FAIRPORT CONVENTION
Gottle O' Geer (Island; CD)
The Bonny Bunch Of Roses (Vertigo; CD)
Tipplers Tales (Vertigo; CD)
     Three historic Fairport albums: the last '70s release for Island and the only two they ever did for Vertigo before forsaking the recording studio for seven years.
     Gottle O' Geer: An abandoned Swarbrick solo project andthe only release credited to just "Fairport", has almost no fiddle (!), no original members (OK, Simon Nicol produces and "guests" on one track), a marked lack of "trad-arr's" and Swarb's vocals plastered all over it. There's no dynamic, no surprises and, more importantly no good songs. Although they try to talk it up a bit in the liner notes it really isn't a typical Fairport album and can only be filed under: Contract Fulfilled.
     The Bonny Bunch Of Roses: Business as usual with FC firmly back in the Full House tradition. There's still no Thompson or Donahue to pluck the heart out of Merrie England but at least Nicol's back in the fold and that means that we don't only get to hear Swarbrick on vocals. That man is fiddling again and about time too! A glorious 12 minute-plus title track sits among six other traditionals and a couple of internal and external contributions - Richard Thompson's 'The Poor Ditching Boy' being a stand-out – to illustrate the band doing what it always did best: folk-rock in Cecil# major (I may copyright that!).
     Tipplers Tales: Ah, the Great British Folk Tradition: more songs about alcohol, foxhunting and lost maidenheads! Continuity is preserved here with the band keeping the same personnel as on Bonny Bunch (a true Fairport feat if ever there was one!). Again Swarbrick and Nicol share the vocals and six of the 10 cuts are "trad-arr's". Fairport concert favourites 'Ye Mariners All', 'Three Drunken Maidens' and the classic tale of regained virginity (or was it?) 'The Widow Of Westmorland' give this second Vertigo album a slight edge over its predecessor but both are especially worth tracking down if you've never heard them before. I hadn't and, let's face it, who was listening to the band in the late '70s? Big mistake, obviously.
M. Groves (deceased)

FAIRPORT CONVENTION
Live At The BBC (Universal/Island; 4CD)
     First let's do the maths. If you own Heyday you've already got 20 of the 69 tracks on this set, a collection of their complete surviving BBC recordings. If you were also smart enough to acquire the Fairport Unconventional box this brings the total up to 28. So is it really an essential purchase? Of course it is! It all comes down to the concept of having it all (and then some!) together conveniently in one place, a concept many people (spouses, etc.) don't seem to be able to grasp! The other good reasons for its acquisition are self-evident. Firstly, there's the joy of experiencing additional material from the Matthews-Denny fronted line-up. Apart from the familiar Heyday tracks there's approximately two new sessions' worth with, for example, three Joni Mitchell covers, two of which – 'Marcie' and 'Night In The City' - never made it to studio versions. Secondly, even more precious are the eight off-air recordings on Disc 4 of the Matthews–Dyble incarnation, their at times relatively poor audio quality offset by the brilliance of the performances. Verdict on the above: Judy Dyble is in fine form and certainly doesn't deserve to be just a Fairport footnote, Sandy Denny excels as you'd expect but it's Ia(i)n Matthews/McDonald who's the shining light in the pre-Unhalfbricking selections, his superb vocals on Simon Nicol's 'Shattering Live Experience' being a case in point. Halfway through Disc 2 Fairport begins to cease championing North American singer-songwriters and starts inventing that for which it is held most dear. For the most part previously unreleased, these remaining on and off-air sessions span Liege And Lief to Rising For The Moon. It's not all top notch, though. 'Light My Fire', for reasons probably explained somewhere in the liner notes (I don't have them, unfortunately), is abysmal. 'The Lady Is A Tramp' may have been fun to do but musically it's not up to much. The rest however is essential stuff: Lightning fast jigs and reels, a whole slew of "trads" and a couple of band originals that sound like they were written in 1796. A Swarbrick-sung 'Deserter', Dylan's 'Open The Door Richard' à la Richard Thompson (who else?) and Sandy's double-tracked 'Down In the Flood' are just a few more reasons to buy. Oh, and for those of you who just couldn't stomach yet another version, the good news is that 'Matty Groves' is very conspicuous in his absence.
The Laird of Kinleakie

TOMMY FLANDERS
Moonstone (Rev-Ola; CD)
     Another long lost gem, this album was originally released on the Verve Forecast label in 1969 after Tommy had left The Blues Project following the release of their first album Live A The Café Au Go Go. This album of self penned laid back songs is VERY different to the aforementioned album and is reminiscent in parts of early Tim Buckley both in the singing and guitar sound courtesy of Bruce Langhorne and Dick Rosmini.
     The album has a very mellow languid feel and is melancholy in parts but beautifully played and sung. The opening track 'Since You've Been Gone' has a slight country tinge, the title track has a heavier feel than the rest with a fuller guitar sound and interplay with organ and 'Boston Girls' is slightly more uptempo with constant changes in mood. Picking individual tracks is counterproductive however as this is such a great album. A real grower that rewards repeated listening -- it is a real bonus to have this finally available again.
www.revola.co.uk
Pat Curran

BOB LIND
Since There Were Circles (RPM; CD)
     I bought the two Jack Nitzsche produced albums by Bob Lind on World Pacific when they came out in the '60s but was unaware that he had released another on Capitol in 1971. This was not surprising as it was not released here and barely struggled out in the US due to a changing of the guard at Capitol. He admits to Spencer Leigh in the sleeve notes that he was not an easy guy to work with and when he had the songs ready could find no label willing to take him on. In the event the album was financed and produced by Doug Weston who owned The Troubadour and sold to Capitol.
     This is a country rock gem, up there with albums by Gene Clark and Larry Murray who were mining a similar vein at the time. Musicians include John Buck Wilkins on 12-string guitar, Michael Lang on piano and Carol Kaye on bass. The opening track 'I Love to Sing/Sweet Harriet' is an absolute killer featuring Doug Dillard on banjo, Gene Clark on harmonica and Bernie Leadon on guitar.
Different in style and feel from his earlier albums this contains writing of a very high standard. Other standout tracks include, 'City Scenes', 'Loser ' with Sneaky Pete on pedal steel, and the title track itself. The five bonus tracks were recorded about the same time and are equally strong. Credit must be given to RPM for making this widely available after all these years. Highly recommended.
www.rpmrecords.co.uk
Pat Curran

LOGGINS & MESSINA
Full Sail / Mother Lode (BGO; 2-CD)
     American Shindig! readers of a certain vintage will no doubt remember these two albums from 1973-'74 respectively. In fact, our own Mike Fornatale has no shame in admitting how Loggins & Messina soundtracked his college years. For younger readers, however, they may draw a blank. Well think harder you Do-Dos, Jim Messina had been an active musician and producer playing with both Buffalo Springfield and Poco. Buddy Kenny Loggins had been on the outer peripheries of the scene penning a number of beautiful folk pop ditties for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and of course, later hit an all time low with '80s movie anthem 'Footloose'. Backtracking to the greener pastures of '72 , the flourishing duo built up momentum and went onto become one of the biggest sensations in early '70s American rock.
     Today their nicely trimmed beards, sun tanned torsos and the hippy-got-rich sensibility (as depicted on Full Sail's cover) perhaps depict excess and selling out the dream. Indeed, the majority of the numbers on these two huge selling albums are insipid, to say the least, with the cod calypso ('Lahaina'), rock and roll ('My Music') and reggae ('Coming To You') of Full Sail leading this writer reaching for the bucket to hurl. Yet when things get laid back on the chilled out 'Pathway To Glory' or Mother Lode's 'Be Free', 'Brighter Days' and the uplifting cinematic 'Keep Me In Mind' their delicate sounds equal anything by CSN&Y or Merrell Fankhauser's Hawaiian period, and they are guiltlessly appealing. It's just such a shame that they cut so much crap. But what did they care? And what do we? In this pick and mix era we can be selective.
www.bgo-records.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE SUNDOWNERS
Captain Nemo (Rev-Ola; CD)
     A highly enjoyable '60s pop album encompassing a variety of styles which eventually led to the group's demise, but at the same time including some absolutely killer tracks. Extensive liner notes by Andy Morten (sounds familiar) tell the groups story and how they toured with The Monkees and had cameo appearances in two movies with the result that this their only album was recorded piecemeal over two years and when released contained 11 tracks, seven of which had been released as singles, and as a result died a quick death.
     However it does contain three or four killer tracks and is a great album except for an ill-advised rendition of The Everly brothers 'Let It Be Me' which with its spoken intro was so out of sync with what was happening in 1968 that it effectively did for their careers what recording 'Still' did for The Sunrays some three years earlier. If only some enterprising DJ had flipped the single and given some airplay to the phenomenal 'Blue Green Eyes' things could have been so different.
     At times the group sound like The Monkees and at others like The Association (so no harm done there) which gives the album a great mid-'60s vibe. Other standout tracks include the brass driven opener 'Sunny Day People', the latin-tinged 'Edge of Love' , the great chiming folk rocker 'Ring Out Wild Bells' and the sunshine classic 'Always You'. Another great unearthed gem from Rev-Ola . Play it loud and it'll give you a buzz and a big grin. Great Stuff.
www.revola.co.uk
Pat Curran

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Dream Babes Vol.7: Beat Chic (RPM; CD)
     The latest volume in this excellent Brit girl series revisits the 1963-'66 period. Kicking off with probably the most (even only?) listenable Beatles novelty cash-in 45, Polly Perkins 'You Too Can Be A Beatle' from 1964. Perkins (born Gillian Arnold) was the youngest Windmill Theatre girl to appear nude on stage at just 15 years old. She subsequently developed a showbiz career that included comparing Ready Steady Go! until Kathy McGowan came along. Perkins, the liners tell us, is due her own anthology on RPM in the not too distant future. Another girl "off the telly" who had a prior musical career was Jenny Moss who was famous in the 1960s as Coronation Street's token rebellious female teen Lucille Hewitt. Here, singing 'Hobbies' with it's vaguely R&B pop type melody, she sounds as good as any of the others. And how great is it to have some info and even a photo of Britian's first(?) all girl R&B band, The Beat Chics at last? Pretty neat. Their drummer Christine Leeworthy, to this day lives in Essex running the Fiddlesticks percussion studio. A superior sound quality version of their only 45 'Now I Know' is a welcome inclusion.
     Others that attract the ears are Goldie (both with and without The Gingerbreads) on 'Can't You Hear My Heartbeat' and 'Headlines'; Jackie Bond's 'Why Can't I Love Him'; Swedish ex pats Bella & Me's 'Whatever Happened To The 7 Day Weekend'; Marian Angel's 'Tomorrow's Fool' with its' snakey guitar; the virtually unknown Immediate label artist Van Lenton with 'You Don't Care' and The Carrolls soulful 'The Folk I Love'. It's a great compilation and adds to what is already the most comprehensive collection of Brit Girl '60s sides. There's the usual wealth of pics and ephemera with comprehensive liner notes by Michael Robson. Vol.8 entitled Stocking Top Pop deals with the later period 1966-'70 and is hopefully not far behind this one!
www.rpmrecords.co.uk
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Get Ready To Fly (Big Beat; CD)
     Producer Norman Petty was clearly at home with rockabilly and pop music, sothe projects he oversaw in the final throes of the '60s may come as something of a surprise. The last in Big Beat's chronology of the famed sound shaper's output are mainly derived from the 1967-'70 period, including the futuristic 'No Silver Bird' (The Hooterville Trolley) and the decidedly twee and bendy take of 'Not Fade Away' by Group Axis. Mostly the album gathers unreleased material from the vaults though, and oh boy, are there some treats. The Zombiesesque 'Mystic Magic Movements' (The Shi Guys) has major label hit written all over it, Mike Burnett has a very UK psych-pop vein, as do a number of other artists compiled here, and his poppy 'Saying Things' perfectly mixes bubble-psych ala Tommy Roe with fuzzy guitars. The Frantics' perfect throaty teen punk 'Just For A While' has a wonderful guitar line that owes more than a little to Springfield's 'Mr Soul', the decidedly unhinged 'Door Knob' by little known Texans The Intricate Blend is almost scary and The Group Axis' super heavy 'Silly Ants' and Willie & The Walker's delicious pop/psych-garage 'The Magic In Her Eyes' are just two more examples of the scope and quality of these later recordings.
     So Petty may have been out of tune with where the kids "were at" himself, yet his love and skill with pop production and arrangement gave unsuspecting teen garage bands a commercial, yet slightly freaky shot at the big time. The Apple-Glass Cyndrom's 'Going Wrong' sums it up best. Semi-delia, too straight for the freaks yet too weird for the pop kids... and isn't that such a wonderful dichotomy?
www.acerecords.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Hide And Seek: Yet More New Directions (Psychic Circle;CD)
     Essentially New Directions Vol.4, this is the strongest in this series of blue-eyed soul thus far. As with the Le Beat Bespoke compilations, Hide and Seek deals mainly with late1960s sides that blend soul and pop to make a forceful whole. Hats off to Nick Saloman here, he's come up with some absolute barnstormers. Kevin 'King' Lear's gnarly take on Julie London's 'Cry Me A River' features a freak beatin' guitar that snakes around his voice all the way through to create a really grungy soul rock side. Dave Anthony (solo with The Moods here) kicks off with a storming title track that defies you to sit still. Elsewhere there are northern soul gone rock crossover type sides with great loping bass lines in a kind of imitation James Jameson way. The queen-pin of such sides here is Barry St John's 'Turn On Your Love light' which will have you pulsing and sweating with adrenalin before the intro is even complete! By the song's final stages you will have stomped the floor to a pulp! There are also a couple of left field numbers that sit well in this company but which seem to emanate from an altogether different world of lost great '60s singles that float in their own ether.
These are Fearns Brass Foundry's 'Now I Taste The Tears' and The Stone Graphics 'Travelling Man'. The former is a slow builder with a Motownish type string section over the top defining the melody as the voice gets bigger, stretching across the chords with its tale of desertion, ending in potential retribution. The latter is similarly paced and is based in a moody, restless, searching melody. Again, a big loping bass line predominates. Elsewhere, there's yet another great Gene Latter track in the form of 'Sign On The Dotted Line', an Owen Gray tune 'Help Me' which is a cop of Aretha Franklin's 'Save Me' (though the notes compare it to 'Gloria', same riff you see) and memorable melodic hooky tunes by Cinnamon ('You Won't See Me Leaving'), Bernie & The Buzz Band ('Don't Knock It'), The Carrolls ('Surrender Your Love') and Five & Penny ('You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies'). Overall, this is a great collection of unreiussued / compiled 45s which should appeal to anyone with ears connected to their feet! More soon please!
www.soundlinkmusic.com
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
It Came From The Garage (Big Beat; CD)
     13 of these tracks appeared on the now deleted Scary Business comp in 2001, the remainder consist of mid-'60s frat/garage culled from the Downey archive. For me, the twangy, sax led frat is a little too primitive, although of course many flip for it. Horses for courses, I guess; I just like my garage combined with psychedelia rather than rock and roll. But when Kinks-beat, Them-esque drawled vocals and Byrds/Beatles' jangle take centre stage this compilation hits the spot. Bud & Kathy's outstanding 'Hang It Out To Dry', The Last Words' classic Van-a-like 'Sleepy Hollow', the squeaky, rage of 'Don't Call Me I'll Call You' by The Last Words and superb mid-'60s garage glories from The New Breed (notably their psychedelically inclined and yearning 'The Words Ring Back') and The Barracudas. The latest entry Craig & Michael's 1967 Downey release 'Drifty' is a far more defined honed pop-psych production that points towards the future, so there's almost something for everybody.
     If you missed Scary Business or fancy a fair mix of untamed frat and down the line garage, then this is for you.
www.acerecords.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Shockwave! Lost Legends Of The Surf Guitar IV (Sundazed; CD)
     The Sundazed 'Lost Legends' series has consistently unearthed obscure surf nuggets from the early '60s, with the usual Sundazed attention to quality design and information. As usual, Alec Palao's liner notes are detailed and informative. As he points out, the international ambassadors of surf music were the nationally popular vocal groups, led by The Beach Boys. The largely instrumental recordings on this collection were mostly created by the predecessors of the mid-'60s garage bands, young guys who had caught the surf craze even though they lived hundreds of miles from the ocean. (Many of the 45s on this volume were originally recorded at Cuca studios in Wisconsin). Like the garage punk bands many later become, the legions of obscure surf bands usually released one or two obscure singles on obscure labels. Few expected their releases would lead to fame and stardom – if they sold 500 copies they would throw a party!
     With this in mind, it is not surprising that this collection contains a lot of worthwhile, hip-shaking, toe-tapping, reverb-soaked fun tunes, but not a bunch of awesome lost classics. (Except perhaps Zorba & The Greeks title track, a belter of a tune with great organ). Some of the bands, like the Belairs and The Avengers VI, were better known, but most will be unknown to regular punters. I won't mention individual songs, as they will only be familiar to big surf music fans, who will already have snapped up this album!
www.sundazed.com
Phil Suggitt

VARIOUS ARTISTS
White Lace & Strange: It's All Gone Heavy Over There (Psychic Circle; CD)
     This latest compilation offering from Nick Saloman's Psychic Circle label looks at the origins of American heavy rock in the period 1968-'72. I think I own about 95% of the albums featured here and they are very good selections indeed. This was a time when the heavy sound was defined by busy drums, shapely bass lines and loud guitars fed through big muff effects pedals a la Cream, Hendrix Experience et al, an age before, as Saloman points out in his introductory notes: "spandex, pyrotechnic stage shows and satin tour jackets". This is what Marshall stacks were meant for! From the moment you kick off with Third Power's 'Persecution' you know you're in for a big old rock 'n' roll ride. All of these selections are great and feature big guitar solos and loud chording.
     Just to highlight a few, Blue Mountain Eagle's 'Loveless Loves' (get their sole 1970 album now if you know what's good for ya!), Banchee's 'John Doe' (two albums in 1969 and 1971 both available as a 2fer cd – go fetch, it's some of the very best of its type), Thunder and Roses's ' White Lace And Strange', Lincoln Street Exit's 'Time Has Come, Gonna Die' (also recently reissued), Road's 'Spaceship Earth' and uncharacteristically, for them, The Yellow Payges take on 'I'm A Man' all kick rump with impressive velocity. Saloman notes that Genesis's (no, not them!) contribution in the shape of their awesome 45 'Angeline' was a one-off single as he can find nothing more about them. I can add a little more however. They issued two singles, both lifted from their 1969 Mercury album In The Beginning. A very fine album it is as well, not yet reissued but not expensive to find on vinyl. Other hairies featured include Illinois Speed Press, The Power of Zeus (Motown's first rock band signing to their Rare Earth imprint), Mount Rushmore, T.I.M.E (from their second, heavier album), Eden's Children and The Lemonade Charade. Fabulous stuff throughout and highly recommended. The end of May sees the release of Fairytales Can Come True, a comp of late '60s bendy British parlour pop. After which, I imagine it will be time for some Volume 2's in the titles already issued before Nick Saloman runs out of collector sub genres to exploit!
www.soundlinkmusic.com
Paul Martin