Thursday 30 May 2019

Pure Prairie League (1975) Runner - LOST 70s GEMS



1975's Two Lane Highway was a long awaited release from one of the most commercially successful of the second generation country rock bands, this Ohio outfit would lose their main singer songwriter and collaborator in Craig Fuller; the effective frontman and his singer of their hit Aimee. He was the Glenn Frey of the group, his lush countrified vocal tone, easygoing melodies and shimmering acoustic guitar laid the foundation and core of their respective band's early country rock sound; they may not have been the face of their very faceless bands but they fronted the hit singles more often or not.

A fine singer named Larry Goshorn stepped into Fuller's shoes for this release, the title track is a fantastic country rocker with a soaring chorus, slow build verses and a great mix of a bumping Rock n Roll pulse and smooth countrified pop balladry; the jazzy piano solo adds another layer of exuberance with a typically piercing pedal steel solo directly afterwards. Runner is another highlight, opening with a slowly descending flutter of pedal steel licks piled one on top of the other, the gentle vocal melody underscored by..well a score is excellent and their first real melodic cut that betters the Fuller era. Memories features an aching, tightly wound pedal steel line and a funky acoustic line doubled by some Piano extemporising, the gospel oohs also elevate the track which is standard, nostalgic paen with some lovely mandolin towards the end. 
Harvest has some Rush like distorted power chord slashes and some wiry solos, Sister's Keeper features some tremelo-ed arpeggio guitar figures that ripple like pond water under a yearning lead vocal in what is a straight country ballad spiced up with modern playing. Give us a Rise has some fanciful melody and shining Southern pop bounce, but it doesn't compare to the barnstorming closer Pickin to Beat the Devil with it's mix of dramatic slow verses full of depth to a rip roaring banjo driven chorus. 









Wednesday 29 May 2019

The Hollies (1979) It's in Everyone of Us - LOST 70s GEMS

The last Hollies album of 70s is called Five Three One - Double Seven O Four, which as the album cover shows, spells Hollies if held upside down on a calculator. It starts promisingly with an smooth keyboard and Afro drum beat interpretation of Murray Head's Say It Ain't So, Joe. Song of the Sun, a Pete Brown tune contains a groovy electric organ that jiggles like you were drowning in a pit of marmite it's so thick and luscious. When I'm Yours has some of Allan Clarke's talent for falsetto, high strung singing in the lead to the deep harmony chorus and some heartfelt lyrics. The Hollies were purging a lot of material from elsewhere like former Cream lyricist Pete Brown and his songwriting partner Toby Hymas, Stormy Waters is the only band entry with a mild harmonica leaden waltz bathed in ghostly harmonies but it doesn't really hit the spot musically unlike the strong lyrical content. Peter Brown's Boys in the Band is a disco version of Calypso with a clavinet underlined bobbing along chorus, but the melody is sweet; as the song says 'a simple melody can free the soul'. Allan Clarke's Satellite Three features a haunted house theme of a synthesizer loop, his most naked and vulnerable singing in the verse over this creepy keyboard riff before another rousing string chorus that lacks any real looseness but the synthesizer warbling in and out in spacey analogue seizures are another audio pleasure.

 It's in Everyone of Us by David Pommeranz is recorded here with a musical and yet spiritual setting with a low mix of strings streaming below one of Clarke's most defiant singing; he sings fittingly for a stage show, belting out some lines whilst carrying the emotions in hushed moments. Drums and the band join in and follow his vocal like a West End show. The backing vocals are warm and countrified and Clarke's vocal twangs a bit too to add flavour and it's good choice for a closer if not exactly representative of a beat group from the 60s. Something to Live For, another Brown/Hymas tune, is probably one of the highlights with it's effective mix of the best elements of this album with a subtle Disco throb, slow atmospheric keyboard and some gallivanting harmonies driving along the tune along, whilst strings dance in dramatic swooping lines in the background as the song antes up in the tag.


Friday 24 May 2019

Paris (1976) Blue Robin - LOST 70s GEMS

Paris, Bob Welch's power trio continued for one more album in 76 with Big Towne, 2061, however drummer Thom Mooney was replaced by Hunt Sales for this funkier offering from the Zep clones of the first album. Opening with the twangy guitar lines and streaking downhome backing vocals of Blue Robin before the seductive grooves of the over produced title tracks. The horrible Italo Disco sound in the tinny soulless ARPs on Pale Horse, Pale Rider remind me of the early 80s disco sound to come, and the following track doesn't improve things with more disco and Zeppelin mediocrity. Outlaw Game features atmospheric playing against an airy organ backdrop, while Money Love reminds me of another funk and Zep abomination called Detective and the overly Plant-esque vocals are really starting to grate and make me think of Greta Van Fleet; choose your own vocal style! Heart of Stone mixes a standard disco bass lien to Welch's detached vocals; it does not mix well, we need a defibrillator get some human element back to this music. The steady decline is reversed with Welch's phenomenal flamenco work on the echoey Slave Trader, the closing track Janie mixes a Yes level of Prog synths in with a keyboard flute melody over it like a Camel track.




The Hollies (1978) Feet on the Ground- LOST 70s GEMS

The Hollies' 1978 album, A Crazy Steal, was indicative of some of the direct influences of The Bee Gees, Elton John and in particularly one moment, Bruce Springsteen but this is one of their finest albums in years and far greater than their 1976 albums, which were steeped in the same tempo bubblegum pop numbers.

The album opens with the Writing on the Wall, that's the song title, it's pure countrified soft rock,/slow piano ballad stuff but the indelible harmonies keep it peddling over sweet and easy for the ear. It's a fairly decent Elton-esque 70s ballad with a moving saxophone solo and I am not a Sax fan so that is really saying something as it just drips in euphoric heartbroken soulfulness. What Am I Gonna Do starts with the same basic structure to the verses but explodes into the awesomely cooing choral chant, it's one of the best chorus hooks I've ever heard while the rest of the track is more plodding piano, strings, synth, harmony laden soft rock with a strong Wings vibe from the Live and Let Die strings and drumbeat combo, to the Jimmy McCullough sounding guitar solo. Let it Pour is a little too smooth and ear caressing in it's mix of mellow keyboards, electric piano and strings and treated vocal creating a hushed mix up until the clumsy multi-ARP solo. Burn Out is a Bruce Springsteen knock off complete with fast talking hip references, organ and choir backing a upbeat piano and animated shout outs to people; the solo is pure electric fire as always. Hello to Romance is a Bee Gees rip off form the whispered vocal, the twinkling electric piano to the steadily intensifying vocals leading into a soaring string laden chorus stack; this was pretty much based on Love So Right, though the production of the strings make it stand out more than the original. Of course the middle eight with it's gurgling synth and heavy funk overtones reflect the Bee Gees more than anything; not a subtle steal but a crazy steal, the title of the album referenced in this song but for the wrong reason. 

 Amnesty is a little too slow but carries an amiable message and more spirited piano, harmony and strings soft rock balladry, undercut by another three-dimensional solo. Caracas is brilliant jam of smoky lounge room jazz, cold ARP string ensemble and funky guitar yacht rock, the horn work is smooth and fluid with a reverbed punchiness adding some Latin American trippyness. Clown Service mixes country and western lovelorn confessional to Floyd Kramer piano work, bobbling along is some mighty fine harmonica and high quality country guitars. Feet on the Ground is simply the last and bets of the album with it's fresh melody carrying a less rigid bubblegum vocal but a more looser, natural soul vocal that Barry Gibb or even Elton would deliver; also the track is memorable for it's heavenly layers of synthesizers coursing through and a fantastically composed country blues solo.


Tuesday 21 May 2019

The Hollies (1976) Samuel LOST 70s GEMS

The unreleased Write On album of 76 is a secret cave of hidden Hollies gems; OK don't know what I mean then let me start from the top. The album Epic Records eventually passed on starts with Star; which begins with an soaring Ennio Morricone Spaghetti Western styled motif on a tin whistle that is played through a synth or a flanger of some sort. The song is your average stacked harmony bubblegum tune, but the solo returns the Morricone flute motif with a heavy tremelo effect; a strong underwater ripply effect that sounds so unique! The title track is up next with a slow building piano strings and acoustic strum ballad and a fine but forgettable melody; in the middle a funky clavinet bass enters but it doesn't animate this track enough, though Tony Hicks' overdriven wailing solo is Southern blues mania! I Won't Move Over features all the 70s Hollies trademarks; the steady hard acoustic rock beat, coursing harmony vocals with a bubblegum lightness, wah wah squelchs and a heavily filtered strained solo by Hicks. Narida is simultaneously light Latin Jazz, acoustic Disco and a salsa workout while Allan Clarke sings a story about a 'sweet Narida', while the harmonies take on the bewitching smooth vocals of Santana while an elegant piano plays underneath the whole song; and once again another fantastic, tastefully conciseand precise solo that doesn't divert you from the song's original context.

 Stranger is a delight to the ear with a low frequency organ line spookily leering over the track while a wah wah guitar rocks over the top, the clavinet also works giving a pulsating propulsion to a standard AM pop song. The slippery wah wah synth that drips over the track is also another audio splendour that the mid 70s Hollies loved to indulge in; probably so no two songs would sound exactly the same, they all had unique instrumental sounds. Crocodile Woman (she bites) is a pure Sweet/T-Rex early 70s Glam Rock Boogie with 50s throwback feel, breakneck piano, revved up guitar and aglorious chorus; the biscuit box drumbeat could've been played by Mick Tucker for all we know it sounds just like his standard drum sound while the spacey-echo-delay vocal effect in the chorus recalls Fox on the Run.

 My Island is a highlight with it's calming mix of twinkly windchimes, congas and mellow Oberheimer lines dancing alongside a jazzy strum, while the choral vocals are soothing. The next album highlight is There's Always Goodbye with it's meowing and deranged slide fuzz guitar orchestra before a more romantic folk yacht rocker enters, pianos, harmonies, strings etc all play a part but the central melody is more engaging than the ones that came before. The last songs critically bring up the rear, their cover of Emmylou Harris' classic Boulder to Birmingham is sung to tersely, while it's deeply felt, it's over done even though it should've suited their country soft rock voices it just doesn't match the authentic mourning of the song's author; though as always the intro is another delight with grindingly slow dual slide guitars drawling away similar to the track before it. Samuel starts with more twanging bottleneck sitars and delicately plucked Italian mandolin runs before a strong folk pop tune enters with harmonies reminiscent of the Nash years. And well the attempt at the Springsteen classic Born to Run, well let's just leave it at they bear all the instrumental and production prowess but none of the grit n soul, sounding more like Elvis impersonators than some great rock n roll messiah.


Monday 20 May 2019

Paris (1976) Solitaire - LOST 70s GEMS

Paris was Bob Welch's new project after Fleetwood Mac, it was a trio with Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick and the drummer form the Nazz, Thom Mooney. From his slashing power chords, stop start dynamic and slightly huskier bluesier wail he is aping Led Zeppelin to the core. It's a money grab and his usual jazzy hypnotic pop balladry only comes to the fore occasionally, this is try to ride the coattails of Page, Plant and co. Religion reminds me of early Rush with the vocal distortion and the Zeppelinisms that group also took early on. Starcage is more along Welch's streamlined folky blues rock, while Narrow Gate (La Porte Etroite) is the glistening concoction of trippy blues that Welch perfected in the Mac, here the effect laden slide licks are stupendous. Beautiful Youth is almost a new version of The City from the Mystery to Me album of 1973 but with a more hard rock bent; after all in the Mac he got his fill of jazz and blues influences and wanted to cut loose form the pop image that band had slowly become. Solitaire features soaring guitar wails, overly wah wah-ed and distorted add a euphoric backing vocal texture to the track before the generic hard rock verses. What Paris continues is Welch's sleep eyed singing delivery and yet excited guitar arrangement, even if in Rock of Ages (before the musical) features a direct Plant imitation and lack of originality.


Saturday 18 May 2019

The Hollies (1976) Draggin My Heels - LOST 70s GEMS

The Clarke-Sylvester-Hicks' Hollies were in some respects a superior unit than the famous 60s Nash era when they released a lot of singles, Russian Roulette was an album of rock steady-disco beats, hard driving funk rock and their usual harmony laden bubblegum pop.

It starts with Wiggle That Wotsit which maybe a Disco parody or a straight attempt, it features a stellar horn section bursting through in stacks while the melody is a hard driving rock beat full of energy married with their high tenor bubblegum harmonies and some tactile funky guitar work. Forty Eight Hour Parole opens with fiery Hendrix blues playing, the guitar tweaks and whines away in a screaming tone, while the chorus is once again a sparkling pop sensation with their spellbinding harmonies front and centre. Thanks for the Memories is a little bit different with a bed of placid electric piano chords lumbering along in a watery echo and some echo and delayed horn lines punching through the polite layers of dreary keyboards; the rest is four on the floor Bee Gees serene vocal drenched balladry. But the spectral horns remind me of the song fascination form Bowie's Young Americans album a couple years before where the horns sound ghostly in faded echo state; this layered production with it's many chord runs is thick enough to drown in.

My Love is a romantic folk hard rocker with startling vocal refrains and another top notch Clarke lead vocal that manages to have a pop rock soul quality all sweet but not smooth. Lady of the Night is a hot burning soul number with a curious techno sound with talkbox synth chord progression before a cooing chorus that inter plays with some wicked saxophone work; the fluid yet distorted flamenco solo confirms the nighttime jazz feel of the track. The title track is a hard rocker with waka waka guitar, a gurgling eruption of rumbling clavinet, sultry upper register piano and hard rock chords that remind me of the A Team theme of later years in it's unique stop start rhythm. The pan African rhythms add tension as do the echo chamber chorus to give a hot and sweaty vibe keeping the song at fever pitch, the solo by Hicks as always featuring a Hendrix water distortion and thick wah wah tone you can reach out and touch as he strangles the fretboard with vigour in his heavy playing style.

 Draggin my Heels screams the Isley Brothers; from the 'Whos that Lady' rhythm guitar; a sprightly funk figure strummed back and forth to the chamelionic 'baritone soul' vocal Clarke puts on for the song. The spicy Jazz piano vamping, the Latin percussion, the analog synth patches; it is all too uncharacteristic of the Hollies but good. The album slows down with the stodgy forgettable T Rex bop of Louise, while the mildly dreary Be With You with i's multi-tracked layers of circular 'ahahahahs' is rescued by another rip roaring, countryesque solo by Hicks. Daddy Don't Mind ends on a fitting note with it's raw soul vocal and slicing funk guitars and disco beat; the heavy distorted lead guitar riff and the half speaking, breathy harmonies make this track sound like something the band Exile would have produced after their hit 'Kiss you All Over' a couple years after this record. But the foghorn sounding horn solo would fit a hazy jazz number not uptight hardcore funk rock.


Sunday 12 May 2019

The Hollies (1972) Romany - LOST 70s GEMS

 The Romany album was the first of two Hollies albums without their long standing vocalist Allan Clarke and it coincided with some the band's freshest material. Won't You Feel Good That Morning starts right out of the gate with a bright power pop guitar line and a chugging rhythm section and some laidback lead vocal lines but a horribly stilted pop chorus, they occasionally sang lines to straight without some soulful wavering or bluesy grit. Touch is a touch forgettable with it's acoustic/organ ballad sound I've heard many times before, though that quiet electric flamenco solo with a second guitar underneath plucking a note pull repeatedly like a Sonar signal; its a delight for the sense in it's dulled glowing style like Jimmy McCullough's solo on Thunderclap Newman's Something in the Air. But there are far more impressive tunes to come in this great..you read that..Great.. album! 

Words Don't Come Easy is built on a beautiful acoustic guitar figure of descending arpeggio where every chiming string is captured cleanly before the Baroque chorus enters with an upfront tabla sounding like the lead instrument over the more superfluous strumming and backing vocals. Lizzy and the Rainman opens with upbeat piano, crisp soft rock lead vocals and a ton of wah wah guitars filleting through the mix with it's squashy fills and a catchy chorus.
 Down River is almost the one forgettable tune on this solid album of folky pop rock but it harbours another heartfelt and unique Mikael Rickfors' vocal with a deep set heartbreak warble tone employed here. Delaware Taggett and the Outlaw Boys is the Hollies going full country with down-home deliveries and boogaloo bluegrass licks set to a folk rock shuffle as per usual for maximum commercialism; they found a formula and it worked! The funky scratches and the choral-ling 'ah's are stunning and fresh additions to their folk rock style.

 The American accents of Jesus Was a Crossmaker along with the tepid piano work shows their excellent arrangement sense and effortless use of light and shade, while the title track, Romany is a sweetly sung gentle folk ballad; it's all about that winning voice and the fabulous smooth guitar melodies of Tony Hicks and some more heavenly vocal stacks. Blue in the Morning is based on or around a circular acoustic guitar hook forming the basis for some CSN vocals. Courage of Your Convictions is a jangly slice of 60s tinged power pop with a wordy syncopated refrain but a nice use of hand claps. The Baby is a big horn and string sweeping number with big band passages mixing with psychedelic tabla, organ and electric sitar in the far more smaller and quiet verses. Strange for such an introspective tune as there are hollering group vocals and a magnificent sitar solo that is incredible. Magic Woman Touch features a huge smattering of squelchy wah wah Electric Sitar work amongst a frenetic acoustic chord progression and a pointless chorus and Rickfors' earnest croon. Indian Girl starts the way a lot of their songs start with a lone acoustic strumming and a bubblegum vocal joined by more folk group vocals before the inevitably cheesy chorus. 

 Papa Rain is a clean production with seductive blues rock guitars and country strums and haunted by some meandering mellotron work, while the classic stacked harmonies of the chorus are extraordinary. There cover of the Eagles' Witchy Woman tries a little too hard, from the tinny guitar whines of the opening riff to the heavily reverbed vocals, they lack the heady mystique of the original. While the Eagles were right up their 'Countrified Folk Rock' street they weren't as authentic as the LA quartet thought I must admit the 'ah' bridge is far more powerful in this version. Oh Granny is a kick ass country rocker with bombastic fills and vocal driven acoustic songwriting and a bluesy 60s rock solo to boot. I had a Dream is a Zombies' sounding number with more Santana-esque vibe as a funky wah wah plays around the edges of Terry Sylvester's hallowed Colin Blunstone-esque vocals before the typical big chorus while the wah wah twinkles away. I will choose the title track for the major highlight in a glowing album of great early 70s fairy lite Folk Rock.




Thursday 9 May 2019

Springwater (1971) I Will Return LOST 70s GEMS

A sonic journey, this guitar instrumental mixes some cyborg guitar twangs with some ancient church organ chords, the organ hangs over the whole piece , as the guitar slides around like Lap Steel in outer space mode. The slight fuzz tone and the pinging sustains create a Sci-Fi effect while drum bashes away in the background; there are actually two guitar lines, a more complex shredding guitar much lower in the mix adds t the unique composition. The sliding guitar tone sounds doubled like a harmony, it almost cries like a swan song it is incredibly emotive whine backed with the organ and drums for a very early 'power ballad' sound. The meowing, crying slide guitars would also make an appearance in the famous Derek and the Dominoes hit Layla from the same year so who knows where this influence may have lead..


Wednesday 8 May 2019

The Hollies (1970) Gasoline Alley Bred LOST 70s GEMS

From their Moving Finger album, practically a reissue of their first Post-Nash album Confessions of the Mind, it's actually not that great but there are a few highlights; I Wanna Shout is a picture perfect pop song about shouting out how in love you are with someone, most notably covered by psychedelic folk rockers Wicked Lester, a New York band that would soon morph into 70s arena rock giants Kiss and use I Wanna Shout as a lyric starting off point for their anthem Shout It Out Loud. Hollies guitarist Tony Hicks wrote Lady Please, is based on a sturdy wheel of an acoustic guitar figure, which is soon overlaid by a 'Hammond organ filtered' guitar mimicking the same circular pattern, while the lyrics and melody are all post 60s bubblegum pop but carrying the Hollies' expert penchant for adding depth and deceptive musicianship. The watery guitar squeaks and squelches all over the track alongside the smooth catchy harmonies and modern folk sheen of the tune creating a funky original sounding track. Gasoline Alley Bred is a Greenaway Cook Macaulay tune, boasting no fewer than three hit songwriters, the track peaked at no 14 in the UK lasting seven weeks its starts with another arresting acoustic electric interplay; a drawling country wah wah moans away over a thrumming acoustic line. The melancholic tinge delivered by Allan Clarke's vocals and the softened country guitars chiming away with restraint. These two tunes are the bets highlights of the Moving Finger album by far with Gasoline Alley just about making the difference with it's more heartfelt feel.


Sunday 5 May 2019

The Hollies (1975) I'm Down - LOST 70s GEMS

The Hollies' 1975 album Another Night saw a return of Allan Clarke, the band's seasoned vocalist who had missed the last two albums. It's hard to say if he was missed as those two albums he sat out are fantastic as is his last album before his hiatus, the fabulous Distant Light (1971) album. All these albums display The Hollies in a sparkling Folk rock style with huge productions and some harder edged fare like some funky blues jams as well. The two tracks that stand out are I'm Down and Layin to the Music; the former is a breathtaking vocal showcase. From the incandescent, breathy reverbed harmonies sighing along with a strident 12 string and some orchestral drama it's literal power ballad as the harmonies swoop and the instrumentation build behind it as well as the dive bombing title refrain. Layin to the Music is totally different, a funky Bo Diddley two step number with prominent banjo picking and countrified lead guitar over sweet group vocals and a cheery melody. The song features a simple country solo, an accapella 'ya hoo' and some tight vocal stacks but nothing beats the cascading vocal harmonies of I'm Down!



Saturday 4 May 2019

Southern Cross (1976) Story Teller - LOST 70s GEMS

Southern Cross's 1976 self titled debut is that of an Australian hard rock group arriving in the wake of fellow countrymen ACDC. 

 The opening track, Money Maker, is a funky balls to the wall rocker that starts with a jangly chords and smashing drums crashes of Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains the Same. The circular bass riffs, guitar strangling and coarse yet whiny vocals point towards an Aerosmith influence, the second track has the type of laid back stomping groove of Heart's Magic Man. The roundabout guitar melodies and rock steady beat complete old school rockabilly heavily reminds me of Aerosmith, undoubtedly the main influence as the singer, Alan Milano, sounds so close to Steven Tyler. Jessie is street smart funky blues slowed to a crawl with James Brown/ AWB classic chords changes, while What am I Waiting For features very raw vocals and roaring call back vocals and a strong Sabbath vibe with little meaty jazz licks and heavy distortion laden guitars playing to crunching stop starts. The hypnotic acoustic rhythm of Story Teller fits the lyrics about struggling to convey how different they feel and are unable to find the words to describe the feeling before it devolves into a heavily stunted blues riff that remind some of the speed-up rockabilly riffs of Zeppelins' Celebration Day.The ending of Story teller sees a quiet acoustic solo before the hard rock guitars return and the two playing together over an electric solo, the song never knowing when to end continues into a quiet bass section leading us into the next track Games. Games is a rain of distorted guitar arpeggios dooming laying down creating a devastating backdrop for the singer's average blues wailing, there is some more Sabbath monolithic power chord shuffles before another ostinato bass line section reflecting the band's robotic and very stiff sense of rhythm; though the drummer's rolls and restrained attack is refreshing for the rock genre. The haunted creeks and harmonics of the lead guitar's reverbed guitar add an haunting quality at times to the quiet verses; this is best heard in the final track Stormy Laden where it lends a tremelo effect to create a nice ambience amid the terse rock of the very superficial car/women metaphor of the closing track..shame