Tin roof blues (Pete Fountain) (LP 922)

Pete Fountain  Pete Fountain's New Orleans (Vinyl, Coral Records, 1974) ****  

Genre: Jazz 

Places I remember: $5 from Record Fair in Palmerston North

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Way Down Yonder In New Orleans

Gear costume: Lazy River

Active compensatory factors: I was browsing through bins at a record fair in Palmerston North a few months ago when I saw this in the $5 bin. The guy beside me going through his bin stopped and said - that's a brilliant album. I said - I've never heard of him but it looks interesting. He said - it's only $5 - worth the punt.

Damn right and it turns out he was right! It's great fun, a bright and breezy album of New Orleans jazz. Pete Fountain, or more properly, his full name - Pierre Dewey LaFontaine Jr., is a clarinetist who knows what he's about.

The record is not in the greatest of conditions but the crackles don't detract and there are no unfortunate jumps. 

Where do they all belong? A great album for a summer's day at Maple Grove that evolves the spirit of New Orleans.

The breeze and I (LP 921)

Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis 4  Montreux '77 (Vinyl, Pablo Records, 1977) *****  

Genre: Jazz 

Places I remember: Tom Shaw (Facebook friend)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: This Can't Be Love (whole album available on YouTube but not on Spotify)

Gear costume: Blue Lou

Active compensatory factors: There is alchemy happening here as these titans of jazz continue into the 1970s. Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson are on a whole other wavelength. Add in Eddie 'Lockjaw' Harris blowing over the top, underneath and all around them on tenor sax and whoa! Magic ensues.

'Lockjaw' (no one is definitive on how he came by that nickname) is a tenor man that I'm not very familiar with, but one listen to The Breeze And I and I'm a convert.

Being the late seventies and Montreux, it probably goes without saying that the recording is terrific. It's like they are playing in front of me!

Where do they all belong? I'm not sure why Tom was wanting to part with this, it's an excellent addition to my jazz collection.

Country life (Delaney and Bonnie) (LP 914 - 920)

Delaney & Bonnie  Genesis (Vinyl, Crescendo Records, 1971) **  

Delaney & Bonnie  Home (Vinyl, Stax Records, 1969) ***  

Delaney & Bonnie  The Original Delaney and Bonnie: Accept No Substitute (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1969) ***

Delaney & Bonnie and Friends  On Tour With Eric Clapton (CD, ATCO Records, 1970) ***  

Delaney & Bonnie and Friends  To Delaney From Bonnie (Vinyl, ATCO Records, 1970) ***  

Delaney & Bonnie and Friends  Motel Shop (Vinyl, ATCO Records, 1971) ***  

Delaney & Bonnie and Friends  D&B Together (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1972) ****  

Genre: Blues rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records; Slow Boat Records; Vinyl Countdown; Spellbound Wax Co.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Never Ending Song Of Love (Motel Shot)

Gear costume: Country Life, Only You Know And I Know (D and B Together), Coming Home (On Tour), Piece Of My Heart (Home)

Active compensatory factors: Prolific for a short period, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett were the antidote to organized and commercial big rock. Instead they gave off a family, good time, down home vibe that was catnip to the friends that came onboard from 1969 to 1972.

Genesis is an album made up of stuff from 1964 - 65 and 1967, before they became an item. Instead it's a Delaney album with Bonnie on three tracks. Delaney's talent is right there though - no wonder he and Leon Russell were musical mates.

First album proper with the two of them is Home, on the Stax label, another false start in some ways. More in the soul frame of mind (Stax remember), it features the Stax regulars (Booker T, Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, Al Jackson as well as Leon Russell and Isaac Hayes) as the backing band. So it sounds good - these guys can't not sound good, but the material doesn't yet feel like Delaney and Bonnie. Bonnie's soulful version of Piece Of My Heart and Delaney's Hard To Say Goodbye are stand outs.

The big early one is Accept No Substitute, as it wooed stars like George Harrison (he tried in vain to put it out on Apple Records but the Elektra contract was already signed) and Eric Clapton. The sound becomes more of a gospel/soul/rock/blues amalgam on this one.

Notable friends along for the good times were Leon, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, Bobby Keys, Jim Price, Jim Keltner, and Rita Coolidge. Yes, Eric was paying attention! He recruited the band for his first solo album and later for Derek and The Dominos.

The playing is great again and more in tune with the Delaney and Bonnie vibe. She is the star show of this album, that and the live in the studio feel.

Most of the friends joined the tour with Eric Clapton that year, except Leon. Eric takes a back seat, happy to be just another band member. 

To Delaney From Bonnie has more of the same gospel/rhythm and blues/rock stuff going on, While Motel Shot is a more acoustic run through some trad folk and gospel edged songs.

My favourite album of theirs is probably the least heralded because they were splitting up as a couple - ironically called D and B Together. Somehow, they sound very much at ease on these songs and Bonnie's vocals are superb. If you were looking for an entry point I'd go there before heading back to Home and Accept No Substitute.

Where do they all belong? I've put it with the blues rock albums as it fits with Clapton/ Derek & The Dominoes more than it does in the soul section in my fevered brain.

Tale of the trial (Matthews' Southern Comfort) (LP 912 - 913)

Matthews' Southern Comfort  Second Spring (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1970) ****  

Matthews Southern Comfort  Later That Same Year (Vinyl, MCA Records, 1970) ****  

Genre: Country rock 

Places I remember: M

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Woodstock (From Later...)

Gear costume: Even As (From Second Spring)

Active compensatory factors: This is one of those rare things - British country rock and, let me declare from the off, it's brilliant! Given it sprang from Ian Matthews' post folky days in Fairport Convention, it also has tinges of that genre along the way (Blood Red Roses is just one example).

Second Spring is really the first MSC band effort (see below) and it sounds great, as in - it could have been recorded yesterday. It's that fresh! There are so many positive moments - Ian's gorgeous vocals, the harmony work, the guitar and banjo of Carl Barnwell (who also provides a couple of songs) and the laidback vibe is beguiling. B.T.W. my pressing of this album is American and they included the band's apostrophe throughout the album.

Clearly, Ian had an ear for classic songs - James Taylor's Something In The Way She Moves (from his first album on Apple Records that I featured recently - scroll down) gets a great full band treatment. The gentleness is still there and the pedal steel by Gordon Huntley is superb.

Cover material increases on their second album of 1970. There's a Goffin/King and Neil Young song but the big one was by Joni Mitchell.

Yes,  Later That Same Year includes their great version of her song - Woodstock. That was my entry point to the band. All those years ago, I listened intently every time it came onto my radio in 1970. B.T.W. my  pressing is a New Zealand one and they dispensed with the apostrophe. Weird.

Where do they all belong? I'm still trying to track down Ian Matthews' first solo effort when he left Fairport Convention - confusingly called 'Matthews' Southern Comfort' (with apostrophe). Much more Southern Comfort (without Iain Matthews - yes he changed his first name along the way) to come in the countdown.

Forbidden fruit (Roy Harper) (LP The one after 909 - 911)

Roy Harper  Valentine (Vinyl, Harvest Records, 1974) **

Roy Harper  Bullinamingvase (Vinyl, Harvest Records, 1977) *** 

Genre: Folk rock 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records (Valentine); Chaldon Books and Records (Caterham on the hill) for Bullinamingvase.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I'll See You Again (Valentine)

Gear costume: One Of Those Days In England (Parts 2 to 10)  

Active compensatory factors: Two of his more uneven works for me. 

Valentine sounds a bit drunk and disorderly - maybe because these are songs left over from other earlier sessions, with only a couple of standout tracks. I'll See You Again is a great song - the kind of thing Roy excels at. I'm not sure why he covers Dylan's North Country and a few songs sound like Donovan (not that there's anything wrong with Donovan, but this is Roy Harper!) 

Bullinamingvase is more consistent and features some excellent guitar work throughout. Thanks to better track sequencing, the more electric moments are better integrated into the album's first side, with Breakfast With You successfully ending side one. Unfortunately my vinyl copy has a few moments where it jumps (although it looks blemish free) and rather spoils the flow of my listening pleasure, so I'll need to look for a better copy.

One Of These Days In England fills most of the album with Part 1 leading off side 1 and then parts 2 to 10 filling all of side 2. It's an excellent song suite that rewards repeat listens.

Where do they all belong? That's it for Roy in my collection. Richie Havens is next up when I return to this section of the catalogue.

The flight of a hawk (Keith Emerson) (LP 909)

Keith Emerson  Nighthawks (Soundtrack) (Vinyl, Backstreet Records, 1981)  ***

Genre: Prog rock/ Soundtracks 

Places I remember: Record Fair in Palmerston North 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Nighthawking

Gear costume: Nighthawks main title theme, The Chase

Active compensatory factors: Unfortunately the cover is one of those cut out jobs (like George Harrison's Extra Texture or Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti) so the Nighthawk letters on my copy have been mangled a bit through use (the K and S) which is disappointing. Somebody didn't care about preserving this album's cover but the vinyl itself is excellent.

When I spied it at a record fair a few years ago, I had to make a quick decision. On the negative side - the cover, the fact it's from 1981 (I know what that means), and the fact that Keith was writing music for a film (in this case a Sylvester Stallone neo-noirish action crime thriller). Oh oh.

On the plus case - the price reflected all of those things, the vinyl was in mint condition and, well, it's Keith Emerson innit. So, on balance it was worth a punt.

Alrighty then - what's the music like? Well - for the most part, surprisingly good! Side one is consistently terrific (four stars) and side two gets 3 stars - how much film music from Nighthawks do you really need?

First track, the Nighthawks title theme, gets things off to a great start with some punchy brass, then it's down to atmospheric stuff that is firmly in the Isaac Hayes school of soundtrack design but with Keith's progtastic approach present as well.

All the extra things you need for a soundtrack help Keith too. He does a lot of the heavy lifting in ELP, but here he's mainly a composer so there is room for Jerome Richardson's great sax, Greg Bowen's trumpet, and Frank Scully's percussion (a crucial ingredient of noir actioners in this era), as well as the bass/ drums combo.

Keith, it goes without saying, is Keith - all virtuoso keyboard hero throughout.

Don't let this one pass you by if you're a prog/ soundtrack/ ELP/ music fan. 

Where do they all belong? Next up when we return to the prog vinyl it's time to launch into all (yes - all) of Emerson Lake and Palmer's vast catalogue. Deep breath!

I am missing you (Ravi Shankar) (LP 907 - 908)

Shankar Family Friends   Shankar Family Friends (Vinyl, Dark Horse Records, 1974) ****  

Ravi Shankar  Ravi Shankar's Music Festival From India (Vinyl, Dark Horse Records, 1976) ***  

Genre: Dark Horse Records, world music

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I Am Missing You (featuring Lakshmi Shankar on vocals)

Gear costume: Tarana/Chaturang 

Active compensatory factors: As a collector of Dark Horse Records I sometimes find myself going into musical areas that I otherwise would never find.

These Ravi Shankar albums join those on Apple Records in my collection as a consequence. They are fascinating glimpses into Indian culture and music in general. George was no mug.

My western ears like these albums as they use both traditional Indian instruments but in a song format, rather than a long form raga, alongside western musicians.

Shankar Family & Friends even had a song (I Am Missing You) released as a single and includes a number of western friends: Ringo Starr; Billy Preston; Tom Scott; and Jim Keltner were some to appear alongside the Shankar family. It all works in spectacular fashion. I especially like the music for a ballet which takes up all of side 2.

Music Festival From India is also produced by George, but this time it's just Indian musicians who appear. Ravi is joined by Lakshmi Shankar on vocals again and fellow legend - Alarakha (a.k.a. Alla Rakha) on tabla, for another collection of magical sounds.

Where do they all belong? And that's it for Ravi. Next up when I return to Dark Horse Records are three albums by Splinter.