KEITH MANSFIELD-VIVID UNDERSCORES.
Keith Mansfield-Vivid Underscores.
Label: Be With Records.
Format: LP.
Composer, arranger and musician Keith Mansfield nowadays is recognised and regarded as one the doyens of library music and original copies of his albums are now highly collectable. This includes Vivid Underscores which was released in 1977, a year after his other genre classic Contempo. Both albums were part of the legendary KPM 1000 series and were recently reissued on vinyl by Be With Records. These are welcome reissues as original copies of Contempo and Vivid Underscores are now rarities like so many of the KPM Records’ releases. That’s no surprise
Everyone from sample-hungry hip hop producers and crate-digging DJs to film producers collect library music. They remember hearing library music in cartoons, documentaries and quizzes as they growing up in the seventies and eighties. So will many other people who listen to a KPM Records’ releases including Vivid Underscores which was released nearly two hundred years after the company was formed.
The Rise and Rise Of KPM.
Robert Keith founded a comp[any in 1780, to make of musical instruments, and fifty years later, in 1830, entered into a partnership with William Prowse, a music publisher. The newly formed partnership was named Keith Prowse Music (KPM), and over the next hundred years, the company grew and expanded into other areas,
By the early twentieth century, Keith Prowse Music was selling sheet music and concert tickets, but it was the invention of the gramophone that proved to be a game-changer.
Demand for sheet music and concert tickets grew, and in 1955, Keith Prowse Music was decided to diversify, into one of the most profitable areas of music, music publishing.
One of the reasons behind the decision to diversify into music publishing, was to feed the demand for soundtracks for radio, television and film. Previously, music libraries supplied classical music, which was what was required. By the mid-fifties, and the birth of television, the world and music were changing, and changing fast.
Four years later, in 1959, Associated Rediffusion bought another music publisher Peter Maurice and merged it with Keith Prowse Music. The newly merged company became Keith Prowse Maurice, which became known as KPM Music.
The newly named KPM Music was a much bigger player in the world music publishing. However, in the mid-sixties, a new name took the helm at KPM Music, and transformed the company into one of the biggest names in library music.
When Robin Phillips joined KPM Music in the mid-sixties, he proved to be an astute and visionary businessman. Two decisions Robin Phillips made demonstrate why. His first decision was that KPM Music should switch from the old 78 records to the LP, which made sense, as LPs were what people were buying. They were less prone to breakage, which meant less returns and more profit. LPs could contain more music, and could be released in limited editions of 1,000. The other decision he made was to hire the best young British composers and arrangers.
Among the composers Robin Phillips hired were Keith Mansfield and Johnny Pearson, whose talent and potential as composers he recognised. Robin Phillips managed to hired them before they’ had established a reputation, although they were known within music publishing circles.
Later, Robin Phillips managed to hire some of jazz musicians of the calibre of John Cameron, Syd Clark, Alan Hawkshaw and Alan Parker. Their remit was to provide him with new music, which was referred to as production music. Many of their remits was to write music which matched themes or moods, which initially, wasn’t isn’t easy, but soon, the composers were able to do so. Almost seamlessly, the composers created themes for many well known television shows and films.
For the composers and musicians involved in writing and recording library music, they were part of what was one of the most lucrative areas of music. When EMI realised that KPM Music had one of the best and most profitable music libraries and decided to buy the company. Executives at EMI had spotted the profitability of library music and the consistency, quality and depth of KPM Music’s back catalogue. However, not everyone within the music industry approved of library music.
Other songwriters looked down on writers of library music, and the British Musician’s Union wasn’t fan of library music. They banned their members from working on recording sessions of library music. Somewhat shortsightedly, the Musician’s Union thought that eventually, there would come a time when there was no need for any further recordings. Their fear was that the sheer quantity of back-catalogue would mean no new recordings would be made, and their members would be without work. Fortunately, KPM Records thought of a way to subvert the ban.
KPM Records would fly out composers, arrangers and musicians to Holland and Belgium, where local musicians would join them for recording sessions. This meant that often, the same musicians would play on tracks that were penned by several composers. For the musicians involved, this proved lucrative and some were reluctant to turn their back on session work for companies like KPM Records.
Still the Musician’s Union’s draconian ban continued, and it wasn’t until the late seventies that they lifted their ban on new recordings of library music. By then, the Musician’s Union realised that they were fighting a losing battle and had no option but to concede defeat.
Meanwhile, the music that was being recorded in Europe and once the ban was lifted in Britain, found its way onto albums of library music released by KPM Music. Again, KPM Music were innovators, and released limited editions of library music. Sometimes, only 1,000 albums were released, and they were sent out to film studios, television and radio stations and advertising agencies. However, by then, interest in library music had grown.
Although the albums of library music were never meant to be commercially available, a coterie of musical connoisseurs had discovered KPM Music’s albums of library music and were determined to add each release to their collection. They weren’t alone.
Later, DJs and sample hungry hip hop and house producers discovered the world of library music. This was a boon for many of these producers who were musically illiterate, and could neither read music nor play an instrument. with lots of practise the musically challenged “producers” were eventually able to sample albums of library music for their latest “production” and very occasionally, this resulted in a hit single for the musical pirates. However, most of the credit should’ve gone to those who made the music that had been sampled.
This included Keith Mansfield who recorded some of the best library music was ever recorded in the UK. Especially the music they recorded for KPM which has ‘inspired’ several generations of musicians. One of the albums of library music that Keith Mansfield recorded for KPM was Vivid Underscores, which is part of the legendary KPM 1000 series.
Vivid Underscores features Keith Mansfield at his best on a cohesive and truly timeless album of library music. The music is funky, soulful, sometimes dramatic, mesmeric, joyous and uplifting. Strings and horns are deployed and put to good use during a series of cinematic and filmic soundscapes from a musical master craftsman, Keith Mansfield.
Side One.
Opening Vivid Underscores is High Velocity where driving horns join forces with wah-wah guitars, a funky bass and synths to create a dramatic and filmic all-action track that transports the listener to the seventies.
Crash Course is akin to a mini soundtrack in three parts. The first part paints pictures as the drama builds and jazz, funk and fusion combine as what could be the backdrop to a car chase. It’s the type of track that could be heard during The Sweeney after a blag. Echo is added to the horns during the second part before the big finish in the third part where the good guys say: “you’re nicked.”
Horns play an important part during Matter Of Urgency. It’s a slow burner that’s uber funky, jazz-tinged and cinematic with aggressive undertones.
There’s two parts to Dawn Of Aquarius which is a futuristic sounding track with sci-fi sounds. It sounds like the type of soundtrack that Kraftwerk would’ve written circa 1977 and has plenty of material for sample hungry producers. During the second part, the drums and percussion drop out leaving more room space-age and sci-fi sounds.
Staying Power is very different from the two previous tracks. It’s dramatic, moody and almost menacing as elements of funk, jazz and rock are combined by Keith “The Man” Mansfield.
Side Two.
The second side opens with the first of four parts of Trucking Power. This is the introduction and akin to a scene setter. The tempo rises as synths and strings combine and take centrestage. This is highly effective. So is the addition of echo during the Part A while Part B is an alternative mix and a captivating variation on a theme. Then during Part C the tension is gone as the gorgeous middle section breezes along. The result is what can only be described as a thing of beauty.
There’s plenty of tension and drama during Hot Tempo and Espionage which sound as if they’re part of a late-seventies Cold War spy thriller.
Then the tempo drops on Interplay which is a much more understated track. Flutes flutter above a shimmering piano which is almost hypnotic and is quite beautiful.
Very different is Omen which is dark, dramatic and menacing. It wouldn’t sound out of place on a seventies detective series.
It’s all change with Perpetual Motion which flows and meanders revealing an intricate arrangement where keyboards, synths, percussion and lush sweeping strings combine with woodwind to create another beautiful, cinematic track. Keith Mansfield closes Vivid Underscores on a high.
During the seventies, Keith Mansfield was without doubt one of the finest purveyors of library music. His 1976 album Contempo and the followup Vivid Underscores which was released as part of the KPM 1000 series in 1977 are both genre classics and a reminder of a truly talented arranger, composer and musician.
He combines everything from jazz and funk to jazz-funk, fusion and rock on Vivid Underscores. Strings, synths and horns are deployed during this cinematic opus by one of the doyens of library music on Vivid Underscores .
Sadly, nowadays original copies of Vivid Underscores rarities and very few copies come up for sale. When they do, the prices are beyond the budget of most collectors of library music. However, Be With Record recently reissued Keith Mansfield’s library music classic. Vivid Underscores is just the latest reissue from the KPM 1000 series and is a reminder of the golden age of library music and features Keith Mansfield at the peak of his powers.
Keith Mansfield-Vivid Underscores.
PORCUPINE TREE-LIGHTBULB SUN.
Porcupine Tree-Lightbulb Sun.
Label: Transmission.
Format: CD.
Between 1987 and 2010 progressive rockers Porcupine Tree released ten studio and twelve live albums. Their sixth studio album was Lightbulb Sun which was released on May the ‘22nd’ 2000 and was the much-anticipated followup to Stupid Dream, which was released in March 1999. It marked the start of a new chapter in the Porcupine Tree story.
Stupid Dream was the first Porcupine Tree album to feature a much poppier sound. This was very different to their abstract instrumental sound of their prior albums, Signify and Stupid Dream which was their most successful album.
Stupid Dream.
The three singles Porcupine Tree released from Stupid Dream were Piano Lessons, Stranger By The Minute and Pure Narcotic and they all enjoyed mainstream exposure. Especially in the US and Europe where the group toured extensively. They knew it was a case of putting in the hard yards like so many other bands before them.
Porcupine Tree also toured the UK in support of Stupid Dream and watched the three singles charted in the independent charts during 1999. Piano Lesson reached thirty-four, Stranger By The Minute thirteen and Pure Narcotic forty-six. Each of the singles found their way onto radio station playlists and it looked like Porcupine Tree were about to make a commercial breakthrough after five albums and twelve years of trying.
Sadly, it wasn’t to be and Stupid Dream failed to trouble the UK albums charts. This was hugely disappointing given the success of the singles. The members of Porcupine Tree hoped that their next album would see them make a commercial breakthrough.
Lightbulb Sun.
When Steven Wilson and the rest of Porcupine Tree began to write Lightbulb Sun, little did the group know that the album found them still at a crossroads.
Just like Stupid Dream, the album that Porcupine Tree were about to write and record would also have a much more commercial, poppier sound. Once again, the group turned their back on the abstract instrumental sound of their first four albums on Lightbulb Sun. However, after their sixth album the group changed direction and their music took on a heavy metal for the rest of the noughties. In a way, Lightbulb Sun was the end of an era for Porcupine Tree.
Of the ten songs on Lightbulb Sun, Steven Wilson penned eight of them and cowrote the other two. He wrote Hatesong with Colin Edwin. Then the pair joined forces with Chris Maitland and Richard Barbieri to write Russia on Ice Chris Maitland. These tracks would eventually become Lightbulb Sun.
Recording of Lightbulb Sun took place at Foel Studio-No Man’s Land between November 1999 and January 2000. The rhythm section featured drummer Chris Maitland and bassist Colin Edwin who Gimbri and was experimenting with a drum machine. Keyboardist Richard Barbieri played Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes, clavinet, mellotron and synth. Meanwhile bandleader, producer and vocalist Steven Wilson played guitars, piano, hammered dulcimer, mellotron, banjo, harp and used samples during the recording of Lightbulb Sun.
Augmenting Porcupine Tree were rhythm guitarist Eli Hibit, cellist Nick Parry and Stuart Gordon who played viola and violin. During the recording session, The Minerva String Quartet were brought. Violinists Katy Latham and Lisa Betteridge plus cellist Emmeline Brewer and Sarah Heines on viola added the all-important strings to Lightbulb Sun. It was completed after just three months recording and was the quickest album that Porcupine Tree had recorded.
Having completed Lightbulb Sun in January 2000, the album was scheduled for release on the ‘22nd’ May 2000. Before this, Porcupine Tree planned to release a single and nervously awaited the verdict of the critics.
Four Chords That Made a Million was released as the lead single in April 2000 and reached eighty-four in the UK charts and sixteen in the UK Independent Charts. This built upon the success of the triumvirate of singles released from Stupid Dream.
When Lightbulb Sun was released on the ‘22nd’ May 2000 it feature a much commercial, poppier sound that should’ve appealed to wider audience than the he abstract instrumental sound of their first four albums. However, Lightbulb Sun was also an album of two parts.
Lightbulb Sun is divided into two parts between Rest Will Flow and Hatesong. However, the first part focuses on a more melodic, poppy style. Then the part allows Porcupine Tree to showcase the experimental side of their music. The group was hoping there was something for fans old and new.
The majority or critics were won over by Lightbulb Sun which was released to mostly critical acclaim. They praised the standard of songwriting and musicianship with some critics calling the album Porcupine Tree’s finest hour.
No wonder as Porcupine Tree mixed unique brand of progressive rock with melodic pop, metal and experimental music. After six albums and thirteen years Porcupine Tree had come of age with a career-defining album. It featured dense harmonies, captivating arrangements, melancholy melodies that tugged at the heartstrings and sometimes the tracks referenced Pink Floyd. Two of the highlights of Lightbulb Sun were the Steven Wilson compositions Feel So Low and The Rest Will Flow. They were part of what was the most consistent and complete album of Porcupine Tree’s tree.
Unlike many progressive rock albums Lightbulb Sun wasn’t a concept album. However, Steven Wilson explains that some of the songs relate to different subjects: “There are at least four or five songs on that record which I call the divorce songs, the relationship songs, which are all about various stages of the splitting up a relationship, of dissolving a relationship. Russia on Ice, How Is Your Life Today, Shesmovedon, Feel So Low, I mean, the last track of the album. The period in a relationship, where the relationship is kind of… still exists, but it’s in that period where, really, there is nothing left but hatred and despise-Hatesong is the other one.”
He goes on to say: “But then on the other hand, there are groups of songs on the album which are all about various childhood… nostalgic childhood reminisces, Lightbulb Sun and the first part of Last Chance To Evacuate Planet Earth, Where We Would Be. So there are kind of groups of songs.”
Later he explains: “And then there’s a couple of songs that don’t have any relation to anything else. Four Chords That Made A Million doesn’t have any relation to anything else on the album, or anything else I’ve ever written. It’s just that.”
Lightbulb Sun was regarded as the best and strongest album that Porcupine Tree had recorded and released. Surely their sixth album would be the first to chart and see the group make a commercial breakthrough after thirteen years of touring, recording and doing the rounds of press, radio and television?
The members of Porcupine Tree watched as Lightbulb Sun reaches 161 in the UK album chart where it stalled. Although this was disappointing, it was still the most successful album of the group’s six album career.
Then in July 2000 was released as the second single from Lightbulb Sun and reached eighty-five in the UK charts and twenty-four in the UK Independent Charts. This was a small crumb of comfort for Porcupine Tree as Steven Wilson believed that it was: “our best work to date.”
Nowadays, Lightbulb Sun is regarded by critics as one of the finest albums of Porcupine Tree’s long career. It’s also the album that got away and should’ve transformed Porcupine Tree’s.
When they released Lightbulb Sun it was also a much more accessible album than their previous albums. Steven Wilson made a conscious decision not to write lyrics about abstract concepts like war and religion. Instead, he drew on his own person experiences and wrote songs with much more personal and emotive lyrics. However, some of the songs he wrote especially Hatesong and Feel So Low featured negative lyrics. Despite this, many record buyers would be able to relate to the subjects that the lyrics dealt with on what was without doubt the most accessible album of Porcupine Tree’s six album career.
Lightbulb Sun should’ve been a much bigger success and introduced the group to the wider audience that their music deserved. Sadly, as is so often is the case Lightbulb Sun was an album that passed record buyers by when it was released by Snapper.
Maybe Snapper was the wrong label for Porcupine Tree and their music would’ve found a wider audience if signed to another indie or major label? They left Snapper after Lightbulb Sun and signed to Lava who released their seventh studio album In Absentia on the ’24th’ September 2002. That was the start of Porcupine Tree’s progressive metal years. Lightbulb Sun was the end of an era for the group.
Although Lightbulb Sun wasn’t a commercial success when it was originally released in May 2000, it had started to find a wider audience by the time it was reissued in 2008. Recently, Lightbulb Sun was reissued by the Transmission label and this is an opportunity to discover or rediscover what’s one of Porcupine Tree’s most accessible albums and what was a career-defining album when it was released to widespread critical acclaim twenty-one years ago in May 2000.
Porcupine Tree-Lightbulb Sun.
SLY AND THE VISCAYNES-YELLOW MOON: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS 1961-1962.
Sly and The Viscaynes-Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962.
Label: Ace Records.
Format: CD.
By 1960, there were only two high schools in the city of Vallejo which is situated in the northeastern corner of San Francisco Bay. St Vincent’s and the Vallejo High School which was where the members of The Viscaynes would matriculate.
This included Charlene Imhoff who was born and brought up in the city and was a student at Vallejo Junior High School. In 1958, she was invited to sing with a vocal group that had been formed at the local junior high school, The Viscounts.
At the time, its lineup featured drummer Herb Schouse, pianist Mike Stevens. Charlene Imhoff was the first of several new additions. Soon, the nascent group was joined by Art Bignoria and Frank Arellano who at the time was in a group called The Whinchats at Franklin Junior High. The two new additions were keen music fans and spent their evenings listening to groups like The Platters and Five Satins on the radio.
By the autumn of 1958, the members of The Viscounts had moved to Vallejo Junior High School where they were joined by Charlie Gebhardt who was a friend of Frank Arellano. This new lineup featured in the Hi-Laffs school show on the ‘22nd’ of May 1959.
That night, the competition was fierce with The Webs and The Avondales two of the top bands. However, The Viscounts’ cover of the doo wop favourite You Are My Girlfriend was well received and their nascent career continued.
It was without Art Bignoria and Mark Kennedy who both left The Viscounts. Jim Kozier was recruited and joined the group as a new chapter in their career began.
One day The Viscounts were rehearsing for a talent contest when a student entered the room and started to listen. After a minute Sylvester Stewart said: “doesn’t anyone here sing harmony? You’re all singing leads.”
When Charlene Imhoff heard this she said to the rest of the group: “Why don’t you ask Sly if he wants to join our group?”
Frank Arellano went and asked Sly Stewart: Can you give us your opinion” and then after he worked with the group for a short time asked: “Maybe you would like to sing with us?”
After thinking about this for just a short time he returned and agreed to join the group. The new lineup agreed that they should rehearse regularly and then made their debut at the Vallejo Rangers Hall.
Straight away, Sly Stewart became the unofficial bandleader and the group’s lives revolved around rehearsals. Soon, the group had the confidence to enter a contest for groups in the Bay-Area which was sponsored by Dick Stewart’s Dance Party.
By then, Dick Stewart was working six days a week and needed someone to help organise the contest. He was friendly with record promoter Pete Martino who also represented various record labels and agreed to help organise the contest. When he was looking for the most talented singers and groups he organised coattail parties. This where presidents of junior high schools and high schools would recommend the most talented singer and groups their school had to offer. The Viscounts were one of the best bands at Vallejo High School.
The Viscounts were selected for the contest on the ‘3rd’ of March, and were due to appear in the Solano County heat on March the ‘13th’ 1961, However, Charlene Imhoff wasn’t available when the newly named group made its debut in the contest. They were now called The Original Viscounts and featured Maria Boldway. She was part of a vocal sextet which was still accompanied by pianist Mike Stevens
When The Original Viscounts entered a regional heat of the talent contest hoping and dreaming that they would be the lucky ones who progressed to the next round. This they knew would only be the start of a long journey.
After The Original Viscounts won the regional heat on the ‘13th’ March 1961 and then made their debut on Dick Stewart’s Dance Party in San Francisco where they encountered Joe Piazza and The Continentals. They backed The Original Viscounts as they sang Blue Moon during the first round of what was a victory parade.
The Original Viscounts needed to win their way through a number of rounds before they reached the final. However, this wasn’t going to easy as there were so many other talented vocal groups in the area and they had all entered the competition. The competition was fierce which wasn’t surprising given what was at stake.
All the groups wanted to win the first prize which was a recording contract and a trip to Hollywood. They knew that music offered them an escape route from small town America and the opportunity to enjoy a better life.
Having made their way through the various rounds, The Original Viscounts made it to the final which was held at San Francisco’s Civic Auditorium in May 1961. Just before the final Jim Kozier was replaced by Charlie Gebhardt’s brother Vern. The group had also changed their name to The Viscaynes because there were other groups called The Viscounts. This avoided any confusion in the future and was something they had been advised to do when they signed with Martino Enterprises.
The Viscaynes won the final at San Francisco’s Civic Auditorium and the recording contract and trip to Hollywood. This the group hoped would transform their lives and be the start of a career in music.
Before that, Pete Marino had another of his signings Gary Stites coach The Viscaynes before they entered the studio for the first time. After this period of preparation they would journey to San Francisco to make their recording debut.
The recordings they made in San Francisco are among those that feature on the new Sly and The Viscaynes compilation Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962 which was recently released by Ace Records.
Having journeyed to San Francisco, The Viscaynes made their way to Dick Camp’s studio A-V Productions. At its hearts was a two track tape recorder. Charlene Imhoff sang the lead vocal on Stop What You’re Doing and the rest of the group then overdubbed their vocals. Then Charlene Imhoff and Maria Boldway duetted on I Guess I’ll Be. Other tracks recorded at the session were Don’t Cry Soldier. These tracks feature on Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962 and are a reminder of The Viscaynes first recording session.
Later in 1961, The Viscaynes released Stop What You Are Doing on the Tropo label with I Guess I’ll Be on the B-Side. On the second pressing Real, True Love featured on the flip side. However, this doo wop single failed to find an audience and it was an disappointing start to the group’s career.
In September 1961, The Viscaynes with the first version of the novelty record Uncle Sam Needs You which was released on VPM. On the B-Side was Yellow Moon. However, there’s second pressing of Uncle Sam Needs and Yellow Moon which also features on the compilation. It was one of the tracks recorded when The Viscaynes rerecorded at a session in LA. Sadly, after the trip that was the end of the group.
Still Yellow Moon was released as a single on VPM, with the romantic sounding Heavenly Angel on the B-Side. It’s also included on the compilation. After this, it was another two years before The Viscaynes released any more music.
Meanwhile, Charlene Imhoff and Maria Boldway recorded the single Hully Gully Papa which featured I’m Coming Home on the B-Side. They released the single on VPM in November 1961 using the moniker Jasper Woods. The single is a rarity and is welcome addition to the compilation.
By then, Danny (Sly) Stewart as he was billed embarked upon a solo career and released A Long Time Alone as a single in November 1961. On the B-Side was I’m Just A Fool which was another L and M Production. However, just like The Viscaynes’ singles commercial success eluded the group’s unofficial bandleader.
In June 1962, Sylvester Stewart as he was now billed as released Help Me With My Broken Hear with Long Time Alone on the B-Side. However, still commercial success eluded this slice of poppy soul when it was released on G&P. It was back to the drawing board.
By 1963, Sly Stewart had severed his ties with the Motola-Page production team. Despite that, an alternate version of Danny (Sly) Stewart’s Do You Remember aka I’m Just A Fool featured on a compilation released by the Sutton label. So did The Viscaynes’ You’re My Only Love. This brought to an end a two year period where The Viscaynes and Sylvester Stewart enjoyed their introduction to the music industry. However, it’s not the end of Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962.
There’s also five previously unreleased tracks on the compilation. This includes The Viscaynes’ Don’t Cry, Soldier which they recorded in 1961. It’s joined by Goodnight Brown Eyes which was recorded by vocalist Gary Stites who was hired to school The Viscaynes before they made their recording debut.The other unreleased track is Sylvester Stewart’s While I’m Gone which is the only track to feature the singer’s real name. It’s also the start of what would be a long and successful career for a man who would become one of the most innovative musicians in the history of modern music. That was all in the future.
During his time with The Viscaynes fame and fortune was something that Sylvester Stewart and the rest of the band dreamt about. They managed to win their way through the contest for groups in the Bay-Area which was sponsored by Dick Stewart’s Dance Party. The first prize was a recording contract and the trip to LA. This they hoped would change their lives forevermore.
Sadly, that wasn’t the case and by 1962 The Viscaynes had split-up. By then, they had released several unsuccessful singles which only found an audience after Sylvester Stewart became Sly Stone and found fame with Sly and The Family Stone.
All the tracks that The Viscaynes recorded feature on Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962 which was released by Ace Records. They’re joined by the tracks Sylvester Stewart recorded as well as contributions from Jasper Woods and Gary Stites. Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962 is the most comprehensive retrospective of Sly and The Viscaynes’ music.
This lovingly compiled compilation is also the story of a group of young friends who met at high school and bonded over their shared love of music. They time they spent making music and in pursuit of commercial success was akin to a musical apprenticeship for five members of the group. Charlene Imhoff turned her back on a career in music although she occasionally sang in public. The rest of The Viscaynes continued to make a career out of music.
Sixty years after The Viscaynes released their debut single Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings is a welcome reminder of the group’s two year recording career and the music they made.
Sly and The Viscaynes-Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962.
ROCKSTEADY GOT SOUL.
Rocksteady Got Soul.
Label: Soul Jazz Records.
Format: CD.
When Soul Jazz Records was founded by Stuart Baker in London, in 1993, the nascent label began to draw “cross cultural connections between various music genres.” This included Brazilian, dub, jazz, Latin, soul and reggae which is one of the genres the label has specialised in since then.
Three decades later, and the label has established a reputation for consistently releasing quality reggae compilations. This includes those in the Soul Jazz Studio One Series. The most recent instalment in this long-running and successful series is Rocksteady Got Soul. It features eighteen uplifting and soulful reggae tracks which were released between the late-sixties and early seventies. There’s a contributions from the great and good of reggae on Rocksteady Got Soul.
The compilation opens with It’s True which was written and recorded by Alton Ellis’ for his 1970 album Sunday Coming. It was released on the Coxsone label in Jamaica and by Bamboo in the UK. One of the highlights of the album was It’s True with its hurt-filled and soul-baring vocal as harmonies seemingly sympathise at Alton Ellis’ plight.
It was 1970 when British reggae fans first heard The Heptones’ You Turned Away. It featured on the B-Side of their single Message From A Black Man which was released on the Bamboo label. Later that year the song featured on their Black Is Black album. It’s another song about betrayal with a vocal full of hurt and heartbreak.
Lee Perry moved to Kingston, Jamaica, in 1961 and his first job in the music industry was as a record seller for Coxsone Dodd. In 1963 he began working with Jackie Mittoo. Initially, he played percussion on recordings and later, helped with arrangements. By 1966 he had started recording vocal sides and was billed as King Perry and The Gaylads when Run Rudie Run was recorded. This hidden gem which features the rhythm to Hugh Gidfrey’s You’re My Baby was relegated to the B-Side of Roy Richard and Jackie Mittoo’s Half and Half when it was released in 1966. It’s a welcome addition to Rocksteady Got Soul and is a reminder of the early work of maverick producer Lee Scratch Perry.
Jackie Mitoo was just twenty-two when he released his Macka Fat album in 1970. One of the highlights was Good Feeling which borrows the rhythm from The Heptones’ I Hold The Handle. Despite that, it’s an uplifting slice of soulful reggae with a sunshine sound.
Very little is known about Calvin Marshall who released I Need Your Loving as a single on Studio One in 1969. It’s one of just two songs he wrote and recorded for the label. Here, he delivers a needy, hopeful vocal but one that’s deeply soulful on what’s a beautiful hidden gem.
I’ll Be Waiting is the second contribution from Alton Ellis. He wrote this beautiful ballad for a friend, and it was originally released by the Techniques label in 1970. Two years later the Studio One version featured on the Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 compilation. This is another welcome addition and one of the highlights of Rocksteady Got Soul.
Sound Dimension became the Studio One house band in 1968, and two years later in 1970 Travelling Home featured on the B-Side of The Freedom Singers’ cover of Give Peace A Chance. This is an oft-overlooked and timeless instrumental that showcases the band who played such a big part in the sound and success of Studio One.
In 1967, Ken Boothe became the first person to record My Heart Is Gone. Three years later, in 1970, John Holt released a cover on Studio One. Later that year, this impassioned and soulful cover featured on his album A Love I Can Feel. It was one of the highlights of an album from one of the giants of reggae.
The Ethiopians were formed in 1965 and in 1966 an early version of the group released Let The Light Shine as a single. It features an emotive vocal from Leonard Dillon which is delivered against The Soul Brothers’ Hot and Cold rhythm. This was the start of a long career for one of reggae’s most important and influential groups.
Closing Rocksteady Got Soul is Loose and Gain which was released as a single by The Viceroys on Studio One in 1967. It’s one of the most soulful songs on the compilation. Compiler Stuart Baker has kept one of the best until last.
For anyone with even a passing interest in reggae and especially rocksteady, then Rocksteady Got Soul is an album that they should add to their collection. Many of the tracks are uplifting and soulful. Others feature heartfelt, impassioned and soul-baring vocals where the vocalist lives the lyrics and brings them to life. It’s as if they lived, experienced and survived what they’re singing about.
That’s no surprise as Rocksteady Got Soul features contributions some of reggae. They contribute singles, B-Sides, album cuts and hidden gems to Rocksteady Got Soul which is another lovingly compiled reggae compilation from Soul Jazz Records.
Rocksteady Got Soul.
CULT CLASSIC: ENO/CALE-WRONG WAY UP.
Cult Classic: Eno/Cale-Wrong Way Up.
Brian Eno and John Cale first worked together in 1974, when they also recorded the album June 1, 1974. When it was released twenty-seven days later on the ‘28th’ of June 1974 it was credited to Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico. Two of the three men who played on the album became friends and worked together on several occasions.
Sixteen years after Brian Eno and John Cale took to the stage at the Rainbow Theatre in London to record June 1, 1974 the two friends were reunited. Unsurprisingly there was sign of Kevin Ayers at Brian Eno’s Wilderness Studio, in Woodbridge, Suffolk when recording began in April 1990. The pair had history.
It’s alleged that the night before the recording of June 1, 1974 that John Cale found Kevin Ayers sleeping with his wife. That was why there was a tense atmosphere as the all-star band took to the stage and also explains the bemused stare that John Cale is giving Kevin Ayers on the album cover. The Velvet Underground cofounder took his revenge the following year.
When he was recording his solo album Slow Dazzle he included he wrote Guts which opens with the line: “The bugger in the short sleeves fucked my wife.” It was no surprise when Brian Eno and John Cale decided to record an album together Kevin Ayers played no part.
Instead, it was just Brian Eno and John Cale that began recording Wrong Way Up in April 1990. By then, they had written nine new tracks and Brian Eno had penned The River. These eleven tracks were recorded between April and July 1990 and would eventually feature on Wrong Way Up.
At Wilderness Studio, Brain Eno sang lead and backing vocals and played bass, guitars, Indian drum, keyboards, little Nigerian organ, Linn M1, rhythm bed, Shinto bell and Yamaha DX7 synth. John Cale added backing vocals and played bass, dumbek, harp, horn, keyboards, piano, Omnichord, strings and viola. During the session, Brian Eno and John Cale were augmented by some of their musical friends.
This included drummer Ronald Jones who also played tabla, bassists Daryl Johnson and Dave Young who played guitar and rhythm guitarist Robert Ahwai. They were joined by violinist Nell Catchpole and Bruce Lampcov who added backing vocals and engineered John Cale’s vocals on Wrong Way Up.
The songs often took shape late at night as Brian Eno locked himself away and developed lyrics through singing sing nonsense words so he could create cadences which he then developed into syllabic rhythms. The next stage was to create phrases and then melodies. It was the way that Brian Eno worked and it worked for him.
So did the way the arrangements were crafted and complimented the vocals. A sequencer and synths were used and combined with what was an eclectic selection of traditional and ethnic instruments. They feature on Wrong Way Up which was produced by Brian Eno while John Cale only was given a co-producer’s credit. This raised eyebrows when the album was released in the autumn of 1990.
By then, the two men were openly admitting that they hadn’t gotten on during some or even much of the recording sessions. It also came to light that Brian Eno had allegedly called John Cale “irrational.” The sessions seem to have been difficult.
Later, John Cale recalled how Brian Eno: “would listen to what you said, but he really didn’t have much patience with it…I haven’t figured out yet what Brian’s notion of cooperation, or collaboration, is.”
John Cale also admitted during the session he was missing his wife and young daughter. He was suffering from “cabin fever” and the tension between made things worse. Things came to a head when John Cale alleges that he saw an irate Brian Eno coming towards with a chopstick clenched in his hand. After this, a panic-stricken John Cale phoned his manager to tell him he needed to book into a hotel. This Brian Eno has no memory of disputes. However, given all that had happened it was no surprise that with Wrong Way Up complete there was no plans to record a followup to the album that was released thirty years ago.
On the ‘5th’ of October 1990 Brian Eno and John Cale released their first collaboration Wrong Way Up to critical acclaim. Only a couple of contrarian critics found fault with what was a carefully crafted album of mainstream album with commercial appeal. Maybe the contrarian critics thought that Brian Eno and John Cale were selling out?
If that had been the case, Wrong Way Up wasn’t a particularly profitable venture as it failed to chart in Britain or America. Things didn’t improve when Been There, Done That was released as a single in America and failed to trouble the Billboard 100. However, it reached number eleven on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. That was as good as it got became when Word was then released in Britain and America it failed to chart. Brian Eno and John Cale’s collaboration Wrong Way Up had passed record buyers by.
It’s an album that was made despite the personality clashes between two musical icons. It could’ve been a recipe for disaster putting two strong willed characters in the same studio for three months while they recorded an album. However, the album was finished although there was no followup. That was a great shame.
Wrong Way Up featured music that was atmospheric, cerebral, hopeful and sometime cinematic and beautiful. It was an accessible album that featured elements of ambient stylings, art pop, art rock, electronic music, pop and progressive rock that features mainstream music that should’ve appealed to a wide audience. Proof of this is the album opener Lay My Love and Spinning way which are poetic pop penned by Brian Eno and both feature peerless electronic arrangements with the latter augmented by sweeping strings .
Very different is One Word where John Cale sings a line and is answered by Brian Eye. Then during the refrains, John Cale’s voice soars high above a choir of Eno’s on this thought-provoking and experimental track where art pop and electronica combine on a track that has an eighties sound.
In The Backroom was written by John Cale and is a mini-drama in four minutes. The arrangement is atmospheric, moody and cinematic as he paints pictures with his lived-in and weary vocal. It’s one of the highlights of the album.
Although Empty Frame was recorded in 1990 Empty Frame has an eighties sound in parts. This includes the drums and synths that feature on a track rich in imagery. It’s about a never-ending journey on a ship and ironically features the line: “We have no single point of view.” It’s part of what’s an incredibly catchy and memorable track that sounds a bit like OMD who were influenced by Brian Eno.
Cordoba came about after Brian Eno read Hugo’s Latin-American Spanish In Three Months. This inspired this chilling, cinematic song about two men planning to plant a bomb on a bus. John Cale’s delivery is haunting and the scenes unfold in front of the listener’s eyes and they’re left wondering did they plant the bomb or not?
Cinematic describes Footsteps which is a three mini drama written by John Cale who delivers the lyrics. He sings of slight of hand, danger, drama and double dealing on what sounds like
the soundtrack to a film that has yet to be made.
One can’t help wonder what inspired Been There, Done That which was written by John Cale? It’s upbeat and catchy from the get-go as synth pop and art rock combine as he reflects on his life and what he thought were the best o times: “Thinking we were having a ball.” It’s only when someone says: “Been There, Done That” does his older and wiser self realises: “Been there, don’t wanna go back.”
Boogie woogie piano opens Crime In The Desert and drives this John Cale composition along. He paints pictures about Tucson and Guadalajara and tells the story of a mysterious lady murdered and her ideas stolen. All this is part of another catchy and cinematic track from the pen of John Cale.
Closing Wrong Way Up is the ballad The River which features one of Brian Eno’s finest vocals. It’s a quite beautiful and haunting song with an understated arrangement that is the perfect accompaniment to the vocal.
For anyone yet to discover Wrong Way Up, which was Brian Eno and John Cale’s one and only collaboration it’s recently been reissued to mark the album’s thirtieth anniversary. There’s also two bonus tracks Grandfather’s House and Palanquin which were recorded during the Wrong Way Up session.
It was a session beset by personality clashes and where chopsticks were perceived as a dangerous weapon by John Cale. The recording of Wrong Way Up was no ordinary recording session and the pair didn’t get on. Despite that, they spent three months locked in Brian Eno’s Wilderness Studios and drew on their past experiences to record their first collaboration. To do that, they combined elements of ambient, art pop, art rock, electronic music, pop, progressive rock and synth pop on Wrong Way Up. It wasn’t the album critics and record buyers were expecting from the two musical icons.
Brain Eno and John Cale released what was an accessible album of mainstream music that should’ve had commercial appeal.Sadly, Wrong Way Up failed to find the audience it deserved. It’s only thirty years later that Wrong Way Up is starting to receive the recognition it deserved and that record buyers are embracing an album that music’s odd couple spent three months recording. It turned out to be time well spent.
Cult Classic: Eno/Cale-Wrong Way Up.
CULT CLASSIC: KELLEE PATTERSON-MAIDEN VOYAGE.
Cult Classic: Kellee Patterson-Maiden Voyage.
When pianist Gene Russell and percussionist Dick Schory founded Black Jazz Records in Oakland, California, in 1971, the nascent label’s raison d’être was “to promote the talents of young African American jazz musicians and singers.” This was only part of their vision for their new label.
They were determined that Black Jazz Records would released an alternative to what they saw as the old school jazz that was popular at the time. They wanted to release an alternative to traditional jazz, and this included albums that featured political and spiritual influenced music. However, spiritual jazz was just part of the Black Jazz Records’ story and the label between 1971 and 1975 it released twenty albums that included everything from free jazz and funk to soul-jazz.
Fittingly, Black Jazz Records’ first release was Gene Russell’s sophomore album New Direction which was released in 1971. This was just the start of a prolific year for the label.
In their first year, Black Jazz Records also released Walter Bishop Jr’s Coral Keys, Doug Carn’s Infant Eyes, Rudolph Johnson’s Spring Rain, Chester Thompson’s Powerhouse and Calvin Keys’ Shawn-Neeq. By the end of 1971, the new label had released six albums in its first year. Other labels must have looked on enviously.
Cofounder Dick Schory had founded Chicago-based Ovation Records, which was a successful country and western label which was providing funding for Black Jazz Records and distributing its releases. This gave the label a helping hand and meant it had an edge on its competitors.
The cofounders were determined that as wide an audience as possible hear the albums that the label was releasing so Gene Russell organised a promotional tour, In September 1971, Gene Russell and his Ray Lawrence who was his marketing consultant toured America giving interviews to newspaper journalists and featured on radio and newspaper where they showcased Black Jazz Records and its artists. This resulted in valuable publicity for the label.
By 1972, Black Jazz Records was adding new artists to their roster and signed Henry Franklin who released his album The Skipper later that year. This wasn’t the only new signing made that year. However, a familiar face returned with another album.
This was organist and pianist Doug Carn who was accompanied by his wife on his sophomore album Spirit Of The New Land. He would go on to release four albums between 1971 and 1975 and they were Black Jazz Records’ most successful releases.
The other album Black Jazz Records released in 1971 was The Awakening’s debut Hear, Sense and Feel in 1972. It wasn’t as busy a year as 1971, but Gene Russell and Dick Schory were concentrating on quality not quantity. However, the following year, 1973, was a much busier year for Black Jazz Records.
Cofounder Gene Russell returned in 1973 with Talk To My Lady which was his second album for Black Jazz Records. This was followed by Rudolph Johnson’s new album The Second Coming. However, the label’s third release of 1973 was Maiden Voyage the debut album from a new signing Kellee Patterson.
By the time Kellee Patterson signed to Black Jazz Records the young singer had achieved a lot during what was already a varied career.
Kellee Patterson was born Pat Patterson in the Midwest on the outskirts of Chicago, but grew up Gary, Indiana. She started singing aged five, and growing up, won a number of local talent contests with her neighbours The Jacksons. While they won the male awards Kellee Patterson won the female awards. Given the success she enjoyed in the talent shows nobody was surprised when she became a professional singer.
When she was sixteen, Kellee Patterson made her professional debut as a singer, and by time she was at college she was singing with a group called Groovy and The Electra’s. Although they were essentially a rock group, Kellee Patterson sang covers of Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin songs. However, after a while she parted company with the band.
Not long after this, Kellee Patterson entered the 1971 Miss Indiana pageant under her real name. She became the first black woman to win the title and qualified for the Miss America pageant in 1972.
This turned out to be the boost that Kellee Patterson’s career needed. She made some television appearances in the Chicago area and also featured in The Streets Of San Francisco in 1972. However, after Kellee Patterson’s appearance in the Miss America pageant, word started spreading that she was a talented singer. Soon, several record companies began to offer recording contracts. This included Motown who she turned down to sign with Black Jazz Records in 1973.
Having signed with Black Jazz Records Kellee Patterson began work on her debut album which became Maiden Voyage. It was an album of eight cover versions. This included Earl DeRouen’s Magic Wand Of Love; John Lehman’ Look At The Child and Be All Your Own; Don Sebesky’s Soul Daddy (Lady) and Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage. They were joined by Gordon Parks’ Don’t Misunderstand; Flip Nunez’s See You Later and Lani Hall’s You. They were recorded by Kellee Patterson and a talented band.
Maiden Voyage was recorded in Hollywood Spectrum Studios, Los Angeles, and produced by Gene Russell. The band featured double bassist John Heard, bassist Henry Davis, Sajih on congas and triangle which Billy Osborne also played. The rest of the band included pianist Ernest Van Trease, flautist George Harper, trumpeter Everett Turner and John Lasalle on tambourine. They accompanied Kellee Patterson on her debut album Maiden Voyage.
When Maiden Voyage was released later in 1973, the album failed to attract the attention of critics and record buyers and became of the of hidden gems in Black Jazz Records’ back-catalogue.
That was despite Maiden Voyage being the most mainstream and commercial sounding album that was released on Black Jazz Records between 1971 and 1975. However, compared to Kellee Patterson’s later albums, Maiden Voyage is very different. It has a tougher sound and is a more challenging album. Having said that it’s also a rewarding album of laidback and mellow jazz that’s also soulful. This is down to Gene Russell’s production and the band that feature on the album.
That’s the case on Magic Wand Of Love where the rhythm section provide an understated backdrop as a flute flutters above the arrangement accompanying Kellee Patterson’s heartfelt and impassioned vocal as she delivers lyrics full of social comment. One of the most beautiful songs on the album is the cover of the piano-led, jazz ballad Look At The Child. Very different is the boogaloo of Soul Daddy (Lady) which shows another side of Kellee Patterson. So does an atmospheric reading of Maiden Voyage which features lyrics written by Herbie Hancock’s sister. It meanders along shimmering keyboards, bass and stabs of trumpet accompanying the vocal during this journey in search of love.
One of the best ballads on Maiden Voyage is Don’t Misunderstand with its late-night, jazzy sound and a wistful vocal from Kellee Patterson. The tempo rises on See You Later which features a much more powerful, soulful and sultry vocal that’s full of emotion. Meanwhile, the arrangement sashays along and provides the perfect accompaniment for the vocal on this relationship song. Then the tempo drops on You as a flute flutters and ushers in the vocal on this beautiful paean and is the perfect showcase for Kellee Patterson’s vocal. So is Be All Your Own which closes Maiden Voyage where her vocal is soulful and impassioned and is accompanied by an understated arrangement that allows the vocal to take centrestage.
For Kellee Patterson, her debut album Maiden Voyage was the one that got away. Despite the quality of music on the album it failed to attract the attention of either critics or record buyers. It was a disappointing start her to recording career and she must have wondered whether she had signed to the right label?
Kellee Patterson must have wondered if things would’ve been different if she had signed to Motown who she rejected before signing to for Black Jazz Records? It was regarded as a much more fashionable label and one who wanted: “to promote the talents of young African American jazz musicians and singers” like her. The label also wanted to release an alternative to traditional jazz. Black Jazz Records must have seemed like an attractive alternative to Motown and the perfect label to launch her career.
On Maiden Voyage, Kellee Patterson there’s songs full social comment, beautiful ballads and mid-tempo tracks on what was a carefully crafted album that veers between jazz, soul and soul-jazz. It’s an album with no weak tracks and where Kellee Patterson showcases her vocal versatility. She breathe life, meaning and emotion into the eight tracks on Maiden Voyage which was the only album she released on Black Jazz Records.
Gene Russell closed the doors at Black Jazz Records for the last time in 1975, and by then, the label he had cofounded had released twenty albums. The most successful albums were the four released by Doug Carn which featured his wife Jean. Apart from these four albums, the remainder failed to find an audience until much later.
In the nineties, DJs and record collectors rediscovered the twenty albums released by Black Jazz Records. By then, many of the albums were rarities that changed hands for large sums of money. Those that owned the Black Jazz Records’ back-catalogue cherished what was a groundbreaking collection of albums and were reluctant to part with them. This includes Kellee Patterson’s debut album Maiden Voyage which is the perfect introduction to a prodigiously talented vocalist who is another of jazz music’s best secrets.
Cult Classic: Kellee Patterson-Maiden Voyage.
CULT CLASSIC: QUICKSAND-HOME IS WHERE I BELONG.
Cult Classic: Quicksand-Home Is Where I Belong.
Musical history is littered with examples of groups who only ever released one album during their what proves to be a short-lived career. Especially, during the late-sixties and early seventies when many record companies had unrealistic expectations.
All too often, when a band’s debut album failed to find an audience they were unceremoniously dropped by their record label. This was yet another example of short-term thinking in the music industry.
There could’ve been any number of reasons for an album to fail, and often the blame lay fairly and squarely at the door of the record company. In Britain and America there were many smaller labels that were run by enthusiastic amateurs who talked a good game but couldn’t deliver. Sadly, that’s still the case today and getting mixed up with these dreamers and fantasists can damage a band’s future prospects.
Many bands who signed to smaller labels or imprint in late-sixties and early seventies would soon regret their decision. Often, a band was so desperate to release an album that they signed a one album deal, with the option of a second album. Straight away, this put the record label in a stronger position. If the album did well, they picked up the option and if it failed the band were dropped. All to often, bands didn’t understand that contract they had signed or knew the questions to ask before signing on the dotted line. They just wanted to release an album.
Fast forward a few months and the album has been recorded, mixed and mastered; the album cover designed and the LPs are being produced at the pressing plant and are due to be sent to the distributor. By then, the band has realised that all isn’t well behind the scenes at the label. It lacks the financial muscle and marketing expertise to properly promote an album. The owner is out of their depth and is floundering, and the band know that the album that they had spent so long working on had no chance of success. This they know was their one and only chance to release an album and if it fails to find an audience their dream is over and it’s back home and to the 9 to 5 life in the factory or office.
When the album is eventually released their worst fears come true when it sinks without trace. At the post mortem, the label owner blames the distributor, the PR company, retailers who failed to stock the album, critics who failed to review it and DJs who failed to play it. The band listen and know that the only person to blame is the label owner and wait to be told there won’t be a second album. They’ve just joined the ranks of the groups who only ever releases one album.
This includes Quicksand who were formed in Port Talbot, in South Wales, in 1969 and featured drummer Robert Collins, future Man and The Neutrons bassist Will Youatt, guitarist Jimmy Davies and keyboardist Anthony Stone. The group started life as a covers band but the time they signed to the Carnaby label in 1970 their music was evolving.
Having signed to the Carnaby label Quicksand went into the studio with producer Terry Britten and recorded two Will Youatt compositions. Passing By was chosen as the single and Cobblestones relegated to the B-Side. Quicksand’s debut single saw the group move in the drection of psychedelic rock. However, the single wasn’t a commercial success and it was their only release on the Carnaby label.
Not long after this, Will Youatt left and was replaced by Phil Davies. This new lineup of Quicksand Mk II would go on to release their sophomore single.
Having left the Carnaby label, Quicksand concentrated their efforts on playing live and were familiar faces in clubs and concert halls all over Britain. Quicksand were putting in the hard yards and honing their sound in the hope that one of the many A&R men would spot them playing live.
Their luck was in and they were signed to Dawn Records which was Pye’s “underground and progressive” label. This seemed the perfect home for Quicksand.
After signing to Dawn Records, Quicksand went into the studio with producer Tito Burns to record two Phillip Davis compositions for their sophomore single. The song chosen for the single was the joyous and optimistic sounding Time To Live which features the band’s trademark harmonies as they combine the West Coast Sound, fusion and progressive rock keyboards. On the B-Side was the hidden gem Empty Street, Empty Heart which is a quite beautiful folk rock track with a country influence that shows another side of Quicksand. These two tracks showed what the Dawn Records’ latest signing was capable of.
Sadly, when Time To Live was released later in 1973 the single failed to trouble the British charts. This must have been a disappointment for Quicksand who by then, had been together for over four years.
Despite the commercial failure of Time To Live, Quicksand returned to the studio to record six more tracks for their debut album Home Is Where I Belong. Hideaway My Song, Sunlight Brings Shadows, Overcome The Pattern/Flying, Home Is Where I Belong and Hiding It All were also written by Phillip Davies. The other track was Seasons/Alpha Omega which was written by former band member Will Youatt. Taking charge of production this time round were Geoff Gill, Glyn Jones and the members of Quicksand. The result was an eclectic sounding album.
It’s hard to believe that the track that Hideaway My Song which eventually opened the album Home Is Where I Belong was recorded by a group from Port Talbot, in South Wales. It has a feelgood sound that sounds as if it’s been influenced by the California Sound which was popular at the time the album was recorded.
Very different is Sunlight Brings Shadows where the tempo rises as Quicksand change direction and unleash an unrelenting example of heavy progressive rock. Key to its success are the driving rhythm section, blistering rock guitar, banks of keyboards and Quicksand’s trademark harmonies.
Then Overcome The Pattern/Flying shows different sides to the group. It starts off as a progressive rock track with some stunning psychedelic guitar playing from Jimmy Davies before heading into freak out territory at the midway point. There’s a trippy sounding interlude before things become even more spacey, psychedelic and way-out. Lysergic doesn’t even come close to describing the second part of this musical trip.
Home Is Where I Belong is one of the most commercial sounding tracks on the album. It’s rocky and progressive in parts, and is an uplifting song with a feelgood sound and strong hook.
It’s all change on Seasons/Alpha Omega which is another track that lasts over eight minutes and allows Quicksand to showcase their considerable talents. Especially during the solos. Initially, there’s a nod to Pink Floyd before the band spring into action and the tempo rises. Soon, searing guitar, banks of keyboards, a galloping rhythm section and harmonies that compliment the lead vocal make an appearance.What follows is a masterful and majestic example of progressive rock. To non believers, the music may sound overblown and pompous but give it a chance and it’s soon apparent that this is the album’s progressive epic that shows just what Quicksand were capable of.
Quicksand have saved one of the best on Home Is Where I Belong. Hiding It All close a quite beautiful and moving progressive folk anthem that is sure to tug at the heartstrings and should’ve been released as a single.
When Quicksand’s debut album Home Is Where I Belong was released in February 1974 there was no single to proceed it. The previous single Time To Live had been released in 1973 and hadn’t troubled the British charts. Home Is Where I Belong would’ve been a tantalising taste of the delicious main dish. However, Dawn Records decided just to release the album without a single to proceed or accompany it. This backfired badly when Home Is Where I Belong sunk without trace. For the members of Quicksand this was a disaster, and they must have feared for their future.
Sadly, Quicksand’s time at Dawn Records was at an end and they never returned with a followup to Home Is Where I Belong.
Worse was to come when Quicksand split-up not long after the release of Home Is Where I Belong. By then, they had been together for five years and had released two singles and one album, Home Is Where I Belong. It’s the highlight of a career that promised so much.
Quicksand were a hugely talented and versatile band, and Home Is Where I Belong is proof of that. It’s usually described as a progressive rock album but it’s much more than that. There’s elements of the California Sound, country, folk rock, fusion, progressive folk, psychedelic rock and the West Coast Sound on Home Is Where I Belong. They seamlessly switched between and fused genres on a carefully crafted album that should’ve found a much wider audience.
That was despite being signed to Dawn Records which was Pye’s “underground and progressive” label. Maybe Dawn Records was the wrong label for Quicksand and they would’ve succeeded on a bigger label?
Especially if the had played the long game by signing Quicksand on a longer deal and helped them break into the lucrative American and European markets. Quicksand were ostensibly a progressive rock band but could also write radio friendly anthems and beautiful ballads. Maybe their music would’ve been more successful in America? Given the American influences on the album and the popularity of progressive rock in early 1974 maybe record buyers in the land of the free might have embraced, enjoyed and appreciated Quicksand’s debut album Home Is Where I Belong?
Sadly, the album was never even released in America in 1974. This was an own goal from Dawn Records who could’ve licensed Home Is Where I Belong to an American label. However, as is often the case after an album fails commercially the label moves on to the next project. Sometimes labels lose interest and other times they’re reluctant to spend any more money or even invest any more time on an album that wasn’t a commercial success. That’s a great shame and is frustrating and heartbreaking for a band.
That must have been the case for the four members of Quicksand who never recorded a followup to Home Is Where I Belong. Sadly, very few record buyers, even fans of progressive rock discovered the delights of an album that had something for everything. Progressive rock epics and psychedelic freakouts rub shoulders with anthems and beautiful ballads on Quicksand’s long-lost Magnus Opus Home Is Where I Belong which rather belatedly is starting to find a new and wider audience.
Cult Classic: Quicksand-Home Is Where I Belong.
HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO-DING DONG, YOU’RE DEAD.
Hedvig Mollestad Trio-Ding Dong, You’re Dead.
Label: Rune Grammofon.
Format: CD.
Just nine months ago award-winning Norwegian guitarist, vocalist, bandleader and composer Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen released her critically acclaimed debut solo album Ekhidna. By then, she was one of the leading lights of Norway’s vibrant music scene. She had founded the Hedvig Mollestad Trio in 2009 and by then, they had already released five live albums and one live album Evil In Oslo. Now one of Norwegian music’s most explosive and expansive groups make a welcome return with Ding Dong, You’re Dead which was recently released by Rune Grammofon. They’ve come a long way in twelve years.
Ever since the Hedvig Mollestad Trio was founded in 2009 this they’ve been pushing musical boundaries and creating inventive and innovative genre-melting music. They hit the headlines when they played at the prestigious Molde International Jazz Festival in 2009. The newly formed band won the Jazztalentprisen award for the best “young jazz talent.” This was the start of the rise and rise of the Hedvig Mollestad Trio.
Two years later in 2011, they released their critically acclaimed debut album Shoot on Rune Grammofon. With their unique and inimitable genre-melting sound the future looked bright for the Hedvig Mollestad Trio.
They returned in 2013 with their sophomore album All Of Them Witches in 2013. It was released to the same critical acclaim as Shoot and also won a Norwegian Grammy in the rock category. This set the bar high for the Hedvig Mollestad Trio’s next album.
The group returned a year later in 2014, with their much-anticipated third album Enfant Terrible. This genre-melting album was regarded by many critics as the finest album of the Hedvig Mollestad Trio’s five year career. By then, the group’s popularity was growing across Europe and beyond.
After a two year absence, the Hedvig Mollestad Trio returned in 2016 with two new albums. This included their fourth studio album Black Stabat Mater which is: “a genre-melting opus that brings back memories of the golden age of rock.” The other album is Evil In Oslo, which is the Hedvig Mollestad Trio’s first ever live album. It’s a tantalising taste of one of the band live shows.
For the next couple of years much of the Hedvig Mollestad Trio’s time was spent playing live, and they shared the stage with jazz and rock royalty including John McLaughlin and Black Sabbath. Still they found the time to record their fifth studio album Smells Funny. It was released to widespread critical acclaim in February 2019 and cemented the group’s reputation as one of Norwegian music’s finest and most successful group. Hedvig Mollestad Trio had come a long way in ten years.
In 2019, the organisers of the prestigious Vossajazz festival wrote to Hedvig Mollestad to commission a new work. She accepted and the completed commission became Ekhidna, which is a figure from Greek mythology that is half woman, half snake. Backed by an expanded band that was akin to a supergroup Ekhidna was premiered at the Vossajazz festival in April 2019. Critics were won over by what was spellbinding performance of the new piece which lasted seventy-five magical minutes.
After the success of the performance at Vossajazz, it was decided to release Ekhidna as an album. To make it suitable for album release the full festival version was edited, tightened up in places, and then the band recorded Ekhidna earlier in 2020 at Amper Tone studio in Oslo with Hedvig Mollestad taking charge of production. Once the album was complete, it released to plaudits and praise in the summer of 2020. By then, the world was a very different place.
By the spring of 2020, the global pandemic had struck and governments across the world imposed stringent lockdowns. Meanwhile, shocked citizens struggled to comprehend what was happening as the world was changed beyond recognition almost overnight. So did the music industry.
Touring was no longer possible and concert tours and festivals were cancelled. Many bands and musicians watched as one of their major sources of income dried up. In many countries, studios were forced to close during lockdown but reopened in the autumn. Many bands were keen to record a new album. This included the Hedvig Mollestad Trio who began recording Ding Dong, You’re Dead in September 2020.
Ding Dong, You’re Dead.
They would record seven tracks over the next three months. Bandleader and riffmeister extraordinaire Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen wrote All Flights Cancelled, Ding Dong, You’re Dead, Gimbal, The Art Of Being Jon Balkovitch and Four Candles. Bassist Ellen Brekken wrote Leo Flash’ Return To The Underworld and Magic Moshroom. These tracks were recorded at Ampler Tone, in Oslo.
That was where the Hedvig Mollestad Trio recorded their sixth studio album with recordist Bård Ingebrigtsen recorded and later mixed Ding Dong, You’re Dead. The usual lineup of guitarist Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen, drummer Ivar Loe Bjørnstad and bassist Ellen Brekken spent three months recording the seven tracks which were completed by November 2020. Once mixed Helge Sten mastered the album at his Audio Virus Lab.
In March 2021, the Hedvig Mollestad Trio released their much-anticipated sixth studio album Ding Dong, You’re Dead. It’s another album that’s guaranteed to find favour with rock and jazz fans alike. During the seven soundscapes the trio also combine elements of avant-garde, free jazz, heavy metal and progressive rock.
Similarly, an equally eclectic selection of artists have influenced the Hedvig Mollestad Trio during the recording of Ding Dong, You’re Dead. This includes King Crimson, Frank Zappa,John McLaughlin, Miles Davis, Sonic Youth, AC/DC as well as the late, great John Martyn and Terje Rypdal. Sometimes when the Trio are rocking hard they seem to channel the spirit of classic Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin on Ding Dong, You’re Dead. It’s is a potent and powerful musical potpourri that’s certainly doesn’t disappoint.
Ding Dong, You’re Dead opens with the genre-melting Leo Flash’ Return To The Underworld. It finds the Hedvig Mollestad Trio combining early seventies fusion and hard rock with metal and progressive rock. Blistering, scorching, searing and soaring licks are unleashed by bandleader and riffmeister Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen as she takes centrestage and the rhythm section power drive the arrangement along.
It’s a similar case on All Flights Cancelled which features a masterclass from the virtuoso guitarist. She’s accompanied by thunderous drums and a pounding, rumbling bass. They play a supporting role as the riffmeister struts her way through the track. Later, her stunning guitar solo heads heavenwards where the guitar gods reside and they welcome it with open arms and give thanks for its peerless quality.
Straight away, there’s a dark, eerie and experimental sound to the title-track as it prowls almost menacingly along. All the time, one wonders if and when the soundscape is going to explode into life? It’s dark and sometimes dubby, moody and broody and has a cinematic sound. Later, a rocky guitar cuts through the slow, dark arrangement on this filmic soundscape that shows another side to the Trio.
The tempo increases slightly on Gimbal which is a rockier sounding track. It’s dark, dramatic and even haunting and is another captivating track where one wonders what direction it’s heading? Sometimes as the soundscape is driven along the Trio play with a ferocity unleashing and spraying effects as the arrangement buzzes becomes busy and grows in power taking on a psychedelic rock sound. Playing a leading role is guitar hero Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen whose ably assisted by the rhythm section who fill in the gaps but don’t overplay before the arrangement reaches a dramatic crescendo.
Then on Magic Moshroom the influence of the late Frank Zappa can be heard as the track heads in the direction psychedelic-jazz. A fleet-fingered guitar solo is to the fore as the track is driven along and also combines elements of progressive rock, jazz and hard rock. It allows the Trio to showcase their considerable skills and versatility on this spellbinding genre-melting track.
From the get-go the guitar plays a leading role on The Art Of Being Jon Balkovitch. However, the rhythm section more than play their role the bass playing with confidence and with the thunderous drums powering the arrangement along. Meanwhile, Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen is unleashing a blistering solo that’s flawless. She adds effects and machine gun licks to what’s a virtuoso performance that is over after just four memorable minutes.
Closing Ding Dong, You’re Dead is Four Candles which is a beautiful ballad. Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen playing is much more understated and the washes of shimmering guitar seem to have been influenced by John Martyn’s Solid Air. The rhythm section play with a similar subtlety and take a less is more approach on what’s the highlight of the album. Maybe the Hedvig Mollestad Trio’s next album should be an album of music like Four Candles?
Ding Dong, You’re Dead is Hedvig Mollestad Trio’s new opus and is an album with its roots in the past and present. Sometimes they should’ve been around at the same time as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix. Sonically and stylistically, the Trio’s music is a reminder of the golden age of rock, and its possible to imagine the Hedvig Mollestad Trio playing at the Whiskey A-Go-Go in Los Angeles or Fillmore East in San Francisco. However, the similarities between some of the legends of music and the Hedvig Mollestad Trio are no coincidence.
Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen who founded the Hedvig Mollestad Trio in 2009, grew up listening to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix. Their influence can be heard on Ding Dong, You’re Dead. So can the influence of progressive rockers King Crimson, legendary fusion guitarist John McLaughlin and Miles Davis as well as everyone from Frank Zappa and Terje Rypdal to Sonic Youth, AC/DC and John Martyn and Terje Rypdal. Closer to home, one can’t help but wonder whether Moster! and Motorpsycho have influenced the Hedvig Mollestad Trio? These bands have a similar genre-melting sound to the Hedvig Mollestad Trio.
To create this genre-melting sound, the Hedvig Mollestad Trio fuse elements of rock with hard rock, fusion, progressive rock and jazz with with avant-garde, free jazz and psych-jazz. Sometimes, the Hedvig Mollestad Trio seamlessly switch between musical genres mid track. Other times, disparate genres melt into one on Ding Dong, You’re Dead as the Hedvig Mollestad Trio throw a musical curveball as they take the listener on their magical mystery tour where they reach new heights on this captivating, genre-melting epic album.
Hedvig Mollestad Trio-Ding Dong, You’re Dead.
CULT CLASSIC: THE BATHERS-KELVINGROVE BABY.
Cult Classic: The Bathers-Kelvingrove Baby.
The Bathers were formed in Glasgow, in 1985, by singer, songwriter and troubled troubadour Chris Thomson and released six albums between 1987 and 1999. Their fifth album was Kelvingrove Baby is a a minor classic that’s one of the finest Scottish albums ever released. Sadly, Kelvingrove Baby and The Bathers is a story of what might have been.
With Chris Thomson at the helm, the Glasgow-based band could’ve and should’ve been one the biggest Scottish bands ever. After all, The Bathers music is articulate, beautiful, dramatic, ethereal, elegiac, emotive, languid, literate and melancholy. This is music for those that have loved, lost and survived to tell the tale.
Sadly, The Bathers never reached the heady heights their music deserved. As a result, the six albums The Bathers released between 1987s Unusual Places To Die and 1999s Pandemonia, never reached the audience it deserved. For Chris Thomson, history was repeating itself.
The Bathers were formed in Glasgow in 1985. They formed after Chris Thomson’s previous group Friends Again split up. Initially, The Bathers were a vehicle for singer-songwriter Chris Thomson. However, in 1987, The Bathers secured their first record deal with Go! Discs Records, and released their debut album Unusual Places To Die.
Unusual Places To Die.
For their debut album Unusual Places To Die, Chris Thomson penned ten tracks. These tracks were recorded by The Bathers’ original lineup. This included bassist Sam Loup, drummer James Locke and Chris on guitar and keyboards. Joining The Bathers, were Michael Peden of The Chimes, Douglas Macintyre and James Grant of Love and Money. They played walk on parts on Unusual Places To Die, which was released later in 1987.
When Unusual Places To Die was released in 1987, it was to widespread critical acclaim. Chris Thompson’s songs seemed to strike a nerve with critics. They described the music as variously engaging, emotive and dramatic. One critic went as far to wonder whether Unusual Places To Die was the work of a genius? Despite this critical acclaim Unusual Places To Die wasn’t a commercial success. This was nothing to do with the music though.
Instead, Unusual Places To Die fell victim to the internal politics within the record company. As a result, sales of Unusual Places To Die were poor. Given the critical response to Unusual Places To Die, this was disappointing. So, it wasn’t a surprise when The Bathers switched labels for their sophomore album, Sweet Deceit.
Sweet Deceit.
After the Go Discs! internal problems sabotaged the release of Unusual Places To Die, The Bathers moved to Island Records, where the recorded Sweet Deceit.
Sweet Deceit was an epic album, featuring fifteen tracks. Chris wrote thirteen of the tracks, and cowrote the other two. He co-produced Sweet Deceit with Keith Mitchell, and the album was released in 1990.
Three years had passed since Unusual Places To Die was released. The Bathers were back, and according to critics, better than ever. Sweet Deceit was described as impressionistic, beautiful and spellbinding. One critic, quite rightly referred to the album as a mini masterpiece. However, The Bathers had been here before with Unusual Places To Die.
On Sweet Deceit’s release, lightning struck twice for The Bathers. Sales of Sweet Deceit were disappointing. Despite the critically acclaimed reviews, Sweet Deceit seemed to pass record buyers by. For The Bathers, this was a huge disappointment.
Especially when Island Records didn’t renew The Bathers’ contract. There would be another gap of three years before we heard from The Bathers again. However, Chris Thomson was still making music.
Following Sweet Deceit, Chris Thomson joined with two former members of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Stephen Irvine and Neil Clark, to create a Scottish supergroup, Bloomsday. They released just one album, Fortuny, which is now regarded as a classic Scottish album. Just like The Bathers two previous albums, Bloomsday’s debut album, Fortuny, was released to critical acclaim. Unfortunately, commercial success eluded Fortuny. However, a more fruitful period was round the corner for The Bathers.
Lagoon Blues.
After signing a record contract with a German record label Marina, the group released three albums in a four year period. In 1993, they released Lagoon Blues which was their Marina debut.
Just like Sweet Deceit, Lagoon Blues was another epic album penned by Chris Thompson. It featured sixteen songs, which were the perfect showcase for Chris Thomson’s vocal. Accompanied by what was essentially The Bathers and friends sixteen tracks were recorded at Palladium Studios, Edinburgh and mixed at Palladium Studios and Cava Studios, Glasgow. Once Lagoon Blues was completed, it was released in 1993.
On its release in 1993, critics remarked that Lagoon Blues was a more eclectic album. There were diversions into jazz-skiffle on Pissor, while the album opener Lagoon Blues showcased a string quartet. The strings would play an important part on Lagoon Blues, which was hailed as poetic, elegant, sumptuous and intense. The same critical acclaim accompanied Lagoon Blues, however, this time The Bathers’ music found a wider audience. It seemed after three albums, The Bathers’ star was in the ascendancy.
Sunpowder.
For The Bathers’ fourth album, and followup to Lagoon Blues, they returned with Sunpowder. It marked the debut of a new lineup of The Bathers.
Sunpowder marked The Bathers’ debut of drummer and percussionist Hazel Morrison, keyboardist Carlo Scattini and string players Ian White and Mark Wilson. These new additions would change The Bathers’ sound greatly. Many people refer to this as the classic lineup of The Bathers. This classic lineup, plus guest artist ex-Cocteau Twin, Liz Fraser, who features on four tracks, made its debut on Sunpowder.
For Sunpowder, Chris Thomson had written eleven new songs. They were recorded a at Palladium Studios, Edinburgh. Chris Thomson and Keith Mitchell produced Sunpowder, which was released in 1995.
When Sunpowder was released, it received the same critical acclaim as The Bathers’ three previous albums. Sunpowder was called sumptuous, sensual, dramatic and ethereal. Liz Fraser, an honorary Bather was the perfect foil to Chris Thomson forever the troubled, tortured troubadour. The result was, what was The Bathers most successful album, Sunpowder. That however, would change with Kelvingrove Baby.
Kelvingrove Baby.
Kelvingrove Baby would be The Bathers’ Marina swan-song. They were certainly eaving the German label on a high.
Chris Thomson had written thirteen new songs for Kelvingrove Baby, which was recorded in Glasgow and Edinburgh. It was at these locations that The Bathers’ expanded lineup reconvened.
Picking up where they left off, were The Bathers’ new lineup, plus a few friends. The Bathers’ rhythm section included bassists Sam Loup, Douglas MacIntyre and Ken McHugh, drummers Hazel Morrison and James Locke, who also played percussion. Joining them in the rhythm section were guitarist Colin McIlroy. They were joined by accordionist, pianist and and organist Carlo Scattini, string players Ian White and Mark Wilson. Fermina Haze plays organ, James Grant of Love and Money plays acoustic guitar and with with Hazel Morrison and Justin Currie of Del Amitri, adds backing vocals. Chris Thomson plays acoustic guitar, piano and adds his unmistakable vocals. He produced most of Kelvingrove Baby, apart from Thrive, which was produced by James Locke. Once Kelvingrove Baby was completed, it was released in 1997.
Just like each of The Bathers’ four previous albums, Kelvingrove Baby was released to overwhelming critical acclaim. Kelvingrove Baby was hailed The Bathers’ finest hour. It seemed everything had been leading up to Kelvingrove Baby.
Opening Kelvingrove Baby, is the James Locke produced Thrive. Just a strummed acoustic guitar takes centre-stage, while subtle washes of keyboards flit in and out. They provide the backdrop for Chris Thompson’s vocal. For the first time on Kelvingrove Baby, he dawns the role of troubled troubadour, playing it to perfection. It’s as if he’s experience, lived through, and survived someone leaving him. His vocal is full of emotion of swells of strings sweep in. They’re the perfect accompaniment as he delivers the lyrics “up on the west coast waiting, I wear the rain like tears.” In doing so, the hurt and loneliness is there for all to see and hear.
Girlfriend is akin to a devotional from the pen of Chris Thomson. A piano and bass probe, while a cymbal is caresses. This sets the stage for a tender, emotive vocal and there’s almost disbelief in his voice that he’s found someone to call his own. He’s fallen head over heels, hence lyrics like “I’m the kind of guy, whose dreams rise unashamed, who will love you ’til the end, cos you’re my girlfriend.” With just a subtle, meandering piano, understated drums, washes of ethereal harmonies and crystalline guitar, Chris Thomson delivers a heartfelt devotional.
If Love Could Last Forever is the perfect showcase for The Bathers’ unique brand of cerebral, literate and poetic pop. After all, who apart from The Bathers write: “they flutter down like fireflies, tugging at your sleeves, somehow rise to shame you, bring you to your knees?” It’s a beautiful, soul-searching song about love. That’s the case from the opening bars, when an acoustic guitar is strummed, a guitar chimes and drums mark the beat. Then, longingly and hopefully, Chris, accompanied by cooing harmonies, sings “ If Love Could Last Forever, forever and a day.” Effortlessly, Chris Thomson breathes life, meaning and emotion into what’s a timeless paean.
While East Of East Delier has an understated arrangement, it allows Chris to unleash his full and impressive vocal range. Drums are caressed and a piano meanders. Meanwhile, a bass adds an element of darkness. This is reflected in the hurt, loneliness and regret in Chris Thomson’s vocal. His vocal soars above the arrangement, with frustration omnipresent at the love he once had and lost.
Accompanied by firmly strummed acoustic guitar No Risk No Glory, unfolds. A guitar chimes as fingers flit up and down the fretboard. Meanwhile, Chris Thomson’s vocal is a mixture of power, emotion and hurt. The hurt is obvious from the moment he sings “I was born to love her,” it’s a case of infatuation and unrequited love. With harmonies, an accordion and guitars for company he delivers a cathartic outpouring of hurt. He wouldn’t have it any other way, singing ruefully “no risk, no glory.”
Dramatic and moody describes the dark, but sparse piano lead introduction to Once Upon A Time On The Rapenburg. If a picture tells a thousand stories, so does a piano. It sets the scene for Chris Thomson as once again, he dawns the role of troubled troubadour. With shimmering strings and a deliberate gothic piano for company he remembers the love affair that almost was.
Kelvingrove Baby is the centre-piece of Kelvingrove Baby. It’s a seven minute epic about an unnamed femme fatale from Glasgow’s West End who toyed with Chris Thomson’s affections. From just a strummed guitar and subtle piano, the arrangement builds. The piano plays a more prominent role, adding an element of drama. After ninety seconds drums pound and ethereal harmonies sweep in. They give way to a worldweary, lived-in vocal. Meanwhile, Hazel Morrison adds ethereal, elegiac harmonies. This seems to spur Chris Thomson on and using his wide vocal range, he unleashes a needy vocal tour de force. Hopefully, he sings “someday I know, that you’ll be back…I don’t know, maybe then you can be my Kelvingrove Baby.” Behind him, the epic, ethereal and dramatic arrangement is the perfect accompaniment for what’s without doubt, The Bathers’ finest hour on Kelvingrove Baby.
Memories come flooding back to Chris Thomson on Girl From The Polders. Instantly, he’s transported back to another time and place. That’s when they first met, and where “I first kissed you.” With the rhythm section and piano providing a backdrop he delivers another hopeful, needy vocal. He hopes that when summer returns, and heads back to Poolewe, his “songbird, melodious and pure,” is there.
Against a backdrop of quivering strings, Chris Thomson delivers a vocal on Lost Certainties that’s equal parts power, passion, frustration and sadness. Below the vocal and strings, the rhythm section drives the arrangement along, adding to the drama and intensity of this soul-baring refrain about a bewitching woman.
After the intensity of Lost Certainties, Dial has a much looser, laid-back sound. Chris Thomson eschews the power of the previous track, as The Bathers deliver an understated, spacious, melodic track. Hazel Morrison, James Grant and Justin Currie add harmonies as Chris Thomson almost croons his way through Dial.
Orchestral strings and a pounding rhythm section set the scene for the vocal on The Fragrance Remains Insane. There’s an intensity in Chris’ lovelorn vocal, on this tale of love gone wrong. He’s struggling to come to terms with the breakup of his relationship, despite his claims “that I’m not crazy about you.”
If Chris Thomson had been born twenty years earlier he would have been a crooner. That’s apparent on Hellespont In A Storm, where he literally croons his way through the track. Accompanied by washes of accordion, swathes of strings, a subtle rhythm section and acoustic guitar. As Chris croons, emotion and regret are omnipresent. Especially when he sings “spread your wings, above you, the time has come to fly away, where I can’t follow.” Given this is the ultimate sacrifice, the beauty and emotion is almost overwhelming.
The piano lead Twelve, closes Kelvingrove Baby. Chris lays bare his soul, accompanied by his trusty piano. Later, swathes of lush strings sweep in. They provide the accompaniment to a telephone conversation, on this story of everlasting love.
For The Bathers, Kelvingrove Baby was a musical coming of age. It’s as if everything they’d been working towards was leading to Kelvingrove Baby. The music was variously atmospheric, cerebral, dramatic, ethereal, heartfelt, hopeful, literate, needy and sensual. It’s also tinged with pathos, regret and sadness. No wonder, given the tales of love found and lost. They’re brought to life by The Bathers’ very own troubled troubadour Chris Thomson. Along with the rest of The Bathers, they’re responsible for Kelvingrove Baby, a truly enthralling album.
On Kelvingrove Baby, the music is captivating. So much so, that you’re drawn into Kelvingrove Baby’s lush, atmospheric sound. Having captured your attention, The Bathers don’t let go. Before long, the listener has fallen in love. They fall in love with music that’s hauntingly beautiful, emotive, dramatic and pensive. Much of this is thanks to Chris Thomson’s peerless vocal performances. He plays the role of the troubled troubadour, to a tee. His worldweary, emotive, heartfelt and impassioned vocal sounds as if it’s lived the lyrics he’s singing about. Lived them not just once, but several times over. As a result, Kelvingrove Baby is akin to a snapshot into Chris Thomson’s life, and very soul. Indeed, Kelvingrove Baby sounds a very personal album from The Bathers’ troubled troubadour, Chris Thomson. Kelvingrove Baby was a career high from The Bathers. However, two years later, somehow, The Bathers managed to top Kelvingrove Baby.
Pandemonia, which was released in 1999, was The Bathers’ swan-song. Just like Kelvingrove Baby, the critically acclaimed Pandemonia, should’ve transformed The Bathers’ career. Sadly, despite oozing quality, The Bathers’ cerebral, literate and melodic brand of chamber pop failed to find the wider audience it deserved. As a result, The Bathers remained almost unknown apart from loyal band of discerning music lovers.
After Pandemonia, most people expected The Bathers to return after a couple of years with their seventh album. That wasn’t to be. Two years became three, became five, ten and fifteen. Now, twenty years have passed since the release of Pandemonia. Throughout the last twenty years, there have been rumours that another Bathers album is in the pipeline . However, Chris Thomson who nowadays is working as a gardener in Glasgow said in a recent interview that a new album from The Bathers was forthcoming and hopefully would be released in 2021. Let’s hope that’s the case for a band that could’ve and should’ve been one of Scotland’s most successful bands.
Alas, The Bathers are unlike most bands. They’re enigmatic, almost reclusive and publicity shy. Quite simply, The Bathers aren’t exactly your normal band. Not for them the rock “n” roll lifestyle favoured by other bands. In many ways, musical fashions and fads didn’t affect them. Their attitude was almost contrarian. Albums were recorded slowly and methodically. It was as if The Bathers were striving for perfection. On Kelvingrove Baby and Pandemonia, they almost achieved the impossible. What’s more they did it their way.
This means The Bathers aren’t willing to jump onto a musical bandwagon in pursuit of fame, fortune or starlets. Quite the opposite. It seemed to be their way or no way, in the pursuit of musical perfection. By perfection this means music that cerebral, dramatic, emotive, ethereal, literate and melodic. That describes The Bathers’ fifth album Kelvingrove Baby perfectly where The Bathers strive for perfection and very nearly achieve the impossible.
Cult Classic: The Bathers-Kelvingrove Baby.
CULT CLASSIC: DOUG CARN FEATURING THE VOICE OF JEAN CARN-SPIRIT OF THE NEW LAND.
Cult Classic: Doug Carn Featuring The Voice Of Jean Carn-Spirit Of The New Land.
Doug Carn was one of the first artists that Gene Russell and Dick Schory signed when they founded Black Jazz Records in 1971. His debut solo album Infant Eyes was the nascent company’s third release and featured vocals from his wife Jean Carn. Infant Eyes was the most successful of the six albums the label released during 1971. Buoyed by this success the Doug and Jean Carn began work on the followup.
This was Spirit Of The New Land, which was released in 1972 and billed as Doug Carn Featuring The Voice Of Jean Carn. It was a new chapter in the story of Doug Carn who was still only twenty-for when he released Spirit Of The New Land.
Doug Carn was born on July the ’14th’ 1948, in St. Augustine, Florida, and growing up music was all around him and was part of the culture around him at home. His mother was a musician, while his uncle was a bebop DJ who could scat the Dexter Gordon solos. It was no surprise that growing up, Doug Carn started listening to jazz and later, decided to learn an instrument.
Initially, Doug Carn took piano lessons and proved to be a quick learner and was soon able to play Bach Two-Part Inventions. That was when it was discovered that he wasn’t reading music and playing by ear. This resulted in Doug Carn being given an alto saxophone which he also mastered was able to play well. Already he was well on his way to becoming a multi-instrumentalist and it was no surprise when Doug Carn decided to study music at university.
He enrolled at Jacksonville University in 1965, and for the next two years studied oboe and composition. When Doug Carn graduated in 1967 he headed to Georgia State University where he completed his musical education in 1969. Later that year he made his recording debut as bandleader.
The twenty-one year old multi-instrumentalist was still living in Georgia and had founded the Doug Carn Trio. However, the new combo needed gigs and the young bandleader decided to visit a friend who ran a booking agency. When he entered the office he was greeted by the receptionist and secretary who was also a singer. This was Jean Carn who later become his wife. Before that, she started singing with the Doug Carn Trio who were about to make their recording debut.
Through the owner of the booking agency, Doug Carn was introduced to Herman Lubinsky the founder and owner of Savoy Records. This introduction turned out to be a gamechanger for the bandleader.
It turned out that the label had a session booked in Atlanta which was going to be produced by Fred Mendelsohn, the President of Savoy. He explained that there was every chance that there might be some spare time after he had recorded the gospel album, and if there was, they would use the time to record the Doug Carn Trio. That turned out to be the case.
That day in 1969, the Doug Carn Trio recorded what became their eponymous debut album. It was released later in 1969 on Savoy Records but wasn’t a commercial success. However, for Doug Carn recording the album was an invaluable experience as he prepared to move to LA as the sixties gave way to the seventies.
When he arrived in LA, Doug Carn started spending time with the members of Earth, Wind and Fire and this resulted in him playing on their first two albums. He played Hammond organ on Earth, Wind and Fire which was released on February 1971 and was certified gold. Doug Carn also played on The Need Of Love which was released in November 1971. By then, his solo career was well underway.
Earlier in 1971, Doug Carn had signed to Black Jazz Records and recorded and released his debut album Infant Eyes which featured his wife Jean Carn’s vocal. Infant Eyes was the most successful of the six albums that the nascent label released during 1971. Buoyed by the success of his debut album Doug and Jean Carn began work on the followup Spirit Of The New Land.
For his second album for Black Jazz Records Doug Carn wrote Dwell Like A Ghost, My Spirit, Arise and Shine, Trance Dance and New Moon. He also covered Miles Davis’ Blue In Green and Lee Morgan’s Search For The New Land which he added lyrics too. These tracks became Spirit Of The New Land which was recorded with tight, talented and versatile band.
Recording of the album took place at Bell Studios, in New York, with Gene Russell taking charge of production. The band featured drummer Alphonse Mouzon, trombonist Garnett Brown, Earl McIntyre on tuba and Charles Tolliver played flugelhorn while George Harper switched between bass clarinet, flute and soprano saxophone. Jean Carn added vocals and Doug Carn played Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ and piano on Spirit Of The New Land.
When Spirit Of The New Land was released later in 1972, the album was billed as Doug Carn Featuring The Voice Of Jean Carn. For the first time, the Carn’s received equal billing on an album that was well received by critics and became Black Jazz Records’ best selling album of 1972.
That was no surprise given the standard of music on Spirit Of The New Land. It showcased the songwriting and keyboard skills of Doug Carn and provided a platform for Jean Carn’s impressive five octave vocal which breathes life, meaning and emotion into the lyrics on what was an eclectic album. There were elements of jazz, funk and soul as well as jazz-funk, free jazz, fusion and soul-jazz on the seven tracks on Spirit Of The New Land.
It opens with the dramatic and atmospheric Dwell Like A Ghost where Jean Carn’s five octave vocal soars high above the arrangement as drums pound and power the arrangement along. This adds to the drama. Meanwhile, Doug Carn interjects and eerie, otherworldly sounds combine with free jazz horns on this ambitious genre-melting album opener.
Jean Carn’s vocal is soulful and impassioned as a shimmering Fender Rhodes combines with wailing horns and thunderous, pounding drums. Briefly, the arrangement becomes understated and the urgent vocal enters as the arrangement to this ten minute epic rebuilds and reveals its secrets. This includes a breathtaking saxophone solo which is accompanied by the Fender Rhodes and drums. Soon, the baton passes to the trombone before bandleader Doug Carn unleashes a fleet-fingered solo. His fingers dart across the keyboard and along with Jean Carn whose vocal heads in the direction of spiritual jazz he plays a leading role in the sound and success of this jazz opus. It also features elements of jazz-funk and fusion and is one of the album’s highlights.
Sharp bursts of horns open Arise and Shine before Jean Carn’s joyous, jazzy vocal enters and she delivers lyrics full of social comment. Her vocal is a mixture of power and passion and soars above the arrangement before being replaced by the soprano saxophone and then bass clarinet take centrestage. Meanwhile, the tight talented and versatile band match them every step of the way. This includes washes of Hammond organ and drummer Alphonse Mouzon who unleashes drums rolls and pounds the hi-hat. Soon, it’s time for Doug Carn’s blistering solo which heads in the direction of soul-jazz. It’s one of his finest and when Jean Carn returns she’s joined by the bass clarinet and delivers the spiritual lyrics as the arrangement swings and then some.
Blue In Green was written by Miles Davis and features lyrics written by Doug Carn. They’re delivered by Jean Carn on this beautiful ballad which has an understated arrangement that features a flute, Fender Rhodes and drums. A less is more approach is taken and this allow the vocal to shine. It’s without doubt Jean Carn’s finest on Search For The New Land.
Very different is Trance Dance which is best described as avant-garde jazz which also features elements of African music, fusion and even elements of free jazz, funk and soul-jazz. Soon the tempo is rising and Doug Carn and his band allow the opportunity to stretch their legs and showcase their considerable talents as genres melt into one.
Search For The New Land was written by Lee Morgan and features lyrics that were written by Doug Carn. From the opening bars, there’s a degree of drama as Jean Carn unleashes a powerhouse of a vocal. It’s impassioned as she delivers lyrics that are full of social comment and sometimes spiritual. Meanwhile, Doug Carn interjects hopefully and stabs at the piano as the bass clarinet soars above the arrangement. They prove a potent combination before the saxophone replaces the clarinet and goes toe-to-toe with the jangling piano which Doug Carn then pounds, jabs stabs and adds flamboyant flourishes as he takes centrestage. Soon, Jean Carn rejoins and adds an impassioned plea on this twelve minute opus that is the centrepiece of the album.
The piano led New Moon closes Spirit Of The New Land and joins forces with drums and bursts of quivering horns as the arrangement cascades and sometimes seems to race along. In doing so, it provides the perfect showcase for Doug Carn and his band who save one of their best performances for last.
When Spirit Of The New Land was released in 1972, it built on the success of Doug Carn’s debut solo album which was released in 1971. It was the most successful album that Black Jazz Records released that year, and so was Spirit Of The New Land. However, neither album sold tens of thousands of copies but both were successful for a small independent label. That was what Black Jazz Records was. It was also a label that had a vision.
Black Jazz Records that wanted “to promote the talents of young African American jazz musicians and singers.” Doug Carn was only twenty-four when he released Spirit Of The New Land and his was Jean Carn was twenty-five. They had created an album that was an alternative to what Gene Russell and Dick Schory referred to as old school jazz. Spirit Of The New Land was a very different and new type of jazz album and featured everything from avant-garde, free jazz, funk, jazz-funk, fusion, soul, soul-jazz and spiritual jazz. These genres were combined by Doug Carn and Jean Carn who unleashed her five octave vocal on Spirit Of The New Land which at the time was their finest hour and set the bar high for future albums.
Cult Classic: Doug Carn Featuring The Voice Of Jean Carn-Spirit Of The New Land.
CULT CLASSIC FOUND: THELONIOUS MONK-PALAIS DES BEAUX ARTS 1963.
Cult Classic Found: Thelonious Monk-Palais Des Beaux Arts 1963.
Nowadays, Thelonious Monk is regarded and recognised as one of the greatest ever jazz pianists. However, in the past, he wasn’t without his critics. English poet and jazz critic Phillip Larkin cruelly dismissed him as: “the elephant on the keyboard.” He didn’t appreciate Thelonious Monk’s innovative approach to jazz music which features on Palais Des Beaux Arts 1963 which is a recording that lay unreleased until 2020.
Palais Des Beaux Arts 1963 features five of Thelonious Monk’s own compositions. However, he only composed seventy pieces during a career that spanned thirty-three years. Despite that, he’s now the second-most covered jazz composer of all time.
These compositions and improvisations featured dissonances and what are best described as angular melodic twists, which are an accurate representation of his unique approach to the piano. Initially, it was described as hard swinging, but evolved over the next twenty years.
Those that had followed Thelonious Monk career watched his style evolve, and his extremely percussive attack which featured abrupt and dramatic use of switched key releases, silences, pauses and hesitations, which divided the opinion of jazz critics and fans. What they forgot, was that Thelonious Monk was a relative latecomer to jazz, and had started his career accompanying a touring evangelist on an old church organ. In some ways, Thelonious Monk was making up for lost time, as he was already twenty-four before he first started playing jazz.
Despite arriving to the party late, Thelonious Monk was soon making up for lost time, and from the early fifties, was working as bandleader, sideman and collaborating with other future giants of jazz.
He had started off at Blue Note Records between 1948 and 1952, before moving to Prestige Records where he spent two years between 1952 and 1954. After that, Thelonious Monk moved to Riverside Records which was his home between 1955 and 1961, and by then, his star was in the ascendancy.
This was quite remarkable given everything that Thelonious Monk had been through since the early fifties. He had his New York cabaret card revoked in 1951, when he became the latest victim of a trumped narcotics charge. This meant that he was unable to play in New York’s club’s for six long years. During that time, Thelonious Monk signed to Riverside Records in 1955, which was his home until 1961.
Although Thelonious Monk was held in high regard by critics and commentators, sadly, for someone so talented, his records weren’t selling well. In 1955, he agreed to release an albums of jazz standards, Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington in the hope that this would increase his profile and record sales. However, later in 1955 tragedy struck for Thelonious Monk.
Towards the end of 1955, Thelonious Monk’s mother passed away, and the following year, 1956, a fire destroyed the pianist’s apartment in West ‘63rd’ Street, New York. Thelonious Monk and family were left destitute, and his family of five had no option but to stay with friends for several months, with fifteen people shoehorned into a three room apartment. Meanwhile, Thelonious Monk continued to live with an undiagnosed bipolar disorder, which nobody was aware at the time. Despite this, he released Brilliant Corners an album of hard bop in late 1956, which was one of the finest albums he released for Riverside Records.
In 1957, Thelonious Monk’s run of bad luck continued when he was involved in a car accident, and when the police discovered him unresponsive, took him to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, where he spent three weeks. By then, Thelonious Monk was unaware that his father had been living in a psychiatric hospital for the past fifteen years
Things got worse for Thelonious Monk in May 1957, when his wife Nellie became ill, and required a thyroidectomy. After the operation, she became frail and depressed, which affected Thelonious Monk’s wellbeing. The last two years had been hard on the couple, but at least Thelonious Monk was about to get his New York cabaret card back, and could start playing live in the Big Apple.
By then, Thelonious Monk had a manager, and started a six-month residency at the Five Spot Café, and had formed a friendship with John Coltrane. This was a coincidence as many of John Coltrane’s band had served their music apprenticeship Five Spot.
During Thelonious Monk’s residency at the Five Spot Café during 1957 and 1958, the sharp dressed and sartorially elegant pianist took to the stage with his carefully cultivated look. Thelonious Monk wore suits, hats and had taken to wearing sunglasses which hid the window to his troubled and weary soul. Still, he dazzled patrons with his unique playing style as he switched between standards and his own compositions. Thelonious Monk was back in the Big Apple, after a six-year absence.
With Thelonious Monk’s albums still not selling well by 1958, he was asked to release a second album of jazz standards. It was hoped that The Unique Thelonious Monk would increase his profile and record sales. Ironically, later, in 1958, Thelonious Monk’s face was all over American newspapers, after his latest brush with the law.
Thelonious Monk had been hired to play for a week at the Comedy Club, in Maryland, and on his way to the gig, he and Nica De Koenigswarter were stopped by the police in Wilmington, Delaware. When Thelonious Monk refused to answer or cooperate with the police officer, who beat him with a blackjack. During an authorised search the car drugs were found, and suddenly Thelonious Monk was looking at some serious jail time. Fortunately, Judge Christie of the Delaware Superior Court ruled that the pair had been unlawfully detained, and that the beating of Thelonious Monk meant that the consent to the search void as given under duress. Forty-one year old Thelonious Monk survived to fight another day.
As the fifties gave way to the sixties, Thelonious Monk’s relationship with Riverside Records had gone south, after a disagreement over royalty payments. While Riverside Records released two live albums recorded in Europe, Thelonious Monk hadn’t recorded a studio album since 5 By Monk By 5 in June 1959. Fortunately, Columbia Records one of the four major labels were keen to sign Thelonious Monk.
The negations between Thelonious Monk and Columbia Records, were protracted, and it wasn’t until 1962 that a contract was signed. At last, Thelonious Monk could get back into the studio and do what he did best…make music.
In March 1963, Thelonious Monk released his Columbia Records’ debut Monk’s Dream to widespread critical acclaim. It was a return to form and was a reminder of his considerable powers as a performer and composer. So was the followup Criss-Cross which was almost completed. However, before that, Thelonious Monk and his regular quartet embarked upon a European tour.
On the ‘10th’ of March 1963 Thelonious Monk was scheduled to play at the prestigious Palais Des Beaux-Arts in the Belgian capital Brussels. That night, the concert was recorded by the Belgian broadcast company BRT/RTB. They had brought along the best recording equipment to record Thelonious Monk and his quartet.
Thelonious Monk was always a showman and when he shuffled onto the stage he was wearing, a suit, sunglasses and his trademark grey wool Papakha hat. Meanwhile, drummer Frankie Dunlop, bassist John Ore and tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse were waiting for him. They watched as Thelonious Monk waved his arms around which was their signal to get the show underway.
Side One.
The set opens with the jaunty sounding Bye-Ya from his latest album Monk’s Dream. The rest of this experienced quartet’s playing is tight as they provide the backdrop for Thelonious Monk. He showcase his ability to improvise and his avant-garde flair. It’s a similar case on Monk’s Dream which is a reaffirmation that he’s one of the great jazz pianists. Not to be outdone, Frankie Dunlop showcases his considerable talents on Drum Solo and unleashes a spellbinding and inventive solo that lasts a minute.
Side Two.
Thelonious Monk gives a sneak preview of the title-track of his second Columbia album Criss-Cross. This album of post bop featured complex melodies and harmonies and his stride piano style. It was also showcase for his theories on pitch qualities for his improvisations. Criss-Cross was one of the highlights of Thelonious Monk’s next album as well as Palais Des Beaux Arts 1963 and later became a standard.
From there, Thelonious Monk and his band work their way through Epistrophy before closing the set with one of his favourites Just a Gigolo. For most pianists it would be a challenging piece. However, almost effortlessly Thelonious Monk manages with ease what seem like impossible chords and deploys his trademark halting delivery which he seems to exaggerate. Later, he enjoys his moment in the spotlight during a stunning solo where his hands glide over and caress the keyboard before he and his band take their bow.
After Thelonious Monk’s appearance at Palais Des Beaux Arts 1963 the set lay in BRT/RTB’s vaults for forty-two years. Since then, a team of dedicated archivists and musical technicians have spent their time restoring digitising the tapes so future generations can enjoy them.
This includes Palais Des Beaux Arts 1963 which is a reminder Thelonious Monk who nowadays is regarded as of one of greatest jazz pianists of his generation. Backed by his quartet Thelonious Monk plays an almost flawless set on this cult classic which was rediscovered fifty-seven years after it was originally recorded.
Cult Classic Found: Thelonious Monk-Palais Des Beaux Arts 1963.
CULT CLASSIC: DR JOHN-REMEDIES.
Cult Classic: Dr John-Remedies.
Although Dr John eventually won six Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2011, commercial success and critical acclaim didn’t come overnight for the great showman who released thirty studio albums and nine live albums during a career that spanned six decades where his music fell in and out of fashion. Dr John it’s safe to say enjoyed a roller coaster career and made an impression on anyone who saw him live.
His theatrical stage show was inspired by medicine shows, Mardi Gras costumes and voodoo ceremonies while his inimitable genre-melting sound was a fusion of blues, boogie-woogie, funk, jazz, pop, R&B and rock ’n’ roll. Dr John in full flow was a spellbinding sight as he mixed music and theatre. However, it took time for Dr John’s albums to find the audience they deserved.
Dr John’s first three albums failed to trouble the charts. This included his third album Remedies which was released by Atco on April the ‘9th’ 1970. It was a frustrating time for twenty-nine year old Dr John who must have wondered whether Atco was the right label for him? He was releasing music that was variously ambitious, dark, otherworldly, powerful and poignant. However, very few people had heard his first three albums including Remedies which was the latest chapter in the Dr John story.
The future Dr John was born Malcolm John “Mac” Rebennack Jr, on November the ‘20th’ 1940, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He grew up in the Third Ward of New Orleans, and music was always around him.
His father Malcolm John Rebennack ran an appliance shop in the East End of New Orleans, where he repaired radio and televisions and sold records. He introduced his son to the music of King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. However, one of the people who inspired Mac Rebennack was his grandfather who he heard singing minstrel songs. So did hearing his aunts, uncles, cousins and sister playing the piano. Despite this, Mac Rebennack wasn’t inspired to take music lessons.
This only came later when he was a teenager. He also joined a choir, but was soon asked to leave. However, over the next few years Mac Rebennack learnt to play the guitar and later piano, and through his father’s contacts in the local music scene was soon playing alongside some well known names including Guitar Slim and Little Richard. This was just the start for Mac Rebennack.
When he was thirteen, he met Professor Longhair and he was instantly impressed by the flamboyant showman. Mac Rebennack was soon playing alongside his new hero, and this was the start of his professional career.
Around 1955 or 1956, Mac Rebennack made his debut in the recording studio when he was signed as a singer and songwriter by Eddie Mesner at Aladdin Records. The future Dr John’s career was underway and towards the end of 1957 with the help of Danny Kessler, he joined the musician’s union. That was when he considered himself to be a professional musician.
By the time he was sixteen, Mac Rebennack had been hired by Johnny Vincent at Ace Records as a producer. This led to him working with Earl King, James Booker and Jimmy Clayton. This was all good experience for the young, up-and-coming musician
Despite his new career, Mac Rebennack was still a student at Jesuit High School. This didn’t stop him playing in night clubs and forming his first band The Dominoes. The Jesuit fathers weren’t happy with Mac Rebennack’s lifestyle and issued him with an ultimatum. He was to either stop playing in nightclubs or leave the school. Not long after this, he was expelled from the school. It turned out to be the best thing that happened to him as he was able to concentrate on music full time.
By the late-fifties, Mac Rebennack was playing with various bands in and around New Orleans. This included his own band Mac Rebennack and The Skyliners. However, the young bandleader had also embarked upon a career as a songwriter.
In 1957 Mac Rebennack cowrote his first ever rock ’n’ roll song Lights Out. It was recorded by New Orleans based singer Jerry Byrne, and released on Specialty Records later in 1957 and give him a regional hit.
Two years later, in 1959, Mac Rebennack also enjoyed a regional hit single when he released Storm Warning, a Bo Diddley insprired instrumental, on Rex Records. This was the first hit he enjoyed in a long, illustrious and eventful career.
After Storm Warning, Mac Rebennack and Charlie Miller joined forces and recorded singles for various local labels. This included Ace, Ron, and Ric. They continued to release singles until Charlie Miller decided to move to New York to study music. Mac Rebennack stayed in the Big Easy and continued his career.
Around 1960, Mac Rebennack was playing a gig in Jacksonville, Florida, when his career was changed forevermore. That night, his ring finger on his left hand was injured by a gun shot during an incident. This was a disaster for a right handed guitarist and when he recovered he made the switch to bass guitar. However, after a while Mac Rebennack switched to the instrument he made his name playing, the piano.
Soon, Mac Rebennack had developed a style that was influenced by Professor Longhair who he had met when he was thirteen. It looked as if this was a new chapter in Mac Rebennack’s musical career.
That wasn’t the case and Mac Rebennack ended up getting involved in the dark underbelly of The Big Easy. He was using and selling illegal drugs and at one point, running a brothel. It was almost inevitable that Mac Rebennack was going to have a brush with the law.
He did. In 1963, when Mac Rebennack was arrested on drug charges and sentenced to two years in the Federal Correctional Institution, in Fort Worth, Dallas. By the time his sentence ended and he was released in 1965, New Orleans was a different place.
There had been a campaign to rid the city of its clubs, which meant that musicians like Mac Rebennack found it hard to find work. That was why he decided to move to LA where he knew he could find work as a session musician.
It turned out to be a good decision, and it wasn’t long before Mac Rebennack was one of the first call session musicians in LA. That was the case for the rest of sixties and the seventies. He was also a member of the legendary Wrecking Crew and worked with some of the biggest names in music. This was the new start Mac Rebennack had been looking for when he left New Orleans.
Growing up Mac Rebennack had developed an interest in New Orleans voodoo. This was something he revisited during his early years in LA when he began to develop the concept of Dr John, which initially he thought could be a persona for his friend Ronnie Barron. The concept was based on the life of Dr John, a Senegalese prince, a witch doctor, herbalist and spiritual healer who travelled to New Orleans from Haiti. He was a free man of colour who lived on Bayou Road, and claimed to have fifteen wives and over fifty children. It was believed Dr John also kept a variety of lizards, snakes, embalmed scorpions as well as animal and human skulls, and sold gris-gris, voodoo amulets which were meant to protect the wearer from harm. This Mac Rebennack incorporated into the project he was working on for Ronnie Barron.
Soon, Mac Rebennack had decided to write, produce and play on an album and stage show based on his concept with Dr John emblematic of New Orleans’ heritage. It was meant to feature Ronnie Barron. However, when he dropped out of the project Man Rebennack took over the role and adopted the identity of Dr John. This was a turning point in the life and career of the man born Mac Rebennack.
Dr John became the name that he found fame as and won five Grammy Awards. However, that was still to come.
Having adopted the moniker Dr John,The Night Tripper he was signed by Atco Records and recorded his debut album Gris Gris. It was his his own “voodoo medicine” and marked the start of what’s now regarded as a golden era for Dr John.
Gris Gris.
When a copy of Dr John’s debut album Gris Gris, which was sent to Atlantic Records’ founder Ahmet Ertegun he disliked the album so much, that he was reluctant to even release the album and said: “how can we market this boogaloo crap?” This wasn’t the response that Dr John had been hoping when he recorded Gris Gris which was a combination of psychedelia, blues, free jazz, R&B, soul, funk, jazz. Add to this psychedelic stew the authentic music of the melting pot that is New Orleans and the voodoo image that Dr John had carefully cultivated and Gris Gris was like no other album that Atlantic Records had released. That presented the label with a huge problem.
Atlantic Records’ PR department had idea to promote an album like Gris Gris, as they had no cultural reference points, nothing to compare the album to. Despite the best efforts of Atlantic Records PR department, when Gris Gris was released on January the ’22nd’ 1968 and introduced the world to Dr John The Night Tripper, it failed to trouble the charts and neither critics nor record buyers understood Dr John’s groundbreaking debut album. However, like so many albums that fail to find an album on their release, Gris Gris was later reappraised and belatedly, was recognised as a seminal album that was the start of a rich vein of form from Dr John.
Gris Gris was the start of a six-year period when Dr John could no wrong, and released seven innovative albums that are among the his finest work.
Babylon.
This included his sophomore album Babylon on January the ’17th’ 1969. It was a powerful, cerebral and innovative genre-melting album which socially had much in common with Dr John’s debut album Gris Gris.
Sadly, critics didn’t ‘get’ Babylon and the album which failed commercially. However, just like Gris Gris, Babylon was later reappraised by critics and nowadays is regarded as one of his finest albums and a minor classic.
Remedies.
Following the commercial failure of Babylon, things went from bad to worse for Dr John, before he could begin work on his third album Remedies. This started when a deal went south, and he was arrested by the police and ended up in jail. It was a worrying time for Dr John who was parole, and if he ended up with a parole violation, he knew he might end up in the infamous Angola jail. That didn’t bare thinking about, and already Dr John was desperate to get out of the local jail. However, he needed someone to post bail, so contacted his managers who he remembers: “were very bad people.” This proved to be an understatement.
Not long after this, Dr John’s managers had him committed to a psychiatric ward, where he spent some time. By then, it was obvious to Dr John that his managers were no longer playing by the rules. All he wanted to do was make music, and everything that had happened recently were nothing to do with music. Instead, it was all connected to Dr John’s increasingly chaotic lifestyle, which made it all the more frustrating for those that realised just how talented the Gris Gris Man was.
Eventually, and having managed to put his problems behind him, Dr John was discharged from the psychiatric ward. By then, he was worried about violating his parole and ending up back in jail. Especially the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary, where one of his friends Tangleye had spent forty years.
When Tangleye was released he told Dr John: “I’m gonna sell you this song. Got it in Angola, but ain’t nobody ever cut this song.” This was Angola Anthem which he recorded during the Remedies sessions. It featured on the second side of the album. Forty years after he recorded the song Dr John said: ” Even now guys I know getting out of Angola know this song. It’s still a horrible place to be.”
Having bought Angola Anthem Dr John wrote the other five songs that became Remedies using his real name Mac Rebennack. Among the tracks Dr John had written was What Goes Around Comes Around which later became a favourite during his live shows and Mardi Gras Day which paints pictures of New Orleans when it comes out to play. They’re very different to Angola Anthem which became an eighteen minute epic that took up all of side two of Remedies. Just like the rest of Remedies, it was produced by one of the most successful producers of the day.
Although Harold Battiste had produced Gris Gris and Babylon, he was replaced by Tom Dowd and Charles Greene who were tasked with transforming Dr John’s career. However, although Tom Dowd was enjoying the most successful period of his career, he had never worked with anyone like Dr John.
When Remedies which was released in the spring of 1970, just like his two previous albums, critics didn’t seem to understand Remedies, which was credited to Dr John The Night Tripper. Remedies was another ambitious album of genre-melting, voodoo-influenced album where Dr John The Night Tripper through everything from psychedelia, blues, R&B, soul, funk and jazz into the musical melting pot and gave it a stir to create an album where the music was mysterious, otherworldly and haunting.
The songs on side one were loose, swampy, expressive and lysergic and as Dr John delivers photo raps, humorous rhymes and uses New Orleans’ street slang and lyrics that are full of innuendo. As he chants and raps his incantations take on a mysterious and otherworldly sound. It’s a spellbinding and inimitable sound. Meanwhile, the rhythms were funky, fluid and slinky as the horns bray and blaze lazily through an acidic haze. Then on side two there’s the eighteen minute epic Angola Anthem where Dr John retails the terror of life in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. This he does against a backdrop that features Afrobeat inspired drumming and understated instrumental parts that add to the drama, horror and terror of forty years in the pen. This was a powerful and poignant way to close Remedies which Dr John hoped would be his breakthrough album.
By the time Remedies was released on April ‘9th’ 1970, some FM radio stations had picked up on the album, and were playing it on their late shows. Despite the radio play Remedies had received, the album never troubled the charts, and it was only much later that record buyers realised that they had missed out on another important and innovative album from Dr John.
Remedies was the third of seven albums that Dr John released for Atco Records between 1968 and 1974. While these albums weren’t always appreciated or understood by critics, they’re now regarded as part of what was a golden era for Dr John.
He was at his creative zenith during his Atco Records years and was often misunderstood even by the supposed experts who ran the label. It was only much later that critics reappraised the albums that Dr John released for Atco Records and realised that he was recording and releasing ambitious, imaginative and innovative albums of genre-melting music.
This included Remedies which was one of the finest of the seven albums that Dr John released while signs to Atco Record. It’s also one of the best albums of a career that spanned six decades. It was long and sometimes illustrious career. Other times, it was a roller coaster career lows following highs.
It wasn’t always been smooth sailing for Dr John who battled heroin addiction but eventually he conquered his demons and continued to released albums and tour. By the time of his death on June the ‘6th’ 2019 aged just seventy-seven, Dr John had released thirty studio albums and nine live albums. This includes the seven albums he recorded during the six years he was signed to Atco Records. Looking back, these albums set the bar high for the rest of Dr John’s career.
It was only much later when Dr John’s Atco albums were reappraised that critics and cultural commentators realised their importance and what he was trying to achieve. Dr John was way ahead of his time, which and is part of the reason why his first three albums, including Remedies failed to find an audience. On its release, Remedies passed record buyers by and critics failed to understand what’s nowadays regarded as one of the finest and most ambitious albums Dr John released on Atco. Remedies showcases Dr John’s inimitable genre-melting sound and is part of his rich musical legacy and is a reminder of a truly talented, maverick musician and flamboyant showman during what was one of the most productive periods of his six decade career.
Cult Classic: Dr John-Remedies.
CULT CLASSIC: AMBIANCE-INTO A NEW JOURNEY.
Cult Classic: Ambiance-Into A New Journey.
During the seven year period between 1979 and 1986, Ambiance led by Nigerian born multi-instrumentalist Daoud Abubakar Balewa released six albums on the LA-based private press label Da Mon Records. It was a self-financed business that released short runs of Ambiance’s albums during a time when many smaller independent labels were unable to gain access to parts of the distribution networks.
In 1982, Da Mon Records released Ambiance’s fourth album Into A New Journey. It was an ambitious album of spiritual jazz that included elements of Afrobeat, Bossa Nova, Latin, modal that also had a soulful quality. Into A New Journey was without doubt the finest of the four albums that Ambiance had released. Sadly, the album failed to find an audience and for Ambiance it was a case of what might have been?
It was only much later that Into A New Journey was rediscovered a by a coterie of discerning DJs and record collectors. However many of them were unaware of the story behind this cult classic.
Ambiance was founded by Nigeria-born Daoud Abubakar Balewa who moved to Los Angeles where his career began. He had studied composition and jazz improvisation and was inspired by Jackie McLean and Frank Mitchell of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Although he was a saxophonist and could play alto, soprano and tenor sax he was equally comfortable playing flute, clarinet, keyboards, and Latin and Brazilian percussion. By the time Daoud Abubakar Balewa founded the jazz collective Ambiance, he was a talented multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer who had worked as a photographer.
In 1979, Ambiance released their debut album Ebun on Da Mon Records. It showcased what was a tight, talented and versatile group. Especially Bob Selvin who played keyboards and synths. He was part of a group that combined funk, fusion, jazz-funk and Latin on Ebun’s eight tracks which was a mixture of original material and covers. Sadly, very few people heard Ambiance’s oft-overlooked debut which was the first of six private presses they released during a seven year period.
They followed this up with Drift Up To Space in 1980. It was another album where Ambiance combined funk and fusion with jazz-funk and Latin. One thing that changed was Ambiance’s lineup. Daoud Abubakar Balewa shuffled the pack and brought onboard new musicians that suited the style of music he was recording and would bring something new to the session. However, just like on Ebun, keyboardist Bob Selvin played an important part in the album’s sound. When Drift Up To Space was released Ambiance remained one of jazz music’s best kept secrets.
The problem with releasing an album via a small label like Da Mon Records was they couldn’t access the distribution networks that the larger indie labels and majors could. And smaller labels lacked the expertise and marketing budget to promote an album. In reality, the best a group like Ambiance could hope for was that their album was heard by a bigger label who either signed the group or licensed the album. Neither happened to Ambiance who would soon return with a third album.
Ambiance returned in 1981 with their third album (Gida-Gida) “Tight and Tidy.” Just like their sophomore album, there were several changes in the lineup and there was no sign of keyboardist Bob Selvin. One of of the news addition to the group was Curtis Robertson Jr, who at the times, was married to Syreeta Wright. She added backing vocals and finger cymbals on one of Daoud Abubakar Balewa’s compositions Gida-Gida, which she co-produced with Curtis Robertson Jr. It was part of another carefully crafted album that combined fusion, jazz-funk and soul. However, just like Ambiance’s two previous albums it slipped under the radar. This was a great shame as Ambiance’s third album deserved to find a wider audience.
Into A New Journey.
For Ambiance’s fourth album Daoud Abubakar Balewa wrote and the title-track Into A New Journey. They were joined by covers of Joe Henderson’s Black Narcissus; Danny Newark and Monife Balewa’s Something Better; Jim Lum’s Eastwind plus Chick Corea’s 500 Miles High and Windows. These tracks became Into A New Journey which was recorded by a new lineup of Ambiance.
Joining multi-instrumentalist Daoud Abubakar Balewa was Japanese drummer Danny Yamamoto, bassist Randy Landis and guitarist Jim Lun. They were joined by Danny Newmark Fender Rhodes, keyboardists Jim Thornburn and Kimo Cornwell, Rick Smith on African Drums, June Kuramoto on Koto and Tyrone Ponder played the Apito. Adding vocals on Into A New Journey were Monife Balewa and Atiji Malomon. Once the album was completed it was released later in 1982.
When Into A New Journey was released in 1983 it was a familiar story when the album passed record buyers by. They had missed out on what was the finest album of Ambiance’s career.
Into A New Journey opens with Arrival, which is a joyous, celebratory and genre-melting track that’s akin to a call to dance. This is followed by Ambiance’s interpretation of Joe Henderson’s modal classic Black Narcissus which is the perfect showcase for Daoud Abubakar Balewa’s saxophone. He leaves room for Kimo Cornwell’s piano and the two play leading roles in the sound and success of this oft-covered classic. Something Better features vocalists Atiji Malomon and Monife Balewa who showcases her three octave vocal while a sultry saxophone adds the finishing touch to this beautiful and hopeful jazz ballad. Quite different is Into A New Journey, which is a percussive jazz-dance workout that draws inspiration from African and Latin music.
Cinematic describes the introduction to Eastwind before Ambiance combine jazz-funk, fusion, Latin percussion and ethereal harmonies. Daoud Abubakar Balewa’s flute and tenor saxophone also play a part in the sound and success of this slice of musical sunshine. Two Chick Corea covers close the album. The first is a remake of 500 Miles High where Ambiance spring a few surprises as they take the track in a new direction. It’s a case of expect the unexpected during this captivating cover. Closing Into A New Journey is Windows where Monife Balewa’s vocal seamlessly combines with the saxophone and creates a cosmic twist to this soulful fusion classic. In doing so, Ambiance closes the album on a high.
Although Ambiance released two more albums, 1985s Come To Tomorrow and 1986s Colours In Space neither surpassed the quality of Into A New Journey. It was their finest moment and it was as if everything had been leading up to it.
Ever since Ambiance released their debut album Ebun, Daoud Abubakar Balewa had continued to shuffle the pack and the lineup continued to change. The new lineup that featured on Into A New Journey was perfectly suited to play the original material and reinvent the cover versions on the album. They take familiar tracks in new direction and breath new life, meaning, energy and emotion into them. There’s another generic or predictable about these tracks on Ambiance’s genre-melting album.
Throughout Into A New Journey Ambiance combine disparate genres and influences. This includes fusion and jazz-funk with elements of African, Brazilian and Japanese and Latin music on Ambiance’s lost spiritual jazz gem. Into A New Journey still sparkles brightly and is undoubtably a captivating album of spiritual jazz that’s full of beauty, energy and warmth that belatedly is starting to find the audience it so richly deserves and is without doubt Ambiance’s finest hour.
Cult Classic: Ambiance-Into A New Journey.
THE SONGS OF LEON RUSSELL.
The Songs Of Leon Russell.
Label: Ace Records.
Format: CD.
Leon Russell embarked upon a career as a professional musician in the late-fifties, and over the next six decades, the versatile singer-songwriter worked with some of the biggest names in music when he worked as a touring musician and session player. He worked with everyone from The Beach Boys, Dick Dale, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra and Elton John who called Leon Russell his “mentor” and “an inspiration.”
The pair would collaborate on the Grammy Award winning album The Union in 2010 which was certified gold in Canada and Silver in Britain. This was one of many albums Leon Russell collaborated on.
In 1979 he recorded One For The Road with country music legend and future Outlaw Willie Nelson. The album was certified gold in America and Canada.
So were 1971s Leon Russell and The Shelter People, 1972s Carney, 1973s Leon Live and 1975s Will O’ The Wisp. In total, Leon Russell released thirty-three studio and live albums. His debut album Leon Russell was released in 1970, and in 2017 On A Distant Shore was released posthumously.
Sadly, Leon Russell died on November the ‘13th’ 2016 aged just seventy-four. He had toured during 2016 and had recorded his final album On A Distant Shore. Music was in mourning at the loss of the two time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
He was a prolific songwriter whose songs were covered by the great and good of music. This included everyone from Elton John, Joe Cocker and Delaney and Bonnie and Friends to Donny Hathaway and Randy Crawford to Bobby Whitlock and Maria Muldaur right through to Freddie King, Nazareth, California and George Benson. They’re just some of the artists who feature on The Songs Of Leon Russell which is the latest instalment in Ace Records’ long-running and successful Songwriter Series.
Opening the compilation is If It Wasn’t For Bad which is a track from Elton John and Leon Russell’s 2010 Grammy Award-winning collaboration The Union. It reached number three in the US Billboard 200, twelve in Britain where it was certified silver and gold in Canada. Despite having not spoken for over thirty years the two friends had recorded a critically acclaimed, commercially success and and award-winning album. One of the album’s highlights was If It Wasn’t For Bad.
Delta Lady was covered by Joe Cocker for his eponymous album and released on Regal Zonophone in 1969 and certified gold in America. This blues rocker was later released as a singe by the Sheffield-born singer and reached number ten in Britain but stalled at sixty-nine in the US Billboard 200. Despite this, Joe Cocker was enjoying one of the most successful periods of what was a long and illustrious career.
In 1969, Groupie (Superstar) was released as a single on Atco by Delaney and Bonnie and Friends featuring Eric Clapton. He takes charge of the lead vocal while Rita Coolidge adds backing vocals on this moving ballad which features an all-star band.
José Feliciano covered Me And Baby Jane for his Compartments album which was released by RCA in 1973. He had produced the album with Steve Cropper and delivers a tender and heartfelt vocal on this beautiful ballad.
By 1981, Randy Crawford was signed to Warner Bros and released her fifth album Secret Combination to widespread critical acclaim. It was certified double platinum in America and was the most successful album of her career. Nowadays Secret Combination is regarded as a classic album and that’s no surprise when it features beautiful ballad like Time For Love which is one of the highlights of the album.
Leon Russell and Donna Washburn penned Raspberry Rug which was covered by Bobby Whitlock in 1968. He released it as a single on the HIP label but commercial success eluded a track that combines pop rock and psychedelia.
My Cricket was covered by Rumer for her Boys Don’t Cry album which was released on Atlantic in 2012. It features as subtle and understated arrangement that allows the soul-baring vocal to take centrestage. It’s a reminder of one of British music’s most talented singer-songwriters who sadly hasn’t enjoyed the commercial success her talent deserves.
Make Love To The Music was reworked by Maria Muldaur on her 1978 album for Warner Bros, Southern Winds. This familiar songs is transformed into a sensual shuffle with arranger and producer Christopher Bond adding sweeping strings which sweeten the arrangement.
Scottish hard rockers Nazareth covered Alcatraz for their third album Razamanaz. It was released on the Mooncrest label in 1973 and was the group’s first album to chart. Lead vocalist Dan McCafferty struts and swaggers his way through the song delivering one of his inimitable vocal powerhouses.
In 1978, California released a disco version of The Beach Boys’ I Can Hear Music as a single on the RSO label. Those who turned over to the B-Side found a funky and soulful cover of Leon and Mary Russell’s Love’s Supposed To Be That Way. It’s a hidden gem and a welcome addition to The Songs Of Leon Russell.
The final song on The Songs Of Leon Russell is This Masquerade which is reinvented by George Benson. Jazz and funk combines on what’s one of the highlights from his 1976 classic album Breezin’ which was released on Warner Bros. This eight minute genre-melting opus is the perfect way to close the compilation.
These tracks are just a few of the many highlights of The Songs Of Leon Russell. It’s the latest instalment in Ace Records’ long-running Songwriter Series and the twenty-one tracks feature the period between 1966 and 1979. To do it justice to such a long and illustrious career would require further volumes.
That’s the case with so many of the songwriters that have featured in the Songwriter Series. They were prolific and enjoyed a longevity that many other songwriters didn’t enjoy.
Other songwriters were prolific but their career only lasted a relatively short period. That wasn’t the case with Leon Russell whose career as a singer and songwriter spanned six decades. His songs were covered by the great and good of music and even today his songs are heard on radio every day. This includes many of songs on The Songs Of Leon Russell which are a reminder of one of the greatest and most successful songwriters of his generation sadly passed away in 2017 but left behind a rich musical legacy.
The Songs Of Leon Russell.
SHE WANTS YOU! PYE RECORDS’ FEMININE SIDE 1964-1970.
She Wants You! Pye Records’ Feminine Side 1964-1970.
Label: Ace Records.
Format: CD.
Between 1964 and 1970 Pye Records and its sister label Piccadilly Records were housed in London’s West End. Both labels had an enviable roster of artists and included some of the top British female pop singers. Two of the biggest names were Petula Clark and Sandie Shaw. They were enjoying commercial success at home and abroad and were just two of many British female singers signed to Pye Records.
Among the other signings were Billie Davis, Lorraine Silver, Sandra Barry, Anita Harris, Tammy St John, Jackie Trent, Sharon Tandy, Dana Gillespie, Glenda Collins and Mally Page. They were joined by groups like The Ferris Wheel, The New Faces, The Breakaways, Margo and Marvettes, The Satin Bells, Pickettywitch, The Feminine Touch. These singers and groups all feature on an eclectic new compilation released by Ace Records, She Wants You! Pye Records’ Feminine Side 1964-1970.
There’s twenty-five tracks on She Wants You! Pye Records’ Feminine Side 1964-1970. This includes everything from pop and psychedelia to blues, folk jazz and even bubblegum pop. This is a truly eclectic compilation that’s guaranteed to bring back memories of one what was one of the golden ages of British music.
Opening the compilation is a cover of Lennon and McCartney’s Rain which is taken from Petula Clark’s 1966 album I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love. It was produced by Tony Hatch and features an impassioned vocal powerhouse from one of the greatest British female vocalists of her generation.
Lionel Bart’s Reviewing The Situation was the title track to Sandie Shaw’s fifth studio album which was released on Pye 1969. She produced the album with composer and trumpeter Ken Woodman. Sadly the album failed to replicate the success of her earlier albums. However, the hook-laden title-track is one of the album’s highlights and is a reminder of a truly talented British vocalist at the peak of her powers.
I Can’t Break The Habit was the title-track to The Ferris Wheel’s 1967 album. The album marked the group’s debut, and the title-track is a stunning fusion of pop, soul and psychedelic rock that’s stood the test of time.
When Lorraine Silver recorded Lost Summer Love in 1965 it was arranged and conducted by Johnny Harris. Although it was played a couple of times on Radio Luxembourg, this soulful stomper wasn’t a commercial success. Things changed in the late-eighties when the song became a favourite on UK Northern Soul scene and Lorraine Silver started appearing at weekenders across the country.
Before signing to Pye and embarking upon a musical career Sandra Barry was a child actor. In 1965 she recorded a cover of Harold Logan and Lloyd Price’s Question. It’s delivered with energy and enthusiasm but sadly failed to find an audience.
Blackpool-born Julie Grant signed to Pye in 1962 and three years later in 1965, released Stop as a single. This dramatic rendition of a Moody Blues’ song was arranged and produced by Tony Hatch. Sadly, it wasn’t a a commercial success and the eighteen year old left the label later that year.
Another single from 1965 was I Run To Hide which was recorded by Anita Harris. This jazzy track was produced by Mike Margolis and showcases a versatile singer who during her musical career could seamlessly switch between genres.
The Breakaways were an American group who signed to Pye and also sang backing vocals for many solo artists signed to the label. In 1965, then covered Marty Wilde’s Your Kind Of Love which was produced by Tony Hatch. It’s a beautiful ballad which features a tender, almost wistful vocal. It’s one of the hidden gems on She Wants You! Pye Records’ Feminine Side 1964-1970 and is a welcome addition to the compilation.
Jackie Trent was not just one of Pye’s most successful artists, she was also a successful songwriter. She wrote Hollywood with Tony Hatch who arranged and produced this Bacharach and David inspired. Sadly, when it was released as a single in 1968 it failed to replicate the success of earlier singles.
Sharon Tandy only released two singles for Pye. The first was Now That You’re Gone which was released in 1965. It featured Hurtin’ Me was the B-Side which nowadays is a favourite of fans of freakbeat and is regarded as a genre classic.
When Dana Gillespie was signed to Pye she was a folk singer. It was only later that she reinvented herself as a blues singer. However, in 1967 Surrey-born singer covered The Hollies’ Pay You Back With Interest. Tucked away on the B-Side is the oft-overlooked and underrated Adam Can You Beat That.
In 1966, Glenda Collins was signs to Pye and recorded three singles for the label. Work began on an album which Run To Me. The title-track was produced by Joe and is a poppy stomper with a feisty vocal. However, when the producer shot himself Glenda Collins decided not to continue her recording career. Run To Me lay unreleased until 1997 when it featured on the album This Little Girl’s Gone Rockin’. It’s a reminder of a talented singer and also one of the great British producers.
When You’re Ready was featured on the B-Side of The Satin Bells’ single Da-Di-Da-Da which was released in 1968. It’s a catchy and melodic track from the group from Liverpool.
Hurry On Home by The Feminine Touch closes She Wants You! Pye Records’ Feminine Side 1964-1970. This slice of bubblegum pop was released as a single in 1970 just two years after changing their name from The Dollies.
The twenty-five tracks on She Wants You! Pye Records’ Feminine Side 1964-1970 will be walk down memory lane for many record buyers of a certain age. It’s a compilation that’s sure to bring back memories of what was a golden age for music in Britain.
During this period, Pye was one of the most successful British labels. Three of their most successful singers were Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw and Jackie Trent who all feature on this lovingly curated compilation. It features familiar faces who are joined by some old friends as well one hit wonders and what will be new names to many music fans.
Sadly, not all these artists and groups on She Wants You! Pye Records’ Feminine Side 1964-1970 enjoyed the commercial success their talent deserved. Sometimes, commercial success was fleeting and other times it eluded talented artists. This lead to careers that’s were all too brief. As a result, the twenty-five tracks are a mixture of hits, near misses, B-Sides and album tracks. However, each of these songs have one thing in common…quality, and She Wants You! Pye Records’ Feminine Side 1964-1970 is a reminder of one of the great British labels during its heyday and what was a golden age for music.
She Wants You! Pye Records’ Feminine Side 1964-1970.
BIRTH OF SOUL-LOS ANGELES SPECIAL.
Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special.
Label: Kent Soul.
Format: CD.
Nowadays, the compilation market is hugely competitive and it’s unlikely that many new series will still be going strong after twenty-five years. Sadly, most new compilation series are short-lived affairs and run out of steam after a few volumes.However, Kent Soul’s Birth Of Soul compilation series is still going strong after twenty-five years.
The most recent instalment in this long-running and much-loved series is Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special was released by Kent Soul. It’s a welcome addition to the series which began in 1996.
The first instalment in the series was Birth Of Soul which was released by Kent Soul in May 1996. It featured an impressive all-star lineup that included many of the giants of soul. Bobby Bland rubbed shoulders with Otis Redding, Jerry Butler, Etta James, Sam Cooke, William Bell and The Impressions. With a such an impressive track listing it was no surprise that Birth Of Soul was released to critical acclaim and was one of Kent Soul’s most successful compilations.
Despite having released a successful compilation nearly two years passed before the release of Birth Of Soul-Volume Two in February 1998. It featured a mixture of old friends, familiar faces and new names. However, just like Birth Of Soul the emphasis was on quality, on a compilation that featured old favourites and hidden gems. The new compilation proved popular not just amongst the soul community, but with music fans dipping their toe into soul music.
The Birth Of Soul was a perfect place to start and became an important part in many a newcomer to soul’s musical education. Veterans and newcomers to soul compilations eagerly awaited the next instalment in the series.
Over three-and-a-half years later, Birth Of Soul-Volume Three was released by Kent Soul in October 2001. Just like the two previous volumes in the series it featured contributions from familiar faces and new names. Old favourites joined hidden gems on lovingly compiled compilation where dancers and ballads rubbed shoulders. The compilation was released to critical acclaim and welcomed by soul fans young and old.
2,059 days later, and Birth Of Soul-Volume Four was released in May 2007. Ady Croasdell had dug deep for the twenty-four tracks on Birth Of Soul-Volume Four. There were rarities, hidden gems and the usual smattering of familiar faces and old friends on what was a welcome addition to the Birth Of Soul family.
So was Birth Of Soul: Special Chicago Edition, which was released in 2009. This was a celebration of the Windy City’s soulful past. It had been home to Veejay, Kent, Okeh, ABC-Paramount, One-derful, Brunswick, Curtom, Chess and Cadet. The compilation was a celebration of Chicago’s soulful past and featured an all-star lineup. This fifth instalment in the Birth Of Soul series proved a popular addition to Kent Soul’s long-running and successful series.
Despite the success of the series there were no further instalments in the Birth Of Soul series until April 2017. That was when Kent Soul released Birth Of Soul: Special Detroit Edition 1961-64. This soulful feast featured twenty-four cuts from one of America’s musical capital and was welcomed by soul fans.
So will Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special which was recently released by Kent Soul. It’s a veritable feast of soulful music from labels like Modern, Combo, Flash, Flip, Mirwood, Money, Doré and Era. There’s twenty-four tracks including four that have never been released before.
Opening Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special is Don Wyatt’s previously unissued track But What About My Broken Heart. The song was recorded in Nashville for
Gary S Paxton’s Garpax label in 1962 during a six month spell the producer spent in the country music capital. Ray Stevens is responsible for arrangement while the vocal that is full emotion, hurt and regret.
Richard Berry was a familiar face within the LA R&B scene when he recorded William Green’s Everybody’s Got A Lover But Me with producer Gary S Paxton and the single was released by the Smash label 1962. The singer started working with the producer two years earlier in 1960. By then, he had already spent time signed to Flip and Modern labels but commercial success eluded him. This dry spell continued when the radio friendly and soulful sounding Everybody’s Got A Lover But Me failed to find an audience.
By 1964, Billy Watkins was signed to Modern Records when he covered Irving Berlin’s How About Me? Sadly, this heartachingly beautiful ballad lay unreleased until it made its debut on Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special.
Robert Jackson cowrote I Want A Boyfriend (Girlfriend) with Hal Davis who produced the song for The Soul-Mates. It was released on Era in 1963 and features an uber soulful vocal powerhouse from Brenda Holloway.
San Diego-born Kent Harris penned and produced Let Me Be Your Little Dog which was recorded by The Phillips Sister. It was arranged by Jerry Long and this raunchy sounding single was released on the Swingin’ label in 1963.
Darlene Love recorded Let Him Walk Away which was written by Jackie DeShannon and Jack Nitzsche who also the arranger and producer. This demo lay unreleased until 2008 when it made its debut on the Ace Records’ compilation So Much Love: A Darlene Love Anthology 1958-1998. It’s a reminder of the unmistakable Wall Of Sound which was pioneered by Phil Spector with the help of his friend Jack Nitzsche.
Have You Heard by The Vows was produced by George Motola and released as a single on the Markay label. Soul and doo wop melt into one on this beautiful ballad which has stood the test of time.
Another ballad is Help Me by The Classicals and The Rockets Band which was released on the Prudential label in 1961. Producers Cris Christensen, Spellmon Ward and Bob Orrison take a less is more approach to the instrumentation on arrangement. Instead, harmonies accompany a needy, heartfelt and emotive vocal on this oft-overlooked ballad.
Marty Cooper and Bobby Day produced Let’s Go Home which was released on Dore in 1960 and credited to Vic Granton. However, that may have been a moniker for the vocalist and the his identity is not known. That’s despite having a distinctive voice and delivering a soul-baring vocal on this Jules Castron composition.
Way before he found fame with Sly and The Family Stone, Sylvester Stewart still struggling to make a breakthrough and forge a career as a successful singer-songwriter. His career began in 1956 and by 1962 he was signed to the G&P label. He wrote Help Me With My Broken Heart which was produced by George Motola. This was the only single that Sylvester Stewart released using his own name. Although very different from the groundbreaking music he went on to release it’s a melodic and memorable track from a man who became one of music’s legends.
Sneaking And Cheating was recorded by a LA-based singer Esko Wallace and released as a single on the Hangra label in 1963. This dancefloor friendly R&B track is another hidden gem and a welcome addition to the compilation.
Closing Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special is Don’t Leave Me Baby by Joe Lover and The Gaylads Band. It was produced by Kim Fowley and Gary S Paxton and released on the Parliament label in 1961. They play their part in a quite beautiful and moving example of gospel-tinged soul.
Four years after the last instalment in the Birth Of Soul series, Kent Soul, an imprint of Ace Records released Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special. It’s the third special edition that’s been released and features the music of the LA. It’s a city that had so much to offer musically during the sixties and seventies.
Many small labels had sprung up across the city, and Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special features releases from these labels. While some of these artists went on to bigger and better things, others enjoyed never quite reached the heights their talent deserved. Sadly, some disappeared after releasing just one or two singles. They’ve all played a part of LA’s musical history and make a welcome comeback of Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special.
It’s the seventh instalment in Kent Soul’s occasional series, Birth Of Soul. It began in 1996, and twenty-five years later is still going strong. Recently, Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special was released, and features songs from old friends, familiar faces and new names. They contribute unreleased songs and a myriad of über soulful singes to Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special, which marks the welcome return of this long-running and much-loved series.
Birth Of Soul-Los Angeles Special.
NORTHERN SOUL’S CLASSIEST RARITIES VOLUME 7.
Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume 7.
Label: Kent Dance.
Format: CD.
Nowadays, Northern Soul compilations are two a penny and hardly a week goes by without yet another Northern Soul compilation being released. That has been the case for the last few years, and nothing has changed recently.
The compilations can be described as the good, the bad and the ugly. Sadly, many of the compilations that are released are third-rate at best. They’re nothing more than hastily compiled cash-ins where labels old and new jump on the Northern Soul bandwagon which has been rolling along for many years and shows no slowing down.
It’s a similar case with the disco bandwagon with record companies continuing to clamber aboard ever since the latest resurgence of interest in the genre that once sucked. This has resulted in the release of countless disco compilations, including compilation of bloated remixes by DJs who have spent the last forty years playing the same set. Just like the record companies who have jumped on the disco bandwagon, the remixers rehash the same tired songs that they pass off as ‘classics.’
Sadly, the same fate has befallen many Northern Soul compilations with the same tracks being rehashed on numerous compilations. Especially many of the compilations that are advertised as: “featuring songs played at the Wigan Casino or Blackpool Mecca. With these compilation it’s a case of caveat emptor. After all, not every track played Wigan Casino or Blackpool Mecca was a classic. Far from it, and in many cases it’s a case of: “don’t believe the hype.”
There’s several ways to separate the wheat from when the chaff when it comes to Northern Soul compilations. Who compiled the compilation is hugely important, and so is the label that released the compilation. Some labels have established a reputation for releasing quality Northern Soul compilations, while others are just jumping on the bandwagon and looking to make a quick buck. They neither care about the music nor the people that made it. However, labels like Ace Records care about Northern Soul and the about the people who made it.
That has been the case for the last three decades. Through their Kent imprint, Ace Records have been releasing Northern Soul compilations for over twenty years. Their most recent was Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume 7, which was released by their Kent Dance subsidiary. It has everything you could want in a Northern Soul compilation.
That’s not surprising as Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume 7 was compiled by veteran compiler Ady Croasdell. He’s a man with an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things soulful and is steeped in the Northern Soul scene.
Ady Croasdell has put his knowledge of Northern Soul to good use when compiling the latest addition in the series. It combines classics and collectors items with future classics, hidden gems, obscurities, rarities and unissued tracks. The result is Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume 7 which is a welcome addition to this long-running and critically acclaimed compilation series.
Opening the compilation is Carolyn Crawford’s Ready Or Not Here Comes Love. It was recorded for the Stevenson International label in 1971 but lay unreleased until it made its debut on a single released by Kent Records in 2019. This soulful stomper makes welcome return and is a reminder of a truly talented vocalist who is best know for her 1965 hit single on Motown My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down).
Kim Weston’s It Takes A Lotta Teardrops is one of the unreleased tracks on the compilation. It was written by Motown staff writers Vicci Bassemore and Leon Ware who later worked with Marvin Gaye. The song was recorded for the Stevenson International label in 1967 and makes it debut on Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume 7. This hook-laden hidden gem has been influenced by the Motown sound and is a dancefloor filler in waiting.
By 1968, Rocky Gil and The Bishops were signed to Huey P. Meaux’s Tear Drop label. They had already released a single when they entered the studio to record their Soul Party album. One of the tracks they recorded for their debut album was It’s Not The End. It epitomises e everything that’s good about Northern Soul and is a tantalising taste of what’s now an incredibly rare album which was one of just three released by Tear Drop.
Little Nicky Soul recorded You Said which was written Lucille White and Sydney Barnes who produced the single. It was released on the short-lived label Shee Records in 1964 but failed commercially. Nowadays, it’s a favourite of DJs and dancers on both the Northern Soul and rare souls scenes.
In 1968, the Night Owl label released a fifteen track compilation entitled Badger A Go Go. One of the tracks that featured was You Don’t Care which was written by Betty Moore and had recorded by The Esquires earlier in the sixtes. By 1968, they were a successful group and You Don’t Care had never been released. It features a vocal full of hurt and emotion on a track that sounds as if it’s been influenced by the Harvey Scales recordings for Cuca.
I Need Your Love was recorded by Brothers Of Soul for Galaxy in 1969 but was never released until now. It’s a soulful hidden gem with a soul-baring vocal from frontman Fred Bridges who cowrote the song with Bobby Eaton and Richard Knight.
I’ll Fly To Your Open Arms was written by Jack Ashford and George Rowntree and in 1976 was covered by The Family Brick for Just Productions. However, this recording lay unreleased until 2019 when it featured on Jack Ashford’s Just Productions. Two years later and this funky, soulful dancer with a feelgood sound makes a welcome return.
Lee Young produced Love Is Such A Funny Thing for John Wesley and The Four Tees which was released on Melic in 1966. It features a stunning bass line on a track that’s sure to test the stamina of even the fittest dancers.
The tempo drops on Crazy Things which was the B-Side of Joe Douglas’ single Something to Brag About when it was released on the Playhouse label in 1965. The vocal is wistful, emotive, heartfelt and always soulful.
Love In My Heart was recorded by Cats ‘n’ Mouse for the Antler label in 1967 but never released. It’s a tale of betrayal with of soul-baring vocal full of hurt and heartache.
One of the best known names on the compilation is Major Lance who contributes Girl, Come On Home. It was produced by Don Davis and was his debut single for Stax imprint Volt in 1970. It features a needy, pleading vocal on another of the hidden gems on Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume 7.
Closing the compilation is Under The Street Lamp by The Exits who were based in LA. It’s a beautiful and uber soulful single that was released by the Gemini label in 1967.
There aren’t many compilations are still going strong after seven volumes. By then, the compiler is usually struggling to find new material that warrants another instalment in the series. However, that isn’t the case with Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume y which literally oozes quality, It features album tracks and collectors items rubbing shoulders with future classics, hidden gems, obscurities, rarities and unissued tracks. They play their part in what’s a must-have compilation for anyone with a passing interest in Northern Soul. There’s a reason for this compiler, Ady Croasdell.
Just like previous instalments in the series, Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume 7 was compiled by veteran compiler Ady Croasdell. He’s a man steeped in Northern Soul, and has an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of all things soulful. His knowledge of Northern Soul and all things soulful has been put to good use when compiling the latest instalment in this long-running and successful compilation series
While other compilers are happy to rehash the same tracks for the umpteenth time, Ady Croasdell knows that there’s still mountains of soulful delights awaiting discovery and that it’s just a case of discovering them. Like a musical version of the Man From Del Monte, Ady Croasdell goes in search of hidden gems for the Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities series. Some of these make a welcome appearance on the seventh instalment in the series.
The success of Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities series is down to its compiler Ady Croasdell. He knows that in the cutthroat world of compilations that competition is fierce, so digs deeper than other compilers of Northern Soul compilations.
Often there’s a myriad of delights awaiting discovery within a record company’s vaults. Ady Croasdell knows that a hidden gem could be hidden in a mislabelled tape box. Within that box could be a killer track that crate-diggers spend a lifetime searching for. Ady Croasdell puts in the hard yards and spent hours, days, weeks and months searching for the twenty-four tracks that feature on Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume 7 which is one of the finest instalments in this long-running compilations that has long been a favourite of dancers and DJs.
Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume 7.
MANONGO MUJICA AND TERJE EVENSEN-PARACAS RITUAL
Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen-Paracas Ritual.
Label: Buh Records.
Format: 2 x LP.
Manongo Mujica has been a leading light of the Peruvian avant-garde music scene since the seventies, and has met a myriad of musicians who were touring Peru. In 2003, this included Norwegian drummer, sound designer, teacher and composer Terje Evensen who was in the middle of a six week tour with Peruvian guitarist Andrés Prado.
Some nights, the duo collaborated with local musicians. This included a concert at a club called Jazz Zone in Miraflores. That was the night that Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen first met.
Straight away, Norwegian drummer was hugely impressed by Manongo Mujica’s energy and the music that he was making. However, he had no idea that one day they would eventually collaborate on an album.
Over the next twelve years, the two musicians had little contact. This changed when Terje Evensen returned to Lima in 2015, and he heard how Manongo Mujica was fascinated by the Paracas desert. This was enough to pique the visiting drummer’s interest. He wanted to know more about the desert peninsula located within the province of Pisco, in the Ica Region, on the Southern coast of Peru. However, he didn’t have enough time to investigate on this trip.
Two years later in 2017, Terje Evensen was about to return to and wanted to visit the Paracas desert. The only problem was he wasn’t sure how to get there. That was when he decided to phone Manongo Mujica. He invited Terje Evensen to travel to the desert with him.
The pair stayed in a small hotel called Inti-Mar which was situated on the coast. This was their base during their time they spent in the desert and in the bay of Paracas, South of Lima, on the Peruvian coast. It was also where the pair discovered they shared much in common. This included music. They had met fourteen years earlier, in 2003, but had never spent as much time together.
Each day began in the Inti-Mar hotel which was also a scallop farm. This meant the two musicians were able to enjoy a breakfast of fresh scallops before they journeyed deep into the desert and stayed until it got dark.
Every day, the pair visited different parts of the Paracas desert where they made field recordings. Each and every new place they visited they discovered was unique. This included the sounds they recorded as well as the smell and atmosphere they encountered. It was a voyage of discovery.
The two men walked in a companionable silence contemplating life, music and more, basking in the beauty of the Paracas desert on what had become a personal voyage of discovery. As they crossed the arid, barren desert there was more than an air of mystery. They walked across what was remote, ancient and sacred place that commanded respect.
For some who have journeyed deep into the desert they’ve described it as akin to a journey into the unknown. Some adventures and travellers remember the intensity of the local winds known as paracas, others the dizzying heat and some the sounds that assailed them during their journeys. Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen were especially interested in the sounds of the vast Paracas desert that measures 3350 km².
As they travelled to different parts of the desert they discovered that each part they visited had its own unique sonic fingerprint which they committed to tape. These field recordings were akin to the spirit of the Paracas desert and had been captured forevermore. The time spent eavesdropping on the landscape gave the Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen opportunity to expand their musical consciousness. It was a gift from the gods and one that they decided to share.
Like all good things, the time that Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen spent in the Paracas desert came to an end and they left the Inti-Mar hotel. However, that wasn’t an end to the time they would spend together. Some of the field recordings would be used when Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen collaborated on an album. This was Paracas Ritual which was recently released as double album by Buh Records.
With the field recordings they had made the veteran Peruvian avant-garde musician Manongo Mujica began to collaborate on a new album with Terje Evensen. He was an experimental musician, sound designer, composer, drummer and teacher. The pair used as inspiration for the album variety of sources and subjects.
This included the sounds that they had recorded in the desert and in the bay. They had spent days listening to them when they recorded them and afterwards. This was part of the inspiration for Paracas Ritual. So were Pauline Barberi’s photographs of the Paracas landscapes and paintings by Manongo Mujica. They had been part of a visual project and were used as a reference point and to compliment the recordings. The visual was an important inspiration for the album.
During their careers, Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen have both been interested and inspired by the worlds of synesthesia. This is the concept of listening to images and in using sounds as pictorial material. In this case, listening to the sound of the Paracas desert is also a way of listening to the visual field of the landscape, and turning it into an acoustic impression of the mind. The four lengthy soundscapes on Paracas Ritual features these impressions.
Eclectic describes the four soundscapes that feature on the four sides of Paracas Ritual. They’re also ambitious, innovative, genre-melting and cinematic. It’s as if Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen have been asked to compose the soundtrack to a long lost Wim Wenders’ film.
To do this, they fuse elements of ambient and avant-garde with experimental music, free improvisation, library music and modern jazz. Add to this a myriad of electronic sounds, as well as field recordings, percussive instruments and sound art. They’re part of complex musical montages that veers between atmospheric and spacious to dramatic and intense. Other times, the soundscapes become abstract and dissonant but sometimes become melodic and rhythmic. Sometimes, the soundscapes take a welcome detour in the direction of meditative percussive music allowing the listener to ruminate and reflect. However, occasionally as musical genres and languages melt into one the soundscapes venture into unknown musical territories. The terrain like parts of the Paracas desert is very different to what’s gone before. It’s a case of expect the unexpected during the sprawling soundscapes on Paracas Ritual.
It’s a groundbreaking album of genre-melting soundscapes from musical pioneers Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen who reflect and remember the time they spent in the desert capturing, listening and later, making the music on Paracas Ritual which is a captivating musical adventure that sometimes is akin to a journey into the unknown.
Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen-Paracas Ritual.
CULT CLASSIC: THE BLUE NILE-HIGH.
Cult Classic: The Blue Nile-High.
Enigmatic, reluctant and contrarian are words that best of describe The Blue Nile. They’re the complete opposite of most bands. The Blue Nile have been described as publicity shy. That’ is an understatement. Ever since Paul Buchanan, Robert Bell and Paul Joseph Moore formed The Blue Nile, they’ve been one of the most low-profile bands in musical history. It seems that when they were formed thirty-nine years ago, The Blue Nile ticked the “no publicity” box. This has proved a double-edged sword, and resulted in The Blue Nile becoming one of the most enigmatic groups ever. Their story began thirty-nine years ago.
The Blue Nile were formed in 1981, when two friends Paul Buchanan and Robert Bell, met Paul Joseph Moore, all of whom met at Glasgow University. Before forming The Blue Nile, Buchanan and Bell were previously members of a band called Night By Night. Try as they may, a recording contract eluded them. Night By Night’s music wasn’t deemed commercial enough. So Paul, Robert and P.J. decided to form a new band, The Blue Nile.
Once The Blue Nile were formed, they set up their own record label Peppermint Records. It was on Peppermint Records that they released their debut single, I Love This Life. This single was then picked up and rereleased on the RSO label. Unfortunately for the Blue Nile, RSO became part of the Polygram label and I Love This Life disappeared without trace. Despite this setback, The Blue Nile persisted.
Still, The Blue Nile kept writing and recording material after the merger of RSO with Polygram. Some of that material would later be found on A Walk Across the Rooftops. That was in the future.
Recording of The Blue Nile’s demos took place at Castlesound studio near Edinburgh. That’s home to the man whose often referred to as the fourth member of The Blue Nile, recording engineer Calum Malcolm. He was listening to recently recorded demos through the studio’s Linn Electronics system. It had recently had a new set of speakers fitted. So the company founder, Ivor Tiefenbrun, decided to visit Calum Malcolm to hear his thoughts on the speakers. That’s when Ivor Tiefenbrun first heard The Blue Nile.
Calum Malcolm played Ivor Tiefenbrun a demo of Tinseltown In The Rain. Straight away, the founder of Linn was hooked. He decided to offer The Blue Nile a record contract to the label he was in the process of founding. Most bands would’ve jumped at the opportunity. Not The Blue Nile.
It took The Blue Nile nine months before they replied to Ivor Tiefenbrun’s offer. When they did, the answer was yes. The Blue Nile’s debut album A Walk Across The Rooftops would be released on Ivor Tiefenbrun’s new label Linn Reords.
A Walk Across the Rooftops.
Linn Records and The Blue Nile seemed a marriage made in musical heaven. Linn Records weren’t like a major label, pressurising The Blue Nile into making a decision and delivering an album within a certain timeframe. Instead, Linn Records allowed The Blue Nile to do what they did best, make music. From the outside, this looked as if it was working, and working well.
Years later, Paul Buchanan commented that during Linn Records didn’t operate like a record label. Mind you, he conceded that, during this period, The Blue Nile didn’t operate as a band. However, eventually, in May 1984 The Blue Nile’s debut album was released on Linn Records.
On the release of A Walk Across the Rooftops, it was released to critical acclaim. Critics described the album as a minor classic. A Walk Across the Rooftops was described as atmospheric, ethereal, evocative, soulful and soul-baring. It also featured the vocals of troubled troubadour Paul Buchanan. Despite the critical acclaim A Walk Across the Rooftops enjoyed, it wasn’t a huge commercial success, reaching just number eighty in the UK. However, since the A Walk Across the Rooftops has been recognised as a classic album. So has the followup Hats.
Hats.
Unlike most bands, The Blue Nile weren’t in any rush to release their sophomore album Hats. There was a five year gap between A Walk Across the Rooftops and Hats. It was worth the wait. The Blue Nile had done it again. Hats was a classic.
Featuring seven tracks, written by Paul Buchanan, Glasgow’s answer to Frank Sinatra He’s a tortured troubadour, whose voice sounds as if he’s lived a thousand lives. Producing Hats was a group effort, with Paul, Robert and P.J. taking charge of production duties. Guiding them, was Callum Malcolm. On the release of Hats, British and American audiences proved more discerning and appreciative of The Blue Nile’s sophomore album Hats.
On the release of Hats in the UK in 1989, it was critically acclaimed and commercial success, reaching number twelve in the UK. Then when it was released in America in 1990, audiences seemed to “get” Hats. Not only did it reach number 108 in the US Billboard 200 Charts, but The Downtown Lights reached number ten in the US Modern Rock Tracks charts. It seemed that The Blue Nile were more popular in America, than in Britain. Gradually, The Blue Nile’s music was beginning to find a wider and more appreciative album. Especially when they decided to embark upon their debut tour later in 1989.
Although The Blue Nile were formed in 1981, and Hats was The Blue Nile’s sophomore album, the band had never toured. Partly, The Blue Nile seemed worried about replicating the sound of their first two albums. They needn’t have worried, with The Blue Nile seamlessly replicating the sonic perfection of A Walk Across The Rooftops and Hats on the sold out tour. The Blue Nile’s star was in the ascendancy.
Their first ever tour had been a huge success. The Blue Nile had conquered Britain. However, The Blue Nile had also made a breakthrough in America. Hats had sold well, and their American tour had been successful. Most bands would’ve been keen to build on this and released another album before long. Not The Blue Nile.
Seven long years passed, where Blue Nile fans wondered what had become of Glasgow’s most enigmatic trio. However, they’d been busy. After Hats found its way onto American radio stations, The Blue Nile, who previously, had been one of music’s best kept secrets, were heard by a number of prestigious musicians. Among them were Robbie Robertson and Annie Lennox, Michael McDonald. After a decade struggling to get their music heard, The Blue Nile were big news. During this period, America would become like a second home to The Blue Nile, especially Paul.
Paul took to life in America, and in 1991, decided to make it his home. This just so happened to coincide with Paul’s relationship with actress Rosanna Arquette between 1991 and 1993. Hollywood starlets and Sunset Boulevard was a long way from Glasgow’s West End. In the midst of Paul’s relationship, disaster struck for The Blue Nile, they were dropped by their label.
Linn Records and Virgin decided to drop The Blue Nile. For some groups this would’ve been a disaster. Not for The Blue Nile.
They signed a million Dollar deal with Warner Bros. While this sounded like the ideal solution for The Blue Nile, Paul made the deal without telling P.J and Robert. He later explained that “none of the others were in town at the time.” With a new contract signed, The Blue Nile began thinking about their third album, Peace At Last.
Peace At Last.
So the band started looking for the perfect location to record their third album. They travelled across Europe looking for the right location. This location had to be private and suit their portable recording studio. Cities were suggested, considered and rejected. Among them, were Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Venice. Being The Blue Nile, things were never simple. Eventually, after much contemplation The Blue Nile ended up recording what became Peace At Last in three locations, Paris, Dublin and Los Angeles. For the first time, The Blue Nile recorded an album outside of their native Scotland.
For their first album for a major label, things began to change for The Blue Nile. They brought onboard drummer Nigel Thomas, a string section and a gospel choir. Peace At Last was going to be a quite different album to A Walk Across The Rooftops and Hats. However, one things stayed the same, The Blue Nile continued to work with Calum Malcolm. With his help, Peace At Last was ready for release in June 1996. Before that, critics had their say.
Critics remarked upon the change of sound on Peace At Last. It had a much more understated, restrained sound. Acoustic guitars and piano play important parts. Still, The Blue Nile’s beloved synths remain. Occasionally, The Blue Nile add strings. There’s even a gospel choir on Happiness. Gone was the sound of A Walk Across the Rooftops and Hats. Peace At Last showed a different side to The Blue Nile and their music, one that divided the opinion of critics and fans. Paul, Robert and P.J. were back, but it was a different sound. One constant was Paul’s worldweary vocal. Glasgow’s very own Frank Sinatra, Paul Buchanan plays the role of the troubled troubadour, to a tee on songs about love, love lost, betrayal, heartbreak, growing up and growling old. Paul was still the tortured soul, who wore his heart on his sleeve on Peace At Last.
On the release of Peace At Last, in June 1996, it reached just number thirteen and sold poorly. For The Blue Nile this was disappointing, given it was their major label debut. Worse was to come when the lead single Happiness failed to chart. The Blue Nile’s major label debut hadn’t gone to plan. Alas, Peace At Last was the only album The Blue Nile released on a major label.
High.
Following Peace At Last, it was eight years before The Blue Nile released another album. High was released in 2004. During the last eight years, the three members of The Blue Nile had been leading separate lives. P.J. and Robert were content with their lives in the West End of Glasgow, while Paul had been spending his time between Glasgow and Hollywood. Now they were back and ready to record their fourth album, High.
Once High was recorded, all that was left was for The Blue Nile to find a label to release the album. The Blue Nile had been dropped by Warner Bros. So with the completed album, The Blue Nile shopped High to various labels. Eventually, they settled on Sanctuary, which would release High in August 2004. However, before that, critics welcomed back The Blue Nille.
Eight years after the release of Peace At Last, critics remarked that High was a much more grownup album. Songs of family life and heartbreak sat side-by-side. Paul who had been suffering with illness and fatigue, seemed to have found a new lease of life. His lyrics are emotional, observational, cinematic and rich in imagery. They’re also poignant, and full hope, hurt and anguish. Meanwhile, Paul’s vocals were worldweary and knowing, while the music is emotive, ethereal and evocative. Critics love High. So did music lovers.
When High in August 2004, the album reached number ten in the UK. High proved to be The Blue Nile most successful album. This proved to be fitting.
Opening High is The Days Of Our Lives. Stabs of hypnotic, melancholy keyboards are repeated throughout the track. They provide the backdrop to Paul’s worldweary vocal. Soon, washes of synths, swathes of string and the occasional bursts of funky bass can be heard. Later, drums crack, adding to the drama, while Paul’s vocal is wistful and full of pathos. Just like he’s done so often, he makes the lyrics come alive, as he looks backwards at the past. This proves fitting, as High was their swan-song.
I Would Never was the first released from High. It has an understated, lush arrangement. That comes courtesy of washes of crystalline synths, acoustic guitar and pulsating bass. Then there’s Paul’s vocal. Glasgow’s troubled troubadour delivers a heartfelt vocal as he assures his partner “I Would Never turn my back on.” Quite simply, this is a beautiful ballad from a grown up Blue Nile.
Broken Loves opens with Paul’s half-spoken vocal accompanied by stabs of urgent keyboards. Frustration and emotion fill his voice as it grows in power and despair. The despair is caused by a relationship that’s all but over. This results in some soul searching from Paul. He paints pictures, reminiscing about their pasts. Memories from childhood seem to trigger an outpouring of emotion. His vocal becomes needy, and he’s determined they don’t give up on their relationship. Dramatic, emotive and heartbreaking, it’s an evocative description of a relationship gone wrong.
Just a lone acoustic guitar opens Because Of Toledo, as Paul delivers a worldweary vocal. Heartbroken and despondent, his life’s lost meaning and direction, because his relationship has ended. Again, Paul makes the lyrics come to life. They take on a cinematic quality. Soon, pictures unfold before your eyes, a heartbroken Paul sitting despondent, in the motel he sings about during this heartbreakingly beautiful breakup song.
Ethereal describes the introduction of She Saw The World. That’s before the tempo and drama increases. Driven along by drums, keyboards and washes of synths Paul delivers an urgent emotive vocal. Memories come flooding back as he reminisces about two people who drifted apart. Sadness fills his voice as he sings: “ She Saw The World and wanted it all.” Paul he remembers what he once had and lost. Oozing emotion, Paul’s lived-in, weary vocal and one of the best arrangements on High, result in one of the album’s many highlights.
Washes of synths shimmer, while a lone piano provides a contrast as High unfolds. Paul’s vocal is tender, but with a sense of resignation at the relationship that’s gone wrong. A drum machine provides the heartbeat as Paul’s vocal becomes a cathartic outpouring of emotion. Mixing power, passion and drama Paul lays bare his weary soul for all to hear.
As Soul Boy unfolds, drums crack and are matched by a pulsating bass and meandering guitar. Paul’s vocal is tender and needy. He delivers the some of the best lyrics on High. This includes: “let me be the one, there’s been no other one, trusted and true, for so long…I just want to be loved by you.” With an arrangement that’s reminiscent of vintage Blue Nile and Paul’s needy, seductive, vocal this is The Blue Nile back to their best.
Everybody Else is quite different from the previous track. It shows The Blue Nile are determined their music stays relevant. It’s an uptempo track that’s the nearest thing to a dance track The Blue Nile produced. Paul’s vocal is accompanied by swathes of sweeping strings, pounding bass and hypnotic drums. He’s plays the role troubled troubadour to perfection, as The Blue Nile demonstrate another side to their music, on a track that’s not short of poppy hooks.
Stay Close closes High and sadly, the recording career of The Blue Nile. The tempo is dropped, a drum machine, crystalline guitar and washes of synths providing a melancholy backdrop for Paul’s vocal. He’s saved the best to last. It’s as if he knew this was farewell. Digging deep, he unleashes a soul-baring Magnus Opus. His vocal is needy as he pleads, “Stay Close to me.” However, he knows though, “you’ll go your own way.” You’re drawn into this scenario, feel and share Paul’s pain and heartache. He’s not giving up though, and delivers a heartachingly beautiful vocal on this heartbreaking paean. What a way for The Blue Nile to call time on their recording career?
Although The Blue Nile only recorded four albums in a twenty year period, it’s the quality of music that matters. These four albums were almost flawless. Certainly A Walk Across The Rooftop and Hats are classics, while Peace At Last is probably the most underrated album in The Blue Nile’s back-catalogue. That brings us to High.
Having not released an album for eight years. During that period, The Blue Nile had been living separate lives. P.J. and Robert were living in the West End of Glasgow, while Paul lived a nomadic existence, flitting between Hollywood, Europe and Glasgow. He’d been involved in some high profile relationships, and by 2004, just when everyone thought The Blue Nile were no more, they rose like a phoenix from the ashes. They didn’t even have a record deal, so agreed a deal with Sanctuary Records to release High. It proved to be the most successful album of their career.
During the time they’d been away, The Blue Nile had matured as a band. Some people said they’d grownup. What had happened was life. Having been outside the bubble that was Blue Nile, P.J. and Robert had to get on with life. The Blue Nile was on a hiatus, maybe a permanent one. As for Paul, he was leading a very different life. This gave him the material for High.
On the nine songs that comprise High, you’re drawn into the album’s lush, atmospheric sound. Having captured your attention, The Blue Nile don’t let go. Before long, the listener has fallen in love. They fall in love with music that’s hauntingly beautiful, emotive, dramatic and pensive. Much of this is thanks to peerless vocal performances of Glasgow’s very own Frank Sinatra, Paul Buchanan. He plays the role of the troubled troubadour, to a tee. His worldweary, emotive, heartfelt and impassioned vocal sounds as if it’s lived the lyrics he’s singing about. Lived them not just once, but several times over. Paul’s vocal adds soulfulness to an album that references Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Tim Buckley, classic soul and seventies funk. The result is a compelling, innovative album, High.
After High, people thought that The Blue Nile would return, possibly after another lengthy break. Sadly, that wasn’t to be. The Blue Nile were no more.
At least they did things their way. Right up until the release of High, The Blue Nile were enigmatic, almost reclusive and publicity shy. The Blue Nile weren’t exactly your normal band. Not for them the rock “n” roll lifestyle favoured by other bands. In many ways, musical fashions and fads didn’t affect them. Their attitude was almost contrarian. Albums were recorded slowly and methodically as The Blue Nile strived for musical perfection. This wasn’t a group willing to jump onto a musical bandwagon in pursuit of fame, fortune or starlets. Quite the opposite. It seemed to be their way or no way in the pursuit of musical perfection. The Blue Nile achieved that perfection four times, and ended their career on a High.
Cult Classic: The Blue Nile-High.
CULT CLASSIC: STANLEY TURRENTINE-THAT’S WHERE IT’S AT.
Cult Classic: Stanley Turrentine-That’s Where It’s At.
In September 1962, twenty-eight year old saxophonist Stanley Turrentine released That’s Where It’s At which was his fifth album for Blue Note Records. It was his much-anticipated followup to Dearly Beloved which at the time, many critics hailed as his finest album. That’s Where It’s At had a lot to live up to.
It was also a new chapter in the career of Stanley Turrentine as it was the first time that he had collaborated with pianist Les McCann. He composed four of the tracks on That’s Where It’s At, and was part of the quartet who recorded the album at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, in New Jersey on January the ’2nd’ 1962. This was the seventh solo album that Stanley Turrentine had recorded for Blue Note Records since June 1960. He had come a long way since signing for the label.
Stanley William Turrentine was born on April the ‘5th’ 1934, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up in a musical family in the Hill District. His father Thomas Turrentine, Sr, was a saxophonist with Al Cooper’s Savoy Sultans, while his mother played piano and Stanley’s elder brother Thomas became a professional trumpeter. He was part of his brother’s band when he recorded Comin’ Your Way in 1961 and 1962s Jubilee Shout!!! That was in the future.
When Stanley Turrentine started out, he wasn’t playing jazz. Instead, he was a member of various blues and R&B bands. However, his main influence was jazz tenor saxophonist, Illinois Jacquet who is remembered for his solo on Flying Home, which nowadays, is regarded as the first ever R&B saxophone solo. He wrote his name into musical history and later, so would Stanley Turrentine.
During the fifties, Stanley Turrentine was a member of Lowell Fulson and Earl Bostic’s bands. However, when he joined Earl Bostic’s band he was literally standing in the shadow of a giant as he replaced John Coltrane in 1953. Stanley Turrentine was also a member of pianist Tadd Dameron’s band during this period. Then in the mid-fifties Stanley Turrentine was drafted.
During his time serving his country, Stanley Turrentine received the only formal musical training he ever had. When he left the US Army in 1959 he was a much more complete musician.
Upon leaving the military, Stanley Turrentine joined Max Roach’s band. He featured on four albums by the jazz drummer including 1959s Moon Faced and Starry Eyed, 1960s Quiet As It’s Kept and Parisian Sketches plus 1964s Long as You’re Living. However, when Stanley Turrentine wasn’t working with Max Roach he was in constant demand as a sideman.
Another album he played in during 1959 was Abbey Lincoln’s Abbey Is Blue. This was just the start of prolific period for Stanley Turrentine, who by then, had met his future wife.
As the new decade decade dawned, Stanley Turrentine married organist Shirley Scott in 1960, and the pair often played and recorded together. He accompanied his new wife on nine albums between 1961 and 1978. However, there was no sign of Shirley Scott when Stanley Turrentine recorded his debut album.
In 1960, he signed to Blue Note Records and on June the 16th recorded the six tracks with drummer Al Harewood, bassist George Tucker and pianist Horace Parlan that became Look Out! It was a recording of traditional bop which was quite different from his later bluesy, soul-jazz outings. However, his debut was well received by critics who were impressed by the power, clarity and sweet and articulate album where Stanley Turrentine played within himself. Look Out! was a sign of what was to come from Stanley Turrentine.
Apart from recording his debut album Look Out! in 1960, Stanley Turrentine recorded Blue Hour, a collaboration with and The Three Sounds. It was recorded on June the ‘29th’ and December ‘16th’ 1960 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, in New Jersey.
That was also where hard bop and post bop pianist Horace Parlan recorded his album Speakin’ My Piece on July the ‘14th’ 1960. It was just one of a number of albums Stanley Turrentine played on during 1960. These albums were released during 1961.
As 1961 dawned, Stanley Turrentine journeyed to Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, in New Jersey on January the ’20th’ 1961 to record his sophomore album Comin’ Your Way. The result was a breathtaking album of soul-jazz with diversions via hard bop and balladry that had the potential to transform Stanley Turrentine’s nascent solo career and raise his profile. Despite this, executives at Blue Note Records decided to shelf the project which was belatedly released in 1987.
In its place, Up At “Minton’s”, a live album that was recorded at the famous Harlem venue, just one month after the Comin’ Your Way session was released by Blue Note Records later in 1961. The album was a success, and Up At “Minton’s” Volume 2 followed later in 1961. This allowed executives at Blue Note Records to argue that their decision to shelf Comin’ Your Way was vindicated.
On June the ‘8th’ 1961, Stanley Turrentine returned to Van Gelder Studio to record his next solo album, Dearly Beloved. Joining him on this trio recording were his wife organist Shirley Scott and drummer Roy Brooks. It was released to critical acclaim in February 1962 and was called the finest album of his career. Nowadays, Dearly Beloved is regarded as one of the finest albums Stanley Turrentine recorded for Blue Note Records.
Just over three months later, Stanley Turrentine was making the return journey on the ‘13th’ of September 1961 to Van Gelder Studio where he would record his next solo album, ZT’s Blues. Joining his was an all-star band that featured drummer Art Taylor, bassist Paul Chambers, guitarist Grant Green and pianist Tommy Flanagan. The band recorded seven compositions with groove meisters Stanley Turrentine and Grant Green playing a starring role.
Despite the quality of music on ZT’s Blues, history repeated itself when the album was shelved. This must have been hugely disappointing as here was another album that had the potential to transform Stanley Turrentine’s career. Ironically, when the album was belatedly released in 1985 it was to widespread critical acclaim. For Stanley Turrentine ZT’s Blues was the one that got away.
That’s Where It’s At.
For his next album That’s Where It’s At, Stanley Turrentine decided to collaborate with composer and pianist Les McCann. Although the two men had never collaborated before Stanley Turrentine was no stranger to collaborating on albums. He had collaborated on The Three Sounds album Blue Hour in 1960 and with Shirley Scott on his previous album Dearly Beloved which was released to plaudits and praise in June 1961. That’s Where It’s At was the much-anticipated followup.
For That’s Where It’s At Stanley Turrentine wrote Soft Pedal Blues and his brother Tommy penned Light Blue. Les McCann composed Smile, Stacey, Pia, We’ll See Yaw’ll After While, Ya Heah and Dorene Don’t Cry, I. These six tracks became That’s Where It’s At which was recorded at Van Gelder Studio.
On January the ‘2nd’ 1962, Stanley Turrentine’s quartet travelled to Van Gelder Studio. None of the musicians who played on ZT’s Blues featured on That’s Where It’s At. Instead, the tenor saxophonist was accompanied by drummer Otis Finch who was in his wife Shirley Scott’s group. Joining him in the rhythm section was Herbie Lewis who was in Les McCann’s group. Completing the quartet’s lineup for the recording of That’s Where It’s At was pianist Les McCann. This was one and only album the band recorded.
When That’s Where It’s At was released in September 1962 the majority of critics were won over by Stanley Turrentine’s much-anticipated fifth solo album. That came as no surprise given the quartet was firing on all cylinders to create That’s Where It’s At’s bluesy, funky and soulful and sound as they fuse bop and soul-jazz. Playing leading roles were Stanley Turrentine and Les McCann who seemed to drive each other to greater heights throughout the album.
Stanley Turrentine’s hard blowing tenor saxophone is to the fore throughout That’s Where It’s At as Les McCann’s piano adds a bouncy swing while the rhythm section contribute slinky grooves. When all this is combined the result is a potent and heady musical brew.
That’s Where It’s At opens with the uptempo and joyous sounding Smile, Stacey where Les McCann matches Stanley Turrentine every step of the way. It’s one of the album’s highlights. Another is Soft Pedal Blues where the slow, moody and bluesy saxophone is to the fore and accompanied by the piano. It veers between slow and spacious to deliberate and dramatic and there’s even flamboyant flourishes and just like the saxophone produce a late night ruminative sounding track. Initially, Pia glides along with Stanley Turrentine playing within himself and leaving space before Les McCann adds some of his slinkiest piano playing. The pair feed off each other and seem to bring out the best in each other. Later, the saxophone is played with power and control and sometimes is understated while the rhythm section add swing to this irresistible and memorable mid-tempo track.
There’s no letup on We’ll See Yaw’ll After While, Ya Heah with the saxophone and piano playing leading roles. Stanley Turrentine’s bluesy finger popping saxophone swings as he combines power and emotion. Meanwhile, Les McCann’s fingers dance up and down the piano keyboard flamboyant flourishes stealing the show and proving the perfect foil for Stanley Turrentine. From the opening bars of the bluesy sounding Dorene Don’t Cry, a beautiful, poignant and cinematic sounding track unfolds and paints pictures of hurt, heartbreak and love gone wrong. Closing the album is Light Blue, another slower track where the quartet play within themselves. That includes Messrs. McCann and Turrentine who are to the fore on what’s one of the most soulful sounding tracks on That’s Where It’s At.
After the release of That’s Where It’s At, Stanley Turrentine spent the rest of the sixties signed to Blue Note Records and released albums of the quality of Hustlin’, Easy Walker, The Spoiler and The Look of Love. Then as the seventies dawned, Stanley Turrentine left Blue Note Records.
In 1970 Stanley Turrentine signed to Creed Taylor’s CTI Records and changed direction musically. He recorded a series of albums of fusion including one of his finest outings Sugar which was released in 1970. However, the following year 1971, Stanley Turrentine and Shirley Scott divorced after eleven years of marriage. They never recorded another album together.
Following his divorce, Stanley Turrentine continued to record for CTI Records and released several critically acclaimed album. This included Salt Song, Cherry with Milt Jackson and Don’t Mess with Mister T. Then in 1974, Stanley Turrentine left CTI Records and signed for Fantasy Records. It was the end of an era.
Just like his time at Blue Note Record and CTI Records, Stanley Turrentine was prolific during his time at Fantasy Records. He released nine albums between 1974 and 1980 which encompassed a variety of styles. These albums were orchestrated by the likes of Gene Page and featured an all-star group. Despite that, the albums received mixed reviews, with some of the negative reviews often unwarranted. The Fantasy Records’ years weren’t as successful as Stanley Turrentine’s time at Blue Note Record and CTI Records.
The time that Stanley Turrentine spent signed to Blue Note Records was his most productive and saw him release some of the best and most important albums of his career. This included That’s Where It’s At Stanley Turrentine where he collaborated with Les McCann who was a perfect foil for him throughout the album. Together, they play their part in an almost flawless and timeless album that’s bluesy, funky, soulful and swinging.
It was no surprise that when That’s Where It’s At was released in September 1962 it was well received by the majority of critics. One of the few dissenting voices was Downbeat magazine who gave the album a mixed review. That’s ironic as nowadays, That’s Where It’s At is regarded as one of the albums that gave birth to the soul-jazz genre. One of soul-jazz’s finest practitioners was the tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and proof if any was needed are albums of the quality of Hustlin’, Easy Walker, The Spoiler, The Look Of Love, Comin’ Your Way as well as the cult classic That’s Where It’s At.
Cult Classic: Stanley Turrentine-That’s Where It’s At.
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