Sunday 26 February 2017

Styx (1973) Krakatoa

The famous track from The Serpent is Rising album, starting with a sinister monologue from DeYoung with wailing synth backing, his voice treated with a filter sounds harsh and deranged like an old soothsayer casting a spell on an evil doer. But of course this track Krakatoa allows the droning gurgly synth to drive up in volume, intensity and spatially into a mind altering experience. No wonder this phenomenal and ear shattering audio effect was used as a motif and calling card for George Lucas's THX as it is simply the greatest example of spatial audio and would go onto influence a ton of DJs. The fact it finishes with a swift, lean rendition of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, showing off their classical grounding in their early days as well as still awe inspiring vocals straight after a such a spellbinding studio flourish proved Styx and the chops and the creativity in the studio and live.


Saturday 25 February 2017

Bobby Whitlock (1972) Satisfied

This is the highlight of the Bobby Whitlock's sophomore solo effort, the towering Raw Velvet album, Satisfied is marked by a sprightly mandolin strum creating a breezy vibe accented by little guitar licks and Whitlock on form with a world of weariness and a strong soul vocal full of gurning along to a laid back rhythm. The album has great heavy blues rock guitar on the opener Bustin My Ass and Write a Letter, a great honky-tonk nursery rhyme Ease Your Pain. He is as always truly underrated with the heartfelt ballads like You Came Along or Start All Over and the ethereal Duane Allman guested track Dearest I Wonder. It's actually a solid album track by track accept for Tell the Truth, the only stinker on what is probably the best Bobby Whitlock solo album.

The Raw Velvet possibly referring to the velvety ballads full of reverbed vocals, marching band beats and honest sentiment while the raw thick southern blues rockers and relationship subject matters emphasise the rawness of the material. The regal cover of Whitlock draped head to two in monochromatic velvet and framed in a gilded mirror could be a Emperor's New Clothes thing. Or possibly a snipe at his former 'British' collaborators Clapton and Harrison who appear on this album bringing the down and dirty music of the blues back to where it is best played; the Deep South.

Friday 24 February 2017

Kenny Loggins (1979) Junkanoo Holiday

From the third Kenny Loggins Solo effort with that overblown, cheesiness of the cover photo of a jesuit Loggins passing an glowing orb to the listener from a turquoise sea; surrounded by shooting stars, glistening star-bright waves, a red rainbow, fluffy clouds and a black pyramid. It encapsulates the airy, indulgent soft rock within full of dreamy textures of synths and quiet storm use of funky bass and guitar lines. Junkanoo Holiday with its strong dynamic Junkanoo horn arrangement stands out on this album that has some mesmerising landscapes particularly the ethereal harmonies of the title track and the tagged on chorus of Fallin- Flyin. As with Loggins and Messina's Caribbean preoccupations Kenny tackles different culture well with his old school soul delivery. It all works, in fact the big single 'This Is It' is one of the lesser tunes lacking contrasting dynamics or natural emphasis, though overall the diverse instrumentation of funk, calypso, folk, quiet storm all work with the impressive vocals on display.


Lloyd Charmers (1974) Sweet Harmony

This Lloyd Charmer's tune has that glorious reggae falsetto, pleading and yet so uplifting complete with nice reggae backing guitar, watery organ and sunny horns. But it's that thick, sweet harmony stacks in the chorus that drives home along with Charmer's super talented vocal delivery. A nie plea for social unity too.


Simon & Garfunkel (1970) El Condor Pasa

This rendition of a Peruvian folk song by the East Coast harmony duo is a fantastic clear cut acoustic tune full of vibrant percussion and a floating flute line. Even the duo's signature vocal abilities caress your ear; exotic and beautiful not much else to say.


Saturday 18 February 2017

Styx (1972) What Has Come Between Us

Along with their cover of George Clinton's After You Leave Me is a perfect vehicle for their medieval harmonies and organ work all to add a prog atmospheric grandness and a lot of rock and blues flavouring. Starting with a prancing beat of piano and electric guitar before the old worldly acoustic slow step comes in with Dennis DeYoung's signature operatic vibrato full of animated delivery and rolling syllables before the Trademark Styx harmony stacks come. Best is the baroque electric piano and organ section full of renaissance grace and virtuosity before the standard rock syncopated call and response chorus.


Friday 17 February 2017

Nantucket (1979) California

A clear California ballad devolves into a tight rock rhythm section with shades of Toto with the powerful harmonies and thick guitar tone.


The Kursaal Flyers (1975) Cruisin for love

A reggae, rock n roll,country disco amalgam full of quirky vocals and tight bar band playing full of countrified rock n roll playing.


Wednesday 15 February 2017

Bronco (1970) Civil Of You Stranger

From their debut 1970 album, Bronco along with Home were the only two UK country rock bands of note from the early 70s, made from members from Robert Plant's Band of Joy and Mott the Hoople's previous incarnation, 60s blues group The Shakedown Sound. This is a great mix of clean cutting glistening harmonies with a strong RnB core mixing sparse rugged southern sounding rock with matter of fact Beatles pop melody. The lead singer, Jess Roden was earlier part of a soul group and that can be heard clearly in his delivery on some other tracks such as Well Anyhow. The band mix that deep soul with light and heavy folk blues and rock steady rhythms.


Friday 10 February 2017

Hall and Oates (1978) Pleasure Beach

One of the closing tracks on Hall and Oates' 1978 Along the Red Ledge, produced during their harder rock phase of the late 70s when they were also working out their New Wave deliveries ahead of their 80's smash hits. Starting off slow and delicate with some gospel sounding wall of sound before John Oates, the writer, explodes into an echo chamber vocal, belting out rhymes cheerfully along with a groovy saxophone jam and audio clips of girls screaming all in a 50s' styled Spring Break vibe.


Tuesday 7 February 2017

Dan Fogelberg (1977) Scarecrows Dream

The singer songwriter who once opened for the Eagles reached a new confidence and brazenly arranged the Netherlands (1977) album with a vast string laden sound. Though by far it's best track is this highly understated tune with just two fingerpicked guitars and the subtle souciance of a harpsichord. But Fogelberg's reliable vocals are here positively ghostly, nicely conveying the 'haunted' nature of the backing track with his breathy falsetto.

 Soaked in reverb to bring a grandiose feel to proceedings he sings mysteriously about being trapped 'between the world's of men and make believe'. Full of latent mysticism about the nature of dreams as this twilight ballad manages to capture, apparently inspired by Walt Disney; a man who knew a lot about the fallibility and selling of hopes and dreams. Meanwhile Fogelberg was just about to see his own dreams be realised before his very eyes.
 Though on further analysis the song seems to be more in common lyrically with Gordon Lightfoots' If I Could Read Your Mind using regal imagery to represent a lover dreaming of a way out similar to a scarecrow, who may dream of replacement.


Monday 6 February 2017

Jay Ferguson (1976) To The Island

From Jay Ferguson's first solo album after the twin successes of Spirit and JoJo Gunne, while his ultimate solo success would be with the title track of his second solo album, 1978's Thunder Island, this similarly titled track is a virtual precursor to that hit. Lacking Thunder Island's propulsive hook or swell of emotion in the bridge this features an identical mix of a loud acoustic strum front and centre with some Carribean flavoured organ and percussion and even some tacky ocean sounds, but the laidback vocal may not draw you in as his powerful vocal turn on the 1978 smash hit single it is a short melodic tune with unabashed commercial appeal recorded in the same year after Loggins and Messina broke up, leaving a gap in the market for well orchestrated, Caribbean toned soft rock. It would of course be the first of a trilogy of Island-based, tropical tunes for Jay Ferguson, as after Thunder Island he would try a follow up with the synth heavy Shakedown Cruise, lyrically reminiscent of Loggins' and Messina's Vahevala. He certainly cornered the market in this style, though admittedly the superior Thunder Island has more rock in the sort rock equation with Joe Walsh's slide guitar and prominent doo wop vocals.


Saturday 4 February 2017

Gene Parsons (1979) No Fire Here Tonight

Gene Parsons is famous for being the drummer for the latter day Byrd's legendary country rock lineup as well as being fundamental in the genre through song writing and his creation of the B String Bender; a mechanism of pulleys allowing a regular electric guitar to sound like a pedal steel by modulating the B string adding twangy sounds to the guitar's repertoire. His 1979 solo album Melodies is indeed that a collection of mildly fresh sounding country rock at a time when the genre was perhaps starting not as dominant a form. The folk pop rock of My Kingdom for a Car and the ballad Way Out There is irresistible but the winner is No Fire Here Tonight with it's mix of electric bluegrass sound complete with pop synthesizer interjections. It's manufactured synthetic sound contributes to a love long gone. This Byrd worked better in a group context frankly though some of these tracks are melodic, that's not the problem the problem is aside form this track it lacks the colour and personality of his former collaborators to liven this set up.


Thursday 2 February 2017

Ace (1975) I Think It's Gonna Last

Ace, a pub rock band that made it with a lush soft rock hit had a nice mix of Rn B, country and blues all wrapped in a laidback beat, lush electric piano and funky rhythm guitars, bluesy guitar leads and soaring harmonies. This smooth plateau soundscape was grand for a pub band, breaking out of the pub rock scene, made of rootsy country blues and old fashioned rock n roll bands whose stripped sound would be a forerunner to the more youthful, club oriented punk movement. With the heartbroken soul, clean sound and great Paul Carrack vocals yearning with some Bachman Turner Overdrive funky guitars, I Think It's Gonna Last from their second album is probably one of their best from their follow up studio album, Time For Another.


Wednesday 1 February 2017

David Coverdale (1977) Peace Loving Man

A extremely nuanced vocal performance form Coverdale on his first solo album, Whitesnake, which would soon be the moniker for his 80's hair band. Here Micky Moody's guitar playing is smooth and sensual and the power ballad feel along with the horns and choral backing vocals are utterly at odds with the thick metal drive of the namesake band, of course that would be later down the line with different members. Though here his vocals play a central role as opposed to later hits where his presence and appearance would take centre stage. But there are still some soul and blues leftover vibes from his Deep Purple days, particularly on this Joe Cocker sounding track.
 Also check out the other subtle vocals of Hole in the Sky, the busy Kool and the Gang funk of Celebration and the hard rock thud of the title track that actually mirrors the slamming guitars style the band would latterly adopt a decade away.