Sunday, April 27, 2014

THE HELLO PEOPLE - (AS, I WENT DOWN TO) JERUSALEM / IT'S A MONDAY KIND OF TUESDAY, APRIL 1968



These two exceptional cuts appear on the debut Hello People album as seen on my previous post.  'Jerusalem' features some wild raucous guitar action and a punky vocal delivery.  It was written by band member W.S. "Sonny" Tongue Jr. who was the primary songwriter of the groups early compositions.  

'It's A Monday Kind Of Tuesday' is a mellow groover with ample flute.  A personal favorite of mine for sure.  It was written by Nancy Reiner who is known for doing cover illustrations of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Burdon among others.  This was the third 45 released by the Hello People.

THE HELLO PEOPLE, 1968






The Hello People were a New York group formed in late 1967 by record producer Lew Futterman.  They had stage names and wore mime makeup during their performances, but if look past the gimmick you will find a talented group of musicians with respectable tunes.  They managed to release numerous LP's and singles during the late 60's and early 70's, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of folks writing about them.  I am only familiar with this, their debut LP on Philips which is pleasing throughout.  It's mostly comprised of lyte pop songs with pleasant melodies and plenty of flute to boot.  There are a few heavier moments on the album, one being my pick of the bunch, the LP track 'Sunrise Meadow'.  It's a five minute plus multi-part jam with 2 minutes of flute blasting in the middle, and I love every second of it.

Some nice info regarding the origins of the Hello People can be found here.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

NEIGHB'RHOOD CHILDR'N, 1968






The Neighb'rhood Childr'n were a group of youngsters from small town Oregon, who along with countless others traveled to San Francisco during the summer of 1967 to soak up the happening vibes.  Their extended stay proved to be fruitful as they put together this burner originally released on Acta records in 1968.  The vocals of female member Dyan Hoffman seem to lead the casual listener to comparisons with The Jefferson Airplane or The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, but closer inspection uncovers an entirely different animal.  There's all sorts of ground being covered on this record, from the freakout of 'Chocolate Angel' to the goofy and somehow incredibly fitting rendition of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow'.  The strange and eerie sound of 'Long Years In Space' is a definite standout for me along with the show stealing 'Patterns', both of which feature a strong lead vocal from Dyan Hoffman.
The rest of the record is filled with enough driving fuzz, 12 string guitar, carnival organ bursts, and hazy mind bending textures to earn it a rave on this blog and a permanent space on the record shelf.  Original copies of the LP are becoming increasingly rare and expensive so of course we turn to Sundazed who provide an absolutely fabulous reissue...

Sunday, April 13, 2014

THE BYRDS - TURN! TURN! TURN! / SHE DON'T CARE ABOUT TIME, OCTOBER 1965



This post is dedicated to the Gene Clark b-side 'She Don't Care About Time', but first I'd like to pay respect to the hit single.  Since it's release (nearly 50 years ago) 'Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)' has proven to be a poster child of the 1960's scene getting all sorts of coverage from the mainstream media.  It's also likely to be the song most 'squares' identify the Byrds with.  Due to these facts I'm sure a lot of folks label the song as 'overrated' and such, but I'm here to stand behind the jangle and glowing harmonies and give it all the credit it deserves.  As far as cover songs and adaptations go there is no finer than present here.  'Turn' was the Byrds second (and last) number one single in the US, topping the charts for three weeks in late 1965... 

'She Don't Care About Time', originally exclusive to this 45 RPM release is a should've been hit earning this record classic double sider status.  Roger McGuinn's guitar leads (modeled after Bach's 'Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring') provide a luminous backdrop to Gene Clarks brilliant lyrics concerning triumphant love and adoration.  Backed by the majestic harmonies of the original lineup this piece earns it's status as a timeless and essential piece of the Byrds' illustrious catologue.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - JEFFERSON AIRPLANE TAKES OFF, AUGUST 1966 (Sundazed mono reissue)





In August of 1966 the Jefferson Airplane released their debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, a truly wonderful record which could easily be overlooked by the casual listener (I know I did for quite a while).  Sure, the original Airplane lineup did not include Grace Slick, but don't be fooled, this album RULES.  The entire set is basically a highlight for me with a driving energy throughout, or as the back of the sleeve describes 'a jet age sound'.  Marty Balin's distinct lead vocals steal the show along with some killer guitar work from Jorma Kaukonen.  'Let Me In' which features a cool lead vocal from Paul Kantner will be my personal mention, but aside from the closing track 'I Like It' (which works fine as a closing track) everything on here is single material.  The record is usually labeled with having more of a folk rock leaning than their subsequent offerings which should be in no way deterring to it's essential status.

Sundazed reissued the original uncensored MONO edition back in 2005 which I highly recommend.  They also offer some nice words and history on their page.
Coming together in the fervent folk scene of San Francisco, Marty Balin (vocals), Signe Toly Anderson (vocals), Paul Kantner (guitar) and Jorma Kaukonen (guitar) played their first shows as the Jefferson Airplane in 1965. As their performance chops developed, they continued to fine tune the band, adding Jack Casady (bass) and Skip Spence (drums). This lineup quickly built a loyal following around town, aided in no small part by San Francisco Chronicle jazz critic Ralph J. Gleason’s glowing reviews of their live sets. By December of that year, they had signed to RCA Records for a then-huge $25,000 advance and began recording their debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.

Because the group had not performed outside of their hometown, RCA pressed a relatively modest 15,000 copies in mono to launch the album in September 1966. Such was their popularity in the Bay area that 10,000 albums were sold in San Francisco alone, requiring the label to repress in larger quantities. However, the label executives had already expressed displeasure with some of the album’s song lyrics. Balin and Kantner’s “Runnin’ ‘Round This World” contained the line “the nights I’ve spent with you have been fantastic trips” which the label belated interpreted as a drug reference. Furthermore, they bristled at the lines “you shut your door, you know where” and “don’t tell me you want money” in “Let Me In” and also took issue with the lyric “flowers that sway as you lay under me” from “Run Around.” Asserting its clout, RCA deleted “Runnin’ ‘Round This World” and had the group record alternate lyric lines for “Let Me In” and “Run Around” for subsequent pressings of the album. As any collector would rightly assume, this made original mono editions with “Runnin’ ‘Round This World” and the uncensored versions of “Let Me In” and “Run Around” highly sought-after artifacts.

Setting aside the controversy, the album is a brilliant folk rock document, largely written by the group members themselves. Well-chosen covers include John D. Loudermilk’s “Tobacco Road” and Dino Valenti’s “Let’s Get Together,” recorded years before it became a hit for the Younbgbloods under the title “Get Together.” Balin and Anderson’s vocals blend seamlessly and Kaukonen, Kantner and Casady acquit themselves admirably. Only Skip Spence, who was really a singer-guitarist and not a drummer, needed backup in the studio. That assistance came from session drummer Spencer Dryden, who would soon join the group upon Spence’s departure. Of course, Spence subsequently formed Moby Grape, giving his departure a truly happy ending. Anderson also announced that she was leaving the group after giving birth to her first daughter in May 1966. Luckily, the band had only to look to their frequent opening act, The Great Society, for a new female vocalist but that is a story for another album. The next one, in fact.

After years of being a high-dollar, hard-to-find collectable, Sundazed comes to the consumer’s rescue with this exact reissue of the ORIGINAL, UNCENSORED MONO EDITION of Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. Sourced from the RCA analog mono masters, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged in a faithful recreation of the album artwork, you can now own the inaugural flight of this legendary band for the first time in nearly four decades! - See more at: http://www.sundazed.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=742#sthash.mlibNgPa.dpuf
Coming together in the fervent folk scene of San Francisco, Marty Balin (vocals), Signe Toly Anderson (vocals), Paul Kantner (guitar) and Jorma Kaukonen (guitar) played their first shows as the Jefferson Airplane in 1965. As their performance chops developed, they continued to fine tune the band, adding Jack Casady (bass) and Skip Spence (drums). This lineup quickly built a loyal following around town, aided in no small part by San Francisco Chronicle jazz critic Ralph J. Gleason’s glowing reviews of their live sets. By December of that year, they had signed to RCA Records for a then-huge $25,000 advance and began recording their debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.

Because the group had not performed outside of their hometown, RCA pressed a relatively modest 15,000 copies in mono to launch the album in September 1966. Such was their popularity in the Bay area that 10,000 albums were sold in San Francisco alone, requiring the label to repress in larger quantities. However, the label executives had already expressed displeasure with some of the album’s song lyrics. Balin and Kantner’s “Runnin’ ‘Round This World” contained the line “the nights I’ve spent with you have been fantastic trips” which the label belated interpreted as a drug reference. Furthermore, they bristled at the lines “you shut your door, you know where” and “don’t tell me you want money” in “Let Me In” and also took issue with the lyric “flowers that sway as you lay under me” from “Run Around.” Asserting its clout, RCA deleted “Runnin’ ‘Round This World” and had the group record alternate lyric lines for “Let Me In” and “Run Around” for subsequent pressings of the album. As any collector would rightly assume, this made original mono editions with “Runnin’ ‘Round This World” and the uncensored versions of “Let Me In” and “Run Around” highly sought-after artifacts.

Setting aside the controversy, the album is a brilliant folk rock document, largely written by the group members themselves. Well-chosen covers include John D. Loudermilk’s “Tobacco Road” and Dino Valenti’s “Let’s Get Together,” recorded years before it became a hit for the Younbgbloods under the title “Get Together.” Balin and Anderson’s vocals blend seamlessly and Kaukonen, Kantner and Casady acquit themselves admirably. Only Skip Spence, who was really a singer-guitarist and not a drummer, needed backup in the studio. That assistance came from session drummer Spencer Dryden, who would soon join the group upon Spence’s departure. Of course, Spence subsequently formed Moby Grape, giving his departure a truly happy ending. Anderson also announced that she was leaving the group after giving birth to her first daughter in May 1966. Luckily, the band had only to look to their frequent opening act, The Great Society, for a new female vocalist but that is a story for another album. The next one, in fact.

After years of being a high-dollar, hard-to-find collectable, Sundazed comes to the consumer’s rescue with this exact reissue of the ORIGINAL, UNCENSORED MONO EDITION of Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. Sourced from the RCA analog mono masters, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged in a faithful recreation of the album artwork, you can now own the inaugural flight of this legendary band for the first time in nearly four decades! - See more at: http://www.sundazed.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=742#sthash.mlibNgPa.dpuf