Bakerloo - Bakerloo (2000 Repertoire Records Digipack) 1969

Biography : Bakerloo were originally formed as the Bakerloo Blues Line in 1967, at the outset of the blues boom spearheaded by Cream. A power trio similar to the latter outfit, they also incorporated some of the artier elements of pop music from that period -- Dave "Clem" Clempson played solid, bluesy lead guitar, but he also doubled on harpsichord and piano as well as providing the mouth harp, while Terry Poole played bass and Keith Baker played drums. They made all the right moves as a performing outfit, courtesy of their manager, Jim Simpson (who also handled Black Sabbath, known as Earth at the time) -- he organized a U.K. tour, dubbed "Big Bear Ffolly" (which later became the title of a Bakerloo song) which had Bakerloo, Earth, Locomotive, and Tea and Symphony playing throughout the country. Bakerloo was also one of the support acts on October 18, 1968, the night Led Zeppelin made their debut at London's Marquee Club. Bakerloo were among the early signings to EMI's Harvest label, where they made their debut in the middle of 1969 with the single "Driving Backwards" b/w"Once Upon a Time" in July. They followed it up that fall with their self-titled album, which gave their jazz-inflected electric blues, reminiscent in some ways of Blodwyn Pig's work, a full workout. Cut under the guidance of producer Gus Dudgeon and released in November of that year, the album was one of the harder rocking releases in the early Harvest schedule. Bakerloo were one of the more sophisticated blues-oriented power trios, and that might've been their undoing in finding an audience. Given time, they might've been another Ten Years After, but there was barely any time to find their potential, for the band broke up in late 1969 when Clem Clempson quit to join Colosseum, which proved to be a stopping point on his way into the lineup of Humble Pie as Peter Frampton's successor, and later worked with Roger Daltrey, Tom Waits, and the Records, among other major acts. Terry Poole passed through Graham Bond's band in the early to mid-'70s, and Keith Baker later became a member of Uriah Heep. Poole and Baker later reteamed, while Clempson has been a very busy session player for decades. Biography by Bruce Eder

Review : One of the first acts signed to the fledgling Harvest label in 1969, Bakerloo were very much a product of their time, a hard-hitting progressive blues band whose predilections ranged from a straightforward assimilation of Willie Dixon to some positively dazzling flashes of instrumental prowess. Guitarist Dave Clempson's "Big Bear Folly," the opening cut on the band's first and only album, is a dazzling Ten Years After-style showcase, while a jazzy variation on a theme of Bach, the aptly titled "Driving Bachwards," proves that the band wasn't averse to messing with the classics, either. The quartet's virtuosity occasionally overwhelms the songs themselves, although there is no shortage of gripping atmosphere. Bassist Terry Poole unleashes an almost sepulchral vocal across the stygian "Last Blues," a seven-minute marathon that swiftly develops into a full-fledged heavy rocker, punctuated by mood shifts that amount to separate movements -- it's a magnificent piece, rendered with both musical precision and some of producer Gus Dudgeon's most inspired washes and effects. Impressive, too, is "Son of Moonshine," a distorted metal effort that clocks in at double that length and combines Clempson's intensive guitar soloing with a desperately driving blues rhythm. Period comparisons with Cream and early Led Zeppelin really weren't that far off the mark. Bakerloo were not long for this earth -- Clempson quit to join Colosseum shortly after the album's release; Poole reappeared alongside Graham Bond; drummer Keith Baker departed for Uriah Heep; and Bakerloo itself disappeared off the shelves fairly quickly. Review by Dave Thompson

Tracklist

01.Big Bear Ffolly 3:55

02.Bring It On Home 4:16

03.Drivin' Bachwards 2:06

04.Last Blues 7:04

05.Gang Bang 6:15

06.This Worried Feeling 7:03

07.Son Of Moonshine 14:52

Bonus tracks

08.Once Upon A Time 3:37

09.This Worried Feeling (Alternative Take) 5:45

Line-up

Dave 'Clem' Clempson - Guitar, Harmonica, Harpsichord, Piano, Vocals

Terry Poole - Bass, Vocals

Keith Baker - Drums

With

Jerry Salisbury - Trumpet