Pierre Moerlen's Gong

Pierre Moerlen's Gong - Leave It Open - 1981 - Arista

Deviating from the "Canterbury Rock" style, Pierre Moerlen created a wonderful album of pure progressive jazz rock/fusion in " Leave It Open". This album has not received the credit it deserves. The late Pierre Moerlen was a musical genius, and created some classic progressive rock and fusion albums. His expertise in the percussive field was unequalled. His music was innovative and futuristic, and as a member of the great Franco-British progressive/psychedelic rock band, Gong, he created some of the greatest prog. rock of the last forty years. Gong has many offshoots in the Rock tree, and it would take far too much details to elaborate on some of the great progressive rock work of Pierre Moerlen, Daevid Allen, and Gong on this blog. Listen to Pierre Moerlen's Gong's "Downwind", and "Gazeuse!" albums, and read Gong's history @ ABOUT GONG and Daevid Allen's bio @ DAEVIDALLENBIO and search this blog for related releases. "Leave It Open" is VHR by A.O.O.F.C.

TRACKS

A1 Leave It Open 17:19
A2 How Much Better It Has Become 3:23

B1 I Woke Up That Morning Felt Like Playing Guitar 3:33
B2 It's About Time 6:06
B3 Stok Stok Stok Sto-gak 4:09
B4 Adrien 3:45

Music By - Hansford Rowe (tracks: B2, B3) , Pierre Moerlen (tracks: A1, A2, B1, & B4)

MUSICIANS

Guitar - Bon Lozaga (tracks: A1, B1, B3)
Guitar [Rhythm] - Brian Holloway (tracks: A2)
Bass - Hansford Rowe (tracks: A1, A2, B2, B3)
Drums, Vibraphone, Keyboards - Pierre Moerlen R.I.P
Percussion - François Causse (tracks: A1, B2)
Congas - Demelza (tracks: A1)
Saxophone - Charlie Mariano (tracks: A1, B1, B2)

PIERRE MOERLEN'S GONG BIO (WIKIPEDIA)

Pierre Moerlen's Gong is a jazz fusion outfit which is very different from the first incarnation of Gong, the psychedelic space-rock act led by Daevid Allen. It is notable for the prominent use of mallet percussion, such as marimba, xylophone, and vibraphone featured in a rock/jazz context, making for a very distinctive and unusual sound that could have been classified as warmer and more melodic than most typical fusion could be, and is comparable to the sort of fusion-influenced output many bands on the Canterbury scene were producing at around this time. Amid a flurry of lineup changes in the mid-1970s, including the departure of founding members Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth, Gong drummer Pierre Moerlen found himself in charge of the band and with two albums remaining on their Virgin recording contract. Moerlen formed a new Gong lineup featuring his brother Benoit on mallet percussion, US-born bassist Hansford Rowe and a rotating cast of session guitarists, notably Allan Holdsworth, Mike Oldfield, ex-Rolling Stone Mick Taylor, and Bon Lozaga. They released two albums under the Gong moniker, Gazeuse! (called Expresso in North America) in 1977 and then Expresso II in 1978. Following the completion of the Virgin contract, Moerlen changed the name of the group to Pierre Moerlen's Gong, presumably to distance itself from its very different previous incarnation. In early 1979, the group released Downwind, which was a more rock/pop flavoured album that featured occasional lead vocals by Moerlen himself and a cameo by Steve Winwood. Later in 1979 they released another album, Time is the Key, that took the band further into pop/rock territory. The live album "PM's Gong Live" was released in 1980, followed later that year by another studio album Leave It Open. By this point, Pierre Moerlen's incarnation of Gong scaled back its activity greatly, not releasing another record until 1986's Scientology-inspired Breakthrough, featuring members of the Swedish band Tribute. The group quietly disbanded soon after. Lozaga, Rowe, and Benoit Moerlen went on to form Gongzilla in the early 1990s, releasing four albums to date which are very much an extension of the percussive fusion that the original group brought to the fold, and they perform a mix of new and old live material going back to the Gazeuse/Expresso II period. Moerlen joined them for their 2002 European tour. Pierre Moerlen died unexpectedly on May 3, 2005 of natural causes, while rehearsals for yet another line-up of PM's Gong were underway.

PIERRE MOERLEN'S BIO

Born : October 23rd, 1952 - Colmar (France). Died : May 3rd, 2005. Past Bands : Asthme Congélateur (1970-71), Gong (1973-78, 1997-99), Pierre Moerlen's Gong (1978-89), Mike Oldfield Band (1979-83), Magma (1981), Faton Bloom (1983-84), Tribute (1985-87), Biréli Lagrène Trio (1988), various musicals (1990-), Brand X (1997), Gongzilla (2002). One of the most accomplished musicians of the whole Canterbury scene, Pierre Moerlen, who died on May 3rd 2005 aged only 52, was certainly a world-class drummer, whose work with Gong and Mike Oldfield, not to mention his 'solo' albums as Pierre Moerlen's Gong, has attracted wide critical praise. Pierre Moerlen was born in Colmar into a very musical family, his father being the resident organist of the Strasbourg cathedral as well as a piano and organ teacher, and his mother a school piano teacher. His three sisters and his brother Benoît are also musicians, although not all play music professionally. Moerlen started playing piano until he turned to percussion while a teenager. In 1967, he entered the Conservatoire Régional in Strasbourg to learn classical percussion under the guidance of Jean Batigne, founder of the famed Percussions de Strasbourg. While studying strictly classical music at the Conservatoire, Moerlen also developed an interest for more contemporary musical genres, and soon found himself involved in rock and fusion groups. The most notable was called Asthme Congélateur and featured future Magma guitarist Gabriel Fédérow, and its main claim to fame was appearing on a regional television programme alongside Belfort progressive rockers Ange and an even more obscure band featuring the Lemoine brothers, Jean-Sébastien and Patrice. The latter joined Moerlen in Gong around the time of Shamal. Around that time, Moerlen began to feel the urge to write and perform his own music, based on the use of the various tuned and untuned percussion instruments at his disposal. He rehearsed his pieces with Mireille Bauer, a fellow Conservatoire student and his girlfriend at the time (and coincidentally a cousin of Jean Batigne). One interesting anecdote on this period is that sometime in 1972, Moerlen and Bauer both attended a Gong concert in Strasbourg, and neither was too enthused about the gig. Certainly not the shape of things to come! As a matter of fact, while on a visit to Paris to try and find work in classical music, an idea he was not too keen on, he met Patrice Lemoine on the station platform where he was waiting for his train back to Strasbourg. Lemoine told him that Gong were looking for a drummer after the band had broken up during the tumultuous sessions for Flying Teapot. Although reluctant at the start, one listen to the just completed record convinced him that there was potential in the band and Daevid Allen's musical concept. He joined the band in its Voisines headquarters. In the Spring of 1973, with Allen and Gilli Smyth resting in Mallorca, the rest of Gong toured under the name of Paragong in French youth centres, and when the pair came back, the new consolidated line-up went into the studio to record the second volume of Allen's Radio Gnome trilogy, Angels Egg. In the meantime, Moerlen had been recruited by Mike Oldfield to appear, alongside an impressive cast of Canterbury scene musicians like Steve Hillage, Mike Ratledge, Fred Frith, Kevin Ayers, John Greaves and David Bedford, at a live performance of Oldfield's just-released Tubular Bells at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Moerlen's time in Gong was one of constantly leaving the band, then joining in again, which led to using a lot of replacement drummers. But he was unsure whether this was the right place for him to be, and he kept returning to Strasbourg to work and tour with the Percussions de Strasbourg, as well as continuing work on his own percussion music. He came back to the Gong fold during the Summer of 1974 to work on the You album, but left again once it was completed. It was in the subsequent period that he wrote pieces like "Mandrake" and "Expresso". Then in July 1975, Moerlen received a phonecall from Virgin, asking him if he would agree to rejoin Gong and lead the band with Didier Malherbe : Allen, Smyth and Tim Blake had all left the previous Spring. This offer came as a replacement for the solo project that Virgin had accepted to release, so it was a tough decision to take, but finally Moerlen agreed and brought with him both Mireille Bauer (who in the meantime had guested on both Angels Egg and You) and Patrice Lemoine (who had sat in with Gong at a gig in Strasbourg in 1973). At first, the new Gong tried to maintain a continuity with the concepts created by Daevid Allen, with Hillage and his girlfriend Miquette Giraudy taking on Allen and Smyth's roles, but this approach proved a failure. By the time work started on Shamal in late 1975, after an extensive British tour with Clearlight opening, a new direction had been defined, and Steve Hillage was not too enthusiastic about it. Having enjoyed reasonable success with his first solo album, Fish Rising, he decided to concentrate on a solo career. Recruiting Clearlight violinist Jorge Pinchevsky as replacement, Gong finished the album and embarked on a long European tour. But the line-up didn't last long, and by the Summer of 1976 only Moerlen, Bauer and Malherbe were left. The latter recruited guitarist Allan Holdsworth, while Moerlen decided to further increase the percussive dimension of Gong, adding his brother Benoît to the line-up. Bassist Francis Moze, late of the Flying Teapot line-up, came back to the fold, alongside his friend Mino Cinélu, a promising young conga player. This new team toured Europe in the Summer of 1976, then headed to the studio, recording Gazeuse! before splitting up again soon after its completion. Following the split, Pierre Moerlen went to live in New York for a few months and met bass player Hansford Rowe, aged 22. 'Hanny' was involved in a band whose drummer had to leave to join the army, so Pierre replaced him for a few weeks and the pair forged a very special musical relationship. Back in his hometown of Strasbourg, France, in the late winter of 1976/77, Moerlen decided to form a new line-up of Gong with Rowe, and recruited former members Mireille Bauer (vibes and percussion), Jorge Pinchevsky (violin) and Benoit Moerlen (vibes), his younger brother, along with a youthful newcomer, François Causse (on percussion also). During the following months, this line-up often toured under the name Gong-Expresso, making its debut performance at the Gong family gathering of Paris, Porte de Pantin, May 1977, which witness the reformation of the 'classic' Gong line-up. Following Pinchevsky's departure (he subsequently vanished from the surface of the earth), several lead players guested on album and gigs (although at times only the basic percussion-led quintet performed), including Didier Malherbe, Darryl Way (violin player of Curved Air), Bon Lozaga, Allan Holdsworth and Mick Taylor. The latter four guested on the Expresso II album which, although recorded in the summer of 1977, only came out the following spring. This was the band's final release for Virgin and its release coincided with the name change to Pierre Moerlen's Gong. This period saw the departure of Mireille Bauer to the jazz-rock band Edition Speciale. Her relationship with Moerlen had by then become a purely musical one (she now lived with ex-Gong bass player Francis Moze while Moerlen was married with a child) and she felt she needed a bit of fresh air. She was not replaced, although a permanent guitarist, Ross Record, was recruited to fill the gap, and appeared on the subsequent album Downwind, which again was graced with superb guest appearances by Didier Lockwood (of the French bands Magma, Zao and Clearlight, not to mention his own Surya), Mike Oldfield (who co-produced the title-track), Steve Winwood and Didier Malherbe. After a few gigs with the new line-up, it became apparent that Ross Record was suffering from severe stagefright, so Moerlen summoned back Bon Lozaga, who in the meantime had gone back to live in the States. The trio of Lozaga, Rowe and Moerlen would be the mainstay of PMG until its demise in 1981. The band kept touring, but it had to be put on hold for a couple of months while the Moerlen brothers were touring Europe with Mike Oldfield. This marked the end of Benoït's involvement in the band, and for subsequent tours François Causse came back. Exhausted from incessant touring, Moerlen rented a house in Ireland with his wife and son, and wrote a complete album there, which would surface as Time Is The Key, considered by Pierre to be his best. It was recorded by Moerlen, Bon and Hanny with help from Peter Lemer on keyboards and various guests (Allan Holdsworth, Darryl Way, Nico Ramsden). This effort highlighted Moerlen's talents on a variety of tuned percussion instruments, making good use of overdubbing facilities. Of particular note was the superb introduction, "Ard Na Greine", with its intertwined vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba and tympani over layers of synthesizers. During the following months, both Moerlen and Hansford were employed by Mike Oldfield for session work and touring, so there was no new album from Pierre Moerlen's Gong until 1981's Leave It Open. This final effort carried on in a similar vein to its predecessor, albeit a more inconsistent one. Following a change in the management of the band's label, Arista, PMG were dropped and forced to split up. There followed a period of uncertainty for Moerlen. After failing auditions for a couple of French pop singers, he briefly joined Magma but didn't get on well with Christian Vander (who does?) and preferred to turn to drum teaching in his native Strasbourg. In 1982 and 1983, he also worked again with Mike Oldfield, mainly in a live setting (although he does appear in the video of "Moonlight Shadow", miming to Simon Phillips' drum parts!). Then in the spring of 1985, Moerlen received a call from Tribute, a Swedish band he'd already been in touch with three years previously. At the time, the band wanted to hire him to play drums on an album but had to give up the idea. Now Tribute was a well-established gigging band and had both a Swedish and European tour in sight. This sounded good to Moerlen who joined Tribute, ultimately staying for two years and playing on two albums : the studio effort Breaking Barriers (1986), to which he contributed the beautiful closing piece "I Felt Like It"; and the live album Live - The Melody, The Beat, The Heart (1987). While in Sweden, he also recorded an album of his own compositions (one of which, "Far East", was played live at Tribute gigs) with the help of Tribute musicians. However, he asked Hansford Rowe to add bass parts to the tapes, and thus released the album under the Pierre Moerlen's Gong name. In 1987, Tribute ground to a halt (it later reformed under Gideon Andersson's sole guidance) and Moerlen formed a new PMG line-up back in France, with Hansford Rowe, Benoît Moerlen, ex-Tribute guitarist Ake Zieden and new members Frank Fischer (keyboards) and Stefan Traub (vibraphone). That line-up would tour Germany twice between 1987-89 (as documented on a forthcoming live CD), and record yet another album, Second Wind (1989), the band's most democratic effort to date, and one of their best. Unfortunately, things weren't as great from a financial point of view, and PMG broke up for good during 1989. Both Moerlen and his brother Benoît returned to teaching, while Rowe crossed the Atlantic again to settle in Montreal. Eventually, Moerlen began to work as resident drummer in several big musicals (Evita, Les Misérables etc.) and toured in Europe and the US with them, while Rowe formed Bon with Bon Lozaga, who in the meantime had quit the music scene to run a restaurant. There was talking of reviving PMG in 1994, but eventually the project became Gongzilla, a band featuring Lozaga, Rowe and Benoit Moerlen, but not Pierre, who did however join the band on a temporary basis in 2002 for a European tour. In March 1997 it was announced that Moerlen was joining Brand X for a tour of Japan, which regular drummer Frank Katz had declined to do. This series of gigs proved successful and he stayed for a further tour of Europe in May and June. In the meantime, he had also agreed to rejoin Gong following Pip Pyle's departure, in August 1997. He stayed on for a further French tour in 1998, but left two dates into the spring 1999 European tour under controversial circumstances. After leaving Gong, Moerlen resumed teaching and worked on compositions for a new album and a new incarnation of PMG. Spring 2000 saw a couple of live appearances which proved unsatisfactory. He had just begun rehearsing a new group, when the tragic news of Pierre's sudden death was released. © http://calyx.perso.neuf.fr/mus/moerlen_pierre.html

The Beautiful South

The Beautiful South - Choke - 1990 - Go! Discs

Choke (released October 1990) is The Beautiful South's second album. It was pushed to number 2 in the charts after the release of the South's first and only number 1 single "A Little Time". The album was followed by two more singles, both of which were flops. "My Book", which became the band's first non top-40 single, peaked at number 43 and finally "Let Love Speak Up Itself", the last release from this album, only managed to reach number 51. Earlier versions of the album, regardless of format, contained only 11 tracks. The twelfth track (appearing at the end of later presses of the CD) was intended for the album from the beginning, but was removed at a late stage of production. Only in much later editions of the CD did the track finally appear, added without explanation to the end of the album. Original copies of "Choke" on cassette tape feature a long silence at the end of Side One, possibly indicating that this would have been the location originally intended for the track. [ from Wikipedia ].

"Choke" is an excellent album from "The Beautiful South". All the tracks were written by the great songwriting team of Paul Heaton, & David Rotheray. As is the case with so many albums, many critics compared it to the band's debut album, "Welcome to the Beautiful South", an album that was very hard to live up to in terms of songwriting, and musicianship. Some critics also moaned that the songs were becoming too cynical and clever for their own good. The songs ARE "cynical and clever", and that is part of The Beautiful South's quality. Listen to the great "A Little Time" track. It's a brilliantly written pop song, and there are more like it on the album. N.B: Some later CD issues of the album contain the bonus track, "What You See Is What You Get", composed by Paul Heaton, & David Rotheray. The band's "Welcome to the Beautiful South" album is a masteriece of well crafted, catchy, melodic pop rock songs with clever lyrics, and is well worth buying

TRACKS

1 Tonight I Fancy Myself
2 My Book
3 Let Love Speak Up Itself
4 Should've Kept My Eyes Shut
5 I've Come for My Award
6 Lips
7 I Think the Answer's Yes
8 A Little Time
9 Mother's Pride
10 I Hate You (But You're Interesting)
11 The Rising of Grafton Street

All songs composed by Paul Heaton, & David Rotheray

MUSICIANS

David Rotheray - Guitar
Sean Welch - Bass
David Stead - Drums
Paul Heaton - Vocals
Dave Hemingway - Vocals
Briana Corrigan - Vocals

With

Damon Butcher – Piano, Keyboards
Pete Wingfield – Piano
Jody Kitson – Percussion
Gary Barnacle – Flute, Saxophone
Kevin Brown – Saxophone
Tony Robinson – Trumpet

REVIEWS

Their 1989 debut was hailed for reinserting cynicism, doubt, and biting sarcasm into pop music. But when Choke arrived a year later, Paul Heaton and the Beautiful South encountered a good amount of critical blowback. "Too clever!" they cried. "Too cynical!" It was true -- kind of. As before, tales of codependence and things seen that should never have been unfolded over the course of irresistible little pop songs. But "I Hate You (But You're Interesting)" twisted the knife even deeper. While the main thrust of the song suggested sitting on a beach lost in painful memory, sprightly piano kept drowning out the seagulls like a memory too strong to shake. Maybe this sort of thing hit too close to home for some; for others, it was just an extension of the Smiths' self-love/hate. So even if Choke wasn't as successful as its predecessor, that it would give people fits at all probably pleased Heaton to no end. A lounge-y cover of "What You See Is What You Get" smirked with its own effeteness, "Tonight I Fancy Myself" gave the band's three vocalists a peppy arrangement over which to harmonize and numerous songs showcased the bracing vocals of Briana Corrigan playing off of Heaton's ironic croon. All of Choke's light, jazz-tinged arrangements had a great time concealing the Beautiful South's ghastly tales in their own way. Perhaps the only reason they were accused of being too clever was because their skewering of society was too accurate. © Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide

The follow-up to the Beautiful South's lauded debut, WELCOME TO THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH, 1990's CHOKE furthered frontman Paul Heaton's vision of equally tuneful and cynical pop. Whilethe standout track is "A Little Time", a breezy-yet-bruising duet with Briana Corrigan that managed to top the British singles chart, CHOKE also presents a number of other Beautiful South classics, including the lively "My Book" and the soulful "Let Love Speak Up Itself". Given that Heaton and company lost a little momentum after this outing, CHOKE is widely deemed to be the end of the U.K. ensemble's first golden era. © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates

A collection of eleven acerbic, pointed songs that is over and done in 37 minutes. The group's disgust with just about everything but its seductive music — tinged with horn parts straight from the Bacharach/David songbook and distinguished by a loping, easy groove — is palpable from the very first cut, "Tonight I Fancy Myself," where the singer recoils from the sight of icky-cooey lovers and bluntly states, "I choose / self-abuse." Vocalist Briana Corrigan, who isn't given much to do, brings a welcome edge to "Should've Kept My Eyes Shut," which sets harrowing lyrics of domestic abuse against bouncy pop dynamics: "I should have kept my eyes shut / My mouth should've closed / But the mixture of vomit and blood / Just crept up through my nose." In "I've Come for My Award," a disgusting, thieving captain of free enterprise allows that "Jesus was my greatest accomplice." Choke makes it clear that the Beautiful South has ample pop sense and pure venom to keep its unique act going for quite a while. © 2007 Trouser Press LLC

BIO

Following the disbandment of the British indie pop group the Housemartins in 1989, vocalist Paul Heaton and drummer David Hemmingway formed the Beautiful South. Where their previous group relied on jazzy guitars and witty, wry lyrics, the Beautiful South boasted a more sophisticated, jazzy pop sound, layered with keyboards, R&B-inflected female backing vocals and, occasionally, light orchestrations. Often, the group's relaxed, catchy songs contradicted the sarcastic, cynical thrust of the lyrics. Nevertheless, the band's pleasant arrangements often tempered whatever bitterness there was in Heaton's lyrics, and that's part of the reason why the Beautiful South became quite popular within its native Britain during the '90s. Though the group never found a niche in America — by the middle of the decade, their records weren't even being released in the U.S. — their string of melodic jazz-pop singles made them one of the most successful, if one of the least flashy, bands in Britain. Their popularity was confirmed by the astonishing success of their 1994 singles compilation, Carry on Up the Charts, which became one of the biggest-selling albums in British history. Heaton and Hemmingway formed the Beautiful South immediately after the breakup of the Housemartins, who were one of the most popular and well-reviewed British guitar pop bands of the mid-'80s. The Housemartins had earned a reputation for being somewhat downbeat Northerners, so the duo chose the name Beautiful South sarcastically. To complete the lineup, the pair hired former Anthill Runaways vocalist Briana Corrigan, bassist Sean Welch, drummer David Stead (formerly a Housemartins roadie), and guitarist David Rotheray, who became Heaton's new collaborator. In the summer of 1989, they released their first single, "Song for Whoever," on the Housemartins' old record label, Go!. "Song for Whoever" climbed to number two, while its follow-up "You Keep It All In" peaked at number eight in September, 1989. A month later, the group's debut, Welcome to the Beautiful South, was released to positive reviews. "A Little Time," the first single from the group's second album, Choke, became the group's first number one single in the fall of 1990. Choke was also well-received, even though it didn't quite match the performance of the debut, either in terms of sales or reviews. In particular, some critics complained that Heaton was becoming too clever and cynical for his own good. The Beautiful South released their third album, 0898, in 1992; it was their first record not to be released in the United States, yet it maintained their success in Britain. Following the release of 0898, Corrigan left the group, reportedly upset over some of Heaton's ironic lyrics. She was replaced with Jacqui Abbot, who made her first appearance on the band's fourth album, 1994's Miaow. While both 0898 and Miaow were popular, they were only moderate successes. Their respectable chart performances in no way prepared any observers, including the band themselves, for the blockbuster success of Carry on Up the Charts, a greatest-hits collection released at the end of 1994. Carry on Up the Charts entered the charts at number one. It was one of the fastest-selling albums in U.K. history and its success outlasted the Christmas season. The album stayed at number one for several months, going platinum many times over and, in the process, becoming one of the most popular albums in British history. Its success was a bit of a surprise, since the popularity of the Beautiful South's previous albums never indicated the across-the-boards success that greeted Carry on Up the Charts. The album wasn't released in America until late 1995, after it broke several U.K. records. The Beautiful South released their follow-up to Miaow, Blue Is the Colour, in the fall of 1996. Quench followed three years later, then Painting It Red in fall 2000, and Gaze in 2003. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

Billy Peek

Billy Peek - Can a White Boy Play the Blues - 1986 - Rivertown Records

Billy Peek is an acclaimed bluesman that has been playing on and off for in the Saint Louis, Missouri area for over 50 years. He had a local hit, "Can A White Boy Play The Blues" recorded for Marlo. However, his main claim to fame is having played and toured extensively with Chuck Berry, and Rod Stewart. Before that, Billy fronted a band in the Gaslight Square in Saint Louis, Missouri with Bonnie Bramlett (Bonnie Lee). Billy played lead guitar, and recorded and toured with Rod Stewart for a few years. He played on five of Stewart's albums. You can hear some of his work on "The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998" album, and Stewart's "Blondes Have More Fun" album. Listen to Billy's guitar on Chuck Berry's "Concerto in B Goode" album. Obviously, Billy's stints with Chuck Berry, Rod Stewart, and others influenced his music, and CAWBPTB is a very much rock, blues, and soul influenced album. There is a great version of Ike Turner's "Prancin'" on the album, although all the cuts are good. Billy Peek is a good vocalist, and a top class guitar player, who has been underrated for a long time. Not unusual, considering he has mainly been a "bridesmaid" for the bigger guys. There is no questioning Billy Peek's talent. He is a great blues rock guitarist, with Grade A credentials. He penned six of the tracks on this album, and also covers songs by Sonny Boy Williamson, Don D. Robey & Joe Medwick, and as previously mentioned, Ike Turner. This is a very short album, but what's here is good. Some of Billy's best guitar work can be heard on Eric Carmen's "Tonight You're Mine" album. Promote this guy and buy his great "The Answer" album. N.B: Can anybody help out with a complete musicians credit list for this album?

TRACKS

1 Can A White Boy Play The Blues? (05:23)
2 Good Mornin' School Girl (03:18
3 Good Lovin' Baby (02:47)
4 Prancin' (02:40)
5 Peek-A-Boo Inn (02:56)
6 Farther Up The Road (02:52)
7 Bobbie Lolli-Bop (02:53)
8 Bad One Legged Lover (02:48)
9 Rock'N Roll Guitar Man (03:44)

Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, & 9 composed by Billy Peek: Track 2 composed by Sonny Boy Williamson: Track 4 composed by Ike Turner: Track 6 composed by By Don D. Robey & Joe Medwick Veasey

MUSICiANS [ Incomplete}

Billy Peek - Guitar, Vocals
Andy O' Connor - Drums, Percussion
Harry Simon - Saxophone

SHORT BIO

Billy Peek is one of St. Louis's greatest treasures, but his talent is truly a national music legend. He is more than an accomplished guitarist who has played with the best of them. He is an artist who gives a hard-driving combination of rock n' roll and rhythm n' blues. He is an elite member of Blues Royalty, and one of the finest rock and blues guitarists in the country. His repertoire includes 50's Chuck Berry and Ike and Tina Turner style rock and roll music along with Albert King, Elmore James and BB King style blues. An electrifying entertainer - Billy composes, performs and sings a wide variety of music with his own band which includes Dave Moreland on Bass guitar and Don Tieman on drums. He has toured with Chuck Berry and was the lead guitarist for over five years and four albums with Rod Stewart. His guitar work on such hit songs as "Hot Legs." "Blondes Have More Fun," "Passion," "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" and "Born Loose" have been heard by millions of fans all over the world. Billy played throughout St. Louis in the "Gaslight Square" era and has always had a steady following of Swing and Imperial style dancers that can't get enough of that rhythm and blues. His first solo album is packed full of original Billy Peek music featuring such artists as Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Legend Johnnie Johnson on piano. He is still getting enormous local attention and there's a reason. When he asks the title, "Can A White Boy Play The Blues?", the answer is a resounding "YES!" © KETC - © 2003-2009 MySpace. All Rights Reserved

Paul Filipowicz

Paul Filipowicz - Chickenwire - 2007 - Big Jake Records

"Filipowicz's finger-picked guitar solos come with raw emotion in every crystal-clear note." © Tim Holek - Living Blues Magazine

Paul Filipowicz is Wisconsin's present day powerhouse of the electric blues guitar. His 35 plus years of sweat soaked incendiary no-holds-barred live performances have granted him rave reviews in over fifty publications like Living Blues, Big City Blues, King Biscuit Time, Blues Access, Blues Review, Real Blues, newspapers, web sites, and radio and satellite deejays around the world. His song writing and guitar work has been heralded as moving, direct and to the point by none other than Chicago blues legend Jimmy Dawkins. Paul's five award winning albums are played on the Internet and on US radio and internationally. His recordings have charted #8 Chinatown and #25 Midnight at the Nairobi Room on the prestigious WKNON, Dallas TX, Living Blues Poll. His Chinatown earned Blues Album of the Year and Blues Artist of the Year 2005, Madison Area Music Awards and placed him #8 Chicago Blues New Releases 2004 from Real Blues magazine, plus he has been listed on many other national and international radio and magazine charts. His songs have been used in the movie sound tracks, Night in the Holem (Gila Monster Meidia) and Serlian Blue (Dadda Loco Productions). In print and live, Paul's Hard-Core-Chicago sound has been compared to Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Magic Sam, Freddy King, Albert Collins, Son Seals, John Lee Hooker, just to name a few. Paul has logged thousands of miles in thousands of venues from roadhouses in Texas, Mississippi, Buddy Guy's Legend's in Chicago, Michigan, St. Louis, New Mexico, Colorado, concerts and festivals state side to gigs as far away as The River Sounds, Ulan Bator, Mongolia. He has been heralded in the press as "One of the Midwest's best blues guitarists, and Madison's living legend". Paul's list of artists with whom he has performed is both extensive and impressive. They include Hound Dog Taylor, Luther Allison, Magic Slim, Clyde Stubbelifield, Jimmy Dawkins, Jim Schawall, Rev. Charlie Edmonds, Lucky Lopez, Milwaukee Slim, Lee Gates, Ken Sadayk, James Solderg, Lefty Dizz, Brian Lee, Madison Slim, Brewer Philips and too many more to list. © 1996 - 2009 CD Universe

Paul Filipowicz has described his music as "West side Chicago guitar with a little Texas sugar on top". "Chickenwire" is a good, no messin' live raw blues rock album. Paul compoded 12 of the tracks on the album, and is a very talented musician. His "Go For The Throat" album is well worth seeking out.

TRACKS

1. Texas Strut
2. OK Buster
3. Most Dogs
4. Chickenwire
5. Fire Fly
6. Guitar Man
7. Metro Line Mambo
8. Chinatown
9. Hot Chili
10. She Used To Be My Baby
11. Serves Me Right to Suffer
12. Mongolian Twist
13. 10,000 Footprints
All songs composed by Paul Filipowicz, except "Serves Me Right to Suffer", by Jimmy Dawkins

MUSICIANS

Paul Filipowicz - Guitar, Vocals
Ray Wright - Bass
Brian Howard - Drums
Calvin Owens & His Houston Horns [ N.B: On this album, the horns were overdubbed at a later date ]

REVIEWS

Honest artist, deeply in love with the music he plays, Paul Filipowicz gives us a courageous album he has recorded live, which is something that could at first sight seem easy but it is not really true, because if any musician or band have instrumental or technical lacks, a live performing makes them evident. But this does not happen on singer and guitar player Paul Filipowicz performing, because he really knows what he is doing, and becomes the leader of the pack, with his powerful flaming guitar skills. His energetic straight rock-blues keeps the intense climax along the whole cd, not only with his guitar solos but also with his dramatical voice he takes full advantage of despite his stylistic limitations. Twelve Paul Filipowicz own songs and a Jimmy Dawkins’ version, complete cd based on terrific electrifying work that will act like an electroshock for the most neurotic brains. VERY GOOD. © www.lahoradelblues.com/index.html

This is Paul's first "Live-No Jive" recording. Smokin' hot blues guitar with solid backing just jumps off the disc. You can feel the Saturday Night Juke Joint July heat sizzle as they bump, grind, slide and shuffle through. © cdbaby.com

SHORT BIO [ "Paul Filipowicz is his music, and that music speaks for itself". © www.paulfilipowicz.com/bio.htm ]

Singer, songwriter, guitar, harp. Born Chicago 3/24/50. He was raised in the Lockport, Ill. corn fields in the 1950’s. "My sisters played piano in church and of course we all sang there. About the only other music we could get was the radio." One night while cruising the dial Filipowicz pulled in a radio station out of Tulsa, OK. They played Wolf, Sonny Boy (II) and Muddy Waters back to back. That was his first exposure to blues. He first witnessed live blues in 64 or 65, while waiting outside a club on Chicago’s South Side “It was boiling hot about 2p.m. and these people were all dressed up and going into this air-conditioned club.” Otis Rush and his band were tearing it up right there in broad daylight. Electric guitar was it! Learning by ear was about the only way to go about a blues education in those days. “I was playing without a pick and the first time I heard Magic Sam it clicked. The phrasing was what I was hearing.” Over the 30 plus years of fronting his own band, Filipowicz has played venues from the mid-west to Denver to stints in Texas and Mississippi. Some of his fondest memories are the shows with “Hound-Dog Taylor “and “Mighty Joe Young” in the 70’s. “That’s where I met Ken Saydak, he was with Joe then, I never thought we’d be working together some day”. Ken appears with Paul on “Chinatown”. After a version of Sam’s “All Your Love” Joe told Paul “That was nice, keep it up”. “Mr. Taylor would even grunt when he’d see me”. Lefty Dizz “Man he just won a thousand bucks playin cards the night before, did we have a time.” Jimmy Dawkins would take Paul aside and give him pointers. Luther Allison was a great friend. He once told Paul “I know you’re a bluesman and you know you’re a bluesman and every time you take the stage you got to prove it”. “That knowledge is always with me, It seems just like yesterday, I am truly blessed” Paul said. He will make a special guest appearance at the “2004 Luther Allison Celebration” August 15, 2004, “Luther’s Blues” Madison WI. With 4 critically acclaimed CD’s under his belt, including two “Top 20 Texas Blues New Releases” in a row (1998 “Never Had It So Good”#14 and 1999 “What Have You Done For Me Lately” #7 Real Blues mag.) Paul’s original slashing guitar style has been established and documented. His latest release “Chinatown” is the logical next-step for a bluesman that has over the years warranted comparisons in such publications as, “Living Blues”, “Blues Revue”, “Soul Bag”, “Blues Access” and “Big City Blues", to such a diverse
group of great’s as John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Albert Collins just to name a few. © www.paulfilipowicz.com/bio.htm

Robben Ford & The Blue Line

Robben Ford & The Blue Line - Live At Doc Ricketts Lab, Monterey, California, 2/3/1992 - 1992 - unof.

Good album from Robben Ford. For an album of this "type", sound quality is above average, and very listenable. If you check the track listings, you will see that there are some "irregularities" in a few tracks. There may be more than those listed. However, these unof. recordings always contain a few imperfections, as regards track listings, sound, and lengths. Overall, it is a great album from one of the world's leading blues/jazz rock guitarists and his band. If you have any comments or corrections regarding this album, please post them. There is info on the "Robben Ford Anthology: The Early Years" album @ ROBFOR/ANTH/TEY

TRACKS

CD 1

1 Intro :20
2 The Brother 4:30
3 Prison Of Love 4:53
4 My Love Will Never Die 6:55
5 You Cut Me To The Bone 7:58 [N.B: This track comes to an "abrupt" end ]
6 I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues 8:16
7 Band Intro 1:14
8 Waiting For The Miracle 6:52
9 Audience
10 Step On It

CD 2

1 Bad Luck Blues 10:17 [ N.B: Although listed as "Bad Luck Blues" @ 10.17, this track is only a 2o second band intro ]
2 He Don't Play Nothin' But The Blues 5:40
3 Talk To Your Daughter 9:05
4 Help The Poor 10:09
5 Fool's Paradise 9:15

BAND

Robben Ford - Guitars
Roscoe Beck - Bass
Tom Brechtlein - Drums

ABOUT ROBBEN FORD

Robben Ford (Born:Dec 16, 1951 in Ukiah, California), has had a diverse career. He taught himself guitar when he was 13 and considered his first influence to be Mike Bloomfield. At 18, he moved to San Francisco to form the Charles Ford Band (named after his father, who was also a guitarist) and was soon hired to play with Charles Musselwhite for nine months. In 1971, the Charles Ford Blues Band was re-formed and recorded for Arhoolie in early 1972. Ford played with Jimmy Witherspoon (1972-1973), the L.A. Express with Tom Scott (1974), George Harrison, and Joni Mitchell. In 1977, he was a founding member of the Yellowjackets, which he stayed with until 1983, simultaneously having a solo career and working as a session guitarist. In 1986, Ford toured with Miles Davis and he had two separate periods (1985 and 1987) with Sadao Watanabe, but he seemed to really find himself in 1992 when he returned to his roots: the blues. Ford formed a new group, the Blue Line, and has since recorded a couple of blues-rock dates for Stretch that are among the finest of his career. In 1999, he released Sunrise on Rhino and Supernatural on Blue Thumb.(c) Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

BIO (Wikipedia)

Ford was born in Woodlake but raised in Ukiah, California, and began playing the saxophone at age 10, picking up the guitar at age 13. Robben and his brothers Mark (mouthharp) and Patrick Ford (drums) had a band they named the Charles Ford Blues Band in honor of their father. Ford began playing professionally at age 18 when the Charles Ford Blues Band got a gig backing Charlie Musselwhite. The band also recorded two albums The Charles Ford Band and Discovering the Blues. Next Ford put together a band with Bay Area musicians that became Jimmy Witherspoon's backup band. Ford recorded two albums with Witherspoon, Live and Spoonful'. The Ford Blues Band reunites periodically, and released live albums in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1970s, Ford began to branch out into Jazz fusion, and joined L.A. Express led by saxophonist Tom Scott in 1974. That same year they backed George Harrison on his American tour. In addition to recording fusion albums, they served as Joni Mitchell's backup band on Hissing of Summer Lawns and her live album, Miles of Aisles. After leaving L.A. Express in 1976, Ford recorded his solo album, The Inside Story with a band that was to become the Yellowjackets. He went on to play a starring role on the first two Yellowjackets albums, although he was listed as a guest artist due to recording contract arrangements. Ford worked briefly with Miles Davis in 1986; he can be heard on Davis' Montreux box set. Ford released his next album, called Talk to Your Daughter in 1988, a return to his blues roots. In 1989 he joined Philippe Saisse, Marcus Miller and J.T. Lewis in the cast of The Sunday Night Band for the second and final season of the acclaimed late-night NBC television musical performance program, Sunday Night. His best work in the 1990s include Robben Ford and the Blue Line, and Tiger Walk. In addition to recording and touring with his own blues band, Ford continued to tour and play with other bands/artists such as Jing Chi (his fusion band), Gregg Allman and Phil Lesh. He has received nominations for four Grammy Awards. Several Ford tribute bands exist, a statement to his artistry and popularity with the cognoscenti. Ford was named one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century" by Musician magazine. Ford uses Dumble Amplifiers. When travelling abroad he tends to use rented Fender amplifiers along with a Zendrive overdrive pedal by Hermida Audio. Guitar manufacturer Fender used to make a Robben Ford signature guitar, although lately Ford tends to favour Gibson Les Pauls and a custom-made model by Sakashta Guitars. Ford is married to the cabaret singer, Anne Kerry Ford, and collaborated with her on various projects.

John Hammond

John Hammond - You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover - 1993 - Vanguard

Great collection of John Hammond's early electric guitar work on Vanguard Records, with artists including Charlie Musselwhite, members of The Band, Mike Bloomfield, Duane Allman, and Spooner Oldham. Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, and Garth Hudson can be heard on tracks from the two '60s Vanguard releases, "So Many Roads", and " Mirrors". John Hammond, like many artists on this blog, is one of the great Blues revivalists, traditionalists, and preservationists. John is a very underrated guitarist, and this album demonstrates how good his electric guitar work can be. The album contains 13 blues covers by greats like Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, and others. Listen to John Hammond's "Hot Tracks" album, and his "Big City Blues" album is well worth buying.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover (Dixon, Willie)
I Can't Be Satisfied (Morganfield, McKinley)
Midnight Hour Blues (Carr, Leroy)
I Hate to See You Go (Jacobs, Little Walter)
My Babe (Dixon, Willie)
Shake for Me (Dixon, Willie)
Long Distance Call (Morganfield, McKinley)
My Starter Won't Start (Lightnin' Hopkins)
Southbound Blues (Calloway/Williams)
I'm Leavin' You (Burnett, Chester aka Howlin' Wolf)
I Live the Life I Love (Dixon, Willie)
Help Me (Bass,Ralph/Williamson, Sonny)
Gambling Blues (Jackson, Lil Son)

MUSICIANS

Barry Beckett , Keyboards
John Hammond , Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals, Slide Guitar
Duane Allman, Robbie Robertson , Guitar
Eddie Hinton , Guitar, Piano
David Hood, Tommy Cogbill, Jimmy Lewis , Bass
Randall Bramlett, Spooner Oldham, Michael Bloomfield , Piano
Garth Hudson , Organ (Hammond)
Levon Helm, Kenneth Buttrey , Drums
Roger Hawkins , Percussion, Drums
Charlie Musselwhite , Harmonica



BIO

With a career that spans over three decades, John Hammond is one of handful of white blues musicians who was on the scene at the beginning of the first blues renaissance of the mid-'60s. That revival, brought on by renewed interest in folk music around the U.S., brought about career boosts for many of the great classic blues players, including Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, and Skip James. Some critics have described Hammond as a white Robert Johnson, and Hammond does justice to classic blues by combining powerful guitar and harmonica playing with expressive vocals and a dignified stage presence. Within the first decade of his career as a performer, Hammond began crafting a niche for himself that is completely his own: the solo guitar man, harmonica slung in a rack around his neck, reinterpreting classic blues songs from the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. Yet, as several of his mid-'90s recordings for the Pointblank label demonstrate, he's also a capable bandleader who plays wonderful electric guitar. This guitar-playing and ensemble work can be heard on Found True Love and Got Love If You Want It, both for the Pointblank/Virgin label. Born November 13, 1942, in New York City, the son of the famous Columbia Records talent scout John Hammond, Sr., what most people don't know is that Hammond didn't grow up with his father. His parents split when he was young, and he would see his father several times a year. He first began playing guitar while attending a private high school, and he was particularly fascinated with slide guitar technique. He saw his idol, Jimmy Reed, perform at New York's Apollo Theater, and he's never been the same since. After attending Antioch College in Ohio on a scholarship for a year, he left to pursue a career as a blues musician. By 1962, with the folk revival starting to heat up, Hammond had attracted a following in the coffeehouse circuit, performing in the tradition of the classic country blues singers he loved so much. By the time he was just 20 years old, he had been interviewed for the New York Times before one of his East Coast festival performances, and he was a certified national act. When Hammond was living in the Village in 1966, a young Jimi Hendrix came through town, looking for work. Hammond offered to put a band together for the guitarist, and got the group work at the Cafe Au Go Go. By that point, the coffeehouses were falling out of favor, and instead the bars and electric guitars were coming in with folk-rock. Hendrix was approached there by Chas Chandler, who took him to England to record. Hammond recalls telling the young Hendrix to take Chandler up on his offer. "The next time I saw him, about a year later, he was a big star in Europe," Hammond recalled in a 1990 interview. In the late '60s and early '70s, Hammond continued his work with electric blues ensembles, recording with people like Band guitarist Robbie Robertson (and other members of the Band when they were still known as Levon Helm & the Hawks), Duane Allman, Dr. John, harmonica wiz Charlie Musselwhite, Michael Bloomfield, and David Bromberg. As with Dr. John and other blues musicians who've recorded more than two dozen albums, there are many great recordings that provide a good introduction to the man's body of work. His self-titled debut for the Vanguard label has now been reissued on compact disc by the company's new owners, The Welk Music Group, and other good recordings to check out (on vinyl and/or compact disc) include I Can Tell (recorded with Bill Wyman from the Rolling Stones), Southern Fried (1968), Source Point (1970, Columbia), and his most recent string of early- and mid-'90s albums for Pointblank/Virgin Records, Got Love If You Want It, Trouble No More (both produced by J.J. Cale), and Found True Love. He didn't know it when he was 20, and he may not realize it now, but Hammond deserves special commendation for keeping many of the classic blues songs alive. When fans see Hammond perform them, as Dr. John has observed many times with his music and the music of others, the fans often want to go back further, and find out who did the original versions of the songs Hammond now plays. Although he's a multi-dimensional artist, one thing Hammond has never professed to be is a songwriter. In the early years of his career, it was more important to him that he bring the art form to a wider audience by performing classic — in some cases forgotten — songs. Now, more than 30 years later, Hammond continues to do this, touring all over the U.S., Canada, and Europe from his base in northern New Jersey. He continued to release albums into the new millennium with three discs on the Back Porch label, including Ready for Love in 2002, produced David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, In Your Arms Again in 2005, and Push Comes to Shove in 2007. Whether it's with a band or by himself, Hammond can do it all. Seeing him perform live, one still gets the sense that some of the best is still to come from this energetic bluesman. © Richard Skelly, allmusic.com

The Smokin' Joe Kubek Band featuring Bnois King

The Smokin' Joe Kubek Band featuring Bnois King - Cryin' For The Moon - 1995 - Bullseye Blues

In 1989, Smokin' Joe Kubek met guitarist/vocalist Bnois King at a Dallas jam session. They became good friends, and blended their styles (Smokin' Joe is a rocking fierce picker and slider, while Bnois is a jazz-influenced player, who can produce amazing solos), into one of the most potent guitar combos ever to come out of the Southwest. Kubek has said, “I pull the blues out of him, and he pulls the jazz out of me. Bnois knows so much about jazz it’s amazing.” Calling themselves The Smokin’ Joe Kubek Band Featuring Bnois King, they signed to Bullseye Blues and in 1991, released their debut CD, "Stepping Out Texas Style". The band grew out of Texas and began touring nationally. After a successful string of Bullseye albums, they signed to Blind Pig Records in 2003.Their popularity has strengthened on their great Texas blues rock music, and the band's dynamic live shows. The band tour relentlessly, usually playing over 150 dates per year across the US, Canada and Europe. "Cryin' For The Moon" is a good album of Texas guitar-slinger traditional blues rock. Buy Smokin' Joe Kubek's brilliant "Texas Cadillac" album.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 In One Hand (And Out The Other) - Bnois King/Smokin' Joe Kubek
2 You're My Brand - Bnois King/Smokin' Joe Kubek
3 You Haven't Hurt Me - Ron Levy
4 Corn Palace - Bobby Chitwood/Bnois King/Smokin' Joe Kubek/Kenneth Stern
5 If It's The Last Thing I Do - Bnois King
6 One More Song - Bobby Chitwood
7 Cryin' For The Moon - Smokin' Joe Kubek
8 Changes Made - Bnois King
9 We Had To Wait - Ron Levy
10 Step On It - Bnois King/Smokin' Joe Kubek
11 You're So Hard To Understand - Bnois King/Smokin' Joe Kubek/Ron Levy
12 The Life You Save (Could Be Mine) - Bnois King

MUSICANS

Smokin' Joe Kubek (guitar, slide guitar)
Bnois King (vocals, guitar)
Bobby Chitwood (bass)
Kenneth Stern (drums)
Jim Spake (tenor & baritone saxophones)
Scott Thompson (trumpet)
Ron Levy (Hammond B-3 organ)
Rusty McFarland (cowbell)

SHORT BIO

Another young Texas axeman from the old school, Smokin' Joe Kubek issued his band's debut disc in 1991 on Bullseye Blues, Steppin' Out Texas Style. Kubek was already playing his smokin' guitar on the Lone State chitlin circuit at age 14, supporting such musicians as Freddie King. Soon, he formed his own band and began playing a number of bars across Dallas. In the '80s, he met guitarist/vocalist Bnois King, a native of Monroe, LA, and the duo formed the first edition of the Smokin' Joe Kubek Band. The Smokin' Joe Kubek Band began playing the rest of the Southwest in the late '80s. In 1991, they signed to Bullseye Blues, releasing their debut, Steppin' Out Texas Style, the same year. Following its release, the band launched their first national tour. For the rest of the '90s, the Smokin' Joe Kubek Band toured the United States and toured frequently and issued records like 1993's Texas Cadillac, 1996's Got My Mind Back, and 2000's Bite Me. In 2003 Kubek and guitarist/vocalist Bnois King released Roadhouse Research on the Blind Pig label. The duo's second release for Blind Pig, Show Me the Money, came out in 2004. A single-disc collection of some of the best tracks from the Bullseye Blues years, Served Up Texas Style, came out in 2005. A third album from Blind Pig Records, My Heart's in Texas, was released in 2006. Another joint effort with King, Blood Brothers, appeared in 2008. © Bill Dahl, allmusic.com

BIO

Another young Texas axeman from the old school, Smokin' Joe Kubek issued his band's debut disc in 1991 on Bullseye Blues, Steppin' Out Texas Style. Kubek was already playing his smokin' guitar on the Lone State chitlin circuit at age 14, supporting such musicians as Freddie King. Soon, he formed his own band and began playing a number of bars across Dallas. In the '80s, he met guitarist/vocalist Bnois King, a native of Monroe, LA, and the duo formed the first edition of the Smokin' Joe Kubek Band. The Smokin' Joe Kubek Band began playing the rest of the Southwest in the late '80s. In 1991, they signed to Bullseye Blues, releasing their debut, Steppin' Out Texas Style, the same year. Following its release, the band launched their first national tour. For the rest of the '90s, the Smokin' Joe Kubek Band toured the United States and toured frequently and issued records like 1993's Texas Cadillac, 1996's Got My Mind Back, and 2000's Bite Me. In 2003 Kubek and guitarist/vocalist Bnois King released Roadhouse Research on the Blind Pig label. The duo's second release for Blind Pig, Show Me the Money, came out in 2004. A single-disc collection of some of the best tracks from the Bullseye Blues years, Served Up Texas Style, came out in 2005. A third album from Blind Pig Records, My Heart's in Texas, was released in 2006. © Bill Dahl & Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

MORE ABOUT SMOKIN' JOE KUBEK

Smokin Joe Kubek was born on November 30, 1956 in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Shortly after he was born his family moved to Irving, Texas where he grew up Kubek was playing in Dallas clubs at the age of 14. Three years later, he took a deeper interest in blues, prompted by Eric Clapton and Peter Green, and formed his first band. Shortly afterwards, he played rhythm guitar behind Freddie King until King's death in December 1976. After a short spell with Robert Whitfield's Last Combo, he joined Al Braggs" band. Examples of his work can be heard on Braggs" 1979 production of tracks by R. L. Griffin. He also recorded with Charlie Robinson, Big Ray Anderson and Ernie Johnson, and on Little Joe Blue's album, "It's My Turn Now". In 1989, he teamed up with inger/guitarist Bnois King, from Monroe, Louisiana, whose soul-tinged vocals and jazz-orientated style contrasted well with Kubek's more strident finger and slide techniques. "The Axe Man" is an album of covers recorded before their Bullseye Blues debut. Subsequent releases have consolidated their reputation as a solid, entertaining band. Smokin' Joe Kubek is one of those people who was born to play the guitar. Kubek has the technique and the chops to burn up any stage and has been doing so for the past 27 years. A guitar prodigy at the age of 14 the Texas born guitar slinger frequented the Dallas bar scene during the 1970's and early 80's playing with Stevie Ray Vaughan and people like the three Kings, B. B., Albert and Freddie. He was even ready to go on tour with Freddie King before his death. Kubek, with his staggering arsenal of instruments, effects and technique, delivers a frenzied, flame-throwing guitar display that is tempered by the remarkable accompaniment of Bnois King's jazz influenced guitar. Kubek, coming from the blazing Texas blues/rock background, found in Bnois King's smoothh. jazz guitar stylings a finesse and fat chord sound that was a perfect complement to his technique. The combination just clicked with a seamless mesh of styles. King lays down a bed of smooth supporting jazz chords on his hollow bodied Gibson that allows Kubek to take center stage and play with almost reckless abandon. Together this dynamic duo has recorded 7 albums for Bullseye Blues & Jazz Records, the newest being the 2000 "BITE ME." So buckle up and get ready for a one-two punch, thrill-a-minute ride of high-octane Texas blues. Muscling his way through the proceedings both live and on disc, Kubek will pull, bend, pick, and push his strings well beyond what you'd think they'd normally endure as he runs through his and King's songs. Using Hendrix-style crybaby wah-wah leads and ear-bleeding, Johnny Winter-meets-Elmore James slide work on songs such as the title/leadoff cut and the shuffling "She's It," he brings things to a boiling point with screeching and shimmering lines that rattle speaker cones and make the fillings in your teeth vibrate. Then, applying the brakes, he runs through some of the sweetest, most beautiful slow blues on "I'm Here for You" and "Cryin' By Myself" with shimmering high notes, hanging in the air above heavy turnarounds. Throughout, King (no relation to Freddie) will comp along on his Gibson, shout lyrics, and, in general, make the whole package complete. This union began during a regular Monday-night gig in Dallas when Kubek invited King to sit in and found that King's softer, jazz-based guitar and vocals perfectly complemented Kubek's headier rock-inspired guitar work. Although the partnership is a natural, Kubek still seems amazed that it worked at all. Months earlier, the two shared an uncomfortable meeting that he still recalls today. "We laugh at it now," he says, "but when we first ran into each other, it was in some club dressing room a while before I'd invited him to sit in with my band. Neither of us remembers why we were there, because it wasn't our gig. We never said a word to each other. We just kinda sat there and looked at each other. It was weird." The pair became fast friends and eventually found themselves on the road in support of their first Bullseye disc, Steppin' Out, released in 1991. On early tours, the band did weeks in the Northeast in the dead of winter in an old Ford van, without heat. "It was kinda like that movie Alive," Kubek notes with a laugh. "We'd drive all bundled up. And it got so cold sometimes, I'd actually think of building a fire inside the thing just to keep warm. Then to top it off, every hotel we stopped at only had heat int the rooms when you rented 'em. So they never got warm. I had to sleep with my hair dryer the whole time. The goal was just to get home alive." In 1991, they signed to Bullseye Blues, releasing their debut, Steppin' Out Texas Style, the same year. Following its release, the band launched their first national tour. For the rest of the '90s, the Smokin' Joe Kubek Band toured the United States and toured frequently and issued records like 1993's Texas Cadillac, 1996's Got My Mind Back, and 2000's Bite Me. In 2003Kubek and King released Roadhouse Research on the Blind Pig label. The duo's second release for Blind Pig, Show Me the Money, came out in 2004. A single-disc collection of some of the best tracks from the Bullseye Blues years, Served Up Texas Style, came out in 2005. A third album from Blind Pig Records, My Heart's in Texas, was released in 2006. [ © www.smokinjoekubek.com/bio.htm ]

Casiopea

Casiopea - Full Colors - 1991 - Pioneer LDC

The Japanese outfit, Casiopea are huge in the Australasian and S.E Asia area , but are not as well known in the West as they should be, despite having toured globally, and with artists like Randy and Michael Brecker, and members of Fourplay, including Lee Ritenour, Harvey Mason, Nathan East and Don Grusin. If you like jazz fusion, expertly played, then you may like "Full Colors". The album may be a bit more "lightweight" than other Casiopea releases, but the superb musicianship is still here. Listen to ""Fightman", a great track, and one of the band's biggest hits. Casiopea have released many albums, many of which are only available as ovepriced Japanese imports. If you can find it , at a reasonable price, buy their 1981 album, "Eyes of the Mind", one of the best fusion albums of the early 80's. N.B: Akira Jimbo and Tetsuo Sakurai are mot playing on this album, having departed the band in 1989. This album was later released in a remastered version, with fantastic sound quality. However, the album posted here is ok, audiowise, and is very enjoyable. For more great jazz fusion, check out the following albums, :- The Yellowjacket's "Four Corners", Weather Report's "Black Market", Fourplay's "Between the Sheets", Michael Franks and Crossfire "Live", Spyro Gyra's "Down the Wire", John McLaughlin and Chick Corea's "Five Peace Band Live", and Brand X's "Morrocan Roll". Casiopea's "Made In Melbourne" album can be found @ CSPEA/MIM

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. "Fight Man" Issei Noro 3:17
2. "The Sky" Issei Noro 4:03
3. "Passionate Voltage" Issei Noro 2:47
4. "Purple Hours" Issei Noro 4:00
5. "Final Chance" Minoru Mukaiya 3:23
6. "Akappachi-ism" Yoshihiro Naruse, Issei Noro 3:03
7. "Private Sunday" Issei Noro 3:55
8. "Search My Heart" Minoru Mukaiya 4:40
9. "Street of Dreams" Issei Noro 4:22
10. "Navigators" Issei Noro 3:49
11. "Once In A Blue Moon" Minoru Mukaiya 3:37
12. "Top Wind" Issei Noro 4:12

MUSICIANS

Issei Noro - Electric guitar, Acoustic guitar
Yoshihiro Naruse - Electric Bass
Minoru Mukaiya - Keyboards
Masaaki Hiyama - Drums
Gen Ogami(Orquesta de la Luz) - Timbales & Percussions
Carlos Kanno(Orquesta de la Luz) - Bongo & Percussions
Gen Date(Orquesta de la Luz) - Conga & Percussions

BIO

Casiopea was formed in the late 70's by guitarist Issei Noro, keyboardist Minoru Mukaiya, bassist Tetsuo Sakurai, and drummer Takashi Sasaki, and the quartet released its first, self-titled album in May of 1979. Containing high-energy, yet melodic contemporary jazz and fusion and featuring arrangements fleshed out by a horn section consisting of Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, and David Sanborn, the album set the tone for the band's many future releases and remains one of their best. The song "Midnight Rendezvous" is still a concert staple.
The band's follow-up, Super Flight, was released only six months later, the short gap between the albums being characteristic of the band's prolific output. Thunder Live, the first of several live albums to be put out by the group, followed in 1980. This album marked the first apperance of drummer Akira Jimbo, who replaced Sasaki after the first two studio albums. Jimbo, a world-class fusion drummer renowned for his mastery of 4-way independence (independent movement of the four limbs), completed a line-up that would remain stable for most of the decade. Several albums followed in rapid succession. 1981 saw the band seeking outside help to handle the production chores and turned to ace drummer Harvey Mason (today perhaps best known to smooth jazz fans as a member of Fourplay) for the album Eyes of the Mind, recorded in L.A. Mason's influence lent the group's music a more American sound, and his and Paulinho da Costa's percussion work contributed to making this one of the quartet's best releases. The album was recorded on 32-track digital equipment, practically unheard of in those days. Mason also acted as executive producer on the band's next album, Cross Point. In 1982 followed Mint Jams, a live album recorded in Japan and containing first-rate examples of the band's live performances at this stage in their career. For their next studio album, the band once again turned to guest players. 4x4 - Four By Four, released in late 1982, features Lee Ritenour, Don Grusin, Nathan East, and Harvey Mason, and contains some very interesting arrangements with two players on each instrument. Ritenour also contributed a song and did some of the arrangements, including the surprising choice of Ravel's "Pavane Pour Un Infante Défunte". By this time, Casiopea's reputation was starting to spread outside Japan, and in 1983 the band performed live in England for the first time. Later that same year, they recorded their tenth album, Jive Jive, in London. The year 1989 turned out to be a watershed in Casiopea's career. After a few years of tension within the band, drummer Akira Jimbo and bassist Tetsuo Sakurai left to pursue solo careers (to be covered in future editions of this column), and the two remaining members came close to calling it quits. It is the only year in the band's history that did not see the release of a studio or live album from the fusion foursome. A laserdisc was released, but no album. However, replacements were found, and in 1990, Casiopea returned with The Party, the first album to feature new members Yoshihiro Naruse and Masaaki Hiyama. With his energetic stage presence, Naruse seemed to inject some new energy into the band, and the quartet was set to enter the 90's with a more aggressive and slightly more hard-edged sound. One of Japan's premier bass players, Naruse has a distinct style (partly due to his frequent use of double strings), and like Sakurai before him, is a master slapper. With this new line-up, Casiopea recorded two more studio albums, 1991's Full Colors and 1992's Active, as well as another live album, We Want More. In late 1992, Hiyama was replaced by Noriaki Kumagai on drums, and with him on board, the band recorded Dramatic, released in 1993. More varied both in terms of arrangements and songwriting, the album stands out as one of the band's best 90's releases. In 1994, Casiopea was particularly busy. May saw the release of Answers, a new studio album recorded in Hawaii. For its 25th album, released only three months later, the band decided to try something different. The result was Hearty Notes, a kind of "unplugged" recording featuring only acoustic instruments. In December followed Asian Dreamer, a double CD containing new versions of 20 classic Casiopea songs. Not about to slow down even after this busy year, Casiopea returned in 1995 with a new studio recording called Freshness. In 1996, the band appeared at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague, Holland following the recording of a new album in Amsterdam. Later that year, Kumagai left the band, and rather than finding a permanent replacement, the remaining members decided to call upon a couple of old friends for the recording of their next album, Light and Shadows. Reuniting with Harvey Mason, the band recorded three tracks in L.A., while former member Akira Jimbo occupied the drum chair on the remaining eight tracks. With Jimbo back as an "associate member" and even contributing a few songs, Casiopea recorded two more studio albums, including 1999's Material, which marked the 20th anniversary of the band's debut. Following the release of the new CD, the band embarked on a tour of Japan, with a special anniversary concert taking place in Tokyo. With Jimbo behind the drums, the band was joined by some special guests during the second part of the show: former members Tetsuo Sakurai and Noriaki Kumagai, as well as keyboardist Hidehiko Koike, who was a member of the band in the 70's before they got a record deal. The show was recorded and filmed, and a double live CD called 20th came out in early 2000. The first disc is devoted mainly to recent material, but also includes a 37-minute medley structured as a flashback chronicling each year in the band's history. Each song in the medley is a year older than the previous one, until the band ends up playing "Space Road" from their first album in 1979. The second disc is devoted to the guest portion of the show, including some very potent drum and bass battles between the current and former members. The whole show was also released on VHS video and DVD. With new studio albums, Bitter Sweet and Main Gate, having been released in 2000 and 2001, Casiopea has entered the 21st century as prolific and energetic as ever. The band has also entered the world of DVD's: The DVD version of their double live CD has already been mentioned above, and other notable titles available are Casiopea Live History Part 1 and Part 2, which both are double DVD's containing 2 concert recordings each, from 1985, 1986, 1988, and 1992. The first disc in Casiopea Live History Part 2 is the video version of the World Live '88 CD release mentioned above, with recordings from Brazil, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and the USA. Yet another DVD, The Mint Session (1997), contains live performances recorded in a studio and features guest spots by former bassist Tetsuo Sakurai, as well as drummer Akira Jimbo. All the DVD's mentioned in this paragraph are playable in all regions. While Casiopea can be criticized for a certain sameness in their music, rarely straying far from their characteristic sound, the fact remains that their albums exhibit a vigour that is lacking from a lot of typical, run-of-the-mill smooth jazz releases. Another way of looking at it is to say that Casiopea has remained true to their sound and not yielded to the pressures that many American smooth jazz artists are subject to, putting out remarkably consistent albums throughout their 23-year recording career. © Morten Hansen, www.smoothvibes.com/vikingview.html

John Hiatt

John Hiatt - Crossing Muddy Waters - 2000 - Vanguard

A barebones acoustic album of superb folk-blues. There are eleven original Hiatt songs here, with great arrangements. With minimum instrumentation, the great singer/songwriter shows here why he is one of the world's greatest folk blues artists. John has had his songs covered by dozens of great artists like Three Dog Night, Bob Dylan, Willy DeVille, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Joan Baez, Buddy Guy, Iggy Pop, Emmylou Harris, Nick Lowe, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. And yet, like so many other great artists, his own albums, have not always received the acclamation they deserve. In fact, his name is still unknown to many music fans. Sonicnet said of this album, "Hiatt holds down the drummerless rhythm with his acoustic six-string and a National resonator guitar. The boisterous atmosphere (everybody hoots and hollers) evokes a back-porch picking session, and Hiatt's songs draw from similarly down-home sources.... a recording that reflects the spirit of musicians who live to sing and play". Q Magazine stated that "These songs snap at the outer edges of country, blues and folk, their emotional turmoil leavened by moments of bone-dry humour.", and Wall Of Sound noted that "Crossing Muddy Waters" is "An album of stunning acoustic folk-blues... Hiatt is at his absolute sharpest in terms of songwriting, and the arrangements, most often just guitar, bass, and mandolin or a second guitar, are fully fleshed out and never feel spare or slight. The album is HR by A.O.O.F.C. N.B: There is a "clicking" noise between each track on this album. It's not a big problem. The tracks, themselves are ok. Try and listen to his exceptional "Riding with the King", and "Slow Turning" albums

TRACKS

1 Lincoln Town 4:03
2 Crossing Muddy Waters 4:05
3 What Do We Do Now 3:01
4 Only The Song Survives 3:59
5 Lift Up Every Stone 3:13
6 Take It Down 4:00
7 Gone 2:56
8 Take It Back 3:11
9 Mr. Stanley 3:41
10 God's Golden Eyes 2:28
11 Before I Go 3:36

All songs composed by John Hiatt

MUSICIANS

John Hiatt (Vocals, Acoustic 6-string, Harmonium, National resophic)
David Immerglück (Mandolin, Electric mandolin, Baritone mandolin, Acoustic 12-string, Electric slide, Harmony vocals)
Davey Faragher (Bass, Foot stomping, Tambourine, Metal folding chair, Harmony vocals)

REVIEWS

Two and a half decades into a career that's never delivered the stardom forecast by legions of champions, John Hiatt has settled into a niche that's about as comfortable as a maturing singer-songwriter could ask for. No longer a major-label priority, Hiatt has hooked up with the stalwart folk label Vanguard for his 15th release. Crossing Muddy Waters adroitly captures Hiatt's comfort and confidence. Not so much blues as blusey, Crossing Muddy Waters features 11 new Hiatt compositions, half of which feel instantly familiar. The rambunctious "Lift Up Every Stone" sounds a little like some of Tom Waits's more accessible recent efforts, while "Take It Down" is a love-lost lament that's as heavy as a foggy evening. Crossing Muddy Waters was cut in three days and features only two accompanists--the uncommonly sympathetic Davey Faragher and David Immerglück. Just goes to show that Hiatt moves just fine when he's not dragging a lot of added weight and heavy expectations behind him. © Steven Stolder, amazon.com

John Hiatt's 16th effort is a marked departure from his work of the previous 25 years, and a vast improvement over 1997's disappointing Little Head. Hiatt retrenched and recorded his first drummer-less, predominantly acoustic record for Vanguard. It's a sympathetic match and a smart move, since the company has a long, rich history working in the unplugged medium before it became trendy. The result is the most natural and relaxed John Hiatt album in years, and a welcome addition to his extensive catalog. With just a duo of acoustic multi-instrumentalists, Davey Faragher and David Immergluck (both longtime associates), Hiatt pulls out some of the most earnest, down-to-earth songs of his career. He sings like a man rejuvenated, totally at ease with his surroundings, and plays with the laid-back, homespun honesty that has infused his best work. Although some comical lyrical touches remain, the majority of the album is a sober reflection on lost love ("What Do We Do Now," the title track) and the resulting psychological scars. Hiatt's voice has never sounded better; its coarse edges sometimes straining for high notes works perfectly with this craggy, unpolished music. The mandolin is the most distinctive instrument here, and its brittle, trebly, crisp tone gives the disc an underlying tension, especially on the ballads that comprise the majority of the album. Heart-rending, sincere, stripped down yet multi-faceted, John Hiatt has taken a step forward by taking a small step back. Although not quite in a class with career highlights like Bring the Family or Slow Turning, Crossing Muddy Waters is a subtle treat and an album whose watercolor brush strokes paint a vibrant picture of stirring delicacy. © Hal Horowitz, allmusic.com



BIO

John Hiatt's sales have never quite matched his reputation. Hiatt's songs were covered successfully by everyone from Bonnie Raitt, Ronnie Milsap, and Dr. Feelgood to Iggy Pop, Three Dog Night, and the Neville Brothers, yet it took him 13 years to reach the charts himself. Of course, it nearly took him that long to find his own style. Hiatt began his solo career in 1974, and over the next decade he ran through a number of different styles from rock & roll to new wave pop before he finally settled on a rootsy fusion of rock & roll, country, blues, and folk with his 1987 album Bring the Family. Though the album didn't set the charts on fire, it became his first album to reach the charts, and several of the songs on the record became hits for other artists, including Raitt and Milsap. Following its success, Hiatt became a reliable hit songwriter for other artists, and he developed a strong cult following that continued to gain strength into the mid-'90s. While he was growing up in his hometown of Indianapolis, IN, John Hiatt played in a number of garage bands. Initially, he was inspired by the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, and the music of those two artists would echo strongly throughout his work. Out of all the bar bands he played with in the late '60s, a group called the White Ducks was the one that received the most attention. Following his high-school graduation, he moved to Nashville at the age of 18, where he landed a job as a songwriter for Tree Publishing. For the next several years, he wrote and performed at local clubs and hotels. Within a few years, his songs were being recorded by several different artists, including Conway Twitty, Tracy Nelson, and Three Dog Night, who took Hiatt's "Sure as I'm Sittin' Here" to number 16 in the summer of 1974. Eventually, his manager secured him an audition at Epic Records, and the label signed him in 1974, releasing his debut album, Hangin' Around the Observatory, later that year. Despite their critical acclaim, neither Hangin' Around the Observatory nor its 1975 follow-up Overcoats sold many copies, and he was dropped by the label. By the end of the year, Tree Publishing had let him go as well. Following his failure in Nashville, Hiatt moved out to California. By the summer of 1978 he had settled in Los Angeles, where began playing in clubs, opening for folk musicians including Leo Kottke. With Kottke's assistance, Hiatt hired a new manager, Denny Bruce, who helped him secure a record contract with MCA Records. Slug Line, his first record for MCA, was released in the summer of 1979. Where his first two records were straight-ahead rock & roll and folk-rock, Slug Line was in the new wave vein of angry English singer/songwriters like Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, and Joe Jackson, as if Hiatt was vying for the role of the American angry young man. The new approach earned some strong reviews, yet it failed to generate any sales. Two Bit Monsters, his second MCA album, faced the same situation. Although it was well-received critically upon its 1980 release, it made no impression on the charts, and the label dropped him. Apart from working on Two Bit Monsters, Hiatt spent most of 1980 as a member of Ry Cooder's backing band, playing rhythm guitar on the Borderline album and touring with the guitarist. Hiatt stayed with Cooder throughout 1981, signing a new contract with Geffen Records by the end of the year. Produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex), his Geffen debut All of A Sudden was released in 1982, followed by the Nick Lowe/Scott Matthews & Ron Nagel-produced Riding With the King in 1983. As with his previous records for Epic and MCA, neither of his first two Geffen releases sold well. By this time, Hiatt's personal life was beginning to spin out of control as he was sinking deep into alcoholism. Around the time he completed 1985's Warming Up to the Ice Age, his second wife committed suicide. Following the release of Warming Up to the Ice Age, Hiatt was dropped by Geffen. By the end of 1985, he had entered a rehabilitation program. During 1986, he remarried and signed a new deal with A&M Records. For his A&M debut, Hiatt assembled a small band comprised of his former associates Ry Cooder (guitar), Nick Lowe (bass), and Jim Keltner (drums). Recorded over the course of a handful of days, the resulting album, Bring the Family, had a direct, stripped-down rootsy sound that differed greatly from his earlier albums. Upon its summer 1987 release, Bring the Family received the best reviews of his career and, for once, the reviews began to pay off, as the album turned into a cult hit, peaking at 107 on the U.S. charts; it was his first charting album. Hiatt attempted to record a follow-up with Cooder, Lowe, and Keltner, but the musicians failed to agree on the financial terms for the sessions. Undaunted, he recorded an album with John Doe, David Lindley, and Dave Mattacks, but he scrapped the completed project, deciding that the result was too forced. Hiatt's final attempt at recording the follow-up to Bring the Family was orchestrated by veteran producer Glyn Johns, who had him record with his touring band, the Goners. Despite all of the behind-the-scenes troubles behind its recording, the follow-up album, Slow Turning, actually appeared rather quickly, appearing in the summer of 1988. Slow Turning, like Bring the Family before it, received nearly unanimous positive reviews and it was fairly well-received commercially, spending 31 weeks on the U.S. charts and peaking at 98. Within the next year, Hiatt successfully toured throughout America and Europe, strengthening his fan base along the way. Inspired by the success of Hiatt's two A&M albums, Geffen released the compilation Y' All Caught? The Ones That Got Away 1979-85 in 1989. That same year, other artists began digging through Hiatt's catalog of songs, most notably Bonnie Raitt, who covered "Thing Called Love" for her multi-platinum comeback album, Nick of Time. In 1990, Hiatt returned with Stolen Moments, which was nearly as successful as Slow Turning, both critically and commercially. "Bring Back Your Love to Me," an album track from Stolen Moments that was also recorded by Earl Thomas Conley, won BMI's 1991 Country Music Award. By the time "Bring Back Your Love to Me" won that award, it had become a standard practice for artists to cover Hiatt's songs, as artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Ronnie Milsap, Suzy Bogguss, and Iggy Pop all covered his songs in the early '90s. In 1993, Rhino Records released Love Gets Strange: The Songs of John Hiatt, which collected many of the cover versions that were recorded during the '80s and '90s. During 1991, the group that recorded Bring the Family — Hiatt, Cooder, Lowe, and Keltner — re-formed as a band called Little Village, releasing their eponymous debut in early 1992. Based on the success of Bring the Family and Hiatt's A&M albums, expectations for Little Village were quite high, yet the record and its supporting tour were considered a major disappointment. Later, the individual members would agree that the band was a failure, mainly due to conflicting egos. Hiatt decided to back away from the superstar nature of Little Village for his next album, 1993's Perfectly Good Guitar. Recorded in just two weeks with a backing band comprised of members of alternative rock bands School of Fish and Wire Train, the album was looser than any record since Bring the Family, but it didn't quite have the staying power of its two predecessors, spending only 11 weeks on the charts and peaking at number 47. The following year, he released his first live album, Hiatt Comes Alive at Budokan? Hiatt left A&M Records after the release of the record, signing with Capitol Records the following year. Walk On, Hiatt's first Capitol album, was recorded during his supporting tour for Perfectly Good Guitar and featured guest appearances by the Jayhawks and Bonnie Raitt. Walk On entered the charts at 48, but slipped off the charts in nine weeks, indicating that his audience had settled into a dedicated cult following. Fittingly, after 1997's Little Head quickly came and went in the marketplace, Hiatt parted ways with Capitol, and his next album, 2000's Crossing Muddy Waters was released on the established independent imprint Vanguard Records. After a second album with Vanguard, The Tiki Bar Is Open, Hiatt aligned himself with another independent label, New West, for the release of his 2003 set Beneath This Gruff Exterior. Master of Disaster, along with CD and DVD versions of Live from Austin, TX, followed in 2005. Hiatt's 18th studio album, Same Old Man, appeared in 2008. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

If

If - Forgotten Roads: The Best of IF - 1995 - Sequel Records

Many people called If the British answer to Blood,Sweat & Tears, but without the same success. If were a hugely talented British jazz rock outfit. The prog/jazz rock band produced some great music. They had a great sound, but rockwise, were hard to classify, although their music is very jazz orientated. They supported many top groups during the early seventies, had good record sales, and always received a good reception as a live band. Yet, they never really made it bigtime. Wikipedia says - "If became one of the most highly-acclaimed groups of the Seventies to never quite make the big time, despite good record sales and full venues." If were not unusual in that regard, as the same quote could be applied to many early seventies bands. "Forgotten Roads" is a good release, showcasing some of If's best music from the band's first three albums. Check out If's 1973 superb "If 3"album, and listen to the band's great "Waterfall [live]" album. Info on the album can be found @ IF/WFALL

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1."Here Comes Mr Time" (John Mealing, Trevor Preston)
2."Fibonacci's Number" (Dave Quincy)
3."Sunday Sad" (Dick Morrissey)
4."What Did I Say about the Box, Jack?" (Morrissey)
5."Forgotten Roads" (Quincy, Preston)
6."Seldom Seen Sam" (Terry Smith, J.W. Hodkinson)
7."Child of Storm" (Quincy, Hodkinson)
8."Sweet January" (Quincy, Preston)
9."Upstairs" (Morrissey, Brigitta Morrissey)
10."I'm Reaching out on All Sides" (Quiny, Fishman)
11."What Can a Friend Say?" (Quincy)

MUSICIANS

Terry Smith – guitar
Jim Richardson – bass
John Mealing – keyboards and backing vocals
Dennis Elliott – drums
JW Hodkinson –- lead vocals and percussion
Dick Morrissey – tenor/soprano saxophones and flute
Dave Quincy – tenor/alto saxophones

SHORT BIO

If was Great Britain's contribution to the jazz-rock movement begun and popularized in the late '60s/early '70s by Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago. Formed in 1969 by Melody Maker jazz poll winners Dave Quincy, Dick Morrissey, and Terry Smith, the band never found popular success in the United States. However, If produced several albums noteworthy for placing jazz players in a pop/rock band context and producing a true fusion of the two genres without diluting the players' improvisational skills. Unlike most of their horn-band contemporaries, If had no brass players in the band, relying solely on the saxophones of Dick Morrissey and the flute and saxophones of Dave Quincy. But what really gave If its unique sound were the vocals of J.W. Hodgkinson and the guitar of Terry Smith. Hodgkinson's vocal timbre was unusual — smooth, flexible, and strong in the high end, sounding like no other vocalist. Smith's trebly guitar sound was also unique, combining a rocker's use of sustain with the jazz fluency of Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhardt. The original incarnation of If produced five excellent albums between 1970 and 1972, but these albums failed to find an audience. Morrissey soldiered on with the If name for two more albums with a totally different lineup and a more generic rock-type sound, but these, too, went nowhere. Drummer Dennis Elliott was later a member of the platinum-selling rock band Foreigner. © Jim Newsom, allmusic.com

BIO (Wikipedia)

IF was a seminal jazz-rock band formed in 1969 as Britain’s answer to the pioneering US bands Blood, Sweat and Tears and Chicago. The main difference was that IF did not have a trumpet or trombone player and featured two saxes instead. Essentially a live band, true to its strong jazz influences IF was probably the only jazz-rock group, both then and now, to feature solos by all the band members, not just by the lead instruments. They toured extensively in Europe and the States during the early Seventies, performing at most of the major venues and festivals of the day (Newport, Reading, Fillmores East & West, Whiskey A-Go-Go, The Marquee, etc.) and shared billings with, amongst others, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Leon Russell as well as many of the classic rock bands of the day, such as Cream, Traffic, Yes, Black Sabbath, Grand Funk Railroad, Ten Years After, KISS, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Like the early Chicago, they were difficult to classify with any of their contemporaries; they seemed out of place wherever they played, and were considered too jazzy when billed with groups with a more rock orientation and too bluesy or loud when billed with more jazz-oriented bands. IF thus became one of the most highly-acclaimed groups of the Seventies to never quite make the big time, despite good record sales and full venues. The band was managed and its albums produced by Lew Futterman, who had previously produced US jazz/soul stars Brother Jack McDuff and J.J. Jackson, amongst others. Signed on by Chris Blackwell, an enthusiastic early fan, to Island Records in the UK and to Capitol Records in the US, their first album, IF (1970), entered the charts in both the States (Billboard) and the UK, as well as winning a design award for its cover, and was followed that same year by IF 2, also released on Island and Capitol. The albums IF 3 (1971) and IF 4 aka “Waterfall” (1972) were accompanied by heavy touring schedules in the States and Europe, especially in Britain and Germany, where the band appeared on TV (BBC’s Top of the Pops/Old Grey Whistle Test in the UK and one of their tracks was used as a signature tune for the news in Germany). Finally, in the summer of 1972, the band had to come off the road in the middle of a US tour when Dick Morrissey was admitted to hospital for major surgery. As a result of the break-up, the band members went off to work on other projects.

Line-ups

The original band had a heavier leaning towards jazz and was formed by Dick Morrissey, on tenor sax and flute, and Terry Smith on guitars, both Melody Maker award-winning British jazz musicians who had played together in US soul singer J.J. Jackson’s band. IF’s original line-up included Dave Quincy who had also been in Jackson's band, on alto and tenor saxes, with Spike Wells on drums, Lionel Grigson on keyboards and Daryl Runswick on bass, although these last three musicians did not record with the band. The definitive seven-piece line-up, with a more (jazz-)rock-oriented style, and which appears on the first four studio albums, as well as a live recording, was J.W. Hodkinson on lead vocals, John Mealing on keyboards, Jim Richardson on electric bass, Dennis Eliott on drums, with Dave Quincy on alto and tenor saxes, Terry Smith on guitars, and Dick Morrissey on tenor and soprano saxes and flute. This line-up is the band's best known, but the band was subject to other personnel changes. With IF coming off the road when Dick Morrissey was admitted to hospital, J.W. Hodkinson joined Darryl Way's Wolf, Terry Smith and Dave Quincy went off to form Zzebra, John Mealing joined The Strawbs, Jim Richardson went on to do studio session work, and Dennis Elliott joined the hugely successful group Foreigner.

MORE ABOUT THE BAND

If ever a band epitomised the spirit of Jazz-Rock - it was If. Born of the early Seventies, this highly popular and innovative British band created an exciting new blend of musical influences. The founder members were all top rated jazz musicians, but with youth on their side, they were readily accepted in the world of pop and rock. Most jazz music relied heavily on open ended jamming on familiar, well worn standard tunes. By the late Sixties this just wasn't good enough as progressive rook bands were proving much more adventurous than their jazz counterparts. The birth of jazz-rock was sparked by the success of American pioneers Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago who brought a new clarity and blues power back to big band jazz. In 1969 If was born and the new band began to develop their own sound and approach. They used tightly written sax and guitar arrangements, deployed to back a powerful young lead singer. This new concept provided the way ahead for many musicians who might have languished on the under-funded, under-publicised jazz club circuit. If recorded a succession of albums, toured extensively throughout Europe and America and played to large, appreciative audiences. They also enjoyed all the fringe benefits of the rock life style. When several members of If held a reunion meeting in March 1997, they laughed long and loud at their shared memories of the good old days. They came together to celebrate the release of this long lost ‘live’ album recently found in the archives. As the band point out, this is the record that really captures the spirit of If. On cuts like "Waterfall", "The Light Still Shines" and the extended "Sector 17" you can hear the band throw themselves with great gusto into the songs, many written in unusual time signatures. The founder members of It were poll winning saxophonist Dick Morrissey (born Sutton, Surrey, 1939) and guitarist Terry Smith (born London, May 20, 1943), another Melody Maker Poll winner. They were the young lions of the London jazz scene, and Dick had been feted as a teenage prodigy for his command of the tenor and soprano sex and flute. His playing was inspirational in any setting, particularly when he led his own superb quartet with legendary drummer Phil Seamen and the late pianist Harry South. Dick had also played with The Animals Big Band and with Georgie Fame. Terry Smith, armed with a fast and fluent technique, was frequently matched with Dick on exciting jam sessions and it was only natural they should team up in the new venture. The third member of the front line was another highly rated and passionate player, the affable and highly organised Dave Quincy (born September 13,1939), a mean man on alto and tenor sex. They found the perfect front man in singer John Hodkinson (Born Leigh, Lancashire, 1949), whose bluesy vocal style was comparable to Steve Winwood of Traffic fame. The group was completed with the addition of John Mealing (born Yeovil, Somerset, April 5, 1942) on keyboards and backing vocals, Jim Richardson (born February 16, 1941), bass guitar, and Dennis Elliott (born Peckham, London 1950) on drums. Dennis was only 19 when he joined If and had previously been with the Shavelles and Ferris Wheel. When the band was put together in 1969, Dick, Terry and Dave were all part of a London based ten-piece outfit called J.J. Jackson's Greatest Little Soul Band In The Land, managed by American producer Lew Futterman. Says Terry Smith: 'We were all in the J.J. band together. One day the manager played me and Dick some tapes he’d got of Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago and asked if we'd fancy forming our own band. He assured us it could be done. In any case some of the stuff Dick and myself had been doing already was not far off that style."
Futterman had previously produced jazz stars like Benny Golson and also managed singer Jimmy Witherspoon and organist Jack McDuff. When he heard Morrissey playing with Witherspoon, Futterman was impressed and swiftly recruited both Dick and Terry Smith to back J.J. Jackson. Dave Quincy’s rock and roll roots lay way back in the early Sixties when he played with Jet Harris & The Jet Blacks. His association with Terry Smith began when he ran the Three Tuns jazz club in Beckenham, Kent. He featured all the top British jazzmen like Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes, and Phil Seaman. Quincy recalls that David Bowie later took over the Sunday night sessions for his famed Arts Lab. Says Dave: "I had started getting into writing music as well as playing sax, and when Dick and Terry wanted to put a band together they turned to me. I remembered working with a singer called John Hodkinson in a band with Jimmy Nicol. Incidentally, Jimmy was the drummer who ‘depped’ for Ringo Starr in The Beatles!" Quincy thought that John, who was a bit of a jazz fan, would be ideal for the new band. Around this time Terry Smith had been working with Scott Walker of The Walker Brothers. "I had to form a band to back Scott and I was his music director for a while." Scott was greatly impressed with Terry's playing and produced his solo album "Fall Out" (1968) which featured the Harry South Big Band. Terry went to Japan with the Walker Brothers a couple of times and on his return had to decide whether to stay with Scott or go with the new band. In the end he chose If, but still has fond memories of his days working with the American superstar. The musicians were convinced that Jazz Rock would be an important and productive new direction, and Dave Quincy recalls how the new band devised its musical policy. "When you listen to this ‘live’ CD you can hear there are extensive solos, but they are built into original compositions we put together as a band. It was a natural step forward for all of us." The band’s structure was quite different from BS&T or Chicago. Says John Mealing: "One of the original things about our band was that we didn't have a trumpet. The front line was all saxes and guitar and most of the other jazz-rock bands had trumpets." Jim Richardson remembers the band's first rehearsals at a pub in Islington called The Pied Bull, which was run by a gentleman fondly known as 'Mad Phil' who was originally a ballroom dancer and still had the 1930s movie star hair style to prove it. "He was a great character. I remember him saying that If was going to be BIG!" Lew Futterman signed If to Island in the UK and to Capitol for the US. They released their first album simply called "If" with its distinctive metallic cover design in 1970. The band’s name was chosen by their manager and was noted more for its fashionable brevity than anything to do with the Rudyard Kipling poem. Says Quincy: "I remember one tour with Yes and If. Someone said it sounded like Egg and Chips! But it was a memorable name and the album cover won a design award." Terry Smith: "We used to play at the Country Club in Hampstead and the promoter Stuart Lyons always used to announce us as 'The Ifs."' They played their first major gig at Roundhouse in London eyed up by various American A&R men. The band were excited by all the new found attention, but events overtook them at alarming speed. "The whole thing moved much faster than we expected," says Quincy. "We were catapulted from rehearsing at the 'Pied Bull' pub to flying off to Los Angeles, where we were met by the record company at the airport and taken to our Hollywood hotel in limousines! It took us all by surprise." Says Jim: "That kind of treatment wasn't our main goal, but it turned out to be great fun!" It wasn't long before the bleary eyed musicians were succumbing to the rock lifestyle with all its temptations. There are many band legends about broken water beds and rampant groupies - but of course as each member will tell you - "it wasn't me!" There was work to be done and the band set off on tour supporting Traffic, before making their Hollywood debut at the Whiskey A Go-Go on Sunset Strip, where they received excellent reviews. Their album was released in the States in September 1970 and entered the Billboard charts. The band moved onto Chicago and New York, where they supported an amazing variety of top performers from Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Laura Nyro, and The Association, to Ten Years After, Rod Stewart, Black Sabbath and Grand Funk Railroad. A couple of visits by their hero Miles Davis to a New York club gig unsettled Jim Richardson in particular: "We were playing in a tiny club. I looked up and suddenly saw him in front of me. I was so scared I threw up in the sink!" Dave Quincy reveals there was a lot of pressure on If during this hectic period. "We did something like 80 gigs in our first year including two U.S. tours. Being a seven-piece band there was more to handle than a three-piece like Cream." Terry: "It was expensive to run and there was an awful lot of rehearsing involved. We couldn't just get up and jam through a set. The arrangements were quite complex and Dave wrote a lot of stuff in different time signatures." Dave: "Well we wanted to get away from the old jazz club format of playing everything in 4/4. Unlike the Average White Band, we were never a dance outfit." Says Jim Richardson: "Well, it was a time when people came to listen to the music rather than dance. But we did have a great young rock drummer with us. Dennis Elliott was only 19 but he could handle jazz and rock styles. He really brought an authentic feel to the music." After a few tours of the States If became increasingly popular in Europe and they toured Germany and appeared on TV's 'Beat Club' in Bremen. The endless gigging took its toll on their health and nerves, however, and although the albums sold well, they didn't create the kind of breakthrough the band expected. Dave: "We had to do two albums a year to keep the band financially afloat and it started to get to us. After a couple of years we needed a break." "If 2" was released in 1970, followed by "If 3" (1971), and "If 4" (Waterfall) (1972). Quincy feels the "Europe ’72" album serves as both a timely reminder of a great band and also fills the gap left by the studio albums. "Our performance on those albums was never quite right. We'd record a new song but they'd only start to develop once we’d played them on gigs." Jim agrees: "This captures the essence of the 'live' band. There's one track on here that Dick wrote called "What Did I Say About The Box Jack?" that we used to play at every gig. On this CD it goes on for about twenty minutes. We used to tag things on and it became longer and longer!" The strange title comes from an episode when the band were recording the song for their first studio album. Lew Futterman's friend Jack McDuff was in the control booth and they were having a heated discussion. Lew's voice suddenly came over the PA saying: "What did I say about the box, Jack?" Well, you work it out. Some of the songs like "Waterfall" were first heard on the album "If 4" but these are all different 'takes.' The band's main soloists are featured in turn. Dick plays an extended flute solo on "Waterfall" and John Mealing plays piano on "The Light Still Shines" followed by Morrissey on soprano sax; Terry Smith gets stuck into an angular guitar solo on "Sector 17" and Dick plays tenor on "Throw Myself To The Wind" and more flute on "I Couldn't Write And Tell You". John Mealing switches to organ for "Your City Is Falling" which also provides a drum feature for Dennis Elliott. Everyone gets to shine on "What Did I Say About The Box Jack?" which also has a powerful blues vocal from John Hodkinson. The demise of the original If was hastened when Dick Morrissey became ill in the Summer of 1972 and the band came off the road. Dennis Elliott went on to join Foreigner which became hugely successful, while Mealing and Richardson left to pursue separate careers. John Hodkinson sang with Darryl Way's Wolf ("Night Music" LP, 1974). He later returned to his home in Manchester where he still sings locally. Jim played in the house band at London's Talk Of The Town venue for a few years, and also toured with Georgie Fame. Dave Quincy formed new group Zzebra with Terry Smith which included Loughty Amao (flute and tenor sax), Gus Yeadon (piano and vocals), Liam Genockey (drums) and John McCoy (bass). They released the "Zzebra" album in 1974, then Terry left to go to Sweden with Dick where they lived with their families for a while. Dick later revived If for the final albums "Double Diamond" (1973), "Not Just Another Bunch Of Pretty Faces" (1974), and "Tea Break Is Over, Back On Your Heads" (1975). The following year Dick began working with guitarist Jim Mullen in Morrissey/Mullen. Dick also did some work with Herbie Mann and the Average White Band in New York. Says Quincy: "The band kind of split in two stages. The original band reached a point where we became disillusioned about the whole thing." Says Terry: "We were getting older and the touring became very tiring. While it was still fun, the money wasn't going up, and that brings you down." John: "The promise of the band over first few albums was not coming to fruition and it rather looked as though it wasn't going to happen. We were fighting a lot of battles outside the band that were beyond our control." In 1982, Terry formed his own Blues Band with Jo Ann Kelly (vocals), Tony Ashton (organ) and Micky Waller (drums). Terry is currently working with organist Bob Stukey and drummer Chris Karren. For the last few years Dick Morrissey has been unable to play due to a serious illness and has now virtually retired from the scene. However, Terry Smith reports that in 1996 he was able to team up with his old friend in Portugal. When Dick played his beloved saxophone again, he managed to summon up all the old Morrissey magic. Dave Quincy is delighted at the release of this 'live' CD and says: "If was always a great social band and these recordings capture all the excitement of a live gig." CHRIS WELCH, London, 1997 [ (Taken from the Repertoire CD release, "Europe '72" REP 4653-WY) ] © Alex Gitlin www.alexgitlin.com/index.htm