VAN DER GRAF GENERATOR/PAWN HEARTS CAS 1051 (-71) UK

The "68-71" compilation, picked and posted a while ago, took me by surprise. This was a combo I never really cared about in the past, but after giving them a fair chance I was suddenly all in. The blend of skillfully performed complicated structures and catchy melodies made me want more and just a few weeks later I found this their forth original album. At first impression a lot less accessible than what I got from the compilation. For a listener who's already deep into period pych, prog and symphonic it relates to so many contemporary acts the style is almost chaotic. Not sure if they were truly inspired or just part of some common zeitgeist, but I hear similarities to Beggars Opera, Gentle Giant, Genesis, King Crimson, ELP and Zappa/Mothers. Took a whlie to get past that and down to core. There's certainly lots of good music here, well played with some kind of semi-operatic vocals. Sometimes heavy to the ears and mind, still a good trip with both stirring and soothing moments. I especially like the side-long "Plague Of The Lighthouse Keepers" even if I'm not sure if to recieve it as a suite or single tracks. Have to admit I don't fully understand how any of it stick together or the true meaning of the lyrics, but it's intriguing listening and that's good enough for me. A plus for all King Crimson fans would be Robert Fripp appears as guest guitarist. The cover doesn't reveal where or when, but you can clearly hear some of his signature figures at places. Album was a smashing success in Italy where it topped the charts, but otherwise didn't sell a lot. First Italian on Philips (6369 915 L). US on Charisma (samel label and number as UK). Japan 2005 CD came with five bonus tracks (Virgin VJCP - 68759). Premiere UK had label as shown here, matt fold/out cover and a lyric inner sadly missing with this copy. (CÄX*)

GENESIS/THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY CGS 101 (-74) UK

The Genesis albums closest to my heart will always be "Nursery Cryme" and "Foxtrot", both fully fledged without downers and hardly any dead spots. This is almost there - filled with catchy songs and exciting moments, but to my taste as a rock opera or theme album too long with a libretto that doesn't always make sense. There are also a couple of instrumental parts I could be without. I sometimes see discussions about how some double albums - like Exile On Main Street, White Album or Ummagumma - would benefit from being shortened to a single album and I'm always against it. As classic albums and pieces of art they're already canonized. You don't cut a Picasso canvas in two halfs just because you don't like the cube to the left. But I can't help toying with the thought that the best songs here would come out even better by skipping the theme and losing some dead weight. There's so much good material to pick from for, let's say, a ten track single album. Exactly which tracks may be up for debate, but these are my choice - "Cuckoo Cocoon", "The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging", "Counting Out Time", "Carpet Crawl", "The Chamber Of 32 Doors", "Lilywhite Lilith", "Anyway", "The Lamia", "The Colony Of Slippermen" and "It". All beautiful by themselves without any need for framing. Original album frequently issued and reissued on vinyl, cassette and CD all over the world through the years. First US on ATCO (SD 2-401). Premiere UK had label as shown here with "B&C" marketing, matt fold/out cover and lyric inners. (CÄX*) (GYÄ*) (RÖKÖ*)

TOM & MICK MANIACS SSX 1029 (-67) SWEDEN

Swedish pop/rock combo founded as "Örjans" 1965. First years were turbulent with numerous member changes and confusion about direction. When the band 1967, after renaming to "Maniacs", suddenly saw themselves fronted by two male vocalists - Tommy Körberg and Michael Johansson - they decided to go with that, let them top the bill and appear as a male vocal dou with backing. The new setting proved to be a live success and eventually got them signed to EMI. Then followed a big domestic hit with the Chris Andrews cover "Somebody's Taken Maria Away", topping the lists for six weeks, but that was about it. The band broke up 1968 and is today more or less seen as a one hit wonder. Michael Johansson went on with funk/soul/prog group Salt & Peppar and later to work as a music teacher. Tommy Körberg continued solo and with prog bands as Solar Plexus and Made In Sweden, then further to a part international carreer in movies, theater, musical and opera, among other things starring in Chess, Les Misérables, Sound Of Music, Guys and Dolls and My Fair Lady. This was their one off album. A follow-up to the hit single, but not including it. I hear an all over well performed mix of covers and self-penned as male vocal with pop backing including brass, professionally produced but most of it rather ordinary for the time. On the positive side - I just love male high-pitch vocals and I get some of that here. Also the last track, the self-penned "Project X-Ray", doesn't seem to belong at all. A whimsical psych outburst filled with changes in theme and tempo, odd vocals and mellotron, but still melodic and quite catchy. Right up my alley. Wish all of it had been like that. To my knowledge this was the only vinyl issue. 2013 CD on Riverside (RRCD 149) came with 26 tracks, including unreleased material. Premiere vinyl had label as shown here, laminated fold out cover and pic/info insert. (CCÖ*) (SCÄ*) (MÖRS*)

THE TURTLES/TURTLES GOLDEN HITS WW 115 (-67) US MONO

Very rewarding collection of cuts recorded 1965-67, some of them rare as they appear here. "So Goes Love" and "Is It Any Wonder" previously unreleased. "You Know What I Mean", "Outside Chance", "Can I Get To Know You Better" and "Grim Reaper Of Love" formerly 45 only, the rest album tracks. As far as I know this was the only sixties compilation from the band and also the only one where you can get some of those original mono mixes on a reasonably early album. It shows they were a lot more than just "Happy Together". About every song has something special, but if I have to chose favorites - "It Aint Me Babe" (killer cover I much rather listen to than the original), "Can I Get To Know You Better" and "She'd Rather Be With Me" (top pop songs with true sticking power). I've seen people complaining about the audio on this mono, but I don't get that at all. Maybe not totally up there with the singles or original mono albums, but for me who don't have time and money to hunt down everyone of those it is a very welcome shortcut providing quite enjoyable listening. Also as stereo (WWS 7115). To my knowledge only released in US and Canada (same label, number and cover) and never reissued on vinyl or CD. Premiere US had blue label as shown here (later greyish) and glossy cover. (YZÄ*) (ÖXCÅ*)

THE SOFT MACHINE CPLP 4500 (-68) US

The Wilde Flowers was a popular UK sixties psych band from Canterbury, including Kevin Ayers among others. They went through a number of settings from 1964-68 without releasing any records, but the break-up resulted in two well known combos - Soft Machine and Caravan https://monolover.blogspot.com/2013/02/caravan-vlp-6011-69-uk-mono.html  . Wilde Flowers was mainly responsable for creating and developing the "Canterbury Sound" - a mix of psych, folk, rock and jazz with a British touch. The two offsprings went in slightly different directions. While Caravan initially embraced a melodic folk psych style which is shown on their first album, this Soft Machine debute is something else. At the time down to a trio consisting of keyboardist Michael Radledge, drummer Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers on bass and guitar they got a contract with American ABC:s newly founded Probe label. Recordings took place at Record Plant, New York, in the presence of two experienced producers - Tom Wilson and Chas Chandler. I wonder how big part those professional surroundings had in the end result. Cause the outcome here is not what you'd expect from a UK psych trio debute in the sixties. The quirkiness is there, the long improvised interventions, the form experiments, dissonances and challenging lyrics. But it's never messy, unbalanced or amateuristic. I get well planned where the weirder sections blends with calmer melodic pieces, thus making it easier to embrace. They are truly skilled musicians, sometimes pushing the psychedelia towards what would later be called "prog" and maybe this album was one of the inspirations to that emerging genre. So if you're only into saggy mental garage or really disturbing stuff this is not it, but if you want very good psych/prog, performed and produced by some of the better from the period with top audio, it's a trip worth taking. Favorite tracks - the hypnotic "We Did It Again", the weirdly intrusive "Hope For Happiness" and "Why Are We Sleeping" (partly reused by Ayers for his 1974 "Confessions Of Dr. Dream" album  https://monolover.blogspot.com/2012/08/kevin-ayersthe-confessions-of-dr-dream.html  ). 1968 releases in US, Canada (same label, cover and number) and France (Barclay 920 082). Initial US cover was withdrawn and replaced with a plain censured one omitting all nudity. First UK 1976 on ABC (27135 ET) came with alternate sleeve design. 1990 US CD on One Way Records (MCAD-22064). Premiere US had label as shown here, fold/out windowed cover with rotatable card inside and uncensored nude pictures. (YZÄ*) (CÖLÖ*)  (ÖYÄL*)

THE DON ELLIS ORCHESTRA/ELECTRIC BATH BPG 63230 (-68) UK MONO

Those were the days...when a jazz band could record an experimental album and that becoming a Grammy nominee and awarded "album of the year" by a major US music magazine. It must have been a revelation in the midst of psych and early prog rock. One of a kind back then and in a way it still is. Played by a big band setting reinforced by sitar, electric keyboards and assorted exotic rythm instruments. I hear hard core modern jazz including atonal parts and rythmic gaming mixed with cool lounge music, sometimes borderline psychedelic and sometimes spiced with eastern influences. Very hard to tag - maybe genreless fits best, or a very early exemple of jazz fusion still firmly rooted in sixties music. Could it be this was one of the main influences to just fusion? I guess Frank Zappa must have listened, at least to the title track where the dissonant layers sound a lot like what he did on Burnt Weeny Sandwhich a couple of years later. I'm usually not a fan of big band jazz or fusion though this has other qualities. Don't know if it was meant to be positively playful, but that's how I get it - a happy boundary-breaking moment. This UK mono has reference to the US mono number on label and sounds great so I take it's from the US mono tapes. Premiere 1967 releases in US and Canada on Columbia (CL 2785/CS 9585). 1998 CD on Columbia Legacy (CK 65522). First UK had structured label as shown here and thin laminated cover with CBS ad inner. (CLÄZ*)

HITPARADE INTERNATIONAL 60 370 (-64) MONO GERMANY

I keep posting early samplers here containing stuff I heard on radio while growing up in Sweden during the fifties and early sixties. In that context this ten inch may seem somewhat misaligned as it'd relate more to German former radio freaks about my age. But it's not that off for me either. The northern European tastes was quite conformist back then - multilingual artists moved around between markets singing in different languages and the US or UK big hits always struck hard. You couldn't avoid Supremes "Baby Love" or "Honecombs "Have I The Right" wherever you were and even if Acker Bilk's "La Paloma" wasn't high on my list it was played a lot here too. Swedish female vocalists Siw Malmkvist and Ann-Louise Hanson were already big domestically back then, but succeded to get a new fan base abroad by singing in German. Can't say I hold any of the other tracks close in memory, but even if the song choice as a whole may mean more to a German sixties collector it also strikes a chord in this old Swede because of the audio, sleeve design and sheer atmosphere of it all. Released in Germany only and to my knowledge never reissued in any shape. It had label as shown here, thin glossy cover and polylined inner with handeling advice in German, English, French and Spanish. (GÖXÄ*) (SÄM*) (FÄV*)

HLJÓMAR SG-018 (-68) ICELAND

(Band also sometimes listed and recognized under its English name - "Thor's Hammer"). For background check post on their debute LP. That had the same eponymous title, but since both were recorded for and only issued in Iceland everyone there could tell them apart anyway. With only a year inbetween you could expect this to be about the same - well performed right on garage pop. But the band had clearly developed a lot in that short time and what you get here is an elaboratedly produced and arranged album in a "summer of love" atmosphere, shifting between soul, baroque pop and psych. I wonder if that had anything to do with their newly recruited female singer Patricia Gail Owens - here under her then artist name Shady Owens. Of mixed heritage - American father and Icelandic mother - she grew up in US and already there aiming for a singing carreer, among other things participating in the less successful dou "Shady & Sonny". 1967, at age 18, she moved to Iceland and within a year got contact with Hljómar, became a member and just after a week or so participated in these recordings. The album is divided into two parts - side one has self-penned numbers while side two relies on covers of original US compositions - from Pickett to Bacharach. Owens does lead vocals on four of the cuts and background for some of the others. She has a lovely voice and as bilingual singing in Icelandic while her idiom is clearly American. The male vocals are fine too, but with the bands own well written songs and the catchy covers I can't help thinking that an alternative version where Owens did all vocals in English would have helped them to reach outside the domestic market and maybe even an international breakthrough. It is that good. Favorite tracks - "Er Han Birtist" (beautiful baroque ballad with Owens to full orchestral backing), "Ég Älska Alla" (Owens doing up-tempo US style soul) and "Lífsgledi" (very catchy pop/rock with fuzz guitars and shared male-female vocals). Recorded in London and produced by Tony Russell. Front sleeve photo by Dezo Hoffman. 1994 CD on Spor (SGCD 018). First vinyl had label as shown here and glossy flip/back cover. (SCÄ*) (FÄV*) (CCÖ*)

MARSHA HUNT/WOMAN CHILD 2410101 (-71) UK MONO + STEREO

American writer, actress, model, editor, activist and singer who by a combination of stunning looks and multiple talents rocked the British music circuits after moving there 1966. She performed with Alexis Korner and Ferris Wheel, made success as Dionne in Hair and appeared on the poster ads for the musical, but apart from a minor hit with "Walk On Guilded Splinters" never made it on the charts solo. As it seems she had a an interesting dating life in the UK. After a short marriage to Mike Ratledge of Soft Machine for visa purposes, there were also love affairs with Marc Bolan and Mick Jagger (with whom she also had a child 1970 - Karis Jagger). The Rolling Stones hit "Brown Sugar" was based on her and there are references to her in contemporary Bolan compositions. This was the first of only three original solo albums, all issued in the seventies. Containing cuts recorded 1969-71 - "Walk On Guilded Splinters", "Hot Rod Pappa" and "Keep The Customer Satisfied" appeared on 45:s, the rest otherwise unreleased at the time. Session backings included Pete Townshend, Marc Bolan, Ron Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenny Jones. One track produced by Gus Dudgeon, two by Kit Lambert and the remaining by Tony Visconti. Rear cover also has thanks to a certain "George" at Apple Studios (your guess is as good as mine). So you could call it a collection of random recordings separated by time and place, but I'd rather see it together as an early cover album in the same vein as "Pin-Ups" or "These Foolish Things". She does stuff from Dr John, Traffic, Troggs, Dylan, Paul Simon, Supremes, John's Children, Tyrannosaurus Rex and more and it's good. All cuts shaped in a common almost genreless atmosphere somewhere between soul and psych. Audio is great conveying a cozy atmosphere. As a Bolan fan I like "Desdemona", Stacey Grow" and "Hot Rod Pappa" (gender transformed "Hot Rod Mama") best, but the whole record has something magic about it making me wanna listen again and again. Everything above put together - background, participants, track choice and appearence - makes this a true gem and in a way one of a kind. German original vinyl on Polydor (2383-081), reissued 1974 as "Desdemona" on Brunswick (2911 504). 1987 UK CD and vinyl reissues on See For Mile Records (SEE/CD 209) came with "Hippy Gumbo" as bonus track. Premiere UK had label as shown here and thin matt cover. (FÄV*) (TRÄC*)