Hamilton County (The Hamilton County Bluegrass band) (LP 4337 - 4347)

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band (Vinyl, Festival Records, 1967) ****  

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  Recorded Live at Poles Apart (Vinyl, Kiwi Records, 1968) ***** 

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  The Country Touch (Vinyl, Kiwi Records/ World Record Club, 1968) ****

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  Yesterday's Gone (Vinyl, Kiwi Records/ World Record Club, 1969) ****

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  Fifth Season (Vinyl, HMV Records, 1970) *****

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  In Concert: Live at the Wynyard Tavern (Vinyl, HMV Records, 1971) ****

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  Kersbrook Cottage (Vinyl, Columbia/EMI, 1972) ****

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  Country Road (Vinyl, Kiwi Records, 1974) ***

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  Orange Blossom Special (Vinyl, Sound Value Records, 1982) ***

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  Way Down South (CD, Kiwi Pacific Records, 2008) ***

The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band  These Old Hands (CD, HBCC Records, 2016) ****

Genre: NZ Music, country, bluegrass, folk 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, various second hand shops, Viking Haul, Slow Boat Records, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Hey Boys (Fifth Season)

Gear costume: Fox on the Run (Anthology); I'm Gone (These Old Hands)

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

Active compensatory factors: Over the years I have turned into a completist for this band. They got their hooks into me early on, in 1971, via Hey Boys' appearance on the Loxene Golden Disc of that year, which was crucial. Hey Boys was a standout that has stayed with me ever since. It's a true classic.

It also helped that I was a huge Beverley Hillbillies fan - Flatt & Scruggs' theme is embedded deeply into my brain.

The band on that debut from 1967 featured Dave Calder (mandolin, guitar, vocals), Alan Rhodes (guitar, lead vocals), Paul Trenwith (banjo, guitar), Sandy McMillian (bass), Len Cohen (harp, vocals, guitar) and Colleen Bain (violin). Colleen was yet to marry Paul, hence the maiden name for the first few albums.

The template was set on the debut - authentic bluegrass with a Nu Zild twist thanks to the accents and the sense of Kiwi humour. It's a terrific blend, and given they'd only been at it for two years, remarkable in its execution. 

Clearly, Paul Trenwith's banjo, Colleen's violin, Dave's mandolin and Alan's guitar and vocals were strengths right from the start. As amateurs they all had day jobs or were students at Auckland University, and Colleen only joined in 1967. Incredible, but that's NZ in the sixties for you.

BTW - My much-loved copy has Paul and Colleen's autographs on the back cover. Just saying. 

Live, the band are brilliant! Recorded Live at the Poles Apart is a stunning record. It is recorded brilliantly too - so that I feel like I'm in the room with the audience; the warm ambience of the club suits the band - as they drive on thanks to the enthusiasm; those Kiwi accents in the stage introductions are priceless; the selection of material is first rate. This album is a winner!!

Their second studio album was The Country Touch - there was a popular TV show called that, so this was an attempt to ride that wave. It shows the band developing their confidence. The material and approach will remain the same throughout their career. If it ain't broke - don't fix it!

My World Record copy came with a nifty bio sheet with some great song notes by Dave Calder. The bio bits note that Colleen is a teacher, new member Lyndsay Bedogni on bass is a student, Dave is a teacher in Hamilton, Len is a teacher in Auckland, Alan is a mechanic and Paul is a draughtsman. These are solid people! Three teachers!! 

After three albums, they turned professional and released their third studio album - Yesterday's Gone. It's another excellent set of songs. Each album improved upon the last in terms of production and musicianship. Black Mountain Rag is a good example from this album. This was Len Cohen's last album. The band continued onwards as a five-piece.

Fifth Season saw a slight departure away from traditional bluegrass into some covers of some contemporary songs (Proud Mary, Carolina in my Mind). Peter Dawkins, a legendary NZ producer, was a key new ingredient. The singing and harmonies are superior on this album. A lot of care and thought has been made to present the band in its best light.

Overall, the big different is the separation of instruments and layered effect in the mix. It sounds great! That makes this the best HCBB album to this date! And it's the one with Hey Boys on it.

The Live at the Wynyard Tavern album is yet another brilliant album. Like Poles Apart, the band are in their element in a smallish live setting. There is some lovely gentle Kiwi humour, some terrific harmony vocals and another set of great songs. Highlights aplenty here: Cindy (is funny in a good way),

Band news sidebar: Colleen Bain became Mrs. Colleen Trenwith after this album. In 1971, the band moved to Australia and Dave Calder left to travel to Europe.

Kersbrook Cottage returns to the multi-tracked approach used so successfully on Fifth Season. The highlights are aplenty again but special mention goes to the title track which has some superb harmonies, and some sterling covers of John Denver and Dylan songs.

Returning to NZ, they released their next album - Country Road in 1974. The album is named for the TV show they'd appeared on. Miles Reay was now on bass, and Graham Lovejoy on mandolin and vocals. 

They wouldn't last too long either. After also being replaced, Paul, Colleen and Alan decided to pack it in for a spell. Paul and Colleen then released some albums under their own name (we'll come to them later in the countdown) before the band reconvened in the 2000's.

In 1982, EMI approached Paul Trenwith seeking permission to use some unreleased Hamilton County Bluegrass Band tracks from the 1971 For You sessions. The six songs were released on the company’s budget label in 1983 as Orange Blossom Special, which also included tracks from For You and Kersbrook Cottage as well as the title track recorded by the Trenwiths and studio musicians in 1975.

Way Down South emerged in 2008.Colleen, Paul, Alan and a returning Dave Calder were joined by Tim Trenwith on bass and vocals. Paul and Colleen had separated amicably in 2003 and while she was living in the U.S. she recorded her fiddle parts. 

The majority of the tracks are composed by band members as they make a welcome return to their signature sound for this album, rather than the more mainstream country of Country Road.

Even better was to come with These Old Hands. Only Paul and Alan remain from the original band. They are joined by Tim Trenwith, Keith McMillan (mandolin) and Pam Findlay on guitar and vocals. Pam's vocals are especially welcome. She brings a freshness to the songs, but really this is Alan and Paul's band and those vets deliver once again.

Where do they all belong? There are still some albums that I'm pursuing: Two Shades of Bluegrass (with singer Bill Clifton) on Kiwi Records; For You (made in Australia 1971); and Encore (1990s with Dave Calder back in the band).

Laughing (The Guess Who) (LP 4320 - 4336)

The Guess Who  Wild One (Vinyl, Pickwick Records, 1972) **

The Guess Who?  Wheatfield Soul (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1969) ***

The Guess Who  Canned Wheat (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1969) ****

The Guess Who  American Woman (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1970) *****

The Guess Who  Share the Land (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1970) ****

The Guess Who  So Long, Bannatyne (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1971) ***

The Guess Who  Rockin' (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1972) ***

The Guess Who  Live at the Paramount (Vinyl and CD, RCA Records, 1972) *****

The Guess Who  Artificial Paradise (Vinyl - two copies - NZ and USA presses with different covers, RCA Records, 1973) ***

The Guess Who  #10 (CD, RCA Records, 1973) ***

The Guess Who  Road Food (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1974) ***

The Guess Who  Flavours (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1974) **

The Guess Who  Power in the Music (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1975) **

The Guess Who  All This for a Song (Vinyl, Hilltak Records, 1979) ***

The Guess Who  The Best of The Guess Who (Vinyl and CD, RCA Records, 1971) *****

The Guess Who  The Best of The Guess Who Volume II (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1973) ****

The Guess Who  The Best of The Guess Who - Live! (Vinyl, Compleat Records, 1986) ****

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Amoeba Music, Marbecks Records,

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: No Time (Live at the Paramount)

Gear costume: Share the Land (Live at the Paramount)

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

Active compensatory factors: Live at the Paramount, which we'll eventually get to, was my entry drug into the world of The Guess Who and my obsession persists still.

In my brain The Guess Who exist as pre Live at the Paramount and post Live at the Paramount, but in reality it's really pre and post These Eyes - their first huge hit.

Pre These Eyes (which is on Wheatfield Soul), the band had a different line-up with a different lead singer to Burton Cummings (who was in the band primarily as keyboardist). In fact, they even had a couple of different names - Chad Allan and the Reflections, Chad Allan and the Expressions. and The Guess Who? (with the question mark). The last name was a fluke name - used as a promo to somehow suggest it was a British group and the name stuck.

My first album, Wild One, is a compilation of those pre Wheatfield Soul years between 1965 and 1967. The band sounds in awe of The Beatles, as so many others did. Generally, it's a fun set of rock'n'roll material, but it doesn't sound like The Guess Who post These Eyes. 

I've written about the album previously here along with the compilation The Way They Were, so I won't count those two again.

The single was huge, but the parent album Wheatfield Soul didn't have the same success. Apart from the attempt to mimic The Doors on Friends of Mine, the songs show a lot of early promise. Burton Cummings is now the sole singer, and he does a great job throughout the album (apart from that weird rip off of The Doors where he tries to imitate Jim Morrison).

The four-piece line-up for this and subsequent albums was now solid with Randy Bachman (guitar), Jim Kale (bass), Garry Peterson (drums), and Burton Cummings (guitar, keyboards, vocals).

Canned Wheat, also from 1969, sealed the deal with lead off song - No Time. The album also features two Guess Who classics - Laughing and Undun. Jim Kale in the liner notes says, "Regardless of what transpired previously, this is the beginning". He's not wrong - this is their first great album.

Side two has no classics on it but there aren't any weak songs either. Old Joe, for instance, is a spirited performance, especially by Burton Cummings, and Randy Bachman's guitar on Of A Dropping Pin is tasteful.

The only blemishes are the eleven minute Key which serves as a vehicle for individual solos. Randy's is fine but I've long gone off drum solos. Fair Warning is a weird spoken word conclusion that doesn't hold up to repeat listens.

Sidenote: bizarrely the back cover information includes in the small print an RCA copyright date of 1962!

American Woman, the first of two albums from 1970, is a beast! Randy's guitar is huge on the title track, but the drums and bass line are brilliant too, as is Burton's impassioned vocal. 

This one has the songs at a consistently high standard without any filler at all. Apart from the title track, the highlights are many: a redone No Time, No Sugar Tonight, 969 (The Oldest Man), When Friends Fall Out, 815, Proper Stranger all make this a five-star classic! 

It was a fitting album for Randy Bachman to end his Guess Who tenure on. He'd leave the band shortly after, but he left behind a triumph.

Their second album of 1970 saw Randy's replacements, guitarists Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw, seamlessly integrating into the band. The songs were brilliant, again - so much so that five songs from the album, Hand Me Down World, Bus Rider, Do You Miss Me Darlin'?, Hang On to Your Life and the title track make up an entire side of the 1971 greatest hits compilation, The Best of The Guess Who.

NZ cover

So Long, Bannatyne struggled a little to continue the forward momentum created by the five-piece band on Share the Land. There are some good songs on it, like Rain Dance, and Pain Train, but other songs sounded a little rushed.

Rockin' was the last album to feature Jim Kale and Greg Leskiw. It's a Guess Who album without a clear, commercial single hit. Instead, Burton Cummings often returns to vaudeville fifties style rock'n'roll that sometimes works but it veers away from the great Guess Who material of the past a little too much. The album also has the 'comedy' track Herbert's a Loser which is weak!

And so we come to Live at the Paramount - the one that launched me into the world of The Guess Who. 

What. An. Album!

The vinyl version is obviously the one I heard first and the CD with the additional tracks is one of those rare albums where more is more! Everything is bigger and brighter as they rip through their set.

The album/concert features new boy Donnie McDougall on rhythm guitar and it's another seamless transition. It's also the last album to feature Jim Kale on bass. Again - there is no better way to sign off than on this blistering concert momento.

The extended version of American Woman is sublime and one of the greatest air guitar songs ever!

Artificial Paradise was the band's tenth studio album (which makes the title of its successor interesting). Bill Wallace has replaced Jim Kale by this time. 

It's the usual mix of ballads, rockers and world music (they had long embraced musical instruments from India). It's solid without being a classic. Highlights: Bye Bye Babe; Follow Your Daughter Home; Orly.

#10 (their tenth album for RCA) was their second (and better) album of 1973. Glamour Boy was the big hit, but this Burton Cummings dominated album has some strong material. 

Road Food is similar in that it had a couple of hits (the novelty song Clap for the Wolfman and Star Baby) and the rest was okay - again dominated by Burton. Even his piano was moved more to the fore by this stage.

Flavours was their second album of 1974 - they certainly maintained a solid work ethic. Kurt Winter and Don McDougal had departed - being replaced by Domenic Troiano. Unfortunately the ballads were getting increasingly soppy by this stage. 

In hindsight, Road Food was the last gutsy album by The Guess Who as Flavours hints at the solo Burton Cummings albums to come (already reviewed here).

Their final album before Burton put the limping dog that the band had become out of its misery was the weak Power in the Music. If ever an album was given an ironic title, this is it. Sadly, nothing particularly powerful was going on by this stage. Burton sounds semi-interested on a few songs (Dreams is a good example of what he could still do if he was interested).

After a couple of years, Jim Kale resurrected The Guess Who name (a.k.a. Jim Kale's Guess Who). All This for a Song is an album from 1979.

Kale is joined by Don McDougal and two others without any history with the original band. The album begs the question - are The Guess Who The Guess Who without Burton Cummings vocals. The answer is - nope. They are a rock band with a mainstream sound. All good Jim, just don't call it The Guess Who.

That just leaves the two compilations and a live album of the reunion of the band in 1983 to go.

The two compilations: The Best of The Guess Who and The Best of The Guess Who Volume II are where casual listeners should begin. Between them they cover both important bands and have all the hits and near hits. The Best of The Guess Who focuses first on the foursome including Randy Bachman, and thereafter has the five-piece without Randy.

Gary Hill of AllMusic sums it well: "It is sometimes hard to believe that the same group that brought the world the jazzy 'Undun' and the CS&N-ish hippie anthem 'Share the Land' is also responsible for the rocking 'No Time.' This 11-track collection paints a very entertaining picture of a multi-talented band and is a perfect introduction for the casual fan."

Volume II contains recordings made between 1970 and 1973. It's the weaker of the two collections but still contains some superb Guess Who songs.

In 1983 the unlikely event of a reunion between Randy Bachman, Garry Peterson, Jim Kale, and Burton Cummings happened. 

The double  Live album documents the moment adequately, but it's no Live at the Paramount.

Where do they all belong? Those Best ofs are the best place to start and then Live at the Paramount - all three are indispensable.

Outlaw blues (The Great Society) (LP 4319)

The Great Society with Grace Slick  Conspicuous Only In Its Absence (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1993) ****  

Genre: Psychedelic rock, Acid rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: White Rabbit

Gear costume: Outlaw Blues 

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

Active compensatory factors: Before Grace was drafted into Jefferson Airplane, she was a member of The Great Society. The band was made up of Grace, her then-husband Jerry Slick on drums, his brother Darby Slick on guitar, David Miner on vocals and guitar, Bard DuPont on bass, and Peter van Gelder on flute, bass, and saxophone.

Conspicuous... is a live album - recorded at renowned San Franciscan rock venue, The Matrix, in 1966. It was released in 1968, but then relaunched with additional tracks in 1971 as a double album. My copy is the original single album version.

Grace is already a great presence within the group - her singing is powerful and nuanced (already). The band are good, but not in the same league as the Airplane. That must have been obvious to Grace as The Great Society supported JA at gigs.

Certainly the two best songs on the album are Grace's Somebody To Love and White Rabbit which she'd rerecord with JA, but the rest of the material is strong too - notably their version of Dylan's Outlaw Blues and Sally Go 'Round The Roses.

Where do they all belong? An excellent document of the band in the mid sixties who wanted to combine The Beatles' influence with new rock moves in San Francisco.

Have you ever wondered (The Graeme Edge Band) (LP 4317 - 4318)

The Graeme Edge Band featuring Adrian Gurvitz  kick Off Your Muddy Boots (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1975) ***  

The Graeme Edge Band featuring Adrian Gurvitz  Paradise Ballroom (Vinyl, London Records, 1977) ***  

Genre: Rock

Places I remember: Music shop by Notting Hill Gate tube station.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Have You Ever Wondered (Kick Off...)

Gear costume: My Life's Not Wasted (Kick Off...)

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

Active compensatory factors: I would not really have bought these albums without The Moody Blues' association. Their drummer, Graeme Edge, being a constant member of that band.

Maybe the covers would have drawn me in with their vagely prog rock looks, but the music is pretty standard British rock. For some reason guitarist/vocalist Adrian Gurvitz is a popular foil for drummers like Graeme and Ginger Baker.

Graeme seems happy to cede the limelight to Gurvitz on their debut and so he cruises through a variety of styles on these albums, but without anything sticking into my brain. Graeme is more to the fore on their second album - Paradise Ballroom, but the mixture of styles continues.

Where do they all belong? Both are worthwhile interludes before The Moody Blues reconvened for Octave, and The Graeme Edge Band was no more.

Old Bog Road (The Fureys) (LP 4316)

The Fureys & Davey Arthur  The Scattering (CD, Harmac Records, 1988) **  

Genre: Folk 

Places I remember: The Shona Walding collection

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles/ Gear costume: Tara Hill

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

Active compensatory factors: The Fureys are an Irish folk band originally formed in 1974. The group were initially built around the four Furey brothers who grew up in Ballyfermot, Dublin - Eddie, Finbar, Paul and George. 

They are a prolific outfit; this album is one they did in collaboration with Irish folk singer, Davey Arthur.

It's of the gentle folk music with a smooth gloss school of Irish folk music. This album is the mainstream, easy listening style that obviously Shona liked. I've kept it because it's easy on the ear and undemanding given the right circumstances. 

Where do they all belong? A non-essential addition, but it fits certain moods.

How you doing (The Front Lawn) (LP 4315)

The Front Lawn  Songs From The Front Lawn (CD, Front Lawn Records, 1989) ****  

Genre: NZ Music, alt pop 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Andy

Gear costume: Claude Rains

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

Active compensatory factors: Let's start with the obvious stand out track - Andy. It's brilliant. One of the main reasons being that it stands up to repeat listens - it never gets old for me. That heart-felt slow reveal is without the kind of smart arse grinning cynicism that a few of the other Sinclair dominated songs have. Justifiably, it is seen as one of the greatest NZ songs ever.

Never fear - thanks to Don McGlashan's presence, there are a few other beauties on this debut. Notably Claude Rains, and Tomorrow Night.

I do find Harry Sinclair's delivery a bit smarmy so I'm less inclined to his material. Theme (from the lounge bar) is an example - the rinky dink music suits the idea of a lounge bar in the imagination but it ultimately feels rinky dink.

The idea for How Are You Doing? feels like a logical extension of some characters from Walkshort - a very cleverly filmed NZ short film The Front Lawn made a couple of years before. But it doesn't really work as a song.

The rest are so so as songs. The problem at times is the music is mixed down a lot, Harry's vocals are not as strong as Don's, and the actual songs feel like works in progress. But, hey! This was their debut, so some slack is called for here.

Where do they all belong? Overall, The Front Lawn are kiwi as - the vocal tics and the subject matter, that I can identify with as a kiwi, mark them out as a lovely little backwater bach that I visit from time to time.

Certainly, Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement were paying close attention to McGlashan and Sinclair.