Moving Sidewalks - Flash (1968)

Moving Sidewalks - to amerykańska grupa z Teksasu, założona w drugiej połowie lat 60-tych przez nikogo innego jak gitarzystę i wokalistę Billa Gibbonsa późniejszego ZZ Top-ianina. Zespół poczatkowo nagrał kilka singli dla wytwórni Wand i Tantra, a ponieważ cieszyły się one lokalnym powodzeniem ta druga zaproponowała jej wydanie albumu. I tak też się stało - w 1968 roku światło dzienne ujrzał album "Flash". Zawiara on gitarową psychodelię, ale też słychać na niej muzyczne poszukiwania (szczególnie na drugiej stronie albumu). Moim zdaniem jest to jedna z najciekawszych grup i swoisty klasyk gatunku. Muzyka Movig Sidewalks była ceniona przez samego Jimi Hendrixa. Zespół istniał tylko do 1970.

Bill Gibbons - guitar, vocal
Tom Moore - keyboards
Don Summers - bass
Dan Mitchell - drums

The Moving Sidewalks ~ founded by Billy Gibbons in 1967, consisted of Gibbons on guitar, vocals & harmonica, Don Summers on bass, Dan Mitchell on drums and Tom Moore on keyboards. The Texas psychedelic group quickly drew a large following, especially in the Houston “teen scene”. They recorded several singles and one full-length album, Flash. Their single “99th Floor” was a hit and topped the charts at #1 in Houston for six weeks. The success of this record led the Sidewalks to sign with Wand Records which then released “Need Me” which also became a Top 10 Hit. The group was asked to open for many legendary rock tours, including Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.

After Tom Moore and Don Summers were drafted into the U.S. Army, Billy Gibbons and Dan Mitchell added Lanier Greig and formed the original ZZ Top. They recorded the first ZZ Top record, “Salt Lick”, which was released on London Records. The Moving Sidewalks opened for the legendary Texas psychedelic group 13th Floor Elevators at the San Antonio Texas psychedelic venue Love Street Emporium located on Commerce Street on the edge of downtown San Antonio. The Elevators set was stopped after only a few songs by the San Antonio police department who arrested the band’s lead singer Roky Erickson. (thesweetestpsychopath.tumblr.com)

Yes, this is the band that Billy Gibbons rose to local fame with, a band that opened and/or played with such legendary acts as The 13th Floor Elevators, The Golden Dawn, Fever Tree, Shiva's Headband, Bubble Puppy, Doug Sahm, and the Winter brothers, just to name a few. They've probably become over-rated by enthusiastic ZZ Top fans, and over-stated by justly proud native Texans lucky enough to have had them play at their local clubs, bars and youth centers back in the day. But the basis of those over-ratings and over-statments was real: they were a fine combo who could cook with the best of the bands previously named.

This LP features a nascent Billy Gibbons in his youth, already with many of the chops and licks he'd bring to ZZ Top a short while later. It's puro homegrown Texas Psychedelic Blues, specifically the genuine South Coast Sound of Galveston, (home of the Bali Room) and that muggy Baghdad on the Bayou, Houston Texas. Granted, it sounds a little dated--most Psychedelic bands of the 60's and 70's do. Granted, you'll only catch a studio portion of the live act that made them such legends, not unlike the 13th Floor Elevators in that respect--locals who saw them still rave about their shows to this day "you should have been there". But until such a time as some live Sidewalks CDs surface, those of us unfortunate enough as to have missed these cats in their heyday will just have to make do with this. (Walter Five)

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