HOT TUNA - DOUBLE DOSE (GRUNT/RCA 1978) JVC K2 mastering cardboard sleeve

Hot Tuna, now a quartet with the official addition of keyboardist Nick Buck, released this two-LP live album, its first concert material in seven years, and having thus summed things up, broke up as the album hit record stores. Double Dose gave a good sense of mature Hot Tuna as a vehicle for the musical interests of Jorma Kaukonen, who used the entire first side as an acoustic solo set, then included the excellent "Genesis" from his solo album Quah on side B. Elsewhere, the electrified group alternated between Kaukonen's best Hot Tuna compositions and blues and rock standards. It was produced by Felix Pappalardi (Cream, Mountain), who gave Hot Tuna its best recorded sound; even though it's a "live" record, there seems to have been a lot of studio overdubbing. ~ William Ruhlmann
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Side A
"Winin' Boy Blues" (Jelly Roll Morton) – 5:57
"Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" (Reverend Gary Davis) – 3:08
"Embryonic Journey" (Jorma Kaukonen) – 1:56
"Killing Time in the Crystal City" (Kaukonen) – 6:35
Side B
"I Wish You Would" (Billy Boy Arnold) – 4:20
"Genesis" (Kaukonen) – 4:16
"Extrication Love Song" (Kaukonen) – 4:26
"Talking 'Bout You" (Chuck Berry) – 5:34
Side C
"Funky #7" (Kaukonen, Jack Casady) – 8:49
"Serpent of Dreams" (Kaukonen) – 6:43
"Bowlegged Woman, Knock Kneed Man" (Bobby Rush, Calvin Carter) – 4:51
Side D
"I See the Light" (Kaukonen) – 5:49
"Watch the North Wind Rise" (Kaukonen) – 4:58
"Sunrise Dance with the Devil" (Kaukonen) – 5:38
"I Can't Be Satisfied" (McKinley Morganfield) – 4:58
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JEFFERSON STARSHIP - SPITFIRE (GRUNT/RCA 1976) JVC K2 mastering cardboard sleeve

Spitfire was Jefferson Starship's 1976 follow-up to the chart-topping Red Octopus (1975), and it found the band in a cooperative mood. All seven bandmembers earned writing credits on at least one of the nine songs, along with eight outsiders, and even drummer John Barbata got a lead vocal on the simple rock & roll song "Big City." But the three main power centers in the group remained in place. Singer/guitarist Paul Kantner continued to turn out his lengthy, complex songs with their exhortatory, vaguely political lyrics (the five-minute "Dance with the Dragon" and the seven-minute "Song to the Sun: Ozymandias/Don't Let It Rain"). Singer Grace Slick contributed her own idiosyncratic compositions, simultaneously elliptical and passionately stated ("Hot Water" and "Switchblade"). And singer Marty Balin, whose romantic ballad "Miracles" had fueled the success of Red Octopus, wrote (or located) and sang more songs of love and pleasure ("Cruisin'," "St. Charles," "With Your Love," and "Love Lovely Love"). Weaving the three styles together were the fluid lead guitar work of Craig Chaquico and the alternating bass and keyboard playing of David Freiberg and Pete Sears. The result was an album that quickly scaled the charts, spending six consecutive weeks at number three in Billboard and going platinum. That it didn't do better on the band's considerable career momentum can be put down to the relatively disappointing nature of the material. There was no "Miracles" on the album, to begin with. Grunt Records released the more modest "With Your Love" as a single and got it into the Top 20, but the closest thing to "Miracles" was really "St. Charles," a song that certainly had some of the same elements but lacked the kind of direct emotional statement that made "Miracles" a classic. Similarly, "Dance with the Dragon" was no "Ride the Tiger" (from Dragon Fly [1974]), and while "Switchblade" was an unusually clear statement of romantic intent from Slick (whose "lyrical wordplay is...not easily accessible yet compelling and thought-provoking," as 2004 reissue annotator Jeff Tamarkin generously says of "Hot Water"), its provocative title made it an unlikely choice for an adult contemporary hit. Spitfire was more than the sum of its parts, boasting the sort of vocal interplay and instrumental virtuosity that had always been the hallmarks of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. If the band had taken more time to write and find better songs, it might have matched the sales and quality of its predecessor.[allmusic]
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RENAISSANCE - PROLOGUE (SOVEREIGN/CAPITOL 1972) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve

The first album by the '70s (i.e. Annie Haslam) version of Renaissance is a transitional work, rooted in more standard hard rock sounds (including psychedelia) than what followed. One can spot the difference, which may please some listeners and put others off, in the fairly heavy guitar sound of "Prologue," Rob Hendry's electric instrument playing both lead and rhythm parts prominently at various times behind Annie Haslam's soaring vocals and adjacent to John Tout's piano. "Kiev" may also startle some longtime fans, since Haslam doesn't handle the lead vocals, the male members' singing being much more prominent. The ethereal, flowingly lyrical "Sounds of the Sea" is the cut here that most resembles the music that the group became known for in the years ahead, and shows Haslam singing in the high register for which she would become famous. "Spare Some Love," with its prominent folky acoustic guitar, also anticipates material (specifically "Let It Grow" and "On The Frontier") off of the group's better known second album, Ashes Are Burning. "Bound For Infinity" marked the final creative contribution by co-founder Jim McCarty, of the '60s version of Renaissance, and is pretty enough even if it doesn't fit in anywhere with their subsequent sound. And the 11-minute epic "Rajah Khan," with its elements of raga-rock, including sitar-like passages on Hendry's electric guitars and an extended VCS 3 synthesizer solo by Francis Monkman, is a more advanced and virtuoso descendant of late '60s psychedelia. It, too, has little to do with the sound that the group subsequently adopted (although it does intersect, in the most peripheral way, with "Song of Scheherazade" and some of the other Eastern-theme works that preceded it), but the track is entertaining and does show off a startlingly different type of art-rock toward which this group could have gravitated. The sound is clean, and this version of Prologue is to be preferred over Capitol's abortive attempt to reissue it in the late 1980's as In The Beginning, which cut some of the material and had totally lackluster sound.[allmusic]
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FIFTY FOOT HOSE - CAULDRON (LIMELIGHT/MERCURY 1968) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 7 bonus

Fifty Foot Hose were one of the most unusual '60s San Francisco psychedelic bands, in part because they weren't really that psychedelic. Like a few other acts of the time (most notably the United States of America), they were trying to fuse the contemporary sounds of rock with electronic instruments and avant-garde compositional ideas. Only one album resulted from the ambitious enterprise, and that record (Cauldron, 1968) still remains unknown to all but hardcore collectors. Although an erratic work, it was intriguing for its mix of jazzy psychedelic rock tunes with electronic sound effects that anticipated future models of synthesizers, but sounded fiercer and more primitive.
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Fifty Foot Hose were founded by bassist Cork Marcheschi, who had previously been in a conventional rock/R&B band the Ethix. Under Marcheschi's prodding, in 1967, the Ethix released one wildly atonal single, "Bad Trip," whose violent musique concrete foreshadowed the avant-garde postures of his subsequent group (in fact, "Bad Trip" was more avant-garde than anything Fifty Foot Hose would record). (Apparently it was played once on a local underground radio station, and then never again.) Interested in the ideas of experimental composers like Edgar Varese, John Cage, Terry Riley, and George Antheil, Marcheschi constructed his own electronic instrument from a combination of elements like Theremins, fuzz boxes, a cardboard tube, and a speaker from a World War II aircraft bomber.
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Fifty Foot Hose were filled out by guitarist David Blossom and his vocalist wife Nancy, who brought both psychedelic and jazz influences to the band, and a couple of musicians who had played with Marcheschi in other acts. A home demo successfully demonstrated their fusion of electronic effects and songs that were loosely in tune with the San Francisco psychedelic vibe. It led to a deal with Limelight, a subsidiary of Mercury that focused more upon experimental music than conventional rock and pop outings.
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Cauldron was perhaps more interesting for its experimental textures than the sometimes routine compositions -- eerie electronic swoops and jolts swam through the background and foreground of the tracks, enhanced by techniques like putting instruments through an FM transmitter. The jazzier and spookier tunes worked better than the bluesier hard rock items, yet it was an admirably risk-taking effort. But, ultimately, a pretty uncommercial one -- although they got some live work in San Francisco, the album was heard by few at its time of release.[allmusic]
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ROGER THWAITES - AGE OF TIME (SOUND UNLIMITED 1971) Kor mastering cardboard sleeve

Hailed from Araluen, Australia, Roger Thwaites is a folk singer released two albums. "Age Of Time" is his second album released right after the first album called "200 Years" in 1970. Don't miss Roger's growling voice!
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..."Well, from the first song on, a surprisingly good LP which appears almost as if it had been produced with my specific tastes in mind! The vocals are mostly big and booming with plenty of echo, the songs are great, the lyrics interesting (mostly about the Australian outback and people), the backing a peculiar mix of folk, early rock'n'roll, psychedelia, country and pop, with some songs featuring scorching acid guitar and studio effects. The closest reference point would be Lee Hazlewood's solo LPs, which happen to be among my favourites, and if Mr Thwaites hadn't heard Lee (did his solo records get released in Australia?) then he surely must have been a fan of Elvis and Johnny Cash...." [http://recordhuntinginaustralia.blogspot.com/]
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HEAVEN & EARTH - REFUGE (OVATION 1973) Kor mastering cardboard sleeve

A female psychedelic duo's sole album released in 1973. Very well polished folk, pop and psychedelic sound with Anita Kerr Singers harmonies.
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Whatever your musical taste, psych-folk, funk, soft rock… this LP seems to fit perfectly. Should appeal to fans of BJ Ward, Wendy & Bonnie, Linda Perhacs, Christine Harwood, Sunforest, Margo Guryan, Lyn Christopher, Barbara & Ernie...
Recorded through October & November at Streeterville Studios, Chicago. Produced by Dick Schory & George Andrews. Solo voice- Jo D. Andrews, 2nd Voice- Pat Gefell. Acoustic guitars- Pat Gefell, Charles Chittenden, Ron Steele. Flute & Echoplex- Arthur Lauer. Congas & Bongos- Bobby Christian. Strings arranged & conducted by- George Andrews. Strings- Joseph Golan, Joseph Sciacchitano, Samuel Magad, Jerry Sabranski, Fred Spector, William Schoen. Vocal Arrangements by Jo D Andrews.
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THE WASHINGTON APPLE - FRESH COUNTRY APPLES (DELICIOUS 1970) Kor mastering cardboard sleeve

The Washington Apples were from the Pacific Northwest and consisted of Janet Marble (vocals), Joe Hadlock (keyboards), Tom Chapman (guitar), David King (bass), and Scott Schreckengost (drums).
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“WHEN THE ‘APPLES FIRST STARTED, THE IDEA WAS TO WRITE AND RECORD SOME UNUSUAL CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FOR RADIO COMMERCIALS ABOUT WASHINGTON APPLES. ” (album liner note)
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After starting their careers cutting a series of radio commercials in support of Washington apples, the band got a chance to record some more conventional material and saw the release of a 1970 album on the Seattle-based Delicious Records label. “Fresh Country Apples” is definitely different. The first side offers up a series of expanded versions of their earlier commercial jingles. Powered by excellent vocals, material such as the title track isn’t half bad, the only major mis-step being the hokey “Apple Core Baltimore” (the title says it all). The flip side features the band in a more contemporary setting and is actually quite good.
Highlights include a bluesy cover of “Summertime”, “Blues for J” and Hadlock’s pseudo-jazzy “Another Day”, and a version of the Youngbloods’ “Sunlight”. While some dealers have hyped the album as being a psych classic, most of the set sports a far more commercial orientation. The one exception is the extended closer “Ode To Cory”. Complete with thunderstorm effects, squealing guitar and a dirge like tempo, this one sounds like it was torn out of some acid-tripping San Francisco band’s catalog. Quite impressive. (Acid Archives)
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THESE TRAILS - THESE TRAILS (PP 1973) Kor mastering cardboard sleeve

Reissuing a rare, privately pressed Hawaiian LP from 1973, These Trails' self-titled debut documents a singularly exotic strain of acid-folk. Ethereal male/female harmonies soar over rich melodies and traditional island instrumentation to create gorgeously verdant psychedelia that captures the very essence of tropical paradise. In addition to conventional Hawaiian elements like slack guitar and swaying rhythms, These Trails integrate Far Eastern sounds like tabla and sitar into the equation, further expanding the music's otherworldliness. From its effortless evocation of ocean waves to lush arrangements that capture the beauty and mystery of jungles glistening in the morning dew, no other record sounds quite like this one. ~ Jason Ankeny
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These Trails was never really a band; it was an album of music originally birthed upon the world in 1973 made by everyday-people-type inhabitants of Hawaii. Nonetheless, it was a powerful expression that stands with up other recently discovered heroes of the private press world, such as Linda Perhacs & Gary Higgins, whose singular musical endeavors stand with the best of what the hippified 1970s had to offer.
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Liner Note Authors: Rob Sevier; Margaret Morgan.
Recording information: Sinergia, Inc., Honolulu.
Photographer: Joseph Martin.
Arranger: David Choy.
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Personnel: Patrick Cockett (vocals, guitar, slide guitar, tabla); Margaret Morgan (vocals, guitar, dulcimer); Carlos Pardeiro (vocals, guitar, sitar); Eric Kingsbury (guitar); David Choy (recorder, ARP synthesizer).
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COLLAGE - COLLAGE (CREAM 1970) Korean mastering cardboard sleeve

Collage was an obscured outfit released only one album in 1970 on Cream records.
Twelve cool soft rock tracks are backed up by brass,fuzz guitar and chorus which strongly reminds of Free design,Beau Brummels and Beach Boys. Highly recommended for soft rock enthusiasts.[Big Pink Music Review]
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JACKSON HEIGHTS - KING PROGRESS (CHARISMA 1970) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve

Formed by former Nice bassist and vocalist Lee Jackson when The Nice split in 1969. The name was taken from a district of New York. Musically they were more pop-orientated than The Nice, but they built up a good live reputation through relentless touring. Their debut album on Charisma made little impact although it did contain a fine version of an old Nice favourite Cry Of Eugene and another highlight was a similarly gentle, atmospheric song Insomnia.It would be the only album that included Charlie Harcourt (who would later go on to join Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys and Lindisfarne), Tommy Slone, and Mario Enrique Covarrubias Tapia who would leave shortly after the album was released. The group re-emerged a couple of years later on Vertigo with 5th Avenue Bus, an album of melodic, well constructed and somewhat orchestrated pop-orientated material. This format was repeated on Ragamuffin's Fool, which was housed in a poster sleeve. After a final effort, Bump And Grind, they disbanded, but in 1974 Jackson formed Refugee, who cut an album for Charisma. After this he disappeared from the music scene for good.
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JOHNNY WINTER - JOHNNY WINTER (COLUMBIA 1969) Jap DSD mastering cardboard sleeve + 5 bonus

When Johnny Winter emerged on the national scene in 1969, the hope, particularly in the record business, was that he would become a superstar on the scale of Jimi Hendrix, another blues-based rock guitarist and singer who preceded him by a few years. That never quite happened, but Winter did survive the high expectations of his early admirers to become a mature, respected blues musician with a strong sense of tradition.
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Winter's debut album for Columbia was also arguably his bluesiest and best. Straight out of Texas with a hot trio, Winter made blues-rock music for the angels, tearing up a cheap Fender guitar with total abandon on tracks like "I'm Yours and I'm Hers," "Leland Mississippi Blues," and perhaps the slow blues moment to die for on this set, B.B. King's "Be Careful with a Fool." Winter's playing and vocals have yet to become mannered or cliched on this session, and if you've ever wondered what the fuss is all about, here's the best place to check out his true legacy.[allmusic]
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JOHNNY WINTER AND - JOHNNY WINTER AND (COLUMBIA 1970) Jap DSD mastering cardboard sleeve + 2 bonus

After two late-'60s albums on Columbia, Johnny Winter hit his stride in 1970 working with Rick Derringer and the McCoys, now recruited as his sidemen and collaborators (and proving with just about every note here how far they'd gotten past "Hang on Sloopy"). In place of the bluesy focus on his first two albums, Winter extended himself into more of a rock-oriented mode here, in both his singing and his selection of material. This was hard rock with a blues edge, and had a certain commercial smoothness lacking in his earlier work. Derringer's presence on guitar and as a songwriter saw to it that Winter's blues virtuosity was balanced by perfectly placed guitar hooks, and the two guitarists complemented each other perfectly throughout as well. There wasn't a weak moment anywhere on the record, and if Johnny Winter And wasn't a huge commercial success, it was mostly because of the huge amount of competition at the time from other, equally inspired players, that kept numbers like the Winter originals "Prodigal Son" and "Guess I'll Go Away" as well as Derringer co-authored pieces such as "Look Up" from having the impact they should have had on FM radio.[allmusic]
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IAN MATTHEWS - JOURNEYS FROM THE GOSPEL OAK (MOONCREST 1974) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 7 bonus

In 1972, several years after leaving both Fairport Convention and his own group, Matthews Southern Comfort, Iain Matthews was once again struck with a case of musical wanderlust and decided to pack in his solo career and form a new group, Plainsong. At the time, Matthews still owed an album to Vertigo Records, and rather than give them Plainsong's debut, he booked a studio for five days and cut a solo album dominated by covers of songs from American tunesmiths, with only two original songs appearing on the set. By all rights, the album that resulted should have been a tossed-off trifle (especially since Vertigo opted not to release it after all, eventually selling it to the independent Mooncrest label), but Journeys from Gospel Oak turned out to be one of Matthews' most satisfying solo efforts, a lovely fusion of airy country rock and pastoral British folk that captured some of Matthews' most beautiful and heartfelt vocal work. Matthews' two new songs, "Knowing the Game" and "Franklin Avenue," are fine tunes inspired by his experiences in the music business, but the covers he chose for the set are inspired; he manages to bring something fresh and affecting to well-worn numbers like "Do Right Woman" and "Sing Me Back Home," and lesser known compositions like "Bride 1945" and "Things You Gave Me" prove his interpretive instincts were to be reckoned with. The compact band Matthews put together for the sessions is superb: Jerry Donahue's lead guitar is subtle but gently reinforces the country accents of the melodies, and bassist Pat Donaldson and drummer Timi Donald (who played on many of Richard Thompson's early solo sessions) give the tracks a rock-solid foundation. Journeys from Gospel Oak is a simple album, but there's something deeply satisfying in its elegance, and it captures a soulful and touching spirit that's found in Iain Matthews' best music.[allmusic]
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DICK HECKSTALL-SMITH - A STORY ENDED (BRONZE 1972) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 5 bonus

Rather than a story ended, Dick Heckstall-Smith's debut album was in some ways a continuation of the stories written by his previous bands Colosseum and the Graham Bond Organisation, for the record was recorded with the assistance of several of his past associates from those two groundbreaking British blues-rock-jazz groups, including Mark Clarke, Dave Greenslade, Chris Farlowe, and Jon Hiseman (who both played drums and produced) of the just-disbanded Colosseum, as well as Graham Bond. Pete Brown, who'd worked with several of the musicians who sprang from the Graham Bond Organisation crowd, co-wrote most of the songs with Heckstall-Smith; Chris Spedding and famed Elton John sideman Caleb Quaye contributed guitar. As often happens on solo projects stuffed with contributions by famous friends, however, the album was something of a disappointment in comparison to the leader's respectable track record. It sounds like a slightly heavier, slightly jazzier Colosseum, with songs that strain and tumble over themselves where the best Colosseum tracks had a powerful glide. Vocals were never Colosseum's strong suit, but the singing here, particularly on those tracks paced by Farlowe's blustery bellow, really drags the lyrically ambitious (and at times convoluted) material down. It might have been better to have had Pete Brown himself sing on those numbers he co-composed, as he was capable of projecting a real sense of his lyrics in spite of his vocal limitations. Instead, listeners are left with a confused-sounding (and at times grating) set that doesn't add up to the sum of the individual talents, though in the most melodic and laid-back number ("What the Morning Was After"), you get a hint of the kind of moody songs that Brown helped craft for Jack Bruce's early solo recordings. [The 2004 U.K. expanded CD reissue on Castle adds three pretty well-recorded live tracks from the touring band Heckstall-Smith assembled shortly after A Story Ended was recorded, including versions of two of the songs from the album ("Moses in the Bullrushourses" and "The Pirate's Dream"), as well as a cover of a Paul Butterfield song ("No Amount of Loving") not on the LP. The CD also adds a couple of previously unreleased studio recordings (credited to Manchild) laid down by the band in early 1973, although the album for which these were intended was never finished due to an injury to Heckstall-Smith.]
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OPEN ROAD - WINDY DAZE (GREENWICH GRAMOPHONE 1970) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 2 bonus

"Produced by legendary rock producer, Tony Reeves (ex-Colosseum bassist), Open Road were the very first progressive group to be signed to the Greenwich Gramophone Company (a subsidiary of Chapter One Records) in 1971. Their music reflects feelings of anti-establishment prevalent amongst the young at that time, and was quite visionary in its approach.
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The members of the band consist of 'Candy' John Carr - Drums, Percussion and Vocals. Barry Husband - Acoustic and Lead Guitar, Bass and Vocals. Simon Lanzon - Keyboards, Piano, Accordion and Vocals and Mike Thomson - Bass, 12 String Guitar and Vocals. Producers - Tony Reeves and Open Road. Engineers - Robin Black and George Chiantz. Recorded at Olympic Sound Studios and Morgan, April 1971. Cover Design - Scribble, Doug Smith and Open Road.[chapter one records]
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