Jeff Beck (1975) You Know What I Mean - LOST 70s GEMS

Diamond Dust has a pleasant string arrangement while Freeway Jam has multi-harmonised guitar part in the bridge, but my favourite is opener You Know What I Mean with it's cutthroat funky blues stings throughout. Jeff Beck ably creates a restrained funk sound with a lot of fresh jazz vamping to create a heavy yet melodic guitar track best exemplified by ..You Know What I Mean.

Widowmaker (1976) Leave the Kids Alone - LOST 70s GEMS

 Widowmaker were a mid 70s supergroup fronted by Mott the Hoople's Ariel Bender (I.E. Luther Grosvenor) and Love Affair's Steve Ellis on chief wailing duties; the group is filled out by Hawkwind's lead guitarist, Lindisfarne's drummer.The band's sound comprises of Bad Company riffing and Early Rainbow folk rock but ultimately there's not nearly enough of their own personality to avoid faltering into the generic raunchy blues rock of the mid 70s bands before the explosion of New Wave, Heavy metal, Punk and Corporate rock of the late 70s that was just around the corner. There are a couple diverse moments such as the gospel backing vocals on Shine a Light on Me and the Graceful folk blues of Grosvenor's Pin A Rose On Me. There is highlights like the exuberant rocker of On The Road and the funky delight of Too Late [Live], one of three live tracks from a performance at the Paris Theatre in London included in pressings.

 Best is still the singalong/ clap along folk rock anthem, Leave the Kids Alone, with its' nice drawn out harmonies performed by Ariel and Ellis, but lets face it pairing that at first seemed very odd; a raucous blues guitarist and deep voiced, 60s soul singer seemed unbridgeable when you consider how restrained Ellis is in his demeanour compared to Bender. The mandolin solo is so filtered ad treated it sounds like an extraterrestrial telegram, but it works in what was the song that was singled out ironically as the biggest miss of the album in the Allmusic review.


Signed to Don Arden's Jet Records, Widowmaker's debut album charted in the US at #196 leading to tours with Nazareth and ELO before Ellis left, shame he was responsible for the most distinction in the group after Grosvenor.

Medicine Head (1974) I'm Your Man - LOST 70s GEMS

From their very pop single oriented album Two Man Band, full of funky RnB, this track sizzles with twangy slide guitars over a handclap beat and a chant of I'm your Man. John Fiddler's incredible voice is perfect as it creeps in with it's strong trebly quality, he exceeds in smooth and sexy rock tunes like this and even gets sensitive in the quiet castanets driven bridge. There is even a phone call sound effect and a wah wah sounding harmonica solo that is very country humbum and smooth for a mouth organ to sound.

Neil Young (1977) Hey Babe - LOST 70s GEMS

A heartfelt laidback ballad, Hey Babe, carries that characteristic Neil Young folk, care free melody that characterised his Harvest/After the Goldrush early 70s country days. Neil's address of Hey Babe reminding me of Only Love Can Break Your Heart and his fine abilities for easygoing and effortless central melodies; a style of circular melodies like hippie's nursery rhyme.

Lindisfarne (1974) The Man Down There - LOST 70s GEMS

A rough and ready acoustic strum backed by occasional ringing, echoey electric guitar that reminds me of the Beatles' She Came in Through the Bathroom Window with it's power pop yet rootsy shanty vibe. Lyrically is quite powerful in its basis on wages, drugs and much more in this song packed with gutsy vocal delivery, and rockin guitars ending with drumming triplets, flamenco shredding and country licks.

Lindisfarne (1971) Together Forever - LOST 70s GEMS

A forlorn sounding, yet ultimately cheerful country strum, broken up by a harmonica and pedal steel. The carefree, adorable romance of the lyrics and the timeless folk melody is great particularly the way the singer proudly declares 'you and me sittin on a bench watching the day go by'

Lindisfarne (1978) Get Wise- LOST 70s GEMS

Celtic rockers Lindisfarne from Newcastle mixed supreme harmonies and acoustic guitars when Americans were dominating Folk rock. Some of their best material came at the end of 1978, the Back and Fourth major label release on Mercury with the result the successful single Run for Home. But Get Wise is a underrated release, starting with funky electric guitars and unbelievably alien sounding harmonica while the driving vocals are delivered with a slight Dylanesque drawled rebuke all to make an interesting package. The smooth country blues guitar fills work for me too!