Leaf Hound Live @ Roadburn 4/14/12

Fair to so-so video & audio.

Plum Nelly - "Deceptive Lines" 1970

Plum Nelly took their name from a defunct rock club of the same name on their home turf of NYC after two of the employees got them a deal with Capitol records. The lineup consisted of John Earl Walker-lead guitar, Ric Prince - Lead vocals, Peter Harris-bass, Steve Ress-Rythm guitar and vocals, and Christopher Lloyd on drums. The band shared bills with a lot of major acts at the time including, but not limited to Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, The Kinks, and Muddy Waters. The album was recorded in 1970 and was released in '71. Background vocals on "Lonely Man's Cry" were done by The Sweet Inspirations led by Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston's mother, and were also doing recording for Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin at the time. The Group toured the U.S. in the early 70's and in '74 relocated to L.A. at which time their bass player Bob Feit went on to play for Tina Turner.
Plum Nelly disbanded in 1976. It was at this time John Earl Walker formed the John Earl Walker band and played throughout the 70's & 80's. The album is guitar driven rock with some really great leads. It sounds more like amid to late 70's project than 1970. All in all a good listen.

Charlee - s/t 1972

Before forming Charlee, (not to be confused with the U.K. band Charlie) Walter Rossi had cut his teeth in the late 60's with some pretty big names like Wilson Pickett, and Buddy Miles Express, where he contributed lead guitar to Buddy's original version of "Them Changes." He even turned down offers from Three Dog Night and Janis Joplin.
Rossi also had the pleasure of jamming with Hendrix and Buddy Miles during the 'Band of Gypsies' days.
Then, back in Canada, Walter co-founded the progressive psych rock band Influence in 1968/69. After being signed to ABC records, they went on tour in support of The Doors and Steppenwolf.
Then in 1971, he formed Charlee, and the band released one eponymous album that year.
The Charlee album is one of the best examples of 70's hard rock you'll ever hear. Highly recommended.
After the album was released, David Bowie's manager Tony Defries heard Walter playing in the studio and offered him a job playing for the Ziggy Stardust tour, but Walter had made up his mind to stay in Montreal close to his father, who was ill at the time.
Rossi then went to Toronto where he met up with Luke Gibson and joined his band Luke and the Apostles in '72/'73.
This album is absolutely amazing. It ranks up there with Montrose, Sad Wings of Destiny, and early Robin Trower.

Pink Fairies - "Uncle Harry" 1993

Relesed in 1993, Uncle Harry is a compilation of obscure tracks and live tunes recorded for the BBC in and around 1970-71. Raw, gritty, energetic rock and roll in the style only the Fairies can bring. It's a pretty cool double L.P. consisting of only 6 songs. The rock "Johnny B. Good" in to a proto-metal track and turns "The Snake" into an extended tribal jam. Full of excess, in the long, slow, psychedelic jams as well as the up beat numbers. Also contains two very lengthy versions of "Uncle Henry's Last Freakout. The fourth side has an engraving of flying pigs, and the packaging all together is superior. A curious release that would be out of place for anyone but the eccentric Pink Fairies. This one rips. Enjoy!

Gedo - s/t 1974

Formed in Osaka, Japan in 1972 by ex-M Hideto Kanoh and Too Much bassist Ryoichi Nakano, Gedo were very popular in the early 1970's festival circuit, mainly at biker meetings and political events. Much like the MC5, Gedo's music carried a lot of political overtones, shooting down capitalism and following ideals from American hippy movements. Although they mix psych with hard rock, they sound much more proto-punk with their aggressive delivery. In fact , I wouldn't hesitate to call them punk rock. Gedo has released 8 albums between 1974 and 2003. This album was recorded live and has a raw energy that smashed barriers of it's time. Named the 24th greatest Japanese Rock album of all time by Rolling Stone Japan, and 30th on Julian Copes book Japrocksampler. Fucking brilliant.

Dull Knife - "Electric Indian" 1971

1971 saw Dull Knife, another Krautrock band that released one album and disappeared from the scene release "Electric Indian." Dull Knife (not to be confused with the band from Brighton formed in with members of The Pretty Things) is heavy guitar driven hard rock/prog (or "Rog" as I like to call it) with some awesome organ giving it a Deep Purple kind of twist. The vocals are often sung using a lot of volume and a distortion effect. It makes for some really heavy moments. The Germans really had this style nailed and this is further proof that Germany was churning out some of the hardest, heaviest music of the time. The cover art was a bit controversial depicting a knife  stabbing a torso.

Buzzbone - "Magic" 45 1976

Released as a 45 rpm single in 1976, this record was supposed to be a prelude to a full length L.P. which never happened. Only now, 38 years later, ShroomAngel records is said to be producing a  slightly delayed release of the album that was scheduled for 2014. The band, from Houston Texas, featured both Dan Mitchel and Tom More of Moving Sidewalks fame. Will this album ever see the light of day? I hope so. Because this cut is great.

Vikings Invasion - Vol. 1 1975

An obvious "unpolished' L.P. from a band hailing from a German speaking pat of Switzerland, Vikings Invasion played a rough gritty blues based heavy rock. Formed in 1970, their first and only album "Vol. 1" (there never was a Vol.2) was released exclusively in England where they had lived for some time. In Switzerland, a bootleg copy was released, but a constant grinding noise makes it an annoying listen at best. The original is wanted by collectors who are willing to pay un-godly prices for the original L.P. because of it's rarity. Like I stated earlier, a bit unpolished, but loud blues rock none the less.

The Other Half - "The Other Half Plus" 1968

From San Francisco, The Other Half were part of the fist wave of psych bands ('66 to '68) and served as the vehicle for guitarist Randy Holden between  The Sons of Adam and Blue Cheer. Holden joined The Other Half after being offered the chance to replace Jeff Beck in The Yardbirds. The Other Half's sound has been compared to The Yardbirds by critics and fans alike containing elements of Blues and Hard Rock. Holen left the band after the release of their debut album, being disappointed by the recording and dissatisfied with the type of guitar he was playing for the band, later stating: "I was trying to accommodate everyone else at the expense of my own soul and happiness."
Formed in 1966, the band released their first single "Mr. Pharmacist" b/w "I've come so far"  and has been described as a slice of "raging garage punk/anger" but failed to sell. It did however, attract the attention of the Acta label who agreed to finance an album. The bands debut on the label was the single "Wonderful Day b/w "Flight of the Dragon Lady", again, attracting critical praise, but failing in sales. 1968 saw the release of their self titled L.P. and is considered a "lost classic" among psych collectors, Holden's guitar being the strong point of the band and the release. There is a tune on the album "Feathered Friend" written by Arthur Lee (Love), and "Flight of the Dragon Lady" being two of my picks from this release. All in all, a fine album. This re-issue containd the two singles mentioned above as well.

R.I.P. Dickie Peterson Sept. 12, 1946 - Oct. 12, 2009

Remember him every time you hear THUNDER from above.

Swampgas - s/t 1972

I believe the sole release of this obscure and mysterious band from Long Island, N.Y. There's really not much biographical information on these guys out there. The lineup consisted of Jock Davis (bass), Baird Hersey (guitars) Kim Ornitz (vocals), and Ricky Statler (drums). It was released on RSO records, and recorded at A&R in N.Y. with Arnie Kornfeld (one of three producers at Woodstock fest.) and the band co-producing.
It's got kind of a southern rock tinge to it, a-la Skynard, or James Gang, but on a less sensational level. It's got a lot of really great grooves and they were good at the music of the day.

Sadly, the label was having money troubles and postponed the release of the album, which tore the band apart. Some time after the bands demise, the parent company, Buddah, released the album with no support, and no band to promote it. It fell forever between the cracks. Good luck finding a copy of this one.

Prodigal Sons - "Emerge from the Void" 1972

From Siverado's Rare Music: "Extremely consistent blend of Heavy Metal style, power trio hard rock, and some boogie blues hard rock, featuring some good wah-wah guitar. This is a great party album, leading one to believe they must have been a truly excellent live band. They were from Ohio.
Nice hard rockin' release. If you like Wildfire, Tin House, and early BTO, you will dig this! There's even some British influence (Johns Tune, Saga of Yeti) here. (Tymeshifter)
From RYM: 'Heavy hard southern tinged rock circa 1972. Killer cuts like 'Water Song,', and 'Song of the Yeti'... This is a killer throughout and unknown heretofore. Sounds great, and cool cover completes the package...
Sounds like a mix between Boulder Damn and Allman Bros., with maybe a little Feather De Gamba.
Lost music from a lost time. "The Mystery and music of the Prodigal Sons continues to thrill and mesmerize listeners to this day. Who are they? And where are they? The answer my friends, lay in the vault of the void. One thing is for certain, they know how to play kick ass rock and roll early 70's style before all the head bangin' mumbo jumbo. Listen on, as many have already, to the power and the glory that is and was The Prodigal Sons as they Emerge from the Void."

Him and The Others - "She's Got Eyes that Tell Lies" b/w "I Mean It" 1966

Him & the Others were formed in 1964 in the U.K. when drummer Keith Giles and Bassist/singer Lenny Shaw lfet their former group to start a new group with vocalist George Demetrious.
After placing adverts in Melody Maker, guitarists Colin Roche and Geoff Gibbs completed the lineup. The group soon built up a following around top London clubs and the home counties and supported many of the major top acts, as well as backing group to chart singer Peter Fenton. They also appeared in the British made film 'Mini Weekend' filmed at one of their many gigs at the London club Tiles.
They made one record for the Parlaphone label, which recieved rave reviews but failed to garner any chart success.
In 1967 following Lenny's departure from the group, they changed their name to The Hand with Geoff Gibbs switching to bass, they became more blues/progressive oriented.
The band split up for good about a year later. George and Geoff went on to form George Paul Jefferson, Keith Giles joined progressive group Forts Mentum, whilst Colin Roche went back to his love for blues forming a band with Paul Rodgers who later went on to form Free.

Life - "This Time (Our Love Will Last)" b/w "Lonely with a capitol "L" 45 1972

And here's the only description and/or info I could find on this American band/single (from a listing on Popsike Auction site): "As comped on the Angel Dust Psychedelia LP, "This Time" is a tremendous slab of heavy fuzzed up psych. Life were a southern band and their own single "Hatchet Annie" is not quite as good as it sounds. But this is the one to own." Looks as if it sold for around $130, and nobody had uploaded the B side as of yet. This tune is great though.

The Accent - "Red Sky at Night" b/w "Wind of Change" 1967

Aha! Here we have what is considered by many to be not only one of THE best U.K. Psych- Freakbeat/Mod slabs out there, but also one of the most collectable as well. Not too much info on this one I'm afraid. However, the credits are to Davies, Beethham, Hebron, & Burkett. The A side features "Red Sky at Night" which is a mid paced solid sonic slab o psych, nice fuzzy guitars, the B side "Wind of Change" at first came off a little darker, but both sides have grown on me quite a bit, and only after a couple plays each. Awesomely heavy guitars for the time on both sides. Can't choose one over the other. I'll update this entry as I find out more info on this one, as I plan to do a lot of digging into it. Here's a bit more from Julian Cope's Head Heritage