Shotgun LTD. 1971 USA-California

This was a late era CDRWL item. In hearing the LP last night, I had a +1 listen. Really one of the stronger hard rock entries from American during this era. Original notes (slightly altered) below:

Los Angeles based Shotgun LTD are one of those groups I passed over dozens of times in my crate digging years of the 80s and 90s. That looks to have been a mistake. Even though it's not a masterpiece, it's a fine example of North American hard rock, with blues and even a slight rural underpinning. The three track sequence on the first side starting with 'Against the Wall' is simply fantastic, and there's more than a nod to the Hammond organ / electric guitar based proto-prog sound here. Hard to imagine anyone who enjoys the latter genre not being impressed with 'Number Two'. After this, the album's momentum begins to slow some, and by side 2 there are couple of country rockers to endure with 'River of Hope' and 'Feelin' Bad'. All in all though, a fine discovery after all these years. Would make for a nice reissue, perhaps with some relevant bonus tracks to kick it up a notch.

Ownership: LP: 1971 Prophesy. Gatefold. Great find from a store in Albuquerque (2022). Almost all of their stuff was priced correctly, but this was considerably underpriced, so a good score too. Never been reissued (legit). Hilarious cover too, as the band and their presumed pregnant girlfriends are gearing up for a "shotgun wedding".

10/20/15 (CDRWL); 11/28/18 (new entry); 4/29/22

The Alan Parsons Project - Pyramid. 1978 England

Alan Parsons' 3rd effort is a strange little album really. The critics panned it on release, and even today, not too many folks are singing its praises. I've even read that some listeners rank it below Eve, which is crazy in my estimation. Mostly it's an introspective melancholic work. I'm always left with a taste of sadness. The primary exception, and the album's best track IMO, is 'In the Lap of the Gods'. A fantastic instrumental, the piece is driven by choppy piano, and features some excellent rockin' orchestra and choir - more or less the ingredients of any great Parsons track. 'Hyper-Gamma-Spaces' predicts the rise of the more upbeat electronics in APP's sound, which would flower on Eye in the Sky. 'Pyramania' is a bit silly, but otherwise, I enjoy all the tracks on Pyramid. Even though these days I may hear the album once a decade, I still have it pretty much memorized, having absorbed it so much in my youth.

Ownership: LP: 1980 Arista (Germany). Gatefold. I somehow managed to get to 2021 without realizing that Pyramid was ever released as a gatefold. Here in America, it was released as a single sleeve and that's the only way I've ever seen it! I've been on the lookout for a clean LP copy anyway, and when one of our local b&m's had this one for $5, I nailed it. I've owned this album in one form or another since 1978, when it first came out. By that time I was already very familiar with APP's first 2 albums, having listened to their albums constantly. That worn out LP was replaced by the commodity CD which is being released.

4/13/21; 4/29/22 (new entry)

Didier - Cptn. Coffee. 1981 Germany

Here's another old CDRWL entry that Midwest Mike turned me onto. Even though it was already affixed with a high rating, I had a +1 listen with the LP last night.

Didier's sole album is an incredibly obscure jazz rock release. Similar to Moira's Reise Nacht Ixtlan*, Cptn. Coffee sounds like something from another era - primarily 1973-74. Psychedelic fuzz guitar, driving bass, echoed German narration, atmospheric piano, and tricky meters with sax breaks ala Soft Machine. This is an exceptional album for its vintage.

---1/30/24 update

* - I've just learned that both albums were both recorded in the same studio in the same year!

Ownership: LP: 1981 KladielasMusik. Single sleeve. Recent online acquisition (2022). 

Not been reissued as of 6/17/24

7/14/10 (CDRWL); 4/28/22 (new entry)

2022 Fusion / Jazz Journal Vol. 1 - Complete

Maynard Ferguson - M.F. Horn 4 & 5: Live at Jimmy's. 1972 Columbia. 2xLP. Wow, the first side is excellent recalling the powerful 'Give it One' from MF Horn 2. My kind of rocking big band sounds. The rest is pretty standard "stage band" fare, the kind of music I used to play while in high school. Well done for what it is, but not something I will listen to much and can sell. But side 1 almost had me keeping it. (Mar)

Dave Grusin - Discovered Again! 1976 Sheffield Lab (LP). I'm always interested in hearing things on the audiophile label Sheffield Lab, and Grusin is an excellent candidate for the imprint. Pretty decent smooth jazz, with a little bit of that early 70s TV soundtrack sound still left. Good on the whole, but inessential. (Mar)

Quincy Jones - You've Got it Bad Girl. 1973 A&M (LP). Similar to the above actually, but even more constrained and saccharine. This one is way too polished. Last year I picked up Smackwater Jack (1971) for the first time, and enjoyed that title better. (Mar)

Streetlife. 1981 Black Gold (LP). Ah, this ended up being a bummer. I was very excited to find this for $3 at a local store (signed no less). I'll buy anything on the collectable Black Gold label out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Two of my treasures of the collection were released by them: Message (hard rock) and Genre (jazz fusion). Looking at the cover I thought I may have found something like the latter, or perhaps even a soul or funk album. No such luck. The cover, as it turns out, is truly indicative of the music. It's jazz vocal revival music, the sort of thing one would hear in the 1940s and brought back by the likes of Diana Krall in the 90s. Nothing wrong with that of course, just not what I'm into. It'll sell though (it did). (Mar)

*Maynard Ferguson - M. F. Horn Two. 1972 Columbia (LP). Ferguson has something very interesting going here - that of a big band rock album. Not horn or brass rock, but big band. Terje Rypdal started his career with a similar type effort. The opener 'Give it One' packs a wallop, with multiple theme and meter changes. And jams heavy too. I would love to hear a whole album of this! The remainder is the usual Ferguson mix of cover tunes and originals, the latter being the highlight. Though I never tire of 'Theme from Shaft'. Overall, the album is quite good and unique - for my collection at the very least. (Mar)

RMS - Centennial Park. 1985 MMC (LP). Long ago I had an associate who would determine how good an album was by who was on it. A "names guy" I'd call him. Well, he'd certainly love this album then! Why RMS indeed stands for Ray Russell, Mo Foster, and Simon Phillips. No need to listen to the album - it's great! Ha. In any case, Centennial Park is a fine instrumental fusion album with decent guitar from Russell, but it has 1985 written all over it. The tones are cheap and the compositions are somewhat ordinary. I think if I didn't already have dozens of albums just like it, I would keep it. But enough is enough. (Mar)

*Ruphus - Let Your Light Shine. 1976 Brain (LP). Seems I've been on a Ruphus kick of late, but it's pure coincidence that this album came along after hearing the first two recently. I've had those on LP for many years, but never owned this title. Like with Release Music Orchestra's Get the Ball, you'd think this album was readily available, but it's surprisingly elusive here the States, at least at a decent price. Finally secured one online at a fair deal. This is where Ruphus switches gears from being a prog band to a jazz fusion group. The music is a superb example of the Euro fusion movement of the time, and the piercing female vocals of Gudny Aspaas adds to the allure, though requires a mental adjustment. On this listen, I was most reminded of Embryo's Bad Heads and Bad Cats, a major compliment indeed. (Mar)

Jack DeJohnette's Directions - Untitled. 1976 ECM (LP). I was hoping for a rough jazz rock album here similar to early Rypdal or Abercrombie. Well, not quite. This definitely isn't "ECM Jazz", but it is most certainly "Jazz". I could have gone for a rawer edge, similar to some of the greats from around 1970, but this one plays it safe for the most part. Oh well, not the best week for my jazz rock / fusion collection. (Feb)

Stanley Clarke - School Days. 1976 Nemperor (LP). Standard issue - but very good - fusion album from one of the legends of the genre. Followed the pattern of the day with a pastiche of styles, from heavy electric, to soft acoustic, and everything in between. Sometimes albums penetrate deeper into our psyche depending on when we hear them. For me, this comes too late, after absorbing many albums like it. But certainly a very fine album for the style. (Feb)

Art Lande - Rubisa Patrol. 1976 ECM promo (LP). Another ECM styled late night noirish jazz album. Peaceful and soothing. Though credited to pianist Lande as the marquee, it's just as much Mark Isham's album as well. He contributes half of the compositions and his muted trumpet is the dominate instrument. An old friend was a huge Isham fan, so I heard a lot of his work 30+ years ago. It was too tranquil for me then, and I still feel that way - at least on Rubisa Patrol. Borderline keeper, but have to draw the line somewhere. (Feb)

John Abercrombie Quartet - Arcade. 1979 ECM (LP). More of the same, like the above. This is the second Abercrombie Quartet album I've picked up in the last year (the other was the 1980 album). A very pleasant and soothing album with particularly strong rhythm work. Very good on the whole, but can't keep them all, and this is the sort of album I don't tend to gravitate to. (Feb)

*Rainer Bruninghaus - Freigeweht. 1981 ECM / Warner Bros (LP). Bruninghaus was the keyboardist extraordinaire for Eiliff, so I was most curious how this solo album would turn out. It was only a couple of bucks, so why not? First off, this is nothing like Eiliff or has anything to do with Krautrock. And yes, it is most certainly "ECM Jazz", so we're all adults now. Mostly it's an atmospheric album with Bruninghaus' soothing piano and Kenny Wheeler's Flugelhorn, backed by scattered drums, oboe, and English Horn. It's very well done, and calms the nerves nicely. It's side 2 that really draws you in, as the music becomes more cyclical and entrancing, while Bruninghaus introduces more synthesizer to the mix. The 12+ minute title track is a whopper. Sounding all the world like Klaus Schulze's 'Crystal Lake' as a backdrop to the soothing jazz up front. Brilliant really. The US press translates the titles on the back cover (but not the label) to English. The title track is set to mean 'Set Free By the Wind', which tells me it's not a straight translation ('Blown Free' would be that), but an interpretation. I like the album's take because it fits the music perfectly. Wonderful surprise. (Feb)

Egberto Gismonti - Danca das Cabecas. 1977 ECM (LP). Acoustic based world fusion album from Gismonti. More towards proto New Age than "ECM jazz". Reminds some of Pat Metheny's acoustic works, also on ECM. It's not a bad album, but not very enjoyable either, at least for me. More academic than interesting I'd submit. (Feb)

*Urban Ensemble - The Music of Roland Vazquez. 1979 Arista GRP (LP). This was a pleasant surprise. Somewhat standard fare late 70s fusion but with a full stage band behind it. Great horn charts. Think something along the lines of an instrumental Earth, Wind and Fire minus the soul and disco. Or, maybe more to the point, Caldera. Quite liked this one, and fairly unknown. (Feb)

* - Keeping for the collection

The Bigroup - Big Hammer. 1971 England

In today's culture, one might presume the Bigroup to be some sort of avant garde transsexual troupe. But most likely in 1971, it stood for nothing more than "The Big Group". Then again, they do have a composition entitled 'Blow-Suck Blues', so perhaps they were ahead of their time after all? Musically, however, they sound more like a late 60s group than a pioneering cutting edge post-Swinging London progressive band from 1971. Big Hammer is an all instrumental film library psychedelic album with copious flute, sitar, surf guitar, and roller rink organ. There's not much in the way of compositional development, which would be typical of the incidental film music genre. Somewhat similar to the Italian groups like Blue Phantom, Psycheground Group, or Fourth Sensation. Fun stuff.

Ownership: LP: 2005 Wah Wah (Spain). Round gimmix cover. Recent online acquisition (2022). While the cover is fun, the LP offers nothing by way of history or bonus tracks. Never been reissued legit otherwise.

1/9/07; 12/16/13 (CDRWL); 4/26/22 (new entry)

Newcross. 1986 USA-California

King Crimson were the only major left standing in the 1980s (or at least they were smart enough to pack it in during the tumultuous late 70s, only to reemerge stronger than before), so it's not too surprising that they were the major influence on a lot of bands during this lost period of progressive rock. As we saw with yesterday's Regressive Aid, and you'll note with the band we feature tomorrow, Crimson truly did hold court back then. Newcross is probably closest to Ixt Adux, in that they mix contemporary Discipline era KC with the more aggressive sounds of Red. However, unlike Ixt Adux, there's no leftover VDGG traces. It would be heartening to know if there was more high quality recorded material from Newcross, as a full reissue would be highly satisfying.

Ownership: EP: 1986 Rain of Thought. Single sleeve. Recent online acquisition (2022).

No reissues as of 11/27/24.

4/3/11 (review); 4/26/22 (new entry)

Grobschnitt - Ballermann. 1974 Germany

Grobschnitt were a zany theatrical bunch almost to the point of being a comedy troupe using the German language. They showed elements of this kind of drama on the debut - as in the opening sequence which features a mock choir. But, for the most part, the humor was subdued and not a large part of their repertoire. But by the second album, they began to incorporate more humor and zaniness into their compositions. Ballermann is the result of these conscious efforts. Personally, I feel the music can sometimes play second banana to their almost goofy approach and they begin to lose focus on the things that made the first album so great. As well vocalist Wildschwein starts to affect his voice in an annoying, silly way. However, Ballermann is a double album and each disc represents a new style for the group. The second LP shows another, yet unrevealed, side of the band. Grobschnitt introduces their space rock sound which they tag as 'Solar Music'. As a pure play space rock band, Grobschnitt is almost unmatched. Much different from the more atmospheric German acts like Ash Ra Tempel or Gila, Grobschnitt take on a more direct approach to jamming space music. The guitar roars, the keyboards soar and, as a bonus, it's almost entirely instrumental. Eroc's drumming propels the band to great heights. A classic of it's kind. As a whole Ballermann is a very good album though somewhat marred by their craziness. I should add that many listeners consider their humor a plus.

Ownership: LP: 1975 Brain. 2xLP Gatefold. Second press with green label but no Metronome. Recent online acquisition (2022). This copy doesn't have the price sticker or Made In Germany like the Discogs' stock photos posted here. My first copy was the black label 80s press, purchased at the Virgin Megastore in London in 1987.

1/17/01 (Gnosis); 4/25/22 (new entry); 1/20/23

Missing Link - Nevergreen! 1972 Germany

Here's another album from the collection I hadn't heard in 16 years. But my review from back then captured my thoughts accurately on this session as well. A really fine effort that continues to satisfy at a high level. Here is that review:

Tight. After repeated listens of Nevergreen!, that’s the word that keeps popping through – tight. Missing Link play in the European jazz rock style, with plenty of saxophone, keyboards (including mellotron and Hammond) and guitar – all in unison, or as soloists. The quintessential track would have to be their cover of Charles Lloyd’s ‘Sorcery’ with lively clavinet, a hopping rhythm section, and great wah wah sax and guitar work. Most of the tracks rock hard, with the typical rough vocal that seems to follow the style. The exception is the gorgeous and engaging three minute piano solo, 'Song For Ann', played by future Embryo / Missus Beastly / Real Ax Band member Dieter Miekautsch. Sadly this would be the only recording for Missing Link, a highly talented group who easily could have gone on to great success. But apparently the German wing of the United Artists label was close to bankruptcy, and coupled with scant concert bookings, sent the band over the edge. Closest comparisons would be the first two Thirsty Moon albums, the first Xhol Caravan or early Missus Beastly.

Ownership: CD: 2005 Garden of Delights. Usual fine job from the label that includes a full history and one bonus track taken from a single (the other side 'Kids Hunting' is from the LP). My first copy goes back to the late 1980s, when I picked up the original LP. It wasn't in the best shape, and ultimately purchased a brand new deadstock LP from a collection buy in Tucson in 1994. I didn't like the cover (still don't) and traded it away for something more to my liking. I'd keep it today, but don't regret the decision as it was a strong asset even back then, and likely added something to my collection that I have to this day.

10/12/06 (Gnosis); 4/9/22 (new entry)