"Seasons: The Recordings 1971-1972" by MICK ABRAHAMS [ex Jethro Tull and Blodwyn Pig] – May 1971 UK Debut LP "Mick Abrahams" and May 1972 UK Second LP "ATLAST" (as Mick Abrahams Band) on Chrysalis Records in the UK and A&M Records in the USA (Second LP had no US release) – Featuring Bob Sargeant on Keyboards, Walt Monaghan on Bass, Ritchie Dharma on Drums with Jack Lancaster of Blodwyn Pig On Saxophones on the Second LP only (March 2026 UK Esoteric Recordings Compilation – 2LPs onto 2CDs – Ben Wiseman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 390 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

GET IT ON - 1971

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

A HUGE 3,154 e-Pages 

All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

Just Click Below To Purchase

https://www.amazon.co.uk/THERES-SOMETHING-ABOUT-1971-All-Genre-ebook/dp/B06XFXCG47?crid=XQ282HAP6GR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._XhImcbm7DjMzoSHNOg-flLAseM5Yl2TFpyZ409wGcjXOvc-MbMKia1X2eKg9k4VeK9ofP296GyKraAtL19AT_m9jgC9_D8BnSFy5l-ItYPR_XHIBJL0F4UEV_LyrX3yn1CfxqQN4h1FWl_iNvsPnNKEoCBje8n_EztsrQicti86OhuzqOKzCAWFmrW-4jqp__pwi8QLCygSpXWkftAc174ay_sVyPZ92-DuSij-AWA.UP5Q9CvpRzpDLLQwuBjASHxl-zIhk1xTZt0yqOpRDro&dib_tag=se&keywords=get+it+on+1971&qid=1740370575&sprefix=get+it+on+1971%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=e58ef62bd67cf0dce1ad3a1a7181daae&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

https://amzn.to/4u9AlX6

RATINGS: 

Overall: ***

Presentation: ****

Audio: **** to *****

"….Winds Of Change…"

There are some artists who engender enormous affection even if their output doesn't realistically deliver (John Lennon jumps to mind). 

The original Guitarist with Jethro Tull for the fab "This Was" debut album in 1968 on Island Records - I also loved the Mick Abrahams based Blodwyn Pig LPs from 1969 on Island ("Ahead Rings Out") and the 1970 follow-up on Chrysalis ("Getting To This"). Having jumped the Tull ship, Abrahams formed the witty and punky Blodwyn Pig (what a great name for a band), his new group of hirsute delinquents coming at you with a mixture of Rock and Prog and Bluesy elements all washed down with the occasional Flute and Saxophone (business as usual, I suppose).

So, buying the Mick Abrahams/Mick Abrahams Band solo LPs when they quickly turned up in 1971 and 1972 was a bit of a no-brainer for a lad like me (I'm 68 now and watching 55th, 56th, 57th etc Anniversaries of Seventies LPs accumulate like fluff on a tiled floor – if I see one more Super Deluxe Box Set at over £150, I will puke). But, and I say this with such a heavy heart (weighed down with guilt and Paraguay's National Debt and secret-agent stuff I dare not divulge) – I struggled with "Mick Abrahams" and "ATLAST" and still do (I know the second LP is referred to as At Last, but look at the cover and the original label and you will see it is deliberately spelt ATLAST in capitals as its title – maybe it was a pun on the word Atlas – not sure).

I wanted to like these albums and admittedly have returned to the first (especially Side 1) manys a time. But the May 1971 self-titled debut has that extended noodle on Side 2 called "Seasons" which goes on for fifteen minutes – Guitarist Abrahams and Keyboardist Bob Sargeant doing battle only to go back to the cliched vocal intro at the end. Sure, there are cool bits in it – the echoed guitars – up and down the frets with dexterity - but it tries my patience now. The songs were plodding compared to Zeppelin or Tull for that matter in the same time periods. Even as a dude who could suffer and enjoy side-long epics by Yes, ELP and Gentle Giant – the Mick Abrahams debut felt like half-an-album. 

The second LP (which saw his old Blodwyn Pig mucker Jack Lancaster return to the fold with Saxophones, Flutes and Clarinets) followed almost exactly one year later in May 1972 (the first was 7 May 1971) was all gimmicky circular fold-out sleeve ala Ogden's Nutgone Flake and with three Sargeant tunes and one co-write with Abrahams. It was clear that the songs had already run out for our Blodwyn Pig hero (A&M Stateside didn't bother to release LP No.2 there probably based on the poor sales for the debut which appears to have more white-label copies in circulation that actual stock copies). The final insult for all us fans was the song-tutor budget-label LP in 1973 called "Have Fun Learning The Guitar with Mick Abrahams" (on SRT Records SRT 73312) that just made you stare in disbelief – and ask why – who needs this? You got a page addressed to students, strumming and tuning instructions, tips on plectrums and inbetween noodles - cover versions of oldies like Blue Moon and Blowin In The Wind? Abrahams would return in the 90s and make great Bluesy Rock/Prog Elements CD albums again (much like Leslie West of Mountain) and see a second coming where his style and personality were mucho re-appreciated (even did updated versions of Blodwyn Pig material). 

Having had my whinge, up steps England's Esoteric Recordings and they say hooey – we are going to reissue both in one foldout digipak sexpot package and damn the moaning Paddies. There are no extras which is a shame and they could have included the split "Up And Down" track that appeared on all those European variants as a 9-track LP and not the British 8. But after years of 1990s CDs that kind-of sounded OK – it is a thrill to hear what Ben Wiseman has done to the master tapes in 2026. Clarity, power, presence – very tasty. 

Lot to discuss then, time for yesterday's to become our today once again - here are the Winds Of Change for the Whole Wide World (and that's just my toiletries trolly)…

UK released Friday, 26 March 2026 - "Seasons: The Recordings 1971-1972" by MICK ABRAHAMS on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC22935 (Barcode 5013929473560) is a compilation that offers 2LPs from 1971 and 1972 on Chrysalis Records (UK) and A&M Records (USA) in Stereo Remastered onto 2CDs and it plays out as follows:

CD1 Mick Abrahams (45:07 minutes):
1. Greyhound Bus (4:52 minutes) [Side 1]
2. Awake (8:50 minutes)
3. Winds Of Change (4:51 minutes)
4. Why Do You Do Me This Way (3:32 minutes)
5. Big Queen (4:29 minutes) [Side 2]
6. Not To Rearrange (3:27 minutes)
7. Seasons (15:02 minutes)
Tracks 1 to 7 are his debut solo album "Mick Abrahams" – released 7 May 1971 in the UK on Chrysalis ILPS 9147 and May 1971 on A&M Records SP 4312 in the USA – both in a gatefold sleeve. Produced by CHRIS THOMAS – Musicians included Mick Abrahams on Guitar, Slide Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Madolin and Lead Vocals [Original Guitarist with Jethro Tull and ex Blodwyn Pig] with Bob Sargeant on Organ, Piano, Second Guitar, Strings and Backing Vocals, Walt Monaghan on Bass and Backing Vocals with Ritchie Dharma on Drums, Congas and Backing Vocals. All songs written by Abrahams except "Not To Rearrange" which was co-written with Bob Sargeant

CD2 ATLAST (36:57 minutes):
1.When I Get Back (5:08 minutes) [Side 1]
2. Absent Friends (4:49 minutes)
3. Time Now To Decide (2:30 minutes)
4. Whole Wide World (3:53 minutes)
5. Maybe Because (8:06 minutes) [Side 2]
6. The Good Old Days (4:20 minutes)
7. Up And Down (4:25 minutes)
8. You'll Never Get It From Me (3:42 minutes)
Tracks 1 to 8 are his second album "ATLAST" credited as Mick Abrahams Band – released May 1972 on Chrysalis Records CHR 1005 in a Circular Fold-out Sleeve like Ogden's Nutgone Flake by Small Faces (no US issue). Tracks 3, 4, 5 and 7 written by Mick Abrhams, Track 1 co-written with Bob Sargeant and Tracks 2, 6 and 8 written by Bob Sargeant. Sargeant sings lead on Tracks 1, 2, 6 and 8 – Abrahams on the others. 

Despite simply saying Mick Abrahams on the front sleeve, the debut was The Mick Abrahams Band (there is a notice on the wall of the front that announces An Evening With The Mick Abrahams Band) and indeed some early copies of the LP credit that on the label. The other three band members – Keyboardist Bob Sargeant, Bassist Mick Monaghan and Drummer Ritchie Dharma – were pictured on the inner gatefold and so those photos turn up on Page 7 of the 16-page booklet that features new liner notes from a sympathetic ear STEVE PILKINGTON (dated December 2025 - he did the Tracks book for Led Zeppelin published by SonicBond). That pixelated small-squares rear artwork is pictured on Page 9 – the artwork to the elaborate sleeve of the second LP on Pages 10, 13, 14 and 15. Pilkington gives a potted history of his career (highs and long downs) up the Nineties and Naughties comebacks where a CD generation were only-too-eager to hear more of the same just in better audio. The booklet is good without being great – does the job so to speak – the fold-out card digipak using that squares rear-sleeve of "Mick Abrahams" to fill in flaps. But there is naught beneath the see-through trays – no memorabilia - nor the full-page NME and Sounds adverts Chrysalis used to advertise the album in May 1971 – the now rare 2008 autobiography – as I say – good but not great. 

But what is kicking is the BEN WISEMAN Remasters – fulsome and powerful and clear – loving the brass opening to "Absent Friends" on the second 1972 LP (not the strongest of songs mind) or that echoed guitar passage three-and-a-half-minutes into the "Seasons" 15-minute monster on the 1971 debut. To the music…

The "Mick Abrahams" debut opens with a strong funky groove that feels like Blodwyn Pig Part 2 - "Greyhound Bus" – a cracking starter for ten that could have been an off-the-cuff 45-single in several Euro territories prepared to give that kind of Rock shuffle a chance. Followed by 8:50 minutes of the more Prog-leaning "Awake" – an exercise is showing off guitar chops that still stands up. I remember liking this after a lot of plays. Prettier and more affecting is the largely acoustic "Winds Of Change" – a very cool feel to it – but Side 1 is let down by a sort of cod Rock and Roll ditty called "Why Do You Do Me This Way" that feels like an old-time boogie conjured up as filler. Way better is the Side 2 opener "Big Queen" – another Blodwyn Pig-type groove that had it ended Side 1, would have made a perfect Side to the album for me. That is unfortunately dampened by the Country-ish Pedal Steel wimp that is "Not To Rearrange" – a co-write with Bob Sargeant that feels completely out of place. Side 2 ends with a beast – 15-minutes of "Seasons". After a nondescript Rock intro of 3:28 minutes (which is returned to in the final minutes) – things quiet to an echoed electric guitar on its own and some serious fretboard racing, bending of notes etc (impressive stuff too) – but about 6:33 the band kicks in again – Sargeant getting his chance to Deep Purple that organ solo. And on it goes, being interesting Rock until it starts to overstay its welcome. 

The second LP "ATLAST" from May 1972 has an oddity in the fade-in song "Up And Down". British and German issues kept the tune as one song at 4:25 minutes and as Track 3 on Side 2 of an 8-track LP. However, European albums split the song into two parts (Dutch, Danish and French issues) and spread them across two sides of the LP thereby creating a 9-track album (Part 1 at 2:00 minutes and Part 2 at 2:25 minutes). The first Part was placed at the end of Side 1 - while Part 2 opened Side 2. The September 1991 Edsel CD reissue used that European 9-Track configuration – Esoteric have returned it to its single-song status and only on Side 2 as Track 7. 

"ATLAST" has a fatal flaw for me, not only does it not have tunes, Bob Sargeant sings on many of them instead of Abrahams. Abrahams had a great turn to his voice, Sargeant did not. Sargeant lyrics were bad rhymes too. The opening cliched cod-rocker about women being the problem "When I Get Back" has a nice guitar break for sure but is not a song I want on my Marantz ever again. Despite a cool brass intro, the opener is followed by worse, "Absent Friends". The doomy leave you on the ground "Absent Friends" is so bad. Abrahams finally weighs in with "Time Now To Decide" – a jaunty all-lend-a-hand acoustic upbeat foot-tapper where flanged vocals unfortunately do little to rescue its dated oom-pah feel and 2:30 minute playing time. That signature Pig sound finally shows with "Whole Wide World" – the Remaster making those in the back of a shop vocals come to the fore a little more – the Jack Lancaster Saxophone and Sargeant keyboard solos punching good and hard. Things finally start to feel good with "Maybe Because" – a cool Funky Rock groove with treated Abrahams Lead Vocals and a clever slowed section in the centre that brings out MA and his guitar-playing. Slow, Bluesy and Barroom lonely is "The Good Old Days" – a things-that-I'm-going through moaner with added strings – but neither it nor the ambling "Up And Down" that follows it amount to much. Old Blodwyn Pig mucker Jack Lancaster joins the band for the final song "You'll Never Get It From Me" with his distinctive Saxophone jabs – but it's a half-assed Sargeant rocker that feels like poor Roxy Music and not helped by Bob Sargeant's straining vocals (never do find out who the lady backing singers are) – good Abrahams guitar work though. A patchy end to say the least to a band with potential – the second LP is a real plodder – and that gimmicky packaging a way of selling a turd. 

Released in November 2008, "What Is A Wommett: The Autobiography of Mick Abrahams" by Apex Publishing (ISBN 1906358486 hardback with a foreword by Whispering Bob Harris) tells us that a wommet is British military slang for a useless cadet or possibly an overly fruity one (keep those buttons closed lad). Before settling for the simpler Mick Abrahams Band, Abrahams even considered Wommet as a group name. As you can glean from all this, Abrahams had a self-deprecating wit and a prickly honesty that put him at loggerheads with other band-alphas. But he is remembered with affection for a reason. 

Like Robin Trower when he was chord-blasting with Procol Harum before going solo in 1973 or Kim Simmonds at the guitar helm of Blues Rockers Savoy Brown or Mick Ronson giving it the necessary riffage with The Spiders for David Bowie or Laurie Wisefield with late Seventies Wishbone Ash making fret dexterity look easy (and this is with a band that has Andy Powell and Martin Turner in it) – Mick Abrahams occupied that hallowed ground of great British Guitar Players that many (if not all but the uninitiated) just didn’t know were there. Maybe you knew the faces, the outfits, the neck skills, but not the name. In 2025 and 2026, there are now TV programmes enlightening us on Backing Singers – Arrangers – Axemen - and too damn right. Abrahams passed in December 2025 as Pilkington was penning the liner notes (aged 82). 

For sure here in the spring of 2026 – this kind of Seventies Rock by MICK ABRAHAMS and his band pals will be seen by newer generations as second-tier. But for those of us wommetts who were there, who poured over that first gatefold with its stippled pixelated effect rear photo and that second let's take on Thick As A Brick four-way fold-out card sleeve of the second – we worshipped at the tennis racket feet of such music - pings and things on your Garrard Stereogram and muddied Dustbuster. 

An overall three-stars or no - once again congrats to Mark Powell and Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red) for having done a passed-over hero an audio restoration solid with "Seasons: The Recordings 1971-1972" (they are to be praised for that). But for all others, I advise a listen first...

"Finer Things: The Island Recordings 1972-1973" by VINEGAR JOE – Includes Their Three Studio Albums "Vinegar Joe" (April 1972 UK Debut), "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" (December 1972 UK, January 1973 USA) and "Six Star General" (October 1973 UK-only Final LP) – Plus Four Non-LP 45-Single Sides as Bonuses – Featuring Robert Palmer, Elkie Brooks, Pete Gage, Steve York, Tim Hinkley, Rob Tait, Mike Deacon, Pete Gavin with Guests John Woods and Keef Hartley (August 2021 UK Esoteric Recordings 3CD Clamshell Box Set with Ben Wiseman Remasters from Original Master Tapes) – A Review by Mark Barry...

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B096X56W74&asins=B096X56W74&linkId=b37aec6eca6662030f1d089406e2365d&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe> 

 

This Review Along With 310 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

TUMBLING DICE - 1972
- Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters 

Just Click Below To Purchase for £6.95

Thousands and Thousands of E-Pages of Real Info

All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs Themselves

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B07RVD6R4N&asins=B07RVD6R4N&linkId=6dcef77c68c6e85a720a31c58456e390&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

"...Easy Riders..." 

 

RATING: *****

The fondly remembered six-piece VINEGAR JOE took their moniker from the nickname given to a World War II American General Joseph Stillwell – a man known for his moody demeanour. Coming out of the ashes on the one-album DADA in 1970 on Atlantic Records – guitarist and songwriter Pete Gage roped in guttural singing legends Robert Palmer and Elkie Brooks and a great new band was born - their music a hybrid between Little Feat-Funk, Seventies Rock-Soul and R&B. There is a large amount of info to wade through, so let's have at it...

 

UK released 27 Aug 2021 - "Finer Things: The Island Recordings 1972-1973" by VINEGAR JOE on Esoteric Records ECLEC32774 (Barcode 5013929477483) is a 3CD Clamshell Mini Box Set with Three Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves (four Non-LP B-sides are Bonus Tracks), New Remasters from Original Tapes and a 32-Page Colour Booklet. It plays out as follows:

 

CD1 "Vinegar Joe" (56:04 minutes): 

1. Rusty Red Armour [Side 1]

2. Early Monday Morning 

3. Ride Me Easy, Rider 

4. Circles 

5. Leg Up 

6. See The World (Through My Eyes) [Side 2] 

7. Never Met A Dog (That Took To Me) 

8. Avinu Malkenu 

9. Gettin' Out 

10. Live A Little, Get Somewhere 

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "Vinegar Joe" – released April 1972 in the UK LP on Island ILPS 9183 and Atco SD 7007 in the USA. Produced by VIC SMITH and PETE GAGE – it didn't chart in either country. Tracks 2, 3, 6, and 10 written by Pete Gage, Tracks 1, 4 and 5 by Robert Palmer, Track 8 by Pete Gage and Elkie Brooks, Track 9 by Pete Gage, Dave Thompson and Steve York. Robert Palmer is Lead Vocalist on Tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 - Elkie Brooks is Lead Vocalist on Tracks 2, 3, 8 and 10

 

BONUS TRACK 

11. Speed Queen Of Ventura (4:06 minutes, Pete Gage song) – Non-LP B-side to “Never Met A Dog (That Took To Me)” issued 25 February 1972 on the UK 45-single Island WIP 6125 (Elkie Brooks on Lead Vocals) 

 

CD2 "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" (44:38 minutes): 

1. So Long [Side 1] 

2. Charley's Horse 

3. Rock 'n Roll Gypsies

4. Falling 

5. It's Gettin' To The Point 

6. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On [Side 2] 

7. Buddy Can You Spare A Dime 

8. Angel 

9. No One Ever Do 

10. Forgive Us 

Tracks 1 to 10 are their second studio album "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" – released December 1972 in the UK on Island ILPS 9214, January 1973 in the USA on Atco SD 7016. Produced by VIC SMITH and PETE GAGE – it didn't chart in the UK but peaked at No. 201 in the US Billboard LP charts in early 1973 

 

BONUS TRACK 

11. Rock 'n Roll Gypsies – Non-LP 45-single edit released 17 Nov 1972 in the UK as their second 45-single on Island WIP 6148 (the B-side was the album track "So Long") 

 

CD3 "Six Star General" (48:05 minutes): 

1. Proud To Be (A Honky Woman) [Side 1] 

2. Food For Thought 

3. Dream My Own Dreams 

4. Lady Of The Rain 

5. Stay True To Yourself 

6. Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet [Side 2] 

7. Giving Yourself Away 

8. Talkin' 'Bout My Baby 

9. Let Me Down Easy 

10. Fine Thing 

Tracks 1 to 10 are their third and final studio album "Six Star General" – released October 1973 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9262 (no US issue). Produced by PETE GAGE – it didn't chart. 

 

BONUS TRACKS

11. Long Way Round 

12. Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet (Single Version) 

Tracks 12 and 11 (note order) are the A&B-sides of a 2 November 1973 UK 45-single on Island WIP 6174. The A-side at 3:38 minutes (Track 12) is an edit of the full LP version at 6:15 minutes; the Robert Palmer written B-side was a Non-LP track. The A-side was actually miscredited on the seven-inch single as "Black Smoke From The Calumet". 

 

VINEGAR JOE was:

ELIKE "Elk" BROOKS - Lead Vocals and Percussion

ROBERT PALMER - Lead Vocals and Rhythm Guitar

PETE GAGE – Lead Guitarist and Songwriter for all three albums (ex The Zephyrs (60s), Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band (60s) and Dada (1970)

JIM MULLEN – Guitar for 2^nd album only

TIM HINKLEY (Bo Street Runners, Chicago Line, Jody Grind, Snafu (1973 and 1974), Beckett and Alvin Lee & Co – both 1974 – later with Roger Chapman and The Shortlist) – Keyboards for 1^st album

MIKE DEACON – Keyboards (ex The Greatest Show On Earth in 1970, The Kiki Dee Band in 1973 and then Ginger Baker and Friends in 1976) – joins for 2^nd and 3^rd LPs

STEVE YORK – Bassist and Harmonica (with The Graham Bond Organization, Motivation (1968), Manfred Mann's Chapter Three (in 1969 and 1970), Dada (1970), Casablanca (1973), Stan Webb's Chicken Shack in 1978 and Hoopsnakes in the 80s)

ROB TAIT – Drums on the first album only (ex Battered Ornaments, The People Band, ARC, Bell + Arc)

PETE GAVIN – Drums for the 2^nd and 3^rd albums (ex Heads, Hands & Feet)

 

Guests:

JOHN WOODS – Drums on the 2^nd album and second drummer for the track "Proud To Be (A Honky Woman)" only on the 3^rd album

KEEF HARTLEY – Drums on the 2^nd album only

 

The glossy Clamshell Box Set is gorgeous as are the three card sleeves (albums two and three were gatefolds back in the day and are so here), the 32-page booklet with May 2021 new liner notes from MALCOLM DOME includes interviews with Pete Gage, Elkie Brooks and other members of the band alongside Producer Vic Smith, arranger Tom Newman and more. The album credits are all here with colour photos and of course re-issue credits. But the big news (and best news) is fabulous remasters by BEN WISEMAN that have used original tapes – and man can you hear it. Even though I always thought the Production values slipped on Platter Number Two (only to get slicker for Number Three) – even there – the muffle is less muffled and the music more ballsy because of it. It’s a great job done. 

Niggles - although the six photos of the band and guest musicians known as Joe’s Mates are all pictured in the booklet as per the original debut album’s inner bag – the lyrics are missing - which is an AWOL shame. And for some reason the "See The World" track that starts Side 2 of the April 1972 debut album is missing from the rear artwork of the "Vinegar Joe" Mini LP. But at least both the Mini LP Card Sleeves for "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" and "Six Star General" are given gatefolds (as per their originals). The debut 45-single "Never Met A Dog (That Took To Me)" (credited on the original LP label and artwork as merely "Never Met A Dog") is a 3:43 minute edit as opposed to the 6:31 minutes of the LP version – and that is missing too when it obviously would have been a great second bonus track on CD1. Outside of those small icky bits – to the music...

 

As the thumping bass and drums roll in and then across your speakers for "Rusty Red Armour" – getting louder and louder as they do – a suave-sounding Robert Palmer starts in on that fantastic vocal with Elkie backing him on the choruses about uptight scoundrels and bizarre repertoires. The audio is fantastic – 24-bit digital remasters from original tapes and you can really hear it. But even that’s trampled by the slow Blues-Rock of "Ride Me Easy Rider" where Elkie lets rip on a quivering Janis Joplin (her stunning scream at five minutes feel like a sustained synth note) - while Steve York wails on his harmonica, Gage on Slide Guitar and Hinkley tinkering the barroom ivories.

 

Things mellow with Palmer’s "Circles" – a gorgeous chorus following that makes you feel like the song has somehow always been in the ether – a sort of mellow Faces outtake – Elkie softly underpinning RP’s classy lead – fabulous work too on the keys by Dave Thompson. Things boogie up for the Side 1 closer "Leg Up" – saw you in your secret corner – seem to be doing all right – here to help. Great audio on that Wah Wah guitar – funky little brute with a very clever acoustic break about half way through – England’s Little Feat gets underway.

 

Anyone who bought the 2005 Universal 3CD Clamshell Box Set "Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal..." celebrating Island Records between 1967 and 1972 would have found the six-minutes plus of "See The World (Through My Eyes)" from Vinegar Joe’s debut over on CD3 – both Lead Vocalists sharing the Funk Rock with a little Dada Jazz thrown in. The audio here is fantastic. Very Snafu-sounding slide guitars pan the speakers for the drumming-hard boogie of "Never Met A Dog (That Took To Me)" – the Robert Palmer-penned 45-single Island chose to launch the band. It’s good yes, highlighting all aspects of this band (Dave Brooks puts in a cool Sax solo), but the more melodic "Circles" would have been a far smarter more radio-catchy choice. There then follows three consciousness songs ending Side 2 that somehow do for the album in my opinion – too mellow and out of step with the Funk and R&B grooves that preceded them. You can hear DADA brilliance in the arrangements of "Live A Little, Get Somewhere" – but the song meanders and feels like a band that doesn't know what it is yet.

 

Their second album for 1972 (December in the UK, January 1973 in the USA) - "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" goes after the feet on Side 1 and allows Elkie Brooks more lead vocals. "Charley's Horse" is almost Wishbone Ash circa Pilgrimage with its twin-guitar assault but feels a little too Prog for Vinegar Joe. Gage and Elkie Brooks provided the opener "So Long" (on the road too long), but it too feels like a weak rocker when a grab-you-by-the-lapels mission-statement was needed to start Side 1. The band goes soulful with cover version Number One of Three; the title song of the album "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" originated as far back as December 1965 on a US stand-alone 45-single by the obscure Gypsy Trips. Issued on World Pacific 77809, it was written by Roger Tillison and produced by Leon Russell and is a fabulous swaggering song about the nomadic life of musicians – a theme that permeates the whole album really. Tillison would go on the equally obscure US band The Leathercoated Minds whose album "A Trip Down The Sunset Strip" from 1967 was a Psych monster on Viva Records V 6003 (Mono) and V-36003 (Stereo). But the LP and band is perhaps better remembered for containing the first recorded outings of J.J. Cale on Guitar with Leon Russell on Keyboards.

 

The other two covers are the Dave Williams classic "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" made famous by Big Maybelle and especially Jerry Lee Lewis – a song Vinegar Joe used as an encore for live sets and one that let Elk rip on those throat-shredding vocals. This was followed on Side 2 by a gorgeous choice in "Angel" – the Jimi Hendrix ballad that had only appeared on his posthumous studio album "The Cry Of Love" in March 1971. "Angel" is the kind of love song that appears to bring out the very best in every cover version ever done of it (Elkie lays into the VJ version with abandon). Palmer then goes into his trademark Little Feat funk-groove with "Falling" (Mike Deacon on Keyboards tearing it up) – Elkie joining him on the catchy chorus and second verse – another potential winner of a single.

 

Elkie and Robert share the Pete Gage worry-song "It's Gettin' To The Point" but the slightly muddy production kind of lets the musical side down. Their second album comes to a close with its best track - the slow and dirty Guitar and Harmonica boogie of "No One Ever Do" by Pete Gage. I have always thought it should have opened Side 1 and would have made a great 45 as "Everyone's Talking, But No One Ever Seems To Do". With its Mungo Jerry kazoo-swagger meets Faces barroom piano shuffle - Robert and Elkie share the vocals and it Rocks like Vinegar Joe did live. Finally "Forgive Us" from Robert Palmer brings it down to mellow – a prayer song for sinning and inadequacies. Chartwise – again – and even with that strike-a-pose Hipgnosis artwork - Blighty took no real notice of "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" - but in the USA it almost broke the Top 200, stalling in January 1973 at No. 201.

 

Their final album is the one they feel is Vinegar Joe's best and it certainly kicks off with serious Rock and Roll intent – Elkie laying into the snotty barroom piano and guitar of "Proud To Be (A Honky Woman)" – a Pete Gage song where he spits in the face of looking-down-on-you authoritarian detractors. Things gets Funky with the second Gage cut "Food For Thought" – a duet battle between Palmer and Brooks with synth notes making a first appearance. Piano-rolling honky tonk opens the first of two Robert Palmer cuts – the hugely likeable "Dream My Own Dreams" – a hybrid of R&B, R&R and Little Feat Funk (Mike Deacon giving it some on the old Joanna) – very RP indeed. Things go Rock-Soulful mellow when Elkie sings the intro to "Lady Of The Rain" – a song she wrote with Drummer Pete Gavin – great Production values too from Gage who has clearly got the hang of it by now. Bassist and Harmonica virtuoso Steve York penned the Side 1 finisher "Stay True To Yourself" – a clavinet Funky little chugger that has Robert and Elkie trading positive vibrations

 

Side 2 gets Soulful as it opens with the piano-driven "Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet" – a six-minute slice of moody brilliance that shifts gear into a vibe-mood about one and half-minutes in. Mankind is examined as Elkie lays into the worried-about-the-state-of-things lyrics – Palmer giving gorgeous backing vocals on the title chorus – Gage practically a one-man-band in his most ambitious and sophisticated song (he plays all guitars and keys on this song). Things pick up bopper-wise with the upbeat Rock-Jazzy "Give Yourself Away" – a very Wishbone Ash vibe in a way. We get a genuine blast of Vinegar Joe cool in "Talkin' 'Bout My Baby" – a typically stylish song from Andy Fraser of Free fame (his version showed on his 1975 debut album "Andy Fraser" on CBS Records). Robert Palmer is clearly digging its slinky Rock-Soul groove – voice-box guitar and all (Palmer would return once again in his solo career to Andy Fraser of Free for the gorgeous "Every Kinda People" - a single and "Double Fun" album track from 1978 again on Island Records that would appear on every Robert Palmer 'Best Of' thereafter). Both the rocking "Let Me Down Easy" (sung by Elkie) and the more slink-Funk of "Fine Thing" (sung by Palmer) try hard, but feel just a little too forced to me. I can't help but feel that the 45-single B-side "Long Way Round" would have been a far better choice for the LP and lead off single as it contains vocals from both leads. The 3:43 minute single edit of "Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet" is cool though (the second Bonus Track on CD3) – a sort of keyboard-funky version of Joni Mitchell's Woodstock vibe going on – who killed love. Shame it didn't get the attention it deserved

 

The VINEGAR JOE albums are strange ones – never quite brilliant but so damn close at times – hard to define genre-wise too – and despite or even because of all that mercurial talent – the six-piece combo might have worked on stage – but on LP they just seemed to lack that killer wallop or single that would have made them legends.

 

Still, this is one of the most enjoyable Clamshell Box Sets I've plundered in yonks - and with the Steppenwolf, Steve Gibbons Band, Curved Air, Greenslade, Unicorn and Keef Hartley Clamshell Box Sets – Esoteric Recordings of the UK seem to be hitting it out of the ballpark all the 60ts and 70ts time. 

 

Dig in and remember a time when cool was the rule - and Gypsies roamed the airwaves...

"Alchemy" by THIRD EAR BAND – July 1969 UK Debut LP on Harvest Records (April 2019 UK Esoteric Recordings '2CD Expanded Edition' Reissue with 10 Previously Unreleased Tracks and New Ben Wiseman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 339 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

 

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE - 1969
Rock, Pop and Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £6.95 (Jan 2022 Update)

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap) 

 

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B07XY8CZ1Y&asins=B07XY8CZ1Y&linkId=d6286878893d3516fb953c1341ce2de0&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe> 

 

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B07MZZ8V3Q&asins=B07MZZ8V3Q&linkId=bebf50d462e9292ecc56ca48dda175bc&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

 

"...Lark Rise..."

 

You would have to say that in early 2022 music like that of the THIRD EAR BAND simply wouldn't get made let alone released by a major label. 

Even trying to describe their sound is like trying to nail down genre quicksand - Art Rock with a definite whiff of the Avant Garde, Baba O’Riley Indian Raga drones, speaker-to-speaker ye olde English Folk mingled with adventurous 60ts Progressive Rock sensibilities, Captain Beefheart let loose with an Oboe, people always taking trips. Hell, there's even a Country lean on some of these mood-ethereal outpourings. And one of the band members is even credited as playing wind chimes (say no more). So God Bless Harvest Records and their truly eclectic band roster - here you go sales rep hipsters, sell this to the British public, good luck boys.

 

Which brings us today to other heroes, England's 'Esoteric Recordings' (part of Cherry Red) who have been winning the minds and wizened malfunctioning hearts of collectors like me these last few years, forcing us on far too many occasions to make more digital purchases of dodgy ruminations from our vast arsenal of bitcoin wealth.

 

Esoteric have taken on the beast that is this hard-to-define-and-hold music and done it proud (see list below). To the dragon lines, square circle druids and Egyptians sipping tea with their dead books...  

 

UK released 5 April 2019 - "Alchemy" by THIRD EAR BAND on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22668 (Barcode 5013929476844) is a '2CD Expanded Edition' Reissue and Remaster of their 1969 UK debut album with 10 Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (62:07 minutes):

1. Mosaic [Side 1]

2. Ghetto Raga

3. Druid One

4. Stone Circle

5. Egyptian Book Of The Dead

6. Area Three

7. Dragon Lines

8. Lark Rise

Tracks 1 to 8 are their debut album "Alchemy" - released July 1969 in the UK on Harvest Records SHVL 756 and in the USA on Harvest SKAO-376. Produced by PETER JENNER – all songs written by Glen Sweeney, Richard Coff and Paul Minns except "Lark Rise" by Dave Tomlin.

 

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Hyde Park Raga

10. Druid One

Tracks 9 and 10 are a 'BBC Radio One "Top Gear" Session recorded for John Peel's Radio Program and is PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

 

CD2 (60:19 minutes):

1. Cosmic Trip

2. Jason's Trip

3. Devil's Weed

Tracks 1 to 3 made in 1968

 

4. Raga No. 1 (Mono)

5. Unity

Tracks 4 and 5 recorded 24 January 1969 at Abbey Road Studios and are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

 

6. The Sea

7. Druid

8. Hyde Park Raga

Tracks 6 to 8 recorded 12 September 1969 at Abbey Road Studios and are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

 

THIRD EAR BAND was:

GLEN SWEENEY – Tabla, Hand Drums, Wind Chimes

PAUL MINNS – Oboe, Recorder

RICHARD COFF – Violin, Viola

MEL DAVIS – Cello, Slide Pipes

Plus

JOHN PEEL – Jews Harp on "Area Three"

DAVE TOMLIN – Viola on "Lark Rise"

 

The 3-way foldout card digipak is pretty to look at (the artwork beneath the two see-through CD trays matching that of the LP) and reproduces the original LP’s gatefold artwork too. Working with remaining members of the band, Esoteric have even managed to uncover two sheets of unseen black and white photos taken for the cover shoot and promotional purposes. They are small and hard to discern, but there are also suitably physic posters on Page 5 of the superbly detailed 16-page booklet – the liner notes enlivened by LUCA CHINO FERRARI – the band's official archivist. Someone even had a photo of TEB on stage at The Isle Of Wight in 1969. As I say, proper attention paid...

 

The big draw for fans here is going to be the BEN WISEMAN Remasters from original Harvest tapes – the Audio is stupendous. Anyone who had this album on vinyl back in the day will know that during those quiet Oboe passages, that format was less than ideal. Here the clarity is startling and some might say – beautiful. I have to say though, that I find the music hard work after a fashion and any newcomers might recoil at the reality. With their endless ye olde Oboe noodlings like say on "Druid One", they come across like an earlier version of Gryphon and it can all be a bit too much. But then during the warbling of "Ghetto Raga", when the Tabla kicks in especially, the music goes to another trippy place that I know lovers of this band can't get enough of. Beautiful and difficult Prog Folk. Nice.

 

What is indisputable however, is that the Audio and Quality Presentation of this 2CD Expanded Edition of "Alchemy" have done this obscure band and their eclectic debut a solid. And Esoteric Recordings are to be praised to the Raga nines for that...

 

THIRD EAR BAND CD Reissues/Remasters on Esoteric Recordings

 

1. "Alchemy" [July 1969 Debut UK LP on Harvest SHVL 756] - April 2019 UK 2CD Expanded Edition with 10 Bonus Tracks on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22668 (Barcode 5013929476844)

 

2. "Third Ear Band" [July 1970 Second UK LP on Harvest SHVL 773] – December 2018 UK 3CD Compilation called "Elements 1970-1971" on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 32653 (Barcode 5013929475342).

Tracks 1 to 4 on CD1 are the "Third Ear Band" album Remastered.

The "Elements 1970-1971" 3CD compilation also contains the "Abelard & Heloise" Soundtrack recorded July 1970 for German television (unreleased until 1997) and other Previously Unreleased period material

 

3. "Music From Macbeth" [March 1972 UK Third LP on Harvest SHSP 4019] – February 2019 UK 1CD Expanded Edition with 3 Bonus Tracks on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 2656 (Barcode 5013929475649)