Archive for the ‘Camel’ Category
Thursday, April 5th, 2012
Listen: Northern Lights (Edit) / Renaissance
Northern
I went through a prog rock stage like every kid, but secretly never had the patience for all those long songs in private. I was playing The Kinks and The Marmalade to be honest. Even the bands exclusively part of that genre won me with their attempts at more traditional songs or singles, as they are ultimately best described.
Camel, Caravan, Curved Air, they all had great 7′s, and that’s just a few of the C’s. The likes of Yes, The Nice, Genesis, King Crimson or even Van Der Graaf Generator, when their full album sided epics got edited down for a single, probably discovered they’d essentially written a pop song. I’m guessing a few, like possibly Robert Fripp, are still shivering from the prospect.
I stumbled on a most fascinating Facebook post yesterday from a friend Bruce Garfield. He’s now managing Renaissance, a band who I would classify as prog, and remember from college. In fact, I booked them at my school and a few members came back to our apartment after the show, to buy drugs from my then girlfriend. His post centered around their new album, and how they’re raising money to record it via Kickstarter. Really impressive plan and I truly wish them well.
During the presentation, when snippets of their various songs were used, I caught a passage from ‘Northern Lights’. Blimey, I hadn’t heard it for the longest time, and so headed downstairs for a listen. A bit overlooked here at home when current in ’78, lost time is being made up for presently. If this got played once, it easily got twenty spins. Really good song, and am now planning on seeing their show in June as a result.
The band deserve a lot of respect, and they deserve a break. Turns out their label partners from those lucrative years all shut their doors and draw the blinds when they come knocking, tossing a mere dribble of royalties their way. Having worked for the majors a solid two plus decades, I know how true their claims must be.
Tags: Bruce Garfield, Camel, Caravan, Curved Air, Genesis, King Crimson, Renaissance, Robert Fripp, Sire, The Kinks, The Marmalade, The Nice, Van Der Graaf Generator, Yes
Posted in Bruce Garfield, Camel, Caravan, Curved Air, Genesis, King Crimson, Robert Fripp, Sire, The Kinks, The Marmalade, The Nice, Van Der Graaf Generator, Yes | Comments Off
Sunday, March 6th, 2011
Listen: A Little Bit Hurt / Julien Covey & The Machine
A Little Bit Hurt / Julien Covey & The Machine
I guess you might call them a supergroup. Julien Covey, real name Phil Kinorra, played with Brian Auger in his early days. As well as fronting the band vocally, he also drummed. Amongst it’s members were John Moreshead on guitar, who played with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, The Shotgun Express and The Ansley Dunbar Retaliation. In addition, the band included Peter Bardens (Them, Camel), Jim Creagan (Blossom Toes, Family) and Dave Mason at various times. Their lone release, ‘A Little Bit Hurt’, was co-written and produced by Jimmy Miller in ’67, who brought along his freshly used prodcution techniques, successful on The Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Gimme Some Lovin” and applied them to The Kinks ‘You Really Got Me’ riff, to help create this now, Northern soul classic, according the Northern soul classic experts.
Listen: Green Door / Wynder K. Frog
Green Door / Wynder K. Frog
Between ’64 – ’67, the sound of the Jimmy Smith/Jimmy McGriff hammond B3 was the prevalent connection that bridged hip rock and soul, bringing the jazzy black Flamingo club stuff (Brian Auger & The Trinity, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, The Graham Bond Organization) to a more mainstream public, as with The Spencer Davis Group. Jimmy Miller’s production played a part. He worked as house producer for Chris Blackwell then and recorded some successful and some less successful, well commercially for the time that is, singles, like the aforementioned Julien Covey & The Machine track, and ‘Green Door’ by Wynder K. Frog. Although not chart records, they became club hits, and apparently still are to this day, on the Northern circuit, wherever that is.
Tags: Blossom Toes, Brian Auger, Brian Auger & The Trinity, Dave Mason, Family, Flamingo, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, Island, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Miller, Jimmy Smith, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Julien Covey & The Machine, Mick Weaver, Northern Soul, Pete Bardens, Philips, Ray Davies, The Ansley Dunbar Retaliation, The Graham Bond Organization, The Kinks, The Shotgun Express, The Spencer Davis Group, Wynder K. Frog
Posted in Blossom Toes, Brian Auger, Camel, Dave Mason, Family, Flamingo, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, Island, Jim Creagan, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Miller, Jimmy Smith, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Julien Covey & The Machine, Mick Weaver, Northern Soul, Pete Bardens, Phil Kinorra, Philips, Ray Davies, The Ansley Dunbar Retaliation, The Graham Bond Organization, The Kinks, The Shotgun Express, The Spencer Davis Group, Them, Wynder K. Frog | No Comments »
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
Listen: I Could Feel The Whole World Turn Around / The Shotgun Express ShotgunExpress.mp3
’65 – ’66 was a busy time for so many major stars as they did a non stop jig of musical chairs, seeming all a bit desperate in hindsight.
In this internet age, where everything is at your fingertips instantly, and anyone can record some songs with only their laptop, it’s wildly ironic that in the 60′s, bands, records and record deals moved much faster than today. Within months you could jump ship to another company, with two, four or more singles under your arm ready to release. Yet nowadays, despite all our resources, it seems to take like sometimes two years for a band to issue a followup.
Again, none of that was the case back then. And talk about musical chairs, Jimmy Page is rumored to have been on dozens, maybe hundreds of hits and flops as an in demand session player and John Paul Jones too. Rod Stewart went from solo deal to a very short stint as vocalist with The Kinks (thank God and heaven above that didn’t work out) to Long John Baldry & The Hoochie Coochie Band, on to Steampacket – a sort of super star ensemble that featured Baldry, Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, Micky Waller and others, back to a solo contract (this time recording ‘Shake’ with The Brian Auger Trinity on backup), then onto The Shotgun Express. Often viewed as a poor man’s Steampacket supergroup, with members Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Bardens (later of Camel) and female vocal sparring partner, the unknown Beryl Marsden, they lasted only a few months, but it didn’t hinder a singles deal with Columbia UK and this lone, flop 7′ release, by official NME chart position that is. Over at pirate station Radio Caroline, it had a decent first week at # 25, unfortunately also it’s peak, by two weeks later, it was gone from their Top 50.
Always collectable mostly due to it’s various members instead of the music, on first spin, it’s a big let down – more often a “what the hell did I spend all that money on this dog of a record for?” Even I thought that too, yet on second listen, I quite liked the obvious frustration of it’s members sounding ‘forced’ into recording a track against their instincts, back in the day when you obeyed your label, their chosen producer and accompanying material. I kinda think it’s pretty great now, and not only because of that tension, I like the song too. Plus it’s a co-write by a favorite: Heads, Hands & Feet vocalist/Taste producer Tony Colton.
Tags: Camel, Columbia UK, Heads Hands & Feet, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Julie Driscoll, Long John Baldry & The Hoochie Coochie Men, Mick Fleetwood, Micky Waller, Peter Bardens, Peter Green, Radio Caroline, Rod Stewart, Steampacket, Taste, The Brian Auger Trinity, The Kinks, The Shotgun Express, Tony Colton
Posted in Beryl Marsden, Camel, Columbia UK, Heads Hands & Feet, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Julie Driscoll, Long John Baldry & The Hoochie Coochie Men, Mick Fleetwood, Micky Waller, Peter Bardens, Peter Green, Radio Caroline, Rod Stewart, Steampacket, Taste, The Brian Auger Trinity, The Kinks, The Shotgun Express, Tony Colton | No Comments »
Friday, April 30th, 2010
Listen: Dan The Wing / Mellow Candle MellowCandle.mp3
Howard, Chris and I went to see the Ian Dury movie the other day. It was pretty great – the end bit got a touch depressing but the film certainly brought me right back to how absolutely stunning he and The Blockheads were on stage during their moments in the sun. Never realized Chaz Jankel was such a vital part of the band and songwriting until the credits rolled.
We had Indian lunch prior, and as usual, started digging into a whole lotta obscure record trivia. I was always a fan of UK Decca’s various production deals. One such was with Gruggy Woof. The company included both Neil Slaven and David Hitchcock. Slaven’s production’s seemed to lean more towards the bluesy side (Savoy Brown, Miller Anderson, The Keef Hartley Band, Chicken Shack) whereas Hitchcock tipped more progressive (Caravan, Camel, Cured Air, Genesis). By the way, I don’t have a clue where that rather bad name originated from, but I liked most of the records these guys/their production company were involed with.
For the life of me, I couldn’t remember what single I had in my hands literally earlier that very day, with it’s unlikely David Hitchcock production credit. Given that Howard mastered a slew of these during his apprentice years at Trident, we racked our collective brains to no result.
Well tonight I suddenly remembered: Mellow Candle. Their sole album is insanely valuable, and this single is not far behind. Quite why I’m not sure. I always thought ‘Dan The Wing’ was rather watered down Steeleye Span, sonically more in line with what B & C were releasing: folky prog stuff.
Look deeply into the Decca/Deram release history and you will find many an obscure, highly collectable and hence, steeply priced prog rock array of every flavor. I picked this up for pennies in the dj copy heavy outdoor vendor racks at Cheap Cheap on Soho’s Rupert Street during that summer ’73 spent in London. In fact, this copy sat there unsold for literally months until finally having been humiliatingly relegated to the 5p row – I just couldn’t pass up the Deram A label – I mean seriously, 5p?
At first it indeed sounded lightweight and weedy, but I eventually got addicted to it’s weaknesses. They are charmingly innocent, now I play it often.
Tags: B & C, Camel, Caravan, Chaz Jankel, Cheapo Cheapo Records, Chicken Shack, Chris Hall, Curved Air, David Hitchcock, Decca, Deram, Genesis, Gruggy Woof, Howard Thompson, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Mellow Candle, Miller Anderson, Neil Slaven, Savoy Brown, Steeleye Span, The Keef Hartley Band, Trident
Posted in B & C, Camel, Caravan, Chaz Jankel, Cheapo Cheapo Records, Chicken Shack, Chris Hall, Curved Air, David Hitchcock, Decca, Deram, Genesis, Gruggy Woof, Howard Thompson, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Mellow Candle, Miller Anderson, Neil Slaven, Savoy Brown, Steeleye Span, The Keef Hartley Band, Trident | No Comments »
