Strongbow (1975) Only One Around - LOST 70s GEMS

This Prog album from 1975 is a nice collection of tunes from US band Strongbow; One Armed Bandit is a Hammond B3 dream with a wah wah tone, a strong lead guitarists and a barrelhouse rhythm form the rest of the band including Jerry Lee Lewis piano and the soaring vocals and synthesizer work(listen out for the air raid siren sound they make out of it at the very end). Sister Sea has an 80s Van Halen Vibe in the mix of Beach Boys freshmen harmonies and heavy rock sens of pop music. The explosive speed drumming and imposing organ work give a strong Deep Purple flavour, listen to the rapturous bombastic runs that end Sister Sea and the warped 'sonar' notes I think created by some sparse, synth work. 

Only One Around sounds like Ambrosia with it's jazz melodies, mellotron and Beatleseque sighing harmonies. It eventually erupts like all good Prog tracks and is scorched earth in terms of the Lead guitarist's endless solo rattling off like artillery alongside the rambunctious, hyperactive drumming. Again the wah wah synth makes it's 'womp womp' downbeat presence reminding you this was during the mid 70s era when funk was the hot new sound. Move Over Gloom sounds like Aerosmith right down to the heavy bass toned rhythm guitar striking circular riffs under the lead singer's thin whine, though it starts with a epic suite of moogs I believe, puncturing the air like a well rehearsed horn section. You also got to love the guitar and laser blaster synth harmonising together before we move over to some piercing flute sounding synth work in the jazz fusion of How Can I Be Loving You. It starts off Steely Dan then devolves into a funky keyboard workout full of oriental, wah wah synthesizers and squelchy organ and more soaring lead guitar. Wine Eyes continues a Aerosmith meets Steely Dan vibe with high harmonies calling out the title while we get some sax and horn funk tossed in and even more wah wah before Hazy May which sums up the wah wah funk guitar and oriental synthesizers and Uriah Heep/ Deep Purple orchestral hard rock lines. I'll choose Only One Around for being the most moving track, this oculd be Ambrosia meets the Beckett, the UK Prog band who also never made it.

Bellamy Brothers (1976) Inside of My Guitar - LOST 70s GEMS

From their Featuring "Let Your Love Flow" (And Others) album from 1976, this was the Bellamy Brothers mid 70s peak off the back of chart topper Let Your Love Flow. Let Fantasy Live extols the virtue of losing reality such as the line 'having a lover in your bed every night, she's really in your head but thats alright'. The dreamy song is made of harpsichord, acoustic guitars but also trembling bass line crawling underneath and a warm pedal steel line sounding like a Disney production. The best example of this magical sound are the sped up 'chipmunk' backing vocals that respond to the Bellamy Brothers' refrain of 'Let Fantasy Live'. Inside of my Guitar is a love song with well written melody, sung exquisitely, features heavily reverbed guitar licks wailing in the background while a synth mimics a sweeping string section in what sounds like 80s production. The incandescent harpsichord on a similar echo setting shimmers so stridently as the notes plinked in pretty lines and just about completes this song for.

Blue Mink (1970) Can You Feel It Baby - LOST 70s GEMS

Can You Feel It Baby includes distant sounding blues guitar wailing in the background, while mixed with soft soul singing duets its there very best attributes in one song with a great singalong chorus, appropriate use of organ and the heavy drums as always.

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.

Blue (1977) Fantasy -LOST 70s GEMS

Title track of Elton John proteges and veteran pop rock group Blue's third LP, Another Night Time Flight, is a tepid twilight yacht rocker. Strange Time is a heavily jazz inflected Disco pop track full of 60s sounds like the Farfisa organ and cocktail piano fills. The minor US hit was Capture Your Heart a by the numbers harmony laden pop song with obligatory by this point gospel oohs, shuffle beat, acoustic rhythm guitar, country leads and big soulful choruses.

By contrast their are singalong shanties with a pop sheen such as Women or The Shepherd; which is a bright, exuberant song driven by strong dance-able beats and a heavily filtered guitar. The 'hoo hoo hoo!' vocals are a nice touch while this song like much of the album has some wah wah guitar solos.
The closing track I Understand displays an ELO influence and never has producer Elton John's playing been so clear. It's even clearer on track Tired of Loving You ,which sounds like one of his tunes particularly in the way Hugh Nicholson sings it in a very Elton styled deep tremble. Add the nice harmonica solo, this song works beautifully reminding me of the resignation of their first album. 

But then comes along Fantasy with it's dynamic slow tense verses building to a barnstorming chorus about admonishing a lover, declaring harshly ' You Are Living in a Fantaaaaassy'; it's even better and for once doesn't sound like Lindisfarne, Gerry Rafferty or the prevailing discofied Yacht rock.

Jimmy McCulloch & White Line (1976) Call My Name - LOST 70s GEMS

It's a sexy blues romp with a strong Slade flavour particularly the vocals, this was a single release from this short lived collaboration featuring Thunderclap Newman kid prodigy and Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. McCulloch is the named star of this short lived collaboration with his brother on drums and Dave Clarke on Bass and Vocal duties but it's Jimmy's slide guitar streaks across this song's glam rock bop and old school 50s rock n roll revivalism of much glam acts.

Blue Mink (1970) Good Morning Freedom - LOST 70s GEMS

Good Morning Freedom is an excellent tune from the very 60s Fifth Dimension inspired pop group; it mixes Alan Price's incredibly tight, chicken scratch guitar with some country rhythm piano and some enthusiastic socially conscious vocals.