Friday, 9 March 2018

King Harvest (1971) ??????-LOST 70s GEMS

King Harvest's 1971 debut album, I Can Tell, is famous for featuring their horn driven pop song Marty and the Captain but also features a lot of organ from the soulful to the spiritual.. which i think mean the same thing? Anyway the title track is an a mix of Allman Brothers's styled blues jam and funky 60s rhythm that highlights the band's New Orleans influenced funky organ and blues guitar jam sound.

 Roosevelt And Ira Lee boasts an epic wah wah slide riff and the rootsy vocals telling a story that John Fogerty would respect, it's an awesome song steeped in Civil War bloody's history and 60s organ grooviness and lead vocal straight out of the 1800s. Motor Job is based on an awesome bass line layered with celestial organ chords and some fresh blues based guitar vamps. The whole track is made of back and forth circular funk vamps including a piano improvising over the same notes as all the other instruments in a conga embellished, jazz-fusion groove.

 Think I'll Better Wait til Tomorrow has a creeping groove blending twangy, country funk guitar licks into a tambourine beat driven chorus; I love the lead vocal' engaging melody but wait for the classy, 1920s styled jazz horns that play a triumphant line in the grand soulful latter half of the song. These jazzy horns return in their hazy, sniggering sound in the track, Smile on Her Face, a smouldering
 sexy love song with more of the band's ghostly harmonies and deep organ based soul and funky drums beats. The vocals are ragged in a hopeful manner that is helped by engaging deep soul melodies, this band had raw authentic soul as best shown in She Keeps Me High which sounds like a full big band with some solid interplay between soaring horns, epic piano chords and strident lead guitar. Singer and percussionist, Doc Robinson continues to add some gritty country RnB vocals and funky beat at the centre of the band's whole feel; though there is no denying the horns, She Keeps Me High is just a generic retread of Marty and the Captain's formula. My pick would be either Motor Home, Roosevelt and Ira Lee or Think I'll Better Wait til Tomorrow; but the best written and most subtle tune is Smile on Her Face.



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