Scott Finch & Gypsy - Haze Of Mother Nature (Akarma Records) 2001

Biography Original blues/rock power trio that ingeniously construct their own identity and style. When you open this gatefold (4 parts) CD and album, you will find a glorious tribute to Scott Finch & Gypsy. If you continue to read you will also find that Jimi Hendrix and the 60's psychedelic period of music is the entire focus of this project. I really have come to appreciate the genius of Hendrix as time passes. I also realize for the short time that he was on this earth that he left us with some of the most incredible blues rock that we have ever heard, or may ever hear again. Scott Finch & Gypsy got together in Wisconsin back in the eighties to form a compelling and authoritative trio that reawakened our senses and re ignited our interest in that important period of rock music. Horizon Records (Akarma) recognizes the significance and the value of the music, and how the music buying public have become increasingly receptive to guitar oriented blues based rock. With all of those thoughts in mind, I proceeded to give this music an intense overview with my ears and mind. I had to wonder if this CD/LP was going to live up to the elaborate critique that was so convincingly described by Jo Anne Green in the intense liner notes. The story foregoing the recording is quite fitting to be sure. I found out immediately that this was not merely another Hendrix impressionist. Scott Finch (guitar, vocals), Joe Steil (bass, vocals) and Gregg Slavik (drums, percussion, vocals), are an original blues rock power trio that ingeniously construct their own identity and style. Finch plays and sounds like Jimi often enough during the course of this larger than life release that you may find yourself thinking that it's actually the man himself back from the grave for one more jam session. They readily summon images of the master at several points during the course of the entire 76 minutes found on this generous rock excursion. In its entirety, this music is like watching several points of light coming together to create a supernova. Finch mentions in the liner notes that musical nirvana is the ultimate goal that the group strives to achieve. I think it's safe to say that musical nirvana is obtainable. Just listen to this music.

Tracklist

01.Gypsy - Flowers In The Jungle 3:25

02.Gypsy - Gypsy Waltz 3:55

03.Gypsy - Dream Of The Dove 2:53

04.Gypsy - People From The Darkside 4:36

05.Gypsy - Little Bird 3:33

06.Gypsy - The Goddess 5:35

07.Gypsy - The Race 2:40

08.Gypsy - Can't Live Without It 4:28

09.Scott Finch - Dragnet 1:56

10.Scott Finch - Godora 5:28

11.Gypsy - Acid Joe 4:54

12.Gypsy - Time Keeps Rolling On 5:10

13.Scott Finch - Pipe Dream 4:37

14.Gypsy - Haze Of Mother Nature 3:14

Hendrix Medley

15.Bluehand - I Don't Live Today 3:57

16.Waltzing Tunas - Love Or Confusion 3:25

17.Waltzing Tunas - If 6 Was 9 4:34

18.Bluehand - Little Wing 3:23

19.Scott Finch - Bend The Stone 4:30

Line-up

Gypsy

Scott Finch - Guitar, Vocals

Joe Steil - Bass, Vocals

Gregg Slavik - Drums, Percussion, Vocals

Bluehand

Scott Finch - Guitar

Peter Alt - Lead Vocal, Guitar

Mike Haasch - Bass

Gregg Slavik - Drums

Waltzing Tunas

Scott Finch - Guitar

Peter Alt - Vocals

Mike Kashou - Bass

Gregg Slavik - Drums

Scott Finch

Plays all instruments, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Hammond Organ, Electric piano and Sitar

Jeremy Spencer - Jeremy Spencer And The Children (2007 FootPrint Records) 1972

Biography Jeremy Spencer and the Children is an album by British blues rock musician Jeremy Spencer, who was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1967 to 1971. Released in 1972, this is his second solo album although it was credited to Jeremy Spencer and the Children, referring to his band made up of members of the Children of God (Family International) organisation. After leaving Fleetwood Mac while on tour in the United States in February 1971, Spencer joined the Children of God and has remained with the organisation ever since. The band toured in the US and released a single "Can You Hear the Song" / "The World in Her Heart" to accompany this album. The lyrics were heavily religious, with references to the love of God, finding purpose in life within Christianity, along with anti-war themes and apocalypticism. Although this was the first recording for which Spencer dropped his mimicry and parody of 1950s music and Elmore James blues tunes, he nevertheless continued to show his talent for drawing inspiration from other styles of music. Influences from many contemporary sources can be heard, such as The Byrds, The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Spencer has often stated in interviews that he was unhappy with the poor production quality on the album, once declaring, "It was just like mud."

It has never been released on CD, and Spencer has said that the master recordings were lost in a fire many years ago, but recently he expressed an interest in reworking some of the songs. Wiki

Tracklist
01.Can You Hear The Song 3:00
02.The World In Her Heart 3:15
03.Joan Of Arc 3:41
04.The Prophet 3:23
05.When I Looked To See The Sunshine 4:28
06.Let's Get On The Ball 4:23
07.Someone Told Me 3:43
08.Beauty For Ashes 2:57
09.War Horse 6:05
10.I Believe In Jesus 2:16

Line-up
Jeremy Spencer - vocals, slide guitar, piano
Michael - harmonica, guitar, vocals
Phil Ham - lead guitar, flute, sitar
Moriah - vocals, tambourine
Boaz - bass guitar, vocals, recorder
Ginnethon - drums, congas, timpani, tablas

Isaiah - Isaiah (2014 Digatone Records 2CD Digipack) 1975

Biography Isaiah's only album 1975 features a mix of jazz, blues and progressive rock elements. Lead by the charismatic voice of flautist and guitarist Gert Raabe, the band counts as one of Austria's most versatile bands of the 1970's, often likened to Jethro Tull, YES and ELP. Digatone restored their demos for the previously unreleased second album which were declined by the label at the time for being too weird. The band disbanded 1977. Original copies of the album very rarely come up for sale these days and when they do command a price of several hundred €uros. For the first time available: 2xLP + 2xCD Deluxe Reissue incl. their rare original album, a LP full of unreleased songs, liner notes & enhanced bonus material. Heavy gatefold package with glued in and removable CD.

CD1 The Original Album 1975
01.Jericho 5:10
02.Summer Farewell 5:11
03.Leave It All Behind 5:28
04.Afterwards 7:42
05.Prophet 8:39

CD2 Unreleased Demos 1973 - 1977
01.Playing The Circle Game 2:43
02.Nightmare 4:35
03.Same To You 4:46
04.No Reason 4:46
05.The Fighter 4:21
06.Long Way 10:35
07.Hero 11:15
08.Sunset 3:43

Line-up
Gerd Raabe - lead vocals, flute, acoustic guitar
Michael Bornhorst - tenor sax, clarinet
Hans Gasser - bass guitar
Walter Reschauer - drums, percussion
Edu Weber - lead guitar, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
Hubertus K. Nolte - piano, Fender Rhodes, keyboards, backing vocals

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

The Blues Right Off - Our Bluesbag (Vinyl Magic) 1970

Biography : An incredibly rare album, Our blues bag changes hands for princely sums. It was privately pressed in 500 copies and housed in a cloth bag that was silkscreened with the band's and record name, and also contained a lithographic print by venetian artist Vittorio Basaglia. No counterfeit exists, nor foreign reissues.

This not a review as such, it's info as to this crazy album & how it came about. Having peddled early demos to record companies in Italy and getting a flat "no thanks" at every turn, we decided to record and release on our own what became "Our Bluesbag". The cover is hand-printed (!!) by famous Venetian artist Vittorio Basaglia, inside a jute sac with an album title stencil and the final vinyl album was done in 500 copies... mine was lost years ago in a fire, though. The recording was done by Ermanno Velludo, one of those guys gifted with Golden Ears - he was to us what George Martin was for The Beatles, and a de facto fifth member of The Blues Right Off. We did it all in about 2 days, a lot of it being "first takes". Essentially, it is a live album, done in a painter's studio and not a proper recording studio! It rates 5 stars for our determination of "going against the grain" and for Ermanno's incredible sonic result. All the material is home-grown - no covers here. We sold copies on the street in Venice and at concerts and that "ultra-rare" tag is correct as it wasn't distributed through shops. We later found out that "Our Bluesbag" is now a legendary album and also expensive to get, if you can get one! If you're interested in more about those obscure days in Italy, check the site italianprog.com - under Artists/B there's more Blues Right Off info... In retrospect, it's kinda strange as to Italian "firsts" we accumulated:first "location studio" recording / releasefirst home-grown release / own-distribution in Italy first hand-made / hand-printed coverfirst Blues album in Italy Ermanno still has original tapes but we've resisted so far to re-release anything. So for those who haven't had the possibility to listen to the music here's a short description:it's a bit like John Mayall, vocally, as I haven't got a nasty, deep & growling voice - also, I figured that I wasn't exactly born in some Black US ghetto being Danish and very white in terms of looks. A song like "Born On The Highway" is about being a truckdriver going from coast to coast across the USA, endlessly. Another one is about the "Black Angel" of Berlin, then in the news. It's an attempt at having the Blues - anyone can "have the Blues" - you don't need to be Black, in other words. Claes Cornelius (The Blues Right Off)

Tracklist
01.One Mint Julie
02.Rushing Wish
03.Black Angel
04.Love's Gonna Show Up Someday
05.Leaving My Hometown
06.Born On The Highway
07.Miss D

Line-up
Claes Cornelius - vocals, guitar
Giancarlo Salvador - bass
Fuffi Panciera - drums
Paolo Zanella - flute, guitar

Lightnin' Hopkins - Free Form Patterns (1993 Collectables Records) 1968

Biography : Lightnin' Hopkins originally recorded the ten tracks that make up Free Form Patterns on February 1, 1968, for the International Artists label. Also on that label's roster was the psychedelic group 13th Floor Elevators, which, by 1968, had basically disbanded. For this session, producer Lelan Rogers (Kenny's brother) teamed Hopkins up with Elevators drummer Danny Thomas and bassist Duke Davis. While not as revolutionary as John Lee Hooker's sessions with Canned Heat, Free Form Patterns steers clear of the late-'60s psychedelic trappings that screwed up such similar sessions as Electric Mud. No one tried to bend Hopkins to fit a foreign musical approach on Free Form Patterns; he made the music bend to him. Review by Al Campbell

Tracklist
01.Mr. Charlie 6:59
02.Give Me Time To Think 3:47
03.Fox Chase 2:51
04.Mr. Ditta's Grocery Store 5:28
05.Open Up Your Door 3:54
06.Baby Child 3:34
07.Cooking's Done 3:47
08.Got Her Letter This Morning 4:56
09.Rain Falling 4:33
10.Mini Skirt 3:09

Line-up
Lightnin' Hopkins - Guitar, Harmonica
Danny Thomas (13th Floor Elevators) - Drums
Duke Davis - Bass

Blues Project - Planned Obsolescence 1968

Biography: In 1964, Elektra Records produced a compilation album of various artists entitled, The Blues Project, which featured several white musicians from the Greenwich Village area who played acoustic blues music in the style of black musicians. One of the featured artists on the album was a young guitarist named Danny Kalb, who was paid $75 for his two songs. Not long after the album's release, however, Kalb gave up his acoustic guitar for an electric one. The Beatles' arrival in the United States earlier in the year signified the end of the folk and acoustic blues movement that had swept the US in the early 1960s. Kalb's first rock and roll band was formed in the spring of 1965, playing under various names at first, until finally settling on the Blues Project moniker as an allusion to Kalb's first foray on record. After a brief hiatus in the summer of 1965 during which Kalb was visiting Europe, the band reformed in September 1965 and were almost immediately a top draw in Greenwich Village. By this time, the band included Danny Kalb on guitar, Steve Katz (having recently departed the Even Dozen Jug Band) also on guitar, Andy Kulberg on bass and flute, Roy Blumenfeld on drums and Tommy Flanders on vocals. The band's first big break came only a few weeks later when they auditioned for Columbia Records, and failed. The audition was a success, nevertheless, as it garnered them an organist in session musician Al Kooper. Kooper had begun his career as a session guitarist, but that summer, he began playing organ when he played on the "Like a Rolling Stone" recording session for Bob Dylan's album, Highway 61 Revisited. However when he heard the incredible technique of Michael F. Bloomfield who had also been added to the session, he realized he would never come close to Bloomfield's astounding ability, and he surrendered his hopes of becoming a guitarist to concentrate on organ. In order to improve his musicianship on the new instrument, Kooper joined the Blues Project and began gigging with them almost immediately. Soon thereafter, the Blues Project gained a recording contract from Verve Records, and began recording their first album live at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village over the course of a week in November 1965.

Entitled Live at The Cafe Au Go Go the album was finished with another week of recordings in January 1966. By that time, Flanders had left the band and, as a result, he appeared on only a few of the songs on this album. The album was a moderate success and the band toured the US to promote it. While in San Francisco, California in April 1966, the Blues Project played at the Fillmore Auditorium to rave reviews. Seemingly New York's answer to the Grateful Dead, even members of the Grateful Dead who saw them play were impressed with their improvisational abilities.(Source: Rock Family Trees - television program) Returning to New York, the band recorded their second album in the fall of 1966, and it was released in November. Projections contained an eclectic set of songs that ran the gamut from blues, R&B, jazz, psychedelia, and folk-rock.The centerpiece of the album was an 11-and-a-half minute version of "Two Trains Running," which, along with other songs on the album, showed off their improvisational tendencies. One such song was the instrumental "Flute Thing", written by Kooper and featuring Kulberg on flute. Soon after the album was completed, though, the band began to fall apart. Kooper quit the band in the spring of 1967, and the band without him completed a third album, Live At Town Hall. Despite the name, only one song was recorded live at Town Hall, while the rest was made up of live recordings from other venues, or of studio outtakes with overdubbed applause to feign a live sound. One song in the latter category, Kooper's "No Time Like the Right Time," would be the band's only charting single. The Blues Project's last hurrah was at the Monterey International Pop Festival held in Monterey, California, in June 1967. By this time, however, half the original line-up was gone. Kooper had formed his own band and played at the festival as well. Katz left soon thereafter, followed by Kalb. A fourth album, 1968's Planned Obsolescence, featured only Blumenfeld and Kulberg from the original lineup, but was released under the Blues Project name at Verve's insistence. Future recordings by this lineup would be released under a new band name, Seatrain. In 1968, Kooper and Katz joined forces to fulfill a desire of Kooper's to form a rock band with a horn section. The result was Blood, Sweat & Tears. While Kooper led the band on its first album, Child Is Father to the Man, he did not take part in any subsequent releases. Katz, on the other hand, remained with the band into the 1970s.The Blues Project, with a modified line-up, reformed briefly in the early 1970s, releasing three further albums: 1971's Lazarus, 1972's The Blues Project, and 1973's The Original Blues Project Reunion In Central Park (which featured Kooper but not Flanders). These albums did little to excite the public and since then, the group's activity has been confined to a few sporadic reunion concerts, such as when the Blues Project played a fundraising concert at Valley Stream Central High School in New York, promoted by Bruce Blakeman with the proceeds going to the Youth Council and the US Olympic Committee. In the period between 2001 and 2007, Roy Blumenfeld drummed in the Barry Melton Band (Melton of Country Joe & the Fish fame) Wiki

Tracklist:
01.If You Gotta Make A Fool Of  4:31
02.Calypso 3:46
03.Frank And Curt Incensed 3:26
04.Turtledove 3:24
05.Mojo Hanna 3:26
06.Nairt Aes Hornpipe 2:06
07.The Endless Sleep 3:53
08.She Raised Her Hand 3:39
09.Dakota Recollection 12:27

Blues Project
Andy Kulberg - Flute, Bass, Piano
Roy Blumenfeld - Drums, Percussion
John Gregory - Guitar, Vocals
Donald Kretmar - Bass, Sax
Richard Greene - Violin, Strings

Circus - Circus 1973

Circus' only released album is something of a letdown. They attained considerable popularity on the bountiful Madison, WI, rock scene and then throughout the Midwest festival circuit due to their impressive live show and jamming capabilities. And the list of artists that they supported makes for a winning resume. But Circus is not nearly as interesting as albums by fellow scenesters SOUP or Tayles because the band was mostly unable to translate the excitement of their live shows into the recording studio. Instead of a talented improvisational band, it makes them sound more often like a pedestrian blues-rock or hard rock outfit. The band's signature claim to fame is their utilization of synthesizers, particularly the Moog and clavinet, and the instruments do add intriguing textures, but they are unable to conceal the rather plodding, drab songwriting. Their original tunes pale in comparison to even the second-rate tunes by the Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead, two bands that seem to be touchstones for Circus. They simply are unable to muster many melodies that are particularly memorable, and when they do, as on "Fat Boogie Mama," it is borrowed almost entirely -- even down to the actual hook -- from Loggins & Messina's "Your Mama Can't Dance." The most interesting original may be "Travlin' Blues," which, contrary to the title, is solid country-rock with a nice banjo solo. It suggests that Circus may have benefited from leaning harder on that genre, at least in the recording studio. That notion is supported by their country-folk version of Ray Davies' "Skin and Bones," by far the best actual song on the album, with its exquisite acoustic slide guitar. The lack of a distinctive artistic impulse is all the more unfortunate because the five members are such outstanding players, even approaching the high skill level of their inspirations. The dual-guitar attack is hardly visionary, but it is thrilling, and Fred Omernik's keyboard work is superb. The lead vocals are nothing special, but the harmonies frequently are, especially when they appropriate the lead. Still, Circus was primarily a live attraction, and a much in-demand one at that. So it is no surprise that the most satisfying performance on the album is the 12-and-a-half-minute jam on the Rhinoceros cut "Old Age," full of awesome organ and synthesizer work and jazzy guitars as well as limber, tribal drumming. It recalls Santana one minute, space rock the next, and groovy early-'70s funk in general. In other words, it is an exceptional interpretation that evokes how strong of a live unit they really were. But as a studio band, Circus was disappointing more often than it was not. A live recording might have made for better listening. allmusic.com

Tracklist :
01.Fat Boogie Mama 4:09
02.You To Me 4:21
03.Let Me Tell You 4:12
04.Skin And Bones 3:53
05.Arrow 3:31
06.Travlin' Blues 2:45
07.Old Age 12:28
08.C'Mon If You're Comin' 4:09
09.I'm Walkin' 3:19
10.Bar Room Wiggy 3:39

Circus :
Brett Peterson - Voce e Chitarra
Randy Glodowksi - Voce e Chitarre
Fred Omernik - Voce, Pianoforte, Organo
Wayne Kostroski - Basso
Ray Cyr - Batteria, Congas, Percussioni