and where Cusack fronts the instruments on violin for a change, and “The Forest of Dean” where Gaskin and Cockerham duet in a silly and happy ditty. “Jerusalem” is another noteworthy track even though there is nothing exceptional about the playing; it’s simply a mellow and peaceful tune that is made more wistful by the light-hearted whistling scattered throughout.

This isn’t quite as cohesive as the band’s studio works, but it is a great representation of a period where pure folk bands were beginning to stretch their sound, and one where the influences of psych and drug- induced music don’t spoil the purity of the overall sound like so many early seventies recordings do. I believe Repertoire was the first label to issue this on CD, but it is also available from Si-Wan, is pretty easy to find and reasonably priced. Fans of folk prog could do worse than to add this to their collection. Three stars easily, and I’m inclined to add another for the large selection of tracks and the surprisingly good sonic quality of these old recordings. So I guess four stars it is, and well recommended.

Review by ClemofNazareth

Tracks :

1. Turn Again Lane (7:13)
2. Bring Me Back (3:04)
3. She's The One (3:30)
4. Nothing To Hide (2:37)
5. Where There's A Will There's A Way (4:06)
6. I Gotta Woman (2:43)
7. Counting The Cars (2:52)
8. We're Going Over (4:58)
9. Mackerels And Fishes (2:53)
10. Defender Of The Faith (4:12)
11. Hey Lady (3:01)
12. Sing It Simple (2:57)
13. The Forest Of Dean (4:27)
14. A Northern Lament (3:48)
15. Jerusalem (3:19)
16. I Hear You're Going Somewhere (Joe Really) (2:27)
17. Burn The Bridges (4:04)

Artwork Included

BEGGARS HILL 1976

With only 500 pressed, original 1976 vinyl copies of the sole album by unsung Surrey-based folk-rock foundlings Beggars’ Hill are failsafe wallet-lighteners these days, fetching anything up to £250 – ie, £247.40 more than the initial asking price. Had the album contained any original compositions you could arguably double its true value.

Beggars’ Hill – gimlet-eyed sleuths will notice a wandering apostrophe on the CD spine and on the disc itself – were a young, open-ended collective who specialised in diligent, dignified rearrangements of worthy folk fare, whether drawn from traditional sources (Jack Hall, Here’s To The Last To Die) or from then-contemporaries (New St George and Poor Ditching Boy by Richard Thompson; If You’d Been There by Bridget St John). In the main, their poised and painstaking approach works a treat – notably so in their commendably gentle, lyrical interpretation of the Robin and Barry Dransfield arrangement of The Wild Rover. Folk-ophobes may admittedly find all of their prejudices confirmed – everything is sung straight down the nose, with a palpable sense of real ale retention, finger-in-ear earnestness and beard/jumper interdependency – but just as strong is the sense of warm, familial, humanistic conviviality which any decent folk club provides.

Reviewed by Marco Rossi

Tracks :

1 New St. George
2 Cannily, Cannily
3 Jack Hill
4 Here's to the Last to Die
5 Let It Be Me
6 Who Knows Where the Time Goes
7 When Will I Be Loved
8 Sailor Home From The Sea
9 If You'd Been There
10 Poor Ditching Boy
11 Wild Rover

Artwork Included

LYNYRD SKYNYRD - SECOND HELPING 1974

Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote the book on Southern rock with their first album, so it only made sense that they followed it for their second album, aptly titled Second Helping. Sticking with producer Al Kooper (who, after all, discovered them), the group turned out a record that replicated all the strengths of the original, but was a little tighter and a little more professional. It also revealed that the band, under the direction of songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, was developing a truly original voice. Of course, the band had already developed their own musical voice, but it was enhanced considerably by Van Zant's writing, which was at turns plainly poetic, surprisingly clever, and always revealing. Though Second Helping isn't as hard a rock record as Pronounced, it's the songs that make the record. "Sweet Home Alabama" became ubiquitous, yet it's rivaled by such terrific songs as the snide, punkish "Workin' for MCA," the Southern groove of "Don't Ask Me No Questions," the affecting "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," and "The Needle and the Spoon," a drug tale as affecting as their rival Neil Young's "Needle and the Damage Done," but much harder rocking. This is the part of Skynyrd that most people forget -- they were a great band, but they were indelible because that was married to great writing. And nowhere was that more evident than on Second Helping.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic com

Tracks :

01. Sweet Home Alabama
02. I Need You
03. Don't Ask Me No Questions
04. Workin' For MCA
05. The Ballad Of Curtis Loew
06. Swamp Music
07. The Needle And The Spoon
08. Call Me The Breeze




Artwork Included

RENAISSANCE - SCHEHERAZADE AND OTHER STORIES 1975

Is a 1975 album by progressive rock band Renaissance. It has often been considered their overall best album. This album marked the first time that Renaissance (Annie Haslam’s version) did not use quotes from actual classical pieces in their songs. Song of Scheherazade is based on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, including numerous recurring motifs that are from or allude to the work, most notably the beginning six notes.

Information about the album:
There has been some confusion over just where the sections of Song of Scheherazade begin and end. This was caused by the fact that ”Fanfare” and ”The Betrayal” together sound like a single section, while ”Festival Preparations” has two distinct parts of its own (4:00 and 1:11 in length). This confusion was reflected in the packaging and labels of original LP copies of this album, and in the mistitling of ”Festival Preparations” (part 1) as ”The Young Prince and Princess” on the 1990 Tales Of 1001 Nights, Volume I compilation.

Also, as has been admitted by the administrators of the official Renaissance site, Northern Lights, it is difficult to assign exact composing credits to the individual sections since the composers clearly borrowed themes from each other. For example, based on the official credits (which differ slightly between the actual album package and the official Renaissance site), a particular melodic phrase ends up being attributed to both Dunford (”The Sultan”) and Tout (”Fugue for the Sultan”); and lyricist Betty Thatcher is, for some reason, not credited for her lyrics on ”Finale” (which are repeated from ”The Sultan”).

Trip to the Fair was about Annie Haslam’s first date with Roy Wood.
Ocean Gypsy has since been covered by Blackmore’s Night.

http://www.last.fm/music/Renaissance/Scheherazade+and+other+stories/+wiki


Track listing:

1. “Trip to the Fair” (Dunford-Thatcher-Tout) - 10:51
2. “The Vultures Fly High” (Dunford-Thatcher) - 3:04
3. “Ocean Gypsy” (Dunford-Thatcher) - 7:05
4. “Song of Scheherazade” (Camp-Dunford-Thatcher-Tout) - 24:39
1. i. Fanfare - :38 (instrumental)
2. ii. The Betrayal - 2:05 (instrumental)
3. iii. The Sultan - 4:45
4. iv. Love Theme - 2:42 (instrumental)
5. v. The Young Prince and Princess as told by Scheherazade - 2:29
6. vi. Festival Preparations - 5:11 (instrumental)
7. vii. Fugue for the Sultan - 2:10 (instrumental)
8. viii. The Festival - 2:10
9. ix. Finale - 2:29



Artwork Included

CHRIS FARLOWE - THE ART OF CHRIS FARLOWE 1966

Chris Farlowe's second Immediate Records LP (and his second album of 1966) was probably generated more by Andrew Oldham's need for ready cash than any real need for a second long-player -- he'd had a number one hit with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' "Out of Time" and an accompanying LP was the way to go; luckily, he had the pipes and the inspiration to pull it off. He roars out of the starting gate with a sizzling rendition of "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted" and "We're Doing Fine," but then Oldham had him look in-house for a song, "Life Is but Nothing" by Skinner and Rose (aka Twice as Much) (which isn't nearly as strong as their "You're so Good to Me," also here), and threw on two too many additional Jagger/Richards songs, in the violin-laden "Paint It Black" and the lightweight "Yesterday's Papers" ("I'm Free," by contrast, does work), interspersed with the harder "Open the Door to Your Heart," "It Was Easier to Hurt Her," "I've Been Loving You Too Long," and "Reach Out I'll Be There," and even the Farlowe co-authored "Cuttin' In." Except for the two weaker Jagger/Richards covers (we'll forgive "Out of Time," as it sort of had to be here) and the one Skinner/Rose miscalculation, this is as strong a soul album as Farlowe's debut, and only somewhat diluted from that perfection, at the weak points. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Tracks :

Side 1

1. "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" (James Dean, Paul Riser, William Weatherspoon) -2:40
2. "We're Doing Fine" (Horace Ott) -2:38
3. "Life is But Nothing" (Andrew Rose, Donald Ross Skinner) -4:06
4. "Paint It, Black" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) -3:01
5. "Cuttin' In" (Johnny Watson) -2:59
6. "Open the Door to Your Heart" (Darrell Banks) -2:34
7. "Out of Time" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards)

Side 2

1. "North South East West" (Chris Farlowe)
2. "You're So Good For Me" (William Bell, Andrew Loog Oldham, Andrew Rose, Donald Ross Skinner) -2:15
3. "It Was Easier to Hurt Her" (Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Russell) -3:45
4. "I'm Free" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) -2:23
5. "I've Been Loving You Too Long" (Jerry Butler, Otis Redding) -3:00
6. "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" (Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland) -3:15
7. "Ride On, Baby" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) -2:55

Artwork Included