Various Artists - Country Funk 1969-1975 & Country Funk II 1967-1974 (2012-2104 Light In The Attic LITA 083 & LITA 116)

Intrepid record label Light in the Attic offers us another theme-based compilation we didn't know we needed until they did it. Previous examples, Listen Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1967-1974, the two volumes of Thai Funk, and Our Lives Are Shaped by What We Love: Motown's MoWest Story 1971-73 to name a few, were standard bearers; they highlighted essential sounds few but collectors owned. Country Funk: 1969-1975 brings together 16 sides from the catalogs of artists well-known and marginal, whose works all share mercurial qualities: their Southern rural roots actively engage emergent funk. Tony Joe White and Jim Ford are obvious choices, but their representative tracks aren't. In the former case, it's the swaggering "Stud Spider," and in the latter's it's raw gutbucket "I'm Wanta Make Her Love Me." Nostalgic memory and longing for Southern locales are addressed in numerous places such as in Johnny Adams' "Georgia Morning Dew" and John Randolph Marr's "Hello L.A - Bye Bye Birmingham." Set opener Dale Hawkins celebrates it all in "L.A., Memphis, Tyler, Texas" as Tower of Power-styled horns meet Stax guitars and Canned Heat's laid-back boogie. Elsewhere, the deep, funky, electric blues connect Gray Fox's reading of Buzz Clifford's "Hawg Frog" and Johnny Jenkins' take on Dr. John's classic "I Walk On Gilded Splinters"; their choruses and production quite literally mirror one another. Urban Blues, bluegrass, and country gospel make their appearance in Link Wray's "Fire and Brimstone." Bobbie Gentry's "He Made a Woman Out of Me," with its wah-wahs, shimmering strings, and shiny horns offers the sultry Delta blues underscored by massive breaks. And speaking of breaks, one of the stone killers in this set is Dennis the Fox's "Piledriver," with its thoroughly urban look at a country female trucker. Bobby Darin's "Light Blue" has a smoldering bassline that is brought right to the front line just as it is in Bobby Charles' "Street People." While Cherokee's "Funky Business" fits the theme, it has as much of the Byrds in it as it does Joe South. Mac Davis' "Lucas Was a Redneck" is a little too close to Tony Joe White for comfort, but that's a small quibble. Country Funk: 1969-1975 illuminates a brief but fruitful period where genre lines blurred, and both genres benefitted mightily.

→→→→

THE GRUESOMES - Live In Hell [Canada garage recorded live 1989] 2007 Ricochet Sound RSCD - 002

Consisting of teens who dressed like they were stuck in the '60s -- including bowl haircuts -- the Canadian group known as the Gruesomes formed in 1985 in Montreal. Original members were guitarists and singers Bobby Beaton and Gerry Alvarez, and a pair of brothers, drummer Eric Davis and bassist John Davis. Drummer John Knolls replaced John Davis a couple of years later. The Gruesomes recorded three albums in the '80s and made a couple of music videos.

When the members of the Gruesomes first came together, they had very little musical experience -- at least in performing. Somehow they managed to build a fan base through local clubs, and to put together a debut EP, Jack the Ripper, all within the first year of the group's existence. The debut was quickly followed by another EP, Unchained. Both were released under the Primitive Records label.

In 1986, the Gruesomes recorded their first full-length album, Tyrants of Teen Trash, switching over to the Og Music label. The local fan base had expanded greatly in that first year and the album did well, not only in the group's Canadian homeland, but also in the United States and Europe. In the middle of a heavy touring schedule, the group put out two more albums over the next two years, Gruesomania and Hey! Even with a number of its songs landing on the charts, and a continuous growth in popularity, the band called it quits in 1990.

For the new millennium, the members of the Gruesomes reunited. The group was welcomed back with open arms in Canada, and found itself playing for a sold-out audience in Toronto, even though it had been a decade since the guys had shared a stage together. Along with a large live audience, the show was also taped for television. There was a new album for 2000 as well, Cave-In.

→→→→

THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS - People Like Us [USA rock, folk 1971] 2013 Geffen Records UICY-75708

The Mamas & the Papas broke up in 1968, but they still owed an album on their contract with Dunhill Records (later absorbed by MCA). So, three years later, they reunited to make People Like Us and complete their obligation. The result isn't as bad as that scenario might suggest, though the songs have more in common with John Phillips' 1970 solo album than with the group's hits of the 1960s. But the release did not rekindle interest in the Mamas & the Papas, and this was their last new album.

→→→→

VIOLETA DE OUTONO - Violeta de Outono [Brasil psychedelic 1986-89] 1995 Plug 74321 28442 2 - compilation

The band Violeta de Outono was formed in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1984, by Fabio Golfetti, Angelo Pastorello and Claudio Souza, building their own sonority by mixing the current tendencies of that time with Pink Floyd/Beatles psychedelia, and they rapidly gained attention from audiences and the media. Along more than 25 years down the road, the band stayed apart from the mainstream, achieving a cult reputation and international acknowledgement. Their concerts are known for a hypnotic atmosphere and spatial sounds, and became the band's trademark. Their first LP, the homonymous release from 1987, featured a shadow-encased psychedelia that managed to attract fans of prog, postpunk and dark/gothic music.

→→→→

SPIRIT - Tent Of Miracles [USA rock, psychedelic rock 1990] 2020 Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22717

Tent of Miracles is one of the best Spirit albums by the trio version of the act, the Randy California/Ed Cassidy ensemble which carried on with the name. This time the third member is bassist Mike Nile, and the album works because Nile gets to be more than a sideman, he actually contributes as the original group did, with results that are most satisfying. Tent of Miracles is a wonderful album title, and the disc opens with Ed Cassidy's jungle drumbeat instrumental "Borderline," typical of the band's bold 1990s sound. More serious and refined than the Mercury records releases in the mid-'70s, decades on the road touring, along with having those highly experimental albums behind them, make this a very musical and mature chapter. "Zandu" is your Randy California "Kahauna Dream"-style exotic guitar with its mechanical metallic stomp, a song similar to but lighter than Roxy Music's "Manifesto." California's co-write with stepdad Ed Cassidy, "Stuttgart Says Good-bye," is "Eight Miles High" gone tribal and expands the theme. This 1990 album has an inadvertent concept which is a delight to the legion of Spirit fans who cared enough to seek it out. The title track is an eerie "I Want Candy" redux with the real stunner being that it is a Mike Nile original, a major contribution from a Spirit member not originally part of the group. The almost six minutes mesmerize and are everything Spirit was ever about. It follows in the dreamy quagmire that is "Stuttgart Says Good-Bye" and the earlier "Love From Here" style. "Love From Here" has elements of the later 1994 track "One By One," a Randy California original which outdoes the excellent "Love From Here," providing insight that the late singer/songwriter was in a groove and in a good creative state, despite lack of major label support for his latter-day efforts. The band actually becoming a full unit with serious contributions from the bass player adds a cohesion missing from some of the '70s work. Mike Nile's originals not only keep pace with Randy California, they seem to give Randy and this version of the band focus. The final of the dozen songs, Nile's "Deep in This Land" holds to the theme and sound of the title track, as well as Nile's other originals, "Old Black Magic," "Ship of Fools," and the tune all three bandmembers composed, "Imaginary Mask." "Tent of Miracles" holds many secrets and is that extension of The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus that California was seeking for so many years.

→→→→

NICK GRAVENITES AND JOHN CIPOLLINA - Live In Athens At The Rodon [USA west coast rock blues 1987-88] 1991 Music Box International CD 40421.2

Nick Gravenites also worked extensively with John Cipollina after producing the first Quicksilver Messenger Service album. He and Cipollina formed the Nick Gravenites - John Cipollina Band, which toured across Europe. This album is an example.

→→→→

TOM VERLAINE - Dreamtime [USA rock underground 1981] 2008 Collectors' Choice Music CCM-950

Tom Verlaine's second album as a solo artist after disbanding Television is not groundbreaking or innovative as much as it is consistent. What is distinctive about Dreamtime, aside from its thick guitar fortifications, firm stance, and unwillingness to modify a sound he believed in, are the issues surrounding the making of these recordings. The first session was marred by the usage of poor quality reel-to-reel tapes, barely yielding only half an album. Other songs had to be re-recorded with different players, due to the original band's unavailability. There's also a strong connection with Patti Smith, who Verlaine toured with when leading Television. First session bassist Fred Smith, also from the original Television group, keyboardist Bruce Brody, and drummer throughout, Jay Dee Daugherty, are major contributors to the uniform texture of the tunes. It's hard to pin down a single highlight, but several rank as distinctive. "Without a Word" is molded in the classic Television style, with repeat guitar lines from Verlaine and Ritchie Fliegler, "There's a Reason" is self-explanatory and prototypical, while "Fragile" revises Byrne's distant vocal foresight, with Verlaine claiming someone "stole my secret," and further adds the repeat guitar hooks. "Penetration" is likely the rave fave, at once propelled, strutting, and plodding with the sparest of diffuse guitar, and inferences -- sexual or otherwise -- galore. "Always" sports the kind of cooled, ambiguous message under no frills rock & roll, with Verlaine exclaiming he has a clue on "the best kept secret in town." Then there's the effeminate singing of "Down on the Farm," evocative of Dave Thomas and his stressed out style, the slow funky R&B elements of "Mary Marie" enhanced by the organ work of Bruce Brody, and a choogling Creedence Clearwater Revival ramble during the mainly instrumental jam "The Blue Robe." Perhaps the most advanced track, "A Future in Noise" epitomizes the disarmed CBGB's vibe with slightly built intensity, resolutely controlled. Not so much a set of tidy, trimmed concepts when one listens closely, as it is a vision of an artist laying it all out from the bottom of his heart. Many would easily admit Dreamtime is Tom Verlaine's shining hour.

→→→→

RICHARD & LINDA THOMPSON - Shoot Out The Lights [UK folk rock 1982] 2010 Rhino Handmade RHM2 523875

Richard & Linda Thompson's marriage was crumbling as they were recording Shoot Out the Lights in 1982, and many critics have read the album as a chronicle of the couple's divorce. In truth, most of the album's songs had been written two years earlier (when the Thompsons were getting along fine) for an abandoned project produced by Gerry Rafferty, and tales of busted relationships and domestic discord were always prominent in their songbook. But there is a palpable tension to Shoot Out The Lights which gives songs like "Don't Renege On Our Love" and "Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed" an edgy bite different from the Thompsons' other albums together; there's a subtle, unmistakable undertow of anger and dread in this music that cuts straight down to the bone. Joe Boyd's clean, uncluttered production was the ideal match for these songs and their Spartan arrangements, and Richard Thompson's wiry guitar work was remarkable, displaying a blazing technical skill that never interfered with his melodic sensibilities. Individually, all eight of the album's songs are striking (especially the sonic fireworks of the title cut, the beautiful drift of "Just The Motion," and the bitter reminiscence of "Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed"), and as a whole they were far more than the sum of their parts, a meditation on love and loss in which beauty, passion, and heady joy can still be found in defeat. It's ironic that Richard & Linda Thompson enjoyed their breakthrough in the United States with the album that ended their career together, but Shoot Out The Lights found them rallying their strengths to the bitter end; it's often been cited as Richard Thompson's greatest work, and it's difficult for anyone who has heard his body of work to argue the point.

→→→→

X - Live In Los Angeles [live at The House Of Blues, Los Angeles, November 26 & 27, 2004] 2005 Shout! Factory DK 33719

Live in Los Angeles was recorded during a pair of gigs at the Los Angeles House of Blues in the fall of 2004, and while John Doe jokes in passing that the years are advancing upon him and his bandmates, the truth is that, on much of this album, you'd be hard-pressed to guess if this was recorded in 2004 or 1984, and that's a high compliment. Zoom's punkabilly guitar leads are as sharp and bruising as ever, Doe and Bonebrake remain a potent and muscular rhythm section, and if there's still a high chaos factor in Doe and Cervenka's harmonies, they sound passionate and reckless, and no real fan would want them any other way. There are no new songs here, and the arrangements don't differ in a substantial way from the studio recordings of these tunes, but this does offer up a fine quality live recording of X's best lineup, something listeners didn't get the first time around, and while the cynical might suggest that this is the product of a band playing the punk version of the oldies circuit, if X are performing with this much skill and fury, you can't say the fans aren't getting great value for their money. Big, loud, dangerous fun.

→→→→

RORY GALLAGHER - Check Shirt Wizard Live In '77 [Ireland rock, blues rock 1977] 2020 Cadet Concept, Chess 0836846

Check Shirt Wizard, Live in ’77 is culled from four shows (London, Brighton, Sheffield and Newcastle) and features 20 previously unreleased live performances.

Gallagher was on tour in support of his latest album Calling Card and the the performances feature live versions of tracks from that album as well as 1975’s Against The Grain and others.

The original performances were recorded to multi-track tape allowing this release to be newly mixed and mastered at Abbey Road Studios.

→→→→

THE NINNIES - Why Not [USA power pop, punk rock 1979-80] 2012 Rerun Records, Stupid Records RERUN #019, STD002

The Ninnies were a bouncy powerpop/ROCK band from the far Northwest Chicago suburb of Mundelein, IL. They weren't trying to be the next Cheap Trick like so many others around that area in those days. Instead they were just a group of drinking buddies playing music for fun. The Ninnies never even really tried to be part of the Chicago scene. Instead, they stayed in Mundelein and ruled backyard parties and the local bowling alley from 1978-1981.

They released one 45 in 1980 on their own Stupid Records. It didn't have a flashy picture sleeve and was mostly unknown to Punk and powerpop collectors until a member of the band launched a Ninnies website with a bit of info and a few pictures. When three members of the band were featured on the St. Louis based Scene of the Crime radio show in 2008, the renewed interest in the band sparked an idea to collect the band's recordings before the tapes rotted completely.

→→→→

JORMA KAUKONEN - JACK CASADY - Before We Were Them - June 28, 1969 [USA psychedelic rock] 2019 Owsley Stanley Foundation 5

This live concert recording features recently discovered and previously unreleased music from Jefferson Airplane’s fabled guitar and bass players before they became known as Hot Tuna. Jorma and Jack are joined by Joey Covington on drums, and this intense, hard-driving muscle trio creates a sonic landscape to rival Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. This is essential listening for fans of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane, with more than 70 minutes of music, including versions of the classic blues songs Rock Me Baby and Come Back Baby, as well as the familiar Airplane tune Star Track. Additionally, the set list includes 4 fully-formed, rare songs that were named by Jorma and Jack for the first time for this release — 49 years after they were played.

→→→→

COPPERHEAD - Live at Winterland, September 1st 1973 [USA rock, west coast 1973] 2014 Keyhole KHCD 9016

Formed by psychedelic guitar hero John Cipollina after leaving Quicksilver Messenger Service in 1970, this sadly short-lived quartet released one fine album in May 1973. That September they played this superb set at San Francisco's legendary Winterland Ballroom, taking in most of their album and showcasing their unrivalled jamming talents, with Cipollina's searing guitar leads at the fore throughout.

→→→→

TERRY & THE PIRATES - Comanche Boots [USA west coast rock 2008] Acadia ACAM 8210

Comanche Boots containing some of the last known studio recordings in existence plus never before released tracks, demos and a live version of Jungle Love later to become a huge hit for The Steve Miller Band. Along with ex Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cipollina the Pirates on this set comprise of Nicky Hopkins and Lonnie Turner amongst others.

→→→→

SUICIDAL FLOWERS - The Psychedelic Sounds of [UK psychedelic 1997] White Arsenic Records NOS4R-2

From York, UK. Formed in 1989. Suicidal Flowers is a neo-psychedelic cult band. This is his third album, released in 1997 on the White Arsenic Records label. The band members were: Astro Lore, Markoff DeDephel, Helen Gee, Karl Farkas, Robin tomalin and Martin Hall.

→→→→

THE INVISIBLE EYES - Laugh in the Dark [USA garage, psychedelic rock 2005] BOMP! BCD 4096-2

The Invisible Eyes -- guitarist/vocalist Aubrey Nehring, keyboardist Janet Hurt, drummer Adam Svenson and bassist Ian Barnett -- have the distinction/honor of being the last act Bomp! founder Greg Shaw signed to his label before passing away in late 2004. It's not hard to see what Shaw saw in the band -- they traffic in fuzzed-out psych-garage, with the requisite vocal sneer from Nehring -- and more often than not, they meet all the requirements for being a good garage band.

On one hand, they never transcend that label, and there's nothing to separate them from the rest of the crowded garage scene.

On the other hand, if you're a guy or gal like me, with a shelf full of garage CDs that are fun to listen to but sort of all sound the same, and you realize and are cool with that, then clear a spot for Laugh in the Dark. (How's that for a back-handed compliment?) Opener "Revelation", drenched in feedback and anchored by Hurt's insistent, vaguely menacing keyboards, sets the pace for the album. There's the galloping "Can't Wake Up", which seems to borrow its beat from "Who Do You Love?" and "Tired Night", which is much more exciting than its title suggests.

There's a few curveballs on the disc, in the form of some quick instrumental interludes -- like the oom-pa-pa "Yma"; the evil merry-go-round "Whiskey Vampire" -- which cleans the mental musical palette, but basically the Invisible Eyes establish themselves as the West Coast branch of the Detroit garage scene. There's a lot of White Stripes here (see the Jack White-esque vocals on "Monster Blues") and even more Von Bondies -- supercharged blooze stomps and guy/girl vocals abound on Laugh. Chalk it up to youth and the search for a band identity.

To that end, a few tracks on the album's back half indicate a step away from the shadow of the Motor City. "Little Loretta" is a little rootsier, with the band catching their breath and ditching some of their feedback and drone. Similarly the six-and-a-half minute long closer, "That Old Song..." finds the band in a groove, cooking on a medium boil instead of a rolling one. With cleaned up guitars and a harmonica breakdown, it's Laugh in the Dark's standout track.

Like I said earlier, Laugh in the Dark won't look out of place in any self-respecting garage fan's CD shelf; if anything, it'll make an excellent placeholder for their sophomore disc, you know, the one where the band figures out who they are, what they want to sound like and how to stand out in the garage world?

By Stephen Haag, 19 Jan 2006

→→→→