Thursday, September 18, 2014

Blackbirds - Touch of Music. 1971 Germany

Blackbirds' second album is a bit more UK and Dutch oriented than the usual 1971 German organ bang fest. Now nobody likes a German organ bang fest as much as moi (especially when the organ is a Hammond), but there's always room for a band like the Blackbirds' more classically oriented styled progressive rock. And it's quite the keyboard extravaganza too. References to Trace, Rare Bird, and The Nice are necessary. And the dour atmosphere of the vocals recall bands such as Procol Harum and Still Life. Touches of violin, flute, and recorder adds much needed color to the canvas. The CD version includes the rare 1970 single, where Blackbirds prove they were quite a force in the ways of psychedelic music as well with a searing acid guitar sound and gruff vocals. Very good album.

Personal collection
CD: 2005 Long Hair

Long Hair is the only label to step up on the reissue front, and they did a fine job on the CD, adding full liners, great sound, photos, and two bonus tracks from a rare 1970 single. I suspect the reissue LP to be similar (except it only features one bonus track).

No comments:

Post a Comment

Daily Journal Posts are now Complete

---2/5/25 2023 is now complete and so is this project. I'm caught up to the present day and 2025 journals are being built real time. 202...