Rock me baby (Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs) (LP 4669 - 4671)

Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs  Great Hits (Vinyl, Calendar Records, 1972) ***  

Billy Thorpe  Time Traveller (Vinyl, Blue Goose Music, 1980) *****

Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs  It's All Happening: 23 Original Hits (CD, Sony Music, 1997) ***

Genre: Pop, rock 

Places I remember: Slow Boat Records, Spellbound Wax Company, Vinyl Countdown

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy)

Gear costume: Captain Straightman

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: Billy Thorpe is a stone cold, fair dinkum Aussie legend who lived the dream, and some.

He started out a star and stayed one until his death in 2007 from a massive heart attack. He was only 60 in Earth years, but he seemed to live five lifetimes in those 60 years.

These three compilations provide the overview, before we tackle his solo albums (Aztecs Live! at Sunbury has already been covered in this blog).

Great Hits from 1972 is a non chronological smorgasbord of the first three versions of the band which started in 1963 and hit it big with one of their first singles - a cover of Poison Ivy in 1964. 

That song and a smattering of early efforts are on all three albums - most notably on 23 Original Hits which, like Time Traveller, takes a more chronological approach.

The band went through many members in these early days (1964 to 68) with Billy the only constant. In 1969 guitar hero Lobby Lloyd joined Billy and a heavier sound evolved. When Lobby left, Billy emerged as the new axe hero - he was a talented guy! 

Of the three compilations the double album Time Traveller is easily the best. Great hits has an endearing el cheapo knock off aspect to it but it's all over the shop, while 23 Original Hits doesn't represent the heavy side of the band at all. It does include the big 1972 hit Most People I know (Think That I'm Crazy) and the bucolic Almost Summer right at the end, but it's mostly centred on those early years.

Time Traveller documents seven versions of the band, so it is much more comprehensive, even though it only has Billy Thorpe in its title and on the cover.

Where do they all belong? Fittingly, the Billy Thorpe solo albums are next.

Captain Marvel (Stan Getz) (LP 4665 - 4668)

Fleetwood Mac  The Original Fleetwood Mac (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1971) ****  

Stan Getz  Captain Marvel (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1975) ***** 

Nils Lofgren  Nils Lofgren (Vinyl, A&M Records, 1975) **** 

Renaissance  Renaissance (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1969) **** 

Genre: Blues rock, jazz, rock, prog rock

Places I remember: Little Red Bookshop

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I Don't Want To Know (Nils Lofgren)

Gear costume: Captain Marvel (Stan Getz), Back It Up (Nils Lofgren)

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: A recent visit to The Little Red Bookshop in Hastings resulted in these purchases. Four different genres from jazz and blues to prog rock are represented which is typical of me and my eclectic musical interests. All up - probably the best haul from TLRB that I've had to date. All are 4 or 5 star albums, and I even left a few albums behind!

The Fleetwood Mac album is interesting more than essential, as it compiles various outtakes from the early version of the band, from 1967 to 1968. 

Their chief composer, guitarist and vocalist, Peter Green, is the obvious leader of the band at this stage in their long career, being joined by John McVie (bass), Mick Fleetwood (drums), and Jeremy Spencer (guitar, vocals). 

The album is a nice companion for the other early Fleetwood Mac albums in my collection like Fleetwood Mac (1968) and Fleetwood Mac in Chicago (1969) and the cool compilation - The Pious Bird of Good Omen (1969).

Stan Getz' album from 1972, Captain Marvel, is something of a revelation. I didn't know about the album until I searched it up while in the store. 

Wowsers!! What a stellar line up! Stan leads a quintet made up of jazz superstars: Chick Corea on electric piano, bassist Stanley Clarke, Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira and drummer Tony Williams. All virtuosos on their instruments. The thing is that while they play brilliantly together, this remains very much a Stan Getz album. He is sublime!

I've always hankered after this Nils Lofgren album and its iconic cover. The album turns out to be a delightfully laid-back mix of judicious rock guitar moves and catchy songs. The AllMusic review sums it up well:  Lofgren has made harder rocking and flashier albums since his debut, but he rarely hit the pocket with the same élan as he did on Nils Lofgren, and it remains the most satisfying studio album of his career.

Renaissance was the band that two former Yardbirds (Keith Relf and Jim McCarty) formed to explore different musical genres. The band is fleshed out by Jane Relf (Keith's wife), John Hawken on keyboards and Louis Gennano on bass.  

The eponymously named Renaissance was their debut in 1969 (produced by another former Yardbirder - Paul Samwell-Smith). It includes progressive rock songs heavily rooted in folk, but also with classical and jazz influences. This is music right up my musical alley!

The album has five tracks - allowing the band to expand their thinking on those styles in true prog fashion. I am a big fan of the quirky mash-up approach used by Renaissance on this album. 

Where do they all belong? I'll need to backtrack to Nils' work in Grin at some point.