BLUE CHEER Pilot - Babaji (Twilight Raga) (Philips, 1971)

"Babaji (Twilight Raga)"

Nunca fun un  gran seguidor da obra dos Blue Cheer pero "Babaji (Twilight Raga)"  é un instrumental certamente apreciable que se aparta dos sons habituais do grupo. As dúas cancións ían no seu quinto elepé "The Original Human Being".

THE INNOCENTS A Fine, Fine Bird - Spanish Holiday (Columbia, 1963)

"Spanish Holiday"

The Innocents, que incluían nas súas ringleiras aos futuros The End, Dave Brown e Colin Giffin,  eran parte da escudería de Robert Stigwood nos primeiros sesenta e foron durante un tempo a banda de acompañamento do cantante Mike Berry.  O tema estrela do segundo dos tres sinxelos que chegaron a publicar era "Fine , Fine Bird", unha adaptación dun tema da factoría Spector que polularizara Darlene Love.

THE END Loving, Sacred Loving - We've Got It Made (Sonoplay, 1967)

"Loving, Sacred Loving"

"In the winter of 1966 we had a gig in Zermatt in Switzerland at a hotel there, appearing with the Ready Steady Go Dancers. At that point our second saxophonist John Horton had left and Gordie Smith had replaced him. While we were in Switzerland an old friend of Gordie's called Sandra Le Brock, who was a choreographer for a Spanish TV show, came over to England looking for acts to appear on this show. She contacted Gordie to ask if we would be interested in going to Spain to do some work. She was also scouting acts for a Spanish record label called Sonoplay who wanted an English band on their roster.

Upon returning to England from Switzerland, the band consulted with Bill Wyman and opted to try their luck on the Spanish music circuit. Several singles were recorded at IBC and Olympic studios and were produced by Bill Wyman who licensed the marterial to Sonoplay Records. The End soon found themselves stars in Spain, fraternising with acts such as Los Bravos and being part of the Madrid music scene. Soon after this initial success The End underwent a line-up change that reflected the change in direction that the band wished to pursue". Colin Giffin 

MICKY A Tope (RCA, 1974)

"Watch It"

Ahora que el bueno de Micky está de vuelta con algo un poco más serio que lo que venía haciendo estos últimos años, vamos a recuperar este elepé grabado a mediados de los setenta con producción de Fernado Arbex y que cuenta con alguno de los sesioneros más apreciados de aquella época entre los que destacan el guitarrista portugués Johnny Galvao (Os Duques, Los Buenos y mercenario en casi todo lo que iba surgiendo, desde Las Grecas o Los Chorbos a Miguel Ríos, Tabaca, Aguaviva ,...) y el baterista británico Bob Thackway (The Mode, Pop Tops, La Mosca, Miguel Ríos, Ñu, Charol,...). Ambos incluso componen  tres temas del disco, el resto son de Arbex y del propio Micky.

Ya sabemos que las dotes vocales de Miguel Ángel Carreño siempre fueron escasas así que salvando ese pequeño inconveniente, hay algunas canciones que no están mal del todo, el pop-rock de "Face the water", una frikada molona de seis minutos obra de Fernando Arbex titulada "Honeymoon in Persia", el bubblegum de "Quién es Lucy", a pesar de los teclados, y sobre todo "Watch it", un ejemplo de como sonarían unos Canned Head con pelo afro.

LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE Grubby Highway Country Lane (Cherry Red, 1990)

"Full Circle"

 

"Grubby Highway Country Lane" fue el único disco de este cuarteto de Birmingham  que tenía como figura más notable al compositor y guitarrista Andy Lloyd que venía de tocar con The Nighingales  La cara A me gustó bastante sobre todo por los bonitos juegos de guitarras y el espíritu sicodélico de algunas canciones como "Mind Contracting Drug" o "Full Circle" .  Aquí está el maiespeis de su  bajista Ian Rushbury.

WALKERS Do The Yo-Yo - My Beautiful You (Phillips, 1974)

"Do The Yo-Yo"

Un pouco de bubblegum-glam con este enchepistas dos daneses Walkers. "My beautiful You" non ten tanto gancho.

DAVID ALEXANDER WINTER Oh Lady Mary (EP, Barclay, 1969)

" Qu´est-ce Que j´ai Dansé!"

O único que me chamou a atención deste Ep de David Alexander Winter, seudónimo do holandés Leon Kleerekoper, é a adaptación do "I Can't Stop Dancing" de Archie Bell And The Drells.

DAVE EDMUNDS AND ROCKPILE College Radio Network (Swan Song, 1978)

A única rareza deste album é a presenza dunha gravación en directo de "I Hear You Knocking" cos Rockpile ao completo, o resto é unha entrevista con Dave Edmunds mentras estaba a promocionar o seu Lp "Trax On Wax 4" e catro cancións procedentes dese mesmo disco.

GORDON GILTRAP Oh, Well - Reflections & Dispair (Sauce, 1978)

"Oh, Well"

 Notas da contraportada

On Friday 28 April, The Electric Record Company will release Gordon Giltrap's new single, "Oh,Well" (WOT 21), as the follow-up to his hit  single "Heartsong". Giltrap featured this Peter Green composition as a very successful encore during his first major national tour in March, which covered fourteen cities.

The B side is "Reflections & Despair" from his September 1977 best-selling L.P., Perilous Journey. This, together with the Visionary album from the previous year, consolidated his reputation as a contemporary musician/composer. Giltrap is at present writing material for his new album, Fear of the Dark, which will be recorded in June and released by The  lectric Record Company late in September.

Like Visionary and Perilous Journey, Fear of the Dark will be produced by Jon Miller, Roger Hand and Rod Edwards. Gordon Giltrap will undertake another tour of Britain towards the end of the year with the same band - Eddy Spence and Rod Edwards (kevboards), John G. Perry (bass) and Clive Bunker (drums). 

TONY HAZZARD Sweet Ruby Ruby Nite-Time - Mrs. Q (Bronze-Island, 1972)

"Mrs. Q"

Tony Hazzard é coñecido fundamentalmente por ser autor de pezas para outros artistas, unha especie de Graham Gouldman pero con menos éxito. Malia iso as súas cancións foron gravadas por xente como The Hollies ("Listen to Me"), Manfred Mann ("Ha! Ha! Said The Clown" and "Fox on the Run"),  The Yardbirds ("Goodnight Sweet Josephine"), Herman's Hermits ("You Won't Be Leaving"), The Tremeloes ("Hello World"), Richard Barnes ("Take to the Mountains") que posteamos hai unhas semanas, ou Cherry Smash ("Fade Away Maureen"). Ao igual que Gouldman tamén probou en solitario, primeiro con "Tony Hazzard: Sings Tony Hazzard " (1969), reeditado por Rev-Ola, 2007 e xa nos setenta con tres discos para o selo Bronze. Do último deles, "Was That Alright Then?", está extraída a cara A . "Mrs. Q" , moito máis interesante, non ía no elepé pero si aparece recuperada na antoloxía "Go North: The Bronze Anthology" con notas do noso querido Andy Morten, un gran fan de Tony.