Smiling (Baker Gurvitz Army) (LP 622)

Baker Gurvitz Army  Hearts On Fire (Vinyl, ATCO Records, 1976) *** 

Genre: I have this filed in the prog rock section, although by this stage they were much more pop/rock in their approach.

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records. It's taken a while to get this as Real Groovy have previously listed this album but then sent me the group's first album by mistake. Eventually they listed this album correctly and sent me the right BGA album - hurrah!)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles/ Gear costume: Hearts On Fire (probably Ginger's finest song and made better by the fact that he doesn't feel obliged to sing on it). 

Active compensatory factors: This is the third and last of the group's studio albums. Snips remains enlisted on vocals which probably makes this the best of the three as Ginger concentrates on drumming, rather than 'singing'.

Where do they all belong? A live album (Live in Derby '75) remains for me to collect. 

The hippie from New York City (David Peel) (LP 621)

David Peel & The Lower East Side  The Pope Smokes Dope (Vinyl, Apple Records, 1972) * 

Genre: Apple Records 

Places I remember: From Noel Forth back in the seventies

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Ballad Of New York City - John Lennon/Yoko Ono

Gear costume: The Hippie From New York City

Active compensatory factors: If not for the Apple Records/Lennon/Ono connections I would not be interested in this stuff. I mean - F Is Not A Dirty World, Everybodies Smoking Marijuana, MacDonald's Farm, Birth Control Blues - it's all pretty juvenile. And it hasn't aged well at all.

David Peel wasn't real, John! He was a chancer who somehow connected with the Lennons with his acoustic street music. - maybe the skiffle element reminded John of the Quarrymen but The Lower East Side (the group) are a pretty ragtag bunch. Here's John explaining how he and Yoko got together with them.

The few (and I stress 'few') bright spots come when he dispenses with the scatalogic 'humour' and sings songs - The Ballad Of New York City and The Chicago Conspiracy are almost songs (mainly they are populist chants).

Where do they all belong? A one off for Apple Records (thank goodness).

Under the Mersey Wall (George Harrison) (LP 619 - 620)

George Harrison Wonderwall Music (Vinyl, Apple Records, 1968) ** 

George Harrison Electronic Sound (Vinyl, Zapple Records, 1969) * 

Genre: Apple Records (Beatle pop/rock) 

Places I remember: Noel Forth sent me these albums in the late 1970s when they were unobtainable in NZ. Noel Forth is a legend! It's official.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Red Lady Too

Gear costume: Love Scene

Active compensatory factors: Wonderwall Music, George's soundtrack for a film called Wonderwall) is catalogued as Sapcor 1 - George was a pioneer in many ways. Wonderwall Music was the first solo album by any of the Fabs and the first album on Apple Records.

Electronic Sound was the second album,of two, released on the Zapple label (after Lennon/Ono's Unfinished Music #2: Life With The Lions album).

Both albums are a slog to listen to - but at least Wonderwall Music has actual music on it - largely instrumental in a variety of genres. Given it's a soundtrack and I haven't ever seen the film it stands up pretty well but I agree with the critic who said it's "interesting, though only for established fans".

Electronic Sound is George's early experiments with a moog synthesizer. As such it's pretty much unlistenable (at least it is for me). The best things about the album are the front and back cover paintings by George (including various Apple insiders, Eric Clapton and the four Beatles).

Where do they all belong? Having got these experiments out of his system, next up is George's best solo album: All Things Must Pass.

Moonbeam (Joe E Covington) (LP 618)

Joe E Covington Fat Fandango (Vinyl, Grunt Records, 1973) ***

Genre: Grunt Records (American pop/rock) 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Hideout (A Crook's Best Friend)

Gear costume: Country Girl

Active compensatory factors: I knew of Covington mainly as the Jefferson Airplane's drummer between Spencer Dryden and John Barbata. A brief time span that included work on only one and a half JA albums.

I wasn't aware of the solo album until I did some research on the Grunt catalogue to see what I was missing. Real Groovy came to the rescue with Jack Bonus and this, and so now I only have two Grunt albums to find (by One and Jack Traynor).

Joe's solo work isn't much in keeping with the JA stuff (his Pretty As You Feel is a standout on Bark). Instead there are homages to doo-wop and more experimental song styles/formats. Hideout, for instance, grooves along and ends with a drum solo!! Cool!

Where do they all belong? This was only solo album - tragically he was killed in a car accident in 2013. 

For his work with Jefferson Airplane (where he's known as Joey Covington) I can recommend: Bark, and Long John Silver.

Somethin' goin' on (BS&T) (LP 617)

Blood Sweat & Tears   Child Is father To The Man (Vinyl, Columbia Records, 1968) ***

Genre: American pop/rock 

Places I remember: Just For The Record (Napier- NZ). Bought a couple of years ago so this is a reissue version from 2016.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know

Gear costume: Somethin' Goin' On

Active compensatory factors: This was the band's debut record in 1968 and is very different to the rest of their stuff, mainly thanks to Al Kooper, both his voice and songs.

Fundamentally, he launched the band and recruited players to supplement his big band ideas (loads of horn players appear on this - including Randy Brecker).

It's the only BS&T album that he appears on though as he was subsequently kicked out. Poor Al.

Of course, I knew nothing of this album's existence when I came into contact with BS&T initially. That was as a teenager and my dad who liked the David Clayton-Thomas led singles: You've Made Me So Very Happy and Spinning Wheel.

So at the time I filed BS&T away as 'dad's music'. It wasn't until a few years ago that I put their appearance at Woodstock in context of the times and realised - this could also be my music. So that piqued my interest and I started collecting their albums. And there are quite a few!!

Having said all that, it's still the David Clayton-Thomas era that reasonates more with me and this album feels like the anomaly. 

Where do they all belong? This is the start of what will be a lengthy trawl through pretty much the whole BS&T catalogue, but this first one is a stand alone in their back catalogue.

Harder (Box Of Frogs) (LP 616)

Box Of Frogs Box Of Frogs (Vinyl, Epic, 1984) *** 

Genre: British pop/rock 

Places I remember: Second hand shop in Woodville

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Edge

Gear costume: Into The Dark 

Active compensatory factors: I only bought this for the two tracks that feature Rory Gallagher on lead guitar (featured above).

Generally, rock music of the eighties was pretty confused and an album featuring three former members of The Yardbirds with a journeyman vocalist and a slew of guitarists (including Jeff Beck) didn't overly excite me at the time.

It's okay as it goes (Rory is superb btw) but it's as confusing as you'd expect - not The Yardbirds, not Jeff Beck's jazz rock shapes, not pop, not heavy rock. 

Where do they all belong? A stand alone in my collection. They stuck around for a second album (without Rory's input) and that was that.

Young years (Dragon) (LP 615)

Dragon Bondi Road (Vinyl, RCA Victor Records, 1989) ****

Genre: NZ pop/rock 

Places I remember: Marbecks Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Young Years

Gear costume: Family Man, Ice In This Town

Active compensatory factors: This was the last Dragon album of new material released during Marc Hunter's lifetime and it serves as a fitting ending for him and Dragon.

By 1989, thanks to a variety if drug fuelled deaths, Dragon was down to Marc and his brother Todd, plus Alan Mansfield. 

Even though there is a faint whiff of eighties big production about it, this album just gets better as the years go by - so many great performances on a worthy set of songs for once. Marc's voice is incredible and the band lock in some great performances.

Where do they all belong? Marc Hunter - what a voice (what a tragedy that smoking gave him throat cancer and a very premature death).