Soft soundin' music (Harpers Bizarre) (LP 3404 - 3407)

Fanny  Live on Beat-club '71-'72 (Vinyl, Real Gone Music, 2024) ****  

Focus  Ship of Memories (Vinyl, Sire Records, 1977) **** 

Harpers Bizarre 4 (Vinyl, Warner Bros Records, 1969) ****  

Jade Warrior  Kites (Vinyl, Island Records, 1976) ***  

Genre: Rock, prog rock, pop.

Places I remember: The next installment of albums I bought recently in California/Colorado - Amoeba Music (Hollywood Blvd), Wax Trax Records (Denver)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Hey Bulldog (Fanny)

Gear costume: Soft Soundin' Music (Harpers Bizarre)

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

Active compensatory factors: I stupidly sold my collection of Fanny's albums years ago and have been slowly buying it back ever since. I still have a few to go, and although I found one in Amoeba Music it was really expensive so I opted for Live on Beat-club '71-'72 instead.

It's a great set. The liner notes by the band indicate that they had been road tested before these live in the studio tracks were recorded (no audience so the sound is perfect). With gusto is probably the best adjective I'd use, as the band tears into these songs with full confidence.

The Focus album is a kind of lost album. The tracks were compiled by their producer Mike Vernon. He selected previously unreleased material and compiled without any active involvement by any band member. The recordings date from January 1970 to mid-1975, and largely during unproductive recording sessions in 1973 for a follow-up studio album to Focus 3 (1972).

It sounds pretty damn fine to me. Classic Focus - adventurous, playful, and succinct (as far as prog wig-outs go). I was delighted to find it and it hasn't disappointed in the slightest.

Harpers Bizarre 4 is the final album of theirs that I have been searching for, for some time. It's actually pretty great. It kicks off with the terrific Soft Soundin' Music and keeps the quality level high throughout. Their version of The Beatles' Blackbird is well worth hearing. Ry Cooder appears on slide guitar and he's always worth listening to.

Finally in this set is another Jade Warrior album - Kites. It is described as 'intense ambient music' by the AllMusic reviewer and I do get that. I'll need to listen to it a few more times to get into it. I've found that with Jade Warrior in general. Their music rewards repeat listens.

Where do they all belong? A final post of the American A to O purchases coming up next.