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Samla Mammas Manna - Måltid (1973)


Szwedzki zespól Samla Mammas Manna założony został w Uppsali w 1969 roku przez klawiszowca Larsa Hollmera, perkusistę Hasse Bruniussona, basistę Larsa Krantza oraz jeszcze jednego perkusistę Henryego "Bebben" Oberga. Swój pierwszy poważny koncert dali w 1970 roku na niezależnym festiwalu Festen pa Gärdet i już rok później podpisali kontrakt z wytwornią Silence Records, dla której  nagrali pierwszy album zatytułowany po prostu "Samla Mammas Manna". Muzyka na nim zawarta to przeważnie instrumentalne i w  zabawny sposób zagrane kompozycje z wybijającymi się na pierwszy plan improwizacjami Larsa Hollmera na klawiszach oraz świetną grą Hasse Bruniussona na perkusji. W 1971 roku zespól opuszcza Henry Oberg, ale za to wkrótce skład grupy wzmocniony zostaje o gitarzystę Coste Apetrea. Muzycy w nowym składzie intensywnie w tym okresie udzielają się, koncertując dużo na terenie całej Szwecji. Ich muzyka z czasem zaczęła zmieniać trochę brzmienie, wyczuwa się w niej wpływy jazzu, rocka w klimatach Franka Zappy a wszystko to połączone zostało na dodatek z odrobiną szwedzkiej muzyki ludowej. Taka właśnie jest ich druga płyta "Maltid" z 1973 roku. Znajdziemy na niej dużo zwariowanej, pełnej humoru i naprawdę świetnie zagranej muzyki, wszystko tu aż tryska inwencją i energią. Po wydawnictwie tym, przez wielu uznawanym za szczytowe osiągnięcie zespołu przychodzi jeszcze "Klossa knapitatet" z 1974 roku i "Snorungarnas Symfoni" z 1976. Rok później zmieniają nieco skład i nazwę na Zamla Mammaz Manna a ich muzyka podąża bardziej w kierunku improwizacji. W okresie tym nawiązują również współpracę z ruchem Rock In Opposition i wraz z wieloma zespołami spod tego znaku często koncertują po całej Europie. W 1981 roku dochodzi do kolejnych roszad personalnych oraz następnej zmiany nazwy, tym razem na Von Zamla. Ich muzyka staje się bardziej złożona, mniej rockowa i skupia się na dłuższych kompozycjach. Pod szyldem tym grają do 1984 roku. Zespól formuje się ponownie  w starym składzie i pod pierwotną nazwą Samla Mammas Manna w 1990 roku z myślą o kontynuacji dobrej zabawy. Zostają ciepło przyjęci przez fanów, koncertują więc a nawet nagrywają płyty "Kaka" oraz "Dear Mamma". Niestety, wraz ze śmiercią Larsa Hollmera w 2008 roku, zamknięty zostaje prawdopodobnie ostatni rozdział historii tej niezwykle barwnej grupy.


Although little known in the United States, the experimental and quirky avant-progressive rock outfit Samla Mammas Manna enjoyed a following in Scandinavia beginning in the early '70s. The Samlas were formed in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1969, when their original lineup consisted of keyboardist Lars Hollmer, bassist Lars Krantz, drummer Hans Bruniusson, and percussionist Henrik "Bebben" Öberg. The Samlas recorded at the Chickenhouse, which was so named because it really was built on a former chicken house that had belonged to Hollmer's mother. It was at the Chickenhouse that Samla Mammas Manna recorded their self-titled debut album of 1971 for Silence Records. Öberg left the group that year, and the Samlas spent several months as a trio before guitarist Coste Apetrea came on board in 1972. The Samlas' second album, Maltid (Meal Time), came out on Silence in 1974 and was followed by Klossa Knapitatet (also on Silence) in 1975 and the 1976 MNW release Snorungarnas Symfoni (Snotty-Nosed Symphony), written by ex-Californian Gregory Fitzpatrick, who had moved to Sweden in 1968. The band continued to go through personnel changes and adopted the Zamla Mammaz Manna moniker after Apetrea left the group in 1977 and was replaced by Eino Haapala, who is featured on the Silence double LP Schlagerns Mystik/För Äldre Nybegynnare from 1978 and 1980's Familjesprickor (Family Cracks).

The group broke up after Familjesprickor, but in 1990 the name Samla Mammas Manna was reborn after Bruniusson, Apetrea, Hollmer, and Krantz began reminiscing about old times at Bruniusson's 40th birthday party and decided to hold a reunion concert. The 1990s and 2000s found the group performing live shows in Scandinavia, Quebec, Russia, Japan, and the United States and recording for the Swedish Amigo label. Following the release of the Kaka album in 1999, Bruniusson departed from the band, however, and was replaced by Japanese drummer Tatsuya Yoshida (of Ruins and Koenji Hyakkei). The band's last North American concert was in September 2007 at Le Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal; sadly, Lars Hollmer became seriously ill in 2008 and died on Christmas Day of that year, presumably closing the final chapter of Samla Mammas Manna. One year previously, in December 2007, the Japanese Arcangelo label released the Samla/Zamla Box, an eight-disc box set containing all the Samla/Zamla albums from the band's self-titled debut through Familjesprickor, remastered and in individual cardboard sleeves reproducing the original album art, and in some cases also including bonus tracks. The box also included the Gregory Fitzpatrick album Bildcirkus (Circus of Pictures), not actually a Samla/Zamla album but including Apetrea and Bruniusson among the personnel. (AMG)

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Cherokee Mist (1994/1997)


Gathering Of The Tribes (1994)



Cherokee - Is an Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee people. It is the only Southern Iroquoian language that remains spoken

W sumie praktycznie nic mi nie wiadomo o tym zespole. Wiem tylko jedno .... Ta muzyka urywa łeb. Jest to gęste, jamowe, psychedeliczne granie - a gitarzysta, który ponoć grał w którymś wcieleń zespołu Steamhammer - po prostu wymiata (nie wiem czy chodzi o ten stary Steamhammer).

John Redfern- guitar, vocal
Mo Hone (ex Steamhammer) - guitar
Chris Jordan - bass
Stephen Bayes - drums, percussion
Simon Redfern - drums, percussion


Anthem Of The Moon (1997)

The best music Cherokee Mist recorded was with Caroline Davey from Wobble Jaggle Jiggle sharing the vocals with John Redfern. "Coast to Coast" and "Orange Cucumber",etc. This was going to be released as an LP on the Tangerine label, until the master tapes dissapeared? Theres some Rock and Roll Mythos for you! (Dec 2003). --- Trippy Fish

A decade on, Cherokee Mist doesn't fail to impress on variation and technique, with bursts of unexpected and frequent atmospeheric tension, a touch of enlightened mood change and a heady awareness of what is yet to come! Revive Mist! - -- Jeannie

Mo Hone is a mighty Rocking guitar player! --- Wobbly Bo

Is it ironicly to Grateful Dead's "Anthem Of The Sun" album? --- Savagesaints

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Charge (1973)



Grupa Charge to dla mnie kolejne odkrycie, a to za przyczyną wytwórni Kissing Spell specjalizującej się w narkomańsko-progresywnych klimatach, o których świat zapomniał. Nie wiem zbyt wiele o tej grupie poza tym, że nagrania wydobyto z acetatów, które pierowtnie ukazały się jako "private pressing". Znakomita rzecz dla wielbicieli Dark i T2. Polecam !!!



Charge's home-made LP of 1973 is the greatest lunatic heavy-rock private pressing of the 'Progressive' era. Virtually cliched in their stunnigly apt period self tormenting guitar excess and psycho-hippie lyricism, Charge have the ultimate 'cool' & 'happening' underground credentials, man.

Occaisonall Hendrix-isms soon fall to the experimental idiosyncrasies that spring only from the genius of the British race. Swathes of Pink Floyd-esque - a la Motorhead - non music cut through the epic "Child of Nations" - Fractal psychedelia via "To My Friends",violently twanging guitars & so forth! All hail Charge !

  • Smiley de Jones - percussion
  • Ric Grech - violin, guitar, bass (Blind Faith,Family,Ginger Baker s Air Force,KGB,)
  • Ian Green - keyboards
  • Rosetta Hightower - vocals
  • Neil Hubbard - guitar (Grease Band, Juicy Lucy, Kokomo, Roxy Music)
  • Godfrey McLean - drums
  • Alan Spenner- bass (Grease Band, Kokomo, Roxy Music)
  • Lee Van Der Bilt - vocals, percussion
  • Mike Woods- guitar

The Kissing Spell label is a boutique imprint specializing in unearthing obscurities and often candid recordings of incredibly obscure U.K. psychedelic groups of the late '60s and early '70s. While they have uncovered some gems, often the recordings falter for the quality or recording conditions on some of their artifacts. Charge is yet another heavy and explosive guitar-led group with aspirations towards Jimmy Hendrix guitar absolution and blues-based workouts. The gloomy garage ambience of the recording makes for a great listen throughout, and the over worked wah-wah pedal adds to the vibes. Without a doubt authentic, and the jamming gets pretty hot. The dissonant down beat gloom can be hard to handle, but in the right moment this nullifying music can be a thrilling indulgence. Think of a less coherent Black Sabbath in the basement playing folk-inflected mantras and you are getting close to the desolation of Charge. Those who ever wondered who slipped under the carpet in the Led Zeppelin era should look no further than Kissing Spell, and Charged is a fitting addition to their catalog.

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Crystalized Movements - Mind Disaster (1983)



Twórczość grupy Crystalized Movements przypomina mi nieco dokonania The Wipers. Jest to typowy garażowy rock z elementami psychodelii i folku. Jednak niemniej warto zapoznać się z tą pozycją.

***
Rogers and Boyden were brought together by a love of late 70's No Wave music and 60's psychedelia. After years of improvisational experimentation, they decided to make an LP in 1983 and recorded duo versions of some of Wayne's songs. They then split up upon graduating high school. Rogers, a longtime fan of the Plastic Cloud and Randy Holden, spent a summer piling on mountains of guitar overdubs. The resulting 'basement prog' album 'Mind Disaster' was released at the end of that year in an edition of 130 (on Rogers' own record label, as Twisted Village #1001). After being discovered by record collectors, the album was reissued on Psycho in the UK in 1984. It was received by the 'paisley revival' community with horror and quickly went out of print.

Rogers put a full band together in 1985 before recording the next album: 'Dog. Tree. Satellite Seers...', a scathing rebuke to faux-lysergic posers. The addition of second guitarist Eric Arn encouraged Rogers to focus on song structure: the two engage in guitar duels over chord progressions that press forward relentlessly. Guitarist Kate Biggar joined in 1988 upon Arn's departure (to southern Califirnia where he formed Primordial Undermind), cementing the band's final lineup on the next album 'This Wideness Comes'. Here, guitar experiments like "Third Half" appear next to tightly arranged tracks like the forbidding "The Second a Siren". Rogers' vocals impart a sense of anxiety that cements the mood. The album 'Revelations From Pandemonium' proved to be Crystalized Movements' finale, as well as the group's most successful intermingling of druggy rapture and postmodern sonic experimentation. The album established the Rogers/Biggar guitar tandem as a force to be reckoned with. Following the demise of the Movements, the Rogers/Biggar duo have continued on in critically acclaimed groups such as Magic Hour (with Damon and Naomi of Galaxie 500) and the Major Stars.



THE ACID KING OF NEW ENGLAND
Interview by Jorge Luis Fernández

A feedback. A loop. A fuzz overload. A wah-wah-inflected solo and a beautiful melody. Put Connecticut's Wayne Rogers in any common place for an inspired rock & roll guitar player and you'll find him doing uncommon things. His unique chord progressions put him in a place of his own, where his lethargic voice soars freely, mapping the space of songs of Magic Hour, Major Stars, Crystalized Movements, Vermonster, and his solo recordings. All of this music deserves to catch the ear of broader audiences.

Rogers is a true American maverick, and someday he will be recognized for the pioneering homemade stuff he has been doing since he formed Crystalized Movements (with drummer Ed Boyden) in the late seventies. For decades, Rogers has been experimenting with song formats, integrating both the instrumental freakouts that make up most contemporary psychedelic music and the folky noise hybrids associated with the free-folk movement.

In addition, Rogers is a consistent advocate of the D.I.Y. ethic. Since the release of Crystalized Movements' Mind Disaster, nearly all of his records have been released through his Twisted Village label. At his magnificent Twisted Village record store, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Rogers sells Krautrock, South American psych rock, Japanese noise, European improve, and all kind of equally impressive stuff.

PSF: Crystalized Movements still surprises people with its wide range of influences: from sixties psychedelic and garage rock to killer rock and new wave. It was an unorthodox psychedelic band and an unlikely part of the burgeoning indie scene. Were you viewed as old-time revivalists? Do you think CM encouraged many punk and postpunk musicians to embrace the psychedelic legacy?

I'm not sure what we were viewed as at the time.... We were certainly not sixties revivalists. That was the turf of the Fuzztones, Chesterfield Kings, and the like, [where] any influence post 1966 was frowned on. Certainly long tracks and guitar solos were not allowed in either the sixties retro or punk/indie worlds at the time. You could get away with it if you were Max Creek or something, but that wasn't really our crowd. Mind Disaster was really badly received when it came out in 1983, apart from a handful of record obsessives. Byron Coley and Edwin Pouncey were very kind in print, though, so word slowly got around. There was really no audience for a record like that at the time. But yeah, lots of musicians have told me over the years that that record turned their heads in another direction, which is nice. Poor souls (laughs).

PSF: Also, CM preceded the brief fad of British neopsychedelia at the beginning of the nineties, with bands such as the Bevis Frond, Sun Dial, Banco De Gaia, and Porcupine Tree. Do you think you have something in common with them?

Maybe some common influences, but I think our take on them is different.

PSF: Can you briefly describe the New England rock scene at the time when you started?

Crystalized Movements started in Connecticut in 1979 and didn't move to Boston until 1992, so I don't know much about the Boston scene from then. I CAN tell you that nothing was happening in CT.

PSF: When did you establish the Twisted Village label and record store? Have you benefited from having constant access to all the psychedelic stuff being made around the world?

Twisted Village label started around 1982, when we were first putting together Mind Disaster. The store started in 1996. I was always pretty saturated with the psych stuff, but the store helped open my ears to plenty of other things... dubstep, library music, girl groups, lot of seventies Euro improv dudes (Mario Schiano, Giorgio Gaslini, Massimo Urbani, etc.), all kinds of things I knew nothing about.



PSF: During the eighties, how was your relationship with groups who belonged to the post-Big Star, so-called Paisley Underground movement, as represented by somewhat different bands like the dB's and Game Theory?

I liked a lot of those bands... the Stamey/Holsapple dB's especially, plus bits of the LA Paisley Underground scene. I have a gut negative reaction to anything self-consciously psychedelic... the "cosmic colors of your mind" kinda shit, which a lot of those bands really played into. But there was good stuff... first Rain Parade single, when they were all Byrds-y. Always liked that first Bangles album too!

PSF: In the early nineties, you worked with ex-Galaxie 500's Damon Krakowski and Naomi Yang in Magic Hour. How did you come in contact with them?

Crystalized Movements opened for them two or three times, at their request. We were always amazed when somebody liked us. It was rare in those days.

PSF: In perspective, if you listen to, let's say, MH's No Excess Is Absurd after Mind Disaster it seems like you were influenced by the mellow, slowcore sound of Galaxie 500. Do you agree, or were you just looking for new ways to develop your music?

I liked their band, but that stuff really didn't have much of an influence. It was more of an opening up of possibilities, particularly in being able to bring more delicate material in without it being beaten to a pulp. Though Damon and Naomi were good at that too when duty called (laughs).

PSF: The early nineties seemed to be a pretty busy period for you. Besides working with Magic Hour, you also released the vinyl LP's The Seven Arms of the Sun and Ego River, which I think expanded your view of psychedelia. I wonder if those records demanded a lot of effort from you, or if they simply flowed along with what seems to be a richly creative time.

That was a period when we bought our own studio equipment (a used 8-track Tascam 38, still working) and were renting a place way out in the country (the infamous trailer), so that was definitely a time of being able to try a lot of things for the first time. And without having to watch the studio clock...

PSF: Your guitar playing is so unique that I always have a hard time tracing your roots. You play with melodies that display lots of harmony, and in a soaring way that could have some similarities with Steve Hillage and some Neil Young guitar playing, but you also make some mellow drones of which I can't find anything to relate to--which is great, indeed. How did you achieve your style of playing, and who are your main influences?

Early influences were Otis Rush, Buddy Guy... lots of the fifties Chicago guys and people they directly affected: Eric Clapton's and Jeff Beck's work with the Yardbirds above just about anything. John Coltrane and Kaoru Abe after that. Anything with equal parts construction and catharsis.

PSF: Beside having your usual dose of good songs, your last solo album, Constant Displacement, is rather amazing since it introduces us to a feral rock side, particularly in your singing, that we'd never heard before. At the same time, the album is wide in scope, and it has some of your best ballads ever. Which kind of music and what creative process set you in motion for making this record?

Man, I can't really remember what I was thinking when I made that! (laughs). It's been a long time. I remember really trying to change the guitar sounds on each track, and trying to write different types of songs than what the Major Stars were doing at the time, but what might have sparked anything in particular I can't really say. That record did very much point the direction to the current Major Stars sound. I formed a band called Wayne Rogers Unit, which did a brief tour around the time Drag City reissued it, and really liked playing the shorter and more "rock" kinda stuff. We changed drummers and added a singer, and that was the new Major Stars. (www.furious.com)

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Acid Jam 2 (2000)





Ta płyta to kwintesencja współczesnego psychedelicznego grania. Szkoda, że to tylko projekt jednorazowy, ale zwykle tak bywa, że jak jest spontaniczna i sprzyjająca atmosfera - powstają dzieła niezwykłe. Tak jest w przypadku Acid Jam, którego głównym pomysłodawcą był Nick Saloman (pisałem już o nim wielokrotnie) - "padre" neo-psychedelii. Proszę zerknąć na listę muzyków wśród których zobaczymy m.in. niejakiego Tony Hilla z legendarnej grupy High Tide.

Nick Saloman - Guitar, Organ, Piano, Synth, Vocals
Adrian Shaw - Bass, Keyboards
Andy Ward - Drums
Debbie Saloman - Vocals
Bari Watts - Guitar
Ric Gunther - Drums
Tony Hill - Guitar
Rod Goodway - Guitar, Vocals
Simon House - Violin
Steve Broughton - Drums
Paul Simmons - Guitar
Rick Murphy - Guitar
Tom Hughes - Organ
Luke Adams - Drums
Alan Strawbridge - Bass
Grenville Hammond - Percussion
Pete Pavli - Bass
Jon Guard - Bass
Mat Love - Percussion



Before Acid Jam 2 there was, predictably enough, the original Acid Jam. In 1988, Nick Saloman, the one-man epicenter of latter-day British psychedelia (co-boss of Woronzow Records, publisher of The Ptolemaic Terrascope and brains behind The Bevis Frond) herded a hand-picked bunch of collaborators into a converted pigsty near London's Heathrow Airport. After a two-day recording session, Acid Jam was born.

Now, 12 years later, a sequel has finally arrived in the shape of this double CD set. Following a similar modus operandi, Saloman and Bevis Frond cohort (and former Hawklord) Ade Shaw convened a gathering of the extended Woronzow clan in Gold Dust Studios, Bromley. Additionally, contributions were solicited from some old friends and the Woronzow archives were combed for any other material appropriate for inclusion.

The dramatis personae of Acid Jam 2 reads like a who's who of British psychedelia and to trace the musical pedigrees, histories and myriad intersections of the participants would be a gargantuan task best left to rock genealogists of the Pete Frame variety. Suffice it to say that alumni of Hawkwind, Camel, High Tide, and Magic Muscle, as well as members of The Alchemysts, The Lucky Bishops, and the Outskirts of Infinity are among the cast assembled for this album. Even Nick Saloman's daughter sings on one number.

This is an acid rock extravaganza comprising 14 diverse tracks -- equally divided between instrumental and vocal numbers -- with a total running time of nearly two-and-a-half hours. Although the spirit and sound of this recording harken back to another period entirely, at the same time, Saloman and friends -- by some paradoxical sleight of hand -- have created an album that somehow feels wholly contemporary and is completely free of faddish, superficial retro-ism.

The album opens on an epic note as Nick Saloman leads us through the long and winding, moody ax-grind of "Reformation Blues", sharing guitar duties with former Frondsman Bari Watts. Other tracks featuring Saloman's vocals that are particularly strong include "Change in the Weather" and "Just a Point". The former is punctuated by changes in tempo and suffused with guitar pyrotechnics and swelling Hammond organ, while the latter has the weary, melancholy timbre of Saloman's vocals underscored by beautifully pained guitar solos.

The mournful tone of "Just a Point" resonates on the instrumental "Funeral Ballet Music". This is exactly the dirge-like number that the title would lead you to expect; its relentlessly pounding drums (courtesy of Outskirts of Infinity's Ric Gunther), its spiraling, distorted guitars and its doomy keyboards suggest a gloriously beefed-up version of the Cure at their best. The pace picks up and the sound changes considerably on the 16-minute "Deep Space Divers", a sci-flying, synth-twittering track in the Hawkwind tradition that has Bari Watts on guitar again alongside dueling vocalists Saloman and Shaw.

Rustic Rod Goodway of '70s festival faves Magic Muscle steps up to the microphone for another of Acid Jam 2's epics, "Ice Plug". This chugging track might bear a passing resemblance to early Motorhead's "Lost Johnny", but the overall effect is one of an accomplished faux orientalism to rival Zeppelin's "Kashmir". This is thanks, largely, to the violin provided by another ex-Hawkwind member, Simon House (also formerly of High Tide, the legendary British prog/psychedelic could-have-beens).

Another High Tide member, Tony Hill, takes the floor with Ade Shaw and ex-Camel drummer Andy Ward for a couple of guitar workouts entitled, logically enough, "High" and "Tide". And, for the glorious 15-minute jam that is "Negative Blooty", it's the turn of Dorset's Lucky Bishops. Everyone has their say on this number, but its strengths reside in the thick bass of Alan Strawbridge, the heavy, lush Hammond of Tom Hughes and some well-placed xylophone by another Hammond named Grenville.

While the most idiosyncratic interlude on Acid Jam 2 is perhaps "Deef", which sounds not unlike a meeting between Can and Captain Beefheart at their most unhinged and scattered, the low point comes on "Desert Sands" (recorded live at Terrastock III in London). OK, that requires some qualification. It's only the first 10 minutes or so of "Desert Sands" that are dubious, as Rustic Rod's vocals and the endless "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" type of bass line become a tad turgid. After that ill-advised overture, the guitars of Paul Simmons and Saloman kick in, and things pick up and space out into some serious grooves for the remaining twenty minutes.

The jam ends on a high note with the short and sweet "Star Map". Here Bari Watts' solitary guitar soars to the accompaniment of Saloman's simple piano melody, the two conspiring to evoke the valedictory emotions appropriate to a closing track.

When I return to the foundational recordings of acid rock, it's often the case that they never quite live up to my memory of the genre. It seems that my imagined version is constructed out of isolated moments of timeless brilliance within a given track, whereas I conveniently suppress the weaker elements that would now confine the overall sound to the '60s as an historical curiosity. But while, from the perspective of the early 21st century, classic psychedelic rock is often disappointing to me, the present CD gives us an idea of what the form might have sounded like, or perhaps even did sound like, to those who were listening to it the first time around. On Acid Jam 2, in a creatively -- and quite brilliantly -- anachronistic way, Saloman and his troops fashion their music from the more sublime leitmotifs of psychedelia, bringing to life an imagined version of the genre, 30-plus years later. (Wilson Neate)

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Third Ear Band - Alchemy (1969)


Początki Third Ear Band sięgają 1966 roku, kiedy to Glen Sweeney wraz z paroma muzykami zakłada w Canterbnury zespól The Giant Sun Trolley. W składzie tym sporo koncertują w londyńskich klubach, m.in. w legendarnym klubie UFO, gdzie dla szerszej publiczności zaistniały takie sławy jak Soft Machine czy Pink Floyd. Następnie przez krótki okres grają jako The Hydrogen Jukebox, po czym ostatecznie w 1968 roku zmieniają nazwę na Third Ear Band. W ten oto sposób powstał zespól niezwykle ważny w historii brytyjskiej muzyki eksperymentalnej a przez wielu uważany nawet za jednego z prekursorów ambitnej world music. Udało im się w znakomity i niepowtarzalny sposób połączyć muzykę improwizowaną z elementami muzyki średniowiecznej oraz brzmieniem indyjskich rag. Pośród sporej dyskografii zapoczątkowanej w 1969 roku albumem "Alchemy", mają także nagranie ścieżek dźwiękowych do filmów "Macbet" Romana Polańskiego oraz "Abelard and Heloise" dla niemieckiej telewizji. Grupa została oficjalnie rozwiązana w 1993 roku z powodu kłopotów zdrowotnych Sweeneya, które doprowadzają do jego śmierci w 2005 roku. Wcześniej, w 1997 roku w wyniku popełnionego samobójstwa umiera drugi z współzałożycieli grupy Paul Minns. Pozostawili po sobie muzykę z całą pewnością niełatwą, zapadającą jednak głęboko w świadomość słuchacza poszukującego nietypowych rozwiązań w muzyce.


Although they were loosely affiliated with the British progressive rock scene of the late '60s and early '70s, Third Ear Band was in some ways more of an experimental ensemble performing contemporary compositional work. For one thing, they didn't use electric instruments, or even guitars, instead employing violin, viola, oboe, cello, and hand percussion. More important, they didn't play conventional rock "songs." They featured extended instrumental pieces that often built up from a drone, or hypnotic pattern, to a dense, raga-like crescendo, somewhat in the manner of some of Terry Riley's work. Their "progressive rock" tag probably arose because they recorded for Harvest Records, Britain's leading art rock label, which was home to Pink Floyd, Kevin Ayers, Pete Brown, Edgar Broughton, and many other progressive acts.

The group was founded by drummer Glen Sweeney, who had roots in Britain's free jazz scene, and had played with an avant-garde ensemble, the Sun Trolley. Sweeney described Third Ear's music as "electric acid raga," although the electricity was shut off shortly after they formed, when their electronic equipment was stolen. Sweeney simply molded Third Ear into an acoustic ensemble, with the addition of oboe, violin/viola, and cello. The personnel (with the exception of Sweeney) would rotate over the next few years; their early albums were produced by Andrew King, who had helped manage Pink Floyd in their early days.

Commercial success, or even widespread underground success, was never in the offing for Third Ear Band, and one gets the feeling that was not ever a consideration. Their albums were too somber and experimental for the rock audience, and in the U.S., they are still only known to a very few. Their biggest coup was getting commissioned to score and perform the soundtrack to Roman Polanski's film version of Macbeth (issued on record as Music From Macbeth). The original incarnation of Third Ear Band disbanded in the early '70s. Surprisingly, they re-formed in the late '80s, and released a few albums that boasted sounds and ambitions that were similar to those found in their early work. (AMG)

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Indian Puddin' & Pipe - Hashish (1966-69)



Przedstawiam grupę, której nagrania są uważane w kręgach kolekcjonerskich jako istny "biały kruk". W dobie płyt CD, kiedy to pojawia się bardzo wiele ciekawych pozycji (za co chwała) i ich dostępność jest o wiele większa - chciałem skonfrontować ten mit - i niestety kompletne rozczarowanie - kolejne zresztą. No nijak ta muzyka do mnie nie trafia. Dla mnie kompletna chujoza. Jedyny utwór grupy Indian Puddin' & Pipe, który się broni - to "Hashish" - i tyle - reszta to jakaś "fiukanka". Prezentuję ten album na zasadzie czystej konfrontacji (z czym?). Mam czasem wrażenie, że istnieje - jakieś lobby kolekcjonerskie - które doprawdy - kieruje się nie wiadomo jakimi kryteriami - czy to minimalny (czasem prywatny) nakład? Czy wartością muzyczną? Coś tu nie jest tak? Co myślicie o tych wszystkich legendach?

  • Jeff LaBrache ~ Drums
  • Kris Larson ~ Guitar
  • Dave Burke ~ Bass
  • Pat Craig ~ Keyboards, Vocals
  • Steve Mack ~ Guitar, Violin, Vocals
  • Paul Trousdale ~ Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Vocals
  • Steve "Warthog" Jackson ~ Bass, Vocals
  • Barry Lewis ~ Drums
  • Dennis Lannigan ~ Alto Saxophone, Piano, Vocals
  • Rex Larsen ~ Guitar, Vocals
  • Rick Quintanal ~ Drums
  • David Savage ~ Trumpet
  • Jock Ellis ~ Trombone
  • Lydia Moreno ~ Vocals
(Matko - ile tam luda się przewinęło? Po co?)



This group, which has a very confusing and sorted history, began life in 1966 and originally haled from Seattle where they were known as the West Coast Natural Gas. Original members included Steve Guinn (guitar, vocals), Dean Herrick (guitar), Dave Burke (bass), Jeff Labrache (drums) and Kris Larson (12-string guitar, vocals). Guinn and Herrick were soon replaced by Mike "Kep" Kepley (guitar, vocals) and Chuck Bates (lead guitar) who both shared an apartment with Doug Hastings of the Daily Flash. Bates then left suddenly to join the military and was replaced by Steve Mack (lead guitar). Kepley then contracted hepatitis and was replaced by Pat Craig (vocals).

In late 1967, the West Coast Natural Gas relocated to San Francisco, was signed by producer/manager Matthew Katz (Moby Grape, Jefferson Airplane, It's A Beautiful Day) and issued one 45 on Katz's San Francisco Sound label under that moniker. In 1968, they recorded four strong tracks (including the excellent 'Hashish' and 'Water Or Wine') which appeared on the Katz conceived psychedelic compilation LP titled 'Fifth Pipedream, Volume 1'. It's interesting to note that these songs were actually recorded by the West Coast Natural Gas, which abruptly broke up soon after the tracks were laid to wax. Katz then decided to rename the already defunct ensemble Indian, Puddin' And Pipe and issue the tunes under this moniker. Other bands that are featured on this obscure record include It's A Beautiful Day, Black Swan and Tripsichord Music Box.

In late 1968, Pat Craig and Steve Mack got back together and reformed a new, more eclectic version of Indian, Puddin' And Pipe with Rex Larsen (guitar, vocals), Paul Trousdale (tenor saxophone, flute, vocals), Dennis Lannigan (alto saxophone, piano, vocals), Steve "Warthog" Jackson (bass, vocals) and Barry Lewis (drums). Other members that would later join the band before its final demise in late 1969, included Rick Quintanal (drums), Jock Ellis (trombone), David Savage (trumpet) and Lydia Moreno (vocals). (techwebsound.com)

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Christie (1970)



Patrząc z perspektywy czasu - biorąc pod uwagę wszystkie "za" i "przeciw" (we własnym sumieniu) - muszę stwierdzić, że jest to dla mnie legendarna płyta. Była to pierwsza płyta zachodniego zespołu jaką pamiętam (długogrająca płyta rzecz jasna !). Była wcześniejsza niż Abby czy Africa Simone'a. Katowałem ją wtedy na swoim Mister Hicie dopóki nie powstały na niej białe ślady. W szarym, ponurym PRL-u zielono-zółto-niebieski szlaczek na okładce - był jakby prawdziwą tęczą. Z wiekiem - w okresie punkowania - płyta grupy Christie była dla mnie synonimem "syfu" i "obciachu". Na długi czas zupełnie o niej zapomniałem. Ale teraz "kiedy patrzę na te lata, co minęły" - bardzo przyjemnie odbieram ten album. Z sentymentem i wzruszeniem.

Grupa - początkowo trio - później kwartet - a dokładnie Jeff Christie skomponował utwór "Yellow River" dla słynnej już wówczas grupy The Tremeloes, która z niewiadomych powodów zwlekała z jego nagraniem - i to był jej błąd. Grupa Christie nagrała ją wcześniej - co przyniosło jej zasłużony sukces. W 1970 roku wystąpili na festiwalu w Sopocie.



Christie were an English rock band formed at the end of the 1960s. They are best remembered for their UK chart-topping hit single, "Yellow River" released in 1970.

In addition to Jeff Christie (born Jeffrey Christie, 12 July 1946, Leeds, Yorkshire, England) their vocalist, bassist and songwriter; they initially included guitarist Vic Elmes and drummer Michael Blakley.

Jeff Christie had initially worked with several bands including The Outer Limits, who released "Just One More Chance" / "Help Me Please" (1967) and "Great Train Robbery" / "Sweet Freedom" (1968), and Acid Gallery, whose single "Dance Around The Maypole" (1969) was written by Roy Wood.

That year Jeff Christie offered his composition "Yellow River" to The Tremeloes. They recorded it to release as a single, but when they changed their minds they allowed Christie to use the backing track themselves. The result was a UK number one hit in June 1970, and subsequently #23 in the U.S., also accumulating more weeks (23) on the Hot 100 than any other entry on that chart completely inside 1970. It was a worldwide hit and was number one in 26 countries with global sales of over 3 million.

The follow-up single from October 1970, "San Bernadino" (misspelled if referring to, for example, San Bernardino, California), reached UK Number 7 and Number 1 in Germany, but only U.S. #100. Both tracks became flash songs on their eponymous debut album of that year, and it stayed on U.S.

Billboard 200 chart for ten weeks. But the trio failed to sustain a lasting career, and Blakley was replaced by Paul Fenton just before the release of the band's second album, For All Mankind (1971).



Lem Lubin (ex-Unit 4 + 2) was added to the line-up for Iron Horse (1972), but the title track proved to be the band's final hit single. The departure of Fenton and Lubin hastened the demise of the original line-up, but Jeff Christie returned with new members Terry Fogg (drums), Roger Flavell (bass), and Danny Krieger (guitar). A 1974 single "Alabama" / "I'm Alive" failed to resurrect the band's fortunes, and new members Tony Ferguson (guitar) and Roger Willis (drums) were brought in to join Christie and Flavell."JoJo's Band", written by Elmes, was a chart-topper for Jeff Christie in Argentina and Brazil, while the last Christie hit, "Navajo", was Number 1 in Mexico.

Jeff Christie kept the group's name alive well into 1973 with replacement members, and cut songs for Mercury Records in the mid 1970s — he kept using the group name as an alias on material recorded for the Epic and Wizard, and took back his full name for records on the RK label in the 1980s.

There were disputes over the use of the group name in the 1980s, although Jeff Christie appeared to be using it most recently, while Vic Elmes sometimes fronted a band called Christie Again in Europe.

Jeff Christie reformed the band in 1990 with members of UK band Tubeless Hearts, Kev Moore, Simon Kay and Adrian 'Fos' Foster. They tried to represent United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 with "Safe in your Arms", but were unsuccessful. They continued to tour for a further twelve years all over Europe, Russia and Israel, recording intermittently. After a four year hiatus, and following the release of Jeff Christie's Floored Masters double album, the 1990 line-up of Christie re-convened and embarked on a 2009 European Tour.

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Valdy - Country Man (1972)



Pan ukrywający się pod pseudonimem artystycznym Valdy - czyli Valdemar Horsdal, syn duńskich emigrantów - uważany jest za drugiego - po Gordonie Lightfootcie - barda kanadyjskiej sceny folkowej. O ile nie przepadam za kompozycjami Gordona Lightfoota (choć nie znam jego pierwszych albumów) to debiutancki LP Valdy'ego jest bardzo sympatyczny. Polecam - choćby tak dla oddechu - posłuchać czegoś lżejszego.



Valdy (Valdemar Horsdal). Singer-songwriter, guitarist, b Ottawa, of Danish parents, 1946. Valdy began his career playing guitar in rock and country groups. In 1966 he made his home in British Columbia, where he farmed for several years near Sooke. Adopting a country-folk style, he performed in Victoria coffee houses and in 1972 came to national notice with his 'Rock and Roll Song' (from the LP Country Man, Haida HL-5101). Other popular singles for Haida and A & M followed 1973-6: his own songs 'A Good Song' and 'Simple Life,' and David Bradstreet's 'Renaissance (Let's Dance That Old Dance)'. Valdy has also recorded several songs by Bob Ruzicka, including 'Yes I Can (Anyway You Want Me).'

A second Haida LP, Landscapes (HL-5104), was followed 1975-80 by four for A & M: Family Gathering (SP-9103), Valdy and the Hometown Band (SP-4592), Hot Rocks (SP-9034) and the 'best of' collection Passport (SP-9038). His first four LPs each sold more than 50,000 copies in Canada. Valdy appeared in this period in concert and at folk festivals, latterly with the Hometown Band (Claire Lawrence), which brought elements of rock and jazz to his music. Valdy also performed in the US and sang at the 1976 International Song Festival, Sopot, Poland. He received Juno Awards for outstanding performance in 1972 and as folk singer of the year in 1973.

Although less prominent during the 1980s, Valdy remained a fixture on the Canadian folk circuit and also appeared for children and, on occasion, with symphony orchestras, maintaining a yearly itinerary of some 200 performances. He released three more LPs: Valdy (1980, Sloth SL-1001), Valdy's Kid's Record (1982, Sloth SL-1003), and Notes from Places (Duke Street DSR-31010, which included a version of Ron Hynes's 'Sonny's Dream,' a country hit in 1985). To his early concern as a songwriter for environmental and social causes, he added a decided political slant with such titles as 'Living Next to a Candy Store' (re the Canada-US Free Trade agreement, 1988), 'Ten Little White Men - The Ballad of Meech Lake' (1990), and 'Hey Mr. Michael Wilson' (re the Goods and Services Tax, 1990). His, however, has generally been a voice of concern and caution rather than anger, the passion of his message moderated by his sweet, relaxed tenor.



In the 1990s he continued to tour and perform extensively, and made another three albums. Heart @ Work (Peg Music, 1993, PMT 012) includes the anti-war song "When Peace Comes to the Valley." Smorgas Bard (Rack-On-Tour, 1996, ROT101) saw the launch of Valdy's own record label, Rack-On-Tour. This album features a duet with Senator Tommy Banks on "Double Solitaire." The notion of duets blossomed with the album Contenders (Stony Plain, 1999, SPCD-1262), a collaboration with cowboy singer/songwriter Gary Fjellgaard. The two toured extensively throughout Canada, and continue to perform together frequently. Valdy released a double CD in 2003: Viva Valdy: Live at Last (Rack-On-Tour, ROT 22152) includes one CD of studio recordings and one of live performances.

Valdy is an energetic performer, famous for jigging and dancing on stage, and establishing rapport with young and adult audiences alike. To date he has 14 albums, 22 singles, and four gold records, and has sold nearly half a million units worldwide. Since 1974 he has received 12 Juno nominations. His songs have been recorded by many other artists; perhaps the biggest genre leap occurred when "A Good Song" was recorded under the title "Just a Man" by American jazz artist Quincy Jones.

Valdy has twice been a panelist on CBC-TV's Front Page Challenge and had a lead role on one episode of The Beachcombers. He continues to perform concerts in the US (he is a favourite at the annual Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas), Europe, and Australia. He lives on Saltspring Island, BC. (Holly Quan; thecanadianencyclopedia.com)

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Peter Grudzien - The Unicorn (1974)


Rzecz obowiązkowa dla wszystkich miłośników naiwnej psychodelii oraz neofitów amerykańskiego freak folku. Artysta o swojsko brzmiącym nazwisku - Grudzien to jeden z nieprzebranej rzeszy multiinstrumentalistów-autsajderów, którzy przed laty (pierwsze nagrania pochodzą z początku lat 60.!), w zaciszu domowego studia nagraniowego własnego pomysłu rejestrowali psychodeliczne arcydzieła inspirowane folkiem, country, muzyką klasyczną i undergroundowym rockiem, filtrując wszystkie te doświadczenia przez własną wrażliwość muzyczną zrodzoną nierzadko z osobliwych przeżyć egzystencjalnych (duchowych, religijnych czy stricte psychodelicznych). Grudzien śpiewa piosenki, pod którymi mogliby zapewne bez wstydu podpisać się Bob Dylan czy Johnny Cash, ale nie zadowala się statusem hipisowskiego barda, szukając dla siebie formy bardziej pojemnej - eksperymentując z możliwościami studia, preparowaniem taśm z nagranym materiałem, elektronicznymi generatorami i modulatorami dźwięku, efektami brzmieniowymi i estetyką produkcji, którą dziś określilibyśmy bez wahania mianem lo-fi. Efekt jest urzekający - wszak wszystkie te osobliwości aranżacyjne i brzmieniowe, jakkolwiek po latach mogą sprawiać wrażenie muzycznego archaiku, jednocześnie nadają piosenkom artysty niepowtarzalny charakter, czyniąc z nich muzyczne opowieści ekscentrycznego lecz obdarzonego niewątpliwą charyzmą pieśniarza nie wahającego się przy tym spoglądać śmiało w przyszłość folku i muzyki pop. I, jak się okazuje z perspektywy dziesięcioleci, Grudzien dość trafnie "przewidział" (jasnosłysząc?) ewolucję folkowej psychodelii, antycypując późniejsze poczynania twórców takich, jak Jandek czy Daniel Johnston. Warto zatem posłuchać, jak przed czterdziestu laty swą osobną krainę dźwięku konstruował Piotr Grudzień. (gaz-eta)


Peter Grudzien is an American country/psychedelic singer-songwriter, photographer, commercial artist, musician and recording engineer. Grudzien's music has been well-known in the outsider music community since it's inclusion in Irwin Chusid's book Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music (2000). "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere" is included on the companion CD for the book. Grudzien's music is eclectic. Peter grew up listening to classical music and later discovered country. In the fifties he started listening to such artists as Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and Johnny Horton. (see Esoteric Culture, Issue 2, Robert Koenig) Peter had a recording contract at the age of sixteen with the Pell Brothers whom he referrs to as "Brooklyn hillbillies". They wrote the music; he wrote the lyrics. He was tremendously influenced by Dylan, whom he met briefly. Grudzien was part of the group of luminaries such as John Herald, Peter Stampfel, Phil White, and others who played around Greenwich Village. Myth has it that Peter met Johnny Cash. Although he had his picture taken with Cash they did not otherwise meet and certainly never played together. Grudzien's LP, The Unicorn, was released in 1974. Grudzien had 500 copies pressed and tried, unsuccessfully, to sell them in bookstores. The album was almost entirely written, played, and produced by Peter except for the piano intro in "The Innocents", transcribed by a gay friend whose name he has forgotten (see Koenig). The Unicorn was re-released on CD by Parallel World in 1995. The CD release of The Unicorn also included several new songs by Grudzien, including his take on the American standard, "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere", updated with many openly gay sentiments. (According to Grudzien's associate Barbara Zigman, Grudzien did not receive any royalties from Parallel World for the CD reissue.) Grudzien still occasionally performs in the New York area. He no longer records. Several post-Unicorn tapes and CDs were produced but are not generally available.

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New Violin Summit 1971 - Live in Berlin (1972)



To teraz taki delikatny, jazzowy wtręcik. Niesamowita płyta - spotkanie prawdziwych muzycznych gigantów - Jean-Luc Ponty, Michał Urbaniak, Robert Wyatt, Terje Rypdal, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Wolfgang Dauner - normalnie paranoja. Nie słyszałem nigdy tej płyty, dlatego chciałbym się od razu nią z Wami podzielić. Absolutnie pozycja obowiązkowa.

  • Terje Rypdal - guitar
  • Wolfgang Dauner - keyboards
  • Robert Wyatt - drums
  • Michal Urbaniak - violin
  • Jean-Luc Ponty - violin
  • Don Sugarcane Harris - violin
  • Neville Whitehead - bass



Oh Man - it's amazing album. The meetings of true music giants - Jean-Luc Ponty, Michał Urbaniak, Robert Wyatt, Terje Rypdal, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Wolfgang Dauner- it will blow your mind. I've just discovered this album and I want to share with You.

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John Mayall - Looking Back (1969)



O Johnie Mayallu pisałem już nieco u prehistorii tego bloga. Prezentuję ją poniekąd z powodów osobistych i szczególnego sentymentu jakim darzę utwór "Jenny", który nie znalazł się na żadnej regularnej płycie Mayalla - dopiero "Looking Back" to nadrabia - bowiem zawiera niepublikowane nagrania lub odrzuty z różnych sesji Mayalla, w różnych konfiguracjach personalnych. Jednak gwoli poprawności przypominam pokrótce sylwetkę tego muzyka.

John Mayall (ur. 29 listopada 1933 w Macclesfield, Cheshire w Anglii) - brytyjski multiinstrumentalista (gra na gitarze, instrumentach klawiszowych, perkusji), kompozytor, bluesman, pionier muzyki rockowej.

Urodził się w rodzinie Murraya Mayalla - gitarzysty i entuzjasty jazzu. Od najmłodszych lat słuchał amerykańskich bluesmanów takich jak Leadbelly, Albert Ammons, Pinetop Smith czy Eddie Lang i sam uczył się gry na fortepianie, gitarze i harmonijce. Po ukończeniu college'u Mayall odsłużył trzy lata w armii brytyjskiej w Korei. W 1956 zaczął grać bluesa w półprofesjonalnej grupie The Powerhouse Four, a następnie w The Blues Syndicate. Po wpływem Alexisa Kornera przeniósł się do Londynu i utworzył tam John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Mayall był przeciętnie o dziesięć lat starszy niż pierwsze pokolenie muzyków brytyjskiego rock and rolla i rocka i w momencie, gdy ten się narodził miał już wieloletnie doświadczenie muzyczne. Nic zatem dziwnego, że stał się nestorem sceny rockowej w pierwszej połowie lat sześćdziesiątych. Mayall był też pierwszym, który sięgnął do korzeni muzyki rockowej - bluesa i zainicjował styl blues rock. W jego grupie John Mayall Blues Breakers, która była swoistą "wylęgarnią" i szkołą talentów, swą karierę rozpoczynali tacy muzycy jak Eric Clapton i Jack Bruce z Cream, Peter Green, John McVie i Mick Fleetwood z Fleetwood Mac, Mick Taylor z The Rolling Stones i wielu innych. Większość uczniów Mayalla znacznie przewyższyła go popularnością.

Pod koniec lat sześćdziesiątych, po komercyjnym sukcesie w USA, Mayall przeprowadził się do Laurel Canyon w Los Angeles wtapiając się w lokalną scenę blues rocka i jazz-rocka. W roku 2005 został uhonorowany Orderem Imperium Brytyjskiego.

Spośród wielu wielkich muzyków bluesowych, którzy wpłynęli na John'a Mayall'a na początku jego kariery, jest jeden, któremu Mayall szczególnie dziękuje i którego darzy sentymentem. Pochodzący z Gilder w Texasie Freddie King, gitarzysta, wokalista i twórca piosenek stał się jedną z największych gwiazd bluesa w późnych latach 50' i 60'. Jego dziki i niepohamowany styl wywarł wpływ na brytyjskich gitarzystów, w tym również na The Bluesbreakers. Trzy płyty Mayall'a odnoszące sukcesy w latach 60' mogły poszczycić się znamienitymi wersjami instrumentalnych kompozycji Kinga: "Hideway" (z albumu "Beano"), na którym zagrał debiutujący Eric Clapton; "The Stumble" (z "A Hard Road"), który przedstawiał szerszej publiczności żółtodzioba Petera Green oraz "Driving Sideways" (z Crusade) z wiodącym udziałem świeżej twarzy Micka Taylora.

A oto jakie persony - oczywiście na przestrzeni wielu lat - brały udział w sesjach Mayalla - i ma to odzwierciedlenie właśnie w "Looking Back"

  • Tony McPhee - Guitar
  • Paul Williams - Bass
  • John Almond - Flute, Sax
  • Mick Fleetwood - Guitar, Drums
  • Andy Fraser - Guitar
  • Keef Hartley - Drums
  • John McVie - Bass, Guitar / Bass
  • Aynsley Dunbar -Drums
  • Colin Allen - Drums
  • Eric Clapton - Guitar
  • Peter Green - Guitar
  • Dick Heckstall-Smith - Sax
  • Jon Hiseman - Drums
  • Jon Mark - Guitar
  • Jack Bruce - Bass
  • John Mayall - Organ, Piano, Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboards, Vocals
  • Mick Taylor - Guitar, Performer
  • Alan Skidmore - Sax
  • Champion Jack Dupree - Vocals



If you like white blues this is a lovely recording -- who cares it is a collection rather than all of piece? "Stormy Monday" is breathtaking Clapton recorded live - compare his barnstorming approach to the laid back Allman Bros recording on "Live at the Fillmore" and you can see why Clapton was so influential to heavy rock. This is a collection of songs that were essentially outtakes when initially recorded - I assume released in 1969 so the company could put out another recording and capitalize on the Clapton/Green/Taylor connection (as well as Mayall, of course who was a star too). Unmistakable and very powerful! Still in my view Peter Green (perhaps as usual?) provides the most tasty additions to most of the tracks. His solo on "Looking Back" is an absolute classic of its type - squeeze a meaningful and dynamic solo into one minute of song and then stop. Economy is what it is all about. I wish I could play like that. As others say earlier, "Jenny" is another unusual track with great melacholia (a Green characteristic) as is "So Many Roads". As usual with these Decca/London-Mayall recordings the sound is just lovely and the band are wonderfully full of character. Definitely white, definitely blues and they know when to stop as well as start playing - tasteful is probably the word for it. I recommend it. If you have the "BB with Eric Clapton" and "A Hard Road" and "Bare Wires", then I think this is next on the list.

This is a collection of songs that were essentially outtakes when initially recorded - I assume released in 1969 so the company could put out another recording and capitalize on the Clapton/Green/Taylor connection (as well as Mayall, of course who was a star too). If you like white blues this is a lovely recording -- who cares it is a collection rather than all of piece? "Stormy Monday" is breathtaking Clapton recorded live - compare his barnstorming approach to the laid back Allman Bros recording on "Live at the Fillmore" and you can see why Clapton was so influential to heavy rock. Unmistakable and very powerful! Still in my view Peter Green (perhaps as usual?) provides the most tasty additions to most of the tracks. His solo on "Looking Back" is an absolute classic of its type - squeeze a meaningful and dynamic solo into one minute of song and then stop. Economy is what it is all about. I wish I could play like that. As others say earlier, "Jenny" is another unusual track with great melacholia (a Green characteristic) as is "So Many Roads". As usual with these Decca/London-Mayall recordings the sound is just lovely and the band are wonderfully full of character. Definitely white, definitely blues and they know when to stop as well as start playing - tasteful is probably the word for it. I recommend it. If you have the "BB with Eric Clapton" and "A Hard Road" and "Bare Wires", then I think this is next on the list.

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Six Organs of Admittance - Dust & Chimes (1999)



Za nazwą Six Organs Of Admittance kryje się Ben Chasny, utalentowany gitarzysta od 13 lat konsekwentnie pełniący rolę cichego bohatera "nowego folku".

Patrząc na ogrom jego dokonań, trudno jednak zamknąć go w tak ciasnej szufladce. Chasny od 2003 roku do końca działalności był filarem Comets On Fire. Współpracował też z Davidem Tibetem i jego Current 93, ponadto nagrywał z Sunn O))), Devendrą Banhartem czy Magik Markers.

Dziś Chasny poza Six Organs Of Admittance udziela się w zespole Rangda, który tworzy z gitarzystą Sun City Girls Richardem Bishopem i Chrisem Corsano, perkusistą m.in. Björk, Thurstona Moore'a czy Jima O'Rourke'a.

Wydawcą ostatnich płyt Six Organs Of Admittance jest Drag City, przystań takich artystów, jak Bill Callahan, Bonnie "Prince" Billy czy Joanna Newsom.

Grupa miała bodajże wystąpić we wrześniu br. w Polsce, ale chyba do tego nie doszło.

***

You wouldn’t get much disagreement from me if you suggested that there is a spiritual dimension absent from a lot of music that lies under the rubric of “rock” these days, be it either popular, underground, or the “alternative” nether-zone that lies uncomfortably somewhere between the two. Which is why I need to tell you about the extraordinary journey of guitarist Ben Chasny from the obstreperous acid-scrawl nihilism of his first band Plague Lounge to the transcendent acoustic majesty of Six Organs of Admittance - now his main, and largely solo, focus. It’s pretty likely that you are going to hear a lot about Six Organs of Admittance from now on, because the recent “Dust and Chimes” CD on Chasny’s own Pavilion label is one of those records that uproots listeners from the everyday and transports them into an altogether altered reality – one that is both haunted by dark species memories, and enchanted by things that perhaps exist, and perhaps don’t. Wherever they go – these listeners - they don’t come back the same, and when they come back, they speak in strange tongues.

“Dust and Chimes” starts with a 90 second track comprising little more than the rumbling of cavernous bass drums accompanied by temple bells – a strange processional track which makes sense (maybe) once the title, ‘Stone Finder’s Verse I’, is known. This track is a perfect lead-in to the torch-lit medieval world of “Dust and Chimes”, and what follows it represents one of the most perfectly constructed acid-folk meditations since the golden age of the Pentangle, Incredible String Band and C.O.B. Not only has Chasny utterly absorbed the European pagan aesthetic of the 60s psychedelic folk movement, he has also tuned in to the whole maverick 60s folk-blues guitarist axis from Renbourn and Jansch on one side of the Atlantic to Fahey’s Takoma luminaries on the other. When ‘Stone Finder’s Verse I’ segues into ‘Assyria’ with a brief hallucinatory moment of backwards tape conjuring followed by a quicksilver shower of acoustic guitar notes and charmed vocals, it’s apparent that there is some pretty potent mojo at work. Other absolute corkers are the divinely melodic ‘Blue Sun Chiming’, where Chasny’s rich vocals get an airing; and the 10 minute solo guitar excursion ‘Journey Through Sankuan Pass’, the
unfettered passion and skill of which confirmed for me that Chasny has the ability to close the gap on the masters should he decide that he wants to. Finally, ‘Dance Among The Waiting’ burns a mantra across the sky with the sort of beauty and strangeness that might result from a campfire collaboration between the Supreme Dicks and the Tower Recordings.

Listening to Chasny’s guitar, I think of Basho and Bull first, for the eastern influences and open-ended experimentalism of the playing, then Fahey for the soul and melancholy of it all, then Kottke for physicality and harmonics. Chasny only partly confirms my thesis: “I enjoy listening to Fahey, but he has never really been an influence on my playing, at least not directly. I think Kottke has been a fairly big influence as far as the “lets see how I can drive this melody into the ground” approach to manhandling the acoustic guitar goes. A lot of my solo acoustic playing works with the treble strings wandering around a drone, which I think comes more from listening to some of the English guitarists like Bert Jansch, Nick Drake and John Renbourn. I have actually never had a chance to hear Basho or Bull, though I would like to, as people keep telling me I would enjoy them. The more experimental elements of my music usually arise from a need to convey an abstract “wilderness” element to contrast the “civilized” structures of the preconceived musical systems which I use, such as tempered scales, melodies and chords.”



Organ The Second

But we should begin somewhere near the beginning of the journey, in 1996 in a dank basement with Plague Lounge, and three pretty pissed-off sounding youths sending roaches and rats scurrying in terror before the maximum night of their excoriating acid rock onslaught. Picture a heavily-drugged Fushitsusha playing a gig in an underground cavern. Now imagine it being recorded topside via microphones buried in the soil and then cut onto wax cylinders. With that in your mind you are near to the experience of the Plague Lounge LP “The Wicker Image” on New World of Sound/Holy Mountain. The cover adds to the effect, with a reversed print of a wicker sacrifice stuck on to a plain card sleeve. Everything is focused inwards to the point of autism, portraying a private ceremony between three people utterly indifferent to what the outside world might think of their creations. Unsurprisingly, Chasny doesn’t have a lot to say about this period of his development, and is unlikely to tell his grandchildren about it. He will maybe tell you that “the Plague Lounge were some teenagers who just wanted to play loud music. I think Hendrix and Haino were probably a bit of an influence, as well as the other PSF rockers. It was real chore to keep the band from sounding like some Dead C rip off since the bass player didn’t have an original bone in his body and would’ve made us sound like a cheap imitation if he could
have. The band broke up because the other members just had no passion for creation at all. Finally I just said ‘forget this shit’ and the Six Organs was born. The other members haven’t made a sound since” or maybe he will say nothing. But at the end of the day the Plague Lounge LP is an intriguing but flawed document, containing some blistering acid guitar torching from Chasny but let down by poor sound and ludicrous vocals.

At the same time as the Plague Lounge was going on, Chasny was involved in an acoustic project with violinist known only as Aolani. They called themselves Eta Corina, and released nothing, although they did record. The material that I have heard reveals a wonderful Yin to the Plague Lounge’s Yang, with Chasny’s intricate and highly skilled classical guitar forming an airfield from which Aolani’s bright violin excursions could really take off into a sky that a pilot would grinningly describe as eight-eighths deep blue and cloudless. There is a touch of Windham Hill to it all, but the best of it recalls the ozone-headiness of the Jefferies/Lonie underground classic ‘At Swim Two Birds’, a fine thing to get anywhere near. Most importantly, the musical relationship between Chasny and Aolani was to be crucial signpost to the direction that Six Organs of Admittance would take. I asked him about her:

“Aolani’s actually a really amazing woman. We’ve known each other since we were about 8 years old. She used to be in a hardcore band called Saké that was pretty popular in that particular scene in the US. I had the Plague Lounge and she would scream her head off in Saké and then the kids couldn’t make head nor tail of it when we got together to play as Eta Corina. Those were fun times. She’s a big fan of Diamanda Galas and Kronos Quartet. We used to play at this open mike coffee house with bluegrass bands and folkies and hippies and such. They never knew how to peg us. One thing, though, is that everybody thought that it was her band and even that her name was Eta Corina. The Eta Corina stuff is mainly interesting from an archival point. We broke up because I wanted to do more psych-folk things like Six Organs and she wanted to continue in the compositional style of Eta Corina. Musically, my guitar approach on the Eta Corina stuff has more of a classical leaning with less drone and more bass lines and counterpoint playing. Aolani really helped me figure out the guitar and how to play it the way I wanted. She’s been exploring the world for the last couple of years. Last I heard she was living in an abandoned pueblo outside of Madrid with her Spanish boyfriend. She might play with Six Organs when she returns.”

Existing in the dimensionless transition zone between the Yin and the Yang is one other Chasny project, Badgerlore, subject of a CD-R co-released by Pavilion and White Tapes in a quantity of only 50. It is a splendid black-on-black card package held together by a band of eucalyptus bark, no doubt making it an interesting challenge to bring through customs. Chasny provides some background:

“Badgerlore is a mostly quiet electric improv duet with the guitarist for Deerhoof, Rob Fisk. He’s a dear friend and has taught me many things regarding the approach to music, art, and life itself. I don’t think the Six Organs of Admittance would sound like it does without him. So, even though the CDR is pretty abstract, and sounds radically different to Six Organs, it is actually tied to the same source. One might think of the Six Organs and Badgerlore as two manifestations of the same essence of being. I’m not saying people have to like it as much as my other music. But it may help them understand where it comes from.”

The seven tracks on Badgerlore CD-R explore Chasny’s experimental side, which is always present in the background of the Six Organs material, but never really given reign. An exercise in the pure electro-acoustic hum and scrape of highly-amplified string instruments, the Badgerlore recordings are aligned sonically with Japanese and NZ free noise, celebrating texture over structure, atmosphere over development. It is the sounds your house makes when you are in bed late at night and you think you hear the front door being opened. Edgy and riveting listening, most certainly, but still with the sense of strange rituals being conducted among inscrutable redwoods about it.

Organ the Third

Having arrived in our journey at mystical sign that reads “Six Organs of Admittance”, one of the first things that should be cleared up is that name. Possibly just words arranged in an eye-pleasing fashion, or perhaps (and most likely) some careful philosophical construct, relating sound, soul and meaning. According to Chasny “The name originated from the Buddhist concept of the five senses plus the soul, which make up the six organs of admittance. I believe that different schools of Buddhism may have variations on that concept. It is a somewhat dynamic phrase that has universal ties to various spiritual traditions and religions as well. Lately I have considered the sixth organ not to be the soul but to be the active imagination that
provides access to what the late philosopher and mystic Henry Corbin called the “mundus
imaginalis”, that place where visions and prophetic dreams exist between the corporeal world and the world of spirits.”



When Plague Lounge called it a day, Chasny decided to return to the type of music that he could conceive of himself without having to worry about the lack of motivation and derivative tendencies of others. His most successful collaboration to date had been with Aolani in Eta Corina, who had helped him understand what he wanted to do with traditional folk forms. She played on the first Six Organ of Admittance release, a self-titled LP on Pavillion, creating a buzzsaw drone on the second track ‘The Sum of All Heaven’ with a detuned hand-made electric violin. Other than that, most sounds on Chasny’s new project were to be self-generated. The 1998 debut LP (great hand painted cover) starts dramatically with short modal improvisation that recalls Davey Graham, underpinned by a pulsating bass drone that makes you want to tie down any loose objects within range.

Nothing really prepares you for ‘The Sum of All Heaven’, though, which will have you tying yourself down to avoid premature ascension to the nearest waiting sky palace. Nearly 18 minutes of kaleidoscopic sound: elegant folk guitar, the aforementioned skull-buzz of detuned violin, Ben and Aolini’s zoned “heading for the sun” chant, more acoustic guitar sections backed by spooked electronics and feedback, finally reaching a quiet temple space with just bells and thoughts for company. Simply one of the most extraordinary pieces of psychedelic music of the 90s. Side two offers two more glorious short instrumental pieces, and the wild ‘Race from Vishnu’, played in a mode that was created for an Eta Corina song and conjuring a swirling
maelstrom of lightning modal guitar that would have a troupe of whirling dervishes utterly knackered and calling for time out.

I asked Chasny whether he thought the Six Organs approach had changed between the self-titled LP and the ‘Dust and Chimes’ CD:

“There is definitely an evolution intended between the two records. The LP was created from culling my acoustic work and trying to create a particular listening experience from what I already had, though some of the music was recorded with the thought of putting it on the LP. With the CD, I was much more conscious of an exact experience that I wanted to produce. The first song recorded was ‘Dance Among The Waiting’. Once written, I tried to keep that song as the ideal path for the listener. Much more time was taken to really map out the listening trajectory and experience of the disk, which isn’t to say that I think the LP is inferior at all. The LP has a spontaneity of execution that is a little more brisk than ‘Dust and Chimes,’ which I tried to make up for by including songs like ‘Oak Path’ on the disc. That song is basically the first take of a late night acoustic meditation. I also worked more with overdubbing acoustic parts on the disc, something I was hesitant to do with the LP.”

The most recent Six Organs release is a lathe-cut 12” called “Nightly Trembling”, containing two extended tracks that demonstrate that the river of inspiration is not going to run dry anytime soon. But it seems only fair to defer discussion of this material until a forthcoming “proper” release, since the lathe-cut was done in such a tiny quantity, is not readily available, and is in any case “challenging” sonically, in the best tradition of the polycarbonate medium.

Organ the Fourth

There is a magical sense of place in the Six Organs of Admittance records that Chasny explains thus: “There are a few small towns that are closely situated together. The closest city is San Francisco, about 270 miles south of here. Eureka is the largest local town. It has a population of about 30,000, I think. A little to the north of that is Arcata, the last great hippie bastion in America. A little to the north of that is McKinleyville, a tiny dirtspeck with some stores and gas stations. I generally move around between these local places. The LP was recorded while I was living in Eureka and the CD while I was living in Arcata. However, I grew up in a tiny house at the end of a place called Elk River Valley. We had a gigantic redwood tree in our yard and Elk River flowed through our backyard. My childhood was spent climbing trees and playing in the forest and exploring the woods. I think my music draws a lot from those places I used to visit and hide in the woods when I was a child. I recently went back to visit that place. Memories of childhood reveries flooded my senses and it was so powerful. I realised that my folk music
comes from this place and the trees, smells and all the feelings that are locked up and the only way back to them is through music. Many times, in my acoustic improvisations, I aim to reach a state of consciousness where the reveries flow and are transmuted into sound. Sometimes I don’t even know where my mind has been until I listen back to the recording. Then I will smell or hear things from where I had just been in my mind. Also, when I sing of the ‘magic’ of the woods it’s not from reading Tolkien or listening to goblin rock, but from the memories I have of the woodlands being very mysterious and filled with danger and magic when I was young. Those elements were important for the past recordings. I was in a very stable space emotionally when I wrote that music, which allowed me the comfort of letting my mind explore. I’m not so sure about the future music that will be created though.”

Something else that gives the Six Organs of Admittance material great resonance is the way it is recorded, which isn’t lo-fi by any means, rather it is home-recorded in the best kind of way, with great immediacy and intimacy. Chasny explains, “I record on a Tascam 4-track Portastudio. The guitars are actually recorded with a mike in the sound hole, something that I’m sure would make a studio tech cringe, but since I have fairly crappy guitars it doesn’t really matter. I like the fact that the mike touches the wood of the guitar, almost like a contact mike that picks up the movement of the instrument. Sometimes you can hear the rattle of the guitar in the recordings, especially towards the end or beginning of the songs. On the solo acoustic pieces another mike is set up in standard fashion. The “Dust and Chimes” CD was recorded in a house by a highway so I had to do most of the recordings late at night, something that probably influenced the aura as well.”

Organ the Fifth

As far as I know, the Six Organs of Admittance has only played live once, with a band Chasny assembled to play on a recent bill with The Sunburned Hand of Man, John Fahey and No Neck Blues Band in San Francisco. It was apparently a little difficult to cast the same range of spells in a live environment.

“We were pretty nervous since it was our first show ever”, explains Chasny, “and the show was fairly quiet which meant that people had trouble hearing us. I’m not really the kind of person to get up and talk to the audience to figure out what the best situation is. I just try to do the best I can by adjusting the given parameters but I understand that it must have been frustrating for
some people. Oh well. If I had banged on a huge drum and howled the whole time the avant set could’ve rubbed their chins and thought, ‘post-primitive experimental.’ But when confronted with people playing as sincerely as they can, but for some reason they are difficult to hear, it didn’t necessarily register well with everyone. We did get a range of really good responses though, so I guess some people did hear it. It was also a case of the place having the loudest damn refrigerator I’ve ever heard in my life. The people in the No Neck Blues Band and Sun Burned Hand Of The Man were really nice though and wanted to trade music, so that made us feel better since we really enjoyed listening to those bands.”

Organ the Sixth

During our series of exchanges, I make Ben Chasny a copy of two essential LPs, ‘Seal of the Blue Lotus’ and ‘The Grail and the Lotus’ by legendary folk guitarist Robbie Basho, the artist that he is most often compared to, and that he had not previously heard. His reaction was interesting:

“The Basho tape is really something special. I guess I kind of expected the same Takoma moves as the rest of those guys but he really has some unique methods of communication. I love the way Basho digs his whole fucking hand into the strings like he’s digging into the earth looking for water or something.”

Wherever Basho is now, I hope he can hear the Six Organs playing. I reckon he just might be smiling if he can.

© Tony Dale, The Ptolemaic Terrascope, September 1999


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Bill Nelson - Northern Dream (1971)





Bill Nelson to angielski gitarzysta i wokalista, który maczał palce w dwóch legendarnych albumach nagranych dla wytwórni Holyground - mam na myśli płyty "A-Aust" i "Astral Navigations". Ma spory dorobek płytowy. Obecnie zajmuje się muzyką z pogranicza ambientu. Współpracował m.in. z Davidem Sylvianem, grupą Be-Bop Deluxe. Prezentujemy pierwszy solowy album z 1971 roku.



Bill Nelson (born William Nelson, 18 December 1948, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England) is an English guitarist, songwriter, painter and experimental musician. He currently lives in Selby.

Nelson was educated at the Wakefield College of Art, where he developed an interest in the work of poet and filmmaker, Jean Cocteau. At this time he was also developing as a musician, drawing upon Duane Eddy as a primary guitar influence.

His first recording was a brief contribution on the album A-Austr, with Chris Coombs, Brian Calvert and Mike Levon. Levon recorded and produced the album A-Austr: Musics from Holyground which appeared on Holyground in 1970. After that Nelson appeared in a much more substantial role with Lightyears Away on Astral Navigations released in 1971. One track from this also gave Nelson his first airplay by John Peel: "Yesterday", written by Coombs, where Nelson's lead guitars were recorded by Levon in an acid rock style, supporting Coombs' stylophone riff.

Nelson's debut solo album Northern Dream drew more attention from Peel on his national BBC Radio 1 programme in the United Kingdom, and this eventually led to Nelson's band Be-Bop Deluxe signing to EMI. All of the Nelson recordings made at Holyground were released in February 2001 on the CD, Electrotype. Shortly after this Be-Bop Deluxe were signed to EMI, releasing Axe Victim.

After the breakup of Be-Bop Deluxe, Nelson created Red Noise (releasing the Sound on Sound album), but eventually settled into a career as a solo musician, recording albums in the early electropop vein such as The Love That Whirls and Quit Dreaming and Get On the Beam. Many of these albums were released with bonus records featuring experimental ambient instrumentals. For a period between the late 1970s and early 1980s, Nelson self-produced on his Cocteau label a plethora of releases, consisting of solo synthesizer and keyboard instrumental pieces. Many were later released on the short-lived Enigma label.

In mid 1980 Nelson released "Do You Dream In Colour?", and after airplay on BBC Radio 1, the single reached #52 in the UK Singles Chart.

He also contributed towards several tracks on David Sylvian's Gone to Earth (1986).

Nelson had bad luck with major labels in the 1980s. A deal with CBS Records went sour, leaving one album, Getting the Holy Ghost Across (U.S. title: On a Blue Wing). Nelson and his manager Mark Rye had formed the Cocteau Records label in 1981, and for many years this label handled the majority of Nelson's output, which often included multiple albums per year. Among the more ambitious Cocteau releases were the four-record boxed set of experimental electronic music, Trial by Intimacy (The Book of Splendours), and the later ambient collection, Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights, which contained music informed by Nelson's Gnostic beliefs. In the late 1980s, Nelson signed to the U.S. label Enigma Records, and though they re-released his entire Cocteau catalogue, the label soon went out of business.

As the 1980s ended, Nelson suffered a series of personal setbacks, including a divorce, tax problems, and an acrimonious dispute with his manager over his back catalogue rights. In the case of one album, the unreleased Simplex, his manager had been selling copies via mail order without Nelson's authorisation; Nelson claims he never received any royalties from these sales.

In the 1990s he released the 4-CD box set, Demonstrations of Affection, and he worked on some guitar-based instrumental projects such as the albums Crimsworth and Practically Wired, or How I Became Guitar Boy. Further large scale improvised offerings included My Secret Studio and Noise Candy.

In 1996, Nelson's troubles with his former manager were resolved in a lawsuit which enabled Nelson to recover much of his back catalogue. A fully authorized version of the Simplex album was released in 2001.

In the late 1990s, Nelson created the Populuxe Records label, with a distribution arrangement with Robert Fripp's Discipline Global Mobile, but the relationship with DGM has stagnated and Nelson's last DGM release was Atom Shop in 1998. Subsequent releases have been on other imprints such as Toneswoon and Voiceprint as well as direct mail-order releases.

2002 saw the release of Three White Roses and a Budd (CD Single, with Fila Brazillia and Harold Budd) on Twentythree Records.

By 2006, Universal Music (UK) re-issued three Mercury albums on CD - Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam, The Love that Whirls, and Chimera all have been remastered, and released with bonus tracks. The lone CBS album, Getting the Holy Ghost Across/On a Blue Wing, has also been issued on CD, with all the original tracks and extras on Nelson's Sonoluxe imprint.

An annual event known as 'Nelsonica' is held every year in Yorkshire, at which Nelson makes a rare public performance.

Thanks to Mike Musiclover

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