 |
Robert
Wyatt & Friends I've been a big fan of Robert Wyatt since I saw him perform live with the Soft Machine, when they opened for Jimi Hendrix at Winterland in 1968. With the help of a good friend in London, I'd collected a shelf full of live recordings from through out his career. One of the best is the Drury Lane Concert that was Wyatt's first public appearance after his death defying fall out of a forth story window. Now thanks to Hannibal, the multi track tapes have been given a new mix and an official released. It should be noted that the tapes four or five songs have been lost, so part of the second set, including The God Song is absent. That is the only disappointment. The band on this date was made up of a host of Wyatt's friends and musical accomplices. Hugh Hopper from the Softs handles the bass through out. The drumming chore is shared by Laurie Allen and Nick Mason from Pink Floyd. Dave Stewart (Egg, Hatfield And The North) is the main keyboard player. Guitars are shared between Mike Oldfield and Fred Frith. Julie (Driscoll) Tippetts, John Peel and Ivor Cutlor lend their voices to Wyatt's. As for the material, half the show is given over to Rock Bottom along with I'm A Believer and Memories which were released on a single at the same time. Except for Julie Tippetts' Mind Of A Child, the other four tracks are taken from End Of An Ear, Matching Mole and Hatfield And The North. With the release of Shleep, Wyatt has been back in the public eye once again. There are currently fresh remasters of all his solo material, and heaps of live recording with both the Soft Machine and Matching Mole in release. You wouldn't go wrong with most any of these, but this one stands a head and shoulders above the pack.
|
 8 |
The Green
Pajamas One could easily accuse Jeff Kelly of being over ambitious. Since their reactivation in the mid 90's Green Pajamas have released eleven full length albums, a handful of EPs, and countless compilation tracks. Granted, two of those were live albums, two were compilations of non album tracks, and one was a career over view. That is still six albums of new material in eight years. To that add maybe six solo albums, and a couple of releases with Goblin Market, a side project with Laura Weller. Increasingly, there has been very little difference between Kelly's solo out put and Green Pajamas, which were essentially solo albums with some assistance from Laura Weller who joined the band at the end of the 90's and Eric Lichter who replaced Steve Lawrence in the middle of the last decade. Joe Ross and drummer Karl Wilhelm have not been invited to the studio much in the later days. With their last release for Woronzow and Rubric, This Is Where It Ends, the Pajamas seem to have lost some of their charm. Luckily for the PJ's, Hidden Agenda picked them up when those two labels collapsed. Old friend, Tony Dale released the fine album, Northern Gothic. A bit darker and folkier than the previous two albums, and a decided improvement. In the interim, two live albums were released. Lust Never Sleeps (End Game) is a rockin gig from 1996. Despite it's raw sound, it is a very accurate example of this lineup's stage sound. Before the band recorded the second of these live albums, Scott Vanderpool replaced Karl Wilhelm on the drum stool. As a result, Green Pajamas are now 3/4 of Capping Day, a band fronted by Laura Weller. In theory, Ten White Stones, a"live in the studio" album with the new line up should have been a winner. While it's a fine performance, it lacks the edge of a PJ's concert, and suffers from a lack luster mix. In any event, it was the trial run for the new album. There is a serious lack of credits on this CD which hides the fact that Jeff Kelly has returned to his solitary ways of making Green Pajamas' records. The song writing credits are shared, Eric Lichter wrote four songs, and Laura Weller gets one. The mix of the three singers does give this album a bit wider scope of sound. One of LIchter's songs was co-produced by our friend Conrad Uno and Jimm McIver at Egg Studio. This one like the three others he contributed are solo recordings which Jeff has done the additional instrumentation. It would be easy to criticize Kelly's methods, but the music is solid and consistent across the fourteen songs. Oh, what do they sound like? That's a good question. In the past I might have said "think Beatles meet Neil Young and Crazy Horse". Jeff Kelly has a distinctive voice. His material usually concerns a dark mysterious woman who he's seen, met, or dreamt about. The other two have followed this subject line too. The Green Pajamas are a unique and original sound, one of Seattle's secrets. Stylistically, they walk the thin line between 60's adventurism, folk, and 80's Paisley Pop. If you've never heard the Pajamas, this is probably a good place to start. It really is their strongest album since Strung Behind The Sun, the first release for Camera Obscure. If you wanted to dig deeper, the two compilations, Indian Winter (Get Hip) and Narcotic Kisses (Camera Obscura) would be of interest. Some of their strongest songs are going to be found on these two releases. www.seapeace.org/bands/greenpajamas.html |
 |
Graham
Bond Graham Bond will always be a footnote in the history of Cream. Plans for a comprehensive collection have never materialized due to the many contractual conflicts. Jazz, Blues, Rock & Alchemy gathers together 14 hard to find single sides, a sound track number and six BBC sessions recordings. The latter make up the most interesting part of this wonderful underground release. After a period of exile in Los Angeles in the late 60's, Bond returned to London where he formed the Graham Bond Initiation, who are heard on the five songs which were aired on the BBC in 1970. Hearing his hippie anthem, Love Is The Law performed by this band is the highlight of the CD which shows no weak spots. Most of the other fourteen track are from 1965 and 1966, with the famous Graham Bond Organization. This is probably the only place you can find Waltz For A Pig, on CD. In 1966 the Who found themselves locked in a legal battle with their producer Shel Talmy and were unable to record. The Graham Bond Organization, performing as "The Who Orchestra" supplied this jazz instrumental track for the B-side of the Substitute 45. Recorded just before Ginger Baker jumped ship to form Cream, this is one of the best examples of that band captured. Graham Bond
probably did a lot to ensure he would never capture the audience he deserved.
By the time of his tragic death in 1975, he'd worn out his welcome, even
with his best friends. Luckily there are still plenty of fans out there,
and at least one who has done a fine job of gathering up some loose ends
in the worth package. |
 |
The Rolling
Stones Wot? Another Stones bootleg? Unlike the Beatles and a few others who have attempted to satisfy the collectors and deflect the work of the gray market labels, the Stones have simply ignored their treasure trove of material left in the can. At least some of this problem can be laid at the feet of Allen Kline, who controls everything they recorded up through 1969. Except for a handful of loose ends found on the Hot Rocks Vol 2 reissue, none of the recent remasters contained any unreleased material. Even a recent Rarities release merely gathered some, not all of the post 1969 B-sides. At the same time, the Stones have released more live albums than just about anyone except the Dead. So what does this one have to offer? Probably nothing you didn't already have if you are a serious Stones collector. But it does gather together 20 great unreleased gems. The earliest material is from their 1964 visit to Chess Studios. These six numbers, including Stewed and Keefed are presented in very good sound. These are followed by an unlisted take of Heart Of Stone. This seems to be the same one found on Metamorphoses. Looking Tired was a song recorded for Could You Walk On Water, an album that was scrapped in favor of Aftermath, hence the title of the latter. This is a tidy country blues number that would have seemed out of time and place with the rest of the album. There are alternate versions of Have You Seen Your Mother and Street Fighting Man, with the original Everybody Pays Their Dues lyrics. From the same session as Have You Seen Your Mother is, I Can See It, a track that is new to my ears. A very soulful, and funky work out. Recorded in the run up to Between The Buttons, it sounds nothing like that slice of UK psych. Good Time Woman is an early version which evolved into Tumblin' Dice. There are a two other Mick Taylor era tracks that I'd not heard before. Don't Know The Reason Why is a ten minute blues, with lots of guitar and a horn section. A version of 32-20 come from 1972 tour rehearsals. In this age of bit-torrents, the age of proper bootlegs may be passing. Still there is nothing like a well executed and packaged release. And with the Rolling Stones there are loads of songs that will only be heard via the underground. |
|
No Photo Avalable |
The Animals The like many of their contemporaries found that their US labels were able to assemble more albums out of their catalog than their UK counterpart's. In the case of the Animals MGM managed five albums plus a hits Compilation. To make matters even more confusing, the the albums titled Animalism were completely different affairs in the US and UK. The UK Animalism was known as Animalization here in the states. The US release never appeared in England, and seems to have fallen off the world map. The album, Animalism, that is under discussion here is the US version, and the final release by "the original Animals". More correctly they might be called Animals MK2, with Dave Rowberry and Barry Jenkins replacing Alan Price and John Steel. Right up to the point of this release, the Animal were still a potent hit machine and live act in the States. They'd had two chart entries with Don't Bring Me Down and Inside Looking Out and the Animalization album. Those first four US albums, had been solid collections of choice covers, adaptations of blues standards, songs supplied by tin pan alley writers, and a few originals. Animalism followed the same formula, less the Brill Building supplied sure fire hit material. In some ways, this was their most honest album. What you get a dozen perfect performances. The songs are divided equally between blues standards (Rock Me Baby, Smokestack Lightning, Louisiana Blues, and Going Down Slow) and R&B chestnuts (Shake, Lucille, Hit The Road Jack and That's All I Am To You) The four contemporary numbers include two covers (The Other Side Of This Life, Hey Gyp) and two that seem to be originals though they are not credited (All Night Long and the fantastic Outcast). Once again the album was produced by Tom Wilson, a man who's resume includes Dylan, Velvets, Simon and Garfunkle, and the Soft Machine. He seemed content to let the band run with their instincts and just play. Frank Zappa gets an "arranger" credit for the opening track, All Night Long. The intro of this song is nothing short of amazing, and wouldn't have been out of place on one of the poppier songs on Freak Out. This album is simply one of the perfect '60's albums. Eric Burdon is in fine voice, and hadn't succumbed to the hippie philosophy of the later versions of the band. No, the band simply pays tribute to the deep pool of influences and does it with their own style. Each side ends with the slow speed versions of choice blues numbers, Smokestack Lightning, and Going Down Slow. The spare arraignments allow the soloists, particularly Hilton Valentine to stretch out and show off their solid chops. In between it's non stop, joy, soul and deep thoughts. The afore mentioned Outcast is a garage-punk classic. It's ironic that ever album that followed this one is currently in print, and endless compilations of the earlier material can be found; but these twelve songs are nowhere to be found. Even the once common vinyl, a regular item in late 60's cut out bins, has evaporated. On a recent trip to Seattle, I couldn't resist buy both copies that I spotted to augment the well played original I've enjoyed since it's release in 1966. ***2007 Update. Not long after I wrote this review, the Universal reissue arm, Hip-O-Select did infact reissue this album. They didn't go out of their way to do anything special. It's just the straight album with the original cover reproduced for the CD. It sounds great, and well worth searching out. |