MAJOR ARCANA

Love it, love it, love it. Another band I can find barely anything on. Stars' self-titled debut [Barclay 90030, 1976] was a triumph of oddness, no, madness, in its pan-genre approach. Led by Simon Lait, Stars was an incomparable session band, Brits who recorded this one-off for the French label Barclay, which was in turn pressed in Canada. Love it.

A few connections can be made to early psych-prog progenitors like Atomic Rooster - who's drummer, Ric Parnell came over for the project - and, through Stuart Uren, Stray, who's Saturday Morning Pictures is a hazy classic, & who's first LP goes for silly dough online

A true child of the 70s, Stars used hard-hitting, flawless playing to evoke a playful, disco-fusion vibe with serious rock pedigree. "That Was Yesterday" is a deceptively mellow intro that bursts into the kind of wah-ing synths that make Herbie Hancock's Thrust the beast it is. There are also strong odors of Zappa, particularly the George Duke/Napoleon Murphy Brock era that immediately preceded Stars' release: "Heart Of Stone" features all gruff-voiced and slinky and shit, his stuttered vocal verse and the bizarro-harmony Stax horns melting perfectly into virtuosic fuzz-wah guitar funk.

The album rocks on in several variations on these themes, a bocce match between Zappa, Herbie, Yes, Steely Dan, & Stevie Wonder. "Platform Soul" is the perfect play of them all, treading the line between Mahavishnu wonkery & slinky modern soul. Just as inspired is the closing gamut, an incongruous cover of "Not Fade Away", that's nonetheless a break-laden jaunt into good times that refuse to give up.

Stars recorded this sole album before moving on to other, greater things. Parnell eventually created the role of Mick Shrimpton in Spinal Tap, while Lait became a successful producer, working with the inimatble Betty Davis on her Crashin' From Passion LP.

But thanks for Lait & co to take a moment and bring the Stars they saw so briefly down to us.

LONG TIME, NO LIST. STILL LISTENING.

Yes, it's been a while. Who knew that having a long-distance relationship turn short distance would take up so much time? In the intervening months since the sadly-neglected Kepzelt Riport posted below, I've found scads of scalding (new) old vinyl in the stacks. After taking the time to rip them, I found a couple that are actually available for sale directly from the artist, so, in accordance with the List's ethos, am not posting them. Follow the link to buy 'em!

Potter St.-Cloud, Potter St.-Cloud [Mediarts 41-7, 1971]. Great anti-war country psych concept album. David Potter also has single MP3s for download on his site, as well as the rare first record under Endle St. Cloud's name, the even earlier Beantown sound of the East Side Kids, & Potter's work with Lee Michaels. Check it out. . . [Coincidentally-received fact: there are 1,000 people in the U.S. named "David Potter" - ed.]

Dwayne Friend Picks Happy Goodman Hits [Canaan 463, 1967]. Smokin' instrumental album from "Mr. Gospel Guitar", who was admired by Chet Atkins & Eddy Arnold. At age 70, Friend still plays around, & has a huge catalog of his own material available through his site. Sweet, trebly picking laid smoothly within that impeccable White gospel production. Get thee hence. . .



Stardrive, Featuring Robert Mason [Columbia, 1974]. Bumpin' & rockin' synth-funk excursions by Mason & co., who needed to build his own synths to get the sounds he was hearing in his head. Far out! Wounded Bird did a CD reissue of this one but it's out of print. I'd have put it up myself but cursory research reveals that you can get it at Akashaman's stellar blog. . .



Speaking of the '70s, I'll be back shortly with some outrageous finds from the latter half of the decade, as well as a bunch of rare '80s synth & powerpop for the fall . . . Stay tuned! - AMS

PROTECT YOUR SOURCES

This is one of my recent favorites, a smokin' blend of Hungarian folk, American psych, Krautrock and more. In keeping with my not wanting to repeat information that's easily located on the 'net, you are directed here to learn more about this seminal eastern European jam band.

Excellent heavy riffing, lovely femme-fronted acid-pop-folk, a crazy-ass cover like some kind of Dada Cheap Thrills... yum.


While online info credits the album to Locomotiv GT (which is the backing band for the whole record), it's properly a joint collaboration between singer Anna Adamis, Locomotiv GT guitarist Gabor Presser, and the much older, influential anti-communist satirical writer Tibor Gery. The title, Kepzelt Riport Egy Amerikai Pop-Festivalrol [Qualiton SLPX 16579, 1973], translates to "Fictitious Report on an American Pop Festival", the likes of which had already been winding down by '73 (hey, don't blame them, even under Kadar's "New Economic Mechanism", underground hippies and writers in near-exile couldn't keep that current).

As far as I can tell, the additional text on the cover, "Osszes Dalai", means "Dalai Lama"... so although it doesn't seem to have to do with the title itself, flower power wafts throughout the album. Despite being an entirely studio-based effort within a standard rock format, the album definitely conveys a freewheelin', free lovin' feeling through production & the songs, which, oddly, are all in English on the album label, with titles like "The Trees Are Mourning, Too" and "Dream Yourself Away". The band - which would explore some of the blues-rock idioms in more depth throughout the decade

Not such a frequent find on vinyl (though a few on eBay are listed at reasonable prices), and since I ripped it for myself I've been listening to it almost every week. New things are revealed with each spin - guess they were luck enough to avoid the brown acid.

For some reason I can't embed this link, but copy & paste from below... don't let it stop you from getting naked and getting on down!

http://www.mediafire.com/?ywjexmymyku

GONE... AND BACK AGAIN

Well, I'm finally back. Been a while. Lots of heavy things going down in this ol' life, including a new job, new girlfriend, &c and so forth. Still been selling wax from the stacks of the record store I bought way back when, and have been amassing a hefty collection of things to post up here. I'm at work on a memoir on this crazy experience, which may be serialized here as it's written... stay tuned on that one. For now, thanks to everyone for your support while I've been absent. Hopefully this will be the first in a series of weekly(ish) posts of great, rare vinyl.

What better way to start it back up than with a perfectly thematic title?

Jerry Williams' Gone [Warner Bros. BSK3291, 1979] was crying to me when I picked through the boxes and found it, mostly because of the crazy-ass psychedelic horror cover - a pulsing, technicolor hand with the middle finger missing and replaced by a tick (or aphid? or ladybug?). The back cover ain't too bad, either, lots of freaky hand lettering and weird symbology. Since I'd never heard of the guy, I had no idea what to expect musically. Since it was sealed, I first had to look it up to see if it was worth mad money (can't unseal those big-ticket LPs...).

I found a couple of online reviews of it, but no downloads. Luckily, it only goes for about $5-7 on eBay so I tore into it. Though some of what I read was kind of tepid, I think this is one's a keeper. Jerry was a Texan, a sessionman of great repute, a member of the Leon Russell entourage, friend to Steve Cropper & Duck Dunn (who appear on the Otis Redding cover)... lots of stuff to recommend a spin. I'll let Bill Bentley's excellent bio piece in The Austin Chronicle give you all the info you need. Musically, I don't think that it's hyberbole to call Gone a fusion of Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison, Steve Winwood, Steely Dan... excellent late-70s funky fusion moves, new soul grooves and crunchy guitar workouts. Williams' voice does really recall Stevie's, with a completely authentic blue-eyed soul wail that's equally at home on the grittier rock tracks.

The songwriting is strong throughout - "Giving It Up For Your Love" was even a hit for Delbert McClinton in the early 80s. The catchy pop-soul tunes like "Philosophizer" and "Easy On Yourself" top the list of mostly originals, while the take on "I've Got Dreams To Remember" is maybe the best Otis Redding cover I've heard (not that there are that many, thankfully), where Williams sounds spot-on like Van Morrison. "This Song", the ominous album closer, features Jerry's voice in multiple overdubs on top of a dark synth bed, a la something off of Songs In The Key Of Life.

Though he played with tons of other talented - and huge - names (Little Richard, High Country, Dave Mason, Leon Russell, David Briggs), Williams apparently preferred to hang in the shadows. His only other solo foray is a wildly out-of-print self-released CD called "The Peacemaker", which features Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood, Nicky Hopkins, Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Oates. What?!?! This gem, though, was apparently deleted soon after release and has never seen print on CD. Unfortunately, my copy has a slight skip on the first song of Side B, but otherwise is in beautiful shape... so before it's gone again, get Gone while ya can....

SUPERSTAR RECORD FAIR - SEPT 13!

Well folks, it's that time again, when the Brooklyn Flea puts on its now-annual record & vintage clothing fair. This time, it'll be in a hot spot under the Manhattan Bridge, in DUMBO. See below for info & directions.

Unbreakable Records will of course be there representing, with a manageble yet mighty trove of super-rarities of all sorts, including:

~ One FULL box of 80s/new wave/power-pop/synth-pop
~ Some massive old psych platters, long out of print
~ Funky fusion, avant/out madness, & plenty of sample-worthy cheapo records ($3-$5)
~ Hard-to-find old rock, doo wop, jazz & soundtracks!

Be there!

... OR HAS IT JUST BEGUN?

Here's another great one that has been way overlooked by the overlords of the WEA vaults. Based on the Atco label (see the opening paragraph of the last post) and the naked Jane Fonda on the cover, this one was begging to be played as soon as I saw it. As an adaptation of an Emile Zola book by nouveau vague sleeze king Roger Vadim, the soundtrack to The Game Is Over [Atco 33-205 - mono version!] hits its mark perfectly.

Jean-Pierre Bourtayre and Jean Bouchety are listed as the composers of this warm-moods-meets-fuzzy-tones monster, but two songs on Side B, "Baby You Know What You're Doing" and "Don't Tell Me", feature the Arthur Brown Set - yup, that Arthur Brown, three years pre-"The Crazy World Of..." His voice is instantly recognizable, though the band rocks more of a garagey go-go than the unstable prog-psych it would become known for.

It was also a first for Bourtayre and Bouchety, who would go on to compose for a handful of other French films and TV, though neither of them extended their careers much past the 80s. Both, however, are sought after "library" composers, and with this soundtrack, it's not hard to see how that came to be. (for a taste, head to Table-Tournante's Soul Train). Languorous sitar introduces the album, and the continual pairing with flute themes makes almost every song an enjoyable listen. Occasionally, the mood veers toward shimmying exploito fuzz, and also features a wide range of pleasing instrumentation that could mark it as a soundtrack, or even an early experiment in retro-lounge, and has all the elements in place for obscure sample-hungry DJs.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but don't anticipate it will be particularly enjoyable (although I'll admit, I do love the Vadim/Fonda combo in Barbarella). Either way, the music stands on its own, divorced from the movie (titled La Curee in French), a feat that some other, later psych/rock soundtracks achieved (most notably, Zabriskie Point and Performance). But as far as early entries go, The Game Is Over sure is a good start.

ROLLIN' ANOTHER NUMBER

Once, in talking about collecting records with Apothecary Hymns bassist Rob Fellman, he made an astute remark which I’ve always agreed with: “You can’t really go wrong with albums on Atco and Atlantic.” Certainly, all of the classics are worth repeated listens. But Attlantic, under the funky purview of Jerry Wexler and the Ertegun Brothers, had lots of undiscovered diamonds, especially in the rural rock coal mines.

There’s no better example of both the underground cred and above-ground appeal of the Atlantic catalog than B. Lance’s Rolling Man [Atlantic SD7218, 1972]. Bob Lance was a songwriter first, scoring serious soul cred by penning Aretha's hit "The House That Jack Built" (also on Atlantic). But other than that, and the album’s personnel listed on the back, you’d be hard-pressed to find out anything more, even armed with matrix numbers and Google’s search engine. The only other connection to anything tangible is guitarist Kenny Mimms’ name being mixed in with Duane Allman’s in relation to Muscle Shoals recording sessions. Certainly, one listen to this, Lance's only full length, proves that the B. Lance wasn't lacking in white rural R&B pedigree.

And Rollin’ Man definitely has an Allman aftertaste to it, but as an album, I kind of enjoy it more than, say, Idlewild South. It’s raucous but understated, less histrionic, and feels completely authentic. Groovier than the Stones and grittier than the Faces, the Lance band gets right down to business and doesn't stop til the last note, cooking up a gurgling gumbo of southern harmonies, overdriven guitar leads, white gospel and wailing organ. The simple arrangements belie the attention to detail and depth of sound – check out the rave-up on “Something Unfinished”, or the simmering Saturday night vibe of kinda-title track "John The Rollin' Man”. The ballads are all tastefully executed and never a drag, although if I had my druthers, the album would end on another rocker rather than the subdued blues of "Tribute To A Woman".

Drummer Jimmy Evans sounded familiar, but there are so many freakin' musicians by that name, I can't tell if he's the Nashville singer/songwriter, the rockabilly revival king, or someone completely different. Can't even get much info from a production credit, because Lance,arranged and produced it all himself! But you know what? I’m glad I don’t know anything about this one. It kind of gives it its own little mystery and makes me excited to think about that good ol’ Rollin' Man rumblin' back onto my turntable.