Outburst (Jackie McLean) (LP 2089 - 2090)

Jackie McLean  McLean's Scene (Vinyl, Prestige/New Jazz Records, 1957) ****  

Bobby Bland and B.B. King  Together Again...Live (Vinyl, ABC Records, 1976) ***  

Genre: Jazz; Blues

Places I remember: Little Red Bookstore (Hastings) a couple of weeks ago.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Thrill Is Gone (BB King/Bobby Bland)

Gear costume: McLean's Scene 

Active compensatory factors: These two albums came from a recent visit to the Little Red Bookstore to buy Eric Dolphy's Out To Lunch.

Sadly, it had been sold between visits so I looked around for something else to satisfy my urge.

I can remember listening to the B.B. King/ Bobby Bland album at Roger Marbeck's place and being instantly won over by the version of The Thrill Is Gone. I love that song and this version sparkles. So I grabbed that one.

The rest of the album isn't as good as I remember it though. Rose tinted glasses.

Much better is the Jackie McLean album. I've been grooving to it after school for a few weeks now and it just keeps getting better and better.

Jackie is one of my favourite tenor men and he has the wonderful Red Garland on a few of these tracks. He's very democratic on theses sessions from 1956/57. Everyone gets space and a turn.

Where do they all belong? All up a good substitute for the Dolphy. I'll keep a look out for a copy of that one next time I'm at Real Groovy.

Freedom jazz dance (Brian Auger) (LP 2086 - 2088)

Billy Cobham  Total Eclipse (Vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1974) *****  

Brian Auger and The Trinity  Berliner Jazzstage  November 7, 1968 (Vinyl, Rock Beat Records, 2018) ***  

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express  Second Wind (Vinyl, RCA, 1972) ****   

Genre: Jazz fusion  

Places I remember: Melbourne Record Shops - Wax Museum Records; Round and Round Records; Record Paradise

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Truth (Second Wind)

Gear costume: Bandits, Sea Of Tranquility (Total Eclipse)

Active compensatory factors: I bought quite a few records while in Melbourne recently. These three are all in the jazz fusion category.

I love this genre because it can extend in lots of directions along a jazz rock fusion continuum.

Billy Cobham's Total Eclipse is an intense multi-layered experience. I've highlighted a short intense track (Bandits) and a longer form intense track for your listening pleasure. Even so, the music feels tight - no noodling wig outs from Billy!

While Billy is intense, Brian Auger is cool personified. When he gets into a great groove like on Truth there is no one better on the Hammond B3 organ.

The 1968 live album is recorded well and a great artifact from Driscoll and Auger. Season Of The Witch gets a ridiculously expansive treatment from the pair.

Second Wind from four years later features spirited vocals from Alex Ligertwood, those sinewy and funky organ lines from Auger and some excellent songs.

Where do they all belong? All excellent additions to one of my favourite genres.

Flags and banners (Ronnie Lane) (LP 2084 - 2085)

Ronnie Lane and Slim Chance  Ooh La La - An Island Harvest (CD, Universal-Island Records, 2014) **** 

Ronnie Lane and Slim Chance  At The BBC (Vinyl, UMC, 2019) ****  

Genre: Folk rock 

Places I remember: JB Hi-Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Anniversary (At The BBC - live in concert)

Gear costume: All Or Nothing (At The BBC - John Peel sessions)

Active compensatory factors: I like Ronnie's post Small Faces/Faces attitude: get a bunch of carney loving mates who can really play, use a self-deprecating name for the band, tour around the place with a carnival atmosphere, put out some albums and see what happens.

The first of these above is a compilation of classics, unreleased gems, and rarities and as such is a great introduction to the charms of Ronnies adventures from 1973 onwards. That song selection really suits Ronnie.

At The BBC is another two disc set. One record has the John Peel Sessions and the other is a live concert at the Golders Green Hippodrome.

It's another fine addition to his legacy. His warmth and sincerity shines through everything he does.

Where do they all belong? That's it for Ronnie Lane for the moment. Next up in folk rock is Lindisfarne.

Colours (Donovan) (LP 2082 - 2083)

Joan Baez  In Concert Part 2 (Vinyl, Vanguard Records, 1963) **  

Joan Baez  Farewell Angelina (Vinyl, HMV/Vanguard Records, 1965) ****  

Genre: Folk 

Places I remember: Second hand shop in Turakina

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Farewell Angelina)

Gear costume: Farewell Angelina 

Active compensatory factors: Her growth in confidence from 1963 to 1965 was astounding.

In Concert Part 2 joins with my already owned/reviewed Part 1 to make a complete pair (I hate owning incomplete sets of things). I've downgraded a star compared to Part 1 because it is way too polite and therefore it sounds quaint and dated, plus my copy, although it plays well generally, has a few jumps (it's 60 years old so that's okay).

The best parts are the sleeve notes by Bob Dylan and her version of Don't Think Twice, It's Alright. It's worth restating that these early recordings are not my favourite Joan period.

Farewell Angelina is much better. It's still a transition record as she is slowly heading towards Joan as her own person, rather than an interpreter of others' songs. Having said that, the album does have some strong song selections - Dylan gets four, Donovan one, Woody one.

Where do they all belong? I seem to add to my Joan collection fairly regularly so I'm sure there will be more to come.

So far to fall (Emerson Lake and Palmer) (LP 2075 -2081)

Emerson Lake and Palmer   Love Beach (Vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1978) ** 

Emerson Lake and Powell   Emerson Lake and Powell (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1986) ***  

Emerson Lake and Palmer  Black Moon (CD, Manticore Records, 1992) ***  

Emerson Lake and Palmer  In The Hot Seat (CD, Manticore Records, 1994) *** 

Emerson Lake and Palmer  Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends - Ladies and Gentlemen, Emerson Lake and Palmer (Vinyl, Manticore Records, 1974) ***** 

Emerson Lake and Palmer  In Concert (Vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1979) ****  

Emerson Lake and Palmer  Works Live  (CD, Manticore 2017) ****  

Genre: Prog 

Places I remember: Real Groovy for Welcome Back My Friends; In Concert (Passionate About Vinyl); Emerson Lake and Powell and the CDs (Slow Boat Records); Love Beach (Spellbound Wax Company)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Hoedown (Welcome back my friends...)

Gear costume: Fanfare For The Common Man (In Concert)

Active compensatory factors: This collection wraps up the Emerson Lake and Palmer and Emerson Lake and Powell efforts from 1978 onwards.

It's a mixed bag so buckle up.

Love Beach gets a bad press because of the cover. Yes it's cringe inducing. So let's move on...if we can.

It's a tough ask - the lyrics on songs like Love Beach and Taste Of My Love are pretty embarrassing (come ride on my rocket?).

On the plus side we have a return to writing succinct songs and musically it's pretty good - recognizably ELP, and Greg Lake does his best to sell Pete Sinfield's lyrics. But it should have all been a lot better given their outrageous talent.

Highlight: Love At First Sight (it's part of the side long suite - Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman).

After Carl Palmer was busy with Asia, E and L next enlisted friend Cozy Powell to fill in for a one-off 1986 album. 

It gets off to a great start with The Score, Cozy seems right at home in this setting (I tend to think of him as a hard rock drummer from his time in Rainbow) and Greg Lake's lyrics are much better than Sinfield's.

Being 1986 it does have those mid eighties production ticks but the songs are there this time. 

Highlight: Mars The Bringer Of War

Into the 90's now and Carl Palmer has returned to the band for Black Moon.

My CD copy of this comes with a bonus disc of the band live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1992.

Black Moon is quite impressive - big, confident and full sounding, but I can't help comparing this to their seventies albums. For some reason the big drum sound on the album is not as appealing as the more organic seventies drum sound.

Highlight: Romeo and Juliet; Farewell to Arms

In The Hot Seat was their final studio album. It was affected by health concerns to Palmer and Emerson, but you'd never know it. It sounds like a suitable end to the ELP journey.

My CD copy of this one has a live show from the Now tour of 1997-1998.

Highlight: Thin Line (a good nineties upgrade on the ELP sound with guitar and horns supplementing the regular guys doing what they do best).

A round up of the live albums:

Welcome Back My Friends...is the definitive statement on their seventies live show. A triple LP, it covers everything pretty much, starting with a blinding version of Hoedown and ending with two sides of Karn Evil. Tarkus also appears as well as other songs from their glorious early seventies albums.

This really is a moment in time - they'd never sound like this again. Better? A matter of opinion, but definitely different. Although it's 6 sides - it just speeds by in a brilliant rush of great sounds.

In Concert is a single album released in 1979, while the expanded concert is called Works Live released in 1993. The actual concert was in 1977 in Montreal's Olympic stadium. Got all that? 

I like both versions but probably the succinct single disc is the way to go.

Where do they all belong? And that's all folks. A massive canon that like all massive canon's has its peaks and troughs.

Luna's tuna (Caravan) (LP 2074)

Caravan  It's None Of Your Business  (Vinyl, Kadfish Records, 2021) ****  

Genre: Prog 

Places I remember: Fopp (London)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Wishing You Were Here

Gear costume: Down From London

Active compensatory factors: I can't think of many sixties bands (their first album came out in 1969) still putting out records this good in the 2020s.

Although many would argue their peak period was the seventies, they have put out an album or two every decade since then. That's remarkable, and so is the quality.

Pye Hastings (the only original member left) and Geoffrey Richardson have been the mainstays but the other musicians are fully onboard with the Caravan sound.

Where do they all belong? A fine addition to the vinyl prog collection - sits happily next to In The Land of Grey and Pink.