OZZIE NELSON backed by James Burton and Rick Nelson’s band (1959)

Warne Marsh, ‘Live in Hollywood’ (Xanadu LP)

WARNE MARSH, tenor sax; HAMPTON HAWES, piano; JOE MONDRAGON, bass; SHELLY MANNE, drums (12/23/1952)

“Fine and Dandy” – 7:12​
“You Go to My Head” – 8:50​
“I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love with Me” – 9:45​
“Buzzy” – 7:15​
“All the Things You Are” – 5:19​
“I’ll Remember April” – 7:09​
“I Got Rhythm” – 6:19

LEVEE CAMP MOAN (UK, County Recording Service LP, 1969)

Side 1

1. Sweet Little Angel 0:00​
2. Lining Track 6:16​
3. Disgusted Of North Acton 7:35​
4. Keep From Crying 11:44​

Side 2

1. Walking By Myself 15:37​
2. Flood In Houston 18:30​
3. Damp 23:15​
4. Mr.Backlash 27:02​

Taking their name from the old blues number Levee Camp Moan, they were formed in the late 60’s when the five members, manager and roadies lived a country farmhouse in Bracknell. The name of the farm was Peacock Farm. (info from You Tube)

Nice touch, crediting Jack Kerouac as recording engineer! I think he might have appreciated the No-BS approach of this band. This is pure unadulterated British Blues as it should be played (to paraphrase Eddie Condon on the subject of Chicago-style jazz)….

Recorded at Virgin sound Windsor on 12 Jan – 16 Feb, 23 Feb 1969
Sal Bristow Vocals
Frank Wood Vocals
Ian Anthony Campbell Guitar
Stubbs Bass
Wild child Ashmore Drums

BIRMINGHAM (1972 LP, Grosvenor Records UK)

A1 Sock It JB
A2 Shoo Fly Fly
A3 Some People Never Know (Vocals – Jenny Peace)
A4 Magic Sorcerer
A5 Help Me
A6 Fire And Rain
B1 Boomerang
B2 Black Cloud
B3 Stone Free
B4 Summertime Blues
B5 Resurrection Shuffle
B6 Northern Hemisphere

Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet, Cowbell – Billy Paul
Drums, Congas – Mike Walsh*
Organ, Vocals, Piano, Acoustic Guitar – Dave Peace

SUGARLOAF, 1st album (Liberty Records, 1970), 8-track tape version

Colorado’s SUGARLOAF (who were at least partly an extension of the great mid-60s band THE MOONRAKERS) got a lot of airplay on the Denver (KFML) and Boulder “alternative” FM stations I listened to as a junior high and high school student, being a local band and a band whose music perfectly fit that trippy FM format.

Here is their first album for Liberty, but in the 8-track version (thanks to whoever posted this from their own 8-track tape). I can imagine someone in my hometown of Golden, Colorado, listening to this 8-track in their Jeep or pickup, cruising through the foothills. Why not imagine that setting as you listen…

1 Green-Eyed Lady
2 Things Gonna Change Some (part 1)
3 Things Gonna Change Some (part 2)
4 West of Tomorrow
5 Gold and the Blues
6 Medley : Bach Doors Man/Chest Fever (part 1)
7 Medley : Bach Doors Man/Chest Fever (part 2)
8 The Train Kept A-Rollin (Stroll On)

Jerry Corbetta – organ, piano, clavichord, vocals
Bob Webber – guitar, vocals
Bob Raymond – bass
Myron Pollock – drums
Bob MacVittie – drums (on Green-Eyed Lady)
Veeder van Dorn -vocals on West of Tomorrow and Things Are Gonna Change Some

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OOPS….sorry but the link has been taken down since I wrote this post a few months ago….trust me, it was an interesting variation on a fine album…..

Gene Clark (solo acoustic), Live at The Rongo, Trumansburg, New York, 20 May 1990

Rain Song 0:00​
Train Leaves Here This Morning(with a Intro) 4:28​
Here Without You 9:57​
Set You Free This Time 14:15​
The World Turns All Around 17:51​
Gypsy Rider 20:44​
Kansas City Southern 26:03​
My Marie 30:11​
Eight Miles High 38:48​
Knocking On Heaven’s Door 42:29​
Chimes of Freedom 47:25​
I Shall Be Released 54:04

Tony Sheridan, live in April 1959, “I Like Love”

Billy Boyd (aka Jerry Cole), ‘Twangy Guitars’ (Crown Records, 1960)

This music was also released as ROCK AND ROLL PARTY, and the tracks were then retitled for a surf-themed album….and later under the faux band-name THE ELECTRIC UNDERGROUND, it was reissued as GUITAR EXPLOSION. It’s first-rate west coast sax and guitar rock and roll….enjoy….

Shuffle Boogie
Night Rock
When The Lights Are Low
Jivin’ At The Savoy
Stompin’ At The Crossroads
Diggin’ The Blues
Mambo Boogie
South Hampton
Bolero Boogie
Duck Walk
Oop Shank
Drifting

Vittorio Gassman and Gerard Landry in THE VIOLENT PATRIOT (Italy 1956, now in color and widescreen!)

THE VIOLENT PATRIOT came out on VHS here in the US 25 or 30 years ago in black and white from a pan and scan TV print. Here is a beautiful English-dubbed COLOR print, presenting this 1956 classic in all its majesty. A fine cast featuring Vittorio Gassman, Gerard Landry, and Irish actress Constance Smith (who’d worked in Hollywood earlier)….and at the helm, director Sergio Grieco. a master of the historical spectacle, the Eurospy film, and the Eurocrime film….his last film was the blistering 1977 BEAST WITH A GUN with Helmut Berger and Richard Harrison, so the man certainly did not go out of the film world on a whimper! This did get a US theatrical release and undoubtedly looked impressive on the big screen (assuming the US release was in color and not B&W). As the film’s tagline stated, “Genius in the arts of war and love…no man ever stood taller than this hero who hurled back the invading hordes across the Alps.”

Vittorio Gassman … Giovanni de Medici dalle Bande Nere
Constance Smith … Emma Caldana
Gérard Landry … Gasparo, luogotenente
Anna Maria Ferrero … Anna
Philippe Hersent … frate Salvatore
Silvio Bagolini … ‘Lumaca’, il servo gobbo

directed by Sergio Grieco

released in Italy in September 1956

color, widescreen, 93 minutes….dubbed in English

THEM, “Shut Your Mouth!” (1979 German LP)

Ask 30 people what the final THEM album was, and 2/3 of them would say THEM IN REALITY, the 4th American Them album, on the Happy Tiger label, which took bassist Alan Henderson’s then-powertrio into grungy hard-rock territory with great results. However, Henderson and other Them veterans (Billy Harrison and Eric Wrixson) later joined vocalist Mel Austin and drummer Billy Bell for this German 1979 LP which was linked to a European tour. The album was produced by ex-Rattle Frank Dostal, and unfortunately it gets a bad rap the few times it’s mentioned, but if the band had been called anything else, I have a feeling it would be praised for lovers of British R&B. Imagine it had been recorded in Italy for Appaloosa and had a title relating to Belfast–it might be considered a classic of late-period veterans delivering the bluesy goods. Of course, if you’re not a fan of journeyman British R&B, you’re not going to like it, so go ahead and move on. For me, any band with Henderson, Harrison (he wrote most of the songs here) and Wrixson is going to be worth hearing, and Austin is a solid vocalist with the requisite growl who would certainly pass were he fronting a group of Texas musicians at the Continental Club on a hot Saturday night. It’s kind of like, for instance, a group of Memphis rockabilly musicians who’d been part of the local scene in the mid-50’s recording an album in the late 70’s or early 80’s. It would have been taken for granted at the time and compared with the 50’s material and found wanting; however, in hindsight, it’s solid and there are not people around anymore who can do what these original musicians could do.

I dig this out every year or two (I’ve had a copy since the 1980’s) and always enjoy it, so I was happy to see it on You Tube. If you come into it with no preconceptions and realize that 3/5 of the band are original members of the pool of musicians who were the original Them and part of an incredible Belfast music scene circa 1963-65, you should pour yourself a bottle of stout, and let these pros do what they do. Is a Carl Perkins record from the 80’s as good as his Sun sessions? Of course not, but it’s still a precious and enjoyable item, as long as it’s not over-produced and clogged with “guest stars.” This Them album is live in the studio, sounding like a well-recorded demo tape, so that to me is part of its strength. I can imagine some pretentious commentators calling the album “generic,” but they are working in a well-established genre and trying to find their own authentic groove within it.

This post is dedicated to the memory of Alan Henderson, who passed away in Minnesota in 2017 at the age of 72. I’m glad he lived to see his post-Van Morrison editions of Them being praised and recognized. The American Them bands played live quite a lot, especially in the American western states, and I wonder if any live recordings exist in the hands of the surviving band members or their families. Can you imagine live performances of the material from the two Tower albums or the Them In Reality power trio?

Until then, here is SHUT YOUR MOUTH, from Germany in 1979. Pretend the band name is THE BELFAST SURVIVORS, if that helps any. However, with Henderson, Wrixon, and Harrison, they are certainly entitled to fly the THEM flag IMHO….

01 Hamburg Connection
02 I’m A Lover – Not A Worker
03 Shut Your Mouth
04 Needed On The Farm
05 Street Walking Lady
06 Firewater
07 Child Of The Sixties
08 Slow Down
09 Losing You
10 Weekend Entertainer
11 Holy Roller 12 Cincinnati Dice Man

LINE-UP: Vocals – Mel Austin
Bass – Alan Henderson
Drums – Billy Bell
Guitar – Billy Harrison
Keyboards, Jew’s Harp – Eric Wrixon

The original album is not a big-ticket collectible and also there was a CD reissue on Spalax (France) that can be found at reasonable prices, for those who’d like to own a hard copy of this.

P.C. Kent, ‘Upstairs Coming Down’ (UK RCA LP, 1970)

PRODUCED BY SANDY ROBERTON

A1 Little Baby Won’t You Please Come Home, Honey-Child Won’t You Just Allow Me One More Change, Please
A2 Sweet Suzie Brown Boots
A3 Broadened
A4 Please Time Please
A5 I’m Hanging On
A6 We Are The Police
B1 Prelude To Brighton Rock
B2 One For The Road
B3 Suzy
B4 After Dark
B5 Blue Railway Fields
B6 Plastic Wedding

OUTLAW BLUES BAND (first album–ABC Bluesway LP, 1968)

The Los Angeles-based OUTLAW BLUES BAND recorded two fine albums for ABC Bluesway in the late 60’s, both of which I’ve owned and enjoyed since finding them used in the 1970’s. After playing their first album tonight, I thought I’d share it for those who have not heard it….or those who have not heard it in decades. Both albums were reissued on a two-fer CD many years ago by BGO in the UK, and there are lovely gatefold exact-reissue cardboard mini-LP CD’s of each put out on Akarma in Italy, which are worth finding. I see, looking at Discogs, that the first album on vinyl can still be had for under $10 while the second goes for $22 and up. Los Angeles had the knack of growing and nurturing first-rate blues bands, often multi-ethnic (as the OBB are), and the city has never really gotten its deserved acclaim in that area. Fortunately, many great LP’s survive. I realize not everyone is intro trippy late 60’s blues bands as much as I am, but if you are, you know how an album like this one satisfies. There’s also a nice jazz edge here with some avant-blues saxophone from Joe Whiteman, including a Vari-tone, just so you are sure this is a late 60’s or early 70’s album (it was good enough for Eddie Harris and Sonny Stitt!). Settle back and enjoy….

The band have a nice website you can access here, with band founding member Victor Aleman keeping the spirit alive: http://outlawbluesband.com/

1. Tobacco Road (Loudermilk) – 5:03
2. Tried to Be a Good Boy – 6:19
3. How Bad Love Can Be – 4:02
4. I’ve Got to Have Peace on My Mind – 3:34
5. Lost in the Blues – 3:06
6. Death Dog of Doom – 8:10
7. Sweet Sixteen (J. Josea, B.B. King) – 4:31
8. Two ‘Tranes Running – 2:14
   All songs by V. Aleman, J.F. Gonzalez, L. Rubenhold except where indicated.

Outlaw Blues Band
*Joe Francis Gonzalez – Bass, Vocals
*Joe Whiteman – Flute, Percussion, Soprano, Tenor Sax
*Phillip John Diaz – Lead, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals
*Leon Rubenhold – Harmonica, Timbales, Vocals
*Victor Aleman – Drums, Percussion, Vocals

Royal Guardsmen, “Om” (1967 B-side)

The Royal Guardsmen were a first-rate 60’s garage-band, initially growing out of the frat-rock style, though that achievement is somewhat obscured by the Snoopy-oriented novelty songs that brought them the majority of their hits. One could compile a 20-track all-killer, no-filler comp of their non-Snoopy sides (and someone should–Ace/Big Beat or Sundazed?), and this 1967 B-side would certainly be featured, OM, found on the flip of Airplane Song.

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Larry Buchanan’s 1967 classic MARS NEEDS WOMEN

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Made in Dallas, Texas (though set in Houston) by maverick director LARRY BUCHANAN, starring Tommy Kirk and Yvonne Craig….this is probably Buchanan’s best-known and most widely seen film (though all of his films are worthwhile), and it has all of the unique qualities found in his best-loved works. Texas should be proud of him.

original motion picture soundtrack THUNDER ALLEY (1967)

The 1967 feature film THUNDER ALLEY, starring Fabian and Annette Funicello, is available elsewhere on this website, so why not also enjoy the original Mike Curb-produced Sidewalk Records soundtrack LP! With names like Curb, Richard Podolor, Davie Allan, Band Without A Name (who later evolved into The American Revolution), and the team of Hemric-Styner (look elsewhere on this blog for the feature film SKI FEVER featuring their music–I could listen to the songs of Jerry Styner and Guy Hemric all day! a documentary should be made about them, if there’s one about The Wrecking Crew), you know you’re in good hands. In retrospect, the AIP/Curb soundtracks were the fruits of a Golden Age that was over after a few years, alas. Yes, the albums were often instant cutout fodder (which is where I first heard many of them) and could be around 20 minutes long, but they had the same kind of instant appeal as the films and are the perfect documents of them. Fabian doesn’t sing, unfortunately, but Annette does and there’s a wide variety of sounds on the album (a fuzz-toned instrumental, a good bit of lounge, Annette pop, even a marching band number!), provided to You Tube by Curb (sorry for the ads you’ll have to sit through). Enjoy….

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