LOVIN' SPOONFUL - Live At The Hotel Seville [USA pop, psychedelic 1999] Varèse Sarabande 302 065 995 2

 

Like many reunited bands from the '60s, the 1999 incarnation of the Lovin' Spoonful doesn't include all their original members. In this case, they're missing their most prominent member, lead vocalist/songwriter John Sebastian. Without him, the group has a different character, and they realize that. Wisely, they've decided not to replicate their classic folk-pop sound of the '60s, choosing instead to emphasize their folky roots, which is evident from Live at the Hotel Seville. Recorded in 1999, the album is an amiable concert performance, finding the Sebastian-less group running through hits and album tracks, meaning that there's everything from "Do You Believe in Magic" to "Never Goin' Back" and "Jugband Music." It's not a bad record, and diehard fans in a nostalgic mood will probably be reasonably charmed by it. 

Spoonful rules ok

JUNCTION 32 - Pontefract Castleford [UK folk, british folk 1975] Holyground HGS 119

 

Junction 32 is an obscure release from the almost mythical Holyground label. This record is awarded a five disc rating in Hans Pokora Record Collector Dreams 5001. As collectors of Holyground releases will probably already be aware, there were no more that 99 of this LP pressed! It is one of the rarest and most sought after releases of the 70's.

Junction 32

ABNER JAY - True Story of Abner Jay [USA blues, country, folk compilation 1963-1976] 2009 Mississippi Records MR-036

A classic! Abner Jay was a one man band with a style completely onto himself. His music harkens back to the sounds of the 1800's (pre blues) but somehow sounds wholly modern at the same time. Abner plays drums with his feet, electric banjo and harmonica and sings with one of the richest baritone voices you'll ever hear, all at the same time.

This LP features the creme de la creme of Abners' self released music from the 60's and 70's - hits like 'I'm so depressed', 'Vietnam', 'St. James Infirmary, and 'The Reason Young People do drugs.' One of Mississippi Records absolute best titles hands down.

Jay

UNCLE WALT'S BAND - Recorded Live at Waterloo Ice House [USA folk, rock, country 1982] 2021 Omnivore Recordings OVCD-407

 

Originally released in 1982 as a 14-song set recorded at Austin's Waterloo Ice House, this expanded edition of 21 tracks by the trio of Walter Hyatt, Champ Hood and David Ball is an entertaining mix of originals and nicely chosen covers.

Hyatt contributes one of the stronger country compositions with "Georgia Rose," later covered by Jimmie Dale Gilmore on his 2000 album "One Endless Night," a tear jerker about lost love ("Tonight I'm drinking while I'm thinking/Until the beer joints close/And I'm thinking of someone/I called my Georgia Rose").

 Hood injects some rock and roll into the mix with "Lose Me Baby" and even a touch of Motown with "Eddie's Girl." Ball delivers the strongest vocals on the bluesy "Bye, Bye Baby" featuring a nice guitar solo from Hood, and the jazz flavored "Just A Little Understanding" that recalls Paul McCartney.

Standout covers are "Snowing Me Under," written by Steve Runkle (a bandmate of Hyatt and Hood in the '80s Nashville-based The Contenders) with a soulful vocal by Hyatt, and Ball's take on the ballad "Since I Fell For You'' that was a pop hit for Lenny Welch in 1963. Other highlights are the 1960 Elvis Presley hit "I Gotta Know" and the obscure Fats Domino 1968 album cut "Honest Papas Love Mamas Better." The diverse repertoire of the band is best exemplified by the closing cover of Brazilian jazz artist Moacir Santos' "Early Morning Love" that in particular showcases the sweet harmonies of the trio.

 As with previous reissues of their studio albums "Recorded Live at Waterloo Ice House" gives long overdue exposure to hidden gems from Uncle Walt's Band. Gilmore is quoted in the liner notes declaring "the three best singers in Austin were all in the same band," an observation given credence by this release.

Ice

LA BARRA DE CHOCOLATE - La Barra De Chocolate [Argentina garage, psychedelic rock 1970] 2011 Munster Records MR CD 316

 

La Barra de Chocolate was the late 60s project of Pajarito Zaguri, a seminal figure in the birth of Argentina’s “rock nacional.” Their record is a dynamic mix of folk rock, garage rock, psychedelia, and socially conscious lyrics.

Chocolate

PETER LEWIS - Just Like Jack [USA rock, blues, country 2017] SteadyBoy Records SB-0050

 

Despite his 55-year musical career – starting in 1963 with The Cornells and continuing with West Coast Legends Moby Grape – this is just his 2nd solo album (the other one being a self-titled album in 1995), released as CD in America (SteadyBoy Records) and LP in UK (Shagrat Records), somehow celebrating the 50 years anniversary from Moby Grape’s debut album, June ’67! Album consists of 10 songs “painted” by Peter’s 6 and 12 string lead guitars and his “attractive” haunting deep but warm baritone voice! The album was recorded in Austin, Texas over the past few years presenting a variety of rock styles from blues folk to country. Typical Moby Grape! Of course, the highlight of this LP is “Sailing”, a song written by Peter and his fellow bandmate Alexander ‘Skip’ Spence back in the day (“Oar” period). Peter worked on the song with Skip whilst he was still alive. He added a few parts and the result is a mind-blowing west coast psychedelic mid-tempo shimmering tune! The CD version comes with different artwork while “Valley Music Festival” is replaced with an exclusive track “Screwball”. It deserves to be placed next to “Moby Grape”, “Wow” and “Grape Jam”, and I am happy for it.

Peter

THE HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS - Last Round [USA folk, country 1978] 2000 Adelphi Records Inc. GCD 1030

 

Unless, like the Holy Modal Rounders, you've spent a lot of time listening to Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music while ingesting recreational drugs, their music might sound a bit odd to you. Actually, given the ramshackle performances, it sounds a bit odd in any case, but as with any humorously intended work, appreciation of it depends on one's sympathy with the artists. For initiates, this seventh (and, so it seemed at the time of its release, final) album was one of the Rounders' better ones, with Peter Stampfel, Chris Weber, and especially Robin Remaily turning out characteristic new work and covers of old songs like "Euphoria" and "If You Want to Be a Bird" backed by a rhythm section. "August, 1967 (Hippies Call It STP)," borrows its tune from "Fishin' Blues," while head Rounders Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber sing a paean to psychedelic drug use that breaks down into odd references such as this allusion to Amos & Andy: "'Splain dat to me, Kingfish, it ain't too clear/King it to me, 'splainfsh, said the engineer."The CD reissue released on June 27, 2000, added three bonus tracks. "TV Song" is a tribute to the addictive power of television; "Year of Jubilo" revives a Civil War victory celebration; and "Snappin' Pussy" is an appropriately bawdy follow-up to an earlier Rounders favorite, "Boobs a Lot."

Holy

ALBA - Alba [UK folk, traditional 1977] 2008 Retro Disc International RDI 33022

 

Scottish folk group Alba was formed by Sean O'Rourke, ex member of folk-rock group The JSD Band. Sean brought in ex-Tannahill Weavers' Mike Ward and then recruited Tony Cuffe (later to join Ossian) and the late Alan Macleod. Alba took their inspiration from Irish bands such as The Bothy Band and Planxty, playing mainly acoustic traditional folk songs. Musicians include: Alan Macleod - Highland bagpipes, bodhran; Tony Cuffe - guitar, lyre, whistle, vocals; Sean O'Rourke - vocals, bazouki, flute, whistle; Mike Ward - fiddle, mandolin, guitar, vocals. 12 tracks including: Glen Rinnes/The Jig of Slurs; The Overgate; Kings Favourite; Van Dieman's Land; The Mermaid's Song/John Murray of Lochee/Pipe Major George Allen; The Blacksmith's Reel/The Star of Munster; Fear Ah Bhata; Drummond Castle/Paddy's Leather Breeches; Captain Ward; The Garten Mother's Lullaby; The Geese In the Bog/Dr McInees' Fancy. Traditional Celtic roots folk music, with many being psych folk rock.

Alba

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.

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ROBIN WILLIAMSON & HIS MERRY BAND - Journey's Edge [UK folk, celtic, folk rock 1977] 2008 Fledg'ling fled3071

Journey's Edge is the second solo album by Scottish folk artist Robin Williamson and his Merry Band. The work was released in 1977, and re-released in 2008 by Fledg'ling Records with ten bonus tracks.

Journey's Edge was the beginning of a creative period for Williamson. It is the beginning of Williamson's interest with the harp, then played by Sylvia Woods, and ancient bardic poetry. These new interests would be increasingly evident in later albums and storytelling by Williamson. This is the first post Incredible String Band era album by Williamson. It is a mixture of folk, baroque, pop, and Celtic music. Tracks like "Border Tango" and "Red Eye Blues" deal with remembering and travel. It is not until the track "Tomorrow" that there is a sense with the future. Overall, there is a sense of emotional integrity expressed by Williamson in his vocals that give a deeper meaning to the lighthearted songs. Williamson masterfully prolonged syllables within the tracks that is reminiscent of his Incredible String Band days.

The Merry Band's exceptional musicianship aid in creating the style Williamson had desired in the past. He and the troupe would tour regularly in the mid-seventies. The addition of the Celtic style and acoustic ensemble would be a trademark of Williamson and The Merry Band on further works. "Likky Lambert", guesting on the album, is actually former String Band member Licorice McKechnie. Her final recording appearances are on the tracks "Tomorrow" and "The Bells".

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