Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel 1973

Gram Parsons fondness for drugs and high living is said to have been catching up with him while he was recording Grievous Angel, and sadly he wouldn't live long enough to see it reach record stores, dying from a drug overdose in the fall of 1973. This album is a less ambitious and unified set than his solo debut, but that's to say that G.P. was a great album while Grievous Angel was instead a very, very good one. Much of the same band that played on his solo debut was brought back for this set, and they perform with the same effortless grace and authority (especially guitarist James Burton and fiddler Byron Berline). If Parsons was slowing down a bit as a songwriter, he still had plenty of gems on hand from more productive days, such as "Brass Buttons" and "Hickory Wind (which wasn't really recorded live in Northern Quebec; that's just Gram and the band ripping it up live in the studio, with a handful of friends whooping it up to create honky-tonk atmosphere). He also proved to be a shrewd judge of other folk's material as always; Tom T. Hall's "I Can't Dance" is a strong barroom rocker, and everyone seems to be having a great time on The Louvin Brothers's "Cash on the Barrelhead." As a vocal duo, Parsons and Emmylou Harris only improved on this set, turning in a version of "Love Hurts" so quietly impassioned and delicately beautiful that it's enough to make you forget Roy Orbison ever recorded it. And while he didn't plan on it, Parsons could hardly have picked a better closing gesture than "In My Hour of Darkness." Grievous Angel may not have been the finest work of his career, but one would be hard-pressed to name an artist who made an album this strong only a few weeks before their death -- or at any time of their life, for that matter. AMG.

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Grateful Dead - From The Mars Hotel 1974

The Grateful Dead made their reputation on the road with their live shows, and they always struggled to capture that magic in the studio. The Mars Hotel, while not a classic, represents one of their better studio albums. Jerry Garcia sounds engaged throughout and takes the vocal reigns for most of the songs on the album -- although he's not the most gifted vocalist, he proves himself able and versatile. He sings the rollicking opener, "U.S. Blues," with a tongue-in-cheek seriousness that gives the political song an edge, and he lends emotional sincerity to the atmospheric ballad "China Doll." Garcia shines on guitar during the funk workout "Scarlet Begonias," but the ensemble work is best displayed on the album's centerpiece, "Unbroken Chain." During this song, all the musicians are allowed to shine: Phil Lesh, the bassist and songwriter, provides tender vocals over a piano-based arrangement while the bridge allows the guitars and drums to stretch out in classic Grateful Dead style. This album is highly recommended for fans, but casual listeners should start with American Beauty or Workingman's Dead. AMG.

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Neil Young - On The Beach 1974

Following the 1973 Time Fades Away tour, Neil Young wrote and recorded an Irish wake of a record called Tonight's the Night and went on the road drunkenly playing its songs to uncomprehending listeners and hostile reviewers. Reprise rejected the record, and Young went right back and made On the Beach, which shares some of the ragged style of its two predecessors. But where Time was embattled and Tonight mournful, On the Beach was savage and, ultimately, triumphant. "I'm a vampire, babe," Young sang, and he proceeded to take bites out of various subjects: threatening the lives of the stars who lived in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon ("Revolution Blues"); answering back to Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose "Sweet Home Alabama" had taken him to task for his criticisms of the South in "Southern Man" and "Alabama" ("Walk On"); and rejecting the critics ("Ambulance Blues"). But the barbs were mixed with humor and even affection, as Young seemed to be emerging from the grief and self-abuse that had plagued him for two years. But the album was so spare and under-produced, its lyrics so harrowing, that it was easy to miss Young's conclusion: he was saying goodbye to despair, not being overwhelmed by it. AMG.

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Quicksilver Messenger Service - Shady Grove 1969

The third long-player from San Francisco psychedelic icons Quicksilver Messenger Service (QMS) is a direct contrast from their previous discs. Shady Grove (1969) is comprised mostly of shorter and self-contained pieces as opposed to the long and extended jams that were so prevalent on their self-titled debut (1967) and Happy Trails (1969). Ironically, the one stretched-out instrumental is courtesy of their latest acquisition -- Brit recording session guru Nicky Hopkins (keyboards). Another possible reason for the shift in style as well as personnel is the conspicuous absence of Gary Duncan (guitar) -- who is rumored to have been a "guest" of Bay Area law enforcement at the time. The band incorporate a number of different styles on the album. Kicking off the disc is an up-tempo rocking version of the traditional Appalachian folk song "Shady Grove." The QMS reading is highlighted by John Cipollina's trademark fluid fretwork and a familiar "Bo Diddley" backbeat -- reminiscent of both "Who Do You Love" and "Mona" from the live ensemble LP Happy Trails. The slow and dark "Flute Song" is a trippy minor chord masterpiece that is augmented by the shimmering effect of Hopkins' airy piano lines which mingle throughout the light orchestration. Additionally, QMS try their hand at the same country & western-flavored sound that was making the rounds with their San Fran contemporaries the Jefferson Airplane ("The Farm") and the Grateful Dead ("Dire Wolf"). However, the down-home cowboy waltz "Word's Can't Say" never gets out of the stable, unfortunately. This somewhat uneven effort would sadly foreshadow QMS's journey from psychedelia and into a much more pop-oriented sound on their follow-up, Just for Love (1970). However, enthusiasts of those albums will find much more to revisit on Shady Grove than those who favored the first two records. AMG.

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The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw 1967

The 1968 edition of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band featured a larger ensemble with a horn section, allowing for a jazzier feeling while retaining its Chicago blues core. They also adopted the psychedelic flower power stance of the era, as evidenced by a few selections, the rather oblique title, and the stunning pastiche artwork on the cover. Butterfield himself was really coming into his own playing harmonica and singing, while his band of keyboardist Mark Naftalin, guitarist Elvin Bishop, drummer Phil Wilson, electric bassist Bugsy Maugh, and the horns featuring young alto saxophonist David Sanborn was as cohesive a unit as you'd find in this period. Butterfield's most well-known song "One More Heartache" kicks off the album, a definitive blues-rock radio favorite with great harmonica and an infectious beat urged on by the top-notch horns. The band covered "Born Under a Bad Sign" at a time when Cream also did it. "Driftin' & Driftin'" is another well-known tune, and at over nine minutes stretches out with the horns cryin' and sighin', including a definitive solo from Sanborn over the choruses. There's the Otis Rush tune "Double Trouble," and "Drivin' Wheel" penned by Roosevelt Sykes; Butterfield wrote two tunes, including "Run Out of Time" and the somewhat psychedelic "Tollin' Bells," where Bishop's guitar and Naftalin's slow, ringing, resonant keyboard evokes a haunting feeling. This is likely the single best Butterfield album of this period and you'd be well served to pick this one up. AMG.

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John Hammond - Southern Fried 1970

Southern Fried differed little from other early Hammond albums in its repertoire, consisting entirely of covers of blues and R&B songs. As usual, the Chicago sound came in for especially heavy tribute, with versions of songs by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Chuck Berry, as well as a pass at "Mystery Train," though more vocal-oriented R&B got a nod with Chuck Willis' "It's Too Late" and some of the other tunes. Where this might have a leg up on some other early Hammond efforts -- and a leg up on blues cover albums in general -- is in the stellar band, featuring Muscle Shoals stalwarts like Eddie Hinton and Roger Hawkins. Allman Brothers fans, too, will want to keep an eye out for it as it features Duane Allman playing fine lead guitar on four tracks; certainly his peeling slide guitar solo on "Shake for Me" rates among his best work as a session man. Original the album isn't it, yet though Hammond isn't a great vocalist or interpreter, these are indeed very solid and joyful blues-rock versions of classic '50s-style electric blues. Horns on four of the songs add some soulful variety and spice to set this a little further apart from the ordinary blues-rock album. AMG.

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Jorge Ben - Jorge Ben 1969

1969 was a big year for Jorge Ben. While he was already an established veteran in Brazilian musical circles, he refused to align himself with either the Jovem Guarda or MPB movements because he found both camps willing to abandon samba in favor of popular styles from North America and England. That ambivalence hurt him professionally but not creatively -- until the release of this self-titled classic. When the new Tropicalia crew heard the set, they were floored and they attempted to draft the brilliant singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist into their fold. If emulation is the best form of flattery, it happens immediately. Two tracks from this set, "Que Pena" and "País Tropical," were recorded immediately by Gal Costa and showed up on both her 1969 releases. Caetano Veloso recorded this set's final track "Charles, Anjo 45" for his own self-titled recording that same year. While the cover of this album is psychedelic enough to be folded into the emergent Tropicalista brand, the music tells a different story. True to his feelings, Ben kept the samba as the central tenet of this recording. It's true that he drew great inspiration from American soul music, but rather than attempt to create a style of music that was merely derivative of it, he went out of his way to write songs and collaborated with his two great arrangers, José Briamonteand the great Rogerio Duprat to inspire that samba and soul flowed seamlessly together. Further, he and producer Manoel Barenbien used reverb and other sounds to great effect. The end result is a recording that sounds truly revolutionary even in the 21st century. Samba and Brazilian folk forms dominate the structures of these tunes. Rhythmically, it couldn't be further from soul. "Criola," which opens the album, is a perfect example. While horns and strings reflecting Motown's psychedelic soul sound of the era are heard prominently, the shifting time signature, the strong acoustic guitar flow in the forefront, whistles, berimbaus, hand drums, shakers, and chanted choruses behind Ben's breezy delivery bring out all the most infectious elements of samba. "Domingas," which follows, is the tune's mirror image; a ballad saturated in wispy flute, the constant presence of the backing voices, maracas, and the choppy, rhythmic acoustic guitar and a baritone sax solo emulating the lyric on the second chorus offer something emotionally riveting, and seductive, even if the tune is rather socially and politically charged with ambivalence. "País Tropical" marries soul and samba to Caribbean calypso with a beautiful call-and-response lyric and chorus. But it's not just the music. Ben is a poet as well as a songwriter. "Take It Easy My Brother Charles," reflects the tension between races and celebrates the black element in Brazilian and even world society, and the creative debt owed to Africa prefigures the Black Rio movement by three years. The shifting meters in "Descobri Que Eu Sou Um Anjo," where the strings hold true to one rhythm and harmonic structure and the rest of the instruments and voices follow another, is delirious and enchanting. This set stands out a bit because while it sums up all the places he'd been in the '60s, it also prefigures the funkier elements that he would embrace as the '70s emerged. Two periods of Brazilian culture are embraced here, held in an uneasy tension that nonetheless feels seamless in this brilliant recording. AMG.
 

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Fleetwood Mac - Heros Is Hard To Find 1974

Although this was Bob Welch's last album with the band he had worked with since 1971, it sounds like he's at his peak. Pared down to a foursome for the first and (as of 2002) only time since the addition of Danny Kirwan, both Welch and Christine McVie contribute some of their finest songs. Bolstered by sympathetic self-production and imaginative, often aggressive arrangements that include brassy horns on the title track (a blatant but failed attempt at a hit single), the album is one of their most cohesive yet diverse. Welch continues his fascination with UFOs in a sort of follow-up to Mystery to Me's "Hypnotized" called "Bermuda Triangle" and even heads into a spacy Hendrix "Third Stone From the Sun" groove on "Coming Home." Christine McVie is in wonderful voice on her own ballads like "Prove Your Love" but outdoes herself on the magnificent "Come a Little Bit Closer," a stunning track whose grandeur is heightened by strings and McVie's majestic piano. It's a hidden classic and pedal steel by the Flying Burrito Brothers' Sneaky Pete Kleinow is an unexpected and perfect addition to the album's most fully realized tune. Welch's folk-pop "She's Changing Me" is one of his most upbeat, memorable melodies, offset by the rocker "Silver Heels" and his closing "Safe Harbor," a knowing nod back to Peter Green's atmospheric work on "Albatross" and his contributions to Then Play On. McVie's haunting rocker "Bad Loser" is reinforced by the propulsive rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, both adding tense bite to even the most tender of ballads. Welch left soon after the album's release, and the group went on to bigger and better things, but Heroes is a minor gem that retains its effortless pop charms and contains some buried jewels in the extensive Fleetwood Mac catalog. AMG.

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Ernan Roch Con Las Voces Frescas - La Onda Pesada 1971

Mexican singer-songwriter. Originally from Monterrey NL, Mexico, Ernan Roch (Hernan Rocha) recorded in 1969 with his band Las Voces Frescas a great gem for Mexican National Rock, it is a psychedelic masterpiece combined with some folk like that of Simon & Garfunkel but with some guitars loaded with tremendous Hendrixin influences. Many have the idea that it came out in 1971, however, it was recorded 2 years earlier, in 1969.

Ernan Roch disappeared from the Mexican Rock scene during the 70s and part of the 80s, when he returned with an LP recorded in 1985, titled "Sueños". And from there, there is nothing more than Ernan Roch.

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Humphrey - Humphrey 1971

Is a South African band that released their only album in 1971. Although the Anglo-American folk, pop, rock, and psych influences on Humphrey are undeniable, something about these influences finding a voice at such a particular time and in such a particular place makes this album truly unique. The record seems almost polarised in nature, the saccharine melodies of the harmonized vocals and the band’s pop sensibilities are kept from becoming throwaway bubblegum tunes by the song's unexpected psych elements, chord changes, and arrangements that bring a touch of darkness and mysticism — like a dangerous current running beneath the waters of a gently flowing stream.

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Bobby Lance - First Peace 1971

Bobby Lance was a soul songwriter -- he penned several R&B hits, including Aretha Franklin's "The House That Jack Built" -- so it's not a surprise that First Peace is anchored in soul, but it's a progressive roots record encompassing all the different funky sounds emanating from the South in the early '70s. First Peace seems steeped in the South, as it was partially recorded at Muscle Shoals and features a horn section led by King Curtis and backing vocals by the Sweet Inspirations. The focus is on a thick, heady gumbo of blues, soul, and rock, a combination that sometimes gets undercut by such showbiz schmaltz as the closing "Walkin' on a Highway." Lance, who wrote every song here in collaboration with his partner and sister Fran Robins, is a sharp writer and possesses an appealing gruff, gravelly voice, so there is a focal point and a sturdy structure to First Peace. Nevertheless, the real charm of the album is its overall mood: it's a nicely weathered, casually funky slice of soulful rock from an era where that blend was common. AMG.

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Colosseum II - Strange New Flesh 1976

Several years after the original art rock supergroup Colosseum disbanded, drummer Jon Hiseman formed Colosseum II, a more jazz fusion-oriented outfit featuring guitarist Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy) and keyboardist Don Airey. Their eclectic debut, Strange New Flesh, shows some impressive chops from all involved, with an emphasis on Moore's soulful guitar leads. Vocalist Mike Starr, while not an immensely engaging singer, does a nice job keeping up with Hiseman and bass player Neil Murray. Highlights include the technically showy but blissfully irreverent ode to Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moog," a nice version of Joni Mitchell's "Down to You," and the funky "Gemini and Leo." AMG.

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Judas Jump - Scorch 1970

Judas Jump was a heavy progressive rock band, with lots of Mellotron, flutes, and sax in their sound and who had the distinction of inaugurating Parlophone Records' new numbering sequence with their first (and only) album, Scorch, as PAS 10001. Their members made them a kind of U.K.-level super-group with guitarist/keyboardman Andy Bown and drummer Henry Spinetti having come from the Herd and woodwind player Alan Jones an alumnus from the Amen Corner. A trio of singles in 1969 and 1970 was followed by a rather ornately designed album that didn't get a U.S. release until 1972 when the group was already on its way into history. Their music was on the bombastic side of progressive rock, which may be one reason why it didn't succeed, as well as explain why they didn't get signed to EMI's progressive rock imprint Harvest Records. After attracting a decent amount of press, the records proved lacking and the group faded away, with Bown passing through the band Storyteller before joining Status Quo for a time. AMG.

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Apothecary - Apothecary 1973

The only album from a Michigan band named after medieval pharmacists. The album was recorded and released in 1973 by Paramount Records.

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Daddy Longlegs - Daddy Longlegs 1970

This US act initially comprised Steve Hayton (guitar/vocals), Cliff Carrison (drums) and Kurt Palomaki (bass/clarinet/vocals). The trio spent its early months on a farm in New York state, before moving location to New Mexico. The promise of work in films brought the group to Europe in 1969, and although such plans were later aborted, they decided to settle in England. Daddy Longlegs showcased their appealing brand of good-time, country-influenced rock before the line-up was expanded to accommodate vocalist Mo Armstrong. Both he and Hayton then left the group, following which the drummer and bass player were joined by Peter Arneson (piano) and Gary ‘Norton’ Holderman (guitar), the latter of whom had worked with Carrison in Slim’s Blues Band. Oakdown Farm was released on the renowned Vertigo label, but progress was hampered by further changes in personnel. Daddy Longlegs disbanded in 1972, following which Arneson teamed with former members of Gracious and the Greatest Show On Earth in the pop group, Taggett. AMG.

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