Side effects (The Rolling Stones) (LP 4707 - 4709)

Steeleye Span  Live at Last! (Vinyl, Chrysalis Records, 1979) *** 

The Rolling Stones  Foreign Tongues (CD, Polydor Records, 2026) ****  

Anthony Williams  Spring (Vinyl, Chrysalis Records, 1966) *** 

Genre: Folk rock, rock, jazz

Places I remember: Vinyl Countdown, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Rough and Twisted (Stones)

Gear costume: Montrose (Steeleye Span)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: This post reviews three albums from a recent trip to New Plymouth and Palmerston North that cover three very different genres.

The Steeleye Span live album is both their first live album and final album of the seventies. It features Martin Carthy amid the band's gloriously updated folk rock sound. Honestly - any album featuring the combined vocals of Maddy Prior, Tim Hart and the others is worth hearing. 

Maddy is in great form here and she makes the album come alive. The Highlight is the lengthy Montrose and an expanded version of The False Knight on the Road which was originally from their 1971 album Please to See the King.

The latest Stones album has arrived in shops and like Hackney Diamonds, it is produced by Andrew Watt. He again achieves some great results from the threesome (Mick, Keef and Ronnie) plus guests (Macca again plays bass on one song).

It's not as consistently brilliant as Hackney Diamonds, but it is still a solid set of Stones songs with some familiar touches - the falsetto vocal songs, a country song and Keef's song all making an appearance.

Remarkably, Mick Jagger's vocals seem untouched by the years. He's remarkable!

Tony Williams (billed as Anthony here) is an amazing drummer. This was his second album as leader. He assembled a stellar cast for the album -  tenor saxophonists Sam Rivers and Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock and bassist Gary Peacock.

The sub genre of jazz that is on offer here - post bop or modal jazz, is one step away from free jazz and it's an acquired taste. I don't mind being challenged by music but a lot of post bop is at the outer limits of my taste.

When they settle into a more lyrical stride I'm more on board, as on side two with both Love Song and Tee. That's largely down to the wonderful playing of Herbie Hancock on piano. I'm much more content with those than I am with the wild shronking horns of Extras which leads off side one. Even then though, there are things to learn, and it's good to stretch the taste boundaries from time to time.

Where do they all belong? Three excellent additions in three different genres.

Tony (Tony Williams) (LP 3397 - 3399)

Jan Hammer  The Early Years (Vinyl, Nemperor Records, 1986) ***

Tony Williams  The Joy Of Flying (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1979) ****

Jean-Luc Ponty  Imaginary Voyage (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1976) *****

Genre: Jazz fusion, prog rock

Places I remember: Wax Trax Records (Denver, Colorado); Secondhand tool shop (also Denver)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Gardens Of Babylon (Imaginary Voyage)

Gear costume: Open Fire (The Joy Of Flying)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: While on our Californian saga and the wedding trip to Denver, I inevitably managed to visit a number of record stores. The next few posts will feature my purchases. There were some real bargains, and some albums I've been after for a while. 

I'll start with these three jazz fusion albums. 

My eyes lit up when I spied the Jan Hammer compilation on Nemperor Records in Wax Trax Records. The First Seven Days is featured mostly (4 tracks), then Little Children (2 tracks). I already have both of those albums. The remainder is a track apiece from two albums I don't have (yet) - Oh Yeah! and Melodies.

Tony Williams has also featured in my catalogue so far and The Joy Of Flying features Jan Hammer on a number of tracks.

Apart from the free jazz skronk of final track Morgan's Motion (with Cecil Taylor), the bulk of the album is brilliant jazz fusion. Tony doesn't ever showboat, instead he is a great team player. Apart from Jan and Tony, other stellar musicians appearing are Brian Auger, George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke and Ronnie Montrose on guitar.

I was thrilled to find the Ponty album for $3 from a secondhand tool shop in Denver. It was a bit dusty but after a clean it looks and sounds excellent.

The music is terrific, with a side-long title track just skipping past with Ponty and his sidekicks (including Tom Fowler on bass) in complete command.

Where do they all belong? Next up are the A to O albums.

Snake oil (Tony Williams) (LP 2677)

The New Tony Williams Lifetime  Believe It (Vinyl, Columbia Records, 1975) ****  

Genre: Jazz fusion 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Red Alert

Gear costume: Fred

Active compensatory factors: I've been looking for records by jazz fusion drummer Tony Williams for a while but then I read an interview with him in Jenny Boyd's book and the hunt intensified. He's a very articulate guy!

He's joined in this version of his Lifetime band by Allan Holdsworth on guitar, Alan Pasqua on keyboards and Tony Newton on bass.

They can play it intense (Mr Spock) or loose (Fred) and everywhere in between. The interplay between all four is the real feature of the album.

Where do they all belong? Yes, on the lookout for more!