"Zakarrias" by ZAKARRIAS – October 1971 UK Debut Album on Deram Records featuring Zakarrias (Bobby Haumer), Peter Robinson, Geoff Leigh, Don Gould, and Martin Harrison (February 2010 UK Cherry Red/Cherry Tree Records CD Reissue – Andy Pearce Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zakarrias/dp/B0032BVEM2?crid=VLYRTYP5FF0E&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.35LngmQ61ff8ahUvKOh8tw._xZ2WMZ81Zg9YBnWWEgW0WyWDzejpagTogKmOY_YOfs&dib_tag=se&keywords=5013929690622&qid=1711038406&sprefix=5013929690622%2Caps%2C65&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=c455cda2c0a11ccfe8a6a56d05e3d4c9&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Rating: Content **** Audio **** to *****

"...Cosmic Bride..."

Apart from his very vague recollection of the album sessions in the summer of 1971 in London as "...a reasonably excruciating learning curve..." - Deram Records Producer Roger Watson then goes on to describe Bobby Haumer as "...a very odd Austrian bloke". The Record Mirror reviewer for its 6 Nov 1971 issue (the only review available of the album) was less enthusiastic of Haumer's Zakarrias alter-ego - helpfully suggesting that "...it might be kinder if all copies were withdrawn from public consumption". Nice.

Slithered out into the British marketplace in October 1971 on Deram SML 1091 - not only did Bobby 'Robert' Haumer (aka Zakarrias) not have a band - but he hadn't a work permit visa either. So legend has it that Decca gave the LP zero promotion (while Haumer went back to Europe) and probably put out maybe 100 copies or less into unsuspecting Blighty stores. And Decca/Deram then it seems did indeed heed that reviewers advice and withdrew the album. 

As a result the lone "Zakarrias" LP has steadily begun to accumulate frankly ludicrous bid-amounts online. The liner notes (written in October 2009) to this February 2010 UK Cherry Tree CD Reissue and Remaster told of a copy reaching $1000 - when in March 2024 you have copies for sale at over £2100. Is it worth that - yes and no in equal measure would be my curt response - but if you are interested (and there's a lot to like here) - then CRTREE006 sports fabulously clean CD audio.

Let's talk genres also. As everyone knows England's 'Deram' Records was Decca's home for all things Avant Garde and Progressive in the late 60s and early 70ts. Any album on the label garnishes dosh - but the idea that this LP is Psych is rubbish. I suspect some enterprising trader peddled this largely Rock and Prog Folk orientated LP as 'Psych' - thereby sending fans and buyers into a frenzy. As there is a distinct lack of electric guitars on the long-player - Psych whig-outs are absolutely not the order of the day. The "Zakarrias" album is more Prog Folk - part Jethro Tull - part Van Der Graaf Generator - part Soft Machine - part Audience - even Funky in tunes like "The Unknown Years" and "Let Us Change". 

And when Universal started releasing those 3CD Label Retrospective Clamshell Box Sets - the rather excellent Acoustic-Rock-Folk of Zakarrias track "The Unknown Years" showed up on the January 2003 set "Legend Of A Mind: The Underground Anthology" - while the album's flanged-finisher "Cosmic Bride" showed up in May 2008 on the "Strange Pleasures: Further Sounds Of The Decca Underground" 3CD set. It's a fair bet that most collectors had not heard either track up until then and I suspect those entries alone sent collectors a-hunting and a-bidding. Let's get to the reissue at hand - the first official issue of the album in forty years and thankfully with stonkingly great audio courtesy of obviously very clean master tapes.

UK released February 2010 - "Zakarrias" by ZAKARRIAS on Cherry Red/Cherry Tree Records CRTREE006 (Barcode 5013929690622) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of the 1971 album that plays out as follows (41:21 minutes):

1. Country Out Of Reach [Side 1]
2. Who Gave You Love
3. Never Reachin'
4. The Unknown Years
5. Sunny Side [Side 2]
6. Spring Of Fate
7. Let Us Change
8. Don't Cry
9. Cosmic Bride
Tracks 1 to 9 are their debut album "Zakarrias" - released October 1971 in the UK on Deram SML 1091, produced by Roger Watson. Tracks 2, 3, 5 and 6 written by Zakarrias - Tracks 1, 4, 7 and 8 written by Zakarrias and his wife Eva - Track 9 written by Zakarrias and Samy Bimbach (Manager of Salt, Bobby Haumer's previous band).

Musicians:
Zakarrias (Bobby Haumer) - All Lead Vocals, Guitar, Bass and Kazoo
Peter Robinson - Keyboards
Geoff Leigh - Saxophone and Flute
Martin Harrison - Drums
Don Gould - String Arrangements on "Spring Of Fate", "Don't Cry" and "Cosmic Bride" and played Piano on "Spring Of Fate". 

Bobby Haumer had been with Vienna based teenage Psych band Expiration who managed one Euro 45-single "It Wasn't Right" b/w "And The World Will Be A Bird" on VRC Records. Haumer then joined forces with Huw Lloyd-Langton and John Lingwood to form the Munich-based Salt with the idea of peddling songs to Decca. Lloyd-Langton eventually jumped ship and would then famously join the newly formed Hawkwind in the UK while Langford did stints with Amon Duul, Steamhammer and eventually Manfred Mann's Earth Band. But the Zakarrias album appears to be just Bobby Haumer under the pseudonym with guest musicians - Peter Robinson would end up in Quatermass over on Harvest Records while Geoff Leigh did stints in Henry Cow (on Virgin) and Quiet Sun.

There may only be 8-pages in the booklet but the DAVID WELLS liner notes (which I have liberally used as a basis for this review) are the kind of researched genius you expect from someone like him – a proper fact-fest that lays out the Bobby (Robert) Haumer/Zakarrias story for the first time in its many lurid colours. There are some promo photos (Salt, a smiling long-haired Baumer as alter-ego Zakarrias) and even photos of the Expiration and Bobby Haumer Band (BHB) 45s out of Europe. But the real deal comes with one of my fave Audio Engineers – ANDY PEARCE – who has done Budgie, Free, Rory Gallagher, Spooky Tooth, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, ELP, Wishbone Ash and loads more. If he gets his hands on a master tape – it will sound alive and kicking and so it is here. Admittedly the flange separation sop favoured in the day on say "Cosmic Bride" can be speaker-to-speaker harsh, but that is more down to the recording trickery of the time. Mostly this sounds so clear and vibrant and a properly great job done.

Both the Side 1 opener "Country Out Of Reach" and Side 2's "Don't Cry" employ a very heavily fuzzed Bass Guitar line as the basis of the songs which gives both an ever so slightly amateur-hour grungy Rock feel – like you have stumbled on Roger Bain (of Sabbath fame) producing Budgie on their 1971 MCA Records debut. They are both good but falsely make you think the album is going to Psych it up bigtime any second now when it does  nothing of the sort. Many of the songs are Acoustic Guitar based – more a Prog Folk feel with some funky keyboard fills – and his voice is good without ever being great – but still more than Peter Hammill-acceptable. The album's other gems include "Spring Of Fate" and the speaker-to-speaker harmonies in "Who Gave You Love" even if lyrically it can all feel a tad too down for its own good. 

"Zakarrias" is the kind of obscurity that deserves rediscovery but temper those Psych hopes and amp up your inner Prog Folk with a sprinkle of flange instead. Well done to Cherry Tree Records (part of England's Cherry Red roster of labels) for getting this big-bucks charmer out there once again and don't ya just love the Seventies where people made albums like this and hoped for the best... 

"Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – featuring LP Tracks, Single Sides, Rarities and Two Previously Unreleased Recordings by John Mayall's Blues Breakers, Graham Bond Organization, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, Jo-Ann Kelly, Jeff Beck, Duster Bennett, Love Sculpture, Alexis Korner with Robert Plant, John Dummer Blues Band, Taste, Savoy Brown, Blodwyn Pig, Stone The Crows, Ten Years After, Free, Skid Row, Stack Waddy, Black Cat Bones, Icarus, Jeremy Spencer of Fleetwood Mac, Edgar Broughton Band, Jaklin, Steamhammer, Status Quo, Mungo Jerry, Linda Hoyle and more (March 2020 UK Grapefruit Records 3CD Clamshell Box Set – Simon Murphy Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...You Shook Me..."

It's a piddly thing really and shouldn't elicit such joy in a 62-year old Dubliner badly in need of a post-lockdown haircut (I'm currently sporting a mad professor look with heaven bound sprouts of grey). And I've provided photos with this review to prove it.

Inside this terminally hip 56-Track Box Set are three single card sleeves with 'alternate' artwork – the hugely important and influential John Mayall and The Blues Breakers self-titled debut LP from July 1966 with Eric Clapton smiling and the Beano comic not fully visible - Fleetwood Mac's Jeremy Spencer looking like he's about to be arrested and cry for not being black enough in his undoubtedly tainted white soul - and finally Rory Gallagher's fantastic Taste (as The Taste) in a colour-red tinted live photo of the Irish rockers in full "What's Going On" reverie.

It's the attention to detail that gets me. No major label would have bothered with this - but Cherry Red's Grapefruit Records knows what its fans and collectors want - respect shown and affection too. This is smart sequencing and for a subject that's been done before (albeit in a piecemeal sort of way), the best presentation of such material that I've ever seen or heard. Before I start weeping into my stale Guinness, we'd better get to the details 'cause there's a shed load of 'em to wade through. Here goes...

UK released 27 March 2020 - "Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Grapefruit CRSEGBOX068 (Barcode 5013929186804) is a 3CD 56-Track Clamshell Box Set of Remasters that pans out as follows:

Disc One (76:28 minutes):

1. All Your Love - JOHN MAYALL'S BLUES BREAKERS with ERIC CLAPTON (from the July 1966 UK Debut LP "Blues Breakers" on Decca LK 4804 in Mono)

2. Crawling Up A Hill - THE ZANY WOODRUFF OPERATION (Previously Unreleased, recorded December 1966, John Mayall cover)

3. Louise - ANDERSON JONES JACKSON [Ian Anderson, Al Jones and Elliot Jackson] (Track 1 of a January 1967 UK 5-Track 7" EP on Saydisc 33SD 125)

4. I Love You - THE GRAHAM BOND ORGANISATION (February 1967 UK 7" single on Page One PDF 014, B-side of "You Gotta Have Love Baby")

5. I'm A Man (Live) - THE YARDBIRDS (not originally issued, recorded April 1967, features Jimmy Page)

6. Don't Want You No More - THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP (July 1967 UK 7" single on Fontana TF 854, B-side of "Time Seller")

7. I Can't Keep From Crying, Sometimes - TEN YEARS AFTER (from the November 1967 UK debut LP "Ten Years After" on Deram DML 1015)

8. Jumping At Shadows - DUSTER BENNETT (not originally issued solo Demo Version, recorded early 1968)

9. Charlie - THE DEVIANTS (from the June 1968 UK debut LP "Ptooff!" on Impresarios IMP 1)

10. You Shook Me - JEFF BECK (from the July 1968 US debut LP "Truth" on Epic BN 26413, November 1968 UK debut LP on Columbia SCX 6293 in Stereo)

11. Ain't Nothin' In Ramblin' – JO-ANN KELLY (from the July 1968 UK compilation LP "Blues Like Showers Of Rain" on Saydisc Matchbox SDM 142)

12. Love That Burns - FLEETWOOD MAC (from their August 1968 UK 2nd LP "Mr. Wonderful" on Blue Horizon 7-63205)

13. Wang Dang Doodle - LOVE SCULPTURE (September 1968 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5731, A-side)

14. Operator - ALEXIS KORNER featuring ROBERT PLANT (not originally issued, recorded September 1968)

15. Can Blue Men Sing The Whites? - THE BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND (from their November 1968 UK second LP "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse" on Liberty LBS 83158 in Stereo)

16. Walking - DR. K's BLUES BAND (from the December 1968 debut LP "Dr. K's Blues Band" on Spark SRLP 101)

17. Little Woman You're So Sweet - SHAKEY VICK (from the January 1968 UK LP "Little Woman You're So Sweet" on Pye NSPL 18276 in Stereo)

18. A Stranger In Your Town - THE CLIMAX CHICAGO BLUES BAND (from the February 1969 UK LP "The Climax Chicago Blues Band" on Parlophone PCS 7069 in Stereo)

19. Lord Of The Rings - DOWNLINERS SECT (from a February 1969 Swedish 4-Track EP on Juke Box JSEP 5584)

Disc Two (75:29 minutes):

1. Sweet Tooth - FREE (from their March 1969 UK debut LP "Tons Of Sobs" on Island ILPS 9089 in Stereo)

2. Death Letter – MIKE COOPER (from the March 1969 UK LP "Oh Really!?" on Pye Records NSPL 18281 in Stereo)

3. Blister On The Moon – TASTE (from their April 1969 debut LP "Taste" on Polydor 583 042 in Stereo featuring Rory Gallagher)

4. I Just Can't Keep From Crying – LEVEE CAMP MOAN (from the April 1969 UK LP "Levee Camp Moan" on County Recording Service COUN LP 132)

5. Sometime Girl – SAM APPLE PIE (May 1969 UK 7" single on Decca F 22932, B-side of "Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle)"

6. Skin Game - JOHN DUMMER BLUES BAND (not originally issued alternate version, recorded May 1969)

7. Diamond Joe - QUIET MELON (not originally issued, recorded May 1969)

8. Nobody By My Side - KILLING FLOOR (from the May 1969 UK debut LP "Killing Floor" on Spark SRLP 102)

9. Dear Jill (Live) - BLODWYN PIG (not originally issued, recorded circa May 1969)

10. There's An Easy And A Hard Way Of Living - ICARUS (not originally issued, recorded July 1969)

11. Tears In The Wind - CHICKEN SHACK (August 1969 UK 7" single on Blue Horizon 57-3160, A-side)

12. Bring It On Home - BAKERLOO (from the September 1969 UK debut LP on Harvest SHVL 762 in Stereo)

13. The Same For You - JAKLIN (from the October 1969 UK LP "Jaklin" on Stable SLE 8003)

14. Train Comes, Train Goes - FROZEN TEAR (Previously Unissued, recorded October 1969) 

15. Telephone Blues (aka "Talk To Me Baby") - THE RATS (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

16. Madison Blues - ANGEL PAVEMENT (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

17. It's You I Miss - CHRISTINE PERFECT BAND (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

18. This Love Of Old - MEDICINE HEAD (from their May 1970 UK second LP "New Bottles, Old Medicine" on Dandelion S 63757 in Stereo)

19. Baby Please Don't Go - JASPER (from the November 1969 UK LP "Liberation" on Spark SRLP 103)

Disc Three (78:16 minutes):

1. I've Got Those Fleetwood Mac Chicken Shack John Mayall Can't Fail Blues - LIVERPOOL SCENE (from the November 1969 UK LP "Bread On The Night" on RCA Victor SF 8057 in Stereo)

2. Ride With Your Daddy Tonight - BRUNNING SUNFLOWER BLUES BAND featuring PETER GREEN (from the December 1969 UK LP "Trackside Blues" on Saga EROS 8132)

3. Time To Move - RED DIRT (not originally issued, recorded December 1969)

4. A Hard Way To Go (Live) - SAVOY BROWN (not originally issued, recorded circa January 1970)

5. Mean Blues - JEREMY SPENCER (from his January 1970 UK debut solo LP "Jeremy Spencer" on Reprise RSLP 9002)

6. Chauffeur - BLACK CAT BONES (from their February 1970 UK debut LP "Barbed Wire Sandwich" on Decca Nova SDN 15)

7. Gardener Man - SIREN (featuring Kevin Coyne on Lead Vocals) (from their February 1970 UK debut LP "Siren" on Dandelion 63755)

8. Dupree Blues - BLUE BLOOD (from the February 1970 UK LP "Blue Blood" on Sonet SNTF 615)

9. Passing Through - STEAMHAMMER (from the March 1970 UK debut LP "Steamhammer" on CBS Records S 63694)

10. Raining In My Heart - STONE THE CROWS (from their May 1970 UK debut LP "Stone The Crows" on Polydor 2425 017)

11. Old Gopher - EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND (from the June 1970 UK LP "Sing Brother Sing" on Harvest SHVL 772)

12. Roadrunner - STACK WADDY (July 1970 UK 7" single on Dandelion S 5199, A-side)

13. Take Me Down To The Water - HEAVY JELLY (from the September 1970 Unissued LP "Heavy Jelly" on Head Records HELP 4 - Test Pressings Only)

14. The Man Who Never Was - SKID ROW featuring Gary Moore and Brush Shiels (from their October 1970 UK debut LP "Skid" on CBS Records S 63847)

15. Take Your Money - BRETT MARVIN & THE THUNDERBOLTS (from the May 1971 UK LP "12 Inches Of Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts" on Sonet SNTF 619)

16. The Sun Is Shining - MUNGO JERRY (from the September 1971 UK 4-Track EP "You Don't Have To Be In The Army" on Dawn records DNX 2513)

17. Backlash Blues - LINDA HOYLE (from the November 1971 UK LP "Pieces Of Me" on Vertigo 6360 060)

18. Railroad - STATUS QUO (from the November 1971 UK LP "Dog Of Two Head" on Pye NSPL 18371)

The 40-page booklet is the usual feast of images and words - compiler and annotator DAVID WELLS pouring on the factoids to keep even nerdish disciple like me in rapture for hours. And once again the visuals are a knockout - cool pictures of a guitar-wielding Alexis Korner with P.P. Arnold at a microphone - Jimmy Page fronting the (new) Yardbirds - the Emidisc acetate for Frozen Tear's "Train Comes, Train Goes" offering - Maggie Bell giggling as she reads a comic with her fellow band mates in Stone The Crows - and so much more. Posters, Trade Adverts, Magazine Reviews, Badges – it’s all here and more. SIMON MURPHY at Another Planet has done the mastering and it all feels great even when the source is something as crude as Levee Camp Moan doing "I Just Can't Keep From Crying". To the music and choices...

Disc One

Zeppelin's absence from this Box Set makes for an obvious chasm but "Crawling Up A Hill..." has a clever way of plugging that gaping hole. In September 1968 the gravel-voiced Godfather of British Blues Alexis Korner (later of the much loved C.C.S.) brought into the studio a new young vocal talent from the Midlands called Robert Plant. They recorded two songs "Operator" and "Steal Away" in what was supposed to be an album project, but Percy of course got lured away by some guitarist called Jimmy Page who would then go on to form some minor English band that no one even remembers now. Both of these truly fantastic vocals performances first turned up on the Alexis Korner "Bootleg Him!" double-album from August 1972 on Mickie Most's RAK Records where they were simply credited as 'The Duo'. To hear a pre-Zep Plant in that staggering vocal form that he would then bring in spades to Led Zeppelin's debut is hair-raising stuff and a very smart inclusion.

And just when it's all getting a tad too po-faced, time to bring in the sort-em-out humour of The Bonzo’s with their fab "Can Blue Men Sing The Whites?" on the best-album-title-ever "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse". The box set's namesake "Crawling Up A Hill" is more fast-paced 60ts R&B than Blues but both Graham Bond's "I Love You" and the Spencer Davis Group B-side "Don't Want You No More" are great choices - Steve Winwood's God-given set of pipes still amazing us even after 50+ years. Acoustic Blues lovers will zip to the Jo Ann Kelly contribution - such a fantastic voice and interpreter. Fronting Love Sculpture, Dave Edmunds tells fast-talking Fanny that we're gonna "Wang Dang Doodle" all night long. And I recently re-discovered how good The Climax Chicago Blues Band were on their "A Stranger In Your Town" while I admit I've never heard the Anderson Jones and Jackson track "Louise" - a sweetest girl I know jug-band shuffle with harmonica accompaniment.

Disc Two

Free get heavy with "Sweet Tooth" but as much as I love the band, I would have chosen another track. The sliding acoustic blues of Son House's "Death Letter" however finds a sympathetic home with Mike Cooper (great stuff). The re-recorded "Blister On The Moon" for the April 1969 debut "Taste" LP is beefier than the Major Minor single variant of the previous year (they dropped The Taste in favour of just Taste from thereon in). It also shows off the fantastic axeman talent of Rory Gallagher still only a young man when his band supported Cream on their farewell tour of November 1968. It tickles me pink that a colorised variant of a live photo for TASTE has been used as the cover art for Disc Two. Absolutely any version of the fabulously Bluesy "Dear Jill" by Blodwyn Pig is cool by me. The studio version is on the smoking-porker-with-headphones debut album "Ahead Rings Out", but what we have here is a live cut I've not heard before recorded about May 1969 making a welcome inclusion (guitarist Mick Abrahams includes the fan-fave tune in his sets to this day).

Stan Webb takes the lead vocals on Chicken Shack's follow-up to "I'd Rather Go Blind" - the similarly mournful "Tears In The Wind" - with Plastic Penny's keyboardist Paul Raymond having just joined the band. Quite by accident The Bakerloo Blues Line (shortened to Bakerloo for their one and only LP on Harvest in September 1969) famously opened for the newly formed Led Zeppelin in October 1968 then still hogging the moniker of The Yardbirds (albeit as the 'New' Yardbirds). Zep's cover of Willie Dixon's "Bring It On Home" that ended Side 2 of October 1969's "Led Zeppelin II" owes an uncomfortable amount to the Bakerloo arrangement. But still it's a smart inclusion and shows the bridge being formed between old Blues and the new Blues Rock and Heavy Metal. Killing Floor's wickedly good "Nobody By My Side" feels the same - heavy heavy. Misses for me include Christine Perfect's "It's You I Miss" which is awful and an odd choice - and while the melancholic Medicine Head "This Love Of Old" may be a really lovely song 

Disc Three

Opening with a frighteningly impressive amount of riffage, The Liverpool Scene then quickly begin to take the almighty Michael out of their band compatriots in the British Blues Boom with lyrics like "I woke up this morning with Mike Vernon from Blue Horizon Records in my room..." (that's Plainsong's Andy Roberts on impressive slide guitar). Actual Blues Rock then shows with the impressive snake-boogie of "Ride With Your Daddy Tonight" where you could easily mistake the wildly similar vocals and harmonica of Bob Brunning for an uncredited Peter Green (he plays guitar). The flute-rocker "Time To Move" by Red Dirt could easily have been a Blodwyn Pig outtake from the "Ahead Rings Out" LP featuring guitarist Steve Howden (formerly Fickle Pickle). Unissued was probably the right move for the plodding live version of "A Hard Way To Go" by Savoy Brown that is followed by an equally lost and bemused offering from Jeremy Spencer - "Mean Blues" pre-ambled by an ill-advised mock announcement to an indifferent crowd that is supposed to be funny but just isn’t (has some fab wild grungy guitar though).

Future Savoy Brown and Foghat guitarist Ray Price gives the Memphis Minnie cover of "Me And My Chauffeur Blues" a very Free feel - weird as Guitarist Paul Kossoff, Drummer Simon Kirke and Vocalist Paul Rodgers had all sat in on Black Cat Bones rehearsals and sessions. Before going solo, Kevin Coyne leant his vocals and wit to the Bluesy "Gardener Man" for Dandelion Records act Siren giving in some Them's Gloria by spelling out G-A-R-D-E-N-E-R lyrics in the same way Van the Man did. Far better is the Acoustic/Harmonica Blues playing of Roger Barnes in the obscure band Blue Blood - doing a damn good job covering the Blind Willie Walker stuck in Atlanta Jail classic "Dupree Blues" (tell my baby to sail on). Steamhammer give us the 70ts Rock of "Passing Through" – a tune that feels slightly plodding at first but soon develops into a deceptively hooky melody something Guitarist Martin Quittenton who would of course do for future collaborator Rod Stewart when he co-penned both "Maggie Mae" and "You Wear It Well" with Rodders for the 1971 smash album "Every Picture Tells A Story".

I can understand the rocking choice of "Raining In Your Heart" by the fabulous Stone The Crows given that the rapid-paced thrasher highlights both stunning vocalists in the band – Maggie Bell and future Robin Trower Band leading man James Dewar. But I’d have gone for the genuinely great Josh White cover version "Blind Man" (also on their July 1970 self-titled debut album) where Maggie Bell pulls off one of the most authentically brilliant Blues Vocals performances I've ever heard (but that's just me). Disc 3 begins to lose its way with the bruiser vocals of Edgar Broughton killing "Old Gopher" and the ordinary cover of Bo Diddley's beep-beep "Roadrunner" by Stack Waddy - only to pick up again with the Slow Rock Blues discovery that is Heavy Jelly's "Take Me Down To The Water". This brooding beast features sloppy heavy guitar work from John Morshead of Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation along with a trio of Apple artists - Jackie Lomax and two from Badfinger, Pete Ham and Tommy Evans - all on Vocals (very cool).

Other Disc Three highlights include the happy-go-lucky jug-band shuffle of "Take Your Money" by Brett Marvin & The Thunderbirds on Sonet Records and Ray Dorset already showing frontman/songwriting genius in the self-penned "The Sun Is Shining", a gutbucket-sounding live-in-the-studio B-side from their September 1971 "You Don't Have To Be In The Army" EP on Dawn Records. Affinity's Linda Hoyle provides sexy vocals on the fantastic and hard-hitting "Backlash Blues" (second-class schools for second-class folks and then send my son to Vietnam) - a Nina Simone social satire cover version that features superb slide-acoustic and electric geetar from Chris Spedding. And it all comes to and end with the Quo giving us "Railroad" from their excellent "Dog Of Two Head" LP - a song that sets the Blues-Rock template for an entire 40 years of heads down boogie to come.

For sure not everything on "Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" will appeal to all (The Downliners Sect grunge-Tolkien track may make many punters run for the hill) and there are absences that probably couldn't be included because of licensing rights. But in my mind, this is still one helluva impressive release and a damn good reminder of what's bin did and what's bin hid. Grapefruit Records do it again folks...

"New Moon's In The Sky: The British Progressive Pop Sounds Of 1970" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring Doctor Father [pre 10cc], The Smoke, Love Sculpture, Procol Harum, Barclay James Harvest, Atomic Rooster, Stray, Hawkwind, Cressida, Magna Carta, Meic Stevens, Steamhammer, Honeybus, Affinity, The Gods, The Move, Andromeda, Kevin Ayers, Patto, Hard Meat, Warhorse, Status Quo, Killing Floor, The Hollies. Plastic Penny, Curved Air and more (26 July 2019 UK Grapefruit 3CD Clamshell Box Set – Simon Murphy Masters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Good Year..."

A few years back I started a Blog called "There's Something About 1970..." and began reviewing all things musically interesting from that opening year. So as you can imagine, I got a tad excited when I leered lustily at this chunky-monkey Box Set devoted entirely to that great decade's first 365 days.

Typically brilliant, Grapefruit Records' "New Moon's In The Sky..." is a dinky mini clamshell box set offering up 70-tracks across 3CDs. A vaults trawl into the Pop and Rock and Prog of the Seventies first year - you get their usual split between the vaguely known and the mightily unknown (both in abundance, check out those near 80-minute playing times for each disc). A 52-page booklet packed to the gunnels with photos, notes, memorabilia and even two previously unreleased recordings - Grapefruit is a collector's cult label and it’s easy to hear and see why. Let's get to the New Moon...

UK released 26 July 2019 - "New Moon's In The Sky: The British Progressive Pop Sounds Of 1970" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Grapefruit Records CRSEGBOX059 (Barcode 5013929185906) is a 3CD Box Set of 70-Tracks that plays out as follows:

CD1 (79:42 minutes):

1. Piggy Pig Pig - PROCOL HARUM (from the June 1970 UK LP "Home" on Regal Zonophone SRLZ 1014)

2. Good Love Child - BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST (from the June 1970 UK LP "Barclay James Harvest" on Harvest SHVL 770)

3. Good Year - FIVE DAY RAIN (Not originally issued, recorded circa June 1970)

4. Hurry On Sundown - HAWKWIND (July 1970 UK 7"single on Liberty LBF 15382, A-side)

5. Around The World In Eighty Days - STRAY (from the June 1970 UK LP "Stray" on Transatlantic TRA 216)

6. All The Best People Do It - THE HUMBLEBUMS (from the June 1970 UK LP "Open Up The Door" on Transatlantic TRA 218)

7. Give Me No Goodbye - MAGNA CARTA (from the July 1970 UK LP "Seasons" on Vertigo 6360 003)

8. Winter Is Coming Again - CRESSIDA (from the February 1970 UK LP "Cressida" on Vertigo VO 7)

9. Tiny Goddess - TIM ANDREWS (January 1970 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5824, A-side, a Nirvana cover)

10. Jennifer - ANGEL PAVEMENT (not originally issued, recorded April 1970)

11. I've Seen To Dream - HARMONY GRASS (from the January 1970 UK LP "Harmony Grass" on RCA Victor SF 8034)

12. The Two Of Us - PENNY ARCADE (May 1970 UK 7" single on Pye International 7N 17943, a Beatles cover)

13. California Here I Come - RIVER (not originally issued, recorded early 1970)

14. My Mind's Eye - CANTICLE (November 1970 US 7" single on Century 36685, A-side, a Small Faces cover)

15. Celebrity Ball – PLASTIC PENNY (from the April 1970 UK LP "Heads I Win - Tails You Lose" on Page One POS 611)

16. Time To Die - PATTO (from the November 1970 UK LP "Patto" on Vertigo 6360 016)

17. Mr. McGallagher - THE SWEET (June 1970 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5848, B-side Of "Get On The Line")

18. I Will Be There - THE SEYCHELLES (May 1970 UK 7" single on President PT 291, A-side)

19. Call Me Lightning - THE GOOD VIBRATIONS (February 1970 German 7" single on Ember 14 515 AT, A-side)

20. Me And My Life - THE TREMELOES (August 1970 UK 7" single on CBS Records 5138, A-side)

21. Singing A Song In The Morning - KEVIN AYERS & THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD (February 1970 UK 7" single on Harvest HAR 5011, A-side)

22. The Flying Machine - THE FLYING MACHINE (March 1970 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17914,B-side of "Hanging On The Edge Of Sadness")

23. The Land Of The Few - LOVE SCULPTURE (February 1970 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5831, A-side, edit of album version, features Dave Edmunds)

24. Climb That Tree - SHE TRINITY (January 1970 UK 7" single on President PT 283, B-side of "Hair")

CD2 (78:46 minutes):

1. Kaleidoscope - THE MARMALADE (from the June 1970 UK LP "Reflections Of The Marmalade" on Decca SKL 5047)

2. Under The Silent Tree - HONEYBUS (from the March 1970 UK LP "Story" on Deram SML 1056)

3. What's It All About - PUTNEY BRIDGE (September 1970 UK 7" single on Chapter One CH 129, A-side)

4. Across The Universe - JAWBONE (from the May 1970 UK LP "Jawbone" on Carnaby CNLS 6004, a Beatles cover)

5. Devil's Answer (Demo Version) - ATOMIC ROOSTER (not originally issued demo, recorded circa June 1970)

6. Lovely Day - THE FOX (from the June 1970 UK LP "For Fox Sake" on Fontana 6309 007)

7. Castles In The Sky - BLONDE ON BLONDE (April 1970 UK 7" single on Ember EMBS 279, A-side)

8. Blind Man - CURVED AIR (from the November 1970 UK Debut LP "Airconditioning" on Warner Brothers WS 3012)

9. Rowena - MEIC STEVENS (from the June 1970 UK Debut LP "Outlander" on Warner Brothers WS 3005)

10. Bridge - LIFEBLUD (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED, recorded 1970)

11. Goodbye - RUSTY HARNESS (April 1970 UK 7" single on Ember EMBS 283, B-side to "Ain't Gonna Get Married")

12. Time To Die - ANCIENT GREASE (from the July 1970 UK LP "Women And Children First" on Mercury 6338 033)

13. Treacle People - U.F.O. (from their September 1970 debut album "U.F.O. 1" on Beacon BEAS 12)

14. Playing With Magic - THE SMOKE (not originally issued, recorded December 1970)

15. Mr. Dieingly Sad - THE OTHERS (June 1970 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17952, B-side to "Air-O-Plane Ride", a Critters cover)

16. In The City - DAVID & DAVID (April 1970 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 8678, A-side)

17. Levinia - STEAMHAMMER (from the December 1970 UK LP "Mountains" on B&C Records CAS 1024)

18. Sam And Sadie - FICKLE PICKLE (January 1970 UK 7" single on Fontana TF 1069, B-side of Millionaire")

19. Mr. & Mrs. Franklin - THE REGIME (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED, recorded April 1970)

20. Mad Professor Blyth - THE HOLLIES (April 1970 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5837, B-side to "I Can't Tell The Bottom From The Top")

21. Anna Laura Lee - YELLOW TAXI (May 1970 UK 7" single on President PT 296, A)

22. Mother, Mother, Mother - PAPER BUBBLE (from the March 1970 UK LP "Scenery" on Deram SML 1059)

23. Step This Way - ANDROMEDA (not originally issued, recorded March 1970)

24. Have You Heard The Word - THE FUT (May 1970 UK 7" single on Beacon BEA 160, A-side)

Tracks 10 and 19 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

CD3 (79:44 minutes):

1. St. Louis - WARHORSE (from their November 1970 Debut UK LP "Warhorse" on Vertigo 6360 015)

2. An Appointment With The Master - RACHDENKEL (not originally issued, recorded July 1970)

3. Shy Fly - STATUS QUO (from the August 1970 UK LP "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" on Pye NSPL 18344)

4. Tarot - ANDREW BOWN (July 1970 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5856, A-side, Theme to "Ace Of Wands" UK TV Series)

5. Thief - OCTOPUS (April 1970 UK 7" single on Penny Farthing PEN 716, B-side to "The River")

6. United States Of Mind - AFFINITY (from the June 1970 UK Debut LP "Affinity" on Vertigo 6360 004)

7. Umbopo - DOCTOR FATHER (August 1970 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17977, A-side, features Godley & Creme pre 10cc)

8. Together In The Night - THIS SIDE UP (from the 1970 UK LP on Studio G LPSG 1001)

9. He's Growing - THE GODS (from the February 1970 UK LP "To Samuel A Son" on Columbia SCX 6372)

10. Through A Window - HARD MEAT (from the April 1970 UK Debut LP "Hard Meat" on Warner Brothers WS 1852)

11. Ned Kelly - IRON MAIDEN (April 1970 UK 7" single on Gemini GMS 006, B-side of "Falling")

12. What? - THE MOVE (October 1970 UK 7" single on Fly Records BUG 2, B-side to "When Alice Comes Back To The Farm", a Jeff Lynne song)

13. Lightning Never Strikes - SHERIDAN & PRICE (September 1970 UK 7" single on Gemini GMS 009, B-side to "Sometimes I Wonder", a cover of the B-side of "Brontosaurus" by The Move)

14. Hard Selling Woman - FLASHMAN (from the 1970 UK LP "Beat Group" on Studio G LPSG 1001)

15. Alias Oliver Dream - AIRBUS (not originally issued, recorded late 1970)

16. Soon There Will Be Everything - KILLING FLOOR (from the November 1970 2nd UK LP "Out Of Uranus" on Penny Farthing PELS 511)

17. Rock And Roll Woman - LOVE STREET (March 1970 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17896, B-side of "Venus", a Buffalo Springfield cover version - Stephen Stills song)

18. Your Mother Thinks I'm A Hoodlum - SAVWINKLE & TURNERHOPPER (March 1970 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17913, A-side)

19. Flies Like A Bird - FIRE (from the October 1970 UK LP "The Magic Shoemaker" on Pye NSPL 18343)

20. Colour Of The Sunset - DANNY McCULLOCH (February 1970 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 25514, A-side)

21. Indian Maid - THE GHOST (June 1970 UK 7" single on Gemini GMS 007, B-side of "When You Die")

22. On Ilkla' Moor Baht' At - BILL ODDIE (January 1970 UK 7" single on Dandelion 4786, A-side, cover version/parody done in Yorkshire dialect of a folk song meets The Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends")

The 52-page booklet is a work of art (even if my pages were too tucked into the binding thereby making the edge lines difficult to read) with truly fantastic notes from Compiler and Annotator DAVID WELLS. There are more rare photos in here than you can shake a Peggy's Leg at from the Regal Zonophone advert for Procol Harum's fourth "Home" to a photo of the obscure This Side Up in live mode. SIMON MURPHY at Another Planet has done the mastering and it’s the usual mix of fab to acceptable with the emphasis (thankfully) on the first.  

It opens with the unnecessarily doomy "Piggy Pig Pig", a Matthew Fisher-less Procol Harum sounding like they need to get out more (I'd have chosen "Whisky Train" as an opener). Things improve with the up-and-at-em rawk of "Good Love Child", Barclay James Harvest clearly having a Flamin Groovies moment. The unissued Mellotron Pop of "Good Year" by Five Day Rain is a pleasant surprise – something going down even if the audio is clearly a wee bit  compromised. A stand-alone seven issued at the same time as the debut self-titled album, I never ever get over the sheer life-is-great vibe to "Hurry Up Sundown" – the most unnerving Hawkwind moment where they sound like a happy McGuinness Flint about to picnic with a Harmonica and a hamper (great track). Other winners on CD1 include the very Incredible String Band-sounding Indian Sitar and Dobro sound of "Give Me No Goodbye" from Magna Carta (dig those great Hollies-like harmonies) and the rather lovely 'you're gonna send your love to me' melody within Cressida's "Winter Is Coming Again" (dig that guitar solo too).

Harmonies come in the shape of Tim Andrews doing a sweet cover of Nirvana's lovely "Tiny Goddess" (the 60ts Island Records band) - our Tim sounding like Colin Blunstone in full on "Odyssey and Oracle" mode. Clearly massively influenced by "Pet Sounds", The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – Harmony Grass deserved more notoriety for their dreamy and very pretty "I've Seen To Dream". Unfortunately Penny Arcade pretty much destroy The Beatles and their "Let It Be" opener "Two Of Us" while the obscure River do an almost identikit cover of Shocking Blue’s "Venus" in the shape of "California Here I Come" – a SB track from the Dutch band’s "Home" album. Was a time when you were strong and didn't fear anything, but acoustic guitars tell us its "Time To Die" on the excellent Patto song. Ditching the dismal Archies cover on the A ("Get On The Line"), we get The Sweet B-side "Mr. McGallagher" issued 12 June 1970 on Parlophone where Brian Connolly's vocal shine (Chinn and Chapman penned Glam Rock glory lay ahead on Mickie Most's RAK Records). The rare 3:22 minute single edit of "In The Land Of The Few" by Dave Edmunds' Love Sculpture will be welcomed by collectors - Bach sneaking out of the heavily overdubbed melody while the ladies of "Hair" get to rock-out with the weirdly put together "Climb That Tree" – out of tune vocals meet unwieldy guitar soloing – nice!

CD2 opens with the Talking Heads racing rhythms of "Kaleidoscope" by The Marmalade - trippy hallucinogenic lyrics about minds expanding man underpin a truly pretty song - a genius choice. Disc 2 continues its glory ride with the much-loved Honeybus who are looking for moving signs "Under The Silent Tree" - the flutes and uptight and outta sight rhythms of the '68 and '69 still lingering. We can work it out whimsy gives "What's It All About?" a better than throwaway pop ditty feel for the obscure Putney Bridge, while the cover of "Across The Universe" by Jawbone (who were close to the fab camp so they got permission to use it before the LP appeared) apes The Beatles "Let It Be" version and its hard to believe the Fabs seemed to think so little of this gorgeous song.

Astonishingly good is one way to describe even the 'demo' of "Devil's Answer" - Atomic Rooster's road to the British single charts and avenue into LP buyer's hearts. Ex Andromeda man John Cann gave Vincent Crane's British band this winner, so this demo cut features him on Lead Vocals. It's great even without the brass that was added so memorably to the released single version released on B&C Records in May 1971 with the fabulous instrumental "The Rock" on the flipside. I can recall the elaborate die-cut sleeve of the "For Fox Sake" album on Fontana wasn't enough to entice buyers, an album you were constantly told was worth money by punters but never sold for any. And you can hear that their "Lovely Day" is good but in the end (like the sleeve) - trying too hard. Far better is the Blonde On Blonde cover of a March 1968 Simon Dupree & The Big Sound second-album reject – come to me in my Welsh "Castle In The Sky" – join me in a very cool wall of hip sounds. Speaking of hip (and thigh-high boots) - sexpot singer Sonja Christina helps violinist Darryl Way and keyboardist Francis Monkman in Curved Air sound way cooler than they were.

I've only ever once seen the Welsh folky Meic Stevens' "Outlander" album on Warner Brothers (a lucky find in Cheapo Cheapo about 1992) - his supercool Incredible String Band Folk-Rock "Rowena" track standing out here - a sort of more flaked out Donovan with rockier guitars (nice). Time now for the Box Set's first Previously Unreleased and its a find - a plaintive ballad (in demo form) from Hemel Hempstead folkies Lifeblud - even though the recording is crude for sure, it's filled with prettiness and I can so hear why it was chosen. Following that is another genius inclusion, the very Animals organ-grinding "Goodbye" by Rusty Harness, a Mike Berry-penned B-side bopper sounding not a million-miles away from any American Garage band of 1968 and 1969 (his vocals are wickedly good too). Surprised again - the rather excellent and melodic guitars of "Time To Die" by the staggeringly obscure Ancient Grease who would fail at the time of release but two of its members (Gareth Mortimer and Graham Williams) would eventually find chart glory later as Racing Cars (1977's "They Shoot Horses Don't They?").  Other goodies include the hugely impressive unissued recording of "Playing With Magic" by The Smoke - an inexplicable left-in-the-can winner that receives an airing again here. Unfortunately the Critters cover attempted by Ireland's The Others is indescribably awful. Better is David Mindel and David Seys as David & David, whose Paul Buckmaster string-filled "In The City" is a pretty piece of angst-melodrama worth rediscovering. And dig that great acoustic guitar solo on "Levinia", a surprisingly mellow slice of 'you go your way and I'll go mine' from Steamhammer.

Allan Clarke of The Hollies wrote and sang on the jaunty flipside "Mad Professor Blyth" - his Prof's mind set on illusion and diffusion (moggy went missing though). Fuzzed-up Psych-Pop turns up in the one and only release from Yellow Taxi (after the Joni song) called "Anna Laura Lee" - its rare German picture sleeve repro'd on Page 36 of the booklet. Future Yes-man keyboard wunderkind Rick Wakeman is clearly heard racing up and down the organ on "Mother, Mother, Mother" - a bopper hoping for Top 40 glory by Paper Bubble. And the absolutely uncanny resemblance to John Lennon on "Have You Heard The Word" by The Fut has meant the track has turned up on countless Beatles bootlegs as a Fab outtake, but it transpires its Australia's Tin Tin aided by Maurice Gibb's mimic-vocals. The track was leaked and the Beacon label picked up on it, issuing a single in May 1970. Hell, even had Yoko Ono tried to copyright it as a John Lennon song (what a blast way of finishing the listen). All in all, you'd have to say that Disc 2 is chock-full of goodies and pleasant surprises too.

CD3 opens with the first 45 from Vertigo's Warhorse, "St. Louis" released 12 February 1970 - a rare Euro picture sleeve of it gaining pride-of-place on Page 39. Featuring ex Deep Purple Bassist Nick Simper and a man who once auditioned for Purple, vocalist Ashley Holt, they stump up the Geetar Rawk of "St. Louis" where Holt immediately shows why the Purps would have considered him over Ian Gillan. Powered by his controlled screech, the show me the way to the city tune is a great piece of mover-groover ended by a bit of wild wah-wah and Jon Lord type keyboard racing (so Deep Purple frankly!). Even more impressive is "An Appointment With The Master" by Birmingham Progsters Bachdenkel - a really good unissued version that makes me want to seek out their French-only LP "Lemmings" from May 1973. Not surprised in the least to hear the Quo's wickedly good rip-roarer "Shy Fly" on here - a highlight on the band-turns-to-rock "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" album.

I can't honestly remember the paranormal "Ace Of Wands" UK TV Series, but here's its "Tarot" Theme Song issued by ex Herd and future Status Quo man Andy Bown. More above average Pop comes from Paul Grigg's and his tambourine-shaking band Octopus - his very Peter Noone-sounding "Thief" rattling along like it needs to get to a public toilet pronto (Griggs would eventually join Split Enz). Linda Hoyle's doubled-vocals lifts the surprisingly pretty Affinity song "United States Of Mind" - a tune penned by Lindisfarne's mighty Alan Hull. Speaking of superb tunesmiths, Kevin Godley and Lol Crème turn up pre 10cc in the standalone single by Doctor Father. "Umbopo" is a character in Rider Haggard’s "King Solomon’s Mines" – a guide of sorts – and clearly the boys are in magnificent melodious songwriting form on this rare July 1970 Pye International 45 (how did this lovely song go unnoticed). And on it goes to Henry McCulloch's mescaline eyes viewing "Colour Of The Sunset" and Goodies stalwart Bill Oddie going strangely strange but oddly normal on his witty but convincing take on the Beatles Peppers tune "With A Little Help From My Friends" ending CD3 as a Yorkshire variant called "On Ilkla' Moor Baht' At". Funny and brilliant.

"New Moon's In The Sky: The British Progressive Pop Sounds Of 1970" is a superb Box Set and one that holds many discoveries even for the most knowledgeable aficionados (Underground or Prog).

Grapefruit delivers secret pleasures once more – tunes and artists no longer lost in time – but given pride of place. I’m looking up at the new moon, and frankly after this - (along with others) I'll be looking for more…