Tiger B. Smith - ''Tiger Rock" 1972 / ''We're the Tiger Bunch" - 1974

German band Tiger B. Smith, an extraordinary power trio formed from Bad Camberg cant help but let their influences (Hendrix, Edgar Broughton, Hawkwynd, and Sabbath) flood right out in a heaping mass of volume. In fact, nothing I could write here could be as accurately descriptive than the article from Julian Cope's Head Heritage, which I'm referring you to via the link. Progressive fuzz/bluesrock with long instrumental passages. The band formed in Frankfurt in 1972 following singer/guitar player Holger Schmidt's 1969 band Second Life, which spawned Tiger B. Smith. 2 albums were born of the band, 1972's "Tiger Rock", and in 1974 "We're the Tiger Bunch". There is also a self titled album from Second Life which I've also seen lumped in with Tiger's discography (1971).

There's no links for complete albums, so here's a collage of Tiger B. Smith's output over the span of their '70's career. There is another release from 1984, as well as a couple other bands formed by Schmidt that came after the bands demise.

Official Webpage

Electric Funeral - Wild Performance 1970

Notes taken from the CD (2019 release) Electric Funeral were a pioneering Swiss hard rock band who sadly never registered any studio recordings at the time. Formed in the late 60's by Edi Hurt (drums), Pierrot Wemeille (bass), Alan Christinaz (guitar), and Dominique Bourguin (vocals). They were influenced by Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin. Famous for their loud (they played behind giant Marshall stacks) and powerful shows, their sound was too heavy-sounding for a regular label to offer them a contract. 

'The Wild Performance" is made of private live & rehearsal tapes recorded in 1970, very raw and low-fi, but it's the only testimony of their brutal sound. First released in 1991 as a very limited (200, numbered, and now very sought after) LP, here's an expanded edition with newly remastered sound and four killer bonus tracks taken from the reels and tapes recently found in the bands archives. These tracks were also recorded in 1970 except for 'My Destiny (1973). Sound is still low-fi but slightly better than the original "Wild Performance" tracks, especially on the killer "You Can Help" (proto-punk a la Electric Eels), "My Destiney, and the alternate version of "To Be One."

"Electric Funeral should be mentioned right up there with their other country companions such as: Toad, Haze, After Shave and Pacific Electric."

--Klemin Breznikar "It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine"

This one is a real curiosity. Best I could find is that it's from Switzerland, and was recorded in 1970. It wasn't released until 1990 in a limited run of 200 copies on Vandisk (VAN-824).
It's heavy as hell and I just wish it was a little bit better sound quality, but I still like the grittiness of it! Pretty good hard psych/prog/proto metal that kind of reminds me of Edgar Broughton in parts. Turn it up!

2019 Edition

The Flying Hat Band - Demos 1973?

The Midlands prog/rock scene was in full swing in '70-'73 and The Flying Hat Band were among the favorites of the scene. A strong, hard rocking power trio, the band featured guitar player Glen Tipton, famous for going on to become a career long member of another popular midlands band, Judas

Priest. TFHB only lasted for a couple years, but in that time became rampantly popular, even scoring a support slot for Deep Purple on a European tour. (all this with no album released!)

They did however sign a deal with Vertigo and record an album which was ultimately shelved by the label for having to close a similarity to their cash cow, Black Sabbath (sad!). After Tipton left for Priest, (who had recently signed with Gull for their first release) other members went on to join with bands such as Little Johnny England, The Albion Band, and from Canada, the Pat Travers Band.

Years after the demise of TFHB, a German label,  SPM International (not to be confused with SPV, also from Germany) mysteriously released a split CD between TFHB and a band called "Antrobus" (Antrobus was later discovered to actually be Iron Claw, DO check them out. Either on this blog or elsewhere. You won't regret it!) titled "Buried Alive." (1992)
This CD contained four tracks from TFHB. Another  unofficial release can be found on Acid Nightmare records. This time a split release featuring demos from Earth. (pre-Black Sabbath) As for the rest of the album, it's rumored that the master tapes reside still in Tipton's posession,
Only time will tell if they'll ever see the light of day.

*Trivia Time! TFHB drummer Steve Palmer, is the brother of Carl Palmer. (Emerson, Lake, & Palmer)

Slowbone - Tales of a Crooked Man / Live at the Greyhound 1972 - 1974

Lea Hart (a.k.a. "Barry" Hart) is no stranger to the English hard rock scene. Having fulfilled a multitude of duties from musician, to promoter, producer, song writer, manager and British Music Ambassador International. Throughout his career Hart has participated and collaborated with members of Bad Company, Iron Maiden, the Bay City Rollers, Giant, and Joan Jett.  His own musical project, Slowbone, was formed in 1971 and released a whole slew of singles in '74 for Polydor and an L.P. for Tamala/Motown labels. After some lineup changes and a name change to "The Rollups", they finally called it quits and held their farewell gig in '79. After which, Hart returned to the stage as a solo act, and supported Judas Priest on a 1979 tour. 

Hart then went on to replace Dave King (later of Flogging Molly) alongside Fast Eddie Clarke (former Motorhead) in Fastway, appearing on two albums with them.
This early band of such an expansive career is as damn fine a specimen of hard prog/proto metal as any other I've encountered. I have a feeling, had it not been for the un-tameable ambition of Hart, meaning to say, if you could get him to sit still, it most likely would have developed into one of the more mighty classic influences as any of the other bands which take so much credit for the development of metal.. This album, a collection of all their singles, was released far after the groups demise, as well as a live album: "Live at the Greyhound"

https://www.facebook.com/slowbones

http://www.musicmight.com/artist/united+kingdom/london/slowbone

Eugene Carnan s/t 1972

Recorded in a garage in the U.K., insulated with egg cartons,  on a two track stereo Sony tape recorder and a small mixer, these are the tracks from 1972, as they were, recorded live, with five

microphones, no , over dubs, complete with drumsticks smacking into a mic here and there. Eight tracks of very powerful guitar driven hard rock were recorded within two days, (one of them, apparently on a different reel, lost forever) and later that same year the band had self destructed as members became unreliable and quit. The recordings however were taken into a direct -to-disc service, and cut into 4 acetate L.P.'s in hopes of finding a replacement bass player. Cassette copies were known to be recorded off for interested friends, however it wasn't until the singer's brother in law took the original tape reels 40 years later that it was released on C.D. A very cool story behind a very cool band with the unfortunate life span of a mayfly.

A more detailed story of these recordings

Shotgun Ltd. - s/t 1971

Shotgun Ltd. was a band for only a couple years. Which really blows my mind, because this is one album that stands out to me. This album is really good. From Culver City, Los Angeles, they started in 1967 as The Twilighters, a five piece instrumental surf band. Eventually they had decided that they wanted to add a vocalist, and did so under the name "Ash." Still in high school at this point, the band gigged regularly on the weekends and did fairly well performing a lot of prog. covers. Growing more serious about their music, the band took a three month hiatus to write original material after a series of successful residencies all around town. It was the singers, girlfriends father that got them hooked up with Jefferson Airplanes producer. They recorded this album over the course of three months in 1970. However, due to complications with their label, the album wasn't released for a year. Add that to a falling out with their manager, and the band ultimately firing him, they lasted a year more and as their singer puts it, "that was that."

Steeplechase - Lady Bright 1970

The only album by this very short-lived New York based hard rock  band is built around a beefy late 60'shard rock formulaand also mixes (although slightly) dashes of psych, blues & progressive rock. Influences of the day(and for fans of) Uriah Heep, Iron Butterfly, and Stppenwolf. Drummer Joe Forgione and bass player Tony Radicello had previously been with the Philadelphia psych/soul rock band Soul Survivors. Singer Dan Parrish came from an impressive doo-wop career spawning 12 singles between 1964 and '67, and was also a session musician for Jimi Hendrix, and Santana, and played guitar for Bob Marley in 1972.

The Steeplechase: 

Bob "Bobby" Spinella - Organ, Piano, Harpsichord, Electric Piano, backing vocals, 

Dean Parrish - Guitar/Vocals

Joey "Joe" Forgione - Percussion, Drums, Backing vocals

Tony Radicello "Tony Alexander" - Organ Bass, vocals, Backing Vocals, 12-string Guitar

WITH

Eddie Kramer - Piano/Vocals

Kim King - Guitar

Paul Fleischer - Horns

Single: "Never Coming Back"

Do What Thou Wilt - The Satanic Rites of British Rock Compilation 1970-1974

Wow. The horrors I found while trying to track down not only info on this title, but any of the bands that appear on it! There is one that I got to already, Shado and their song "Evil City." So, it appears this fucker is rare beyond. A handful of these otherwise forgotten bands actually released independently pressed singles in very small volumes, but most of the tracks on this comp. never made it past acetate stage. It was obviously a vinyl release as there were only 200 issued, all with hand painted covers. Each one different. The bands range from proto-punk, to proto-metal and the not-very-much in between. I had been introduced to Lucifer some time ago via their "Fuck You" single which appears on this. And each other song has their own merit. Some faves in my camp are Shado's "Evil City", "Rip Off" by Grind, and the fore mentioned Lucifer track. (Classic).

It's a good thing these were compiled all that time ago otherwise these bands would have slipped right into the cracks, which are as wide as canyons for these titles. Enjoy!

Bands/Tracks

Camelot - "Time Around Me"

Pony - "I'm a Mover"

Shado - "Evil City

Heatwave - "999"

Grind - "Rip Off"

Sioux - "Warlove"

Sadornicus - "Nymph"

Yellow - "The Hobo Song

Sardornicus - "Evaporated Brain"

Tonge - "Looking At the World"

Wooden Lion - "Rise of the Moon"

Grind - "Earth Song"

Bare Soul - "Flash"

Unicorn - "Another World"

Lucifer - "Fuck You"

Steel Mill - Live at the Matrix 1970

Dig it, Steel Mill was an early Bruce Springsteen vehicle along with other members of the E Street Band - Vinny Lopez, Danny Federici, and Steve Van Zant. They regularly played gigs around the Jersy Shore and Virginia, landing some pretty good slots, opening for Grand Funk, Ike & Tina Turner, and Black Sabbath. Springsteen obviously is on lead guitar and vocals. They came together in 1969 and formed a band called Child, prior to this, some of the other members saw Springsteen's start up band called  Earth (not to be confused with the Sabbath "Earth") In November of 1969 the band played their last show under the moniker of Child, as there was another band from Long Island with the same name who had just released an album under that name on Roulette. They were often mistaken for the other Child when they would play out of town shows, hence the The name change to Steel Mill. In early 1970, Steel Mill visited San Francisco and played at The Matrix and The Fillmore West. These recordings come form that appearance at The Matrix as there were never any albums recorded during the Springsteen era of Steel Mill. Since 2004 members of the old lineup have recorded and released the Springsteen era songs, and they still perform today.

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Pugh's Place - "West One" 1971 / "Live Paradiso" 1972 / "Nothing is Real" 45

Pugh's Place was formed in Leeuwarden, Fryslan. Guitar player Hans Kerkhoven played in a local band in 1965 called Example. They started playing covers before writing their own progressive sounding tunes, and changed their name to Pugh's Place.
In '69, they released a single, Nothing is Real/The Horoscope, which was directly followed by this album, "West One", their debut full length from 1971. After it's release they toured the Netherlands and from that, produced a live album in 1972 along with some unreleased tracks.
During that period, Hank Kooistra (organs) and Jan Ottevange (bass) left the band. When Jan Van Der Hyde (guitar, flute, vocals), and George Snijder (drums) left, it was the end for Pugh's Place.
The groups music isn't too complex, it's probably best described as "Proto-Prog."
You can hear an obvious Deep Purple influence via the Hammond, and there's also a prominently featured flute a'la Jethro Tull. Very tight, clean drums and riffs. Cool version of "Baby you Can Drive My Car" that sounds NOTHING like the Beatles what-so-ever. Progressive instrumentals, thick with Hammond and flute.

Speed, Glue, and Shinki - 'Eve" 1971 & 'Speed, Glue, and Shinki" 1972

Speed, Glue, and Shinki, an awesome Japanese psychedelic power trio was formed in 1970 by Shinki Chen (see the feature on his self titled LP on this blog) and Okuzo Orita, president of Polydor records.

Orita had previously produced an album by Shinki Chen; who was considered the Japanese equivalent of Hendrix. To many in Japan, Shinki's first self titled album is now considered a classic and is part of Universal Musics 'Naked Line' series of legitimate digitally remastered re-issues. After the release of Shinki Chen's debut solo L.P, Orita took over the Japanese division of Atlantic Records and brought Shinki over to the label. Orita formed the trio "Speed, Glue, and Shinki" with Golden Cups bassist Masayoshi Kabe, and Filipino singer/drummer Joey Smith, whom Shinki discovered performing at a shopping center. The band took their name from Smith's use of amphetamines, and Kabes interest in sniffing Pro Bond glue during the '60's. Speed, Glue, and Shinki released their debut album Eve in 1971. Then they split up due to mixed reviews and low sales and as Shinki and Kabe couldn't tolerate Smith's personal life. After they disbanded, a large double L.P. was  independently released by Smith titled  'Speed, Glue, and Shinki' which was mostly the work of Joey Smith, sampling guitar recordings from previous studio work. However, it also featured two unreleased songs titled 'Sniffin' and Snortin' and 'Run & Hide'  which had been recorded for Eve, but cut from the final release, as they didn't fit the albums overall sound. Thereafter, Shinki took a disliking to recording music, and decided to become a live musician only; which he continues to present day.

Rare as hell blue label promo - $5000.00!!!

The Masters Apprentices - A Close and Personal Look at the Australian Rock Legend Jim Keays

Film about the awesome Aussie band.

From Deep Purple's page: "We place this music video piece as tribute to Australian Rock legend Jim Keays, lead singer of The Masters Apprentices, who has died at the age of 67 on June 13th, 2014.

http://www.mastersapprentices.com/jimstory.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-13/rock-legend-jim-keays-dies/5521930

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/jim-keays-of-masters-apprentices-has-died-aged-67-20140613-zs6yq.html

Mike Stuart Span - Timespan - 1967-1969

A band with a confusing name and a confusing history, the Mike Stuart Span did manage to record aclassic British psychedelic single in 1967, "Children of Tomorrow." With it's driving power chords, squealing guitar leads, and haunting harmonies, the song struck a classic midpoint between hard mod-pop, and the early psychedelia of UK groups like the Pink Floyd and Tomorrow. The problem was that hardly anyone had actually heard the record, as it was pressed in a run of 500 copies on a small independent label.
The Brighton group had been around since the mid 60's, and recorded a few other singles for Columbia and Fontana with a much more convetional pop approach. There was actually no one named Mike Stuart in the act, which began to rely much more on self-penned psychedelic material in 1967. Most of this never got beyond the demo/peel session stage, though. The band was pressured by management to make an out-and-out pop single in 1968 that flopped, helping to squelch ant prospects of the musicians asserting themselves as a significant presence in the British psych/prog scene.

In the late 60's, the Mike Stuart Span were actually featured on a BBC TV documentary called AYear in the Life (Big Deal Group), which charted the bands successes and (more commonly) failures over the course of a year. By the time it aired in September '69, however, the group had just changed their name to Leviathan, signed with Elektra. released a few singles, completed an unreleased album, and broke up.  Nothing else they recorded matched the brilliance of "Children of Tomorrow", though much of their original material was infused with the same yearning for some sort of just-passed-the-horizon utopia. But they left behind a number of demos that demonstrated a promising a promising ability to wed hard psychedelic guitars with a fair knack for melody and harmony. Interest in the band increased in the 80's when "Children of Tomorrow" was featured on a few psychedelic compilations. An entire albums worth of tracks, culled from singles, demos, and a BBC session Finally saw the light of day in the mid '90's.  - Richie Unterberger