Various Artists - Quiet Days In Clichy (1969 multinational, exiting varied styles psych blues jazz rock, 2010 remaster)

2:26 PM |



Looking back at this over forty year old film, it's an interesting relic, to be sure, and actually a very intriguing piece of art. At times, seemingly intending to offend, though in others attempting to draw us in to the characters and their escapades, 'Quiet Days in Clichy' is a fairly uneven piece of cinematic experimentation, based off the novel by Henry Miller, that will surely attract or repel its audience, and fast.

This is the story of two men in France, whose bond is seemingly formed by their shared interest in sharing the opposite sex. 'Quiet Days in Clichy' is more than just what's on the surface. The constant prolonged shots, where any action seemingly is shown for three to five times as long as it needs to take, creates a fascinating look at the characters, even if they are only as interested as their genitalia are locked and loaded. 

There are no quick flashes, or brief moments whatsoever, and that makes the film somewhat intimate, holding on like a lover right at the edge of satisfaction trying to extend that moment as long as possible. The extended silence that permeates the majority of the film is also quite refreshing, as the Country Joe McDonald soundtrack acts as a narrative, of sorts, crude as it may be. 

We don't get the characters thoughts, save for some crudely drawn random thought bubbles that pop up on screen, as McDonald tells the tale from a different angle, chauvinistic as it may be, concerning their romps, and predicaments caused by their constant skirt chasing.
by Nate Boss


Artists - Tracks
1. Country Joe McDonald - Quiet Days in Clichy I. - 1:49
2. Country Joe McDonald - Nys' Love. - 4:20
3. Country Joe McDonald - Hungry Miller & The Hungry World. - 2:26
4. Andy Sundström - Clichy. - 2:46
5. Young Flowers - Behind the Golden Sun. - 2:17
6. Papa Bue's Viking Jazzband - Luxembourg Stomp. - 4:12
7. Country Joe McDonald - Quiet Days in Clichy II. - 3:52
8. Ben Webster - Blue Miller. - 4:02
9. Andy Sundström - Champs Elysées. - 2:40
10.Young Flowers - Menilmontant. - 4:08
11.Young Flowers - Party Beat. - 4:05
12.Country Joe McDonald - Mara. - 1:53

Country Joe discography
1965-71  The First Three E.P's
1967  Electric Music For The Mind And Body
1967  I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die
1968  Together
1969  Live! Fillmore West
1969  Here We Are Again
1970  CJ Fish
1970  Tonight I'm Singing Just For You
1971  Hold On It's Coming
1971  War War War
1973  Paris Sessions

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Albert Hammond ‎– The Free Electric Band (1973 uk, marvelous uptempo classic rock ballads melted with country folk, Vinyl edition)

2:50 AM |



Albert Hammond was born on May 18, 1944, in London and grew up in Gibraltar to Gibraltarian parents. In 1960, Albert left school, formed a band and began sending out recordings of his very first compositions to labels in England, where they were released by Parlophone Records. Soon thereafter, Albert met Mike Hazlewood and almost immediately, they teamed up as collaborators and began gaining recognition as a songwriting team: “Little Arrows” (Leapy Lee in 1968 - top 10 country and pop charts), “Make Me An Island” (a number one hit in 14 countries), “Gimme Dat Ding” (The Pipkins in 1970 - pop and R&B charts), “Freedom Come, Freedom Go” (The Fortunes in 1971), “Good Morning Freedom” (Blue Mink, 1970). “Gimme Dat Ding” was written for a children's television program called "Oliver In The Overworld" which starred Freddie and the Dreamers.

Having become one of Britain's most successful songwriting teams, Albert and Mike decided to move to southern California. Albert played his songs to every record company possible, until Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts gave him the first artist’s contract ever for their newly-built Mums label, a division of CBS’s Epic label. After auditioning for CBS president Clive Davis, and over 30 other people, Albert was asked to record some songs. Albert went into the studio to record what would become the It Never Rains In Southern California album. The title song went to number five in the U.S. and became a worldwide success. This offered Albert the opportunity to tour, which led him to almost all continents. Albert went on to record seven albums for the CBS label.

The Free Electric Band is his second album and the follow up of his most succesful  "It Never Rains in Southern California". Released in 1973, it's more personal, an amalgam of classic rock pop with country folk tunes, and clever compositions, co written once more with Mike Hazlewood.


Tracks
1. Smokey Factory Blues - 3:20
2. The Peacemaker - 2:36
3. Woman Of The World - 2:58
4. Everything I Want To Do - 2:30
5. Who's For Lunch Today - 2:52
6. The Free Electric Band - 3:25
7. Rebecca - 3:00
8. The Day The British Army Lost The War - 4:00
9. For The Peace Of All Mankind - 4:00
All songs written by  Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood

Musicians
*Larry Carlton - Guitar
*Carol Carmichael Parks - Vocals
*Jim Gordon - Drums
*Albert Hammond - Guitar, Vocals
*Jay Lewis - Guitar
*Michael Omartian - Keyboards
*Joe Osborn - Bass
*Sid Sharp - Strings

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Cargo - Cargo (1970-72 holland, tremendous hard progressive rock, remaster edition with bonus tracks)

7:18 AM |



This unit started out as September and recorded a few singles that hold no interest to progheads. They then changed their name to Cargo and recorded their sole album. CARGO consist of brothers Ad and Jan De Hont both on guitars, Willem DeVries on bass and vocals and English drummer Denis Whitbread. 

The music developed here is a seducing hard rock with a killer twin-guitar attack much in the line of Wishbone Ash around their “Argus” album. The two brothers play delightfully long and cooperative guitar lines that intertwine beautifully (what a pleasure it is to follow in stereo their progress) proof of their long-standing mutual trust and camaraderie.

The De Hont and De Vries brothers had found particular favour with the Dutch public under the rock band September with numerous singles in 1970 such as Presley’s “Little Sister” and the De Vries penned “Yelly Rose”. September’s finest cover was an urgent version of Bert Bacharach “Walk On By” which kicks the shit out of the original. After changing their name to Cargo they launched their 1970 self-titled album has enough guitar slash to rip half of Holland’s Dykes to shreds. 

To describe the turbulent guitar breaks of Cargo, one needs to create a setting and describe the structures that extorted the ferocious solos. It was awesomely pulverizing when Jan De Hont unleashes his Fender Strat in parallel with Ad De Hont’s Gibson SG on the thudding “Cross Talking” in the spirit of Wishbone Ash. This 8min indulgence also trembles with the bass hammering Willem De Vries on his Gibson B3. Nothing like this has ever thundered through Amsterdam since the rolling Panzerwagens of 1940. 

Cargo’s entourage of drummers comprised of drummers Jerry Gobel, Frans Smit, Snuffel and ex Ekseption Dennis Whitebread who played on the Ekseption concept album Beggar Julia’s Time Trip. Cargo was primal export that never happened.The tour de force of the album is vibrantly illuminated on the 15min “Summerfair” with escalating guitar trade - offs that reach an excruciating pinnacle.The astounding vox by Willem De Vries shudders like those November North Winds that lash the barges of Amsterdam. 

Cargo are turbulently forceful in the same windforce as Tractor, Rush or Jericho. Cargo also covered the sensitively squeezed “Lydia Purple” originally written by Dunn and McCashen for their album Mobius. This superb psychedelic gem was also covered by The Collectors and Giant Crab. Cargo released This power packed Prog group supported the Flock during sell-out concerts. Next to the summit driven Focus and Finch, Cargo were Holland’s most engaging contraband.
Lastfm 


Tracks
1.Sail Inside - 10:54
2.Cross Talking - 8:33
3.Finding Out - 5:14
4.Summerfair - 15:35
5.Choker - 3:52
6.Lydia Purple - 3:51
7.Telly Rose - 4:01
8.If Mr. Right Comes Along - 4:23
9.Little Sister - 3:41
10.Walk On By - 2:59
11.Run Away - 3:14
12.One More Change - 2:35
Bonus tracks 5-12

Cargo
*Willem De Vries - Vocals, Bass
*Jan De Hont - Guitar
*Ad De Hont - Guitar
*Dennis Whitebread - Drums
*Hessel De Vries - Vocals, Electric Piano
*Jerry Gobel - Drums
*Ador Otting - Hammond Organ
*Frans Smith - Drums (9-10)
*Snuffel - Drums (11-12)

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Various Artists - Cosmarama (1969-73 uk/europe, prog psych behemoths, Psychic Circle release)

12:45 PM |



It should be noted that the set is liberally populated with Euro progsters, with half a dozen representatives from Holland and another half-dozen from Belgium and Germany. The set opens with the title track from the UK band, Distant Jim, who only released albums on the continent. They were a sort of supergroup whose family tree included members of Methuselah, Amazing Blondel, Junior’s Eyes and The Smoke. 

The unusual time signatures and syncopated beats are pure prog, highlighted by some firebreathing soloing from guitarist Les Nicol. Saloman, one of today’s premiere guitarists, is a sucker for flashy stringbenders, which may explain the inclusion of Belgian rockers, Carriage Company’s ‘In Your Room.’ Guitar licks abound, but besides a few organ flourishes, the track is more akin to heavy metal than prog.

Saloman flips Dutch band, The Tower’s oft-comped ‘Slow Motion Mind’ over for the dreamy B-side, ‘In Your Life,’ a wonderful, Procol Harum-ish floater. The Liverpudlian Back Street Band take liberties with the melody from Lennon’s ‘Come Together’ on their 1969 B-side, ‘Daybreak’ and Family completists may enjoy the Dutch supergroup (including members of Q65 and Focus), Big Wheel’s chugging, boogie bar blues rendition of ‘Old Songs New Songs,’ but I fail to hear the prog connection.

Holland’s Silence give us the hard rocking ‘Devil Woman,’ which takes a familiar Led Zep riff and morphs it into an enjoyable amalgam of Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull – imagine ‘Immigrant Song’ tagteaming with ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Locomotive Breath.’ Another prolific Dutch band, Ginger Ale check in with ‘Get Off My Life Woman,’ wherein Roek Williams’ credible Jim Morrison impersonation leaves this listener thinking “The Doors with horns.”

Pussy formed out of the ashes of Jerusalem, so I don’t think it’s the same outfit that released the Pussy Plays album. Like the Jerusalem album, ‘Feline Woman’ was produced by Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, so once again you can expect more heavy metal than prog results. German heavy rockers, Electric Food’s family tree includes branches to Lucifer’s Friend and Uriah Heep, so you know what to expect from ‘I’ll Try.’ And although there are no women in the Dutch band, Mr. Albert Show, the vocalist on ‘Kings of Galaxy’ sounds like Suzi Quatro, Do with that information what you will! Castle Farm’s self-released ‘Hot Rod Queen’ is a stomping little rocker that successfully mines the Mott The Hoople oeuvre with a title that seems ripped straight off an old Marc Bolan album! 

And finally, and quite surprisingly, the Irish showband, Chips (from Sligo) turn in the most traditional prog track in the bunch with ‘Earth,’ which is full of swirling keyboards, multi-layered vocals, and astrological themes that all combined to remind me of the German prog/kraut band, Triumvirat. But other than that, despite the fact that many of the songs provide varying degrees of entertainment in their own right, prog purists should be cautioned that, to these ears, most of these tracks lean more towards the heavy, power blues end of the spectrum. 
by Adamus67


Artists - Tracks - Composer
1.Distant Jim - Cosmarama (Austin) - 5:59
2.Carriage Company - In Your Room (Kent) - 3:48
3.Kingdom - All I Need (Edwards) - 3:31
4.The Tower - In Your Life (De Groot) - 4:42
5.Back Street Band - Daybreak (Bellis) - 2:56
6.Big Wheel - Old Songs New Songs (Chapman, Whitney) - 3:15
7.Bismarck - Shotgun Express (Englebert, Thomas) - 3:51
8.Cwt - Widow Woman (Jones, Kirk, White) - 3:17
9.Silence - Devil Woman (Weeda, Putter) - 2:51
10.Ginger Ale - Get Off My Life Woman (A. Toussaint) - 2:41
11.Pussy - Feline Woman (Pussy) - 2:30
12.Tenderfoot Kids - Man In Black (Vion) - 2:10
13.Electric Food - I’ll Try (Hesslein, Monro) - 3:15
14.Mr.Albert Show - Kings Of Galaxy (Borgers, Schrama) - 2:47
15.The Petards - Free (King) - 2:30
16.Castle Farm - Hot Rod Queen (Benike) - 4:00
17.The Pebbles - Half Past Dead (Bekky) - 5:01
18.Corporal Gander’s Fire Dog Parade - Love Song (Scott, Talby) - 3:20
19.Chips - Earth (Chips) - 2:51
20.Richard St. Clair And Forum - Give Me Back (St. Clair) - 3:44

Psychic Circle compilations
1961-64  Phantom Guitars: A Cool Collection of Twangin' Instrumentals
1966-72  With The Sun In My Eyes
1968-72  White Lace And Strange
1968-72  The Room Of Loud Sounds
1964-69  Realistic Patterns Orchestrated Psychedelia
1965-69  Wednesday Morning Dew 
1965-70  The Electric Coffee House 
1965-70  The Golden Road The Electric Coffee House Vol.2
1969-74  Blow Your Cool: 20 Prog Psych Assaults
1969-74  Lovin’ Fire 20 Obscure Gems
1970-77  A Visit To The Spaceship Factory

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Hudson And Ford - Nickelodeon (1973 uk, delightful country folk rock with glam splashes, Vinyl issue)

9:03 PM |



Hudson-Ford,  were sadly underrated and largely ignored by the pop music buying public. Why? Couldn't tell you. Not any particular reason you could put your finger on.

Bear in mind this is the mid-1970's, Hudson-Ford were a good and competent band, with good song writing skills and good production, they failed to click with an audience who were just getting tired of what was available, certainly in mainstream. 

The sound of Hudson Ford, though, ranged to glam, with a occasional nod to their electric folk past. Their roles broadened as well, with Hudson leaving the drums to others in order to focus on singing and lead guitar, and Ford expanding his vocal and acoustic guitar duties. 

The debut album "Nickolodeon" was bolstered by the presence of Rick Wakeman and other studio sharpshooters, the sounded more country/folk than their following albums with well writing tunes, they  scored a hit in the U.K. with the single "Pick Up the Pieces."


Tracks
1 Crying Blues - 3:30
2 Angels - 3:06
3 I Wanted You - 2:40
4 Hello, I Thought You Were Dead - 0:58
5 Burn Baby Burn - 2:57
6 Dark Lord - 4:37
7. Pick Up the Pieces - 2:34
8. Let Her Cry - 2:31
9. Tea Leaf (To Joss) - 0:58
10.Take It Back - 4:40
11.I Don't Understand - 1:50
12.Revelations - 5:09
Words and Music by Richard Hudson, John Ford

Musicians
*Richard Hudson – Vocals, Guitar, Sitar
*John Ford – Vocals, Bass, Guitar
*Rick Wakeman – Harpsichord, Piano
*Mickey Keen - Lead Guitar, Steel Guitar, Vocals
*Ken Laws - Drums
*Chris Parren – Piano, Clavinet
*Gerry Conway - Drums
*Tom Allom - Harmonium, Piano
*Billy Bell - Banjo. Jack Emblow

2nd album
1974 Hudson Ford - Free Spirit  

Related Acts
1967  Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
1969  Ride A Hustler's Dream

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Alicia May - Skinnydipping In The Flowers (1976 us, wonderful folk rock tinged with prog and traditional colors, 2008 korean release with bonus track)

4:06 AM |



In the 60s and 70s Alicia May was a singersongwriter gigging regularly in the bars and saloons of Laguna Beach, California. She got to know a lot of musicians, one of them knew Joni Mitchell, they all went on a picnic, Joni introduced her recording engineer Henry Lewy, Lewy let Alicia use studio downtime to record, another friend fronted up $1,000 and a privately-pressed LP was born. That’s how it happened back then.

Skinnydipping In The Flowers is like an archaelogical treasure; a find that faithfully encapsulates the music of a particular time and place. The songs, all May’s own, are performed well and the instrumentation is varied, but the lyrics are that bit too whimsical and wordy to achieve universal resonance. It’s a great reissue but it’s probably not going to be put on repeat too often.
by Tim Holmes


Tracks
1. Borderline - 3:58
2. Summer Days - 3:13
3. The Prism Song - 3:26
4. Love Jig #1 - 1:59
5. Forest Of Dreams - 2:04
6. Dearly Beloved - 3:29
7. Carry Me Home - 3:26
8. End Of The Sky - 2:12
9. By And By - 2:39
10.My Favorite Stream - 3:24
11.Liza - 2:32
12.Kindred Spirits - 1:35
All songs by Alicia May Cory

Musicians
*Alicia May - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Appalachian Dulcimer
*Danny Dettwyler - Flute, Vocals
*Karen Hammack - Piano
*Will Brady - Bass
*Tony Selvage - Violin, Viola
*Red Rhodes - Steel Guitar
*Steve Leach - Bass
*Tris Imboden - Drums
*Nissan Eventoff, John Smith - Vocals
*Michael Gwinn, Phillip Morgan - Vocals
*Henry Lewy - Deep Vocal

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The Unspoken Word - The Unspoken Word (1970 us, splendid psych blues rock, Wounded Bird edition)

9:27 AM |



Largely unknown group from Long Island, New York. After their debut that could be described as folk rock with a psychedelic edge, the 2nd record is definitively more rock/blues orientated.

The harmonies of Dede Puma and guitarist Zenya Stashuk still sport a Jefferson Airplane-style vocal blend, and R’n’B-flavored sound of Pacific Gas and Electric. Puma's vocals lean closer to the cool, vibratoless style of Grace Slick than the soul/blues ululations of Janis Joplin. The guitar and organ riffs often bear a distortion-laden crunch that nods to the burgeoning hard rock scene of the time. Nevertheless, the things that served the band in good stead on its first album - strong harmonies, tight playing, and a solid sense of structure - still shine through here.


Tracks
1. Pillow - 2:42
2. Sleeping Prophet - 3:04
3. Put Me Down - 2:34
4. Personal Manager (Albert King, David Porter) - 9:40
5. Reincarnation (Chuck Berry) - 1:49
6. Sleepy Mountain Ecstacy - 4:02
7. I Don't Need No Music - 2:44
8. Little Song - 2:28
9. Healthy, Wealthy And Wise - 2:38
10.Around And Around - 5:19
11.Morning - 1:50
All songs by Granlegede Bupumacstasin except where noted

The Unspoken Word 
Zenya Stashuk - Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Dede Puma - Vocals
Greg Buis - Bass,  Vocals
Les Singer - Drums
Angus Macmaster - Keyboards

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