Stoneground (1971) Don't Waste my Time- LOST70sGEMS

 Stoneground could be one of the strangest groups there is; ten-piece band with seven lead vocalists, chiefly Sal Valentino the 60s folk rock group the Beau Brummels (pretty much the band the Byrds modelled themselves on).

 From the first track the distinct female backing singers and rough overlapping blues guitar stands out, the second track , Great Changes Since I've Been Born is a Southern rock gospel and tabla driven tune along the lines of Rolling Stones' classics You Can't Always Get What You Want and Shine a Light (which I'll write about soon). The cover of Rainy Day in June is a very 60s wah wah draped groover as honky tonk pianos and hippy commune singalong vibes dominate. The bluesy guitar pulls of this group is their best asset, and present in the opening bars of Added Attraction over a galloping drum beat before turning into a Neil Diamond styled commercial pop song with a female singing a Dolly Parton duet with a more Bob Dylan voiced singer; remember there were seven singers across this album..Seven!

The strung-out lyrics, stoic bass lines and building layers of arpeggios in Dreaming Man display an expert level of dynamic tensions. Stroke Stand is just a Southern blues stroller, but Bad News starts with a kick ass dual guitar part and a kickass female singer who claims Bad News travels like Wildfire. Which sounded like WiFi with her southern drawl which threw me for a second how they even knew about WiFi back then; either way this is a fresh modern sounding rocker riffer. Don't Waste My Time reminds me of early Styx with it's glorious scream falsetto harmonies and frenetic shredding guitar work. Colonel Chicken Fry is a bizarre blues rock tribute to KFC founder Colonel Sanders, but album closer Brand New Start features a hopelessly love sick voice so touching and set to a typical Stax rhythm as sparse piano and guitars follow a steady beat as the emotions and vocals 'lead; a terrific and heartfelt denouement rather than a overblown climax.