A pleasant Beatlesque pop record, though only three (very good) songs stand out for me. Love the smooth slide guitar in “Day After Day” (that’s singer/songwriter Pete Ham and co-producer George Harrison; Leon Russell provides piano), bassist Tom Evans’ “Money,” and the arpeggiated riffs of Ham’s “Baby Blue”; so catchy. Yet more tragic victims of the gangster music biz; Ham and Evans both eventually took their own lives after getting fucked over by management for years.
One of my earliest Brazilian records, and one that still fascinates me. I couldn’t even figure it out for the longest time; it was in such an alien musical language, I couldn’t grok what was going on at all. Obviously bossa nova–based, it also had a classical vibe in parts, and African influences, and featured what sounded like a children’s chorus (actually the Quarteto Em Cy; more on them down the road). Even knowing a little more about Brazilian music now, there’s still an air of mystery and sophistication around this record, which certainly heightens the interest. Collecting Brazilian records is an expensive hobby, but also a load of fun, as there were so many great records that were only pressed in South America, never making it to the Anglo world until collectors got them here. For a few years in the 2000s I listened to every bossa soundclip on eBay, making for a rather large want list. But hey, this is why we get up early to make the donuts. I’ll get more into guitarist Powell in coming posts; de Moraes (1923–1980) was a famous poet and lyricist from Rio de Janeiro. He was there at the birth of bossa nova with João Gilberto and wrote a bunch of standards.
Slightly tongue-in-cheek easy listening with a Mexican flavor and slight exotica touch, but played mostly by pasty white guys. Band was led by Julius Wechter, the guy who replaced Arthur Lyman in Martin Denny’s band. He played on Herb Alpert’s Lonely Bull album, and wrote the hit “Spanish Flea” for him (as heard on The Dating Game TV show). So to help cash in on the Tijuana sound (and the bossa nova craze, à la Brasil ’66) he formed his own band for Alpert’s A&M label, accompanied by seasoned session vets like Hal Blaine and Leon Russell. This is their first album. The Chicago-born Wechter died in 1999, aged 63.
A recent one for me, has three decent tunes. By this time, Lyman had brought EZ pop hits like “Sunny” and “Goin’ Out of My Head” into his repertoire. Anyone know the name of the typeface here?
Brass-laden lounge band from parts unknown does the Ojay’s, Chicago, and the Doobies; plenty of private white guy funkiness.
Good live set with a soft, mellow vibe. I wonder if it’s really live…zero audience clapping or chatter.
Early Sub Pop 45. I wanna say these guys were from Western Mass. but I don’t know for sure. They also recorded a single for AmRep, and had an obscure sole LP I haven’t heard. But this is a nifty two-sider of sorta-psych pop sludge. I need to check out their other stuff.
Custom Century pressing from a New Hampshire lounge band, with a notable singer.
I reviewed this for the Acid Archives book, so I’ll just reproduce the review here…
Pretty interesting double college LP that's made up of two sides of poetry and two sides of music. For the most part, even though much of it is given a psychedelic tinge with some trippy studio effects, the poetry sides (which include black, gay, and sci-fi themes) evoke little interest, save for "Death of Ulysses," effectively recited in a Long John Silver accent over a raga psych background. "St. James Infirmary," "Foreign Legion Blues," and "Ninety Nine" are unremarkable basement jazz/blues with long guitar and sax solos, but the instrumental "Death of the Lord High Executioner" gets into decent, Traffic-like jazz rock zones. Side three is where the heat is: "The Arm/Invocation and Main Theme" is a long, interesting piece of lysergic free jazz given additional appeal with more tape effects as the song moves along; modern noise/improv heads would flip if they heard it (Roland Kirk and Sun Ra are thanked). "Havens but Not Much" is a satisfying, almost Dead-like instrumental jam driven by acoustic guitar, with electric guitar, drums, and bass providing a exploratory accompaniment. "John Riley" is a nice piece of British folk with male harmonies. If just the music was issued as a single LP this probably would have gotten a lot more attention, but it's still worth looking for.
Having peaked on their previous record, the drugs start to finally take their toll, and creatively the band begins a downslide. The record’s mostly filler, salvaged by a couple of good rockers. Classic Hirschfeld cover, though.
Over the years I’ve collected a LOT of exploito LPs (cash-in records consisting of often one-take cheap-o versions of hit songs recorded by anonymous studio musicians), but have been slowly getting rid of them for space reasons, mainly. Had to keep this one though, it was so good. The guitars are nice and fat and the singer has a cool ‘60s punk snarl. Caddy, founding member of the Tornados who passed away in 2000, produced dozens of now sound/exploitation LPs chock full of a mix of rock and orchestral covers of hit songs of the day, mainly through the Canada-based Avenue of America label, for which he was house arranger and producer. Don't know who Bob Faloon was. [Funny; when I tried to upload a song to SoundCloud I got a copyright notice for an entity called Studio Union, presumably the current rights holder to these versions.]
Out-of-nowhere Florida oddball band (for Sub Pop at the time), sounding a little like Dinosaur Jr., with laconic vocals that fade in and out, and dripping syrup guitar. Don’t remember liking their other records, but the a-side here is cool.
Haven’t heard this since it came out, but I remember a couple of good songs from the local Metal Shop radio show of the time, so couldn’t resist picking up a cheap copy recently (come to find out it was cheap cause it’s full of skips!). “Sink the Pink” still sounds great, flashing me back to rockin’ summer kegger parties in the woods, or driving to a big concert, doing things we shouldn’t. “Shake Your Foundations” is pretty good, but no other songs really stand out. Can’t say I’m familiar with any complete LPs after this one, except for The Razor's Edge and Ballbreaker, neither of which did anything for me. Cover art by Todd Schorr, later a well-known underground painter. (The videos for these songs are terrible.)
One of my all-time favorite singles. Distills all the cool traits of the band into two songs, and not even with their original guitarist. Crazy Haze drops his deranged Helios Creed spew over the top of the lumbering rhythm section (wish they did a whole LP together). Heaviness meets dry Midwestern absurdity.
Another solid entry of ultra-mellow exotica; you can smell the salty air and feel the tradewinds on your skin.
Don’t brun your ass in pubix, bro, put on some new age and mellow out. Or pretend you’re getting a massage. Two side long (synth?) pieces that, at times, catch a whiff of later Krautrock like Tangerine Dream or Popul Vuh (Aeoliah/Jonathan Fairchild was born in Germany, after all). Sticky note by Will Louviere. Wanna buy some sage?
