Friday, April 30, 2010

1104 - Mojo 122. Ill Wind - Flashes (1968)






















Track Listing

1. Walkin' And Singin'
2. People Of The Night
3. Little Man
4. Dark World
5. LAPD
6. High Flying Bird
7. Hung Up Chick
8. Sleep
9. Full Cycle

Review

Some more psych from the late 60s... this being the mojo list, it is natural that these years are very long, and although I really like this album it feels a little superfluous. It sounds a lot like Jefferson Airplane, and while that is a good thing it doesn't make it particularly original, however they might be better than Jefferson Airplane... yes, you heard that right.

This is another example of great American psych, not much here is mind-blowing or that original and there is plenty of more innovative psych to appear on this list soon. However, it is a consistently good album, with great playing and vocals throughout, which just does a great job at what it sets out to do.

Fortunately this is a musical period (around 68-73) which I really enjoy... possibly only surpassed by the late 70s (77-79) and so I can very easily continue listening to slightly different psych albums one after the other, so heh.

If you like Jefferson Airplane you'll love this.

Track Highlights

1. Dark World
2. Walkin' and Singin'
3. Full Cycle
4. People of the Night

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

No entry

Only track has embed disabled but here's a link:
LINK!
Mojo 121. Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)

See Review

Saturday, April 10, 2010

1103 - Mojo Special 21. Elvis Presley - The Sun Studio Sessions (1954)




















Track Listing


1. That's All Right
2. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
3. Harbor Lights
4. I Love You Because
5. Blue Moon
6. Tomorrow Night
7. I'll Never Let You Go, Little Darlin'
8. Just Because
9. Good Rockin' Tonight
10. I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine
11. Milkcow Blues Boogie
12. You're A Heartbreaker
13. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone
14. Baby Let's Play House
15. How Do You Think I Feel?
16. I Forgot To Remember To Forget
17. Mystery Train
18. Trying To Get You
19. When It Rains It Really Pours
20. I Love You Because (Alt Take)
21. My Baby's Gone
22. My Happiness (Acetate)
23. That's When The Heartache Begins (Acetate)
24. I'll Never Stand In Your Way (Acetate)
25. It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You (Acetate)


Review

Definitely better than any of the regular studio albums by Elvis, the Sun sessions capture some of the fire and verve of Elvis at the very beginning of his career, it all went downhill from here as far as I'm concerned.

A very interesting thing about this album is just how close to country music Elvis really is, for the most part it sounds like a country album with infused blues, with some more obviously rock tracks like Good Rockin' Tonight. A very strong influence from Doo-Wop is also present, although without the harmonies, obviously, but defining Elvis' beginning as purely rock would be wide of the mark.

As a country artist he is great, as a rock artist not so much... you had better rock artists, with more fire than him, only they were the wrong colour to reach his popularity at the time. We will have them here in the best of section soon, though.

Track Highlights

1. That's All Right
2. Blue Moon
3. Milkcow Blues Boogie
4. Just Because

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The single "That's All Right" did not chart in the United States when released in 1954, and it was never issued as a single in Great Britain during Presley's lifetime. In 2004, the song became the focus attention when it was the subject of a great deal of publicity because of the 50-year anniversary. There was a special ceremony on 6 July 2004 featuring Isaac Hayes, Justin Timberlake, Moore which was beamed live to 1200 radio stations. The song went top 5 in the UK and Canada and also charted in Australia. The Sun Sessions was also re-released in 2004 (in Japan only) to celebrate the anniversary.

That's All Right:


Friday, April 09, 2010

1102 - Mojo 120. Harper's Bizarre - The Secret Life Of (1968)





















Track Listing

1. Look To The Rainbow
2. Battle Of New Orleans
3. When I Was A Cowboy
4. Sentimental Journey
5. Las Mananitas
6. Bye Bye Bye/Vine Street
7. Me Japanese Boy
8. I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise
9. Green Apple Tree
10. Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat
11. I Love You Mama
12. Funny How Love Can Be
13. Mad
14. Look To The Rainbow
15. Drifter
16. Reprise

Review

Close harmony singing... not usually very edgy but Harper's Bizarre manage to give it a little something special. Particularly when it comes to arrangements which are often pretty unusual and sometimes just screw-ball.

There's a couple of great covers here and some great original material which is slightly weird and slightly endearing all at the same time. They manage somehow to be the cool face of close harmony singing... maybe together with Simon and Garfunkel who were active at about the same time.

While Simon & Garfunkel's influences are mainly in the folk genre, Harper's Bizarre are a lot more in the field of psych, with sound effects and weird musical sampling mixed in. A pretty good album indeed.

Track Highlights

1. Battle Of New Orleans
2. Me Japanese Boy
3. When I Was A Cowboy
4. Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Two bonus tracks were added to the 2001 Sundazed CD reissue of this title. They had previously been the two sides of a single: "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell and "Small Talk" by Bonner/Gordon.

Battle of New Orleans:

Mojo 119. Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends (1968)

See Review

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

1101 - Mojo 118. Billy Nicholls - Would You Believe (1968)





















Track Listing

1. Would You Believe
2. Come Again
3. Life Is Short
4. Feeling Easy
5. Daytime Girl
6. Daytime Girl (2)
7. London Social Degree
8. Portobello Road
9. Question Mark
10. Being Happy
11. Girl From New York
12. It Brings Me Down

Review

A surprising album on this list, sometimes there's still stuff I haven't heard of and that I end up really liking. Billy Nicholls tries to make the UK Pet Sounds... he doesn't quite manage it but is not that far off.

Some of the orchestrations are a bit over the top, but even so it ends up being a terrific album with some of the most beautiful and also heaviest sounds to have shown up on this Mojo list up until now. Girl from New York, has a metaly fuzzy guitar which sounds pretty great and heavy.

Sometimes these long lost pop-rarities show up just to disappoint, but this is certainly not the case. A truly great piece of Psych-pop which we can cherish in a way they didn't in 1968. Great Stuff.

Track Highlights


1. Girl From New York
2. Would You Believe
3. London Social Degree
4. It Brings Me Down

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The Small Faces' Steve Marriott can be heard very prominently on "Would You Believe?", despite Oldham's attempts to drown them out with heavy orchestration. Oldham wanted this to be the British Pet Sounds but financial difficulties with the label caused it to be shelved (it only achieved an initial promotional run of 100 copies, as Immediate IMCP009) before it ever hit the streets.

Girl From New York:

1100 - Mojo 117. Magic Sam - West Side Soul (1968)





















Track Listing

1. That's All I Need
2. I Need You So Bad
3. I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie)
4. All Of Your Love
5. I Don't Want No Woman
6. Sweet Home Chicago
7. I Found A New Love
8. Every Night And Every Day
9. Lookin' Good
10. My Love Will Never Die
11. Mama Mama
12. I Don't Want No Woman

Review

Somewhere between Sam Cooke and Muddy Waters we have Magic Sam, who perfectly mixes soul and blues in this great album. If there is one gripe I have with the album is the fact that it sounds quite behind the times, inspired as it is by music that has had its heyday some years earlier.

The album is pretty original however, and the mix between two musical genres is pretty well done. It is also a lot of fun and Magic Sam is nothing if not a great guitar player.

The sheer enjoyment you get form the record neatly brushes away most criticism, it is a great piece of music and something you should listen to if you are at all interested in blues or soul.

Track Highlights

1. That's All I Need
2. Sweet Home Chicago
3. I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie)
4. I Don't Want No Woman

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

It is often cited by blues enthusiasts to be one of the greatest electric blues albums of all time.

That's All I Need: