PINK FLOYD - A Saucerful Of Secrets (Tower Records ST 5131, 1968)

"A Saucerful Of Secrets" was the second studio album by Pink Floyd, released on 29 June 1968 by EMI Columbia in the United Kingdom (following adverts in Melody Maker giving that date) and released on 27 July 1968 in the United States by Tower Records. The album was recorded before and after Syd Barrett's departure from the group. With Barrett's behaviour becoming increasingly unpredictable, he was forced to leave the band and David Gilmour was recruited in January 1968. As a result, "A Saucerful Of Secrets" became the only non-compilation Pink Floyd album on which all five band members appeared, the first for Gilmour, with him appearing on five songs ("Let There Be More Light", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", "Corporal Clegg", "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "See-Saw"), and the last for Barrett, with him on three ("Remember a Day", "Jugband Blues" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"). "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" was the only song all five members appeared on together. The band's drummer, Nick Mason, has declared A Saucerful of Secrets to be his favourite Pink Floyd album. Upon release, "A Saucerful Of Secrets" reached #9 in the UK charts, but failed to chart at all in the US. The album received mostly positive reviews, though many critics have deemed it inferior to "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn".

From mid to late 1967, Syd Barrett's erratic behaviour became more apparent, and at one performance of the band's first US tour, he slowly detuned his guitar while on stage. The audience, used to the band's experimental performances, seemed to enjoy such antics, and were unaware of the rest of the band's increasing consternation. Interviewed on Pat Boone's show during this tour, Barrett's reply to Boone's questions was a blank and totally mute stare, and he kept his lips closed during the mimed performance. Barrett exhibited similar behaviour during the band's first appearance on Dick Clark's popular TV show American Bandstand. Barrett mimed fairly well for the performance of "Apples And Oranges", but responded to Clark's questions with no interest or enthusiasm. The album was recorded at EMI Studios in London. The first songs recorded for the album were Roger Waters' "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and an unreleased Barrett track, "Scream Thy Last Scream", both recorded on 7–8 August 1967. The two tracks were arranged to be released as a single on 8 September, before it was vetoed by the band's record company, EMI. The band recorded "Vegetable Man" at De Lane Lea Studios on 9–11 October, and returned later in the month, on 19 October, to record "Jugband Blues", with producer Norman Smith booking a Salvation Army band, at Barrett's request. During these sessions, Barrett overdubbed a slide-guitar part onto "Remember a Day", an outtake from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn sessions. The band took a break from the album sessions to record what became their third single, "Apples and Oranges", on 26 and 27 October. A few days later, the band recorded the B-side, "Paint Box", before leaving for a US tour.

In November, "Apples and Oranges" was released as a single but failed to chart at all. The band eventually went back to De Lane Lea and recorded the unreleased track "Vegetable Man". Sometime around Christmas, David Gilmour (Barrett's old school friend) was asked to join the band as a second lead guitarist to cover for Barrett when his erratic behaviour prevented him from performing. As Barrett had, up until then, written (or co-written) most of the songs on the band's debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, as well as the band's three singles up to this point the initial plan was to keep him in the group as a non-touring member – in similar style to Brian Wilson's recent status in The Beach Boys – but this meant that Barrett and the group were essentially separated. For two days from 10 January 1968, Pink Floyd reconvened at EMI Studios, attempting to work on older tracks: Waters' vocals and Wright's organ were overdubbed onto "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", while Mason added vocals to "Scream Thy Last Scream". Upon leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett said to Melody Maker: "I suppose it was really just a matter of being a little offhand about things".

When Gilmour joined the band, Pink Floyd performed briefly as a five-man piece, from 12 January till the 20th. For a handful of shows Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally joining in with the playing. In between these five-piece gigs, the group rehearsed a few Waters-penned songs on 15 and 16 January. During the next session on 18 January, the band, joined by Smith, jammed on rhythm tracks; Barrett didn't attend this session. On 24 and 25 January, the band recorded a song, logged as "The Most Boring Song I've Ever Heard Bar 2" at Abbey Road. The band recorded "Let There Be More Light", "Corporal Clegg" (which features lead vocals by Nick Mason) and "See-Saw" all without Barrett, despite manager Andrew King claiming Barrett performed the slide solo at the end of "Let There Be More Light". The other band members soon grew tired of Barrett's antics and, on 26 January 1968, when Waters was driving on the way to a show at Southampton University, picking the members up on the way, one person in the car said, "Shall we pick Syd up?" and another said, "Let's not bother." Barrett was finally ousted from the band in late January 1968, leaving the new incarnation of Pink Floyd to finish the album; "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is the only song on which all five band members appeared.

The four-piece band struggled to come up with new material for an album, but in February 1968 recorded Wright's "It Would Be So Nice" and Waters' "Julia Dream". In early February it was announced that the Waters-penned track, "Corporal Clegg" would be the band's next single, however, due to pressure from the label, the song was earmarked for the album, and "It Would Be So Nice" was released in April as a single, with "Julia Dream" on the B-side. Throughout April, the band was taking stock of the songs recorded up to that point. Waters blocked the release of the two tracks, "Vegetable Man" and "Scream Thy Last Scream", on the album, though the band retained "Jugband Blues", and the Waters-written "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" on which Barrett played. With not enough material to fill the album's last 12 minutes, the band started piecing together several pieces of material that was to become the title track of the album, "A Saucerful of Secrets". Mason and Waters planned the track out as if it were an architectural design, including peaks and troughs. Producer Smith didn't like the song, stating to them that they "just can't do this, it's too long. You have to write three-minute songs." On 25 June, the band recorded another session for BBC Radio's Top Gear; the session featured two tracks from Saucerful: "Let There Be More Light" and a shortened retitled version of the title track, titled here as "The Massed Gadgets of Hercules".

Like "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" before it, the album contained space rock and psychedelic rock songs. However, unlike Piper, which was dominated by Barrett's compositions, "A Saucerful Of Secrets" contains only one Barrett original: "Jugband Blues". AllMusic described that with "A Saucerful Of Secrets", "the band begin to map out the dark and repetitive pulses that would characterize their next few records." Wright sings or shares lead vocals on four of the album's seven songs, and contributes vocals on the eleven-and-a-half-minute instrumental opus "A Saucerful of Secrets", making this the only Pink Floyd album where his vocal contributions outnumber those of the rest of the band. With Barrett seemingly detached from proceedings, it came down to Waters and Wright to provide adequate material. The opening, "Let There Be More Light", penned by Waters, continues the space rock approach established by Barrett. "Let There Be More Light" evolved from a bass riff that was part of "Interstellar Overdrive". Both "Remember a Day" and "See-Saw" use the childlike approach that was established on their debut. Wright remained critical of his early contributions to the band. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" was first performed with Barrett in 1967. The success of the track was such that it remained in their live setlist until 1973 where it appeared in a greatly extended form. Waters later performed the track during solo concerts from 1984 and later. Waters borrowed the lyrics from a book of Chinese poetry from the Tang Dynasty, like Barrett had used in "Chapter 24". "Corporal Clegg", is the first Pink Floyd song to address issues of war, a theme which would endure throughout the career of Waters as a songwriter for the band, culminating on the 1983 album The Final Cut. "A Saucerful Of Secrets" was originally written as a new version of "Nick's Boogie". The track is titled as four parts, on "Ummagumma". A staple in the band's live set until summer 1972, a live version of the song was recorded on 27 April 1969 at the Mothers Club in Birmingham for inclusion on "Ummagumma". "Jugband Blues" refers to Barrett's departure from the group ("It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here / And I'm most obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here"). A promotional video was recorded for the track. The band's management wanted to release the song as a single, before being vetoed by both the band and producer Norman Smith.

"A Saucerful Of Secrets" was the first of several Pink Floyd album covers that were designed by Hipgnosis, and was only the second time that an EMI group (The Beatles were the first) was permitted to hire outside designers for an album jacket. The album was released in the UK on Monday, 01 July 1968 on EMI's Columbia label as both mono and stereo LPs, reaching number 9 in the UK charts. It was released in the US by the Tower Records division of Capitol, where it remains the only Pink Floyd album not to chart. However, when reissued as "A Nice Pair" with the original version of "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" after the success of "The Dark Side of the Moon", the album did chart at number 36 on the Billboard 200. "Let There Be More Light" was released as a single, backed with "Remember a Day", in the US on 19 August 1969. The CD stereo mix of the album was first released in 1988, and in 1992 was digitally remastered and reissued as part of the "Shine On" box set. The remastered stereo CD was released on its own in 1994 in the UK and the US. The mono version of the album has never been officially released on CD. This album was remastered and re-issued in 2011 by Capitol/EMI as part of the Why Pink Floyd: Discovery series, and again in 2016 by Sony Music under the Pink Floyd Records vanity label.

Upon its release, Rolling Stone magazine's review was unfavourable, writing that it is "not as interesting as their first" and "rather mediocre", highlighting the near-departure of Syd Barrett as one of its detractions. In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Richie Unterberger draws attention to the album's "gentle, fairy-tale ambience", with songs that move from "concise and vivid" to "spacy, ethereal material with lengthy instrumental passages". In a review for BBC Music, Daryl Easlea said Saucerful was "not without filler", adding that "Jugband Blues" was "the most chilling" song on the album. While promoting 2014's "The Endless River", Nick Mason named "A Saucerful Of Secrets" as his favourite of Pink Floyd's studio albums. "I think there are ideas contained there that we have continued to use all the way through our career", he says. "I think it was a quite good way of marking Syd Barrett’s departure and Dave Gilmour’s arrival. It’s rather nice to have it on one record, where you get both things. It’s a cross-fade rather than a cut".

RODRIGO AMADO - Wire Quartet (Clean Feed Records CF297CD, 2014)

For Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, improvisation isn’t only a process of making music, but an end in itself and a cause he pursues with great passion. His long span project Lisbon Improvisation Players and other groups he formed with, for instance, Ken Filiano, Steve Adams, Dennis Gonzalez, Carlos Zíngaro, Kent Kessler, Paal Nilssen-Love, Miguel Mira or Gabriel Ferrandini, all share the same method of opening the concept of real-time composition to as many perspectives as possible. With one foot in modern jazz and the other in free improvisation, what he likes most is to play in the jazz idiom, without any tunes or preconceived structures, but forging a work of strong structure, clear direction and deep meaning, in real-time. So, his improvisation, although not free in formal terms, is free anyhow in its strategies and in the open spectrum of possibilities it offers musicians working with him. And that ambiguity is what interests him.

Born in Lisbon in 1964, he studied saxophone since he was 17 years old. Since then, he developed an intense activity focused mainly on the Jazz and Improvised music fields. Studied briefly at the Hot Clube Music School of Lisbon and had private lessons with some of the leading jazz players in Portugal, namely Carlos Martins, Jorge Reis and Pedro Madaleno. Some of the musicians he played or recorded with: Lou Grassi, Steve Swell, Herb Robertson, Lisle Ellis, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Hebert, Gerald Cleaver, Luis Lopes, Aaron Gonzalez, Stefan Gonzalez, Paul Dunmall, Raymond Strid, Sten Sandell, Per Zanussi, Adam Lane, Joe Giardullo, Harris Eisenstadt, Tomas Ulrich, Alex Cline, Bobby Bradford, Vinny Golia, Dominic Duval, Mike Bisio, Scott Fields, Daniel Carter, Federico Ughi, Chris Jonas, Michael Thompson, Wade Matthews, Gail Brand, Michael Attias, Andrew Drury, Sture Erikson, Rachim Ausar Sahu, Per-Ake Holmlander, Jan Roder, Elliott Levin, Mark Whitecage, Peter Epstein, Greg Moore, Phill Niblock, João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Sei Miguel, Rafael Toral, Manuel Mota, Ernesto Rodrigues, DJ Ride, Carlos Barretto, Ulrich Mitzlaff or Nuno Rebelo, among many others.

In September 2001, Amado joined brothers Pedro and Carlos Costa to start the label Clean Feed, totally devoted to record creative contemporary jazz and improvised music. Very quickly, Clean Feed found itself at the vortex of the international creative jazz scene, releasing projects that reached far beyond what was initially imagined. In 2005, Amado left the company and started his own label, “European Echoes”, focusing mostly in his own work. Since then, he is spending more and more time with his own projects, with music and photography. He also writes on a regular basis for one of the most prestigious Portuguese newspapers, Jornal Público. He leads the projects Lisbon Improvisation Players and his Motion Trio with Miguel Mira and Gabriel Ferrandini, and tries to mantain regular collaborations with his other projects; the trio with Kessler and Nilssen-Love, the trio with Zíngaro and Filiano, and the quartet with Taylor Ho Bynum, John Hebert and Gerald Cleaver.

If anything, we can applaud the work done by Pedro Costa of Clean Feed to get Portuguese musicians of quality visibility and especially audibility outside of the country. One of these musicians is saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, featured here in the past few days with three excellent albums. His Wire quartet consists of Hernani Faustino and Gabriel Ferrandini, the rhythm section - if I can use that word - of the much acclaimed RED Trio, and with Manuel Mota on guitar, featured before on this blog on various guitar reviews. Amado is a fierce saxophonist, but his sound his warm and deep, which he manages to maintain even in the more savage moments. He is not Brötzmann or Gustafsson or Dunmall or Perelman or Gjerstad. His sound is warm and gentle like a summer breeze, even when the breeze gets to storm level, it is never bone-chilling, it keeps its warm round tone.

With the Wire Quartet, the band improvises freely, without prior themes or agreements, music flowing as it is, in the moment but with a great sense of direction, and with Amado leading the quartet through moments of calm intensity, of more nervous agitation, of increases speed and volume, and all nuances in between. Faustino and Ferrandini I no longer need to acclaim, as I have done that sufficiently before, these guys know their craft - technically - and their art - musically - to co-create to move as one to emphasise to color to propulse forward to go against the grain and to support. Mota's guitar is the disruptive element in the band. His harsh dry sound is the ideal counterbalance of the sax, offering a strange tension of extremes, yet they move so well in the same direction that the disruption becomes a real partnership, like rocks in a stream creating torrents. "Abandon Yourself", the first track, is almost half an hour long, and moves like a river from quiet brook over wild rapids to quieter places again, with Mota's noise forcing Amado into savage outbursts and Amado's sax pushing Mota into unexpected moments of sensitive gentleness.

"Surrender", the second piece is shorter and a real slow free improv piece introduced by Mota's guitar, and again the guitar's short bursts and sprinkles of notes are in a constant countersound to Amado's long and sustained wails, full of tradition and bluesy inflections. The album ends in beauty, with a track called "To The Music", again starting with sounds that grow organically out of silent first moves and gentle countermoves and subtle pushes forward, until the total sound emerges with solid foundations and volume, offering Amado the chance to shine, to soar, to sing his lyrical jazzy phrases full of agony and excitement propulsed forward by the rhythm sections and chased by the mad guitar of Manuel Mota, like a clash of two traditions merging into one coherent fist of music.

TAJ MAHAL & KEB' MO' - TajMo (Concord Records CRE00432, 2017)

Kevin Roosevelt Moore, known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician and four-time Grammy Award winner. He is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as a living link to the seminal Delta blues that travelled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America. His post-modern blues style is influenced by many eras and genres, including folk, rock, jazz, pop and country. The moniker Keb Mo' was coined by his original drummer, Quentin Dennard, and picked up by his record label as a street talk abbreviation of his given name. Keb' Mo' started his musical career playing the steel drums and upright bass in a calypso band. He moved on to play in a variety of blues and backup bands throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He first started recording in the early 1970s with Jefferson Airplane violinist Papa John Creach through a Rhythm'n'Blues group. Creach hired him when Moore was just 21 years old; Moore appeared on four of Creach's albums: "Filthy!", "Playing My Fiddle for You", "I'm the Fiddle Man" and "Rock Father". Keb Mo's first gold record was received for a song, "Git Fiddler", which he co-wrote with Papa John on Jefferson Starship's "Red Octopus". "Red Octopus" hit number one on the Billboard 200 in 1975.

Moore was also a staff writer for A&M Records, and arranged demos for Almo Irving music. Keb' Mo's debut, "Rainmaker", was released on Chocolate City Records, a subsidiary of Casablanca Records, in 1980. He was further immersed in the blues with his long stint in the Whodunit Band, headed by Bobby 'Blue' Bland producer Monk Higgins. Moore jammed with Albert Collins and Big Joe Turner and emerged as an inheritor of a guarded tradition and as a genuine original. Keb' Mo' has appeared on stage (1990-1993) in several versions of the musical Spunk, a play by Zora Neale Hurston a legendary African American playwright from the Harlem Renaissance. His character, Guitar Man, learned while he was an understudy to 'Chick Streetman', played all the actual music in the play while performing. The character of Guitar Man is the foundation for his current stage persona.

In 1994, Keb' Mo' released his self-titled album, "Keb' Mo'", which featured two Robert Johnson covers, "Come On In My Kitchen" and "Kind Hearted Woman Blues". In the Martin Scorsese miniseries 'The Blues', Keb' Mo' states that he was greatly influenced by Johnson. Keb' was the runner-up for Best New Blues Artist at The Long Beach Blues Festival when he was spotted by Steve LaVere who owns the publishing for the entire Robert Johnson song catalogue (1992–93). Keb' Mo's self-titled album was released on Okeh Records, a vintage revival division of Sony Music. In 1996, he released "Just Like You", his second album, which featured twelve songs full of Delta rhythms. He won his first Grammy Award for this album, which featured guest appearances from Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt. On June 10, 1997, Moore performed on the television program Sessions at West 54th. He joined musicians Laval Belle on drums, Reggie McBride playing bass, and Joellen Friedkin on keyboards to perform fourteen songs, some from each of his albums. Blues pianist Dr. John also made a guest appearance. This session (known as "Sessions at West 54th: Recorded Live in New York") was shown on television, but was not released as a DVD until late 2000.

In 1998, Moore was involved in the multi-artist project "Begegnungen (Encounter)" by Germany's rock superstar Peter Maffay. They performed together a new version of Mo's "Am I Wrong" on the album and some more songs in the 30 concerts at the arena tour later the same year, documented on the live album "Begenungen Live", released in early 1999. A further guest of Maffay at the Begegnungen album and tour was Sonny Landreth and many more artists from every continent. "Slow Down", his next album, was released in 1998 and featured twelve songs. It earned him a second Grammy Award. The album begins with the song "Muddy Water", a tribute to Muddy Waters. It also features a song entitled "Rainmaker", which had been released previously on his first album, eighteen years prior. His fourth album, "The Door", was released in 2000. The same year, Keb' Mo' released "Big Wide Grin", a children's album featuring many songs from Moore's own childhood, along with some newer children's songs and some by Moore himself. In 2001, he appeared on Sesame Street with Kermit the Frog, Grover, Elmo, and other muppets performing the song "Everybody Be Yo'self". The album includes an original arrangement of "America the Beautiful," which he performed years later on the 2006 series finale of The West Wing, "Tomorrow," in which he appears as himself to perform the song at the inauguration of (fictional) President Matt Santos.

In 2003, Martin Scorsese collaborated with many blues musicians including Keb' Mo' to put together a series of films entitled 'The Blues'. Following its release, several albums were released in accordance, some were compilations, some new collaborations, and Keb' Mo' released an album in the series featuring a handful of existing recordings from "Keb' Mo'" to "The Door". On February 10, 2004, he released "Keep It Simple" which earned him a third Grammy Award, again in the contemporary blues genre. Later that year, he released his sixth studio album, "Peace... Back by Popular Demand". On January 28, 2018, Keb Mo won his fourth Grammy for best Contemporary Blues Album, for his collaboration with Taj Mahal, "TajMo". Moore released "Suitcase", on June 13, 2006. His touring band following the release included Reggie McBride on bass, Les Falconer III on drums, Jeff Paris on keyboards, and Clayton Gibb on guitar. On October 20, 2009, Keb' Mo' released the live album, "Live & Mo'". "Live & Mo'" was the tenth studio album by Keb' Mo'. It was released on October 20, 2009. It was his first album through the Yolabelle International label which he started after leaving Sony Music in 2004. It is his first live album release, and it is intertwined with studio tracks hand-picked by Mo' himself to go side by side with the live tracks. The album is underlined with soul, and jazz, and has a laid-back feel to it. At the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival, Keb' Mo' performed an acoustic set with Stefan Grossman and an electric set with Vince Gill, Albert Lee, James Burton, Earl Klugh and Sheryl Crow. He joined the finale with most of the day's performers.

On August 2, 2011, Keb' Mo' released "The Reflection". Keb' Mo' performed at a White House event titled "In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues" on February 21, 2012. On February 24, 2012, many of the same performers, including Keb' Mo, Gary Clark, Jr., Buddy Guy, Warren Haynes, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, paid tribute to Hubert Sumlin at the "Howlin' For Hubert" memorial concert at the Apollo Theater in New York, NY. On the first night of the 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival, Keb' Mo' performed a set with Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Blake Mills and Matt "Guitar" Murphy. Keb' Mo' later performed two songs with emcee Dan Aykroyd. On the second night of the festival, Keb' Mo' performed with Taj Mahal.

In early 2014, he was nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Americana Album ("BLUESAmericana"), Best American Roots Performance (“The Old Me Better”) and Best Engineered Album Non-Classical ("BLUESAmericana"). In May, he appeared alongside Metallica at MusicCare' 10th Annual MAP Fund Benefit Concert at Nokia honoring Ozzy Osbourne and Jeff Greenberg. In October 2014 he honored the Everly Brothers, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 19th annual Music Masters® Series, and in November he honored Mavis Staples alongside Bonnie Raitt, Gregg Allman, Taj Mahal and Grace Potter, at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre for celebration of Staples’ life and career in honor of her 75th birthday. Also in late 2014 he was featured on a Jackson Browne tribute album, "Looking Into You: A Tribute to Jackson Browne". In 2015 his album, "BLUESAmericana", won the 'Contemporary Blues Album' category at the Blues Music Awards. He has been supportive of charity Playing For Change since its inception and recently appeared in a video with Keith Richards' singing Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up". He appeared on two tracks from the "Playing For Change: Songs Around The World" that was released on June 17. The album had over 180 musicians from 31 countries, including Keith Richards, Sara Bareilles, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, and Taj Mahal. He donates 5% of "BluesAmericana" to the charity.

In late 2015 he performed at a special concert hosted by Barack Obama called 'A Celebration of American Creativity: In Performance at the White House'. It was shot and filmed in the East Room of the White House. Other performers included Smokey Robinson, James Taylor, Buddy Guy, Queen Latifah, Usher, Trombone Shorty, MC Lyte, Audra McDonald, Esperanza Spalding, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Carol Burnett. It commemorated the 50th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson's National Foundation on the Arts the Humanities Act. Keb' Mo' released a live album, "Keb' Mo' Live - That Hot Pink Blues Album" on April 15, on Kind of Blue Music/RED Distribution. Keb' Mo' partnered up with Taj Mahal to release a joint album "TajMo" on May 5, 2017. The album has some guest appearances by Bonnie Raitt, Joe Walsh, Sheila E., and Lizz Wright, and has six original compositions and five covers, from artists and bands like John Mayer and The Who. The album won the 2018 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

In 2004, Keb' Mo' participated in the politically motivated Vote for Change tour alongside Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, with whom he originally recorded the title track from the album "Just Like You". Keb' Mo' is part of the No Nukes group which was against the expansion of nuclear power. In 2007, the group recorded a music video of a new version of the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth". Keb' Mo' uses several types of guitars, including electric guitars, acoustic guitars and resonator guitars. He has a preference for red guitars, as he says on his website: "I have a history with red guitars. My first electric was a red guitar." He mostly plays on a red custom Fender Stratocaster which features two single-coil pickups, and one humbucker and is much modified from a regular Stratocaster model. On stage, he prefers a red Hamer guitar with Gibson P-100 pickups. Two of his electric guitars were lost in the 2010 Nashville flood: an Epiphone Sheraton and a Danelectro Selectomatic. He owns a variety of acoustic and resonator guitars, including a Gibson artist model, a guitar made for him by James Goodall, a National Style N, a National Resorocket, a Gibson ES-335-shaped resonator guitar with a P-90 pickup he bought in a Nashville club and got fixed.

 

CANDYE KANE - Diva La Grande (Antone's Records 74710, 1997)

Candace Hogan, known professionally as Candye Kane, was an American blues singer and entertainer. She entered a successful music career after being a pornographic actress during porn's golden age. She was recognized as an award-winning singer, songwriter, and performer in the blues and jazz genres. She was included in the books Rolling Stone Guide to Jazz and Blues, Elwood's Blues by Dan Aykroyd, The Blueshound Guide to Blues, AllMusic, and other blues books and periodicals. Candye was accepted into the USC's music conservatory's junior opera program in 1976, but she disliked opera and dropped out. She became part of the punk rock music scene of the early 1980s. She started country punk bands and befriended and shared the stage with musicians as diverse as Black Flag, Social Distortion, James Harman, The Circle Jerks, Los Lobos, The Blasters and Lone Justice. In 1985, she caught the attention of CBS/Epic A&R Head, Larry Hanby. She was signed to a developmental deal and recorded her first demo with Grammy winner Val Garay. Kane was initially marketed as a country singer, but CBS dropped her upon learning of her controversial past.

At seventeen, Kane became pregnant with her first son. When she turned eighteen, she turned to adult modeling and stripping to make some cash, appearing in videos and over 150 magazines from 1983 to 1985. Eventually she worked as a columnist for Gent magazine as well. In 1986, she moved from Los Angeles to San Diego. She married bass player Thomas Yearsley (of rockabilly power trio The Paladins), with whom she had another son. Kane majored in women's studies at Palomar Community College. She continued to write songs and discovered the brash blues stylings of Big Maybelle, Ruth Brown, Big Mama Thornton, Etta James and Bessie Smith. In 1991, she self-released "Burlesque Swing", her first recording since "A Town South of Bakersfield". In 1992, she was signed by Clifford Antone to a record deal with Antones Records. Her first CD, "Home Cookin'", was produced by Yearsley, Cesar Rosas (of Los Lobos), and Dave Gonzales. It was released in 1992 followed by Knock Out. She then signed with Discovery Records, releasing "Diva La Grande", produced by Dave Alvin and Derek O'Brien. Next, she was signed by record mogul Seymour Stein to Sire Records during the height of the swing revival.

Candye released "Swango", which was produced by Mike Vernon for Sire/London Records; it was her only major label release. This was followed by her Rounder/Bullseye release, "The Toughest Girl Alive", produced by Scott Billington. Next she released four CDs on the German Label Ruf Records. Subsequent titles included "Whole Lotta Love", produced by Val Garay, and "White Trash Girl", produced in Austin by Ruf Records and Mark Kazanoff. In 2007, she released "Guitar'd and Feathered" on the RUF records label. The CD was produced by former Muddy Waters guitarist Bob Margolin. In 2009, she signed to Delta Groove records and released "Superhero" in June 2009. She made a 'topless' video for the song, "All You Can Eat", during which she pounded the keyboards with her bare breasts. She dropped this from her act after her first bout with cancer, which caused her to lose over one-hundred pounds and reduced her bust from 44H to 38D. A stage play about Kane's life debuted at San Diego's Diversionary Theatre in January 2009, directed by Javier Velasco. The play, called The Toughest Girl Alive, was based on Kane's memoir about her turbulent life. She was included on the 30 Essential Women of the Blues CD set released by the House of Blues record label and the Rock for Choice compilation. She appeared with Lucinda Williams and Dwight Yoakam on Town South of Bakersfield on Enigma Records.

Among the songs that Kane wrote were "The Toughest Girl Alive" (used on the Hidden Palms series for the CW network); "Who Do You Love" (nominated for an OUT music award); "200 Pounds of Fun" (featured in the motion picture, The Girl Next Door); "For Your Love" (included on an episode of The Chris Isaak Show); "Please Tell Me a Lie" (used in the motion picture Heavy, starring Deborah Harry); "You Need a Great Big Woman" (used on the Oxygen Network series Strong Medicine); and "The Lord was a Woman" (recorded by comedian Judy Tenuta). At the time of her death, Kane was signed to Los Angeles's Delta Groove records. She toured worldwide more than 250 days a year, and appeared in many prestigious festivals, including the Ascona Jazz Festival, Midem, Paléo Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Dubai International Jazz Festival, Waterfront Blues Festival, Byron Bay Blues Festival in Australia and Notodden Blues Festival. She played for the President of Italy at the French embassy in Rome and at the Cannes Film Festival, and her music was often featured on B. B. King's Bluesville on XM radio.

In 2011, Kane was nominated for two Blues Music Awards by the Blues Foundation, BB King Entertainer of the Year, and Best Contemporary Blues Female. Kane was nominated for four Blues Music Awards, for the BB King Entertainer of the Year Award, Best Contemporary Blues CD for Superhero, and Best Contemporary Blues Female of 2010. She has won numerous awards, including the Best Blues Band award at the San Diego Music Awards seven times. Her other recent honors included Best Blues CD of 2005 at the San Diego Music Awards; the Trophees France International Award 2004 for Best International Blues Chanteuse and Artist of the Year. She unseated Jewel for Artist of the Year at the San Diego Music Awards and won the California Music Award for Best Swing-Cabaret Artist. In May 2007, Kane won an award for Best Original Blues composition by the West Coast Songwriters Association for her song, "I'm My Own Worst Enemy." In 2012, Miss Kane received a special Courage in Music Award at the San Diego Music Awards ceremonies. In 2014, Kane was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year' category.

Kane's known survivors were two grown sons, one of whom, Evan Caleb, played drums in her road band. She appeared often at gay pride festivals worldwide and identified openly as a bisexual. Kane had become an activist and philanthropist in recent years. In August 2009, she appeared in Dublin, Ireland for the World Congress for Down Syndrome with her United by Music charity. In March 2008, Kane revealed on her website that she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was undergoing treatment. This was found to be a neuroendocrine tumor and was successfully resected on April 18, 2008 at UCSD Thornton Hospital. Kane died from the disease at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on May 6, 2016, aged 54.

SHAM 69 - Who Killed Joe Public

(Step Forward Records / One Media Publishing OMP010, 2010)

"Who Killed Joe Public" was the eleventh studio album by the Punk Rock Band Sham 69 and the second album not to feature original singer Jimmy Pursey. During the making of the album Pursey put up on his official site a message saying "Who Killed Sham 69 ?", an obvious play on words aimed at Parsons. One year after the album's release Pursey and Parsons settled their differences and reformed the 1977 line-up, thus leaving and angering the leftover members. The leftover members formed their own band called 'IF...' and toured the UK with Tony Feedback of the Angelic Upstarts and Rick Buckler of The Jam, having two drummers live. After feeling hard done by, the leftover members then decided to also tour under the name Sham 69 after original member Neil Harris joined them. Sham 69 were formed in Hersham, Surrey in 1975, although originally known (according to some sources) as Jimmy and the Ferrets. 'Sham 69' is said to have derived from a piece of graffiti that founder Jimmy Pursey saw on a wall. It originally said Walton and Hersham '69 but had partly faded away, and made reference to when Walton & Hersham F.C. secured the Athenian League title in 1969.

The 12. November 1976 issue of New Musical Express noted that Sham 69 was rehearsing in 1976, although only Pursey would remain from this early line-up twelve months later. Original guitarists Johnny Goodfornothing (a.k.a. John Goode) and Neil Harris were replaced by Dave Parsons, and drummer Billy Bostik (a.k.a. Andy Nightingale) by Mark Cain. Albie Slider (a.k.a. Albie Maskell) remained for the group's first single in 1977 before being replaced by Dave Tregunna. The Pursey, Parsons, Tregunna and Cain line up then remained stable until 1979, when Ricky Goldstein took over on drums for the band's fourth album. Sham 69 did not have the art school background of many English Punk Bands of the time, and brought in football chant backup vocals and an implicit political populism. The band attracted a large skinhead following (left wing, right wing and non-political). Their concerts were plagued by violence, and the band ceased live performances after a 1979 concert at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park was broken up by National Front-supporting white power skinheads fighting and rushing the stage.

Sham 69 released their first single, "I Don't Wanna", on Step Forward Records in August 1977, produced by John Cale (formerly of The Velvet Underground), and its success in the independent charts prompted Polydor Records to sign the band. Their major label debut was "Borstal Breakout" in January 1978, followed by UK Singles Chart success with "Angels with Dirty Faces" (reaching No. 19 in May 1978) and "If the Kids Are United" (No. 9 in July 1978). These were not included on the group's debut album, Tell Us the Truth, a mixture of live and studio recordings. The group had further chart success with "Hurry Up Harry" (No. 10 in October 1978), which came from their second LP and first full studio album, That's Life. The band's popularity was enhanced by their performances on Top Of The Pops, and the band performed in the film, D.O.A. around this time (although the film was not released until 1980). Sham 69 would ultimately be one of the most successful UK punk rock bands, releasing five singles that cracked the Top 20 chart in the United Kingdom.

The band eventually started to move away from punk rock, to embrace a sound heavily influenced by classic British rock bands such as Mott the Hoople, The Who, The Rolling Stones and Faces. This was demonstrated by their third album, The Adventures of the Hersham Boys. The original incarnation of Sham 69 broke up in 1980, following the release of the band's fourth album, "The Game". Pursey was enormously critical of the album, calling it "a pile of shit" in a 1989 Flipside interview, noting: "I was forced into making it, you understand ? I called it "The Game" because that's how the music business had become to me. Like a little roulette wheel where everything we did had all of this political value to it, but it didn't make any difference because you spin the wheel and if it landed on the right number you were all right, the wrong number and you were not all right."

Pursey worked with Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols for a short time under the name Sham Pistols before moving on to a solo recording career. Pursey's first solo album was with Polydor Records, the label for which Sham 69 had recorded, but was a commercial and critical failure. The second solo album, "Alien Orphans", was recorded with CBS Records France. For his third solo album, "Revenge Is Not The Password", Pursey paid for the recording out of his own pocket in order to maintain artistic freedom. In 1981, Pursey collaborated with Peter Gabriel on the single "Animals Have More Fun" which was commercially unsuccessful. He also became occupied with video production in London, making use of snippets of found video in an effort "to do something really anarchic." Rick Goldstein, Dave Parsons, and Dave Tregunna joined the 1980s glam punk/gothic rock band The Wanderers with Stiv Bators of The Dead Boys. Tregunna and Bators later recruited Nick Turner of The Barracudas and Brian James of The Damned to form Lords Of The New Church.

In 1987, Sham 69 were resurrected with a different line-up; Ian Whitewood on drums, Andy Prince on bass, Tony Hardie-Bick ("Tony Bic") on keyboards and Linda Paganelli on saxophone, releasing the album Volunteer and the singles "Rip and Tear" and "Outside the Warehouse". The album "Live at CBGB's" also features this line-up. The next studio album, "Information Libre", had Patricia de Mayo on keyboards. Andy Prince went on to join the Magic Mushroom Band, and Whitewood was replaced on drums by Sonny Boy Williamson, who played on the Soapy Water and Mister Marmalade album and the singles "Uptown", "Action Time & Vision" and "Girlfriend". In late 2006, Sham 69 broke up, and Dave Parsons stated his wish to independently continue as 'Sham 69'. On 26 January 2007, BBC News announced that Sham 69 had split because of a bitter fallout between Pursey and Parsons. NME reported that a statement released by Parsons included the message: "Sham 69 have left Jimmy Pursey on the eve of their 30th anniversary. The band had become increasingly fed up with Jimmy's lack of interest in playing live and continually letting down both promoters and fans by pulling out of gigs at the last moment". Parsons and Whitewood continued as Sham 69 with Tim V on vocals and Rob Jefferson on bass. This line-up performed tours of the United States, played at many punk festivals across Europe, and released the album, Hollywood Hero, in August 2007.

Pursey and Sargent formed a new band Day 21 with Rev & Snell from Towers of London. The band was named after the last Sham 69 album and also to avoid confusion with the fans over the name Sham 69. Day 21 recorded an album titled "4:10am" which was not released, although a single, "Having It Rock and Roll", was released in 2008. Rob Jefferson (bass) left Parsons' Sham 69 and was replaced by the former U.K. Subs member Alan Campbell. In 2009, Sham 69 was the first major punk band to tour China. They released an album titled Who Killed Joe Public in late 2010. In May 2011, Parsons stated on his website that he had disbanded Sham 69, although this was disputed by the other members. In July 2011, Pursey announced on Twitter the re-formation of most of the 1977 line-up, comprising Pursey, Parsons and Tregunna. This meant that there were two active bands using the same name, with three of the classic line-up (Pursey, Parsons and Tregunna) in one band, and Harris in the other. In June 2012, Pursey registered the name as a trademark. As of 2016, both bands are still touring using the name, with the Pursey version often using the "Original 1977 line-up" tagline, and the other using the "Tim V" name. On 28 January 2018, former Sham 69 member Neil Harris died from cancer at the age of 63.

SEATRAIN - Watch (Warner Brothers Records BS 2692, 1973)

Seatrain was an American roots fusion band based initially in Marin County, California (and later in Marblehead, Massachusetts) and was formed in 1969. They played a mixture of rock, country, blues, folk and jazz and had a highly distinctive sound not dissimilar to that of The Band, Little Feat, Grateful Dead and It's A Beautiful Day. Eclecticism was their calling card, and Seatrain notched up both hit singles and albums (two of them produced by Beatles producer George Martin) and garnered a cult following before call in it a day in 1973. Seatrain's origin, however, lay in one of the most important American roots bands of the early 1960s - the Blues Project. Although calling themselves a blues band, they were not "pure blues" per se and while it was a pivotal aspect to their sound and approach, they didn't dwell on one specific type of blues music only. Unlike their contemporaries The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the Jim Kweskin Blues Band (who delved into Chicago blues and ragtime respectively) they, like The Yardbirds, introduced a wider span of musical influences drawing on folk, classical, jazz and baroque strains to produce a music both exciting and unpredictable.

Drummer Roy Blumenfeld and flutist/bassist Andy Kulberg formed Sea Train in August 1968. They relocated to Marin County, CA, recruiting a new line up of vocalist/lyricist Jim Roberts, ex-Mystery Trend guitarist John Gregory, former Jim Kweskin Jug Band violinist Richard Greene and saxophonist Don Kretmar. Sea Train recorded their first album in 1968, "Planned Obsolescence", however, it was issued under the Blues Project name for contractual obligations. guitarist Bill Lussenden and Country Joe and The Fish keyboardist David Cohen to the trio of Kalb, Blumenfeld and Kretmer. The original Blues Project would reform in 1973 for a concert in Central Park New York but this was some time later. In September 1971, Seatrain toured Great Britain for the first time, performing as a support act for Traffic. They also recorded a TV special in Copenhagen, Denmark which has recently surfaced on YouTube and features them playing material from "Seatrain" and "Marblehead Messenger" and displays their improvisational prowess, especially those of Andy Kulberg and Richard Greene. However, Greene and Peter Rowan would depart Seatrain in 1972 and resurface in Muleskinner, while Jim Roberts and Larry Atamanuik joined the backing band of Emmylou Harris (Atamanuik would later tour and record with Alison Krauss and Union Station). Andy Kulberg and Lloyd Baskin replaced these departing members with guitarist Peter Walsh, keyboardist Bill Elliot and drummer Julio Coronado, but only released one more album, 1973's "Watch".

Jim Roberts would return to supply lyrics and vocals for Seatrain. "Watch" is the fourth and final album by Seatrain, recorded in 1973. It is marked with a departure from the electric violin which featured so much on "Seatrain" (and to a lesser extent on "Marblehead Messenger"), and incorporated the use of more session musicians on instruments like vibraphone, cello, accordion, tuba and oboe. The guest list of supporting musicians was impressive, featuring Bill Keith on banjo and Paul Preston on guitar (both well-known folk session players), rock and roll revivalists Sha Na Na on vocals, along with a string section, flute, tuba and oboe, and producer Bueli Neidlinger playing bass. It was their first and last album for Warner Bros. Record with whom they signed after leaving Capitol Records. In a brief retrospective review, All Music called "Watch" a strange, but intriguing release. The material included a revised take on Al Kooper's "Flute Thing" (originally performed by Andy Kulberg as a member of the Blues Project on their second album Projections) and Bob Dylan's "Watching The River Flow". 

These tracks were added to with several new compositions, kicking off with the up-tempo "Pack Of Fools" by Kulberg and Jim Roberts. Lloyd Baskin wrote "Bloodshot Eyes" and "We Are Your Children Too", while Kulberg and Roberts also contributed "North Coast" and "Freedom Is The Reason". Richard Greene co-wrote "Abbeville Fair" with Kulberg, and Kulberg's "Scratch", a simple acoustic folk story, completed the band's input. The musical span included country, rock, folk, gospel and blues styles as in previous Seatrain recordings, with Peter Walsh's strident guitar style dominating the proceedings and replacing Peter Rowan in the guitar/vocal chair. This time Seatrain also became susceptible to mid-1970s hip musical trends, adding in funky passages and "Shaft"-like guitar. However, this diversity is not necessarily a bad thing, and while it is a product of its time. "Watch" is still distinctive and sound worthy enough to bear a Seatrain moniker although minus two of its major previous practitioners.

Seatrain broke up shortly after the release of "Watch" and this coincided with Andy Kulberg re-joining the Blues Project, who had reformed in 1971. The Original Blues Project Reunion in Central Park featured Al Kooper (but not Tommy Flanders) and the concert was released as a live double album that found them recapturing much of their early energy and innovation. There was also a 1997 double album compilation, "The Blues Project Anthology", which was the last known recording of the Blues Project (bar a more recent issue of recordings cut at The Matrix in San Francisco in 1966). Since then, the group's activity has been confined to a few sporadic reunions such as when the Blues Project played a fundraising concert at Valley Stream Central High School in New York, promoted by Bruce Blakeman with the proceeds going to the Youth Council and the US Olympic Committee.

In the period between 2001 and 2007, Roy Blumenfeld drummed in the Barry Melton Band. Steve Katz, in the meantime, formed American Flier with Eric Kaz, Craig Fuller and Doug Yule, recording two albums for UA Records: "American Flier" (1976) and "Spirit Of A Woman" (1977). He also produced three albums for Irish Celtic rock band Horslips: "The Man Who Built America" (1978), "Short Stories Tall Tales" (1979) and "The Belfast Gigs" from 1980, the Lou Reed albums "Rock'n'Roll Animal" and "Sally Can't Dance", and the Elliott Murphy album "Night Lights". Becoming interested in Celtic music he worked in management for Green Linnet Records in the early 1990s. Al Kooper had a successful solo career recording for CBS and also producing Lynyrd Skinner's debut album "Pronounced 'L h-'nerd 'Skin-'nerd" and also wrote his autobiography, Backstage Passes And Backstabbing Bastards, in 1998. Seatrain became embossed in legend after their 1973 dissolution, but their individual albums still stand up. With Andy Kulberg's return to the Blues Project, both their story and that of Seatrain retain an internal connection that crosses decades and combined musical ideals in both bands' eclectic mixes of rock, folk, blues and jazz, the results of which fusions were and remain highly original and under-appreciated.

The story of Seatrain is that of one of the most accomplished and intriguing rural rock bands to emerge from America. It's a story littered with creative opportunity used and built upon, its quality and versatility subject to the swings and roundabouts of commercial acceptance and popularity. Seatrain's albums are still tantamount to a golden period of American music in all its post-psychedelic diversity and difference. Watch, the final chapter in the Seatrain story, is no idle bookend; it's as diverse, intricate and innovative as its predecessors.

TASTE - Live At The Isle Of Wight (Polydor Records 2383 120, 1971)

The 1970 Isle Of Wight festival is remembered for several reasons: it would prove to be the largest rock festival yet held - attracting, it is estimated, up to 600,000 people and so leading to a ban on music festivals on the IOW for the next 32 years. While a ticketed festival, the huge numbers of people heading to the island meant it quickly became a free festival (with much rhetoric being spouted alongside several stage invasions by self-proclaimed "hippie activists"). Alongside leading rock, soul and |azz musicians the IOW hosted what would turn out to be the final UK performances of both Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. The IOW also featured a particularly ferocious set by Taste.

Taste were formed in the city of Cork. Ireland, by 18-year old Rory Gallagher in 1966. By then Gallagher was a veteran of the showband circuit, had toured much of Europe and played a residency in Hamburg. With Taste he mixed original material with blues covers, the band's raw, dynamic sound quickly establishing them In Belfast then London. Just before Taste signed with Polydor Records the band's management insisted on replacing the Cork rhythm section with drummer John Wilson and bassist Richard McCracken, both veteran Belfast musicians (Wilson had played in Them). Taste's exciting live performances set attendance records at London's Marquee Club and they gained wide European popularity with their eponymous 1969 debut album.

1970 should have been Taste's year: they released their sophomore album "On The Boards" on January 1st. 1970, to rave reviews across Europe and the US. The band's work effort and inspired live performances had established Taste truly as a "people's" band. Praise for the band - and, especially, Rory Gallagher - came from many noted musicians: John Lennon championed Taste while Jimi Hendrix, when asked how it felt to be the world's greatest guitarist, replied that he had no idea and the question should be redirected to Rory. Yet, internally. Taste were bitterly divided due to differences between Gallagher and the rhythm section over management, money and status.

A break-in to the band's van (only drum pedals were stolen) the night before they headed to IOW brought tensions to a head with Rory emphasising that if management had provided Taste with a superior vehicle (as long requested) the theft wouldn't have occurred. If tensions were simmering in the van the Southampton ferry crossing on Friday morning provided a sense of exhilaration - they could feel the excitement building as thousands of rock fans gathered for the festival. Unfortunately, the huge numbers of people arriving on the IOW (population 100,000) meant Taste struggled to get on site in time for their late afternoon set. Things only got worse once there as they became aware the festival was being filmed: their manager threatened to cancel Taste's performance.

But perform they did: taking the stage in perfect conditions. Taste tore into 'What's Going On'. The huge audience, until then somewhat subdued in response to the afternoon's bands, rose to their feet. The ten thousand hours Kory had put in playing live over the past six years ignited a truly explosive performance. Perhaps the inter-band tension also fuelled Taste as the trio played superbly, giving their absolute all. each member listening and responding so creating music alive with excitement and possibility. Electricity was in the air and the audience screamed for an encore. Taste obliged but the audience refused to let them go. One - two - three - encores! Right then everyone bearing witness agreed: Taste were the most exciting live band in the world.

Backstage Taste were charged with adrenalin and aware they had achieved something special. This is what it's all about - playing rock and roll like your very life depended on it! But the ill feeling remained and. when photographer John Minihan requested that Taste gather for a portrait, the trio were reluctant. Finally, bassist McCracken said, "come on guys, even if it is the last one" and grabbed Gallagher and Wilson for the photo. Photo taken, Rory and his brother Donal then went off to watch Tony Joe White play. Rory was so impressed he would later include White's "As The Crow Flies" in his live set. Taste might have had the adulation of an adoring public ringing in their ears but their IOW performance did not heal the band's divisions and they would confirm that they were to split a few days later. As Taste were contractually committed to a European tour they continued until a final Belfast concert on New Year's Eve, 1970. In that tumultuous year their Isle Of Wight performance sealed Taste as more a legend than a band.

THE BLEU FOREST - A Thousand Trees Deep 

(Golden Pavilion Records GP1025LP, 2016 - unreleased Recordings from 1968)

In late 1965, drummer Jack Caviness was recruited by guitarists and vocalists Michael Cullen and Gary Heuer. All were from the same small town, Moorpark, CA. The three musicians worked on original songs written by Michael for 6 months. At that point they added Ed Steele on bass guitar and spent time bringing him into the fold. When ready the band began playing small gigs around Moor parkand surrounding areas and received a good reception on the original music. Then they were booked into an open mic night at the Troubadour in Hollywood. That is where they were discovered by future music icon Jimmy Haskell. Mr. Haskell immediately scheduled the group to record a demo at his home studio which they did. They could never have believed what happened next.

Both Gary and Michael were drafted into the armed service as Vietnam war was going strong. Both evacuated themselves to Canada, they were there several months prior to Gary's return. The band then reformed with the original members less Michael, added Larry Wiseman on keyboards and Rohn Barkley on lead guitar and vocals. With Michael's blessing they used the original music written by him and added more original songs to their live set. They were now off and running as the Bleu Forest heard on this album. That's when Jimmy Haskell called. He had scheduled the band to go into Valley Recording Studios in North Hollywood, CA. to record what can be heard on this album, "A Thousand Trees Deep". Upon arriving there the band met their engineer, Freddie Piro, another future icon of the LA recording industry. Freddie had produced The Grassroots previously and would go on to work with Ambrosia and many others. The band spent over six months recording the album and another month was spent mastering.

This album was recorded on a very, but new for the time period, Ampex 8 track 2" recorder. At that time, it was state of the art. They don't recall the brand of mixer used, but it did take up quite a great deal of space at the engineer’s console.  When the musicians first came in to begin recording, they attempted to play at the volume they used live and the engineer freaked out and demanded to lower the volume. This was very confusing to the band members, because it altered their sound dramatically. That is where the fuzz tone came into play. The live sound was based more on very loud overloaded amplifiers for distortion rather than on devices. In a live environment, the fuzz was only used as an overdrive, not as a fuzz tone. The actual studio was only one room, 20' x 30', with one isolation booth at the rear. The booth was only used for overdubs. They wanted to isolate the drums but to no avail.

They used one microphone per amplifier with no baffles between and three microphones on the drums. The drummer played a state of the art set of Ludwig 'Super Hollywood' drums with a Rogers dyna-sound snare and all Zildgen cymbals. They were awesome sounding live but are not as pronounced on the recordings insofar none of the cymbals were individually miked. To expand a bit on the abrupt beginning on the opening track: During the time period in which this was done, engineers and producers were trying many things that make no sense today. For instance, tracks played in reverse and recorded were very popular such as the one heard on the track "Bitter Sweet", which, by the way, was entirely rearranged from the live version. They did not like all of the stops and starts from the live version which added greatly to the dynamics of the song.

The entire six month process was completely paid for by both Freddie Piro and Jimmy Haskell because of their belief that the band could become something far more than a simple garage band. They believed enough in the group to really go on and hit the big time. They personal accepted all of the costs themselves. This is why the musicians simply went along with what they were told would work or not work in the studio. The abrupt beginning to track one was simply something that had not been done before and they believed it would be accepted as different and unique. There was much interest from various major companies in Hollywood. The band had a tentative deal with Tower Records pending some remastering. Several months passed during this period and Rohn left the group for personal reasons. Without the lead vocalist, they had no record deal. Although there were some creative ideas brought forth to a few of the songs during mastering, and the band believed that these tracks gave a general idea of the band's sound, although their live sound was much heavier as it was performed much louder.

A PERFECT CIRCLE - Emotive (Virgin Records CDVUS257, 2004)

A Perfect Circle is an American rock supergroup formed in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle has released four studio albums, the first three releasing in the early 2000s: "Mer de Noms", their debut album in 2000, and followed up by "Thirteenth Step" in 2003; then in 2004, "Emotive", an album of radically re-worked cover songs titles. Shortly after Emotive's release, the band went on hiatus; Keenan returned to Tool and started up solo work under the band name Puscifer; and Howerdel released a solo album, "Keep Telling Myself It's Alright", under the moniker Ashes Divide. Band activity was sporadic in the following years; the band reformed in 2010, and played live shows on and off between 2010 and 2013, but fell into inactivity after the release of their greatest hits album, "Three Sixty", and a live album box set, "A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo" in late 2013. The band reformed in 2017 to record a fourth album, "Eat the Elephant", which was released on April 20, 2018.

Prone to downtime due to Keenan's other musical commitments, the band has featured a variety of musicians in the other roles throughout its alternating periods of activity and inactivity. The original incarnation of the band included Paz Lenchantin on bass, Troy Van Leeuwen on guitar, and Josh Freese on drums. Primus drummer Tim Alexander had briefly stood in as a drummer prior to Freese in the band's initial live shows, however this was prior to releasing any material. Band collaborator and producer Danny Lohner and Marilyn Manson bassist Jeordie White were also members for a short period in the early 2000s. The band's current lineup features Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, bassist Matt McJunkins, and drummer Jeff Friedl, the latter two also being contributors to the related Puscifer and Ashes Divide projects. Despite the varied cast and numerous lineup changes, the stylistic content of A Perfect Circle's songs has remained consistent with Howerdel as music composer, and Keenan writing lyrics and vocal melodies. The band's studio albums have been generally well received critically and commercially, with their three studio albums selling 4 million copies collectively as of 2005.

A Perfect Circle was originally conceived by Billy Howerdel, a former guitar technician for Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins, Fishbone and Tool. Howerdel met singer Maynard James Keenan in 1992, when Tool was opening for Fishbone, and the two became friends. Three years later, Keenan offered Howerdel, who was looking for lodging, a room in his North Hollywood home. This provided Howerdel the opportunity to play demos of his music for Keenan. Pleased with what he heard, Keenan remarked, "I can hear myself singing those songs." Although he originally desired a female vocalist, Howerdel agreed that Keenan would be a good fit, and A Perfect Circle was formed a short time later. The two rounded out the band's initial lineup with bassist and violinist Paz Lenchantin, former Failure guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, and Primus drummer Tim Alexander. The band played their first show at LA's Viper Club Reception in August 1999, followed by a larger-scale, more widely publicized show at the Coachella Festival the following October. While initially in talks to release the album on Volcano Records – Tool's record label – Keenan stated that they instead chose to go with Virgin Records, who Keenan felt better understood that Keenan meant for the band to be an equally important band to Tool, not a minor side project. After the initial shows and securing a record deal, the band entered the studio to begin work on their first album. Alexander was soon replaced with Josh Freese, who previously worked with Howerdel on the Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy", with Alexander's only studio contribution being drums on the album version of the song "The Hollow".

The band's debut album, "Mer de Noms" (French for "Sea of Names"), was released on May 23, 2000. The album was well received commercially and critically. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, selling 188,000 copies in its first week and making it the highest selling debut album for a rock band. "Mer de Noms" was later certified platinum by the RIAA, indicating 1 million copies sold, on October 31, 2000. The album was also well received by critics. The release earned the band the "Best Debut Album" award from the California Music Awards. In the album review by Rolling Stone, Pat Blashill wrote that Keenan "added an almost operatic angst to Howerdel's songs" and concluded that "A Perfect Circle sound like a desperate dream of what rock used to be. Maybe that's the point." AllMusic's review expressed that "there's little question that the addicting combination of Keenan's aching voice and Howerdel's accomplished songs and production skills made for one of 2000's best splashes in whatever was left of 'modern rock'." Promotions began shortly after recording for the album was finished. Initially, they served as the opening act for Nine Inch Nails on the 2000 Fragility v2.0 tour, but subsequently embarked on a number of headlining tours all over the world, touring for around eight months straight. As Keenan was well known through his other band, he would often wear long wigs on his otherwise bald head when performing, to distinguish himself from his Tool persona. The album produced three singles as well: "Judith", "3 Libras", and "The Hollow". All three performed well commercially; peaking at fourth, twelfth, and fourteenth on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart respectively.

Activity began slowing down for the band by late 2000, with Keenan returning to Tool to finish the recording of what would be their next album, "Lateralus".  Keenan returned to A Perfect Circle to tour from January to March 2001, until returning to Tool again for the rest of 2001 to release and tour in support of Lateralus. Initial plans were for Howerdel to collaborate long-distance on writing new A Perfect Circle material with Keenan while he toured with Tool, by sending ideas back and forth to one another, though Keenan found it too difficult to balance both, eventually lessening his role while he focused on Tool. Efforts continued through mid-2002, with Howerdel primarily focusing on writing new material while sporadically working with Van Leeuwen, Lenchantin, and Freese. By June 2002, Van Leeuwen estimated that about 80% of the instrumental material was completed while they waited for Keenan's return. However, lineup changes and disagreements on the album's direction would lead to the album not being released for over a year. Both Lenchantin and VanLeeuwen had both been working on solo material during the band's downtime, and then moved on to join other bands. Lenchantin would leave to join Billy Corgan's new start-up band Zwan in April 2002, while Van Leeuwen began touring Queens of the Stone Age shortly after. Ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Jeordie White, formerly known as Twiggy Ramirez, replaced Lenchantin on bass in January 2003. Shortly after, VanLeeuwen permanently left the band, and long-time band collaborator Danny Lohner filled in temporarily as the second guitarist for wrapping up the album.

Keenan rejoined the sessions in early 2003, and the music began taking a different direction with the new lineup and Keenan's influence. Beyond the new personnel, the dynamic had changed: With "Mer de Noms", Howerdel had already written and finalized all of the music, with Keenan just contributing the lyrics and vocals. This time around, Keenan was more active in vetoing or altering musical ideas, determined to make something different than just another hard rock album, in fear of it being redundant. Sessions became tense, with Howerdel preferring the heavier compositions written while waiting for Keenan to return to the band, and sometimes taking offense to Keenan's suggested mellower rearrangements. White would play the role of a mediator between the two; being newer to the band helped him provide an outsider's perspective, helping them to find a common ground. The band released their second album, "Thirteenth Step", on September 16, 2003. The album debuted even higher than "Mer de Noms", charting at number 2 in its opening week and selling over 233,000 copies. The album, and its accompanying new sound, fared well critically as well. The AllMusic review praised the bands new sound, describing it as "moodier, tenser, and more atmospheric (if that is possible) recording than its predecessor. The wide dynamic swathes that were so prominent on the band's debut are all but absent here. The squalling guitars have taken a backseat to carefully crafted melodies where atmospherics are maximized and pulled taut over the listener. While not a radical departure from Mer de Noms, there is a real progression here. Lyrically, musically, sonically, the Thirteenth Step is proof positive that mainstream rock has plenty of life and vision left in it." Touring in support of the album started in the U.S. in July 2003, and ran through the end of the year, with a brief European leg of the tour extending out to Europe with the Deftones in September. Lohner, who could not commit to touring on a full-time permanent basis, was replaced by former The Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha. In January 2004, the group left the country to play shows in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. They headed back to the U.S. in March and wrapped up touring in June, totaling to about a year straight of touring. Meanwhile, three singles were released from the album: "Weak and Powerless", "The Outsider" and "Blue". "Weak and Powerless" managed to top the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Songs, while "The Outsider" later peaked in the top 5 of both as well. "Weak and Powerless" and "The Outsider" were also the band's only songs to have substantial cross-over success, charting on the Billboard Hot 100 all-format chart, at 61 and 79 respectively.

After wrapping up the touring in support of "Thirteenth Step" in the first half of 2004, the band had announced it planned to enter a long hiatus while Keenan returned to Tool and Howerdel pursued a solo career. In July 2004, Keenan performed at Serj Tankian's (System of a Down) and Tom Morello's (Rage Against the Machine) Axis of Justice concert – an event for musicians to advocate for political and social causes. At the performance, Keenan announced that A Perfect Circle would be releasing a collection of political cover songs. During the beginning of the touring cycle for "Thirteenth Step", Howerdel and Keenan discussed potential ideas for a third studio album. An early idea was to record an album of cover songs, though they were initially hesitant, feeling they needed a meaningful reason to warrant doing it. Keenan, who had been very critical of President George W. Bush during the touring cycle, proposed tying the concept together as a political-themed covers album, with Howerdel, while generally apolitical publicly, felt was worth pursuing in their post-September 11th attacks political and social climate. The two put their plans on hold temporarily and decided to move forward on the project as the band's third studio album. Keenan emphasized that, despite his personal feelings on Bush, the album was less of an "anti-Bush" album, and more of a "anti-political apathy" – encouraging people to research things and become more involved.

The band rushed to complete the album in time to release it prior to the 2004 U.S. Presidential Elections in November, just barely a year after their prior release. Recording sessions ran from late June to early September. The sessions, largely the work of Howerdel, Keenan, and Freese, contained contributions from past and present members of the band, including Lenchantin, Lohner, White, and Iha. Keenan, aware of the time constraints and Howerdel's future intentions on doing solo albums, also encouraged Howerdel to contribute lead vocals to about a third of the album. A wide variety of different songs were chosen to be recorded, from Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" to Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks". Most songs were radical reinterpretations of the original, sometimes unrecognizable compared to the originals. Howerdel explained that it was done on purpose, to make the song's their own, and conceded that he, as of 2010, still had not even once ever heard the original version of Crucifix's "Annihilation", another song re-recorded for the album. He also stated that some songs had started as original A Perfect Circle songs musically, until the band decided to use the lyrics of other songs over the compositions, in turn converting them into cover songs.

The band's third album, "Emotive", was released on November 2, 2004, the actual U.S Presidential Election Day. However, the album received a much more polarizing reception than the prior two albums, with some critics and fans not appreciating the band's move into more political content, or the radical liberties they had taken with the album's cover versions. Other's accused the band of rushing out a third album in order to fulfill the band's three album contractual obligation to Virgin Records, a claim refuted as false by Howerdel. The album still managed to receive a generally positive reception from critics. Sales were similarly positive, but less so than prior albums. The position debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 142,000 copies in its first week – matching "Thirteenth Step"s peak chart placement, but selling almost 90,000 copies less. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA, indicating 500,000 units sold.

The band did not tour in support of the release, instead entering a hiatus shortly after its completion. Two singles were released in support of the album, the first of which was a somber cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" The second single, "Passive", was one of just two original songs on the album, tracing back to writing sessions for Trent Reznor's unreleased Tapeworm project. In the late 1990s, Reznor started the project for songs that did not fit Nine Inch Nails, which eventually grew into a collaborative project with a number of other musicians. One track, "Vacant", featured contributions from Keenan and Lohner in 1999, but with the project hitting development hell due to creative and legal hurdles of many of the participants in the early 2000s, A Perfect Circle began playing the track at live shows. With the project being shelved completely by 2004, Keenan decided to rework the track as "Passive" for "Emotive". Additionally, two weeks after the release of the album release, on November 16, 2004, the band released the CD/DVD compilation set entitled "Amotion". The DVD part contained the music videos for band six singles; while the CD is composed entirely of remixes of the singles from "Mer de Noms" and "Thirteenth Step".

AFTER TEA - After Tea (Decca Records 862 534 DQY, 1969)

After Tea from the picturesque town of Delft were formed in 1967 after a row in the group The Tee Set whose singer Peter Tetteroo had problems with the psychedelic leanings of his"backing group". Tetteroo chose the James Mean musicians as his new colleagues and the rest of the Tee Set became After Tea.The line up this time was Hans van Eyck (vocals, keyboards), Polle Eduard (vocals, bass, guitar), Martin Hage (drums) and the Englishman Ray Fenwick (vocals, guitar).

All members were composers, expert musicians and good vocalists and soon became well respected and were quickly signed to Decca. Together with producer Bert Schouten they worked hard on their first single, the first Dutch "flower power" record "Not Just a Flower in Your Hair" (complete with children's choir). On the b-side was "The Time is Nigh", with the same choir as a gimmick together with the Sousa march "Stars and Stripes Forever" at the end. The Beatles ended "All You Need is Love" in a similar way later on. The single was played a lot on radio and reached 11 in the Top 40. 

In the studio new numbers were tried out for the new album. The old Tee Set song "Long Ago" was redone in a new "easy" style and "Don't Waste Your Love On Me" was written with lyrics by Hitweek's magazine's Laurie Langenbach. In December 1967 the album "National Disaster" came out. The LP is packaged in a "Wanted Dead or Alive" sleeve and includes a large poster inside. The music is a mix of flower power ideology and fragile numbers such as "Gotta Get You In My Garden Girl" and "In The Land Of The Bubble Gum Tree" and more progressive songs like "Play That Record" , the new version of "Long Ago" and Ray Fenwick's title number "National Disaster". The album got a good public response and glowing reviews in Hitweek, Musiek Express and Teenbeat. The LP was released in the UK in June 1968 and received good reviews in NME and Melody Maker. 

In England Steve Winwood from the Spencer Davis Group was forming his own group, Traffic. Davis was looking for a replacement and when After Tea and Spencer Davis played together in Rotterdam, he asked Ray Fenwick if he would like to join his band as a replacement for Winwood. Ray had some doubts , but because his work permit as a musician had only months left to run and the possibility of him being asked to leave the country he accepted and left for England. He continued to write some songs for After Tea and played now and then on a few records.

 "We Will Be There After Tea" written by Hans and Ray became another hit in December 1967. The song with it's catchy lyrics was underpinned by a strong melody and later became a regular favourite for The Spencer Davis Group with Ray. After Tea went through a period of many changes, Polle was in and out of the band and experimented briefly with Frans Krassenburg (vocals) and Henk Smitkamp (bass) and Ferry Lever (guitar) as a long term replacement for Ray. 

In May 1968 they released "Snowflakes On Amsterdam" and then in September, their fourth single"Peregrine Thomas" a country influenced song which didn't break into the Top 40. It's follow up "Love In Jeopardy" didn't make it either. Thanks to their loyal fans, they kept touring and at the end of the sixties they made a picture disc for the jewellers Desiree which was packaged with an engagement ring and book. The songs on the disc were "Desiree" and "The Wedding Song". The last single for Decca was "A Little Bit Today" in August 1969. Here they chose a standard R+B style. At the parting with Decca the album "After Tea" came out filled with a and b sides of previous singles.