This Review And Many More Are Available In My E-BOOK on Amazon
PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE
And Other Genres Thereabouts
All entries taken from the discs themselves
(No Cut And Paste Crap)
"...A
Galliard..."
Virtuoso
guitarist JAN AKKERMAN made his name as the principal axeman for the Dutch Prog
Rock group FOCUS – a band that many's a spotty teenager bought on Polydor
Records back in the early 70ts (especially 1971's "Moving Waves" and
1972's epic double album "Focus III"). After a few belated LP
releases featuring 60ts material on Imperial and Harvest – his 3rd solo album
"Tabernakel" from early 1974 on Atlantic Records showed where his
heart really lay – ancient songs played on ancient instruments but in a very
Classical/Seventies Prog Rock kind of way (Jeff Beck's musical buddies Tim
Bogert and Carmine Appice guest on Bass and Drums on two tracks).
Akkerman even
returns to his old Focus haunts with a new version of their instrumental hit –
"House Of The King" - the B-side of "Sylvia" in December
1972. Coupled with a later album set called "Eli" that he did with
the Dutch Blues vocalist Kazimir Lux in 1977 – this beautifully transferred
Beat Goes On CD offers fans both albums in their entirety. Here are the
lute-playing Minstrels in the Gallery...
UK
released October 2015 – "Tabernakel/Eli" by JAN AKKERMAN and KAZ
LUX on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1208 (Barcode 5017261212085) is a 2LPs onto 1CD
Reissue and Remaster that plays out as follows (76:22 minutes):
1.
Britannia by John Dowland [Side 1]
2.
Coranto For Mrs. Murcott by Francis Pilkington
3.
The Earl Of Derby, His Galliard by John Dowland
4.
House Of The King
5.
A Galliard by Anthonie Holborne
6.
A Galliard by John Dowland
7.
A Pavan by Thomas Morley
8.
Javeh
9.
A Fantasy by Laurencini Of Rome [Side 2]
10.
Lammy
(i)
I Am
(ii)
Asleep, Half Asleep, Half Awake
(iii)
She Is
(iv)
Lammy, We Are
(v)
The Last Will And Testament
(vi)
Amen
Tracks
1 to 10 are the album "Tabernakel" – released January 1974 in the UK
on Atlantic K 40522 and February 1974 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7032. Bass and
Drums by Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice on Track 4 and 10.
11.
Eli [Side 1]
12.
Guardian Angel
13.
Tranquillizer
14.
Can't Fake A Good Thing
15.
There He Still Goes [Side 2]
16.
Strindberg
17.
Wings Of Strings
18.
Naked Actress
19.
Fairytale
Tracks
11 to 19 are the album "Eli" by JAN AKKERMAN & KAZ LUX – released
January 1977 in the UK on Atlantic K 50320 and in the USA on Atlantic SD 18210
There’s
the card slipcase on the outside that lends these Beat Goes On CD reissues a
little class – and on the inside a 16-page booklet with full album credits, some
black and white photos and new liner notes on Akkerman and the albums by noted
writer NEIL DANIELS. The gorgeous (if not a teensy bit hissy) Audio is courtesy
of new 2015 ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters licensed from WEA. Not surprising
therefore given the purity of the instruments and the air around them (lots of
acoustic madrigal strumming) that the Geoffrey Haslam original production
values get to shine. This is a lovely sounding CD – and the combo of
high-strung guitars and orchestral arrangements was always going to impress.
Firstly
- the album "Tabernakel" isn't "Hocus Pocus" or even
"Sylvia" - those looking for that should revert to the Focus
catalogue. "Tabernakel” features instrumentals hankering back to ye Olde
Englande – madrigals and galliards – beautifully played and produced. Both
"Britannia" and "The Earl Of Derby" show his amazing
playing credentials straight away and impressive they are too. Despite probably
seeming like a good idea at the time - there's a rather pointless and not very
good 'guitars and strings' cover version of the Focus hit "House Of The
King" - the first of two tunes on the album to feature Jeff Beck's regular
sidemen – Bassist Tim Bogert and Drummer Carmine Appice (the other is the epic
"Lammy"). Far prettier is the simple acoustic strumming of two jolly
ancient England pieces - "A Galliard by Anthonie Holborne" and
"A Galliard by John Dowland".
"A
Pavan by Thomas Morley" features the most exquisite acoustic guitar
playing anchored and beautifully accompanied by a full string section of maybe
15 musicians (concert master Gene Orloff). The same lush orchestra
sophistication applies to the Side 1 finisher "Javeh" – only this
time with a more overtly Spanish flamenco feel in between the swooning Oboe and
Violins. But Side 2 is dominated by the six-part "Lammy" which runs
to just over 14 minutes. Bogert and Appice add rhythm spunk to the centre
portions and Akkerman plays a mean Funk and Prog Guitar and even a very cool
Lute made to sound somehow like a Sitar. During the Guitar/Drums battle before
that huge organ and chorus of ELP doomy voices comes in – "Lammy" is
Seventies Prog Rock at its very best.
But
all of the goodwill built up by the accomplished "Tabernakel" LP goes
out the Proggy window with the mostly mediocre and confusing "Eli"
album where Akkerman lets Dutch vocalist Kazimir Lux loose on almost all of the
songs to largely awful results. They also try to Funk things up all over the
place but in most cases (not all) the record just fails to ignite in any real
way. Lux has a good voice rather than a great one - when what was needed was
Joe Cocker – so no amount of echo on "Eli" is going to save the song.
The almost spoken "Strindberg" is ruined by his sub Nilsson nasally
vocals and a weirdly poor production - especially after the spectacular
"Tabernakel" LP. The fusion-funk of "Guardian Angel" at
least has a good vocal while the slinky "Tranquillizer" trundles
along with treated guitars that amble instead of impressing. It's not all bad -
that old playing magic gets to shine on the lovely "Wings Of Strings"
while Lux's own "Can't Fake A Good Time" is probably the best track
on the album – properly funky like late 70ts Robin Trower. But the album ends
on another ambling instrumental called "Fairytale" which is pleasant
at best.
For
me that 1977 LP seems out of place here and kind of lets the audio side down
too (iffy Production) – but fans will absolutely love the
"Tabernakel" LP on CD with such classy presentation too. Worth the
price of admission alone I think...
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