Originally "released" in a plain white cardboard jacket, came one of less than 100 copies of a quintessential dose of New York psychedelia loaded with heavy, swirling organ, ferocious fuzzed out guitar, and powerhouse vocals.
The band was Odyssey, and their album, "Setting Forth", did not take them from support slots in their native Long Island to the major label heights of other locals like Vanilla Fudge. It is, however, one of the rarest and most sought after U.S. psychedelic albums, and therefor commands an impressive price to those lucky enough to actually find one for sale.
It has, however, been remastered and repackaged on L.P. and CD.
Recorded in 1969, I found it to be universally considered one of the cornerstones of underground psychedelic music. (a description that I alone can't simply reserve for one band in itself) It is, without a doubt, fairly wicked, garage driven, hard rock with loads of wah and organ psych and prog moves which are well balanced. The weakest track being the 2nd track, "Sally" which isn't all that bad, but most all of the material is strong as hell and makes it easy to recommend it to every fan of hard psych out there.
In my research, which led me to a large number of reviews that seemed to all agree on the merit of the guitar and organs performance, I also found most of the complaints focused on the vocals, and the singer's ability overall.
And since I'm a workin' man, I'll opt for the re-issue.
Liquid Smoke were a Long Island, New York band consisting of Sandy Pantaleo (vocals), Vince Fersak (guitar), Mike Arculeta (bass), Chas Kimbrell (drums), and Bill Ninnman (keys).
The group formed while they were students at ECU and signed with Avco Embassy in 1969, releasing their lone album in early 1970 which was produced by Vinny Testa who also produced Frijid Pink, and also co-produced with Shadow Morton The Merchant of Dream's 1968 psych masterpiece: "Strange Night's Voyage."
The track: "Lookin' for Tomorrow" was the highlight of Peruvian bandGerardo Manuel & El Humo's debut LP: "Apocallypsis." The album also includes their single, "I who Have Nothing", a cover of the Ben E. King hit which was also covered earlier by Terry Knight and the Pack, and later by Tom Jones and Sylvester. Sandy Panaleo would later go on to a successful acting/vocalist/composer carreer as Sonny Rose.
Old Lumber - "The Water Sprite" b/w "Only Bodies"
1971 Lagua Records, Germany. The Band's sole release.
Big Bertha - "Munich City" b/w "Funky Woman"
United Artists, 1970. Formed in 1969 by Dave Ball (guitar), Dennis Ball (bass), and Cozy Powell (drums), three ex-members of the Ace Kefford Stand. Pete French (vocals) and Pete Ball (keys) completed the original lineup. In 1969 the band made a single for Atlantic Records. Although the A-side, "The World's an Apple" was a new song, it's instrumental coupling, "Gravy Booby Jam" was previously issued as being by the Ace Kefford Stand. A further single "Munich City" was only released in Europe, where Big Bertha often toured. In 1970, Powell left to join Jeff Beck, while French opted for Atomic Rooster. Big Bertha split up in 1971, Dave Ball became a member of Procol Harum until 1972.
Toby Jug - "Breakaway Man" b/w "Brotherhood"
Awesome gritty and obscure rock/pop from the British Isles. This was a one-off 7" for Decca. "Brotherhood" is blissfully abrasive, while the A-side is relatively tame folk rock. 1971
UPDATE/EDIT: Affiliated with Toby Jug and Washboard band. What correlation is unclear, (still can't find much info) but they share a youtube channel.
Toby Jug & Washboard Band - "Elastic Ladyland"
*see abouve. From the album "Greasy Quiff", 1970. Only 50 copies made, therefore one of the most collectable folk/psych albums from the U.K. Reissued on CD (with 17 tracks, none of which from the Decca 7" abouve) in 2002 on killer re-issue label Kissing Spell Records.
The English coast town of Hull produced a couple of highly regarded bands/artists, including Mick Ronson, Robert Palmer, and the Hullabaloos. The city was also home to Bare Sole, a heavy psychedelic rock and blues band that toured a handful of out of town gig's and U.S. air bases in Germany supporting bands such as Family, Status Quo, The Move, and Small Faces in 1969-70. Sadly the band's entire existence lasted inside a little over a year. Unfortunately the band never released an album, and thus vanished into obscurity.
They did however, record a damn fine demo tape (rejected by Decca) from a recording session at Fairview studios, assisted by writer/producer Keith Herd, and galvanized by an enthusiastic local poultry farmer, Bare Sole captured their primitive garage mannerisms inside of one fiery recording session which nearly 40 years later, finally sees the light of day as an official release. Seductive, garage/blues/psych with explosive doses of fuzz, wah-wah, and Farfisa organ.
Blue Planet was a hard rock band from Den Haag, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. The band only existed for a brief period from 1970 to '71, and scored a small hit with "I'm Going Baby, I'm Going"
In their short lifespan, the band released 3 7"singles for Phillips:
"I'm Going Baby, I'm Going" b/w "Nothing in the World" (1970)
"Times and Changes" b/w "Please Don't Shake Me Baby" (1971)
"Boy" / "Climb the Mountain" (1971)
Blue Planet consisted of: Aad van der Kreeft, Arthur Bausch, Peter, Wassenaar, & Ron Bausch.
After Blue Planet, some members went on to join with other acts, such as: Oscar Benton Blues Band, Think Tank, Twelve O'Clock, Plant, InCrowd, Galaxie-Lin.
Often I've run across a 45 that I can only fine the A-side, or sometimes, only the B-side to, and not much info to accompany it. Sometimes there's no info what-so-ever about it, but it's a worthy post, as it relates to the subject which gathers (a few) of us here. (ie; it's HEAVY, and it's from around the mid-to-late 60's through 70's).
So I'm going to try a new type of entry, or post called "Page 45" where I will feature four or five of these 45's (7"'s) that have little or no info and would otherwise make for a very short entry. As usual, I'll try to do the best research I can for artwork and/or band information, but for the most part, these "Pages" will feature mostly just the music. Also, I will "tag" or "label" each of the entries by the Band's name, or, whenever that's not available, by song title. (but not both).
So we'll cal this, "Page 45 No.1"
Hjarter Sex - "Star Star Star" b/w "Listen"
Sweden, 1974
High Broom - "Percy's On The Run"
B-Side to "Dancing in the Moonlight" written by
Sherman Kelly of King's Harvest. It was originally
recorded by the American band Buffalongo in 1969, which included Kelly on vocals. The song was suggested to King's Harvest by Sherman's brother, Wells Kell, King's Harvest's drummer in the early 70's. The version featured as the A-side of this tune, was released in 1970, and is the band's sole release.
Image - "Witchcraft - 71" b/w "Hot Blood"
Total fucking mystery to me. The A-side, "Witchcraft - 71" Sounds a bit like Black Sabbath, I mean, literally, the exact same notes as the self title song from the self titled album of that good ole Polka-Tulk Blues Band (a.k.a. Sabbath). A fine proto-metal/Doom specimen. I believe from the US. (the record company is from Illinois, and back then, bands on this level tend to be local to their label. 1971. Also a second 45 from this band: "Kind of a Drag" b/w "Wine"
Shane - "Woman Don't You Go" b/w "Roadrunner"
1968 on Top Cat records. B-side "Roadrunner written by Holland, Dozier, Holland.
In 1968, Rich Ruppel (drums), Mike Nash (bass/vocals), and Romain Georgan (guitar/vocals) formed Cold Feet and played hard rock, at first, with English lyrics. 1974 saw the release of "Mister" b/w "Woman." Following, in 1975 was the "Alone in Your Cage" b/w "to Hell and Black" 7".
An LP self released by the band, appeared in in 1976, titled Burning Desire, and is believed to be a press of 200 to 400 copies.
In 1980, the band took kind of a pop/rock direction with a replacement singer and a released their first single with lyrics sung in German. The band continued to use German lyrics for the rest of their career.
After Guy Heintz joined the band in 1992, they released an e.p., Bistro, and saw a No.3 single with "Drenkt E Pat Op Mech." They've released as many as 13 more CD's through 2001.
Burning Desire pretty much stands alone as the only album of it's type by the band. The opening title track, has many elements of early Iron Maiden (with an uncanny gallop and technical guitar leads), the rest has an almost Scorpions type feel to it, say from Lonesom Crow days.
Definitely a stand out release.
British-Italian progressive rock band of the early 70's. While their career was less successful than Italian bands of the progressive rock movement, such as Primiata Forneria Marconi, or Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, they were very popular for a few years, and were very much appreciated by critics, especially because of their talented leader, keyboard player Joe Vescovi, who is often reffered to as the Italian counterpart to Keith Emerson. The band is also notable as British guitar player Ritchie Blackmore was in the lineup before joining Deep Purple.
The band was established in London in 1966 when Riki Maiocci of I Camaleonte fame decided to create a new band to explore the new oppertunities brought about by the advent of psychedelic rock. In London, Maiocci had met with Ian Broad, who joined Maiocci's project; they also recruited Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Arvid "Wegg" Andersen (bass/vocals), and William Grey (also on guitar). The band debuted in Italy as "Maiocci and the Trip." Blackmore left in December 1966 and returned to London where he continued as a session musician until 1968 when he joined Deep Purple. He was replaced by Luciano Galdolfi. When Galdolfi, Maiocci, and Broad left, new and fundamental additions were made to the personnel. Namely Joe Vescovi (keyboards), and Pino Sinnone (drums).
In 1970, the band (who had been renamed "The Trip") signed with RCA Italiana, releasing their first eponymous LP. At the time, progressive rock was not yet clearly identified as a genre: The Trip is in fact, a rather traditional rock and blues album. Also in 1970, the band was featured in a surrealistic Italian movie entitled: Terzo Canale: Avventura Monte Carlo.
The Trip's second release, Caronte, (1971) was a major shift towards progressive rock. It was a concept album which blended mythological themes, structured compositions, and virtuoso keyboard plating by Viscovi. It payed tribute to rock giants Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.
After Caronte, Grey andSinnone left; a new drummer was hired, Furio Chirico. This lineup released Atlantide (1972). At the time, The Trip had become a trio (keyboard, bass, and drums) and their overall sound came as close as ever to that of Emerson, Lake, & Palmer.
In 1973, that same lineup released the last official album of the band: Time of Change, this time, with the label Trident. This too was a mythology-themed concept album, with a sound that blended progressive rock with some jazz elements.
After Time of Change the group disbanded, with Chirico leaving to establish his own band Arti e Mestieri, that also had some success on the Italian progressive rock scene. Viscovi joined the band Aqua Fragile, and then Dik Dik, one of the most popular Italian pop-rock bands of the time.
Spettri was a five piece band from Florence, Italy, formed by brothers Ugo and Raffaele Ponticiello in 1964. They had a fairly long career and released several singles during the Italian Beat era, although their sound had eventually evolved by the turn of the decade, and they had turned to performing covers by contemporary heavy rock groups from the U.K.and the U.S.A. The band also underwent a lot of personnel changes during the intervening years, and among the musicians that came and went was drummer Maro Sarti of Campo De Marte fame. The youngest member of the Ponteciello clan, Vincenzo, joined in 1971, making the band a real family affair.
Between 1970 and 1971 the band had written enough original material for a full length album that was later recorded in a single session on October 13, 1972, with a sound that is rather primative and badly produced. However, the album never saw the light of day until 2011, when Black Widow records released a remastered edition of the self titled work, almost on the eve of it's 40th anniversary. It's a concept album that portrays one man's search for his inner self by means of a seance, although it's also an allegory on the selfishness and hypocrisy of a modern society and the erosion of humanity. The protagonists journey into the abyss is aptly accompanied by a dark atmosphere of heavy guitar riffs and Hammond organ that together sounds like a collision of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple.
Spettri had a good live act, but disbanded in 1975; according to the albums liner notes, the members followed different musical paths due to "growing public disinterest in refined music" around that time. Defining Spettri as "refined" might strain the listeners credulity somewhat, as the main appeal of this band seems to be characterized by it's very defects, it's rawness and sheer exuberance.
Posthumous archival release from Noah, a band out of Salem, Ohio, who played around Cleveland,
Youngstown, and Pittsburgh doing support gigs for B.B. King, Keith Emerson & The Nice, and The James Gang. Noah's overall vibe lies between Iron Butterfly, and a more jammy (!!!) Deep Purple. Heavy psych? Proto-prog? Who can decide.
Lots of fuzz, and a good kind of muddy production that lends atmosphere rather than cloud the music. The aggression and fuzz on "Why Should I Care" and "We Wanna Be Free" is pleasantly abrasive. Heavy organ and guitar trade off somewhere near the cutting edge for that year, though this L.P. reaches all over the globe in terms of heavy psych, and often successful proggy explorations. Lot's of pentatonic jams by a would-be Hendrix. Track 2 is a 21 minute affair, which segues. Track 6 is another lengthy one, at 14:30. This time showcasing the organ, and a bit of trade-off with a great guitar jam Deep Purple fans would gobble up with a quickness. The compositions taste a bit like Cleveland's 'Dragonwyck' at times. Very much a product of the Midwest, and the time and place are very apparent.
This one is truly a lost gem.
The Lineup (tracks 2,4,&5):
Larry Davis - Drums
Paul Hess - bass/backup vocal, lead vocal on track 4
Mark Schuering - guitar/lead vocal
Danny Hall - keyboards/backup vocal Tracks 1,3 (earlier lineup):
Larry Davis - drums
Paul Hess - lead guitar/backup vocal
Terry Davis - bass/lead vocal
Mike Rifle - keyboards/backup vocal
Cadavering credits are due to Al Simones, who unearthed these unreleased recordings and set about to actualize them on vinyl only in the mid-90's. There was a warpage problem with the small batch of 350 copies during storage as the covers were plagued with production flaws. In the past, he has taken L.P.'s, flattened them and housed them in rediculously thick sleeves.
The scarcity of the reissue has guaranteed sticker shock (couldn't even find it on discogs!). There was no "original" 1969 release, as this is the first issue after it's unearthing. This is the full release as put out by Head records. Once in a while, one pops up on ebay within' the range of $90 to $250.
Grupa SOS was a Black Sabbath inspired rock band founded in Beograd (Serbia) in 1972. They released 4 singles in 1974 & 1975, and split up in 1977. Some members re-appeared in the later 70's as a band called 'Riblja Corba', with the common members being Rajko Kojic (guitar), and Vico Milatovic (drums). The rest of Grupa SOS was Miroslav Aliksic Misa (bass/vocals), Dragan Stulovic Stuks (guitar '72-'77), Aleksanar Tasic Tasa (guitar, 1972), and Stevan Stevanovic Stiv (drums, 1972-'77)
The band took it's name (SOS), the acronym for the distress call, and had posters advertising the band with: "If you are in urgent need of assistance in the form of good music, call to the aid Group SOS"
The group initially performed as a quartet, but with the departure of Tasa, continued as a trio.
Necronomicon from Aachen, Germany, was one of the very few progressive bands using German lyrics. The band was founded in 1970 by Walter Sturm (guitar/vocals), Norbert Bruer (guitar/vocals), and Gerd Libber (bass). Only a short while after beginning, Harald Bernhard (drums), and Fistus Dickman (keyboards) joined the project. The band's name was the title of an H.P. Lovecraft book. They were the first German band to use this name, long before the appearance of the contemporary thrash metal band bearing the same name.
In 1971, Detley Hackenbeck took over on bass, and in 1972, Bernhard Hock became the band's bass player. During the first years, Necronomicon played covers, in English, from such bands as John Mayall, Pink Floyd, Ten Yearsa After, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, and Deep Purple. The lyrics of their first original works were in English as well. They even thought of releasing an album of them entitled: "History of a Planet." Yet, before the record would have been released, the began singing their lyrics in German, written by Norbert Bruer, with the purpose of drawing more attention to topics they felt were important at the time: thoughtless abuse of nature, overpopulation, exploitation, injustice and violence.
In the spring of 1972, they had six tracks, which they recorded in a very small studio in the Dutch town Kerkrade on a Revox double track tape machine. The L.P. was mastered by the Carl Lindstrom GmbH, Cologne, and 500 copies were pressed. The title: "Tip Zum Selbstmord" (How to Commit Suicide) isn't meant as an instruction on how to end ones personal life, it rather refers to mankind, which is devastating the Earth, and thus destroying it's own basis for living. With the self made cover they had something extraordinary in mind; it folds out five times, and in consequence, has six squares, which builds a cross when it's unfolded. While one of it's sides is blank, the other filled with drawings by Harald Bernhard. This unique concept of the band's name, the music, the lyrics, and the records title found it's completion with this design and the according illustrations.
In 1973, Dieter Ose took over the keyboards from Fistus Dickman, and Gerd Libber was back on bass. Walter Sturm, who, in the meantime, had quit the band for one year to play with Rufus Zuphall, rejoined the band in 1974.
In 1976, Necronomicon split up. However, some members didn't come to terms with this and carried on with the name. At this point, they began using English lyrics. All forms of the band had split up for good in 1981. Then in 2010/2011, the band reformed and is now playing once more. Official Webpage
