Rockasteria

Recently, though, the handful of labels specializing in reissues have taken to if not letting the artists compile their music, allowing people who know the music intimately put albums together. The result? Compilations both historically and musically viable, meaning if you like the music (and you should, in the case of Fennelly), you're more than likely going to love the history.

If you have never heard Fennelly, well, perhaps you have and don't realize it. Fennelly was one of seven artists who formed The Millennium, a band in the late sixties who, in retrospect, have become somewhat of a musical legend. There is more than a little of the Pop infusion which made The Left Banke and The Merry-Go-Round successes, melody and harmony and a step into a little folk/psych keeping things light and airy and oh, so pretty.

When it came time to exit The Millennium, Fennelly seamlessly slid into Crabby Appleton and immediately scored with Go Back, a tune which made it all the way to #36 on the Billboard charts but which got airplay in my home state of Oregon way beyond that. Not only was I surprised that it topped out at #36 in Billboard Nation, I was a bit miffed. According to radio here, Go Back was Top Ten, easily. I never gave a shit about Billboard, anyway.

While Go Back gave Crabby air beneath their wings, there was no real followup (at least, as far as radio was concerned), more than likely due to AM radio's fall into the grasp of the devil (that would be Drake-Chenault, sports fans, which single-handedly disarmed radio by instituting the Top Forty format and turning it into the pariah of real music lovers everywhere). Fennelly would go on, but that pretty much covers the years covered in Love Can Change Everything, an album strictly dedicated to that period.

So what do you get, you ask? Outtakes from The Millennium? Crabby Appleton's cutting room floor leftovers? Not at all. What you get is a collection of Fennelly-penned demos which, while recorded during the lives of those two bands, are pure Fennelly. True, many of the tracks utilize members of those two bands and probably more than one was recorded in hopes of being included in band releases, but none are, in essence, completed. Not in terms of release by those musical entities. And yet they are.

I find myself shaking my head over the quality of these recordings, which have spent decades in solitary confinement waiting just for this moment. Songs excluded from The Millennium recordings only due to the number of songs available (there were many songwriters, and damn good ones, in that venerable band). Songs which might have made the cut for either of the Crabby Appleton albums had it not been for the progress of the band and their music. Just because a song gets left behind does not mean it is unworthy. Sometimes there is just not enough space. This album proves it in spades. The more I hear this, the more I love it.

by Frank O. Gutch Jr.

Tracks
1. I've Been Found Out - 3:20
2. I Don't Think That I'll See That Time Again - 1:56
3. I Couldn't Find The Words - 3:10
4. Try To Understand - 2:28
5. Dancing Dandelions (Michael Fennelly, Craig Steffanides) - 2:12
6. Breakdown - 2:23
7. Iris Please - 3:38
8. Love Can Change Everything - 2:48
9. Leanna - 3:45
10.I Don't Need A Map - 2:13
11.Under The Trees And Moonlight - 2:13
12.Hunger For Love - 3:45
13.The Other Side - 2:45
14.Some Madness - 2:26
15.Peace By Peace - 3:31
16.How Long Will It Take - 2:16
17.Can't Live My Life Without You - 2:23
18.Never Met A Girl - 2:27
19.Go Back - 3:23
20.Try - 2:20
21.Over My Dead Body - 2:33
22.You're A Good Girl - 2:40
23.Dark Night - 2:49
24.Flyer - 2:47
All songs by Michael Fennelly except as else stated

Personnel
*Michael Fennelly - Vocals, 12 String Guitar
*Doug Rhodes - Keyboards
*Lee Malory - Guitar
*Keith Olsen - Bass
*Ron Edgar - Drums
*Flaco Falcon - Percussio
*Murray Planta - Guitar
*Casey Foutz - Moog

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Lou Reed and John Cale formed the Velvet Underground in late 1965, recording their influential debut with Nico the following year. She was never regarded as a full member of the band, however, and ceased to work with them in mid-1967. Cale quit in the fall of 1968, leaving Reed to lead the quartet until his own departure in August 1970..There after a version of the band led by Cale's replacement Doug Yule (with Maureen Tucker the only original member) continued to perform, though by all accounts they were a pale imitation of the band's former self.

It therefore delighted their still small coterie of loyal fans when rumors began to circulate in January 1972 that Reed, Cale and Nico were planning to perform together again. At the time all three participants were in London - Reed was there making his solo debut, Cale was recording with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Nico had flown in from Paris (where she was living with the filmmaker Philippe (Jarrel.) to work on an abortive fourth solo album, supposedly to be produced by Cale.

She was also under the impression that the trio would be performing together in the city mid-month, the putative show being promoted by rock journalist Geoffrey Cannon (one of the Velvet Underground's few champions in the British press). In fact, Cale was due to play a gig at the Bataclan club in Rue Voltaire, Paris on Saturday 29th, and it was there that the former collaborators publicly reunited.

A rehearsal tape likely to date from mid-January finds Nico a little rusty on the songs she used to perform with the band - All Tomorrow's Parties, Femme Fatale and I'll Be Your Mirror - and not much better on three songs from her own debut album, Chelsea Girl (which ended up being performed at the gig).

Another tape apparently finds Reed and Cale rehearsing for the reunion, and runs contrary to the received wisdom that they struggled to be civil to each other. On it they seem relaxed and friendly, and Reed even divulges his delight at having had an album signed for him by Jerry Lee Lewis. They run through Pale Blue Eyes and Candy Says (the originals of which post-dated Cale's tenure with the band, and which did not end up being played at Bataclan,, though they're included here as bonus tracks), as well as Heroin and Black Angel's Death Song (which were performed at Bataclan).

The concert itself, played in front of about 1000 people (with, according to Melody Maker at the time, twice that number unable to get in), was a triumph. Performed acoustically, unlike the vast majority of the Velvet Underground's material, the trio conjured a sparse yet warm sound, well captured by the soundboard recording. Cale played viola and piano over Reed's acoustic guitar, while Nico contributed harmonium. The bulk of the material dates from the VU days, but Reed also contributed his lesser-known gem Wild Child and an unusually lugubrious rendition of Berlin, which he later described as "a real nightclub torch thing... kind of a Billie Holliday trip."

Cale, meanwhile, offered Ghost Story from his Vintage Violence album, as well as a strange tune called The Biggest, Loudest, Hairiest Group Of All (no studio version of which was ever released). Most surprisingly, he also played Empty Bottles/which he'd written for Jennifer Warnes (whose solo debut he produced soon afterwards).

Nico's harmonium is prominent on three tracks from her albums The Marble Index and Desert shore (No One Is There, Janitor Of Lunacy and Frozen Warnings), but inevitably it's the Velvet Underground material on which all three originally appeared that received the most enthusiastic response – Femme Fatale/I'll Be Your Mirror and the encore. of All Tomorrow's Parties. Clearly all three musicians enjoyed the experience, but a report in Melody Mater that a further performance by them was to take place in London in February was sadly mistaken, and the closest most people came to seeing them was via a partial film of the Bataclan show (offering Berlin, I'm Waiting For The Man, Heroin, Ghost Story and Femme Fatale that was screened on the French TV show Pop Deux on June 10th 1972.

CD Liner-notes

Tracks
1.I'm Waiting For The Man - 5:46
2.Berlin - 5:33
3.Black Angel's Death Song (L. Reed, J. Cale) - 4:42
4.Wild Child - 5:43
5.Heroin - 7:38
6.Ghost Story (J. Cale) - 3:24
7.The Biggest, Loudest, Hairiest Group Of All (J. Cale) - 4:09
8.Empty Bottles (J. Cale) - 3:18
9.Femme Fatale - 3:23
10.No One Is There (Nico) - 6:24
11.Frozen Warnings (Nico) - 5:25
12.Janitor Of Lunacy (Nico) - 5:12
13.I'll Be Your Mirror - 4:06
14.All Tomorrow's Parties - 3:12
15.Pale Blue Eyes - 2:06
16.Candy Says - 1:44
All songs by Lou Reed except where noted.
Bonus Tracks 15-16

Musicians
*Nico - Harmonium, Vocals
*John Cale - Viola, Violin, Piano, Vocals, Guitar
*Lou Reed - Vocals, Guitar

The Velvet Underground
1967-69 Another View (Japan SHM remaster)
1968-69 VU (Japan SHM remaster)
Lou
1978 Lou Reed - Street Hassle (Japan remaster)
John
1971 John Cale And Terry Riley - Church Of Anthrax
1973 Paris 1919 (2006 Remaster and Expanded)
1974 Fear (Remaster and Expanded)
1975 Helen of Troy
1975 Slow Dazzle

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In late summer of 1967, my friend Earl Hooker in San Francisco introduced me to Barry at a club. At the time Earl was teaching Barry how to play guitar, and fie was amazingly competent for playing for such a short period.

In the years to follow, Barry and I would run into each other at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco and the Apollo 11 in Chicago. Then on January 2, 1970 our paths crossed again; he was using the name 'Bull' at the time. Bull came backstage and we rapped about guitar playing and how he had been playing for 3l/2 years.

He impressed me with his intense feeling for the guitar and his quick fingering. He had 'soul', and I thought his talent should be given a chance. I introduced him to my manager, Sid Seidenberg, who then listened to him. He heard not only this intense driving guitar player, but a fantastic voice to go along with it. Live performances were set up and a great overall showman was seen by us all.

I have seen many, many performers over the years and I have to say that Bull shows the potential to be one of America's greatest. As we now share the talents of my good friend and great manager, Sid Seidenberg.

by B.B. King, October 1970

Tracks
1. Don't Cry My Lady (Jerry Friedman) - 2:51
2. Let It Shine (Jerry Friedman) - 3:00
3. Freedom (Jerry Friedman, Theresa Lindsay) - 2:35
4. Feelin' Pretty Good (Barry Gordon) - 5:09
5. Lovin Man (Andy Muson, Paul Sylvan, Jerry Friedman) - 2:55
6. Groovin (Jerry Friedman, Barry Gordon) - 3:47
7. How Do Losers Say Goodbye (Jerry Friedman, Theresa Lindsay) - 3:48
8. (Do You Have) Something To Say (Joe Lala, Micheal Pinera) - 2:19
9. Everybody Wanna Do (Barry Gordon, Buddy Sklar) - 3:49

Personnel
*Barry "Bull" Gordon - Vocals, Lead Guitar, Bass
*Jerry Friedman - Guitar, Piano, Organ
*Andy Muson - Bass
*Paul Griffin - Organ, Piano
*Herb Lovelle - Drums
*Carl H. Carldwell, Hilda Harris, Eileen Gilbert, Tasha Thomas - Vocals

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Paul Revere and The Raiders became the pride of America when The Beatles took the States by storm during the 'British Invasion'. The Raiders were the first rock band signed to Columbia and they enjoyed a mass of hit albums and singles.

Changing tastes in the late 1960s rendered the group unfashionable. On January 6, 1968, just four months after the cancellation of Where The Action Is, Revere and Lindsay returned to the air as hosts of a new Dick Clark-produced show in which the Raiders made several appearances, Happening '68 (later shortened to Happening).

This weekly series was joined from July to September that year by a Clark-produced daily series It's Happening, also hosted by Revere and Lindsay. In August 1968, bassist Coe left the group again and was replaced by former Action heartthrob Keith Allison.

Mark Lindsay took more control of the band during this time. He produced all records beginning with Too Much Talk in 1968, and the psychedelic album Something Happening which yielded a Top Thirty hit with "Don't Take It So Hard" and bonus track "To Much Talk" was yet another U.S. smash. The B-side "Happening 68" was the name of a TV show which Paul Revere hosted.

60's-official

Tracks
1. Happening Intro / Too Much Talk - 3:50
2. Happens Every Day - 2:48
3. Burn Like A Candle - 4:40
4. Observation From Flight 285 - 3:23
5. Get Out Of My Mind - 4:59
6. Don't Take It So Hard - 2:24
7. Communication (Part 1, 2) - 5:12
8. Love Makes The World Go Round (Don't You Let It Stop) - 2:35
9. Free - 2:27
10.The Good Times - 4:01
11.Happening '68 - 2:26
12.Too Much Talk (Mono) - 2:13
13.Happening 68 (Single Mix) - 1:46
14.Don't Take It So Hard (Single Mix) - 2:24
15.Observation From Flight 285 (In 3/4 Time) - 3:23
16.Theme From It's Happening - 2:45
17.Happening 68 (TV Version) - 1:34
All songs written by Mark Lindsay

The Raiders
*Mark Lindsay - Vocals
*Charlie Coe - Bass
*Paul Revere - Keyboards
*Joe Correro - Drums
*Freddy Weller - Guitar

Paul Revere And The Raiders
1963-65 Mojo Work Out (Sundazed issue)
1965-67 Evolution to Revolution: 5 Classic Albums (2013 double disc remaster)
1967 A Christmas Present... And Past
1968 Goin' To Memphis (Sundazed remaster)
1969 Alias Pink Puzz (Sundazed remaster)
1969 Hard 'N' Heavy With Marshmallow (Sundazed issue)
Related Act
1970 Mark Lindsay - Arizona / Silverbird

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The year was 1972, and Cargoe were flying high. They had migrated from Oklahoma to JL the musical confines of Memphis, and had landed a recording contract with the newly invigorated Ardent Records. Their first album was recorded, and ready for release to the waiting throngs of music fans out there in the hinterland. Their first single, Feel Alright, started gathering tremendous radio play, and instant, positive feedback wherever it was aired.

Within weeks, it had arrived on the Top 100 national music charts. The band flew to Los Angeles, where they introduced their single on KHJ-TV, and played a sold out show at The Whiskey-A-Go-Go on Sunset Boulevard. A music video (one of the first ever!) was filmed, edited, and mailed out to TV stations across America (of course there was no MTV yet!) But a funny thing happened on the way to the Grammys. As many artists found out before them, many have discovered since, and many more will know in future, there are no guarantees in the music business. In fact, the industry is rife with "I Could'a Been a Contender" stories. And the stated reasons for lack of stardom, while as varied as the stars in the heavens, all come down to several basic principles.

Ardent, the label on which Cargoe's music lived, was small, and new, and, although distributed by the then-already-world-famous Stax Records, was not prepared to play in the big leagues dominated by the Brothers Warner, Columbia, RCA, and like others. In fact Stax, while certainly playing at a very high level in R&B music, was not prepared itself to play in the "Pop" world. Records weren't available in stores when people came to buy them.

Large city pop or rock radio stations were much more inclined to add songs by the major labels' artists to their play lists. And touring on a national scale was just too expensive to pull off. Was Cargoe's music good enough to "make it", had it been on a major label? Probably so.

History may now make that judgement. But in 1972, on a small, independent label, distributed by another independent label best known for a very different style of music than that which Cargoe played and recorded, the odds just weren't good. The same exact fate was to befall the second group released on Ardent Records, that being Big Star. And the third, The Hot Dogs, and so on down the line.

Yet, while this "disappearing act" was pretty common with small label rock groups, there seems to have been something special in Ihe Memphis night air that the Ardent groups were breathing back then. Because another funny thing happened on the way to musical obscurity. This music just wouldn't go away.

The people hanging around John Fry's door, we now sec in hindsight, weren't your average garage band folks. While the biggest contemporary record on the Ardent label was certainly Cargoe's "Feel Alright", the torch wound up being carried, at first single-handedly, by Big Star. Year after year, the myth, admiration, and yes, let's say it, cult of Big Star has grown. Band after band have traced their inspiration back to Big Star, and musical historians and writers have embraced them as being, in many cases, second only to The Beatles in pop music importance. And in recent years, this interest in Big Star has trickled down to the other Ardent groups. More and more, fans and critics have "discovered" Cargoe or the others. Re-issues, especially in Japan and Europe, of Cargoe and The Hot Dogs, have followed the Big Star re-issues. And Feel Alright is beginning to re-assume its place as a power pop anthem.

In the middle of all this 1972 hullabaloo with Cargoe and Big Star, the Cargoe guys, well known for their live playing prowess, performed a very special concert. The Memphis rock station of the day, WMC FM-100, had instituted a series of live concerts by many well known artists, to be broadcast over the airwaves directly from Ardent Recording Studios. These were engineered usually by Terry Manning, and sometimes by Richard Rosebrough.The artists included The Groundhogs, The Charlie Daniels Band, Stories, Martin Mull (soon to be released as Lucky Seven CD 9215) and others, including none other than Cargoe! In each case, a live audience of invited guests was brought into the studio.

This CD is the actual recording of that concert back hi 1972! Since the original broadcast, this Cargoe concert has gone "unheard" for these last 31 years! Cargoe were made up of Bill Phillips on keyboards and rhythm guitar, Max Wisley on bass, Tommy Richard on lead and rhythm guitar, and Tim Bent on drums. Bui the magic was that all members were excellent vocalists, as well as songwriters. Good vocal harmony has certainly become a trademark of the "Power Pop" genre, and Cargoe was not to disappoint on that score! So sit back, let your mind drift to 1972, turn on your I'M radio, and enjoy this live broadcast.

by Terry Manning, 2003

Track
1. Come Down (With Radio Intro) (Bill Phillips) - 4:28
2. Things We Dream Today (Bill Phillips) - 2:46
3. Feel Alright (Tommy Richard) - 2:36
4. Horses And Silver Things (Tommy Richard, Max Wisley) - 3:34
5. Scenes (Max Wisley) - 4:30
6. Heal Me (Bill Phillips, Max Wisley) - 3:16
7. Intro/This Is Real (Max Wisley) - 1:54
8. Feelin Mighty Poorly (Tim Benton) - 3:16
9. Thousand Peoples Song (Tommy Richard) - 4:13
10.Leave Today (Bill Phillips) - 4:46
11.Time (Bill Phillips, Max Wisley) - 4:21
12.I Love You Anyway (Tommy Richard) - 3:45
13.Tokyo Love (Bill Phillips, Jim Peters) - 4:53

Cargoe
*Bill Phillips - Keyboards, Vocals
*Tommy Richard - Guitar, Vocals
*Max Wisley - Bass, Vocals
*Tim Benton - Drums, Vocals

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Although Ronnie Patton cut his first single in Nashville at the tender age of 17 with, no less, Elvis Presley’s guitarist Scotty Moore and the Jordanaires on backing vocals, it wasn’t until 14 years and one name change later that the singer from Austin, Texas, finally recorded his first and, as it happened, only album.

The sole album from male-female duo Jade Stone & Luv is a lost gem from the heart of the psychedelic 1970s. Composed and self-produced in Nashville, “Mosaics; Pieces Of Stone” went unnoticed by the music industry upon release. Fortunately for us, it didn’t disappear forever, but simply went into retreat, biding its time.

While almost unknown outside specialist circles, “Mosaics” has been an underground cult favorite for many years. The combination of top-level songwriting, skillful guitar/keyboard arrangements and soaring vocals is just too impressive to ignore. And beyond these obvious qualities, the album has something subtle and unique, a magnetic power that keeps drawing the listener back. One of Jade Stone & Luv’s earliest advocates was the legendary New York City musicologist Paul Major. Here’s a typical Major impression of the music on “Mosaics”:

Groovy love vibes thru a prism of jade statues in swinging singles apartment complex action... Cadillac with fuzzy dice, feather boa, lotsa cigarette burns, stale perfumed ashen air. This album in the 8-track player at 5 AM with someone you don't even know passed out in the backseat, as you head to the diner to meet up with an early-bird Lava Lite salesman who deals pills on the side. Bubbly champagne molecules become the plastic vinyl booths in dim-lit dive bars; it's crackerbox post-war suburban low-rent psychedelic…"

The album’s cinematic qualities were also highlighted in a review in the recent Acid Archives book, which deals with vintage underground music:

“…The music is notoriously hard to describe, but projects scenes of all-night cruising through Edge City... a hip which is not metropolitan hip, but dreams of stardom and glamour from the American underbelly, two renegade souls zooming down the highway between Austin and Nashville...”

Subliminal-sounds

Tracks
1. Waiting For The Rain - 3:09
2. Come Home With Me - 4:11
3. Working At The Business Of Living - 2:50
4. Backroads Of My Mind - 3:10
5. Man - 2:22
6. Grab Hold - 2:43
7. Take A Look - 2:18
8. So Close - 2:48
9. Cool Breeze - 2:47
10.Reality - 3:19
11.Waiting - 2:11
12.Wonder Why - 2:52
13.Little Teaser - 3:08
14.Ride Little Renee Ride - 3:13
15.You Can't Run Away - 4:36
16.You Can't Take Me Alive - 2:29
17.You Are My Life - 5:51
18.Man (Live) - 4:18
19.What's Done Is Done - 2:57
20.Take Me Down - 3:00
All songs written by Jade Stone

Personnel
*Jad Stone - Vocals, Guitar
*Luv - Vocals
*Dennis Burnside - Keyboards
*Paul Worley - Lead Guitar
*Eddie Bayers - Drums, Congas

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Crabby Appleton will always be most known for their infectious single "Go Back," a brooding slice of power pop that made the Top Forty in the summer of 1970. Less celebrated was their self-titled Elektra debut album, though it found a champion in critic Lester Bangs, who called it "as satisfying a definition of the mainstream rock band as we've had this year" in his Rolling Stone review. Its material boasted the same solid pop hooks and high, winsome vocals of singer-songwriter Michael Fennelly that had graced "Go Back." But there was more to Crabby Appleton than the average AM radio pop group, and the album was a fairly diverse mix of delicate romantic tunes and harder rock statements of tolerance and brotherhood. Touches of psychedelic jamming and classical grandeur could be heard as well, though Fennelly's pop-rock instincts were never far from the foreground.

Fennelly had already gained some experience as a singer and songwriter as part of the Millennium, the Curt Boettcher-helmed sunshine pop project whose sole late-1960s album has since garnered enormous cult recognition, though it sold little at the time. After the Millennium ended, Fennelly was living off a stipend from his publishing company, and did a guitar-voice demo of about ten of his compositions. A copy of those fell into the hands of Elektra around the same time Michael met members of the band Stonehenge and heard them play at a Hollywood club. "At the same time I was meeting the band and talking to them about possibilities, Elektra, unbeknownst to us, was also listening to both our things and speculating about a merger of the two," he remembers. When Fennelly hooked up with some guys from Stonehenge (who had for a time included ex-Animal John Weider, who had left Stonehenge and returned to England to replace Ric Grech in Family), Crabby Appleton were born.

Fennelly wrote all of the material for Crabby Appleton, though he's keen to emphasize that the band was very much a collaborative endeavor. Stonehenge had played a far harder and bluesier style of rock than the likes of Millennium, and the Crabby Appleton records would be far gutsier than what Fennelly had cut, on material by himself and others, with his former band. But the shift wasn't solely influenced by his new cohorts.

"What material saw the light of day with the Millennium by necessity had to fit into that heavily produced light pop genre," Michael explains. "But I was evolving as a writer, and stretching out into other things that were appealing to me." And the compositions on Crabby Appleton "reflect more my overall musical tastes than what I did with the Millennium," incorporating influences by more forceful faves of Fennelly's such as Steve Stills and Neil Young. Most of the songs had been written before the band were formed, however, and "particularly for the first Crabby Appleton record, I was just writing for myself," Fennelly adds. "So maybe that's where all that pop seeped into that rock band."

Nowhere were they more pop than on "Go Back.""We were insistent that was our hit single," says Fennelly. "It was lighter pop stuff. And Don Gallucci" -- the same fellow who produced the Stooges' Fun House around the same time -- "felt otherwise. We were absolutely very sure of ourselves that that was our shot at getting a Top Forty record." They were vindicated by the single's performance on the Billboard, where it reached #36. But the album as a whole was more sophisticated than what "Go Back" might have led some to expect. Though Fennelly, bassist Hank Harvey, and drummer Phil Jones all contributed to the energetic, tight ensemble arrangements, the classical-influenced organ of Casey Foutz was particularly sparkling. The timbales and conga of Felix "Flaco" Falcon gave the percussion uncommon depth for a straightahead rock band, at a time when the presence of more than one percussionist in the same group was just starting to become more common in rock, via bands like Santana and the Allman Brothers.

On multi-sectioned cuts like "Try" and "Hunger for Love," the band showcased their adroit interplay on semi-improvised-sounding passages that never got so lengthy and grandstanding that they crossed the line into indulgence. "We did a lot of three-to-four-minute songs with somewhat restrictive arrangements," Michael notes. "We knew that our greatest musical strengths were the accomplished keyboard work of Casey, and also the percussion of Felix. We wanted to have some songs that would be a platform for Casey or Flaco to stretch out and be able to just play, as opposed to have to stick to their parts. They had to make an adjustment as far as working with a singer-songwriter, because they hadn't done that before."

Yet it was the more concise and poppy tunes that stood out, Fennelly's relentlessly upbeat, romantic outlook shining like a beacon on both ballads and harder-charging rockers. "The Other Side" recalled the baroque-pop of late-1960s Zombies or the Left Banke in its delicacy, influenced by both the classical guitar lessons Fennelly had as a child, and a tapestry of a schooner in a stormy sea that provided some of the visual inspiration for the lyrics. "Catherine,""Some Madness," and "How Long Will It Take" were indicative of some folk-rock leanings, the latter two sounding not unlike some of the Youngbloods' sparser work.

Fennelly usually wrote about love, but on a couple of songs he extended his scope to project love toward his community rather than just one woman in particular. The dynamic "Peace By Peace," Michael elaborates, "was about going toe-to-toe with the police, which was a political sport back then. It was urging moderation in sacrificing your life for political causes of the day. Don't get so fired up that you end up being carried away on a stretcher; it may not be the most effective way to achieve change." By contrast "To All My Friends," decorated by a lilting harpsichord, was (unlike most of the album's songs) written after Crabby Appleton had formed: "That was to the band, about what great support and sustenance we gave each other. When you're in a rock and roll band and you're young, oftentimes that is your immediate family. It was celebrating that family."

It was a vibe Lester Bangs picked up on in his Rolling Stone review, enthusing that the LP was "nearly faultless and communicates the vitality of American youth and American music." Despite that and other good reviews, "our commercial success was really sporadic and schizophrenic," admits Fennelly. "We'd drive into one town where we had the #2 record on two or three radio stations. Then we'd go 60 miles in one direction to a place where they'd never heard of us. We were either playing at an arena that had 20,000 people and all knew 'Go Back,' or we'd be playing at a place called Mr. JD's on the side of the highway with five drunken, impatient people trying to figure out who the hell we were and what was coming next." There was enough of a buzz, though, to merit a second album on Elektra with greater blues, country, and hard rock influences, Rotten to the Core, also reissued by Collectors' Choice Music, where this story continues.

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. Go Back - 3:06
2. The Other Side - 3:12
3. Catherine - 2:38
4. Peace By Peace - 5:29
5. To All My Friends - 3:08
6. Try - 3:44
7. Can't Live My Life - 2:58
8. Some Madness - 7:07
9. Hunger For Love - 3:17
10.How Long Will It Take - 2:52
All songs by Michael Fennelly

Crabby Appleton
*Michael Fennelly - Guitars, Vocals
*Casey Foutz - Keyboards
*Hank Harvey - Bass
*Felix "Flaco" Falcon - Percussion
*Phil Jones - Drums

1967-73 Michael Fennelly - Love Can Change Everything (2013 release)

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Crabby Appleton's first album, Crabby Appleton, had established them as one of the more promising new American bands at the dawn of the 1970s. It had yielded a Top Forty single, "Go Back," and unveiled a diverse group that combined both pop-rock smarts and artier inclinations.

Lester Bangs gave the album an enthusiastic thumbs-up in Rolling Stone, and (with Andrea di Guglielmo) co-authored a lengthy profile of the band in Creem. When they opened for the Doors at the San Diego International Sports Arena Center on August 22, 1970, according to the band's principal singer-songwriter Michael Fennelly, "Go Back" stood at #3 on the local charts -- one of several on which the single soared higher than its comparatively modest #36 peak in Billboard.

Crabby Appleton would not rise any higher, commercially speaking, between the summer of 1970 and its dissolution shortly afterward. The follow-up non-LP single "Grab On," remembered by Fennelly as "probably the best thing we ever put down on tape, one of the few hard rock things that Crabby Appleton did that I can listen to and not cringe," had flopped.

There would be an opportunity, at least, to do a second album, Rotten to the Core. If Crabby Appleton had initially, as Bangs and di Guglielmo wrote in Creem, sounded "like a cross between the Everly Brothers and the Rascals, with tasty hints of off-shoots like the Troggs, and occasional interludes of soft, wistful bossa nova for balance," Rotten to the Core took the band into a decidedly harder-rocking direction, with far stronger rootsy blues and country influences.

"Most of the material for the second record was written within Crabby Appleton, whereas for the first, most of the material was crafted before that band," explains Fennelly. "I was writing for Crabby Appleton, rather than taking songs, introducing them already written, and trying to craft them to something that would work with the band. 'Smokin' in the Mornin',' the reason for that song is that the band said, 'We need a shuffle. Write a shuffle.'"

Boogie and bluesy hard rock came to the fore on both that track and others such as "You Make Me Hot" and "Lucy," sometimes garnished by accomplished blues slide guitar. Such outings were a reflection of the band's live sound. "We were playing a lot of outdoor gigs, a lot of arena gigs, and had developed into a band that could play 40 minutes of big crowd-pleasing stuff," elaborates Fennelly. "We wanted to be able to do that in a studio, or at least capture some of the impact and power of that. One of my regrets is that there were times where we really were a kick-ass band, but we never kicked ass in the studio."

With that in mind, the band, after parting ways with the producer of their debut LP (Don Gallucci), had hoped to hook up with a rock'n'roll producer who could capture that energy. In fact Michael thinks they approached Glyn Johns, "and I think he said something insulting about our music, and that was the end of that." Instead they ended up with Bob Zachary, who was more grounded in the folk-based sound for which Elektra was known, producing Paul Siebel's Jack-Knife Gypsy album around the same time. "Bob was sort of the opposite direction in which we needed to go at the time, production-wise," feels Fennelly. "He really didn't have much experience with any sort of loud or distorted sounds."

But, Michael adds, "where the country or folk stuff surfaced on the second album, I think it was realized pretty well." Byron Berline was brought in to play fiddle on "One More Time," a country-tonk hoe-down with slide guitar; David Grisman contributed mandolin to the uncharacteristic light Gram Parsons-like country-rock of "Paper to Write On.""One More Time," oddly, was covered for a small country hit by Jo Anna Neel, better known for "Daddy Was a Preacher, But Mama Was a Go-Go Girl."

The tastiest detour from Crabby Appleton's prior sound was "Make No Difference," with its effective combination of organ, slide blues guitar, and superb gospel-soul backup vocals from a trio of session singers, including Clydie King (best known for her work with Bob Dylan in the early 1980s). "We probably felt a little bit freer to stretch out in the second album," acknowledges Fennelly. "I really was determined to not be pigeonholed, as far as what sort of constraints we put on what kind of music we could make."

For all its eclecticism, some of the album's strongest tracks were "Tomorrow's a New Day" and "Love Can Change Everything," the ones most reminiscent of the buoyant pop optimism that had colored much of the group's debut album. As it turns out those were the oldest Fennelly compositions on Rotten to the Core, "Love Can Change Everything" having been written back in the late 1960s when he was with the Millennium, and "Tomorrow's a New Day" shortly after his stint with that group.

"Those were a couple that were sort of waiting in the wings, and that we pulled out to include on album two," says Michael. "I like the ballads today, because I think they stand the test of time a little bit better than the hard stuff. We were a little disappointed that the harder material on our albums didn't come across as effectively recording as they would live. The ballads [and] country, folkier stuff really is less affected by the passage of time, and the softer stuff on the second Crabby Appleton record is much more pleasing for me to listen to now."

Even in relation to the relatively modest performance of Crabby Appleton, Rotten to the Core's sales were disappointing. (Incidentally, a couple of mock one-liner joke songs in the country style of "Paper to Write On" that would have served as link tracks were excised at the last minute, though they somehow managed to sneak onto the eight-track version.) "I'm not sure there was an awful lot on that record that was marketable," Fennelly admits. "It was a little self-indulgent, and didn't have a 'Go Back' that leaped right off the tracks."

Drummer Phil Jones left the band in the middle of a tour shortly after the second album, and though a replacement drummer enabled them to finish it, Crabby Appleton disbanded soon afterward. Michael Fennelly would continue to make music as a solo act, flying to London with Crabby Appleton organist Casey Foutz to record his debut album, produced by ex-Zombie Chris White.

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. Smokin' In The Mornin' - 2:52
2. Tomorrow's A New Day - 2:40
3. It's So Hard - 2:22
4. Makes No Difference - 3:41
5. You Make Me Hot - 2:44
6. One More Time - 3:01
7. Lucy - 3:22
8. Paper To Write On - 2:21
9. Lookin' For Love - 2:41
10.Love Can Change Everything - 2:42
11.Gonna Save You (From That) - 6:03
Words and Music by Michael Fennelly

Crabby Appleton
*Michael Fennelly - Guitar, Vocals
*Felix "Flaco" Falcon - Conga, Timbale
*Casey Foutz - Keyboards
*Hank Harvey - Bass
*Phil Jones - Drums
Additional Musicians
*David Grisman - Mandolin
*Byron Berline - Fiddle
*The Blackberries (Clyde King, Oma Drake, Jesse Smith) - Vocals

1970 Crabby Appleton
1967-73 Michael Fennelly - Love Can Change Everything (2013 release)

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Keyboardist Peter Bardens legacy with renowned prog band Camel included seven albums in six years before he decided to abandon the ship of the desert in 1978. Camels symphonic influences can be traced through numerous neo-prog bands that would follow in their wake but in the meantime Bardens was looking for an alternative method of musical expression that would showcase his writing abilities as much as it did his keyboard talents. His first port of call however was to play on the 1978 album Wavelength by Van Morrison who Bardens had previously performed with in the 60s as a member of Them.

Bardens was no stranger to solo albums having released The Answer and Peter Bardens in 1970 and 1971 respectively, shortly before teaming up with Andy Latimer, Doug Ferguson and Andy Ward to form Camel in 1972. Both of those albums however had been very much in the R&B style whereas Heart To Heart draws upon his experiences within Camel with more melodic pop-rock tunes (an area that Camel themselves were gravitating towards in the late 70s) and prog-fusion instrumentals.

To realise his ambitions Bardens brought on-board a fine supporting cast with diverse musical pedigrees that saw legendary session players Mel Collins (saxophone, flute) and Peter Van Hooke (drums) rubbing shoulders with relatively newcomers Stan Scrivener (bass) and teenager Gus Isadore (guitars, vocals). Bardens wrote and (along with Norman Mighell) produced all the material on Heart To Heart and in addition to keys provides the lead vocals as he had done on the earlier solo outings.

The delightful Julia opens the album in surprisingly restrained fashion with Bardens dulcet vocal tones having a certain charm, sounding not unlike his old band-mate Andy Latimer. Its an agreeable ballad with engaging harmonies and lilting electric piano. In a similar vein but altogether better still is Raining All Over The World which in its own unassuming way contains one of the most attractive melodies ever penned by Bardens. A rich and fluid piano and sax arrangement elevates the song into Bruce Hornsby territory.

Doing The Crab is vintage swing jazz with scat vocals and although its skilfully and smoothly executed is not really my cup of jazz tea. More on the money is the fusion instrumentals Jinxed and Slipstream, both centred around lively synth noodling. The former brings the Canterbury scene and Hatfield And The North in particular to mind whilst the latter has perhaps a more Transatlantic feel about (Harold Faltermeyer anyone?). The mood continues in a more relaxed tempo with the appropriately titled After Dark which showcases Isadores jazz guitar sensibilities as well as a superb organ solo from Bardens to close.

With its catchy repetitive chorus, Slow Motion is the nearest the album gets to a potential single although its smooth delivery was perhaps too subtle to set either the charts or airwaves alight. The short Tune For Des sees Bardens chiming keys effects tumbling like falling water leaving the superb title track and instrumental Heart To Heart to end on a proggy Camel flavoured high.

Heart To Heart was pretty well dismissed on its initial release which is a shame because it demonstrates Peter Bardens forging a strong musical identity so soon after his departure from Camel. Thankfully this re-mastered reissue allows the albums many subtle delicacies to shine through. Bardens would continue to pursue his solo career as well as appearing with several other acts which included the occasional guest showing with Camel before his life was tragically and prematurely cut short in January 2002.

by Geoff Feakes

Tracks
1. Julia - 3:54
2. Doing The Crab - 3:05
3. Slipstream - 6:10
4. Raining All Over The World - 4:27
5. Jinxed - 4:22
6. After Dark - 4:31
7. Slow Motion - 3:56
8. Tune For Des - 1:52
9. Heart To Heart - 4:51
All compostiotions by Pete Bardens

Musicians
*Pete Bardens - Keyboards, Vocals
*Mel Collins - Saxophone, Flute
*Pete Van Hooke - Drums
*Stan Scrivener - Bass
*Gus Isidore - Guitar, Vocals
*Pete Shade – Vibraphone

1970 The Answer (2010 esoteric remaster with extra tracks)
1971 Write My Name In The Dust (Japan remaster)
1973 Camel - Camel

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This singer-guitarist was born Mont Curtis McNear in Fort Scott, Kansas on May 9th 1929. According to later publicity material, however, 'Curtis Knight was born in 1945, half black, half Blackfoot Indian. He lived on an Indian reservation until the age of eight.

He was inspired to write songs at a very early age by his mother, who wrote poetry as well as songs and music. After high school Curtis went to California, where he was able to broaden his musical scope. Then a 3000 mile bus ride took him to New York City, where he met an agent, started a group and began to build up a club circuit on the East Coast. It was in New York that Curtis was introduced to Jimi Hendrix.

Their rapport was immediate and they started playing together the first day theymet. This meeting was in 1965, by which time Knight had also put in a stint with the latter-day Ink Spots, issued several solo 45s, formed a band in Harlem named The Squires, and signed a contract with the independent producer Ed Chalpin. Chalpin also signed up Hendrix, and made several recordings of the two performers, which became lucrative when Hendrix rose to stardom as of late 1966.

The extent to which Knight influenced Hendrix has never been established, though by the time Down In The Village was made, Knight was clearly in thrall to his alleged former protege. After Hendrix's September 1970 death, Knight moved to London and penned a biography of him, as well as making another album with a band named Zeus (including guitarist Eddie Clarke, later to join Motorhead).

As well as being a musician, Knight was a highly-rated table-tennis player, described by one online source as 'a penholder with pretty good touch who liked to add a lot of spin to pushes and blocks'. By the 1990s he was running a limousine business, and moved to Holland in 1992, where he continued to record and play until his death on November 29th 1999.

CD Liner-notes

Tracks
1. Down In The Village - 3:17
2. Lena - 3:51
3. Friedman Hill - 3:00
4. See No Evil - 3:38
5. Beautiful World, Beautiful People (John Mazzola, Curtis McNear) - 3:03
6. Goin Up The Road - 3:57
7. Give You Plenty Lovin'(Curtis McNear, Harvey Vinson) - 9:45
8. Eenee Meenee Minee Mo - 3:53
9. Hi-Low - 3:30
10.Goodbye Cruel Worlde (John Mazzola, Curtis McNear) - 2:16
All songs by Curtis McNear except where stated

*Curtis Knight - Vocals, Guitar

1974 Curtis Knight Zeus - The Second Coming (2009 Lemon remaster)

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It's really funny and weird together, how come some real masterpieces have been lost in the vortex of time. Perhaps poor planning? Wrong promotional choices ? Who knows. Bruce Hamana, son of Original Hopi tribe living in Oraibi (area of Arizona state), grew up there, went to school at Phoenix Indian High School where he participated in various bands like "The Electric Indians”, "Velvet Egg", "No N'd", and finally "The Mocassin Grapevine".

After finishing High School, Bruce went off to college in Ohio where he had a scholarship for pre-law, was one of only two Indian boys in the college. Although that he tried to stick it out, he failed, so after two years went back to Oraibi.

Later he went to California where he played drums in a band for a year, soon after came in urge to record an album, which released without commercial success,but as a bright, shinny, colorful work, with great voices and arrangements, Bruce played most of the instruments, wrote all the songs and produced the album. The value of the original album press is more than 700,00$US

According to Bruce Hamana:
"This album "Hamana" was recorded in 1974 and is an accumulation of songs that I had written between 1965 and 1974.1 was brought up both in my native ways and was also living in the white man's world. I choose to write music more in the contemporary modern day living than stick to the native American themes that most musician friends were doing that time.

I purchased a four-track reel to reel tape recorder, recorded and overdubbed my own vocals, bass, drums, guitar and took that recording to Ray Boley who owned Canyon Records. I had been playing with several bands but did not teach any of my music to the groups. These songs have yet to be played by a professional band. I would like to thank "World In Sound" for reviving my songs for everyone. This gives me enthusiasm to keep writing. I would like to invite you into my small world of music, as music is the universal language. My people, the Hopi still practice and respect the traditional customs today. We pray for peace and prosperity for the whole world."

Tracks
1. The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth - 2:32
2. Why Can't I Understand - 3:36
3. Be Free With Me - 2:43
4. I'll Remember Your Smile - 3:10
5. On The Road - 2:14
6. One Night - 3:04
7. Future Goodbyes - 2:54
8. Show Me - 4:22
9. Message To Crystal - 3:37
10.Shine On (Bonus Track) - 5:33
11.Peace Is Within You (Bonus Track) - 5:33
All songs written, composed and produced by Bruce Hamana

*Bruce Hamana - Vocals, Guitar, Drums, Bass, Various Instruments

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Michael Tschudin is taking his new group, Cynara, on me road to play rock clubs and music festivals free as a trailer for his debut record for Capitol. The free dates are part of Capitol's over-all promotion campaign for Cynara, as well as part of Tschudin's plan to get as wide an audience as possible 'into the group', and to give the group a chance to 'get it together'.

Among the free dates played by Cynara are Ungano's in New York and the upcoming Harmony Music Festival in Atlantic City beginning Tuesday. Touring with Tschudin, who composed the songs for Cynara's first Capitol LP, are Jeff Watson (lead singer), Cal Hill (bass), Les Lumley (guitar) and Chip White (percussion). The album, which was produced by Tschudin and Capitol A&R staffer Ken Cooper, is the first all-New York production to go into release.

It's scheduled for an August 24th shipment. Tschudin, who has studied with Rudolf Serkin and E. Power Biggs, and who says that "Johann Sebastian Bach is my greatest teacher," has three one-year options with Capitol and a guarantee of two album releases a year. Capitol's New York office will be keeping tabs on Cynara as they go into the free situations, and the company's men in the territory will be alerted to make these dates pay off in potential album sales'

Bil/rd, August 1st 1970

Tracks
1. Life Stories - 5:55
2. Hello You - 3:56
3. Stoned Is (Gil Moses, Michael Tschudin) - 4:07
4. Religious Song - 5:20
5. Mermaid Song - 7:59
6. Lullaby For CIA - 11:21
All songs by Michael Tschudin except where noted.

Cynara
*Jeff Watson - Lead Vocals
*Cal Hill- Bass
*Michael Tschudin - Keyboards, Drums
*Les Lumley - Guitar
*Chip White - Percussion
Guest Musician
*Elvin Jones - Drums

Related Act
1968 Listening - Listening

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In 1968, for one brief, DayGlo moment, a Tristate band was the biggest thing in rock 'n' roll.The Lemon Pipers - singer Ivan Browne, guitarist Bill Bartlett, keyboardist Bob Nave, bassist Steve Walmsley and drummer Bill Albaugh - were top of the pops with the sunny psychedelia of "Green Tambourine."

The band had evolved from two local groups - Ivan & the Sabres and Tony & the Bandits - when the Bandits (which included Bartlett, Nave and Albaugh) fired Tony and stole Ivan.

The newly christened Lemon Pipers were a fixture in Oxford clubs and Cincinnati's underground rock palace, the Ludlow Garage, owned by young hippie entrepreneur Jim Tarbell. Fame beckoned in a major-label contract with Buddah Records. Firing their bassist, the group hired Walmsley and headed for New York.

A year after the Summer of Love, major labels were packaging the new psychedelic rock for pop radio. One result was a candy-colored confection called "bubblegum rock." The masterminds were K&K - producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz. Along with the Lemon Pipers, they were also responsible for the Ohio Express and 1910 Fruitgum Company.

It's what Nave, a jazz-influenced organist who became one of the Tristate's leading jazz DJs, calls "the duality of the Lemon Pipers.""We were a stand-up rock 'n' roll band, and then all of a sudden, we're in a studio, being told how to play and what to play." Live, they were a blues-rocking, jam band. On record they did fuzz-toned anthems like "Jelly Jungle (of Orange Marmalade)."

The bubblegum fad soon lost its flavor. Browne quit and moved to California, where he still lives and performs. Back in Oxford, some of the other guys formed a band called Starstruck, which got a lot of notice for its rearrangement of an old Lead Belly blues called "Black Betty."

K&K heard about it, drafted Bartlett for a new band, Ram Jam, and quickly recorded "Black Betty." One-hit-wonderhood struck Bartlett twice and the song lives on, most recently on the soundtrack to Johnny Depp's Blow.

Bartlett has stayed active, though he's been focusing on boogie-woogie piano lately. Walmsley plays bass around Oxford. Nave occasionally plays organ with Greg Schaber & High Street. Albaugh died in 1999.

By Larry Nager

Tracks
1. Rice Is Nice (Paul Leka, Shelley Pinz) - 2:16
2. Shoeshine Boy (Leka, Pinz) - 3:19
3. Turn Around Take a Look (Bill Bartlett) - 2:42
4. Rainbow Tree (Laguna, Mizrahi) - 2:16
5. Ask Me If I Care (Ehrmann) - 3:03
6. Straggling Behind (Lemon Pipers) - 2:32
7. Green Tambourine (Leka, Pinz) - 2:22
8. Blueberry Blue (Leka, Pinz) - 2:19
9. Shoemaker of Leatherwear Square (Leka, Pinz) - 2:00
10.Fifty Year Void (Lemon Pipers) - 5:41
11.Through With You (Bartlett) - 8:31

The Lemon Pipers
*Bill Albaugh - Drums
*Bill Bartlett - Lead Guitar
*Ivan Browne - Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals
*R. G. Nave - Organ, Tambourine, Fog Horn, Toys
*Steve Walmsley - Bass Guitar

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Chicago-based duo Chuck Hollins and David Starr only made this one album, which originally appeared in 1970 on the Ovation label. All we know about them is what the original ads for the album said: "David Starr learned piano when he was three, began composing when he was four. At twenty-one he was playing flute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Chuck Hollins picked up a guitar one day and just started playing.... by the time he left Northwestern with his Creative Writing degree he was turning his poetry into music."

Others have said: "Unique blend… with a lovely dreaming, drifting vibe"– the Acid Archives; "Many diverse influences from pop-psych, mystical mellow passages, quasi-classical touches, delightful ethereal flute, trance-like vocals and fuzz guitar… there is much to appreciate on this largely undiscovered gem"– Fuzz, Acid & Flowers. The deluxe mini-LP sleeve CD edition has four bonus tracks, including a "hidden track" with some rare sound effects plucked from the vaults, and it is limited to 1,000 copies.

The sole album by Chuck Hollins and Dave Starr, their only known recordings, is a treasure trove of strong melodies and dreamy vocal stylings an album sure to appeal to fans of acid folk, popsike, and even those who like jazzy funk. Listening to it is a rich, rewarding experience. This is a perfectly produced and arranged record, an ode to the free mind, structured by intelligent considerations. And as another person has said, "No wonder it has been sampled by DJ Shadow." Ovation said at the time of its release, "Classical artistry rock and sidewalk poetry." All true. Very cool. Hip, mellow, and stoned.

Lion

Tracks
1. Talking To Myself (Chuck Hollins) - 2:28
2. Krishna Dov (Dave Starr) - 1:54
3. Cry Baby Cry (Chuck Hollins) - 3:25
4. Twin City Prayer (Dave Starr) - 1:39
5. John Hurt (Chuck Hollins) - 2:16
6. Hard Headed Woman (Dave Starr, Chuck Hollins) - 9:10
7. Home? (Chuck Hollins) - 3:37
8. Vivace (Dave Starr) - 3:00
9. Lovable (Chuck Hollins, Dave Starr) - 3:54
10.Digress (Chuck Hollins, Dave Starr) - 2:50
11.Stayin High (Chuck Hollins, Dave Starr) - 2:27
12.Sidewalks Talkin (Chuck Hollins) - 3:35
13.Feelin Good (Dave Starr, Chuck Hollins) - 3:16
14.Feelin Good (Single Version) (Dave Starr, Chuck Hollins) - 2:53
15.Lovable (Single Version) (Chuck Hollins, Dave Starr) - 3:18
16.Hard Headed Woman (Outtake) (Dave Starr, Chuck Hollins) - 9:10
17.Sound Effects - 3:33

Personnel
*David Starr - Vocals, Flute, Piano
*Chuck Hollins - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
*Ross Salomone - Drums
*Ed Shedowski - Trumpet
*Ron Steele - Guitar
*Bob Surga - Guitar, Bass
*Warren Kime - Trumpet
*Jim Atlas - Guitar, Bass
*Bobby Christian - Percussion
*Pat Ferrara - Guitar

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From the beginning Down In L.A. never got its due when staff songwriters Michael Brewer and Tom Shipley immediately split L.A. after recording the album for A and M. The newly formed record label figured their songwriters had left the music business altogether. A year later Brewer and Shipley, now signed as recording artists by Buddah Kama Sutra, released their classic folk-rock Weeds album on their new label.

Their debut album came about because A and M Records recognized that two of their staff songwriters had a unique sound of their own and green-lighted them to record an album including some of the songs they had sold to other artists. The Down In L.A. album has sometimes been unjustly mislabeled a collection of demos. The fact is, the album was professionally produced and recorded with some of the best studio musicians in the country, the now famous ‘Wrecking Crew.’

These were not demo tapes. Leon Russell, Jim Messina, Hal Blaine, Joe Osborn, and Jim Gordon were among the great supporting musicians supplying their talents. As mentioned, several of the songs on the album were originally recorded by other artists when Michael and Tom were working solely as staff songwriters for A and M; but, as is usually the case, the songwriters’ interpretations of their own songs were superior to the other artists’ covers. A good example is Brewer and Shipley’s version of Tom Shipley’s “Time and Changes,” which has a different feel and still sounds good by today’s standards, while the four 1967-68 covers of it by other artists all sound dated.

While I love to hear Brewer and Shipley perform their songs with just acoustic guitars, I also love the production on Down In L.A. with its light orchestration and full rhythm section that still lets Brewer and Shipley’s, now trademark, intertwined acoustic guitars take center-stage. It has a great sound, albeit different than their subsequent albums. This is one of those albums where all the songs just seem to fit in mood, tone, and sound, like a Rubber Soul, an After The Goldrush, or a Tea For The Tillerman. All those albums had songs that fit together and created an overall mood for the album.

Down In L.A. fits in that ilk. Because Down In L.A. was the only album recorded on A and M, none of these songs ever made it to Brewer and Shipley’s Buddah compilation CDs, but there are more than a half dozen songs that could have legitimately been included on any label-neutral best-of compilation. Truly Right, Time and Changes, and Keeper Of The Keys were good enough to be covered by other artists, and other songs from the album like the beautiful Green Bamboo, Dreamin' In The Shade (Down In L.A.), An Incredible State Of Affairs, and the haunting I Can't See Her, are equally worthy of inclusion on a Brewer and Shipley anthology.

If asked to pick their favorite Brewer and Shipley album, most fans would understandably pick Weeds or Tarkio. If asked to pick my favorite, I would have to stop and think about whether it would be Down In L.A. or Weeds. Down In L.A. is a great album that has its own beautiful and unique Brewer and Shipley sound, and after almost 44 years, this lost classic album has finally been released on CD.

Bil/bard Magazine October 26, 1968

Tracks
1. Truly Right (Mike Brewer) - 2:46
2. She Thinks She's A Woman - 3:26
3. Time And Changes (Tom Shipley) - 2:05
4. Small Town Girl - 2:10
5. I Can't See Her - 2:50
6. Green Bamboo - 3:10
7. An Incredible State Of Affairs - 3:10
8. Keeper Of The Keys - 3:24
9. Love, Love (Brewer And Shipley, K. Brewer) - 3:12
10.Dreamin' In The Shade - 2:10
11.Mass For M'lady - 3:17
12.Keeper Of The Keys (Bonus Track, Mono Mix) - 3:23
All songs by Mike Brewer, Tom Shipley unless otherwise stated.

Musicians
*Mike Brewer - Vocals, Guitars, Percussion
*Tom Shipley - Vocals, Guitars, Percussion
*Nick Decaro - Strings, Horns
*Jim Gordon - Drums
*Hal Blaine - Drums
*Milt Holland - Percussion
*Lyle Ritz - Bass
*Jim Messina - Bass
*Joe Osborn - Bass
*Russell Bridges - Electric Piano, Organ
*Mike Melvoin - Organ
*Lance Wakely - Elecdtric Guitar, Harp

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"Monte Dunn was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. When Tim Hardin and Richie Havens recorded their most recent albums, they called him in to play guitar. This is not unusual as, for almost a decade, Monte has been working live and in session with Tim, Ian and Sylvia, Peter Paul and Mary, Sonny and Cher, Fred Neil, Jack Eliot, Bob Gibson, and quite a few others. It was unusual that he'd never struck out on his own.

Now, with his wife and partner Karen Cruz, an album has been made and, instead of having his name on the back cover, it's headlining the front. Their music ranges from the earthy, to light baroque, to country. Karen Cruz was born in New Orleans, and spent most of her earlier years as a model, dealing blackjack, selling real estate, and painting portraits in order to finance her travels throughout Europe and the Near East, before she turned to music. Now the mother of two children, Pam and Jesse, she writes only when she has something to say.

As Monte remarked: "She's carried some of her songs longer than she's carried some of her children". Karen wrote most of the songs, and they collaborated on a few of them. The music of Monte Dunn and Karen Cruz is the result of a very pure desire to communicate love and the realities of a life lived to the hilt - a simple statement above the chaos and confusion of artistic survival in a materialistically demanding society.

The sincerity and beauty of their words and music suggests an honest solution to our complicated and often distorted society"

Original press release, 1969

And then one day I met Karen and all we could do was be together. Music was already so important to both of us. Karen sang with bands, in clubs, folk-sang, then started composing, and I picked wherever I could, making a living and loving my music and my woman. I played for Ian & Sylvia, Sonny & Cher, Tim Hardin, Jack Elliott, Buffy St. Marie, Peter Walker, Peter Paul & Mary and others live and on record. But Karen's music captivated me like nothing I had ever played. Children and music, revolution, a thousand contradictions, joys, pain, life as we've been living it together, our music

by Monte Dunn, 1969

My personal thanks to the Westchester County Jail for providing the space and atmosphere necessary to enable me to write 'Outside Looking In'. My personal thanks to the world for providing the space and atmosphere necessary to enable me to write 'Lullabye'

by Karen Cruz, 1969

Tracks
1. Never In My Life (Karen Cruz) - 3:05
2. Order To Things (K. Cruz, M. Dunn) - 2:05
3. You Don't Smile Much (Karen Cruz) - 2:45
4. Loving You (K. Cruz, M. Dunn) - 3:30
5. Self Satisfaction (K. Cruz, M. Dunn) - 2:15
6. Outside Looking In (Karen Cruz) - 2:00
7. Lullabye (Karen Cruz) - 3:25
8. So Much Loving (K. Cruz, M. Dunn) - 2:00
9. Tip Of My Mind (Karen Cruz) - 3:50
10.Yellow Cab (Tim Hardin) - 3:55

Musicians
*Monte Dunn - Acoustic, Electric Guitars, Mandolin
*Karen Cruz - 12 String, Classic Guitars
*Russell George - Acoustic Bass
*Eric Weissberg - Electric Bass, Fiddle
*Gary Chester - Drums
*Gene Estes - Vibes
*Stan Free - Celeste
*Russ Savakus - Bass
*Paul Griffin - Harpsichord, Piano
*Doug Davis - Cello
*Robert Bruce - Violin
*Bob West - Bass
*Donald Macdonald - Drums
*Warren Bernhardt - Piano, Clarinet
*Bruce Langhorne - Bass
*Hal Elaine - Drums
*Lyle Ritz - Bass
*Lazlo Roitch - Tambourine

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Formed in Arizona but based in California, Condello's Phase One album has some fine moments. it's sometimes like listening to some psychedelic comp because of the way it jumps from popsike to fuzz-driven garage stomps.

Mike Condello did it all in four decades in the music business: serve as music director for two local Phoenix TV shows (Teen Beat and The Wallace & Ladmo Show), lead his own bands like Hub Cap and the Wheels, parody the Beatles with Commodore Condello’s Salt River Navy Band, and even play with luminaries like Keith Moon, the Tubes, and Jackson Browne.

In 1968, he also led his own band - which released the psychedelic masterwork Phase 1 on Scepter Records. Featuring a young Bill Spooner (pre-Tubes) on guitar, the album flows and trickles through your mind with more saturation than Lucy and her diamonds in the sky- picking up a few nuggets, boulders, and pebbles in the emergent violet haze.

Sadly, Mike Condello committed suicide in the 90s after suffering from severe depression.

Tracks
1. Crystal Clear (Ray Trainer) - 3:29
2. Oh No (Michael Condello) - 2:40
3. Guess I Better Go (Ray Trainer) - 2:34
4. Charming Sitter (Michael Condello) - 2:42
5. All You Need (Ray Trainer) - 4:01
6. Keep It Inside (Michael Condello) - 3:09
7. Dr. Tarr Professor Fether (Michael Condello) - 2:49
8. The Other Side Of You (Ray Trainer) - 4:12
9. See What Tomorrow Brings (Michael Condello) - 3:29
10.He'll Keep Waiting (Michael Condello) - 2:30
11.It Don't Matter (Ray Trainer, Michael Condello) - 4:43

Personnel
*Michael Condello - Lead Vocals, Lead Guitars, Organ, Piano, Celeste
*Ray Trainer - Bass, String Bass, Vocals, Flute, Organ
*Dennis Kenmore - Drums
*William Spooner - Guitars, Vocals

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In 1970, Jimmy Stewart and Larry Farrar (childhood friends) were playing in a band called Rat Salad, and was approached by Mike Hendrix about joining with some friends of his to play. From this meeting the band Hit and Run was formed with Jimmy, Larry, Henry Kelley, Mike Hendrix, Pat Michaels, and Bill Clayton. Their intent from the formation of this band was to play their own original music and Jimmy and Mike began writing separately and bringing their own music into the mix.

Not long afterwards, Larry Farrar left the band to take a full time job and Ronny Waters then joined the band. After a short period of time, Pat Michaels and Bill Clayton, who was a vocalist for Hit and Run, left to pursue a solo career. Rickey Stewart then joined his brother in the band to play drums. The lineup in 1973 consisted of Jimmy Stewart on bass and lead vocals, Rickey Stewart on drums, and Ronny Waters and Mike Hendrix on lead guitars. It was during this period that the band changed their name from Hit and Run to Tennessee River Crooks and the band was based primarily out of Paris, Tennessee.

The name Tennessee River Crooks was suggested by a friend of the band by the name of Jerry Crouch who worked the door for the band at various gigs. He always kept the money from the door in a Tennessee River Crooks cigar box, which was a cigar company based in Tennessee. In 1975, Larry Farrar rejoined the band and they started working on their first album, which was recorded between June and October of 1976. Mike Hendrix, who had left the band for a short period in 1975, came back and played on some of the cuts he had written.

The album was recorded in Puryear, Tennessee, just a few miles north of Paris, Tennessee and was released in March of 1977 on an independent label called Sound Farm which was also the name of the studio where the album was recorded. In May of 1977, the band lost a dear friend and integral part of the band, when Ronny Waters was killed in New Johnsonville, Tennessee.

by Jacques Dersigny and Luc Brunot

Tracks
1. Waiting For A Better Day - 3:57
2. Song Of David - 3:59
3. Farmin' Man - 5:34
4. We Are All Brothers - 5:34
5. White Lightning (Mike Hendrix) - 3:47
6. Old Music - 3:56
7. Tennessee Land (Mike Hendrix) - 5:45
8. Life On The Road - 4:16
9. Hot Busch - 3:13
All songs by Jimmy Stewart except where noted

Tennessee River Crooks
Ronnie Waters - Guitar, Vocals
Larry Farrar - Guitar
Jimmy Stewart - Lead Vocals, Bass
Ricky Stewart - Drums, Vocals
with
Dianne Davidson, Honey Combs, Mike Hendrix - Vocals

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Coming from the sixties'"fruity" Frisco bay area, they were often referred to as "the next great San Francisco music scene band" which is what they had remained too, supposedly because of "one band member's inflexibility". The seven songs on this album are more than enough a proof of their potential, so an explanation like this is the only reasonable one.

Transatlantic Railroad were some kind of an amalgamation of all the good, heard in the music of the local scene ... and wider. The set opens with the musical omnibus Camp Towanga, sounding like Moby Grape fronted by Greg Allman, along with his Hammond organ, with Peter Green steppin' in for a guitar solo during the '50s ballad-like middle eight, and it's followed with another Southern-jam, Fred Chicken Blues reminding of the Statesboro one.

Tahoma Street Song, recalls Quicksilver's best moments, Elephant is a quirky, Door-opening psych, with a 10 minute-looooong jam, Old English 800 is a very un-English "spoonful" of blues, their single's b-side Irahs explores the C&W segment of the American tradition (think Moby Grape's It's No Use) and, along these '67/'68 recordings, as a bonus, you get one of the 1966 efforts from their early 'Brummels-like phase, called Good Times, that could've easily pass as an unreleased studio track by the mentioned fellow S.F.folk rockers

CD-Baby

Tracks
1.Camp Towanga - 3:17
2.Fred Chicken Blues - 3:29
3.Tehama Street Song - 7:33
4.Elephant - 12:16
5.Old English 800 - 5:54
6.Irahs (Kent Housman) - 2:36
7.Good Times (Kent Housman) - 2:46
All Words by Kent Housman, Music by Transatlantic Railroad except where noted

Transatlantic Railroad
*Kent Housman - Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals
*Stephen Meyers - Lead Guitar
*Jamie Kindt - Bass, Vocals
*Ron Vanbianchi - Drums, Vocals
*Geoff Mayer - Organ

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A long gone, forgotten by most psychedelic band from the Midwest. This is a remaster from the original tapes. Band was from Kansas City and this ten track album was recorded at Cavern Studios in 1970.

This is an outstanding piece of US psychedelia . The powerful sound with male and female lead vocals has a strong “Jefferson Airplane” feeling, feat. a magic B3 organ and stunning heavy guitars. Not to be confused with the “Stone Circus” that recorded for the Mainstream label. This material was unreleased and found in the archives of Cavern Sound Studios where the “Wizzards from Kansas” recorded.

Released as limited LP version in 1994 which is long sold out. Songs include “Gotta find Way”, “Try Love”, “New World”, “Trust”, and a fabulous coverversion of “Gonna Leave You”… Originally recorded in 1970 and for the first time on CD taken from the original masters including an 8p. with cool artwork, bio and photos. Highly recommended, reflects honest summer, peace & love feeling!

Tracks
1. Gotta Find A Way - 3:39
2. Feel - 2:34
3. Try Love - 4:16
4. New World - 3:08
5. Trust - 2:24
6. Sweet Lovin - 2:45
7. Instrumental - 5:03
8. Gonna Leave You - 6:17
9. Corina - 2:24
10.Whole Lotta Love - 2:11

Stoned Circus
*Johnny Isom - Lead Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
*Nancy Lake Whedon - Vocals, Percussion
*Donna Kurtz Nugent - Drums, Percussion
*Ricjard Van Sant - Keyboards, Keybass, Vocals
*Joe York - Keyboards, Vocals
*Harold "Buddy" Haney - Bass, Vocals

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Michael Fennelly - Love Can Change Everything (1967-72 us, remarkable psych folk rock, 2013 release)

Lou Reed, John Cale And Nico - Live At Bataclan Paris (1972 de / uk / us, superb pioneer rock, 2013 remaster edition)

Bull - This Is Bull (1970 us, strong funky psych, 2012 Relics issue)

Paul Revere And The Raiders - Something Happening (1968 us, fantastic beat psychedelia, Repertoire digipack remaster and expanded)

Cargoe - Live In Memphis! (1972 us, exceptional southern rock with psych shades)

Jade Stone And Luv ‎– Mosaics Pieces Of Stone (1977 us, awesome rough fuzzy psych with country drops, 2008 issue)

Crabby Appleton - Crabby Appleton (1970 us, fantastic classic rock)

Crabby Appleton - Rotten To The Core (1971 us, exceptional classic rock)

Peter Bardens - Heart To Heart (1979 uk, magnificent prog jazz fusion rock, Japan remaster)

Curtis Knight - Down In The Village (1970 us, outstanding hard psych, 2012 remaster)

Bruce Hamana - Hamana (1974 us, brilliant west coast psychedelic guitar flashes with a bit garage feeling and folk drops)

Cynara - Cynara (1970 us, spectacular hard prog psych with jazz elements, 2011 kismet edition)

The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine (1968 us, wonderful sunny psych, first Repertoire issue)

Hollins And Starr ‎- Sidewalks Talking (1970 us, amazing laid back psych, acid folk rock, 2011 mini LP limited edition)

Brewer And Shipley - Down In L.A. (1967-68 us, marvelous psychedelic folk rock with country drops, 2012 bonus track issue)

Monte Dunn And Karen Cruz - Monte Dunn And Karen Cruz (1969 us, bright smooth baroque folk psych)

Condello - Phase I (1968 us, smart multicolor psychedelia, 2007 RDI remaster)

Tennessee River Crooks - Tennessee River Crooks (1976 us, awesome southern rock)

Transatlantic Railroad - Express To Oblivion (1965-68 us, sensational west coast psych)

Stoned Circus - Revisited (1970 us, terrific acid psych rock, 2004 World in Sound release)