Dark - "Round the Edges" 1972

From Rockesteria: "According to Steven Smith (who produced a much more affordable re-issue in the U.S. than the English Swank version which at release was priced no less than $150), there will never be another private press British L.P. of the same stature as Dark - Round the Edges. This may be true, and it certainly is one of the rarest, but then rarity doesn't account for anything, and in terms of quality, there is nothing exceptional about it. It is a (damn) good L.P. with a number of flaws of varying degrees.

The opening "Darkside" track is perhaps the best underground guitarpsych track to come out of England, a piece of pure perfection, jamming, loose, beckoning, un-hardrocking anything. The rest of side 1 is in the same vein, just slightly less "there." Side 2 opens wit the album's weakest track, tracks 5 and 6 are better, but the lack of a "Darkside" make the second half of the L.P. a rather pedestrian experience. On a more fundamental side, The Dark is that of a bunch of unknown guys who have been rehearsing in their basement for a long time, building an extensive understanding of each others musical ideas and honing their craft. The playing is superb -- the drummer most of all -- and isn't quite hard rock, or blues rock, but a classic jam outfit of the late 60's U.S. west coast style. almost jazzy in the playing, but never pretentious or "show-offy."

The original print runs were never more than 99 copies (to avoid purchase tax) put original pressings of this album in the $10.000 range (!!!)
Formed by guitarist Steve Giles in 1968, The Dark built up a loyal fanbase in Shoesville, U.K., but thet had to wait until 1972 to record their one and only L.P.
According to Steve Giles states: "Nobody, but nobody knows exactly how many copies were made from each printrun. For sure, there were 2 pressings of 30 albums each, with 2 test pressings for each run, meaning there were 64 originals in existence. 12 of the first run were color gatefolds, the rest were single sleeve or gatefold B&W, but the ratios are unknown. At a guess, (a guess, mind you) he puts 20 in a single sleeve in B&W on the first run, and on the 2nd, 12 B&W gatefold, and 20 B&W single sleeve. Again, Giles states that is only a guess, but not a far off one. Expense was a governing factor on why there weren't more color sleeves.

American Eagle - s/t 1970

American Eagle started out in the Pacific Northwest as the Surprise Package and featured ex-members of The Viceroys, Galaxies, and Rock Collection. By the time they ended up American Eagle, they had relocated to California. The Surprise Package released one album: "Free Up" among a handful of singles in 1969. By 1970 they'd changed their name to American Eagle and released their sole eponymous L.P. on Decca. Featuring a cover of the Moody Blues' "Knights in White Satin" mixed in with Vanilla Fudge type hard rock, with melodic passages. The album did well in Germany and Sweden, but never gained a steady following beyond that. Even support slots for bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys, and Jethro Tull kept the band from splitting up.

Edge - s/t 1970

Edge was (on this recording) Richard Barcelona - vocals/lead guitar, John Keith - vocals/organ/bass/acoustic guitar, Gallen Murphy - vocal/bass/acoustic guitar, David Novogroski - vocals/drums/percussion. Barcelona and Keith had played together previously in American Revolution and Novogroski had been with Boston Tea Party, making it likely that this was a Hollywood band, although it's been previously reported that it was a San Francisco band. Their first effort was a single titled "Something New" b/w "Seen Through the Eyes" (available on one of the 'Pebbles' CD's). Check out  Rockesteria for a brief history of the band, as told by John Keith.
Apparently, Keith and myself don't see eye to eye about the quality of this album, as I think it's great.

Lyd - s/t a.k.a. "Thorns" 1970

Late 60's garage psych rock band Lyd, is said to have recorded their sole release (this) in Pat Boone's studio. Whatever the case, this obscure release is thick with heavy fuzzed out guitar and druggie lyrics (legend also says that the band was on mass amounts of LSD at the time of recording). The 21 minute e.p. was never properly released, although some scarce/small pressings on private labels and only a couple acetates in existance have turned this disc into a highly (no pun intended) sought after rarity. Akarma released it in 200 on 10" and CD, in 1992 it was released on Fanny out of Belgium, and most recently by Southwest Studios (2012) on single sided 12". It's well worth hunting down. A superior E.P. indeed.

Bodkin - s/t 1972

From Prog Archives: Bodkin were a Scottish quintet that released a self titled album in 1972. They made classic sounding, rough edged progressive rock with the emphasis on Doug Rome's Hammond organ and complimented by Mick Riddle's guitar, Bill Anderson's bass, Dick Sneddon on drums, and the cool wailing of Zeik Hume.
Somewhat more jam oriented than contemporaries Atomic Rooster or Uriah Heep, and not quite as hard hitting, Bodkin nevertheless delivered spirited rock music with energetic interplay between guitar and organ, fine musicianship, and distractingly good compositions from the 21 year old Doug Rome.
A very palatable blend of dark organ rock and dirty blues, Bodkin will surely please listeners interested in the murky and mysterious early years of the heavy prog scene and anyone seeking rare prog.

Extremely rare 1st press. Only a couple are known to exist with a printed cover.

Sonic Underground Ltd. 250

Akarma issue w/fold out cover.

Sonic Underground Ltd 250

Elf - s/t 1972, "L.A.59" a.k.a. "Carolina County Ball" - 1974, "Trying to Burn the Sun" 1975, "War Pigs 72"

Blues based rock band Elf, was formed in upstate New York in 1967. The band was formed by vocalist/bassist Ronnie James Dio, guitarists David Feistein and Nick Pantas, keyboardist Doug Thaler, and drummer Gary Driscoll. The bands original name was The Electric Elves, which was later shortened to The Elves, and finally, Elf.

In 1968, Pantas was killed in a car accident. Following the accident, Doug Thaler moved to rhythm guitar and Mickey Lee Soule joined as keyboardist. In 1972, Thaler dropped out of the group. That same year, the group cut their self titled debut album produced by Ian Paice and Roger Glover and saw Dio credited under his real name Ronald Padavona.

The following year, Craig was recruited on bass so that Dio could focus on singing. At the same time, Feinstein quit and was replaced by Steve Edwards. This Lineup recorded two studio albums L.A/59 a.k.a. Carolina County Ball (1974), and Trying to Burn the Sun (1975). In 1975, Ritchie Blackmore recruited the entire band, minus Edwards to join him in his new band Rainbow, effectively ending Elf.

Ronnie James Dio went on to a successful career in Heavy Metal, fronting Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, and his own solo project, Dio. Feinstein also found a career in metal, leading the bands The Rods for a number of years. Thaler went on to a career in music management, drummer Gary Driscoll was found murdered in his home in 1987, the case remains open.
In 2000, Dio spoke of the possibility of reuniting the band, but that never came to pass as he succumbed to stomach cancer in 2010.

Chicken Bones - "Hard Rock in Concert" 1976

From Germany, Chicken Bones took on hard rock in the tradition of Hendrix, early English bands like Tractor, and Cargo, but most of it is free and improvised. With six tunes of superior musicianship, "Hard Rock in Concert" was performed in the good old tradition of the early 70's progressive rock scene Most of the album is instrumental and gives Reiner Geueke (guitar, vocals) a prime setting to show off his musical skills. The album has a well balanced and great production for an independent/private release, the recordings were done in only one week.
Basic and gutsy, Chicken Bones were a lot better than their reputation proceeded them, and their album became a sought after rarity. Chicken Bones existed in one form or another for around a decade. Afterwards ending up as the vastly inferior, more metal oriented Revanche, and eventually disbanding on the mid 1980's. (notes taken from Silverado's Rare Music).