The Day After The Sabbath 80: Goodbye Jane (Aussie rock)

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I have been on the look-out for more Australian heavy-hitters ever since Vol21. It has been a long and enjoyable voyage of discovery and I have found an absolute ton of stuff. What has become very apparent is that after the new rock genre explosions of the 60s to early 70s, they moved with total gusto into the mid-late 70's with a prevailing hard rock / pub rock sound. Compare the number of bands like this to the number of Aussie progressive or psych acts and there is no doubt of it. Maybe the pioneering, farming and blue collar working man ethic of Australia has a lot to do with it, like in Detroit, people  just wanted to get down the pub after work, get drunk and rock out.

Another factor is 'Sharpie Rock', a fashion, attitude and straight-forward punkish sound that arose in the early seventies. A definite influence is of course one world-famous Australian band in particular which may well be the ultimate good-time, bluesey hard rock band of all time, so it's not too hard to see where the heritage may have started. Since posting this I have had an enlightening comment from a reader called 'proggy' and I just had to add it here: "It wasn't as a romantic picture as you've painted.... all I recall from those times was a sense of bleakness, long hot summers (different to today), little money. A lot of narrow minded squares and dunder-headed blokes with beards,tats and no brains....a bikey pub in the main street, Liverpool speedway, fights and drags between holdens,valiants and fords all the time ..... oh, and almost no appreciation for any music differing from the norm..... Sebastian Hardie grew up near where I live telling stories of being chased out of pubs by irate patrons.... and then come the 80's ....arrgh!!!! lol! - Skyhooks music was a good commentary on the times..."

Track list:

01. Geeza - Too Much Goin' On Here (1977)
       from album 'streetlife'
02. Desert Rat - Need Your Love (1978)
       from album 'home from the front'
03. Fox - Times Come to Change (1974)
       from album 'what the hell is going on'
04. Marcus Hook Roll Band - Goodbye Jane / Ape Man (1973)
       from album 'tales of old grand-daddy'
05. The Stockley See Mason Band - The Last One To Know (1979)
       from album 'beg steal or borrow'
06. Feather - Here With Me (1978)
       from compilation 'canned rock (live at parramatta jail, 1978)'
07. U-Turn - Small Talk (1977)
       from album 'living in the city'
08. Stevie Wright - Black Eyed Bruiser (1975)
       from album 'black eyed bruiser'
09. Finch - Crystal Country Gorge (1976)
       from album 'thunderbird'
10. Taste - Witches Brew (1977)
       from album 'knights of love'
11. Skyhooks - Revolution [US Version] (1977)
       from album "living in the 70's"
12. Redhouse - I Got Love (1976)
       from album 'one more squeeze'
13. Bullet - Mover (1975)
       single
14. Contraband - Too Drunk To Know (bonus b-side) (1979)
       from album 'contraband'

essential references

Rock on Vinyl | The Midoztouch | Milesago | Blood, Sweat & Beers

Geeza

We begin with Geeza, their track is the one on this comp that I came across first, and I guess it laid down the sound that I mostly looked for after deciding what this one was going to be about. They spent their early days driving around Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney, playing where they could on the back of a flatbed truck, AC/DC did a similar thing soon after. The band began life in 1973 and early on were called 'The Geeza Rock'n'Roll Show'. They had an extravagant, glammy stage image which is another similarity to some of AC/DC's earlier exploits, and even played in drag sometimes. By 1977 they had straightened and hardened up somewhat, now called Geeza they recorded their one and only album, 'Street Life'. By 1979 they were no more but have sporadically played in various re-incarnations since.

Desert Rat released one album in 1978. They were made up of Jerome ? (vocals), Denny Stibbard (guitar), John Dee (drums) Ian John Ryan (bass) and John Moon (guitar). Ian John Ryan was previously in two great but short-lived bands, Chook and Melbourne's The Ash, that both appear on my first Australian comp: The Day After The Sabbath 21: Uluru Rock. Also, John Moon and Ian John Ryan were both in Melbourne bloozers 'Buster Brown'. 'Need Your Love' is uplifting, singalong fun!

Fox

Fox were Peter Laffy (guitar), Neil Hodgson (bass, keyboards), Michael Upton (vocals) and Les Oldman (drums). They have re-appeared on TDATS in v152 (link). There is not much to go on for the band's history; according to Rock On Vinyl, Peter Laffy played in Aussie bands Freeway, Mondo Rock and Jim Keay’s Southern Cross. Their track here 'Times Come To Change' is one of the comp's most ambitious and distinctive; an anthemic acoustic backbone, embellished with electric lead and a few welcome hints of jarring fuzz, it's a shame it's over so soon! Fox appeared in series 1 episode 4 of Countdown, a popular music television program made by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, performing "I Said". Australian guitarist John Brownrigg, although not a band member, contributed some of the songwriting.

Marcus Hook Roll Band

Track four gives this comp it's name, while it doesn't really count as music from obscure artists, the album remains quite obscure (it was to me at least) but on reflection is probably one of the most important albums in aussie hard rock history. As a teenager, George Young and his family emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland to Sydney in 1963. While stationed in a migrant's hostel he met up with future members of The Easybeats, including Dutch guitarist Harry Vanda [Johannes Vandenburg] and English singer Stevie Wright. None of the Easybeats were natives of Aus, and drawing on the popular sounds of the UK, they quickly became the premier Sydney rock band. After the band's relocation to London and subsequent demise, most members returned to Australia. Young and Vanda worked together on various projects, of which the Marcus Hook Roll Band was one. George's precise staccato rhythm style can be heard on 'Goodbye Jane' as it could earlier on Easybeats tracks like St. Loius, a sound that would also become the signature of George's younger brother Angus, who, along with other Young brother Malcolm, played on the sole Marcus Hook Roll band album 'Tales of Old Grand-Daddy' (1973). The rest is history. I have joined my fave two tracks from the album, the track 'Ape Man' is especially fun, maybe it was a hard rockin' response to The Kinks? Read more at brooklynvegan (link)

Stockley See Mason Band

Track six is from The Stockley See Mason Band. 'The Last One To Know' is a tour de force of co-operative wailing guitar work, as it is a super group of sorts with three established guitarists. I found some great info posted by Micko in the Midoztouch forum. His whole post can be read here. "....here's the SSM Band's album from 1979 "Beg Steal Or Borrow". As would be obvious to those who are into knowing who the musos are in the bands we loved back then, each of these 3 guys already had an amazing pedigree as guitarists, singers & songwriters with some of our best bands when they came together in 1978. Chris Stockley had played in Cam-Pact, Axiom, The Dingoes, Greg Quill's Southern Cross & had tenures with Rock Doctors, Jimmy Barnes & Broderick Smith among many others to come. Sam See had been an early member of Sherbet before making his name with Flying Circus, Fraternity, Greg Quill's Southern Cross & later on John Farnham's band, Goanna, Zarzoff Brothers & again Brod Smith.

Add Glyn Mason's pedigree & it's very apparent what a talented band we have here. Glyn came to Australia from NZ with The Rebels (formerly Larry's Rebels), then quickly found himself part of the Chain line-up that recorded Live & Live Again. After replacing Jeff St John in Copperwine for a short time he formed the groundbreaking country rock group Home who recorded 2 albums, then he joined Mike Rudd in Ariel to share vocals & writing duties. He was also a prominent performer at the Andy Durant Memorial Concert."

Canned Rock

In 1979 a live charity album was released, for the benefit of the Australian Children In Need. The hilariously (and rather cynically) entitled record 'Canned Rock' was recorded during specially laid on shows in 1978 for the entertainment of the clientèle of Paramatta Jail. It was released on the Albert label, Ted Albert being the label-owner who worked with the afore-mentioned George Young and Harry Vanda through the 70s.

Feather

A number of important artists played, including Kevin Borich, a young Rose Tattoo (huge in Germany; I was lucky enough to see them at Wacken Open Air in 2007) and a Sydney band called Feather, who feature as track 6 here. Feather was a short-lived development from well-regarded hard rock/prog-psychers Blackfeather, who's killer GTK tv show Stones cover appeared back on Vol8. UPDATE: I have recently been reading a great book about Aussie rock history called 'Blood, Sweat & Beers' by Murray Engleheart and I found these comments regarding the Paramatta Jail gig: "Chris Turner [Rose Tattoo]: 'The first thing I remember is that the actual prisoners were telling the screws to fuck off, and the screws did because they [the inmates] were lifers. They dragged us backstage at the concert hall and gave us some home brew, which just knocked my bloody tits off! Made out of potato peelings and stuff in old Fanta and Coke cans and they were smoking dope.'

Angry Anderson of Rose Tattoo

Peter Wells [Bufalo, Rose Tattoo]: 'Potato fucking booze! Have some of this! It was the worst shit! Oh God! It was like Metho and two fucking green potatoes! Got nicely fucked up on all that stuff.'

Chris Turner: 'They were showing us all their tattoos and stuff. When they closed the big gates onto where the lifers are, that was just horrible. You can imagine it: it doesn't matter if you commit one murder or ten murders because there's no future once you're a lifer. That was the scary part that I found. I thought it wouldn't matter if this guy throttled me right here and now. It wouldn't matter to him at all.

Somehow a show at Adelaide's Yatala Prison had been far more intimidating. Chris Turner: 'They didn't laugh, those prisoners. They were serioulsy heavy'.

Angry Anderson [Buster Brown, Rose Tatto]: 'The first time we arrived at Yatala the superintendant said, 'We've got a big surprise waiting for you', and and we walked out and half the audience were bald which meant you had a room full of people who looked just like me - all tattooed and bald - which was quite a frightening experience'."

U-Turn

Halfway through, and time for a U-Turn. I really like the metallic grind of this track 'Small Talk'.  Definitely one of the most obscure bands here and so far all I have found is a few tantalisingly low-res cover scans and some notes at Midoztouch :- "A band from Sydney I can’t tell you much about this one. Until I bought this album I had not heard of them although I was living in Melbourne at the time they were around so it is possible that they were a popular band playing around Sydney.

What I do know is that this appears to be their only album release. It is released on ‘Lazer Records’ and as it is produced by Sherbet producer Richard Lush (which suggests that someone was prepared to throw some money behind them) and the hairstyles were fashioned by a Faces fan. Also special mention is made of Cold Chisel and Angels producer Mark Opitz for ‘all his help’.

Musically U-Turn remind me of 70s UK good-time rock bands and the album does have some catchy tunes such as ‘I Like It’ and  ‘Lady of Light’. Other than guitarist Shane Pacey, who composed or co-composed the album with other band members, the rest of the band do not seem to have gone on to any band of note. Pacey did re-emerged a decade later in the blues band Bondi Cigars."

Stevie Wright

We return to the Easybeats legacy for the eighth track, Stevie Wright's 'Black Eyed Bruiser'. Stephen Carlton Wright was born in Leeds, UK and his family emigrated to Melbourne when he was nine, then moved to Sydney where he joined The Easybeats. After achieving much success and living through that band's international trials and tribulations, 'little' Stevie Wright found himself back in Australia as a solo artist, and his 1975 album 'Black Eyed Bruiser' was the product of one of the incarnations of his self-named band. This track features his old band mates George Young and Harry Vanda so it has that direct, solid-riffing AC/DC sound in spades, and prophetically I find Stevie's vocals sound eerily reminiscent of the current Acccadacca singer Brian Johnson. There is some extensive further reading to be had here on Rock on Vinyl.

Track nine brings us to a band that appear twice on this volume (later as 'Contraband'). Finch began in Sydney as 'Stillwater' in 1973, soon becoming Finch. They produced a few singles and in 1974 contributed five tracks to the cult surfing movie Soundtrack 'Drouyn', which are more in the heavy psych vein and I'll include on the next aussie comp which will return to the psych. In 1976, just before moving to Melbourne, they released the 'Thunderbird' LP and I think the track 'Crystal Country Gorge' can be seen as their career masterpiece; it has the riffs of the Accadacca generation but it's a long-ish track that also retains some early 70s psych heaviness and subtlety, making it one of my faves in this set. After some line-up changes, guitarist Bob Spencer exited for Skyhooks (later on this comp), and vocalist Mark Evans joined, having just been ejected from AC/DC. We'll return to these guys for the final track...

Taste - Knights of Love

Taste are up next, another Melbourne band, with Joel Witenberg (drums, vocals), Ken Murdock (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Joey Amenta (guitar, vocals), Michael Tortoni (bass, vocals) and Virgil Donati (drums). They had a histrionic approach, and at times a metallic sound which sets them aside in this collection. Though they are clearly indebted to Queen's melodrama, they were a much younger band than the rest here, so perhaps they were also taking notice of the beginning of the NWOBHM at the time. It's said that Queen liked them and used to play Taste's 'Boys will be Boys' on tour before they went on stage. Taste’s lead singer and songwriter Ken Murdoch said in a recent interview: "I started singing in shitholes when I was 15, By the time I was 17, I was a veteran of pub rock alongside Joey and Michael. We had been booed, spat upon, and ignored until we got it right and that’s something bands don’t have anymore. But once you get it right and that crowd love you something magical happens between the two of you. I don’t see that happen much anymore,". Amenta left to join Redhouse (included later) in 1977, according to Rock on Vinyl's article Taste achieved quite a lot of success with two top-twenty albums, playing to audiences as large as 13,000, so it seems a shame they called it quits early on and I have been unable to find out why as-yet, but they have reformed and gigged quite recently and even made a new ten track album.

Skyhooks

Skyhooks are one final band that stand apart from the others here and were unique in their country at the time. Their image and stage antics were considered outrageous in conservative early-70s Australia. They sung observantly about issues that concerned young people at the time (endearing themselves to the student intelligentsia) like buying drugs, suburban sex and the gay scene. Their make-up and flamboyant clothes on stage projected a glam image though their social commentary and sound had more similarity with what would later be called punk, which also was approved of by the sharpies and pub rockers. They sung about people and places in their own country which was a novelty at the time that other bands were more likely to sing about American ideals and locales. The version of Revolution used here is unique, recorded in the US, it differs from the 1974 album cut and was unreleased until "The Skyhooks Tapes" collection was published in 1977.

Redhouse

Nearing the end with track twelve is Redhouse, who were originally from Geelong, Victoria. For a time in the mid-70s they were a very big draw around Victoria with great stage presence and guitar showmanship, though their only album, 1976's 'One More Squeeze' had some good tunes like the one included here, it failed to convey their raw qualities and critics say the production was too commercial-sounding. Interestingly, they started out in life as The Red House Roll Band, with regional success before their album coming from a single that was based on a tune from the UK counter-culture movie 'Oh Lucky Man'. 'I Got Love' is a good-time rocker in the best tradition of innuendo-filled lyrics and some tremendous guitar interplay.

Bullet - Mover

For the thirteenth track I must once again thank Robin Wills at Purepop for unearthing a hell-for-leather stomper of a single. 'Mover' is the b-side of the single 'Rock My Lady' from Bullet, who were previously know as Bullett (extra t). Again we can cheer Robin for a great track that would be lost in the midst of time otherwise. It was released on The Atlantics' own label, a legendary Aussie surf rock band who I will include at some point if I can get a heavy surf rock comp out...

Contraband

The comp ends on a track from Contraband, who were the final incarnation of Finch. After signing a US record deal they had to change their name, and their final album appeared in 1979. I do like the brilliantly machismo album cover featuring the band, brandishing machine guns, pointlessly stationed around a grounded flying boat, and the tune is another anthem to the thing that Aussies do best. See you at the bar!

Thanks for listening, g'day! Rich

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The Day After The Sabbath 79: Dusty Track [heavy blues special 2]

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Dose o' blues number two....which now makes for four so far; Vol54, Vol79 ,Vol108 and Vol147. A few screaming, agonising blues crucifixions mixed in with the usual unstoppable fuzz, coming at you like the train that just keeps'a rolling.......

Track list:

01. Arthur Lee - You Want Change for Your Re-Run (1972)

       from album 'vidicator'

02. Jodo - Nightmare (1971)

       from album 'guts'

03. Mahogany - Best Woman, Best Friend (1969)

       from album 'mahogany'

04. Hurriganes - It Ain't What You Do (1974)

       from album 'roadrunner'

05. Cobra - Midnight Walker (1971)

       single

06. Ipsissimus - Lazy Woman (1969)

       single

07. The Underground Electrics - The Syndicator (1968)

       from album 'hey jude'

08. Freedom - Dusty Track  (1971)

       from album 'freedom'

09. The Illinois Speed Press - Get In The Wind, Pt. II (1969)

       from album 'the illinois speed press'

10. Livin' Blues - Bamboozle / Overture (1972)

       from album 'bamboozle'

11. Dirty John's Hot Dog Stand - And Now I'm Comin' Home (1970)

       from album 'return from the dead'

12. Big Brother Ernie Joseph - Saint James Infirmary (1970)

       from album 'confusion'

13. Burning Plague - Life Is Nonsense (1970)

       from album 'burning plague'

14. The Meating - Bad Luck Feeling (1970)

       single

Arthur Lee

Arthur Lee was the guitarist with LA's psych band Love, he also made a few solo albums along the way before his unfortunate death from leukaemia in 2006. Our intro track is from the time of his first, 1972's 'Vindicator', and is included on the bonus-tracks version. It's such a great riff in this track and it's almost like doom rock, and we all know that blues and doom are pretty much the same thing....Fun Fact: "Lee’s [pre-Love] composition, 'My Diary' was his first to do well. It was written for R&B singer Rosa Brooks who performed and recorded it. The song included a man by the name of Jimi Hendrix (think you may have heard of him) on the electric guitar. Lee had seen him play with the Isley Brothers and asked for him. This is considered by many to be the first known studio recording of Jimi Hendrix playing guitar."

Track 2 is from a fave album of mine by the UK's Jodo. I have never been able to find a lot of info on them [EDIT in 2022, this has changed, see interview with Rod Alexander here], though the members are Earl Jordan (vocals), Jon Taylor (guitar), Rod Alexander (bass) and William E. Kimber (drums). They made one very accomplished hard bluesy rock album in 1971 called 'Guts'. Earl Jordan is known to have sung in the 'Green Bullfrog' sessions with members of Deep Purple that I used back on Vol59. Guts is chock-full of awesome playing, swaggering riffs, and was engineered by Martin Birch who later worked with big names like Sabbath and Iron Maiden.

Mahogany back cover

Mahogany were a UK band who's guitarist John Mackay was also in a pub band called Brewers Droop with a young Mark Knopfler. I have not found much info on Mahogany but have found a scan of the album's  rear jacket with liner notes so here it is word-for-word, by american journalist/critic 'Marion Fredi Towbin' : "Produced by Tony Clarke, Engineered by Robin Thompson. There has been a lot of talk lately of a blues revival, nourished in Britain and overflowing to our shores. Names like John Mayall, Jo-Ann Kelly and Eric Clapton have become increasingly well-known and respected Stateside, and appearances by British blues artists have drawn S.R.O. crowds at the Fillimore East and West as well as the numerous smaller clubs and concert auditoriums throughout the United States. Now there's a new British blues group to reckon with, MAHOGANY. On This, their début Epic album, MAHOGANY proves that original blues material (they composed everything on the album), if played with skill and vitality, can elicit from an audience that pure gut level reaction - "I've-Been-There-Too" - which has always been the earmark of the blues. 
       MAHOGANY is comprised of four young performers, each of whom has had extensive musical experience prior to joining the group: Stephen Darrington (organ), Joseph Southall (bass), John Mackay (lead guitar, lead vocalist) and Paul Hobbs (drums). Although there are only four members of MAHOGANY, their musical skill is considerable; between three of them they play no less than ten instruments including trumpet, violin and classical guitar. (Drummer Paul Hobbs says somewhat apologetically that he only plays drums as they are, for him, "a lifetime.")
       (As I write this, I'm listening to MAHOGANY, drinking a fine English Tea, and thinking about the American Revolution--the 18th-century one. What, I wonder, would our great-great grandaddies--who severed their lives so totally from that of British subjects--think of our 20th-century coming together?)
       Back to the blues . . . like the great blues artists (and I'm thinking Muddy Waters in particular), MAHOGANY'S  music doesn't bring you down. Organist Stephen Darrington describes his compositions as "innumerable drunken 12 bar blues" filled as they are with wronged lovers, drinking bouts, packing up and parting times--but like the best of blues they're exhilarating, cathartic, and sometimes even happy."

Hurriganes

I found the Hurriganes while researching for the Finnish TDATS (w.i.p), they are not really heavy enough to fit usually but this track goes nicely in this comp, they were apparently a very important band in Finland and highly regarded. 'It Aint What You Do' is taken from their most popular album, 1974's 'Roadrunner'.

The 5th track is from a Dutch (Nijmegen) band called Cobra. They shared drummer Cor van der Beek with another band that appears here later, Livin' Blues, and made a string of singles between 70-73. 'Midnight Walker' is the b-side to the more commercial 'The War Will Be Over Soon'. I have since published an interview with Cobra guitarist Rob Vunderink, which you can read on v111 (link).

Track 6 comes from another UK band, Ipsissimus. It seems they took their name from the tenth level of Aleister Crowley's magical order, the A∴A∴ 'Lazy Woman' is an absolute stormer and this band had talent. The single a-side was an equally-cool cover of the Rupert's People/The Fleur de Lys track Hold On. It was produced by Norman Smith of Beatles/Pink Floyd fame and I thank this page for the information. In 2022 Richard Morton Jack (Editor of Flashback magazine) posted a wealth of Ipsissimus info on his blog (link).

Track 7 and we are half-way through. I must thank my online friends over at Sonidos Primitivos, they post albums and make the odd compilation of their own too, and it was this one on which I heard 'The Underground Electrics'. They are apparently yet another name used by the heavy fuzz psych-exploitation session band I used back on Vol16, 'The 31 Flavors', aka 'Firebird'. They made one Crown label album 'Hey Jude' as the electrics and you can find more info at HeavyPsychManBlog (front page) or RedTelephone66. 'The Syndicator' is a simplistic song but the sound is as crunchy as a peanut butter sandwich made with extra bolts.

Track 8 gives this volume it's name. Freedom were a UK band that had connection to a few other notable bands, by Clark Hutchinson bassist Walt Monagan (see Vol74), and Procul Harum (singer Bobby Harrison). Bobby Harrison and early Freedom member Ray Royer had both been in the original incarnation of Procol Harum for their début 'Whiter Shade Of Pale', but were ejected soon after for Robin Trower and Barry Wilson.

So, by the time of the 2nd album, 'Freedom', which I have used here, the lineup stabilised to a heavy blues power trio with a really strong three-part harmony thing going on as Walt Monaghan (bass), Roger Saunders (guitar) and Bobby Harrison (drums, vocals) were all great singers. 'Dusty Track' is a long song with a relaxed pace, but that riff never tires...

No prizes for guessing where the The Illinois Speed Press were from. They started life as The Rovin' Kind and moved to California. By the time the band had recorded their first album the core of the band was Paul Cotton (guitar, vocals) and Kal David (guitar, vocals) and they played together to give the band a very cool dual guitar sound, credited as inspiring Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington to form Lynyrd Skynyrd. They were a regular at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood, and played at the first Newport Pop Festival, held in Costa Mesa, California, which was the first festival to record an attendance of over 100,000 paying rock fans. Kal David also played on the 'Merryweather & Carey' album that is featured in the TDATS Neil Merryweather special; Vol68. Paul and Kal have played some reunion shows under the speed press name in recent years.

Livin' Blues

Livin' Blues (from Den Haag, Holland) were a long-lasting blues troupe (recording into the 90's) who's lineup over the years was like a who's who of Dutch rock history, touching on Brainbox, Cobra (as mentioned previously), Shocking Blue, Q65, Sandy Coast and Gold Earring to name just a few. The track I have used here is two consecutive tracks that appeared on their third album, 1971's 'Bamboozle'. I particularly like the way 'Overture' morphs into a progressive jam around the halfway mark, but keeps the bluesy harmonica the whole time.

Next up is Boston's Dirty John's Hot Dog Stand. The album 'Return From the Dead' is a rollicking good-time blast of horns, blues and psych. It has recently been re-issued on the UK Kismet label. I have found a few brief accounts of this very short-lived curiosity: "Ace guitarist Kenny Paulson played on early rock classics such as Suzy Q by Dale Hawkins, and Tallahassee Lassie by Freddie Cannon before his career was derailed by heroin addiction. Following debilitating stints in jail and hospital in the late 1960s, he cleaned up and formed this quartet with former Ill Wind guitarist Carey Mann. Their sole album of guitar-led rock was released in June 1970, though sadly Paulson succumbed to his addiction in 1981."

"Good ole boy blues bar rock with gruff vocals- still the kinda thing you can hear coming out of an unlit local dive on some endless afternoon whenever the door swings open. Fuzz is definitely in evidence & one song is particularly Blue Cheer-ish & has sharp breakbeats as well (a version of 'Blue Skies'). Kenny Paulson played in Dale Hawkins' band & on Freddy Cannon records, & this band pairs him up with a guy from Ill Wind."

"A strange and crude psychedelic blues-rock album from a short-lived band based in Boston circa 1969-1970. One member (PJ Colt) later released a solo album in 1976 (associated with "Skunk" Baxter of Ultimate Spinach, Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers fame). Several vocalists ranging from a growly split-octave style to white-bread blues style to rock-n-roll howl style. An intriguing record on an unlikely label (Flying Dutchman). Mostly original compositions with a couple of covers (Blue Skies, Next Time You See Me). The originals range from hard-rock Led Zeppelin riff-based arrangements (I Won't Quit), to Johnny Winter style white-bread blues (Hard Drivin' Man). Some are beyond comparison (Waiting For Yesterday, River) and have melodic but unusual chord structures and are steeped in psychedelic washes of wah-wah or slap-back guitars and elaborate horn arrangements. The album is extremely rare, and even more so because a manufacturing error resulted in many copies with only one playable side." [The Dragonfly @ RYM]

Ernie Joseph

Big Brother Ernie Joseph was a Californian commune/family type group who recorded their first album in Hollywood. Before Big Brother, singer-guitarist Ernie Joseph was known as Ernie Orosco and was in many Santa Barbara outfits including Ernie and The Emperors, Ernie's Funnys and Giant Crab (for Giant Crab see Vol27). I have used their rip-roaring cover of a blues standard "St. James Infirmary Blues" which was popularised by Lois Armstrong but actually has roots in an English folk song about a soldier who uses his money on prostitutes, and then dies of a venereal disease! Ernie Joseph puts in an impassioned performance on this track which sounds like it must have been one of his career-best.

Burning Plague

Nearing the end now, we have a Belgian (Brussels) band called Burning Plague. They emerged from the split of Brussels band 'Four Of A Kind', the other splintering group that resulted was Kleptomania (see Belgian special Vol61). They made one album which  is now regarded as one of the very best of it's kind from Belgium and during their brief spot in the lime-light they played festivals like Belgium's premier Bilzen Rock & Jazz festival in 1970. Even so, English-born guitarist / singer / main composer Michael Heslop was disappointed with the CBS label support so dismantled the band and joined Doctor Downtrip (see Vol46 and Vol61), who made a few great tracks but didn't really go anywhere with their 3 albums which grew less and less interesting.

So another volume ends, I hope you enjoyed this dose of blues catharsis, and it plays out with 'Bad Luck Feeling' from The Meating, a really excellent progressive blues single. I thank the brilliant Aussie blog Rock On Vinyl for this info: "The Australian blues veteran, Matt Taylor has been playing his brand of Australian-twinged blues music since the mid-'60s. His first band, the Bay City Union, was formed in March 1966 and was one of Australia's first traditional Chicago blues bands. They issued one single, "Mo'reen"/"Mary Mary," in April 1968 before breaking up in July 1968 due to a general lack of interest in blues bands. Taylor briefly sang with the Wild Cherries before forming the Horse, and then briefly stepped in as lead singer with Cam-Pact for a two-week tour of Sydney during early 1970. He then joined blues band Genesis in February, who released a collaborative single with Carson County Band, titled "Bad Luck Feeling"/"Back Home" under the banner the Meating. They toured until August 1970 when Taylor left to join Chain."

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Thanks for listening! Rich

The Day After The Sabbath 78: I Was Only Dreaming [flute special]

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TDATS 78: I Was Only Dreaming [Flutes In Heavy '70s Prog] by Rich Aftersabbath on Mixcloud

Flutes. There, I said it. Before the more metal-minded of you out there run for cover, keep listening.......nothing exemplifies and defines that authentic progressive rock sound we all love more than a well-placed touch of virtuoso flute. Let me reassure you, all the tracks in this exhilarating volume also pass the TDATS seal of approval for heaviness, groove or fuzz. There has been a recent resurgence of interest in the prog-rock instruments of old with bands such as Blood Ceremony and Circulus bringing flutes back to the front of the stage.

Flute is not usually a priority for me in my searches, which is why I really appreciate it on the occasions that I come across some I like. The welcome addition of flute adds an extra element to all of the inclusions here, for instance, the Dug Dug's 'Smog' has heavy riffing that is followed closely by the flute and it adds strikingly to the over-all feel of the song. I have tried in the main to choose tracks where the instrument is an important part of the music, if not the driving force, rather than just a casual embellishment. The one exception to this is probably Fashion Pink, where the flute could be seen as a bit of an after-thought, but it still adds nicely to the ambiance and trouser-flapping groove. Rufus Zuphal are notable for how they gave the flute a monstrous sound by feeding it through various effects. For this volume I must make special thanks to the helpful crowd at the TDATS fb group and flute rock aficionado Julia Miodyńska, creator of weekly prog rock radio show Epoka Żelaza in Poland. The artwork is taken from the wonderful works of Leah Jay (linkedin) and you can see more at leahjayart.com.

Tracks:
01. The California Earthquake - Friday 3 P.M. (1971)
       from album 'reformation'
02. Tomorrow's Gift - Tenakel Gnag (1970)
       from album 'tomorrow's gift'
03. Fashion Pink - I'm a Man (1971)
       from retrospective 'encore'
04. Tako - Minijatura (1978)
       from album 'tako'
05. Los Dug Dug's - Smog [english version] (1972)
       from album 'smog'
06. Janko Nilović - Drug Song (1975)
       from album 'soul impressions'
07. Rufus Zuphall - Prickel Pit (1971)
       from album 'phallobst'
08. Plum Nelly - The Demon (1971)
       from album 'deceptive lines'
09. Gravy Train - Can Anybody Hear Me (1971)
       from album '(a ballad of) a peaceful man'
10. Goliath - Maajun (A Taste Of Tangier) (1970)
       from album 'goliath'
11. Progresiv TM - Rusinea Soarelui (1973)
       from album 'dreptul de a visa'
12. Quintessence - Notting Hill Gate [single version] (1969)
       single
13. Heat Exchange - Reminiscence (1972)
       single
14. Shag - Gypsies In The Forest (1969)
       from retrospective 'shag 1969'
15. Jade Warrior - A Prenormal Day at Brighton (1971)
       from album 'jade warrior'
16. The Hunt - I Was Only Dreaming (1977)
       from album 'the hunt'

Our opener 'Friday: 3 P.M' is a short segue track taken from The California Earthquake's 'Reformation' which was a fairly ambitious Christian progressive concept album (don't let that put you off too much!). Good use of brass and wood-wind conjures up the feeling of a 70's action movie with a cool soundtrack and overall it has a wide scope of sounds with some rocking moments like 'Let There Be Light'.  A very interesting curio indeed. Apparently this was a studio-only project made by an ensemble that included established session musicians like Jim Gordon (drums - played with Duane Allman, Jack Bruce & John Lee Hooker),  John Guerin (drums - played with Frank Zappa & The Byrds) and soul singer Roy Smith (vocals).

Tomorrows Gift

Track 2's Tomorrow's Gift were from Hamburg, they were a proto-prog band with plenty of heavy moments and on the first album they had a charismatic female singer in Ellen Meyer. Interestingly, guitarist Carlo Karges later played with German pop star Nina on hits like '99 Red Balloons'. Many of the tracks on their 1970 debut have an occult feel; I find this enhanced by Ellen's english pronunciation which is far from perfect and gives the vocals an odd quality which makes them sound even more like the strange incantations of a witch!

Fashion Pink

Another German band follows, Baden-Baden's 'Fashion Pink' were the original incarnation of krautrock prog-jazzers Brainstorm. This Spencer Davis Group cover has such a cool vibe, a really strong groove with wicked guitar and the whole thing is improved by its flute embellishment.

Tako was a Serbian band that made a couple of albums before disbanding in 1981. The track here is from their self-titled 1978 album. It's a short instrumental with a stately intro which soon toughens up to the Ian Anderson-style of vocalised flute aggression, nice.

Tako

Next up is Mexican band Dug Dug's, and the use of stabbing echoed flute on this track from their second album is fantastic. It lends the sharp flighty feel that only flute can one second, and then forceful insidious nastiness the next.

Janko Nilović

Montenegrin Janko Nilović (birth name) is one of the most prolific and well-known creators of library music and I have used this catchy funk track from his 1975 record 'Soul Impressions'. He has made over 200 records and singles under at least 10 pseudonyms. There is now a great interview with the man himself here.

We have yet another German group now, Aachen's Rufus Zuphall. They are often likened to Jethro Tull and their breakthrough came in 1970 in front of a 30,000 crowd at the Jazz Festival in Bilzen, Belgium. Actually planned as a sideshow, they then played as the only amateur band to share the main stage with such stars as Black Sabbath, Cat Stevens or May Blitz and were celebrated by the press as 'surprise of the festival'.

Plumb Nelly

New York's 'Creedmore State' formed in 1970 and after success as a regular at the rock club "Ungano's" they signed to Capitol Records under the new name 'Plum Nelly'. They recorded one album called 'Deceptive Lines' and while touring it they supported big names such as Jimi Hendrix & Fleetwood Mac. Album track 'Lonely Man's Cry' was backed by a local group called The Sweet Inspirations which was lead by by Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston's Mother. 'The Demon' is the longest cut on this comp, it has a slightly progressive structure and a great mix of contrasts, along with some nice flute of course!

Gravy Train were from Lancashire, UK They made four albums over their obscure career, which started out on the famed Vertigo label . Unfortunately their output was patchy and they never really capitalised on their strengths, but these were considerable when they got the sound right and on their best tracks they sounded like Tull with the extra heaviness of Sabbath. The track here "Can Anybody Hear Me?" shows this.

Goliath

'Maajun (A Taste of Tangier)' is a track that I liked immediately, it came over as a condensed, speeded-up version of one of my favourite ever TDATS inclusions, the epic Rajah Khan by Renaissance. They both share an eastern feel, built upon ethereal female vocal shapes, with a tough groove that shows itself now and again. Goliath are not so easy to find info about, the lineup was Linda Rothwell (vocals), Malcolm Grundy (guitar), Joseph Rosbotham (woodwinds), John Williamson (bass) and Eric Eastman (drums, percussion). Thier only album, 1970's 'Goliath', was issued on CD by the Spanish Estrella Rockera Label in 2004. Apparently Linda Rothwell had a couple of solo singles on the Chapter One label in the early 70s.

'Progresiv TM' were from Romania and there was 6 years between their two albums. They had a very original and quirky sound, somewhat in-line with the genre-mash up eccentricities of other great eastern european bands of the time. After reading about them, they are often compared to out-there Italian prog of the times, in sound, but also because the Romanian accent and language is similar to that of Italian.

The guitar tone is nice and thick, another aspect that seems to be compared to Sabbath, but the writing is very different, it is tight and unpredictable, and the flute sheen makes a great contrast to the heaviness. A subscriber to my youtube channel (link) has this to say about them: "The name of the album, "The right to dream", was probably a subtle jab aimed at the Romanian communist regime. Such jabs were common in communist Romania, and the name of the band, "Progresiv TM" has the letters of TM (Timisoara) in it, Timisoara being the Westernmost big city of Romania, with a long tradition of being open to the West, during communism. In Timisoara was where the Revolution that overthrew Ceausescu started."

Quintessence were a band heavily influenced by the Beatles-approved psychedelic interest in Indian mysticism and raga music. As you probably know this is not the style of music that TDATS would normally delve into but on this single version of Notting Hill Gate they turned up the fuzz guitar a little and it's a cool track.

Heat Exchange

The next track is from a Canadian group called Heat Exchange. This Toronto-based 5 piece were clearly very talented and showed great musical versatility. Unfortunately they did not make an album, though they earned a recording contract to do so, and the scant information available so far on the series of singles they made does not reveal what happened to them. 'Reminiscence' is some frenetic prog which is quite tight and technical but accessible too, they could have been huge. I found a guy on YouTube who is the son of Flute player Graig Carmody, so I asked him for information on the band and this was his reply: "If I recall my dad's story correctly, they struggled to find a strong commercial hit--they landed a recording contract and Scorpio Lady was their first attempt at a commercial hit. It did pretty well in Toronto, landing in the top 40 countdown for some time. But the rest of their stuff was really creative and unusual, and I think they didn't want to veer too far away from that. A year later their momentum faded, and things just fell apart from there. My dad still plays after many years of repairing instruments as his profession, just in a couple local bands. If you're curious, here's a video of him in recent days." [EDIT in 2024: Soon after this episode, I conducted an exclusive interview with Craig, you can see it here: https://aftersabbath.blogspot.com/2013/12/tdats-96-heat-exchange.html]

Milwaukee's Shag was first know as 'The Shags' and made some garage singles in the mid 60s. They recorded a demo in 1969 at Pacific High Recording, The Grateful Dead's studio, but parted ways soon after. The demo has since been remastered and released by Gear Fab records, revealing another band that was clearly very creative and could have been a big name. I found a great interview with guitarist Paul Gordon Elliott on Klemen Breznikar's brilliant blog here. The track I used here 'Gypsies In The Forest' has relentless pace, lead by aggressive flute riffing which easily gives Tull a run for their money.

Jade Warrior

The penultimate inclusion is from Jade Warrior, who rose from the ashes of a few 60s bands including 'Second Thoughts', Tomcat, and the more well-known 'Unit Four plus Two' and July. By the time of their 1971 debut they had developed a considered layered sound that was a unique addition to the rising proto-prog sounds of the time. The track I have used here is from that debut and it shows their often bass-lead sound, with scything fuzz guitar and hints of oriental mystery. "A Prenormal Day at Brighton" is a strange title and I am yet find out what it means, answers on a post-card please! Various members have continued to make music under the Jade Warrior name and there is news of forth-coming releases on their site.

The comp ends on a rousing Canadian track from Ontario's The Hunt, who have connection to the bands Offenbach (see Vol58) and Toronto's Dillinger. They don't score many points on originality, following closely in the flight-path of a certain lead balloon, but they do it very well and expand upon Zep's repertoire with expressive flute.

Thanks for listening! Rich.

TDATS social links

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Further listening:

The Day After The Sabbath 133: A Lot Of Bottle [Slide Guitar special]
The Day After The Sabbath 99: Isolation Waltz [first violin special]

The Day After The Sabbath 73: Hammond Lord [John Lord tribute / Hammond organ special]
The Day After The Sabbath 60: Where There's Muck [first Brass Rock special]

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