Growl - s/t 1974

Released on Frank Zappa and Herb Cohen's DiscReet label in 1974, this album remains largely unknown. The album is a mix of Rock and Roll/hard rock/blues rock. There are shades of Johnny Winter on some tracks as well as CCR. The singer even sounds like Nazareth's Dan McCafferty in places. Reminicent of Foghat's earlier work. All in all a very good, if not very short album that deserved so much more attention. But like most bands of the early 70's, Growl faded into obscurity.
If you like no -bullshit/straight forward Rockandroll, then this album is for you.

Dirk Steffens - "The Seventh Step" 1976

Diek Steffens stidied guitar & piano at the hamburg Conservatory. He played in Bethovens from 1969 - 1971. In '71, he began his own group Pennywonder, which also consisted of Thomas Kuckuck, Jurgen Elhert, and Enricho Lombardi. In july of 1973 he joined the band Birth Control, and by 1974 had left the band for family reasons. He then worked as a guitar instructio and studio musician. In the fall of 1975, he began work on his first studio album "The Seventh Step" on which he played guitar and with some help from Ian Cussick from Scottland (a member of Lucifers Friend) as well as musician Rolf Kholer from Hamburg and a member of To Be. "The Seventh step" was finished and released in 1976 on Nova records, and a second albumwas released by Nova "Tollhouse" in 1978.

Dies Irae - "First" 1971

From "Prog Archives": Playing locally in and around clubs in Germany, Switzerland, and France since 1968, Dies Irae consisting of Roger Wahlman (vocals/harmonica), Harold Thoma (guitar/vocals), Joachim Shiff (bass), and Andreas Cornillius (drums) were finaaly discovered by the long defunct Hamburg record laber PILZ in 1971. They were a progressive psychedelic/freakout blues band with a darker side from Saarbucken, Germany who only released one LP and one single (as well as being featured on a PILZ compilation "Heavy Christmas"), in 1971 before splitting up in 1972 citing "artistic differences". Two offshoot bands then appeared: Lucy Gang and Green wave.

Not to be confused weith a number of Metal bands called Dies Irae, which litterally translates to "Day of Wrath", which is the title of a latin hymn that refers to the day of judgement before the throne of God where the saved are delivered from evil and the unsaved are cast into eternal flames. The Dies Irae has been compared to Black Sabbath on their first album for PILZ because of their guitar/harmonica sound with lyrical references to the occult Although the lyrics wee far more trippy and out there.

Yesterday and Today - s/t 1976

Yesterday & Today (later, known as Y&T) were an American hard rock/heavy metal band formed in 1974 in Hayward, California. The band released two albums on London records as Yesterday and Today before shortening their name to Y&T and  releaseing several albums on A&M Records stating in 1981.

The band was originally co-managed by Herbie Herbert (who managed Journey) and lou Bramy. The band has sold over 4 million albums worldwide.

Bedlam - S/T ('The Beast") 1973

Bedlam (originally known as 'Beast' when they kicked off in 1972) was an English hard rock band featuring singer Frank Aiello, (from Truth), guitarist Dave Ball (Procal Harum), bassist Dennis Ball (from Long John Baldry, and drummer Cozy Powell (formerly of Jeff Beck). The did a self titled album produced by felix Pappalardi (producer of Cream and member of Mountain) in 1973 before breaking up in 1974.

The band should have been as big as Led Zeppelin. Powell began his music career in 1965 with Sourcerers, eventually

decommisioning work for Jeff Beck after bedck left the Yardbirds in 1971. Powell formed Bedlam but eventually abandoned the project in favor of producing singles such as "Dance With The Devil" with Cozy Powell's Hammer in 1975. He joined Rainbow and gave the band a thundering rhythm section before exiting four years and foue albums later in 1980. Alllways in demand, he bounced between session work and bands including Michael Schenker Group, Whitesnake, Balck Sabbath, never staying in one band too long.

On April 5, 1998 he was rcovering from a foot which had sidelined him from touring work for Yngvie Malmsteen , he was driving on the M4 towards Bristol when he apparently lost control of his car and slamming into the ceter divider. He died in Hospital hours later.

Page 45 Singles #16 Larry Mann / Smoke Rise / Strutter / Python

Larry Mann The Wild Mann - The Meat Grinder
Wildmann Records, 197_ USA




Smoke Rise - I Need A Woman
ATCO 45-6851, 1972, USA




Strutter - Struttin All Night Long
Black Vinyl Records, BVR138, 1977, USA



Python - Shock Treatment
Foot Records 1970, USA

Page 45 Singles #15 the What / Flake / Bullet

The What - The Devils Game
Smite, USA, 1977




Flake - Breadbane
1974 - Australia, Infinity Records




Bullet - Mover
Chicago AC-005
1975, Australia




Bullet - Rock My Lady
Chicago A-005
1975, Australia

Luv Machine - s/t 1971

From Rockesteria: Originally released in 1970, "Witches Wand" is about as classic as it get from this magical era in underground music. To this day it remains a firm favorite of 60's Mod and psych at 70's rock clubs up and down the U.K.

Formed in the tropicalclimes of Barbados in 1967, Luv Machine relocated to the U.K. in 1968 in search of fame and fortune in those swinging times. The band started out playing black soul clubs in the midlands area. Their sound was a lot harder-edged than the usual acts that in the initial club circuit where they were being booked.

Influenced by Hendrix, Cream, CCR, and othr more obscur heavy bands of the time, Luv Machine managed to combine elements of rock and soulful psych with a funky progressive groove. Added to this was a Carabbean vibe which made them completely unique from other rivals of the day.

The bands self titled debut album that was released for Polydor in 1971 has become a much revered and collectable item amungst collectors and fans of the era.

Unfortunately the band split before the album was released, which meant it was never given the publicity it deserved. Who knows what may have happened if the situation was different for them.

In 2006, Rise Abouve Relics released the album with an additional 12" of tracks consiting of unreleased demos and b-sides.

Hackensack - 1969 -1974

Nicky Moore is probably best known for being the singer of Samson, who took Bruce Dickenson's place once he joined up with Iron Maiden in 1982. But before all that, there was Hackensack.
Formed by Moore in 1969, Hackensack were considered one of the heaviest live bands of their day. They released one single in 1972, "Movin' On". They began touring as suppoert for Mott the Hoople.
The bands debut album "Up the Hard Way" was released in 1974 and with a strong following, the band played over 270 shows in their lifetime. However this was not enough since the band disolved shortly thereafter.

A live album was recorded by Pye Records at the Cavern Club, Liverpoole in 1973. But it remains unreleased. Live material was released in the 90's titled "Live The Hard Way" recorded for Swiss radio in 1973, along with a show at Nottingham from the same year.
Around the mid-90's, some collections (one live) sprung up on archival labels. But their debut is still held in high regard among collectors of proto-metal and N.W.O.B.H.M. bands.

 

Cain - "A Pound of Flesh" 1975

Cain's musical passport to classic rock obscurity, then posterity, was stamped by their first album A Pound of Flesh. which would be roundly ignored by the world beyond the midwest at the time of it's release, only to appear 30 years later on CD and make the band collectors darlings. Recorded in 1975 A Pound of Flesh represented a half a decades worth of hard graft for the band and a wide gamut of influences that simultaniously intrigued and confused listeners who were lucky enough to secure one of the original vinyl copies. On the other hand, it could be argued that there is something here for everyone. For one thing, Cain's lengthy experience playing blue collar clubs peppered the way from the Twin Cities to Chicago made it second nature to them to wheel out handfuls of no-fuss heavy blues workouts.
Needless to say, though a single world beater does not a classic make, and though it would be extremely convenient to blame all of Cain's woes on their label ASI, the honest truth is that A Pound of Flesh is a very solid, but not spectacular album, worthy of appreciation but not immortality.
(Allmusic)

Cargo - s/t 1972

Released in anonymity to an unsuspecting Dutch public in 1972, Cargo's lone album became a self fulfilling prophecy when it disappeared after minimal radio play and zero live dates to back it up. But Cargo already had hits under their previous name: September, and their talent would not remain buried forever. In subsequent years, the album would become the stuff of dreams  to record collectors. as prog fans ate up their uncanny improvisational transformation of Allman Brothers influences (check out the dual guitar work of the De Hont brothers Jan and Ad ) out of the American south and into a psychedelicized continuum of space and time both Trerestrial and celestial.

DeVries (basss) and english drummer Dennis Whitbread complete the rhythm section.
The music developed here, brought on by stunning twin guitar leads along the lines of Wishbone Ash in their Argus period. The brothers play great co-operative guitar lines which show off their comaraderie and long standing mtual trust.
Sad to see that this is their sole release that came and went with little fanfare.
Re-released on Pseudonym as a 2XL.P. or 2X CD package wit extra bonus tracks.
Well worth your time!!!!

Power of Zeus - "The Gospel According to Zeus" - 1970

Power of Zeus was formed in 1968 by Detroit Vocalist/guitarist Joe Periano shortly after his discharge from the Marine Corps. Joe was joined by bassist/vocalist Bill Jones, drummer  Bob Michalski, and hammond organ player Dennie Webber. Originally going by the name Gangrene, the Cream/Zeppelin/Sabbath influenced heavy rock quartet became the un-official house band at the Wooden Nickle club where they were initially spotted by a local manager. Motown psych-oriented subsidary Rare Earth signed the band on the condition they find a new name. Having decided on Power of Zeus they began work on what would be their sole release, 1970's "The Gospel According to Zeus" LP. The relationship between band and label was strainedwith the former claiming that the ltter had no experience of releasing a heavy rock album and the Motown producers failed to nail the bands crunchier live sound on tape. Certainly the LP is removed from the distorto-trash coming out of fellow Detroit rockers the MC5 and the Stooges, but what it lacks in grime it makes up for in funkiness. Hammond, bass, & drums are to the fore with production as fat and full as you would expect from Motown producers.
The LP was pretty much a flop at the time, but since then it has become a highly sought after item, attaining genuine legendary standards among record collectors.

Freedom - "Through the Years" - 1971

Freedom was a psychedelic rock band from the late 60's and 70's featuring founding members of Procal Harem.
Ray Royer and Bobby Harrison has both performed on Procal Harums hit A Whiter Shade of Pale were kicked out of PH by vocalist Gary Booker and were replaced by Robin Trower and Barry Wilson. Royer and Harrison then formed Freedom with Steve Shirly and Tony Marsh, who was immediately replaced by pianist Mike Lease, releasing two German singles andthe soundtrack for the Tinto Brass/ Deno DeLaurentiis film Attraction. (also known as Black on White).
In 1968 Harrison overhauled the entire lineupand began recording with a more hard rock sound scoring dates with Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, and the James Gang. The acheived great renown for their version of the Beatles '"Cry Baby Cry" on their Second album: Freedom at Last. Further lineup changes occurred before the band splintered in 1972, with Harrison going on to SNAFU.

 

Discography: 

Black on White (1969)

Freedom at Last (1970)

Freedom (1970)

Through the Years (1971)

Is More Than A Word (1972)

Dryewater - "Southpaw" - 1974

Now a highly regarded collectors piece by fans of early 70's hard rock, Dryewaters "Southpaw" was released to little fanfare on the J.T.B. Label (independant) in 1974. The North Carolina four piece pressed only 500 copies of the album (fewer still with covers!), if that isn't bad enough, the band destroyed copies that didn't sell, adding an even bigger obstacle to obtaining one.
Maybe they had higher expectations for the album, as the songwriting would lead you to believe. The ten original compositions show a very confident release by a very prolific lineup. Strong rythm guitar dominates the L.P. but also evedent is some melodic slightly progressive keyboard work that both underpins the occational acid guitar solo maintains the overallmomentum of the work.
With a strong rhythm section and great vocals this album makes for a strong roller coaster ride.
(Forced Exposure mailorder)

Personnel:
Garland Walker Stidham
Richard Drye
Robert Blair
Shaye Drye

Badge & Company - s/t 1977

SOUTHER BLUESROCK AT IT'S BEST!!!
Badge & Company was a psychedelic blues rock band from Augusta. The band formed in 1976 with members Randy E. Coven (vocals. bass & fiddle), lead guitarist Terry D. Williams, and drummer Virgil Eugene Martin.
A psychedelic blues delight ala Moving Sidewalks, and early ZZTop. This southern rock trio surgically strike at what other like-genre bands feign. This little 'ole album is soul quenching. A primed side of beefed up Texan psychedelia and weirdness smothered in southern blues. ( http://www.numusi.de/)