A sunny day (Donovan) (LP 2556 - 2558)

Donovan  A Gift From A Flower To A Garden (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1967) ****  

Donovan  The Hurdy Gurdy Man (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1968) ****

Donovan  Lady Of The Stars (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1983) ***  

Genre: pop, folk rock, folk

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Jennifer Juniper

Gear costume: Hurdy Gurdy Man

Active compensatory factors: The Donovan collection continues to expand - shock horror probe. The man has his hooks in me big time!

I picked these three up from Real Groovy a couple of weeks ago.

A Gift From A Flower To A Garden and The Hurdy Gurdy Man bookend his trip to Rishikesh with the Beatles, so they are especially interesting to me.

I've previously written about the two volumes that make up the double album A Gift... Those being Wear Your Love Like Heaven and For Little Ones . I couldn't resist snapping up the combined package though, could I.

The Hurdy Gurdy Man album is interesting. I like a lot of it. He is experimenting with drone forms on a few tracks, and there is a jazz flavour infused throughout. Songs include some flute or playful jazz instruments that are best enjoyed via headphones. It's an under-rated gem!

The third album in this catch up is his early eighties effort - Lady Of The Stars. It was his last album for 12 years. Bizarrely pandering to commercial interests, it includes a couple of remakes - Sunshine Superman and Season Of The Witch.

They weren't really needed, as the rest of the album is fine as it is. The title track is particularly effective and Living For The Love Light is heartfelt and enjoyable because of its sincerity. No mean trick!

Where do they all belong? Still plenty of Donovan albums to collect post Lady Of The Stars.

Don't walk away (The Four Tops) (LP 2555)

The Four Tops  Tonight (Vinyl, Casablanca Records, 1981) **  

Genre: Soul

Places I remember: Slow Boat Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: When She Was My Girl

Gear costume: Something To Remember

Active compensatory factors: Their first release on Casablanca was a typical eighties production effort (i.e. extremely dated in 2024).

The good news is that the Tops, including Levi Stubbs could still rise above production issues, even on the worst moment here - From A Distance, because those voices are still very much intact on these songs. 

It's not really their fault that synths and slick eighties approaches were the order of the day.

Where do they all belong? That's it for the Four Tops. A great band who had a peerless hit strewn sixties and a superb, tougher sounding seventies presence. Let's not mention the eighties too much.

Free me (Free) (LP 2550 - 2554)

Free  Free (CD, Island Records, 1969) ****  

Free  Fire And Water (CD, Island Records, 1970) ****  

Free  Highway (CD, Island Records, 1970) ****  

Free  Free At Last (CD, Island Records, 1972) ***  

Free  Heartbreaker (CD, Island Records, 1973) ****  

Genre: Rock 

Places I remember: Fopp

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Wishing Well (Heartbreaker)

Gear costume: Fire And Water (Fire And Water)

Active compensatory factors: Free albums are remarkably consistent, because the guys quickly hit on a winning formula and stuck to it for the duration of these albums (all part of a 5 Classic Albums package). 

Free, by Free, is actually their second album and it's a classic of the genre. It tanked commercially at the time which is utterly bizarre. It stands out from the blues rock pack because each member is a master of their instrument. 

There is also a lot of space in their sound, or maybe it's the way they were recorded. The separation of the instruments is a recurring feature of these records.

Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser were the principle writers and they knew what they were doing, for sure.

Their other unique strength is Paul Rodgers' vocal ability. He is effortlessly in total command throughout these records.

Fire And Water, their third album, was in comparison to Free, hugely successful. All Right Now was a massive hit and now a ubiquitous presence on any self-respecting seventies rock collection.

Paul Kossoff emerged as a real star guitarist with this album.

Next studio album was Highway, also from 1970 and it's a more introspective, low-key album, but nevertheless it retains everything that makes Free a great band. Unfortunately, the band broke up, temporarily after Highway, and Paul Kossoff developed a paralysing drug habit.

So, Free At Last came out a few years later and, although not a tough guitar fueled rock album, is remarkedly good given the situation.

Their sixth and final studio album was 1973's Heartbreaker. It may be my favourite Free album. It starts with Wishing Well which is an air guitar classic (Kossoff at his best).

Tetsu replaced Andy Fraser on bass, and with Paul Rodgers doing the heavy lifting of the song writing, the band produced a great album despite all the comings and goings. Amazing!

Where do they all belong? A best off is probably a good place to start (I have a vinyl copy of Completely Free which is pretty cool).

Something's happening (Peter Frampton) (LP 2549)

Peter Frampton  Frampton Comes Alive (CD, A&M Records, 1976) ***  

Genre: Rock

Places I remember: The Warehouse, St Lukes, Auckland.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Baby, I Love Your Way

Gear costume: Show Me The Way 

Active compensatory factors: I put off buying this for some time.

I have a strange aversion to buying mega popular albums. If it's outrageously popular I get suspicious. Just because it's hugely popular, doesn't make it automatically good, is my contention.

When I did finally catch up, some 20 years after it was released, I could see that it was a good concert albeit an uneven one. But it just caught the public imagination in the mid-seventies and became a monster. Basically, it's soft rock. There is nothing even mildly threatening about the music here, and that includes their version of Jumpin' Jack Flash.

It's interesting comparing the double album to the full version on Spotify. If it had been released originally in an extended format I bet it wouldn't have caught on as it did.

As a double album it works though. The highlights crop up regularly and it stands the feel-good test of time quite well in my opinion. That includes the 13 minutes of Do You Feel Like We Do?

I don't listen to it often, but I enjoy it when I do.

Where do they all belong? A stand alone in my collection.

Renegade (Reb Fountain) (LP 2548)

Reb Fountain  Holster (CD, Fountain Records, 2008) ****  

Genre: NZ music, alt-rock, alt-folk

Places I remember: JB Hi-Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Milk and Honey

Gear costume: River Mae 

Active compensatory factors: I have mentioned her albums before, this one is from earlier in her career and it sparkles, pops and sizzles. She takes on a variety of poses along the way during this hugely enjoyable album.

I like that about her - she tries on different styles/looks and is adept at them all. Quite amazing.

There is a vague western theme happening on the album, like Elton/Taupin's Tumbleweed Connection,  which I think is pretty cool too.

Where do they all belong? She's a great talent, and I'm on the lookout for anything else she's done.

My hero (Foo Fighters) (LP 2546 - 2547)

Foo Fighters  The Colour And The Shape (CD, Capitol Records, 1997) ***  

Foo Fighters  Skin And Bones (CD, RCA Records, 2006) ***  

Genre: Rock 

Places I remember: Music shop in St Lukes (Auckland); Ashleigh's sister's collection.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: My Hero

Gear costume: Monkey Wrench, Everlong

Active compensatory factors: I am a bit ambivalent re Foo Fighters. I should love their version of pop rock - catchy choruses, harmonies, guitar rock, great personalities, and while I like many of the songs on The Colour And The Shape, I don't love the album, or the band.

Curious, because Dave Grohl is by all accounts a great guy and a terrific musician. Why don't I love this band?? Last song on the album - New Way Home, provides a clue. It's kind of a mindless thrash that doesn't do anything for me.

So, to Skin And Bones - a live album that has the band in a mostly unplugged setting (still gets loud at times). It's a good album, but, again, not a compelling one for me. 

Interestingly, the only songs featuring from The Colour And The Shape are My hero and Everlong, ones that I've highlighted above.

Where do they all belong? That's it, I'm not that keen on collecting more Foo Fighter albums. Shock horror.

Part of the plan (Dan Fogelberg) (LP 2542 - 2545)

Dan Fogelberg  Souvenirs (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1974) ****  

Dan Fogelberg  Captured Angel (Cassette, Vinyl, CD Epic Records, 1975) ***** 

Dan Fogelberg  Nether Lands (CD Epic Records, 1977) ***

Dan Fogelberg  The Innocent Age (Double Vinyl, Epic Records, 1981) *** 

Genre: Pop rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, Spellbound Wax Company

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Man In The Mirror/ Below The Surface (Captured Angel)

Gear costume: The Last Nail (Captured Angel) 

Active compensatory factors: Dan is a gifted musician, composer, and singer. I get that he's a bit of an acquired taste though - maybe a bit too saccharine for some, but I love his singing, songs and approach (harmony).

I'm not a completist, although I was tempted at one point, so we join the story at album number two - the Joe Walsh produced Souvenirs. Various Eagles are joined at various times by Walsh, Gerry Beckley from America, and Graham Nash. Heavy company, but no one overshadows Dan (those Eagles harmonies do their best to upstage him).

Ignore the critics, and trust me on this - Captured Angel is a perfect Dan Fogelberg album: warm, musically rich, catchy songs, and no smugness. It's also an album with personal attachments because I played this on cassette in the car on family holidays. 

So, it became a singalong favourite and I associate good times with the songs each time I play it (which is a lot actually).

Nether Lands is an ambitious work and lauded by some critics, but it doesn't have the same emotional connection for me. It also has a lot of orchestration on it, and I prefer the simple acoustic based songs on Captured Angel.

I bought Innocent Age on release, sold it, regretted it a few years later, and so bought it again.

I do understand why I sold it and why I bought it again. It's uneven, and he's in smug mode for some of it, but there are some great moments on it as well: Nexus; Leader Of The Band; Same Old Lang Syne; and Times Like These. 

Where do they all belong? Maybe I'd be tempted to buy his other seventies album - Phoenix, but I think this is enough right now.