"Just For Love" by QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE [feat Dino Valenti, John Cipollina and Nicky Hopkins] (December 1992 Beat Goes On CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...It's Alright With Me..."

Recorded in and around the beautiful at-one-with-nature Opaelua Lodge in Hawaii in May and June of 1970 - Quicksilver Messenger Service's 4th album certainly looked the part with its tasty Capitol Records gatefold cover and colour collage of the boys on the inner gatefold giving in some live aloha homage to the Goddess Pele.

I’ve always thought "Just For Love" to be bloody genius - but with the album’s space-filling meandering instrumentals that seemed to be in search of a song amidst the drugs and grass skirts – and those ever-so-slightly irritating echoed vocals by someone clearly just about holding it together - not everyone was so 'peaced out' when it was released. I've always thought "Just For Love" a product of the times – something that must be taken on face value (the Sixties still hanging on in a haze of mind altering substances). But me - I adore that sloppy feel - like QMS has suddenly morphed into a melodic Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young having way too much fun in the studio and not caring about the placing of the microphones (juts play and feel it boys). Here is the world's most reasonable non-druggy review...

UK released December 1992 (reissued many times since including the latest December 2008) - "Just For Love" by QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE on Beat Goes On BGOCD 141 (Barcode 5017261201416) is a straightforward CD Remaster of the 9-track 1970 US LP and plays out as follows (39:31 minutes):

1. Wolf Run (Part 1)

2. Just For Love (Part 1)

3. Cobra

4. The Hat

5. Freeway Flyer [Side 2]

6. Gone Again

7. Fresh Air

8. Just For Love (Part 2)

9. Wolf Run (Part 2)

Tracks 1 to 9 are their fourth album "Just For Love" - released August 1970 in the USA on Capitol SMAS-498 and November 1970 in the UK on Capitol EA-ST 498. Produced by JOHN SELBY - it peaked at No. 27 in the USA (didn't chart UK)

For "Just For Love" QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE was:

DINO VALENTI - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Congas and Flute

GARY DUNCAN - Lead Electric and Acoustic Guitars and Maracas

JOHN CIPOLLINA - Lead Electric and Slide Guitar

DAVID FREIBERG - Bass Guitar, Guitar and Vocals

GREGORY ELMORE - Drums and Percussion

NICKY HOPKINS (Guest) - Piano

The 8-page inlay doesn't feature liners notes (bummer that) but it does reproduce that beautifully laid out Capitol Records gatefold cover art of 1970. The colour-collage is spread across the centre-pages whilst the 'world's most magical brat' and 'world's most rhythmic mystic' annotation is reproduced on the other pages (Dan Healy is the 'wired wizard' Engineer etc). Truth be told – BGO could do with upgrading the presentation of this reissue – I for one think the music deserves such a treat (big booklet, card slipcase etc).

It doesn't say which engineer Remastered the album at Sound Engineering Technology in Cambridge in 1992 (sounds like Duncan Cowell?) – but they did a stomping good job. Always a sloppy recording and perhaps not to everyone's taste – it's this very element that I love most about "Just For Love" and that's been kept in tact sweetly by this tasty transfer.

The re-introduction of the volatile Valenti into the ranks along with the guitar magic of Cipollina (would later form Copperhead) trading off against Gary Duncan while England's Nicky Hopkins adds the whole sound stage a classiness on his old piano - added up to a powerhouse unit.

A Flute and Tabla open Part 1 of the short instrumental "Wolf Run" – a sort of precursor to the who-gives-a-monkeys stuff to come. Then Part 1 of the title track "Just For Love" features Valenti who seems to wander up to and away from the microphone as he warbles on about being "touched softly" and being "free as the wind" (yeah baby). Huge drums introduce the wickedly good slightly country-ish "Cobra" which sounds like Gram Parsons is about to rock out – guitars flicking as a funky piano anchors proceedings. The ten-minute Side1 finisher "The Hat" is the kind of Stephen Stills-Band-Van Morrison acoustic-guitar sloppy work out that I adore. It's loose and feels improvised for sure and of course it overstays its welcome in places - but actually I quite like that and the band's chemistry is incredible as Gary Duncan proves his 'world's most funky saint' moniker in the liner notes while Valenti moans the vocals and Nicky Hopkins earns his stunning piano-playing sessionman reputation.

"...Let's try one more..." comes the count in for the band on the rollicking Side 2 opener "Freeway Flyer" where QMS sound like a drugged out Band letting rip on lyrics like 'dangerous stranger' rhyming with 'Psychedelic stranger'. Freiberg and Elmore keep the Bass and Drums rhythm section tight yet loose as Cipollina wigs out of Electric Guitar (I'm reminded of that in-house-jam feel guitarists Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer got to their "Kiln House" LP for Fleetwood Mac also in 1970). That's followed by the lovely and very Hawaiian-peaceful seven minutes of "Gone Again" - the strummed guitar - the echoed vocals - the distant piano plinking as he sings "...my mind gets lonely...my crazy heart starts to gambling..." - I've always thought this one of this inexplicably gorgeous blissed out songs that feels right on a Sunday morning coming down ("...letting go feels so groovy now..."). There’s an almost Beach Boys quality to the band’s harmony vocal work on the ‘have another hit’ of "Fresh Air" – and dig the stunning piano work from Nicky Hopkins and Valenti’s impassioned ‘take me home with you’ vocals. It ends on two short snippets – Valenti singing of masquerades and the end of charades in the wildly echoed Part 2 of "Just For Love" while Part 2 of "Wolf Run" sounds cool and all hippyish if not a little pointless.

There are many (and will be many) who think much of "Just For Love" is a band faffing about and producing genius amidst the knob with perhaps too much emphasis on the whimsy. But I for one dig it the most.

"...Whatever you're doing...it's alright with me..." - Dino Valenti sings as the mighty ten-minutes of "The Hat" starts to fade out. Amen to that man...

"Three Man Army [aka "Mahesha"]/Three Man Army Two" by THREE MAN ARMY (2016 Beat Goes On 2LPs on 1CD - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Space Is The Place..."

Sandwiched between late 60ts GUN on CBS Records, the early 70ts solo years of PARRISH and GURVITZ on Regal Zonophone and finally 1974's BAKER GURVITZ ARMY with GINGER BAKER on Vertigo is the completely overlooked interim group THREE MAN ARMY featuring the musical link between them all – the dynamic brother-duo of ADRIAN and PAUL CURTIS (or GURVITZ as they became known).

Three Man Army's rather good little debut album "A Third Of A Lifetime" from 1971 on B&C's short-lived offshoot label Pegasus Records has built up a serious rep amongst collectors – and was released in real style by England's Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red) in July 2016 (see separate review).

Lovers of Classic Seventies Rock (especially hard-rocking bands like Montrose and Grand Funk Railroad) will be glad to see their following two platters on Reprise Records on CD again – the American issued "Three Man Army" [aka "Mahesha"] from 1973 and "Three Man Army Two" from 1974 - even if they aren't as immediate as the debut. Let's get to those big chunky chords...

UK released September 2016 (October 2016 in the USA) - "Three Man Army/Three Man Army Two” by THREE MAN ARMY on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1256 (Barcode 5017261212566) features 2 full albums Remastered onto 1CD with an added Bonus Track and plays out as follows (76:18 minutes):

1. My Yiddishe Mama

2. Hold On

3. Come On Down To Earth

4. Take Me Down From The Mountain

5. Woman

6. Mahesha [Side 2]

7. Take A Look At The Light

8. Can't Leave The Summer - Part I & II

9. The Trip

Tracks 1 to 9 are their second studio album "Three Man Army" - released October 1973 in the USA on Reprise MS 2150 (No UK Issue). It was issued in Germany in 1974 on Polydor 2310 241 as "Mahesha" with different artwork and has been reissued under that title on LP and CD since then.

10. Polecat Woman

11. Today

12. Flying

13. Space Is The Place

14. Irving [Side 2]

15. I Can't Make The Blind See

16. Burning Angel

17. In My Eyes

Tracks 10 to 17 are their third studio album "Three Man Army Two" - released June 1974 in the USA on Reprise MS 2182 and in the UK on Reprise K 54015.

BONUS TRACK:

18. Schoolgirl Queen - non-album track and the B-side to "Polecat Woman" in certain European territories (Portugal, Warner Brothers N-S-63-59). The 1973 UK 7" single of "Polecat Woman" on Reprise K 14292 had "Take Me Down From The Mountain" from the 1973 "Three Man Army" LP as its B-side.

THREE MAN ARMY was:

PAUL GURVITZ - Bass Guitar and Vocals - TONY NEWMAN - Drums and Good Vibes - ADRIAN GURVITZ - Lead Guitar, Organ and Vocals

The card slipcase adds a touch of class to the reissue (as it does to all BGO releases) - the 12-page booklet features new liner notes from noted writer NEIL DANIELS who gamely tries to defend what some have described as sub Led Zeppelin Hard Rock while ANDREW THOMPSON has remastered both albums into High Def from real tapes and they sound huge and very powerful. Obvious comparisons like the no-prisoners hard rocking Rock 'n' Roll of Grand Funk Railroad and Montrose jump to mind - even early Blue Oyster Cult and Kansas.

Even if he has Jewish roots - the guitar instrumental cover of "My Yiddishe Mama" fades in and goes out again without any real impact. But things improve big time with the hard-rocking "Hold On" and the Kansas melodic "Come On Down To Earth" where Gurvitz lets rip on a hundred guitars like he's Ted Nugent on acid (the Remaster is huge). "Take Me Down From The Mountain" provides a rare moment of Three Dog Night Funk-Rock with a clever piano chug while "Woman" sounds like TMA are trying to channel their inner FREE and just about pulling it off. Side 2's "Mahehsa" has a lot going on in it - but again feels tired and even plodding despite its best efforts. At least "Take A Look At The Light" features great guitar work and a half-decent 'bickering' set of lyrics and verse melody. "Can't Leave The Summer - Part I & II" have nice melodic touches too amidst the huge riffage...

"Polecat Woman" reeks of Led Zeppelin circa "Houses Of The Holy" - a sort of cross between "Immigrant Song" and "Over The HIlls And Far Away" - all rapid guitars and slightly distant production. I can hear why someone thought it a 7" single even with that Bonzo copycat drum solo. The power ballad "Space Is The Place" even features strings in its 'ripe' six minutes - coming on like an over-zealous ELO. "I Can't Make The Blind See" is afflicted with the same syrup strings - and even though it has one of the prettiest bluesy melodies on the album - it's ruined by the overdone production. "In My Eyes" has a clever riff even when the wall of band voices threaten to swamp everything.

Neither album is great and despite the playing and the occasional moments of Hard Rock brilliance - these will be an 'acquired taste'. But fans should not hesitate - the presentation and audio is first rate...

"Three Friends/Octopus" by GENTLE GIANT (2013 Beat Goes On 2CD Reissue - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Fate And Skill And Chances..." 

The first double-disc reissue of Gentle Giant’s extensive back-catalogue put out by England’s reputable 'Beat Goes On' label remastered the Portsmouth boy’s first two Prog outings at Vertigo Records - "Gentle Giant" from 1970 and "Acquiring The Taste" from 1971 (see separate review for that 2012 Andrew Thompson Remaster).

Now we get those difficult third and fourth albums – "Three Friends" and "Octopus" – which for GG saw huge musical progress and an ever-expanding fan base. Both hailed from 1972 (April and November) and were their last two LPs for the famous Progressive Rock label 'Vertigo' – home of many’d the eye-catching and elaborate gatefold sleeve. Here are the wee beasties...

UK released June 2013 – "Three Friends/Octopus" by GENTLE GIANT on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1090 (Barcode 5017261210906) offers their third and fourth studio albums remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 "Three Friends" (35:27 minutes):

1. Prologue

2. Schooldays

3. Working All Day

4. Peel The Paint [Side 2]

5. Mister Class And Quality?

6. Three Friends

Tracks 1 to 6 are their third studio album "Three Friends" - released May 1972 in the UK on Vertigo Records 6360 070 and April 1972 in the USA on Columbia PC 31649 with different artwork. Produced by GENTLE GIANT and Engineered by Martin Rushent.

Disc 2 "Octopus" (34:17 minutes):

1. The Advent Of Panurge

2. Raconteur, Troubadour

3. A Cry For Everyone

4. Knots

5. The Boys In The Band [Side 2]

6. Dog’s Life

7. Think Of Me With Kindness

8. River

Tracks 1 to 8 are their 4th studio album "Octopus" - released November 1972 in the UK on Vertigo Records 6360 080 and February 1973 in the USA on Columbia PC 32022 with 'an Octopus in a pickle jar artwork'. Produced by GENTLE GIANT and Engineered by Martin Rushent.

GENTLE GIANT was:

KERRY MINNEAR – All Keyboards, Vibraphone, Moog, Cello, Lead and Backing Vocals

RAY SHULMAN - Bass, Violin, Guitar, Percussion and Vocals

GARY GREEN – Guitars and Percussion

DEREK SHULMAN - Lead Vocals and Alto Sax

PHILIP SHULMAN - Alto and Tenor Sax, Trumpet, Mellophone, Lead and Backing Vocals

MALCOLM MORTIMER – Drums ("Three Friends" LP only)

JOHN WEATHERS – Drums, Congas and Percussion ("Octopus" LP only)

Guests:

CALVIN SHULMAN – Boy’s voice on "Schooldays" on the "Three Friends" LP

The outer card slipcase gives the release a classy feel (now generic with all BGO releases) while the 16-page booklet is packed with original details (the Three Friends drawings and Roger Dean’s Octopus artwork) and properly in-depth assessments of the albums and the band by noted writer NEIL DANIELS (done in 2013). The final few pages give you the lyrics to both records - all of it backed up by original album and reissue credits. ANDREW THOMPSON has carried out the new Remasters at Sound Performance in London and both albums are huge improvements over the 1st and 2nd records – real presence and power taking full advantage of the very serious Production values poured into both platters by a band obsessed with getting their aural vision right.

Whilst the first two studio efforts sounded not dissimilar in style to King Crimson and Yes meets Family (Roger Shulman’s lead vocals were even akin to Roger Chapman) – by the time our South Coast Progressive Rock band reaches early 1972 – they sound more Greenslade than ELP. With musical adventure and boundary-breaking forcibly built into their every song – the six-piece band hammer you with virtuosity and ideas. And even though Tony Visconti did a great job on the first two platters (especially their brilliant 2nd LP "Acquiring The Taste") – GG took the Producing helm for Three and Four and man does it show. The short but ambitious concept LP "Three Friends" – stories of three pals who grow and they go their separate ways (some successful – some not) – and the much loved "Octopus" – sound HUGE here.

"Prologue" doesn't make for an 'easy listening' start - jerking/gangly synth chords that eventually settle into an almost church-like set of harmony vocals. The production is fabulous as the boys sing of three childhood friends feeling the 'winds of change' (oh yes folks the concept album). "Schooldays" feels like Greenslade's "Bedside Manners Are Extra" or 1974's brilliant "Spyglass Guest" (see separate review) - dancing keyboards and voices tell of 'happy days' and 'going nowhere' - the amazing vocals and pinging vibraphone building as lyrics come at you about 'pink ice cream' and dull homework and Mister Watson wanting to see the naughty lads in his Master's office. "Schooldays" is incredibly accomplished and at times beautiful in its melodies and scope. "Working All Day" sees the three pals in dead-end jobs whilst at home 'papa was rough...he didn't care for learning...' where they quickly learn that 'everybody's equal' just isn't true. There's a clever guitar/saxophone refrain that holds the five-minute passage together. "Peel The Paint" is a Prog song with choral strings about superficial layers being stripped away to reveal 'the same old savage beast'. The perky "Mister Class And Quality?" follows the more successful of the three buddies with his house and car and pretty wife - sounding very "Tarkus" ELP in its keyboard jabs and containing a wild almost vulgar guitar wig-out where the band simply lets rip. That eventually segues into the final "Three Friends" which mellotrons its way to a rather nondescript ending...

If "Three Friends" was good rather than great - "Octopus" upped that ante. A very Medieval passage on the giant 'Pantagruel' meeting a friend from Hell opens the "Octopus" album - a complicated Crimsonesque set of piano, bass and guitar jerks called "The Advent Of Panurge". The vocal interplay along with serious musicianship impresses throughout - a continuation of a book theme first explored on the "Acquiring The Taste" album. If you thought the Side 1 starter was 'difficult' - "Raconteur, Troubadour" is the kind of Prog Rock that will infuriate some and leave others breathless. "A Cry For Everyone" even employs some riffage at the start but soon weaves its way into incredible Rush territory - a complicated mini Rock Opera based on the writings of Albert Camus. Vocal gymnastics fill "Knots" - a staccato jabbing set of Captain Beefheart "Trout Mask Replica" moments based on R.D. Laing's oblique poetry. That's followed by the instrumental "The Boys In The Band" - a rapid-fire Jazz Fusion piece preceded by a coin making its way across your speakers. The largely acoustic "Dog's Life" meshes the world of 'old faithful' hounds and whines of Roadies (go figure). The surprisingly pretty "Think Of Me With Kindness" keeps the complicated out in lieu of a delicate vocal and equally tender piano (check out the beautiful brass interlude). "Octopus" ends on proper Prog - "River" - where it seems Gentle Giant play every instrument at their disposal whilest singing lyrics like 'trust the shallow virgin stream' (know what you mean mate).

Neither album is mainstream or easy to digest for sure – and some will say its all pretntious claptrap - but that was always the case with GG's output. Having said that you do get amazing playing virtuosity - clever classical interludes and layered harmony vocals sat on top of a trademark guitar sound not unlike Robert Fripp or Keith Emerson enjoying themselves. It's all here on these two revered slices of British Progressive Rock - sounding and looking great too.

Eleven albums on and England's Prog heroes were still there in 1980 – giving it loads of difficult syncopations and selling bugger all records. Yet GENTLE GIANT did and still does engender a fiercely loyal following - and on the evidence presented here - you can understand why that affection still endures today...

"Gentle Giant/Acquiring The Taste" by GENTLE GIANT (2012 Beat Goes On 2CD Remasters by Andrew Thompson) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...A Tall Tale..." 

Talk about keeping it in the family – Portsmouth brothers and multi-instrumentalists Derek, Ray and Phil Shulman teamed up with classically trained guitarist Gary Green, keyboard whizz Kerry Minnear and drummer Martin Smith in 1970 to form GENTLE GIANT. Abandoning their Sixties Simon Dupree & The Big Sound pop sensibilities entirely – they powered full tilt into the emerging sound of the day – Progressive Rock. Eleven albums later and England's Prog heroes were still there in 1980 – giving it loads of difficult syncopations and selling bugger all records.

This first double-disc reissue of their extensive back-catalogue put out by England’s reputable Beat Goes On label remasters the South Coast boy’s first two Prog outings at Vertigo in 1970 and 1971 – home of many'd the eye-catching gatefold sleeve. Not dissimilar in style to King Crimson and Yes but without perhaps the same (dare we say it) commerciality – Gentle Giant nonetheless built a steady and fiercely loyal following - and on the evidence presented here you can understand why that affection still endures today. Amazing playing virtuosity - clever classical interludes and layered harmony vocals sat on top of a trademark guitar sound not unlike Robert Fripp enjoying himself - it's all here - sounding and looking great too. Here are the tall tales and the bearded technicalities for their first two steps…

UK released November 2012 – "Gentle Giant/Acquiring The Taste" by GENTLE GIANT on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1095 (Barcode 5017261210951) offers their first two studio albums remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 "Gentle Giant" (37:05 minutes):

1. Giant

2. Funny Ways

3. Alucard

4. Isn't It Quiet And Cold

5. Nothing At All [Side 2] 6. Why Not

7. The Queen

Tracks 1 to 7 are their debut album "Gentle Giant" - released November 1970 in the UK on Vertigo Records 6360 020 (it was not issued in the USA). Produced by TONY VISCONTI.

Disc 2 "Acquiring The Taste" (39:07 minutes):

1. Pantagruel's Nativity

2. Edge Of Twilight

3. The House, The Street, The Room

4. Acquiring The Taste

5. Wreck [Side 2]

6. The Moon s Down

7. Black Cat

8. Plain Truth

Tracks 1 to 8 are their 2nd studio album "Acquiring The Taste" - released July 1971 in the UK on Vertigo Records 6360 041 (not issued in the USA). Produced by TONY VISCONTI.

GENTLE GIANT was:

DEREK SHULMAN - Lead and Backing Vocals (some Bass), Alto Sax, Clavichord and Cowbell

RAY SHULMAN - Bass, Violin, Electric Violin, Viola, Spanish Guitar, 12-String Guitar, Organ Bass Pedals, Skulls, Tambourine Percussion and Backing Vocals

PHIL SHULMAN - Alto and Tenor Sax, Trumpet, Clarinet, Recorder, Piano, Claves, Maracas, Lead and Backing Vocals

KERRY MINNEAR - Electric Piano, Organ, Mellotron, Vibraphone, Moog, Piano, Celeste, Clavichord, Harpsichord, Tympani, Maracas, Bass, Cello, Lead and Backing Vocals and Tuned Percussion

GARY GREEN - Lead Guitar, 6 and 12-String Guitar, Wah-Wah Guitar, Donkey's Jawbone, Cat Calls and Vocals

MARTIN SMITH - Drums, Gongs,Tambourine and Percussion

Guests:

CLAIRE DENIZ - Cello on "Isn't It Quiet And Cold" on the "Gentle Giant" LP

PAUL COSH - Tenor Horn on "Giant" and played Trumpet and Organ on the "Acquiring The Taste" LP

TONY VISCONTI - Recorder, Bass Drum and Triangle on the "Acquiring The Taste" LP

The outer card slipcase gives the release a classy feel (now generic with all BGO releases) while the 16-page booklet is packed with original details (the Tony Visconti 'A Tale Tale' liner notes that graced the inner gatefold of the debut LP) and properly in-depth assessments of the albums and the band by noted writer DAVID WELLS (done in 2012). The final few pages give you the lyrics to both records - all of it centred by a black and white photo of the original six-piece band. ANDREW THOMPSON has carried out the new Remasters at Sound Performance in London and while the 1st LP is undoubtedly hissy in places - both records are full of presence and power - the second album "Acquiring The Taste" in particular shining like a new sixpence (there were mastering issues on the first run of these CDs but I've experienced none of that in 2016).

Defiant in their musical vision - you're struck at first by their playing - Gentle Giant was an accomplished band right from the off with musical adventure and boundary-breaking forcably built into their DNA. The debut album is ragged around the edges for sure – but it’s mighty in scope and daring. A doomy church organ hisses in for "Giant" and you're in ELP territory before Derek Shulman comes roaring in the vocals like the younger brother of Roger Chapman from Family. Things get really interesting with "Funny Ways" - a fantastic amalgam of beautiful cello, acoustic guitar, electric wah-wah and even a lone brass instrument all combining into a delicate choral rock track - Phil Shulman's lead vocal softer and more suited to the song. "Alucard" (Dracula spelt backwards and a label name used for GG reissues) is proper Prog - huge synth chords - phased vocals - brass jabs and lyrics about 'terror fills my soul' - nice. Side 2 opens with the Emily Bronte Baroque of "Isn't It Quiet And Cold" - whimsy vocals dancing daintily above a violin, harpsichord, cello and timpani plinking. Hardly surprising that the nine-minute "Nothing At All" was chosen as the representative track of the album on the 2005 Vertigo 3CD Box Set "Time Machine" (see separate review) - it's stunning - beautiful - surprising and the playing/arrangements are so damn accomplished like Yes meets Jethro Tull by way of Family (the Bass and that ever-present Acoustic Guitar

are particularly sweet and clear on the remaster). The guitar Prog of "Why Not" is superb too but the mock 'God Save' "The Queen" tests your patience a tad.

If the first album was an announcement and more-than-promising start - the largely improvised 2nd album delivered on that Prog entree. Like "Nothing At All" from the 1st LP - "Pantagruel's Nativity" was chosen as the representative of "Acquiring The Taste" for the "Time Machine" Vertigo Box Set - another near seven minutes of wickedly good mellotron and guitar. Inspired by the French Author Francois Rabelius and his tale of jousting giants 'Gargantua and Pantagruel' - it has fabulous audio especially on this chunky guitars and layered vocals. You're then thrown by the sheer prettiness of "Edge Of Twlight" as sounds flit from speaker to speaker - a pretty Prog ditty as I say but with menace provided by big kettle drums and phased voices. "The House The Street The Room" feels like Family meets Genesis somewhere between 1968's "Music In A Doll's House" and 1970's "Nursery Cryme". The short synth pavane of "Acquiring The Taste" precedes "Wreck" which has an almost catchy Uriah Heap chorus of 'hey yeah'. But for me the album is sealed by the final three - "The Moon Is Down", "Black Cat" and "Plain Truth" - all of which display more clever breaks than you can shake a stick at. At seven and half-minutes and opening with some wicked wah-wah guitar not unlike Hendrix having a doodle on his Strat - the longest of the three "Plain Truth" is very cool Prog indeed and leaves you impressed by an unsung hero of an LP (fans consider ATT a gem).

In the liner notes for "Acquiring The Taste" - GENTLE GIANT collectively stated that their music should be '...unique, adventurous and fascinating...' even '...at the risk of being very unpopular...' Job done boys...

"Suite For Susan Moore And Damion - We Are - One, One, All In One/Bird On A Wire" by TIM HARDIN (1999/2009 Beat Goes On 2LPs onto 1CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Will We Ever Run Free Of Those Worldly Wantings?"

This is a moving and at times frustrating release for an artist who engendered both emotions - Oregon's TIM HARDIN.

It's also a tale of two cities - an experimental navel-gazing heart-on-your-emotional-sleeve concept album from 1969 that some have praised as a second "Astral Weeks" while others have labelled "Suite For Susan Moore..." as utter knob and self-indulgent drivel - sat alongside a far more accessible and commercial album from 1971 called "Bird On A Wire" (after a Leonard Cohen cover version) - itself a sort of Soulful singer-songwriter return to form. I'm down with both opinions. Whatever you say about Tim Hardin - he and his music was never anything less than interesting. Here are the satisfied minds...

UK released November 1999 (reissued October 2009) - "Suite For Susan Moore And Damion - We Are - One, One, All In One/Bird On A Wire" by TIM HARDIN on Beat Goes On BGOCD 470 (Barcode 5017251204707) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD and plays out as follows (78:53 minutes):

Implication I: [Side 1]

1. First Love Song

2. Everything Good Become More True

Implication II:

3. Question Of Birth

4. Once-Touched By Flame

5. Last Sweet Moments

Implication III: [Side 2]

6. Magician

7. Loneliness She Knows

End Of Implication:

8. The Country I'm Living In

9. One, One, The Perfect Sum

10. Susan

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 5th album "Suite For Susan Moore And Damion - We Are - One, One, All In One" - released April 1969 in the USA on Columbia CS 9787 (Stereo) and May 1969 in the UK on CBS Records S 63571 (Stereo).

11. Bird On The Wire [Side 1]

12. Moonshine

13. Southern Butterfly

14. A Satisfied Mind

15. Soft Summer Breeze

16. Hoboin' [Side 2]

17. Georgia On My Mind

18. Andre Johray

19. If I Knew

20. Love Hymn

Tracks 11 to 20 are his 6th album "Bird On A Wire" - released June 1971 in the USA on Columbia C 30551 and August 1971 in the UK on CBS Records S 64335

The 8-page booklet features a short but very informative essay on the mad troubadour by COLIN IRWIN as well as the inner artwork to "Suite" and the huge session-musician list for "Bird". That 'crazy man' photo of Hardin and an Eagle that graced the rear of "Suite" is used as the inlay beneath the see-through CD tray and the statuesque picture of Susan Moore graces the last page. It doesn't say who remastered what or where - but the sound is gorgeous - especially for the notoriously quiet passages of "Suite". A track like the acoustic Folk of “The Country I’m Living In” and the simple plinking of an electric piano on “Everything Good Become More True” have tiny amounts of natural hiss - but are never too intrusive or overbearing. A nice job done...

The silly title gives you an indication - a stream of consciousness - contemplation on the 'implications' of relationships - or that Tim loves Susan so much he might just have to marry the broad. I have a love/hate relationship with this album - at times the spoken tracks like "Question Of Birth", "Loneliness She Knows" and "Susan" with lyrics like "...we cannot choose to come or not to come..." or "...if understood the meaning has no meaning..." don't offer explanations on life or love - but instead give you a stream of what feels like therapy psychobabble that doesn't stand up to any real scrutiny. But then there are moments too like the straight-up passion of "First Love Song", "Last Sweet Memory" and "Once-Touched By Flame" where this album dips into the realms of magical - simple and moving. It's an album of both hues...

1971's more polished and accomplished "Bird On A Wire" LP opens with the first of four cover versions sat alongside six new Tim Hardin originals. The 28 session players make it seem like a roll call for a Soul or Jazz Fusion album - included names like Joe Zawinul and Miroslav Vitous of Weather Report, Bassists Tony Levin and “Pops” Popwell of The Crusaders, Guitar virtuosos like Ralph Towner alongside Keyboard people like Warren Bernhardt and Paul Hornsby. But the music is more Rock with a Soulful tinge as evidenced the moment you play his almost Gospel take on Leonard Cohen's "Bird On The Wire" (originally on his 1969 LP "Songs From A Room"). His voice is more noticeably ragged - like a man on his last legs - his drug dependency showing. "Moonshiner" is a Traditional but again his voice and the sweet keyboards make it feel like a broken down Tim Hardin song. "Southern Butterfly" is oddly hissy (the first of his original songs) but lifted out of the ordinary by beautiful string and horn arrangements from Ed Freeman. Written by noted Fiddle player Joe Hayes and his pal Jack Rhodes - "A Satisfied Mind" features the Pedal Steel Guitar of Bill Keith and The Canby Singers giving it some choir-like backing vocals.  We get Funky with "Soft Summer Breeze" - a very cool groove which acted as the flipside to the album's only American 45 on Columbia 45426 in August 1971 (the LP's title track was on the A - it didn't chart). 

Side 2 opens with the almost Crusaders/Meters funky groove of "Hoboin'" where Tim tells us that he 'took a freight train to be my only friend' and 'I took it everywhere...' We return to covers with Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia On My Mind" - the famous song Jazzed up by Joe Zawinul's classy keyboard touches - what a sweet vibe this version is. "Andrey Johray" starts out with "Suite For Susan Moore..." dialogue about good and evil and lost highway children whove become famous - it's a 'know thyself' parable from Tim - a supercool gentle song that hankers back to that 1969 experiment. "...Will we ever run free of those worldly wantings..." he pleads - when deep at the heart of the song is a plea to himself and his friend to do something about their respective self-destructive addictions. Things mellow down with the lovely "If I Knew" - a song I play a lot - gorgeous tune. "Love Hymn' ends a classy but overlooked album on a 'so beautiful' up-note. Nice...

While I would never cite "Suite For Susan Moore..." as some undiscovered masterpiece the great unwashed need alongside their eggs and chips - there are times when I find it magical like a Fred Neil album or a Roy Harper LP. And just sometimes when I'm grooving to the simply Folk Rock beauty of say "Last Sweet Moments" as those vibes ping and that Harmonica soothes - this is the kind of album you 'need' to hear every now and then - an enchanting record that could never get made in 2016 (more's the pity).

Trippy, heartfelt, honest, soulful and as mad as a Psychotherapist at a Donald Trump drug-tasting convention - this pairing of Tim Hardin's 1969 and 1971 albums offers us music lovers two overlooked pieces - both brilliant in their own flawed and haggard ways. A sort of stormy sadness...recommended...

"Greenhouse" by LEO KOTTKE (1990, 1997 and 2008 Beat Goes On CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...A Tiny Island Floating In The Sea..."

I always find it astonishing that Leo Kottke's fifth album "Greenhouse" from the spring of 1972 is not lauded from on high nor held in as much reverence as its predecessors by critics - because the ace guitarist dares to 'sing' on some tracks.

Frankly I find all-instrumental LPs hard work at the best of times - but with 1972's "Greenhouse" - the virtuoso picker waxes lyrical on four of the tunes while the other seven are 6 and 12-string acoustic instrumentals. And for my money I can't get enough of his deep toned voice. I've got the magical live album follow up "My Feet Are Smiling" from 1973 and "Mudlark" that preceded them in 1971 - but its the gorgeous studio set "Greenhouse" that I return to most - an 'overlooked album' masterpiece if ever there was one. 

OK - titles like "From The Cradle To The Grave" and "You Don't Have To Need Me" may not indicate a '...I'd like to buy the world a Coke and sing in perfect harmony...' cheery-man's persona - but there is undeniable beauty in these Kottke songs. And this is before we even get to how ridiculously good his fingerpicking is - his slide work up and down those acoustic necks that would make Bert Jansch and Jimmy Page nervous. Throw in the warmth of his melodies - even when he's doing someone else's song (his beautiful cover of Paul Siebel's "Louise") – the overall impact is one of 'musical peace' if that makes any sense. Here are the 'don't throw stones' details...

UK released October 1990 (reissued September 1997 and December 2008) - "Greenhouse" by LEO KOTTKE on Beat Goes On BGOCD 50 (Barcode 5017261200501) is a straightforward CD Remaster of the 11-track 1972 LP and plays out as follows (36:39 minutes)

1. Bean Time

2. Tiny Island

3. The Song Of The Swamp

4. In Christ There Is No East Or West

5. Last Steam Engine Train

6. From The Cradle To The Grave

7. Louise [Side 2]

8. The Spanish Entomologist

9. Owls

10. You Don't Have To Need Me

11. Lost John

Tracks 1 to 11 are his 5th studio album "Greenhouse" - released February 1972 in the USA on Capitol ST-11000 and delayed to March 1973 in the UK on Capitol E-ST 11000. Produced by DENNY BRUCE - the LP peaked at No. 127 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

"Tiny Island", "Louise", "From The Cradle To The Grave" and "You Don't Have To Need Me" are the four vocal songs on the LP sung by Kottke - the other seven are instrumentals. "Louise" is a Paul Siebel cover, "In Christ There Is No East Or West" and "Last Steam Engine Train" are John Fahey covers and "Tiny Island" is by Al Gaylor. "From The Cradle To The Grave" has music by Kottke and lyrics by Ron Nagle - "Lost John" is a Traditional adapted from a version by Doc Watson - all others are Kottke originals. Leo plays all 6 and 12-string Acoustic guitars on every track except "Lost John" where he's joined by Steve Gammell on second guitar.

England's Beat Goes On Records have had a 'thing' for LEO KOTTKE from the beginning of their near 30-year reissue service (see list below). CD number 50 in their back catalogue first appeared in October 1990 - was reissued September 1997 with the 1990 CD inside even though it has a 1997 copyright date on the artwork (new JOHN TOBLER liner notes in 1997) - and remains reissued on their catalogue since December 2008 (with the 1990 CD inside). In short this CD transfer and remaster has been on their books 26 years - hell I've a son that's almost that old. But why fix what isn't broken. The audio on this CD transfer is gorgeous to my ears - beautifully crisp and clean. Sound engineer SHORTY MARTINSON who did the original Acoustic recordings at Sound Eighty Studios in Minneapolis caught his performances so sweetly. Except to say that BGO licensed this from 'EMI Records Ltd' at the time - it doesn't say who remastered this or where - but I'm not fussing because the Audio is wonderful.

The 8-page inlay with John Tobler liner notes give a potted history of his 20 or so albums to the late Nineties - his enigma even to his fans - his staggering playing skills – and despite the wildly un-commercial nature of his music – how he charted 9 albums in the USA over the years. But you do wish he'd have elaborated more on the actual "Greenhouse" album that gets a bunch of sentences that are over too soon.

Born in Athens, Georgia in September 1945 (REM's spiritual home) - Kottke once cheerfully describing his singing voice as "...geese farts on a muggy day..." I think he's playing down his talents way too much - a cross between the nasal whine of Michael Chapman but the warmth of say Don McLean - I find his rich deep voice incredibly welcoming. That's what makes "Greenhouse" such a great LP. It opens with "Bean Time" - written for his grandfather who got him his first job doing the dread 'bean picking' out in the hot fields - "Bean Time" is a typical speedy instrumental where he attacks those frets like a wasp homing in its prey. Portland's Al Gaylor wrote the lovely "Tiny Island" and is the first of four vocals on the album (lyrics from it title this review). It's just Kottke and Guitar - a simple song filled with deep longing for peace - and it fits in with that image of him on the back cover of the LP - his head just visible - bobbing - peeping up just above the foliage in the greenhouse.

We then get his staggering combination of melody and playing technique in "The Song Of The Swamp" - a slide acoustic instrumental that wows even now on several fronts (beautiful transfer on CD too) that he describes in his original LP liner notes as 'a slithery tune concerning the pitfalls of real estate'. Two John Fahey covers follow - the instrumental spiritual "In Christ There Is No East Or West" and the 'catch that mother' pace of "Last Steam Engine Train" where you can see that loco puffing down the line like a giddy child. "...Running for my life at every moment...never having time to catch my breath..." he sings on Ron Nagle's cheery life assessment "From The Cradle To The Grave".

He wowed the live audience with his playing on the "My Feet Are Smiling" album in 1973 - but of the two tracks he featured from "Greenhouse" (the other was the instrumental "Bean Time") - it was Paul Siebel's lament for "Louise" - a lady of the night who died in a hotel room - that moved the audience. And it's easy to hear why - the beauty of the song having been picked up since by Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt and Willy DeVille. "The Spanish Entomologist" is a combo of his favourite childhood melodies done on rapid slide (you'll hear 'Jambalaya' and 'Tumbling Tumbleweeds' in their amongst others). But that leads into my crave - the five minutes of "Owls" - a simply beautiful acoustic instrumental that speeds then slows then speeds again - his playing sublime - a sort of bluegrass ballad that oozes beauty - I love it to bits. "...I can't take all your love...while you take none of mine..." he pines on the downbeat "You Don't Have To Need Me" - but things cheer up on the unbelievable slide 12-string madness that is "Lost John". Apparently Kottke based his interpretation on Doc Watson's harmonica solo in his Country version of the Traditional.

Unique - majestical – at peace with itself. 

"Greenhouse" is the bomb and damn the torpedoes but keep on singing Leo...

Beat Goes On CD Remasters for LEO KOTTKE

1. Mudlark (1971) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 101

2. Greenhouse (1972) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 50

3. My Feet Are Smiling (Live, 1973) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 134

4. Ice Water (1974) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 146

5. Dreams And All That Stuff (1974) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 132

6. Chewing Pine (1975) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 148

7. Leo Kottke (1977) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 257

8. Burnt Lips (1978) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 259

9. Balance (1979) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 263

10. Live In Europe (1980) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 265

11. Guitar Music (1981) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 261

12. Time Step (1983) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 255
13. Leo Kottke 1971-1976 (1977 compilation) - Beat Goes On BGOCD 362