Playing in the band (Bob Weir) (LP 4827 - 4828)

Bob Weir  Ace (Vinyl, Grateful Dead Records, 1972) ****  

Bob Weir  Heaven Help the Fool (Vinyl, Arista Records, 1978) *** 

Genre: Country rock, rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Playing in the Band (Ace)

Gear costume: Bombs Away (Heaven Help the Fool)

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:  Playing in the Band sums up Bob Weir and this album because all of the 1972 members of The Grateful Dead (without Pigpen) appear on Ace. So, it's a Grateful Dead album in all but name. All but one of the songs would become part of the band's setlist.

Playing in the Band is also my favourite from Ace. There weren't any classic songs on his follow up from 1978 - Heaven Help the Fool. It tends to get a bad press because it tries a different, slicker, approach and it doesn't include any of his Dead buddies this time. It does have some good tunes and Bob's vocals are strong throughout. It's a bit under-appreciated I think, but then I love Terrapin Station!

Where do they all belong? I need to get a copy of his third and final solo album - Blue Mountain from 2016.

I wish (Jane Weaver) (LP 4826)

Jane Weaver  Modern Kosmology (CD, Fire Records, 2017) **** 

Genre: Dream pop, electronica, alt rock 

Places I remember: Courtesy of Tom Kirkham

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Slow Motion

Gear costume: Loops in the Secret Society

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: Tom gave me this album during his visit to NZ a few years ago with his mum. He knew I'd love this dream pop album by Jane Weaver - someone who was not on my radar at the time.

Yes, it's dream pop (Slow Motion is an excellent example) but it also has those jangling alt rock guitars that I love so much. Try Loops in the Secret Society for instance - Jane's vocals are sung over a motorik beat and some lovely guitar interplay.  

Pretty wonderful that she writes these songs, plays most of the instruments and sings them, What a talent!

Where do they all belong? Thanks for the introduction Tom.

Arrow (Waves) (LP 4824 - 4825)

Waves  Waves (Vinyl and CD, Direction and Ode Records, 1975) *****  

Waves  Misfit (CD, Ode Records, 2013) ***

Genre: Folk rock, NZ music 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Dolphin Song (Waves)

Gear costume: Clockhouse Shuffle (Waves)

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: Waves debut album is an absolutely inspired one-off and one of my favourite albums of all time. I love harmonies, I love acoustic guitar singalongs, I love Waves.

The band: Graeme Gash, David Marshall, Kevin Wildman - all on guitar, Michael Matthew - bass guitar.

Dolphin Song b/w Letters on 45rpm (Direction Records) was my entry drug. I still have the single too. Dolphin Song is perfect, in that it evokes an idyllic watery feeling - alone - just me and the dolphin.

On to the album and it's just one beautiful song after another. There is nothing I would change. There is not one less than masterful musical moment. It's delicate and tough when it needs to be, the instrumentation has space to breathe, the combined harmony vocals are perfect for these songs, and the production is spot on - all bright and shiny with the vocals mixed perfectly. Waves and Roger Dawkins take a bow.

Five-star Wozza classic. Easy peasy.

Comparing it to Misfits (appropriate title) is interesting because it clearly shows that the first album has a magical x factor that is not there on the follow-up (which wasn't released anyway). They try hard but the magic from Waves had gone. It's by no means a bad album. Rather, I think it throws into stark relief the peculiar alchemy that made Waves so special.

BTW - GK and I saw Waves with After Hours at the Old Maid gig in 1977 that has become legendary. Quite an event (waiting outside to get in was a revelation to me - what's that funny smell? I asked GK).

Where do they all belong? Seminal band, seminal first album.

Song for winners (Nick Waterhouse) (LP 4823)

Nick Waterhouse  Nick Waterhouse (Vinyl, IL Records, 2019) ***  

Genre: Jazz, R&B

Places I remember: HMV

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I Feel an Urge Coming On

Gear costume: By Heart

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: While living in England, I saw Nick Waterhouse performing on Later...with Jools Holland and I loved his sound, so when I was next in HMV I bought this album.

Nick is a talented American singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer, but, unfortunately, I was initially disappointed with this purchase, as it didn't feature the jazzy sound that I'd loved on Later doing I Had Some Money (but I spent it).

Having listened to it since, it has grown on me, without hitting the heights of the Later spot.

Where do they all belong? I'd be tempted if I found a copy of Never Twice (it has I Had Some Money on it)

Are you okay? (Was (Not Was)) (LP 4821 - 4822)

Was (Not Was)  What Up, Dog? (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1988) ****  

Was (Not Was)  Are You Okay? (Vinyl, Fontana Records, 1990) ***  

Genre: Pop, funk, soul

Places I remember: Record stores in Nelson

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Somewhere In America There's a Street Named After My dad (What Up, Dog?)

Gear costume: Walk the Dinosaur (What Up, Dog?)

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: Was (Not Was) was a loose band built around David Was and Don Was (not their real names, and not related), with Sweet Pea Atkinson and Sir Harry Bowens on lead vocals. 

What Up, Dog? was their third album and a breakthrough thanks to two excellent catchy pop songs - Walk The Dinosaur, Spy in the House of Love. The rest of the album is funky and pop smart with some edgy tracks as well. It hasn't aged that well in parts, thanks to production ticks of the late eighties but once you ease into it, What Up, Dog? holds up!

Are You Okay? was their next album after What Up, Dog?. It embraces more hip hop styles with effect, but the zaniness of the subject matter continued (I Blew Up the United States, Elvis' Rolls Royce) and guests (Leonard Cohen). It's all good fun for the most part, but not as consistently as brilliant as What Up, Dog.

Where do they all belong? I lost track of the band in the 18 year hiatus until their reunion but I'll stick with these two to remind me of a great time in Nelson (1990 to 1994).

All day music (War) (LP 4816 - 4820)

War  War (Vinyl, United Artists Records, 1971) ***  

War  All Day Music (Vinyl, United Artists Records, 1971) **** 

War  The World Is A Ghetto (CD, United Artists Records, 1972) *****   

War  Deliver the Word (Vinyl, United Artists Records, 1973) ****

War  War Live (Vinyl, United Artists Records, 1974) ***  

Eric Burdon and War  Love is All Around (Vinyl, ABC Records, 1976) *** 

Genre: Funk, Soul, Jazz rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, JB Hi Fi, Marbecks Records, Chaldon Books and Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Cisco Kid (The World is a Ghetto)

Gear costume: Slipping Into Darkness (All Day Music), The World is a Ghetto

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: War have appeared back in the countdown, in the Bs, when I was featuring my Eric Burdon collection (you can revisit those posts here and here), and I've covered War Live before as well - so not counted again here). For some reason I missed writing about Love is All Around - an odds and sods compilation credited to Eric Burdon and War. So I'll get to that one on this post.

It's kind of fitting that I'll need to include Eric Burdon again because he was instrumental in launching the band as his backing band back in 1970. After Eric Burdon Declares 'War' and The Black-Man's Burdon, War went it alone with two albums in 1971.

The first, War, gets them off to a good start with a sampling of their various guises - some funk, some soul, some jazz (featuring Charles Miller's tenor sax), some blues (featuring Lee Oskar's harmonica), even some gospel.  The one blemish on the album for me is the eleven minute long Fidel's Fantasy. Musically it's great but I only need to listen to the story once. It doesn't hold up for repeat listens.

Their second album of 1971 was All Day Music. The hit from the album was Slipping Into Darkness. The sound on this album is a lot more funk focussed with some strong arrangements. The live cuts are similarly tight and in the pocket.

The World Is A Ghetto is where I was first aware of the band back in 1971. At that stage the Eric Burdon and War albums seemed impossibly exotic and beyond my reach, but The Cisco Kid was a terrific single and it got some good airplay on NZ's IZM.

When I finally got a copy from Marbecks, I realised how good the whole album was, and how much they'd perfected the soul, funk, blues and jazz elements into their music. The ten minute track is a perfect example of War firing on all cylinders.

Deliver the Word is another intriguing War album - with a smooth jazz rock/jazz fusion approach for some songs and their funk approach to others. It's playfully experimental still which was a rarity back in 1973, and even more so in 2026 where strict formulas rule the airwaves.

The final album on the list, Love Is All Around, is an odds and sods collection that compiles songs from the Eric Burdon & War days back in 1969 to '71. The most interesting songs are A Day in the Life - a previously unreleased cover version of the song by The Beatles; and a live version of Paint It Black - from the Whiskey, Los Angeles, September 8, 1969.

Where do they all belong? Although I think I have their best work, I'm missing a couple of albums from the seventies  that are still worth pursuing: Why Can't We Be Friends? (1975); and Platinum Jazz (1977).

Meadows (Joe Walsh) (LP 4815)

Joe Walsh  You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind (Vinyl, ABC Records, 1976) ****  

Genre: Rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Meadows

Gear costume: Rocky Mountain Way

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: My Joe Walsh collection contained a few of his other albums Barnstorm and The Player You Get... but I found them uneven so I flicked them off and retained this live album instead.

He's great in a live setting and the album contains all his big moments: Meadows; Rocky Mountain Way; Walk Away; Turn to Stone. It also has a couple of Eagles joining in on backing vocals on the soft rock ballad Help Me Make It Through the Night. 

It was his last solo album for ABC and he'd soon join The Eagles - which I found baffling at the time and kinda still do. They neutered his hard rock tendencies. This was the guy from The James Gang and guitar epics like Rocky Mountain Way, now doing Peaceful Easy Feeling. Bit weird.

Where do they all belong? I have an el cheapo compilation as well but this live album is pretty much all I need.