Saturday, April 23, 2022

Care Of The Cow - 1983 - Dogs' Ears Are Stupid

Care Of The Cow
1983
Dogs' Ears Are Stupid




01. Chinese Food Part I 3:27
02. Cemetary 3:27
03. Like Me 6:54
04. Chinese Food Part II 7:08
05. Oceans In My Ears 4:51
06. Dog's Ears Are Stupid 5:20
07. Australia 3:03
08. The Sleepwalker Bites Herself In French 3:40
09. European Trains 3:39
10. No Beethoven 2:22

cd:
01. Chinese Food Part I 3:27
02. Cemetery 3:27
03. Like Me 6:54
04. Chinese Food Part II 7:08
05. Oceans In My Ears 4:51
06. Dog's Ears Are Stupid 5:20
07. Australia / The Sleepwalker Bites Herself In French 6:44
08. European Trains 3:39
09. No Beethoven 2:22
Bonus Track
10. Dancing Partners 6:06

Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Drum Machine – Victor Sanders
Vocals, Effects, Synthesizer, Clarinet, Concertina – X (Christine) Baczewska
Vocals, Electric Guitar, Synthesizer – Sher Doruff

Written-By, Arranged By, Producer – C/O The Cow
All songs written, produced and arranged by C/O The Cow ©1979 - 1986, except "Sentimental Journey" written by Bud Green, Les Brown, Ben Homer (Morley Music)




Originally released only on cassette in 1983, “Dogs’ Ears Are Stupid” by Chicago trio Care of the Cow is a fascinating blend of psychedelic folk, minimal electronics and post-punk weirdness. Acid fuzz guitar, incredible vocal harmonies, drum machines, analogue synths…

One of Chicago’s best kept secrets, Care of the Cow’s history goes back to 1974. A trio formed by Victor Sanders, X Baczewska and Sher Doruff, they had a very unique and eclectic sound, experimental yet very melodic, mixing psychedelic folk-rock with art-rock and DIY / post-punk. Their influences were very diverse: Beatles, Fripp, Eno, Joni Mitchell, Carla Bley, Pauline Oliveros, Eric Dolphy…

Care of the Cow debuted in 1975 with a 10” followed by their first LP album in 1981. By 1983, the band was adding drum machines and synths to their sound, highlighted by Victor’s amazing guitar playing and X & Sher’s perfectly blended vocal harmonies, resulting in “Dogs’ Ears Are Stupid”, the second Care of the Cow album, released only as a tiny cassette edition in 1983.

For us, this is a lost gem from the ‘80s underground which really deserved a LP/CD reissue. Here it is, done in collaboration with Steve Krakow of Plastic Crimewave / Galactic Zoo fame.

“Experimental folk-rock music into minimal synth depths. What a gem!”
-Archaic Inventions

“An absolute unique psych/folk/new music/post-punk blend. Strongly recommended to all open-minded listeners”
–Tony Coulter (WFMU)

Mental Experience presents a reissue of Care Of The Cow's Dogs' Ears Are Stupid, originally released only on cassette in 1983. The album is a fascinating blend of psychedelic folk, minimal electronics and post-punk weirdness. Acid fuzz guitar, incredible vocal harmonies, drum machines, and analogue synths make it one of Chicago's best kept secrets, with a history that goes back to 1974. A trio formed by Victor Sanders, X Baczewska, and Sher Doruff, they had a very unique and eclectic sound, experimental yet very melodic, mixing psychedelic folk-rock with art-rock and DIY/post-punk. Their influences were very diverse: The Beatles, Fripp, Eno, Joni Mitchell, Carla Bley, Pauline Oliveros, and Eric Dolphy. Care Of The Cow debuted in 1975 with a 10" followed by their first album in 1981. By 1983, the band was adding drum machines and synths to their sound, highlighted by Victor's amazing guitar playing and X and Sher's perfectly blended vocal harmonies, resulting in Dogs' Ears Are Stupid, released only as a tiny cassette edition in 1983. For the Mental Experience, this is a lost gem from the '80s underground which really deserved a reissue. Here it is, done in collaboration with Steve Krakow of Plastic Crimewave/Galactic Zoo fame. Remastered from the master tapes, includes insert with liner notes Krakow and photos.

Care Of The Cow was formed in Chicago in 1974 by Christine Baczewska, Victor Sanders, Sher Doruff and Kevin Clark. From 1974-1984 Baczewska, Sanders and Doruff produced an album “I Still Don’t Know your Style” (1981) and an album length cassette Dog’s Ears Are Stupid (1983). There are many live recordings and an promo LP from 1975.

The album I Still Don't Know Your Style captured COTC's amazing eclectic musical style. With their psychedelic folk, art-rock, strange manipulations and collages with humouristic lyrics COTC remains one of those well kept secrets from Chicago's 70's and 80's underground. Some people remember them from festivals in the mid-sevnties and some remember them from a later period in the eighties. Nevertheless their music lacks attention from listeners, since it's musically too unclassifiable for many.

COTC's even more hidden cassette Dogs' Ears Are Stupid collects some other sounds than you would expect. Apparently the band began to experiment with synthesizers and drum machines in the eighties and started to poor their experimental folk-rock music into minimal synth depths. They managed to achieve their musical warmth in a cold way. A great way only real groovy people that were active in seventies could crossover with into the eighties (Daevid Allen could be another example) What a gem! I think the track European Trains has some of the best minimal synth potential of the album, while the folk elements are still there.

Care Of The Cow ceased to exist by the mid-eighties and the members allegedly got scattered over the US and Europe. The singer Christine Baczewska released a compilation CD in 1993. Maybe someone knows more.

http://www.filefactory.com/file/5v7knfhtlths/8733.rar

Care Of The Cow - 1981 - I Still Don't Know Your Style

Care Of The Cow
1981
I Still Don't Know Your Style




01. Conversation Piece 6:05
02. Eternally At Work 6:04
03. Christinatron 2:20
04. Que Sera, Sarah 4:40
05. The Slope Of Her Nose 7:29
06. Downstream 7:23
07. Clippings 2:56
08. Strophe 4:30

Guitar – Victor Sanders
Vocals – Christine Baczewska
Vocals, Performer [Multi-instrumentalist] – Sher Doruff




This long forgotten Chicago band was formed in mid-1970s as a quartet of Christine Baczewska, Sher Doruff, Victor Sanders and Kevin Clark. The first three survived long enough to leave this highly original item to posterity.

The band relied largely on the combination of Baczewska’s vocal talents and Sanders’s imaginative engineering, with more than a dollop of Doruff’s compositional and multi-instrumentalist skills. Relying on vocal polyphonies and very transparent instrumentation, the band’s relationship with melody often seemed entirely accidental.

Baczewska’s and Doruff’s voices are the leading instruments here, benefiting from ingenious multi-tracking. The vocalscapes accelerate and decelerate at will, confronting the listener with dizzying transformations of pitch, volume and energy. This is achieved without abrupt cut-ups, which would have probably dominated had this recording been made in the sampling era…

Breezy female vocal polyphonies sometimes brought comparisons with more widely known Raincoats, but even at “Odyshape” the London girls were more straightforwardly ‘rock’.

Wildly idiosyncratic and prone to creep up on you and knock you sideways with a subtly deranged tangent when you're least expecting it, this utterly superb (and equally unknown) unit have a distinctly Slapp Happy and Raincoats edge to their sound, without ever necessarily sounding precisely like either of 'em, though anyone swept off their feet by the wily charms of the aforementioned artists owes it to themselves to explore Care Of The Cow's winsomely weird little universe posthaste.

Conversation Piece
We first hear a tape recording of a child singing the 1957 evergreen “Just Walking in the Rain”. From a swirling electronic loop gradually surfaces a vocal part, instantly subjected to dynamic swells and accelerations. Doubled up by a second alto and a breezy guitar, the feeling is almost Lusitanian, but suffused with faulty intonation, split notes and recurrent hysteresis. The moods, the scales and the volumes keep sliding, exposing sudden pitch changes. The melody will advance only when the rhythm guitar and bells steady its progression, prefiguring Seattle’s Tone Dogs by several years. Sher Doruff’s rustling twelve-string guitar is resplendescent here. After another taped intermission (a children’s party) the voice-as-instrument treatments return. The ascensions are portamento, but the gear shifts are so prevalent that you can’t help checking if the speedometer on your turntable does not reveal any problems with the equipment. It is remarkable how polyrhythmic the band can get with only Victor Sanders’s acoustic guitar as the only explicitly rhythm instrument.

Eternally at Work
An a capella intro is delivered in Anglo-Celtic style. Witty multi-tracking superimposes lyrical polyphony. Still, the disturbed hierarchy between the first and second voice destroys any tonal expectations. The chest voice belches out: “And after all these years – I Still Don’t Your Style”. Despite all the obsessive pitch manipulation, the logocentric structure avoids melismas. The instruments struggle with this unusual velocity distribution: a naïve, belated clarinet, bass clarinet, pennywhistle and tattered percussion are never on time. The fractured melodism of polyphonic vocals dominates and more organized drums and guitar passages do not make this venture any more style-bound.

Christinatron
Christine Baczewska’s solo recording for multiple vocal strata. The smooth overlapping of frequencies yields a quasi-electronic, spacious feel. The range is somewhat compressed, yet legible: the higher notes are shorter, the lower melismas are longer. Between them, the notes circulate, rotate. It ends naturally, projecting an elegant, stylistic challis that would define Mauve Sideshow’s sound several years later.

Qué sera, Sarah
So here we go – Ray Evans and Jay Livingston’s 1956 pop classic mangled and regurgitated in a completely disfigured fashion, with droning guitar and female yodeling immersed in spacey echoes. The drumming is isometric, crisp and elastic, the electric guitar flourishings are distinct but mellow. Neither the waves of vocalizing, nor the space jam – style drumming prepare us for the familiar lines: “Will I be pretty, will I be rich?”, only to be blotted out by ponderous guitar thunders. Credible space whisper and the lengthy drone, not Doris Day’s caprices, determine the plasticity of this track.

The Slope of her Nose
The pivotal track on the record mixes the avant-garde structuring with satiny pop vocal mannerism. It opens with chatting, laughter and a metallic voice reciting a poem: “I’d love to ski sometime – I’d never been skiing”, we hear. Volume swells on the vocal parts are extreme but come in discrete packets, isorhythmically (pitch and rhythm patterns do not coincide). Then we move into a waltz, with some electronics, bells and slide whistle, close to Klimperei’s domain. The second voice is fine-grained and more rational. They eventually take off – in unison first, and then burst into a totally abstract section teeming with unstable chordal textures, percussion and bells. When it turns into a guitar hymn, harp-like articulation filters through the steel guitar’s frets. The band’s melodic indifference is remarkable. The continued parity violation raises a question if they had not recorded the input material first and then manipulated it by slowing and speeding the tape at will… However, the avoidance of vibrato and the softening presence of angelic chorus mask this quasiperiodic operation.

Downstream
A slow-decay tam-tam brings us into a Harry Partchian idiophonic intro, which is instantly discontinued. Baczewska’s voice is produced in an echo-pop fashion, but the bizarrely tuned, energetic xylophones overreact to the melancholic vocal line. It requires considerable ambiguity tolerance: the twain shall not meet. Dry recitation of Bertold Brecht’s text, tepid, consolatory guitar and bass are purely contiguous with the angularity of the percussive assaults. The twin vocals go polyphonic without any pretense of melodic goal-seeking, leaving two guitars to build a crescendo. The inconsequential rhythm acoustic guitar operates in close-ups. The distorted electric guitar is more distant, but too evocative of the conventional rock idiom.

Clippings
C.W.Vrtacek-styled guitar handled by Victor Sanders takes us back to the deceptively “Brazilian” mood of the first piece, undercut pitch jumps and vocal manipulation. The guitars accentuate the building drama in the narrative. The hesitating melodic line seems to be determined by, rather than accommodate, the syllabic count in the lyrics – the more vowels are there, the longer the passage. The heaviest moment on this record follows – with chopped rhythms and punchy guitar riffs.

Strophe
Music boxes bring a variety of associations. Plush shops facing Lake Geneva. Cute little dolls dancing. Hat Shoes’ memorable “Saddest Train Ride”… Care of the Cow expose us to articulatory suppression and subsequent retrieval: a whispering voice, lap steel guitar in lieu of a piano in low register and electric guitar in high register. Delicately undulating multi-vocal texture gets some percussive help, but unobtrusive echo treatment ensures a relative immobility of the piece.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Armando Tirelli - 1978 - El Profeta

Armando Tirelli
1978
El Profeta



01. Prologo El Profeta (8:26)
02. Candombe Samba (4:52)
03. Barco de los Suenos (2:27)
04. Tema Central El Profeta (2:06)
05. El Momento de Partir (1:46)
06. Amanever en Orphalese (2:40)
07. Hablanos del Matrimonio (5:28)
08. Hablanos del Dar (3:09)
09. Hablanos del Amor (3:45)
10. Los Ecos de Almustafe (3:28)
11. Hablanos de los Hijos (4:59)
12. Tocata Scarahuala (0:34)
13. Tema Central El Profeta (1:46)

- Armando Tirelli / piano, mellotron, organ, synthesizer, vocals
- J. C. Sheppard / drums
- Ricardo Bozas / drums
- J. Carrara / bass
- G. Bregstein / sax, flute
- G. Chaibun / flute
- Rody Troccli / guitar



Armando Tirelli was the keyboardist and primary composer for the Uruguayan soft-rock/jazz group SEXTETO ELECTRONICO MODERNO beginning in the late sixties. That band released four studio albums before emigrating to Mexico under the name ËXODO in the mid-seventies. Tirelli moved on to release his lone solo album "El Profeta", a symphonic and spoken-word thematic effort based on the poetic novel 'The Prophet' by Lebanese writer and sixties counter-culture icon KHALIL GIBRAN.

While Tirelli's previous work with SEXTETO ELECTRONICO MODERNO was characterized by jazz and classical influences, as well as more traditional Latin inflections of bossanova and salsa, "El Profeta" is a highly symphonic concept album that is heavily akin to the most poignant Italian symphonic music (PFM, LE ORME). Tirelli includes a number of spoken-word passages in Spanish, presumably in reference to Gibran's novel.

The tracks are arranged to coincide more or less sequentially with the novel, with some individual tracks even representing specific poems in the work. The instrumentation is all centered around Tirelli's piano, and to a lesser extent synthesizers, plus some fuzz guitar that gives a real spark to many passages. The original vinyl is nearly impossible to find today, but there are re-issued CD versions available in the Americas and Europe.


Andrzej Trzaskowski - 1967 - Seant

Andrzej Trzaskowski
1967
Seant




01. Seant [9:58]
02. Wariacja Na Temat 'Oj, Tam U Boru' / Variation On The Theme 'Near The Forest' [6:37]
03. The Quibble [7:58]
04. Cosinusoida [24:45]

Andrzej Trzaskowski - piano
Ted Curson - trumpet
Wlodzimierz Nahorny - alto saxophone
Janusz Muniak - soprano saxophone
Jacek Ostaszewski - bas
Adam Jedrzejowski - drums

Recorded in National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw, December 1965 and December 1966
Recording director: Antoni Karuzas
Recording engineer: Janusz Pollo




This monumental album, perhaps as important as fellow Polish Jazz Godfather Krzysztof Komeda's "Astigmantic", recorded at the same period, is unfortunately significantly less known and appreciated, both in Poland and abroad, which is a great misfortune. Pianist / composer Andrzej Trzaskowski contributed enormously to the development of Polish Jazz, especially in the field of more experimental, avant-garde, Free Jazz music, which was rapidly developing worldwide in the 1960s. This sextet recording, which includes American trumpeter Ted Curson (of Charles Mingus fame), who was spending as much of his time in Europe as at home, playing along brilliant Polish crew: saxophonists Wlodzimierz Nahorny and Janusz Muniak, bassist Jacek Ostaszewski and drummer Adam Jedrzejowski. The music, all original compositions by Trzaskowski, is simply brilliant and absolutely pioneering in every respect. Listening to this album in retrospect one can hear clearly that in the historic perspective it was as innovative and groundbreaking as anything else created at the time over the pond and beyond the Iron Curtain. In addition it is also aesthetically beautiful and intellectually challenging. An absolute must to any Polish Jazz enthusiast; this is an essential piece of Polish Jazz history.

Andrzej Trzaskowski - 1965 - The Andrzej Trzaskowski Quintet

Andrzej Trzaskowski
1965
The Andrzej Trzaskowski Quintet



01. Requiem Dla Scotta La Faro / Requiem For Scotty [2:47]
02. Synopsis (Expression I, Expression II, Impression) [18:13]
03. Ballada Z Silverowska Kadencja / A Ballad With Cadence In Horace Silver's Style [1:43]
04. Sinobrody / Bluebeard [10:22]
05. Post Scriptum [2:44]
06. Wariacja Jazzowa Na Temat 'Chmiela' / 'The Hop' - Jazz Variation On A Polish Folk Melody [11:05]

Polish Jazz vol. 4
Recorded in Warsaw at Polskie Nagrania Studio
January 20-22, 1965 (tracks 1-4), February 18, 1965 (tracks 5-6)
Recording engineer: Halina Jastrzebska
24-bit remastered from original master tapes XL 0258

Personnel:
Tomasz Stanko – trumpet
Janusz Muniak – soprano and alto sax
Andrzej Trzaskowski – piano
Jacek Ostaszewski – bass
Adam Jedrzejowski – drums



One thing I like about this is that its off-ness is mostly rhythm-centered as opposed to tone-centered. Sure there's dissonance here and there but most of the things that mark this as "avant-garde" involve Trzaskowski and company's tendency to throw in weird, offbeat emphasis and countermelodies. It's a refreshing alternate take on what it means to push the boundaries.

There's also a lot of lower key explorations that the quintet take in between their more involved pieces. i'm not just talking about the interstitial pieces like "Requiem dla Scota La Faro" and "Post Scriptum," but the moments within the longerpieces where the group quiets down for a spell without breaking the momentum of the piece.

Part of the reason that I'm so taken with the 18 minute "Synopsis" is that it lays out all the groups strengths without feeling like an excuse to do so. Let me try to explain that better: most songs that play as omnibus entries to show off just how many things a given group can do feel somewhat self-congratulatory and unearned. "Synopsis" flows naturally as a song of its own while leading you through the whole of the band's breadth and it's so much better for it.

The other lengthy pieces don't quite match "Synopsis" in scope, but they definitely show that Trzaskowski and his collaborators have an easy chemistry with each other. They've also got a nice playful streak in them as on the closing Polish folk interpretation "Wariacja jazzowa na temat "chmiela"" that makes for a nice ly varied listen.

Truth be told, the shorter pieces here are a bit of a distraction to me. They're more showcases for Tzraskowski alone rather than the quintet, and the quintet is the bigger draw and the most impressive aspect of the release is how they work together. They're not really doing anyhting terribly new and exciting, but their playing as a unit is a joy to witness.

Titanic - 1979 - Eye Of The Hurricane

Titanic
1979
Eye Of The Hurricane




01. East West (5:00)
02. Angel Dust (3:25)
03. Clear As Lightning (3:25)
04. Ringing in My Ears (3:00)
05. We Got the Fire (3:55)
06. Lenny (3:50)
07. Ram Jam Band (3:25)
08. Too Late (3:45)
09. Night Bird (3:25)
10. Love Lights Up (3:55)

- Roy Robinson / vocals
- Kenny Aas / keyboards
- Janny Loseth / guitar
- John Lorck / drums

+ Mike Piccirillo / bass



If you thought Titanic could not do any worse than Ballad of a rock'n roll loser ,they actually manage to do so with Eye of the hurricane.On Ballad of a rock'n roll loser we do manage to get 3 decent songs,but here there is unfortunately nothing memorable.Songs sound like third rate Bob Seger leftovers.Straight ahead AOR with no pulse. There is about seven songs worth one star and 3 maybe worth a star and a half.Yes it is that bad I am afraid to say,and after this album the band also broke up or went on a 10 year hiatus,and who could blame them.

Thankfully they were able to deliver three excellent albums and one passable in Return of the Drakkar.As they say,all good things come to an end.

Titanic - 1977 - Return Of Drakkar

Titanic
1977
Return Of Drakkar



01. Blue Train 3:48
02. Flashback 4:17
03. Round n' Round 3:45
04. Sparkly Brown 4:26
05. Let it Ride 3:21
06. Jacknife 3:30
07. Mr Hyde 4:28
08. Haunted House 3:44
09. My Gate to Hell 2:48
10. Cascade 6:11

Roy Robinson - lead vocals
John Lorck - drums
Kjell Asperud - percussions
Janny Loseth - guitar
Claude Chamboissier - keyboards
St. Clair Brunet - bass and backing vocals




With their recording contract with CBS now over, Titanic moved to the rather smaller Barclay records for the release of their fifth studio album in 1978. Once again, the line up was to alter significantly, with John Williamson and Andrew Poulton both departing. Back came John Lorck on drums, to be joined by the wonderfully named basist Saintclair Brunet. More significantly though, the line up once again boasted a keyboard player in Claude Chamboissier.

While the album displays some of the pop rock traits which hampered the disappointing "Ballad of a rock 'n' roll loser", it does at least see the band attempting to turn the clock back towards their fine early albums. The opening "Blue train" is a pleasant but largely prosaic piece of guitar rock. The following (appropriately named) "Flashback" however reintroduces the fine organ sounds, the track being a fairly blatant attempt to create a "Sultana part 2". In a nod toward progress, synthesiser also appears on the track. The remaining tracks on side one (note that the sides are reversed on the rear sleeve) also feature the welcome return of keyboards, but are rather lightweight pop affairs. "Sparkly brown" is especially pop orientated, bordering on the bubblegum.

The side two opener "Jack Knife" is a sort of blend of "Sing fool sing" and "Underbird" from the band's early career, the frantic percussion and driving Hammond reminding us of the band's glory days while offering something fresh and interesting. "Mr. Hyde" has a Mountain (the band) feel to it, the harsh Leslie West like vocals suiting the rock and roll rhythm well. "Haunted house" is an uncomplicated acoustic song, but its strong melody and fine vocal performance make it an album highlight.

The closing "Cascade" is the longest track at just over 6 minutes. The song is a fine organ drenched ballad with a top notch vocal performance by Roy Robinson. It features some effective high backing vocals and some impassioned lyrics.

In summary, a much better album than its predecessor, but "Return of Drakkar" still falls well short of the first three albums released by the band.

Titanic - 1975 - Ballad of a Rock'n'Roll Loser

Titanic
1975
Ballad of a Rock'n'Roll Loser




01. Riding Shotgun on my Soul
02. Honky Vagrant
03. Ballad of a Rock 'n' Roll Loser
04. The Crippler
05. Ricochet
06. Following a Line
07. Buckshee Woman
08. Gambler Dealer
09. Only When I Fly Alone
10. Don't Turn Around

Roy Robinson: vocals
John Williamson: guitar
Andrew Poulton: drums
Janny Loseth: guitar
Kjell Asperud: percussion





Having successfully plotted a path through the icebergs of major line up changes prior to recording their previous album "Eagle rock", Titanic found themselves back on a similar path when it came to recording this album. Gone after just one album was keyboard player Helge Groslie (he does play piano on the title track though), but this time the band did not bring in a replacement in that role. Given that the Titanic sound was until now based around the driving power of the Hammond organ, this inevitably meant a change of direction.

Unfortunately, this time that direction change sees the Titanic heading straight for said iceberg. All of a sudden, the songs are much more light-weight affairs, with twangy guitars and southern rock drawls. Part of the problem appears to be that no one is willing to step up as leader of the band, the songwriting credits being spread thinly among the remaining members. This only serves to emphasise the contribution made by the departed bassist Arica Siggs in that department.

The title track is a pleasant Blood Sweat and Tears like affair, but it is a million miles from the mighty power of "Underbird", the superb prog of "One night in Eagle Rock", or the organ driven excitement of "Sultana". "Ricochet", which closes side one, appears to be a half hearted effort to create another "Sultana", but it's more of a withered raisin really.

"Following a line" sounds for all the world like a song by Family, Roy Robinson doing a passable impression of Roger Chapman. The best track is the closer "Don't turn around", which has a slightly more considered arrangement, a decent melody, and some good (but sadly unaccredited) synth.

It really is difficult to remain positive about this album. Expectations were high as a result of the quality of the previous releases. We could have forgiven the band if they had produced something which rested on their laurels, but "Ballad of a rock'n'roll loser" is all too appropriately named. To be fair, this album may have formed the fulfilment of a contractual obligation to CBS records, as they left the label after its release.

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Titanic - 1973 - Eagle Rock

Titanic
1973
Eagle Rock




01. One Night In Eagle Rock
02. All Around You
03. One Of Your Kind
04. Heia Valenga
05. Dying Sun
06. And It's Music
07. Richmond Express
08. Maureen
09. The Skeleton

CD bonus tracks:
10. Rain 2000
11. Blond
12. Macumba
13. Midinght Sadness

- Roy Robinson / vocals
- Helge Groslie / keyboards
- Janne Loseth / guitar
- Kjell Asperud / percussion
- John Lorck / drums
- Arica Siggs / bass




All the power of the heavy Hammond organ is present during these fantastic eight minutes (almost). This band has a real sound of his own even if their style are quite reminiscent of the great hard/heavy rock bands of the era (I already pointed this out in a previous review of their work).

Not only is the rhythmic and keys superb: Janne Loseth delivers an excellent and wild guitar break. This track is full of energy and again it reminds me lot of the great ''Atomic Rooster'' (but not only). ''One Night In Eagle Rock'' is a gigantic track.

The band was also quite successful in terms of hit singles, and ''All Around You'' is a good example on how good the band was in writing catchy songs. This one is on the rocking side to say the least. A vigorous beat all the way through, convincing vocals and a great backing band. Not bad, right?

The heavy sounds are back again with ''One Of Your Kind''. Seriously psychedelic, it demonstrates all the strengths of these guys. Gosh! Having developed such type of music in these ancient times (they started in '69) in a country as Norway is quite remarkable.

One also has to listen to this track and succumb to the charm of the mood changes: from wild to melodic and harmonious in a couple of seconds. Impressive to say the least. This is another very good song (but so far, there aren't any weak ones).

The fully heavy-prog oriented ''Dying Sun'' is definitely another highlight from this work. It is a wonderful kaleidoscope of crazy percussions and admirable Hammond organ (yes, I 'm quite found of this). IMO, it is really one of their top ten songs that deserves to be listened to. I will soon upload some MP3 so that you can share the experience and enjoy.

''Titanic'' was also the type of band who were writing some fine rock ballad to break the overall heavy mood: ''And It's Music'' is such a song. The band is back to its roots though with the energetic ''Richmond Express''. A killer rock song that kicks quite a bunch. Helge Groslie on the organ is really performing a great job and the percussions (another genuine characteristics form ''Titanic'' ) are closing the track jolly well.

It could also apply to ''Maureen'' but this song is more elaborate and is much more than just a rock ballad: there are several theme changes, great instrumental interplay and as always, this convincing and warm vocals from Roy Robinson (who reminds me of Gary Brooker from''Procol Harum'').

D release offers four bonus tracks of which ''Rain 2000'' shares some similarities with ''Sultana'' (percussions mainly). This one is no instrumental though. Some sort of Norwegian samba! A nice experience by all means.

This song was released as a single in 1972 and was backed by ''Blond'' which is a decent rock ballad. Maybe somewhat mellowish, but that's another side of their work. Fine organ anyway (but at this time, this is no surprise) and moving vocals.

The other two songs were released on an EP in 1973 (together with ''Richmond Express'' and ''Rain 2000''). As far as I know, it was only released in Mexico (the band was quite popular in Latin America).

As its title indicates ''Macumba'' is quite a rhythmic tune with serious Latin accents. Don't expect any ''Sultana'' but it is not a bad song (although the ''chants'' are not really great).

No need to tell you that ''Midnight Sadness'' is totally different. The smooth ''Titanic'' side is shown here (very close to ''Procol Harum'' again).

If you consider that only two short tracks would have been best avoided (''Heia?'' and ''Skeleton''), this album sits perfectly between their great debut and their good sophomore work.

Titanic - 1971 - Sea Wolf

Titanic
1971
Sea Wolf



01. Sea Wolf
02. Underbird
03. Confusion
04. Sultana
05. Hanging Over
06. Covered in Dust
07. A Stone's Throw
08. Scarlet
09. Exiled

Bonus Track
10.- Sing Fool Sing

- Kenny Aas / Organ
- Kjell Asperud / Drums
- John Lorck / Drums
- Janne Loseth / Guitar
- Roy Robinson / Vocals


After the surprising self titled debut (surprising because Norway's Rock was practically unknown), TITANIC managed to maintain the same lineup and went for a more mature release which was named "Sea Wolf".

This album came after the success of the Santana oriented single "Sultana" which was the B side of a less famous track named "Sing Fool Sing" that has been added to "Sea Wolf only as bonus track, a song that was well received in Spain, Holland, Germany and other European counties and allowed TITANIC to be known outside Norway.

The album starts with "Sea Wolf", which marked a constant in the band of opening albums with one of the best tracks and hiding nothing for the end, from the beginning TITANIC attacks us with a blend of Hard Rock and Psyche oriented keyboards, radical changes and a coherent structure, frantic from start to end with not a second to rest, as if the band had panic to silent moments.

"Underbird" begins with a frenetic organ intro and a Latin oriented percussion that takes us to some sort of British Invasion music with SANTANA influence, but of course the difference is made when the band starts to change from one mood to another repeatedly and Janne Loseth adds his peculiar guitar to the mix, a fantastic track with strong percussions probably congas.

Just when I believed I had found a pattern in "Sea Wolf" this guys break my mental structure with "Confusion" and the mid 70's Country oriented sound with a touch of BOB DYLAN, even the voice of "Roy Robinson sounds pretty close to good old bob. The use of harmonica enhances the effect but the chorus make the difference.

I don't know if "Sultana" is a tribute to SANTANA or is just that the band members loved Carlos' style so much that they wanted to play like his bad. The use of the Hammond takes us to the late 60's in the Psyche peak, plus the excellent percussion. The main difference with SANTANA relies in the lack of guitar solos, something absolutely honest by TITANIC who wanted to keep their individuality.

I don't know if "Hanging Over" is played with public or it's simply an effect, but the short piano intro misleads us to believe they are going for something closer to Symphonic, but in a fraction of second the song morphs into classic Rock & Roll of the 50's, with a style reminiscent of "Jerry lee Lewis", but only for a few minutes, because the piano interruptions and guitar solos reminds we're before a Rock band of the 70's with solid influences of the late 60's.

"Covered in Dust" is a major change in the style, they perform some sort of Blues Oriented Rock in the vein of GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, but even when they go for a mainstream structure, Kenny Aas with his keyboards present an approach towards Progressive Rock, not as clear as in "Eagle Rock" but obvious for anybody. The drums and percussion combo deserves a special mention, because John Lorck and Kjell Asperud play as if there was no tomorrow.

"A Stone's Throw" is a strange song for TITANIC, sounds clearly like a Psyche track with piano instead of Hammond and a pretty simple structure, nice but not great, on the other hand "Scarlet" is an excellent track with a bit of everything, starting with the soft vocals, accurate percussion, fantastic keyboards and spacey atmosphere, this album keeps getting better

"Exiled" is something special, from the start the sober organ intro leads us to a martial drum section as if we were before an anthem, but again they change into a fluid Power Ballad where the chorus are simply outstanding (something not so unusual in a band where almost all the musicians sing), as a fact they remind me of early QUEEN in some moments but leaving clear that this music is previous to any QUEEN's release,

This time I will comment the bonus track "Sing Fool Sing" because it fits perfectly in the atmosphere of the album, being that it was released as A side of their single hit "Sultana", in this blues oriented song that reminds of WAR, the band shows another face, they can rock and still have a funky touch while keeping intact the Psyche atmosphere, good addition for an already very good album.

Titanic - 1970 - Titanic

Titanic
1970
Titanic



01. Searchin
02. Love is love
03. Mary Jane
04. Cry for a Beatle
05. Something on my mind
06. Firewater
07. Schizmatic mind
08. I see no reason

Bonus tracks on CD release:
09. Half
10. Santa Fe

- Kenny Aas / Organ
- Kjell Asperud / Drums
- John Lorck / Drums
- Janne Loseth / Guitar
- Roy Robinson / Vocals




Norway is not precisely the cradle of Progressive Rock, but a band formed in 1969 when the genre was still on diapers, a group of musicians from Oslo, decided to form a Hard Rock band inspired in legends such as LED ZEPPELIN and DEEP PURPLE, but gave a step forward and created a unique sound that blended all this influences with our beloved genre and a strong Psychedelic element.

The original lineup was formed by Kenny AAS playing the organ and bass, Janne LOSETH in charge of the guitar and vocals, John LORCK as drummer and Kjell ASPERUD who added percussion and vocals.

Their first real hit single, the SANTANA oriented "Sultana" almost peaked the UK charts reaching a surprising (for a foreign band not coming from USA) fifth position.

But their recording career had started a year before with the self titled debut. By that point TITANIC had recruited the British vocalist Roy ROBINSON, who not only gave them a more international sound allowing the band to reach the UK and North American markets, but turned into a compositional force of the band.

Their second album "Sea Wolf" is released in 1971, after this album Kenny AAS leaves the band and is replaced with Helge GRØSLIE with whom they release their definitive "Eagle Rock" in 1973 in which they present us a clearly Psyche, Heavy Prog release and a mature sound with an impressive Hammond performance and chorus in the vein of URIAH HEEP.

The band kept releasing albums until 1979 when they disband, however TITANIC rejoined a couple of times with several changes in the linup, and in February 2009 they surprised us with their latest release "Ashes & Diamonds" with Roy ROBINSON and John LOSETH as the only members who were present on their first LP back in 1971.

A strong Hard Rock and Psyche band with evident Prog leanings that deserves to be included in Prog Archives, mainly for their early 70's releases.

The fantastic opener ''Searchin'' is the first jewel available. It is the archetype of a strong heavy-prog track. The work on the organ is fabulous and is only shy of Lord or Hensley. (but not too much). Also to be noticed is the excellent percussion work (but this is another asset of ''Titanic'').

The heavy and psychedelic mood goes on with another winner: ''Love Is Love''. It is again a very powerful and dynamic song. Just listen to the superb bass/drums section. Absolutely brilliant. This really kicks ass my prog friends. The second highlight.

''Titanic'' has also released some wonderful prog-rock ballads like ''Mary Jane''. It is quite amazing to see that the arrangements were signed William Sheller (a popular French singer but almost unknown in those times). It is a romantic keyboards-oriented song with a catchy melody but there's also a sad side to it. This album is really excellent so far.

''Titanic'' is probably paying tribute to the Fab Four with ''Cry For A Beatle''. Vaguely jazzy and intending to be melodic. It is funny but can't be considered as a great track.

The B-side of the vinyl opens with the heaviest song from this work: ''Something On My Mind''. Almost doom intro, but of course what categorizes this band is the use of the heavy organ. It is also the occasion for the band to integrate a more guitar-oriented track (the first one so far). Not for delicate ears to say the least. But I bloody like it.

The next couple of songs (short ones) are a little weak in comparison. Too much brass in here for ''Firewater'' and a old fashioned sound for the heavy-psych ''Schizmatic Mind''. None of these songs are bad but they just don't play in the same league than the other pieces.

Now. ''La pièce maîtresse'' as far as I'm concerned. The wonderful ''I See No Reason'' clocking at over eight minutes. It starts as a heavy-rock ballad (again organ and bass are all mighty) and it slowly offers a wonderful crescendo part full of soooooo pleasant keys as well as nice backing vocals. It speeds up to offer the most emotional guitar solo from the whole album (and probably from their entire discography). It is an excellent moment of heavy prog music. The fourth highlight. It was the closing number of the original album.

The CD version offers both songs from their hit single: ''Half Bread'' and ''Santa Fe''.

Both sides of the band are represented here: the melodic and rock ballad-oriented with enjoyable keyboards for the former (which was the B-side) and the punchy and very much percussion (''Santana'') oriented ''Santa Fe''. The extravagant beat is really kicking and the sound is pretty similar to the one of ''Sultana''. But that's another story.

I'm really pleased that ''Titanic'' has been added to PA. They fully deserve it (but maybe in another category). If you're in for Purple, Heep, Atomic Rooster etc. I highly recommend this very good album.

Aunt Mary - 1973 - Janus

Aunt Mary
1973
Janus



01. Path of your dream (4:06)
02. Mr. Kaye (2:01)
03. Nocturnal voice (6:06)
04. For all eternity (6:54)
Untitled - Hidden track (0:41)
05. Stumblin' stone (6:10)
06. All we've got to do is dream (2:53)
07. Candles of Heaven (5:26)
08. What a lovely day (5:15)


Bjoern Christiansen / guitar, vocal
Bengt Jensen / keyboards
Svein Gundersen / bass, piano and vocal
Kjetil Stensvik / drums, vocal



If anyone has seen fit to keep the memory of Norway's Aunt Mary alive, it has been the progressive rock crowd, always eager to pay respects to the names that the bigwig magazines might have missed at the time. With that preface, it is notable that Aunt Mary only graduated into the world of full-fledged prog with their third LP, Janus. The hard rock of their first two albums is met with a strong grasp of heavy psych, art pop and symphonic prog. Looking back at the album now, Janus doesn't really excel in any particular way. Rather, Aunt Mary culminated their career with an enjoyably varied and consistent piece of work.

Although 1972's Loaded was replete with proggy undertones, there was a great deal of new territory for Aunt Mary to explore on Janus. While some bands may have used the template of another band's sound to forge their own, Aunt Mary didn't settle for a single style. Sure, there's a certain closeness on "For All Eternity" to Yes Album-era Yes- "Mr. Kaye" might have even passed for one of the deep cuts off a psychedelic Beatles album. Hell, I'd even go one further and say there's a certain Bowie glam to "Nocturnal Voice". From organ-heavy symphonic rock to pop and heavy psych, Aunt Mary weren't trying to evolve or identify with a particular sound so much as taking a sample of each. Had Aunt Mary stuck around for a fourth album, I sure we'd have seen them make a more confirmed decision. The jack-of-all-trades approach undeniably comes at the cost of the album (and band) leaving a rather indistinct impression. Had Aunt Mary made a purebred symphonic prog, or a pop, or a glam rock album, they would have had an easier time selling Janus.

At the same time, there is something to be said for the kind of variety Aunt Mary tackled here. While the fact that they were willing to explore so many options means little by itself, the confidence Aunt Mary approached each style with is striking. With the stylistic difference, for instance, between the symphonic "Path of Your Dream" and quaint pop of "Mr. Kaye" is easily recognizable, the album flows so well together that it's easy to overlook the fact that that Aunt Mary are really shifting gears to begin with. Even beyond the eclectic angle, Janus has a near-immaculate sense of flow; even the goofy "Untitled" snippet that closes off the first side feels in place. Considering I would usually think of a band that jumped between styles like this as non-committal and undecided, it's all to Aunt Mary's credit that the album works together so well.

Janus is a remarkably consistent album, though calling it that limits the possibility of truly excellent, as well as weak material. The bluesy "Stumblin' Stone" or proggy "Candles of Heaven" would probably be my picks if the jury was ever out on choosing 'highlights' off of Janus, but there isn't a song here passionate enough, complex enough or otherwise ambitious enough to have nominated Aunt Mary for the big leagues. The band's performance kinda strikes me the same way. I like the Keith Emerson-y synth runs Bengt Jensen delivers on the album's proggier pieces, but even then it's never wild or nuanced enough to distinguish the band from so oh-so-many of their contemporaries. If in doubt, you can always tell how tight or technical a prog rock band is from the drumming; in this case, Kjetil Stensvik holds a steady beat for Aunt Mary, but personal flourishes are minimal. Their vocals fare a little better; three of the four members lend their voices in arts, although none really serve to replace the considerable charisma of former vocalist Jan Groth.

Janus is a strong, consistent and enjoyable album, and even so it feels like a disappointing place for Aunt Mary to have ended their career. Janus is demonstration of a young band playing with fresh styles, quickly gaining confidence with a considerably expanded range of styles. Had there been a fourth album from these guys, I'm near-certain it would have been even better than Janus. Whatever the case, Aunt Mary closed their career on their best note, and however short their journey together may have been, it resulted in at least one standout record.

Probably my favourite Aunt Mary album. Although their second album Loaded is very good too Janus might still be my personal favourite. The record is a really balanced totality with several impressive songs. Only "Mr. Kaye" feels like a filler. It's easily the weakest song of this LP but it's pretty OK too. The rest of the material is solid hard progressive rock. If I need to choose just one favourite song it might be "Nocturnal Voice". But as I said the album is a strong package so it's not that important to choose any standout tracks.

Aunt Mary's third and final studio album Janus is a highly collectable record and also probably their all time best. Loaded and Janus both are really good albums and worth giving a try for every progressive rock fan out there.

Aunt Mary - 1972 - Loaded

Aunt Mary
1972
Loaded



01. Playthings of the Wind (3:03)
02. Joinin' the Crowd (3:42)
03. Delight (2:44)
04. Upside Down (4:15)
05. Farewell My Friend Pt 1 (3:21)
06. Farewell My Friend Pt 2 (3:21)
07. Blowin' Tiffany (7:23)
08. Fire of My Lifetime (5:11)
09. G Flat Road (5:43)

- Bjoern Christiansen / guitar, vocal
- Bengt Jensen / keyboards
- Svein Gundersen / bass, piano and vocal
- Kjetil Stensvik / drums, vocal




Admitting my own bias as a reviewer, having first heard Aunt Mary's third (and final) album Janus before anything else, the knowledge that these guys would evolve into a full-fledged progressive act has no doubt coloured my impression of Loaded. While an eclectic progressive sound is usually preferable to the sort of psychedelic-tinged hard rock that flooded the early 70s, it's not the difference in style that makes Loaded the lesser testament in hindsight. Aunt Mary made themselves out to be an impressive hard rock act here, but with songwriting chops ringing true only around half the time, Loaded is left feeling less impressive than might befit a band of their thunderous energy.

It has everything to do with consistency. Beginning with the debut (which I've heard compared to the rockier side of Jethro Tull, and rightly so) Aunt Mary always had an inventive side to them. It would be wrong to say they 'evolved' into progressive rock on Janus- it was just a matter of highlighting an element that was there all along. Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, the best cuts on Loaded are those in which Aunt Mary are openly strutting their progressive side. Make no mistake; Loaded is a hard rock album and never strays far from that path, but the particularly sophisticated riffs in "Joinin' the Crowd" and inventive flair of "Fire of My Lifetime" feel cut from a different cloth than the regular sort of 12 bar bluesy same-old that influenced so many of these bands.

As I said before, listening to Janus has influenced the way I see Loaded. The problem is not that Aunt Mary were playing familiar blues rock for the most part; it's that the mileage of their songwriting success varies to the point of a fault. "Playthings of the Wind" is a solid tune, and as I mentioned before, "Fire of my Lifetime" is a fantastic song, and probably the best tune Aunt Mary ever wrote. On the other hand, "Delight" feels like a shrill half-baked ditty at best, and "Upside Down" is plainly boring- with its tired blues rehashes, it sounds like a poor man's Rolling Stones, without the benefits of that band's natural talent as songwriters.

Even "Blowin' Tiffany"- eight minutes long, and my greatest initial hope for the album- feels sort of aimless; it's as if Aunt Mary felt the urge to write a hard rock epic, but lacked the inspiration for it at the time. Be it progressive or your garden variety hard rock; Aunt Mary are successful half of the time with both on Loaded. So much of the criticism I see regarding this album attacks the album for not being 'progressive' enough. That is not the issue at all. Aunt Mary could have made an excellent hard rock record just as well as a progressive one. Where Janus succeeded over Loaded was not necessarily a matter of style, but the fact that they made each song somehow memorable. That album flowed. This one flows around half the time.

More enduring fans of Aunt Mary seem to be torn between this and Janus as their favourite. I'll conclude the review on a more positive note: while Loaded's songwriting is impressive only half the time, they had a thunderous, organic punch to their sound. I think they lost a bit of it on Janus. For my money, it's that album that will stand the test of time (as best as Aunt Mary can, at least) but Loaded has got its moments.

Admitting my own bias as a reviewer, having first heard Aunt Mary's third (and final) album Janus before anything else, the knowledge that these guys would evolve into a full-fledged progressive act has no doubt coloured my impression of Loaded. While an eclectic progressive sound is usually preferable to the sort of psychedelic-tinged hard rock that flooded the early 70s, it's not the difference in style that makes Loaded the lesser testament in hindsight. Aunt Mary made themselves out to be an impressive hard rock act here, but with songwriting chops ringing true only around half the time, Loaded is left feeling less impressive than might befit a band of their thunderous energy.

It has everything to do with consistency. Beginning with the debut (which I've heard compared to the rockier side of Jethro Tull, and rightly so) Aunt Mary always had an inventive side to them. It would be wrong to say they 'evolved' into progressive rock on Janus- it was just a matter of highlighting an element that was there all along. Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, the best cuts on Loaded are those in which Aunt Mary are openly strutting their progressive side. Make no mistake; Loaded is a hard rock album and never strays far from that path, but the particularly sophisticated riffs in "Joinin' the Crowd" and inventive flair of "Fire of My Lifetime" feel cut from a different cloth than the regular sort of 12 bar bluesy same-old that influenced so many of these bands.

As I said before, listening to Janus has influenced the way I see Loaded. The problem is not that Aunt Mary were playing familiar blues rock for the most part; it's that the mileage of their songwriting success varies to the point of a fault. "Playthings of the Wind" is a solid tune, and as I mentioned before, "Fire of my Lifetime" is a fantastic song, and probably the best tune Aunt Mary ever wrote. On the other hand, "Delight" feels like a shrill half-baked ditty at best, and "Upside Down" is plainly boring- with its tired blues rehashes, it sounds like a poor man's Rolling Stones, without the benefits of that band's natural talent as songwriters.

Even "Blowin' Tiffany"- eight minutes long, and my greatest initial hope for the album- feels sort of aimless; it's as if Aunt Mary felt the urge to write a hard rock epic, but lacked the inspiration for it at the time. Be it progressive or your garden variety hard rock; Aunt Mary are successful half of the time with both on Loaded. So much of the criticism I see regarding this album attacks the album for not being 'progressive' enough. That is not the issue at all. Aunt Mary could have made an excellent hard rock record just as well as a progressive one. Where Janus succeeded over Loaded was not necessarily a matter of style, but the fact that they made each song somehow memorable. That album flowed. This one flows around half the time.

More enduring fans of Aunt Mary seem to be torn between this and Janus as their favourite. I'll conclude the review on a more positive note: while Loaded's songwriting is impressive only half the time, they had a thunderous, organic punch to their sound. I think they lost a bit of it on Janus. For my money, it's that album that will stand the test of time (as best as Aunt Mary can, at least) but Loaded has got its moments.

Aunt Mary - 1970 - Aunt Mary

Aunt Mary
1970
Aunt Mary



01. Whispering farewell (4:00)
02. Did you notice (3:18)
03. Theres a lot of fish in the sea (3:51)
04. I do and I did (4:52)
05. 47 steps (4:39)
06. Rome wasn't built in one day (2:59)
07. Come in (3:29)
08. Why don't you try yourself (2:28)
09. The ball (3:33)
10. All my sympathy for Lily (3:21)
11. Yes, by now Ive reached the end (2:51)

Bjoern Christiansen / guitar, vocal
Per Ivar Fure / flute, harmonica, saxophone, mouth-organ and vocal
Jan Leonard Groth / keyboards, guitar and vocals
Svein Gundersen / bass, piano and vocal
Kjetil Stensvik / drums, vocal



I was surprised to find this to be the most approachable, and probably the closest to actual progressive music, of all the Aunt Mary albums. There isn’t as much emphasis on keyboards as there would be on the next three records (although there is a bit more piano than on ‘Loaded’ or ‘Janus’), and the presence of flute, Jew’s harp and harmonica is more noticeable.

The band reminds me a lot of a stripped-down Blood, Sweat & Tears on their more free-form songs such as “Did You Notice?”, “Come In” and “47 Steps”. Guitarist/vocalist Bjoern Christiansen has this sort of Joe Cocker thing working for him that would become even more pronounced later, but here against the horns and piano he sounds more like that almost jazzy sound that BST and even Chicago had in their early days.

But this is a band in transition from the sixties to the seventies, and that is quite evident on tracks like “Rome Wasn't Built in one Day” where the guitar shows some mild psych tendencies, the bass is heavier than most seventies bands, and the band shows a preference for layered, harmonizing vocals in the vein of CSNY or the Byrds.

Like their other albums the songs here are mostly short, and none of them is complex to any degree. Some, such as “Why Don't you try Yourself?” sound to me as if there was a fair amount of improvisation going on in the studio since the organist and guitarist seem to go off for a couple minutes and then everything just stops. A decent display of keyboarding on that track, but as a cohesive song it comes off as rather disjointed and incomplete.

“The Ball” is similar, but here the band sounds like they’re trying to pull of some sort of Ekseption-like Bach-on-organ interpretation that turns into a free-form mini-jam session with vocals not quite matching the music. In reality this kind of irreverent and totally non-commercial music is one of the reasons we prog fans seek this stuff out though; the rough edges and experimentation are what make it fun to listen to. Toward the end of this one I start to wonder if these guys maybe took some influences from Arthur Brown even.

The album ends with the short, heavy organ “Yes, By Now I've Reached the End” that sounds, if you can imagine this, like a Norwegian Jim Morrison trying to sound apocalyptic and somber. He doesn’t really pull it off, but nice effort, and the organ presence here signals the band’s direction for their two albums.

Eleven tracks present an interesting mixture of psychedelic, blues and jazz with some prog tendencies. Each track has a memorable melodie with short, but sweet to ears solo part from musicians. Jan Groth with his hammond makes a unique atmosphere on tracks like "Whispering farewell" and "Rome wasn't bult in one day". Alongside with with guitarist Bjorn Christiansen they provide some strong vocal - separetly and together. Their fromula of keyboard-oriented progressive rock later will be used by such legendary norvegian groups as Polol Vah and Titanic, but musicians from Aunt Mary were the first on this way. Great album by a great band! Should be heard by any lover of early prog.

Blind Blake - 1991 - Complete Recorded Works

Blind Blake
1991
Complete Recorded Works 
In Chronological Order




Volume 1 
(July 1926 To October 1927)




01. Leola B. Wilson Dying Blues 2:45
02. Leola B. Wilson Ashley St. Blues 2:58
03. Blind Blake Early Morning Blues 2:52
04. Blind Blake West Coast Blues 3:09
05. Blind Blake Early Morning Blues 3:00
06. Blind Blake Too Tight 2:30
07. Blind Blake Blake's Worried Blues 3:03
08. Blind Blake Come On, Boys, Let's Do That Messin' Around 2:43
09. Blind Blake Tampa Bound 2:41
10. Blind Blake Skeedle Loo Doo Blues 3:05
11. Blind Blake Skeedle Loo Doo Blues 3:01
12. Blind Blake Stonewall Street Blues 2:53
13. Leola B. Wilson State Street Men Blues 3:09
14. Leola B. Wilson Down The Country 2:32
15. Leola B. Wilson Black Biting Bee Blues 2:45
16. Leola B. Wilson Wilson Dam 2:34
17. Blind Blake With His Kazoo Band Buck-Town Blues 2:53
18. Blind Blake Black Dog Blues 2:47
19. Blind Blake One Time Blues 2:36
20. Blind Blake Bad Feeling Blues 2:26
21. Blind Blake Dry Bone Shuffle 2:40
22. Blind Blake That Will Never Happen No More 3:02
23. Blind Blake Brownskin Mama Blues 2:36
24. Blind Blake Hard Road Blues 2:36
25. Blind Blake Hey, Hey, Daddy Blues 3:09
26. Blind Blake Sea Board Stomp 3:01

Recording date, location, matrix, catalog number:
1. circa July 1926, Chicago, 2655-2, Paramount 12392
2. circa July 1926, Chicago, 2656-2, Paramount 12392
3. circa August 1926, Chicago, 2668-2, Paramount 12387
4. circa August 1926, Chicago, 2669-2, Paramount 12387
5. circa October 1926, Chicago, 3057-1, Paramount 12387
6. circa October 1926, Chicago, 3059-2, Paramount 12431
7. circa October 1926, Chicago, 3060-2, Paramount 12442
8. circa October 1926, Chicago, 3061-2, Paramount 12413
9. circa October 1926, Chicago, 3062-2, Paramount 12442
10. circa November 1926, Chicago, 3073-1, Paramount 12413
11. circa November 1926, Chicago, 3073-2, Paramount 12413
12. circa November 1926, Chicago, 3081-1, Paramount 12431
13. circa November 1926, Chicago, 4010-2, Paramount 12426
14. circa November 1926, Chicago, 4012-2, Paramount 12444
15. circa November 1926, Chicago, 4013-2, Paramount 12444
16. circa November 1926, Chicago, 4014-2, Paramount 12426
17. circa March 1927, Chicago, 4359-1, Paramount 12464
18. circa March 1927, Chicago, 4362-1, Paramount 12464
19. circa March 1927, Chicago, 4363-2, Paramount 12479
20. circa April 1927, Chicago, 4443-1, Paramount 12497
21. April 13-14, 1927, Chicago, 4462-2, Paramount 12479
22. April 13-14, 1927, Chicago, 4468-2, Paramount 12497
23. circa October 1927, Chicago, 20106-2, Paramount 12606
24. circa October 1927, Chicago, 20107-2, Paramount 12583
25. circa October 1927, Chicago, 20108-1, Paramount 12606
26. circa October 1927, Chicago, 20109-1, Paramount 12583

Leola B. Wilson, vocal; accompanied by Blind Blake, guitar. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar Leola B. Wilson, vocal; accompanied Blind Blake, guitar; possibly Jimmy Blythe, piano. Blind Blake with Kazoo Band: Blind Blake, guitar; possibly Dad Nelson, kazoo. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; unknown, rattle-bones



Over a six year period Blind Blake recorded eighty-four titles together with numerous as house guitarist to artists like Papa Charlie Jackson, Ma Rainey, Leola B. Wilson and Irene Scruggs. This compilation covers his formative years and it has been surmised that initially he made three visits between August and December 1926 to Paramount’s Chicago studio. Blake’s first record West Coast Blues / Early Morning Blues was released on October 2 1926, the former title being basically a dance piece with Blake’s jaunty voice exhorting his listeners to do that old country rock, underpinning the spoken lyric with sophisticated, ragtime guitar accompaniment, taking the opportunity to incorporate a popular advertising slogan of the day (Good to the last drop, just like Maxwell House coffee). Early Morning Blues, on the other hand, was lyrically far more menacing, his warm, wistful and insinuating voice, at times reminiscent of Lonnie Johnson’s approach, giving lie to the seriousness of the subject (When you see me sleeping, baby don’t you think I’m drunk, I got one eye on my pistol, the other one on your trunk).

The role of Blind Blake as accompanist to Leola B. Wilson, an artist who sang on the vaudeville circuit, displays his ability to use double and stop time phrases, as well as managing to copy her vocal range on Down The Country Blues, a number inspired by a Bessie Smith song. The instrumental, Buck Town Dance, with kazoo playing from Dad Nelson, was probably the model for the piece so often recorded by John Hurt and Gary Davis during the 1960s while Dry Bone Shuffle and That Will Never Happen No More have noticeable echoes of minstrel and white influence. As both were recorded as part of a hillbilly session by the Kentucky Thorobreds perhaps Paramount were hoping to sell Blind Blake to both markets. Blake’s true guitar genius is evinced with Sea Board Stomp (perhaps the basis for some of Big Bill Broonzy’s stomps) where, not satisfied with emulating instruments like cornet, saxophone and trombone, he also treats his audience to a lesson in the syncopations of Dixieland Jazz.


Volume 2 
(October 1927 To May 1928)



01. Blind Blake You Gonna Quit Me Blues 2:43
02. Blind Blake Steel Mill Blues 3:10
03. Blind Blake Southern Rag 2:50
04. Blind Blake He's In The Jailhouse Now 2:42
05. Blind Blake Wabash Rag 2:51
06. Blind Blake Doggin' Me Mama Blues 3:11
07. Blind Blake C.C. Pill Blues 2:28
08. Blind Blake Hot Potatoes 3:01
09. Blind Blake Southbound Rag 3:19
10. Elzadie Robinson Pay Day Daddy Blues 2:51
11. Elzadie Robinson Elzadie's Policy Blues 3:10
12. Blind Blake Goodbye Mama Moan 2:46
13. Blind Blake Tootie Blues 2:59
14. Blind Blake That Lovin' I Crave 2:40
15. Bertha Henderson That Lonesome Rave 3:09
16. Bertha Henderson Terrible Murder Blues 2:58
17. Bertha Henderson Leavin' Gal Blues 2:49
18. Blind Blake No Dough Blues 2:52
19. Bertha Henderson Lead Hearted Blues 2:33
20. Bertha Henderson Let Your Love Come Down 2:27
21. Blind Blake Rumblin' And Ramblin' Boa Constrictor Blues 2:49
22. Blind Blake Bootleg Rum Dum Blues 2:54
23. Blind Blake Detroit Bound Blues 3:06
24. Daniel Brown Beulah Land 3:08
25. Blind Blake Panther Squall Blues 2:52

All titles recorded in Chicago.

Recording date (matrix, original catalog number):
1. circa October 1927 (20110-1, Paramount 12597)
2. circa October 1927 (20112-1, Paramount 12681)
3. circa October 1927 (20123-1, Paramount 12565)
4. circa November 1927 (20147-1, Paramount 12565)
5. circa November 1927 (20154-1, Paramount 12597)
6. circa April 1928 (20517-3, Paramount 12673)
7. circa April 1928 (20520-2, Paramount 12634)
8. circa April 1928 (20521-3, Paramount 12673)
9. circa April 1928 (20522-2, Paramount 12681)
10. circa April 1928 (20528-3, Paramount 12635)
11. circa April 1928 (20534-3, Paramount 12635)
12. circa May 1928 (20541-1, Paramount 12634)
13. circa May 1928 (20542-6, Paramount 12643)
14. circa May 1928 (20551-1, Paramount 12643)
15. circa May 1928 (20556-1, Paramount 12697)
16. circa May 1928 (20557-2, Paramount 12645)
17. circa May 1928 (20558-1, Paramount 12697)
18. circa May 1928 (20559-1, Paramount 12723)
19. circa May 1928 (20560-2, Paramount 12655)
20. circa May 1928 (20562-2, Paramount 12655)
21. circa May 1928 (20565-3, Paramount 12657)
22. circa May 1928 (20566-1, Paramount 12695)
23. circa May 1928 (20567-2, Paramount 12657)
24. circa May 1928 (20574-2, Paramount 12663)
25. circa May 1928 (20582-2, Paramount 12723)

Blind Blake, vocal / guitar Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; Gus Cannon, banjo on 4. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; Johnny Dodds, clarinet (except on 6); Jimmy Bertrand, slide Whistle on 7 and 8 / woodblocks on 8 / xylophone on 6 and 9 / vocal or speech on 6 and 8. Elzadie Robinson, vocal; acc. Johnny Dodds, clarinet; Blind Blake, guitar / whistle (on 10); Jimmy Bertrand, xylophone. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar (except on 20)/ piano (on 20); Bertha Henderson, vocal on 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20. Daniel Brown, vocal; accompanied by. Tiny Parham, piano; Blind Blake, guitar; unknown, washboard. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; possibly George Bullet Williams or probably own harmonica.




It is Blind Blake's guitar playing abilities though that gives him his place in the development of a style that commentators now classify as "ragtime guitar". A dazzling display of this technique can be heard on Southern Rag, a number which hints at his background and perhaps his influences. Accompanying himself with a series of chord changes and alternating thumbed bases he begins a spoken commentary which suddenly moves into the vernacular of the Gullah and Geechie peoples of the Georgia Sea Island, underpinned by a demonstration of an African rhythm on his guitar ("I'm goin' to give you some music they call the Geechie music now"), finally lapsing back into his usual speech patterns. Blake's repertoire also extended to popular black medicine and minstrel show material as in He;s In The Jailhouse Now. In this recording he uses the song to make oblique reference to the exploitation of black political representation by carpet-bagging politicians. Some months later, probably in April 1928 Blind Blake recorded with two of Chicago’s best known jazz musicians, clarinetist Johnny Dodds and drummer Jimmy Bertrand, who for the session played only woodblocks or slide whistle. How this unlikely alliance came into being is unknown but of the four numbers recorded two, Hot Potatoes and Southbound Rag, were basically instrumentals, presumably intended to feature Dodds' famous virtuosity and perhaps sell Blind Blake to the jazz buying public, whilst Doggin' Me Mama Blues and CC Pill Blues (C.C. standing for Compound Cathartic) were vocal blues by Blake. One of Blind Blake's greatest strengths was as accompanist to other artists and in this respect he took part in the recordings of a dozen other singers. One such was Elzadie Robinson, who recorded prolifically for Paramount, and was also present at the Dodds / Bertrand session. Jimmy Bertrand on this occasion abandoned his slide whistle in favour of the more orthodox xylophone, only to have Blake periodically warble with it during the trenchant Pay Day Daddy. Singer Bertha Henderson, like Leola B. Wilson on volume one, had her origins in the vaudeville stage but what commands attention here is Blake's piano accompaniment on Let Your Love Come Down, showing his ability to play a syncopated, almost stride, style with his left hand whilst chording with the right. A further measure of his musical versatility can be heard on Panther Squall on which he accompanies himself simultaneously on harmonica and guitar. The harmonica is obviously racked around his neck since the instrument never coincides with the vocal, precipitating a very basic guitar figure, the end result so reminiscent of bluesmen, like Daddy Stovepipe, who also adopted this one-man band technique.


Volume 3 
(May 1928 To August 1929)


01. Elzadie Robinson Elzadie's Policy Blues 3:12
02. Elzadie Robinson Pay Day Daddy Blues 3:07
03. Blind Blake Walkin' Across The Country 3:06
04. Blind Blake Search Warrant Blues 2:59
05. Blind Blake Ramblin' Mama Blues 2:48
06. Blind Blake New Style Of Loving 2:37
07. Blind Blake Back Door Slam Blues 2:45
08. Blind Blake Notoriety Woman Blues 2:45
09. Blind Blake Cold Hearted Mama Blues 2:50
10. Blind Blake Low Down Loving Gal 3:09
11. Blind Blake Sweet Papa Low Down 3:13
12. Blind Blake Poker Woman Blues 2:40
13. Blind Blake Doing A Stretch 2:36
14. Blind Blake Fightin' The Jug 2:53
15. Blind Blake Hookworm Blues 2:54
16. Blind Blake Slippery Rag 2:44
17. Blind Blake Hastings St. 3:12
18. Blind Blake Diddie Wa Diddie 2:56
19. Blind Blake Too Tight Blues, No. 2 2:54
20. Blind Blake Chump Man Blues 2:46
21. Blind Blake Ice Man Blues 3:09
22. Blind Blake Police Dog Blues 2:50
23. The Hokum Boys I Was Afraid Of That - Part 2 3:14
24. Blind Blake Georgia Bound 3:20
25. Blind Blake Keep It Home 3:15

Recording location and date (matrix, original catalog number):
1. Chicago,circa May 1928 (20583-2, Paramount 12635)
2. Chicago,circa May 1928 (20584-, Paramount 12635)
3. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20868-2, Paramount 12754)
4. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20871-3, Paramount 12737)
5. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20872-2, Paramount 12767)
6. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20873-2, Paramount 12767)
7. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20874-1, Paramount 12710)
8. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20875-2, Paramount 12754)
9. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20884-1, Paramount 12710)
10. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20887-5, Paramount 12695)
11. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20888-1, Paramount 12737)
12. Richmond, Ind., June 20, 1929 (15248-A, Paramount 12810)
13. Richmond, Ind., June 20, 1929 (15249-A, Paramount 12810)
14. Richmond, Ind., June 20, 1929 (15250-, Paramount 12863)
15. Richmond, Ind., June 20, 1929 (15251-A, Paramount 12794)
16. Richmond, Ind., June 20, 1929 (15252-A, Paramount 12794)
17. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15457-, Paramount 12863)
18. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15459-A, Paramount 12888)
19. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15460-, Paramount 12824)
20. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15461-, Paramount 12904)
21. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15462-, Paramount 12904)
22. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15463-, Paramount 12888)
23. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15464-A, Paramount 12882)
24. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15466-, Paramount 12824)
25. Chicago, circa August 1929 (Paramount 12964)

Elzadie Robinson, vocal, acc. Johnny Dodds, clarinet; Blind Blake, guitar / whistle (on 1); Jimmy Bertrand, xylophone. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; unknown, cornet on 11; unknown, piano on 11; Jimmy Bertrand, xylophone on 11. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; Alex (?) Robinson, piano. No vocal but incidental talking on 16. Blind Blake, vocal (speech on 17) / guitar; Charlie Spand, piano on 17; Aletha (possibly Aletha Dickerson), piano on 23 Blind Blake, vocal / guitar.



Blind Blake, one of the top blues guitarists and singers of the 1920s, is a mystery figure whose birth and death dates are not definitively known. He recorded 84 selections in six years (1926-1932), and all have been reissued on four Document albums (DOCD-5024, DOCD-5025, DOCD-5026, DOCD-5027). By 1928 Blind Blake had gathered a faithful following, his appeal probably being due to the scope of his material, his popularity rivaling that of Blind Lemon Jefferson. The third volume in the series opens featuring Blake in the role of sideman, lending his brilliant guitar leads in support of Elzadie Robinson on Elzadie’s Policy Blues and Pay Day Daddy Blues. Returning to recording under his own name, a session, or sessions, held during September 1928 seemed to find Blake obsessed by women and the problems they were causing him, at times sounding lachrymal and despondent Search Warrant, Back Door, desperate Walkin' Across The Country and positively violent as in Notoriety Woman, "To keep her quiet I knocked her teeth out her mouth, that notoriety woman is known all over the south". The final number recorded that month, Sweet Papa Low Down, with its cornet, piano and xylophone accompaniment, evoke the kind of bouncy tune popular with practitioners of the Charleston dance craze. It was to be a further nine months before Blake recorded again, this time in company with pianist Alex Robinson. The five titles cut were of a far less suicidal nature than previous and on one number in particular, Doin' A Stretch, his approach owed much to the style of Leroy Carr. There then followed a session in August 1929 which teamed him with Detroit pianist Charlie Spand that was to produce some of Blind Blake’s most vital and memorable recordings of his career. Hastings St., a swinging, boogie based piano and guitar duet, is primarily a showcase for the talents of Spand with the vocal banter between the pair celebrating the good times to be found in Detroit's Black Bottom, "Out on Hastings Street doing the boogie, umm, umm, very woogie" in much the same manner as John Lee Hooker did in "Boogie Chillun" twenty years later. One of the best known mythical themes in black folklore is that of Diddie Wa Diddie, a kind of heaven on earth, a utopia of no work, no worries and all the food one could wish for. Blind Blake, while playing some mesmerising guitar, pokes fun at the idea, claiming that as far as he's concerned it's a "great big mystery", his Diddie Wa Diddie is one for sexual gratification. The following year he cynically accepted the meaning (see Document DOCD-5027). The theme was taken up by in the 5Os by popular R&B singer, Bo Diddley. The unmistakable resonance of the steel-bodied National guitar introduces Police Dog Blues, one of Blake's most lyrical songs and is notable for his use of the harmonics during the instrumental breaks, where he makes the guitar sound "most like a piano" (to borrow Leadbelly's description of the technique). The haunting melody of Georgia Bound is common to the blues having been used by Charlie Patton (Tom Rushen Document DOCD- 5009), Big Bill Broonzy (Shelby County Blues document DOCD-5051) and Robert Johnson (From Four Till Late), to name but some, the sentiments of the song bearing an air of weary resignation suggesting that Blind Blake had more than just a passing acquaintance with the State. Despite the onset of the Depression, Blake went on recording, albeit sporadically, until 1932, lasting longer than many others as demonstrated in the final Document album of his work, Volume 4 (DOCD-5027).


Volume 4 
(August 1929 To June 1932)



01. Blind Blake Sweet Jivin' Mama 2:56
02. Blind Blake Lonesome Christmas Blues 3:36
03. Blind Blake Third Degree Blues 3:19
04. Blind Arthur Guitar Chimes 2:57
05. Blind Arthur Blind Arthur's Breakdown 2:59
06. Blind Blake Baby Lou Blues 2:59
07. Blind Blake Cold Love Blues 2:54
08. Papa Charlie Jackson And Blind Blake Papa Charlie And Blind Blake Talk About It - Part I 3:14
09. Papa Charlie Jackson And Blind Blake Papa Charlie And Blind Blake Talk About It - Part II 3:16
10. Chocolate Brown Stingaree Man Blues 3:21
11. Chocolate Brown Itching Heel 3:16
12. Chocolate Brown You've Got What I Want 2:29
13. Chocolate Brown Cherry Hill Blues 3:00
14. Blind Blake Diddie Wa Diddie No. 2 3:25
15. Blind Blake Hard Pushing Papa 2:34
16. Blind Blake What A Low Down Place The Jailhouse Is 2:55
17. Blind Blake Ain't Gonna Do That No More 3:11
18. Blind Blake Playing Policy Blues 2:24
19. Blind Blake Righteous Blues 2:35
20. Laura Rucker Fancy Tricks 2:55
21. Blind Blake Rope Stretchin' Blues - Part 2 2:46
22. Blind Blake Rope Stretchin' Blues - Part 1 2:58
23. Blind Blake Champagne Charlie Is My Name 2:29
24. Blind Blake Depression's Gone From Me Blues 3:30
 
Tracks 1 to 5 recorded in Chicago.
Tracks 6 to 24 recorded in Grafton, Wis.

Recording date (matrix, original catalog number):
1. c. August 1929 (21357-2, Paramount 12964)
2. c. September 1929 (21420-1, Paramount 12867)
3. c. September 1929 (21421-2, Paramount 12867)
4. c. September 1929 (21459-2, Paramount 12892)
5. c. September 1929 (21460-2, Paramount 12892)
6. c. October 1929 (L-23-3, Paramount 12918)
7. c. October 1929 (L-24-2, Paramount 12918)
8. c. October 1929 (L-27-, Paramount 12911)
9. c. October 1929 (L-28-, Paramount 12911)
10. c. May 26, 1930 (L-325-1, Paramount 12944)
11. c. May 26, 1930 (L-326-3, Paramount 12944)
12. c. May 28, 1930 (L-348-2, Paramount 12978)
13. c. May 28, 1930 (L-353-2, Paramount 12978)
14. c. May 29, 1930 (L-437-2, Paramount 12994)
15. c. May 29, 1930 (L-438-2, Paramount 12994)
16. c. May 29, 1930 (L-439-2, Paramount 13016)
17. c. May 29, 1930 (L-440-2, Paramount 13016)
18. c. December 1930 (L-647-1, Paramount 13035)
19. c. December 1930 (L-648-1, Paramount 13035)
20. c. May 1931 (L-909-1, Paramount 13138)
21. c. October 1931 (L-1099-2, Paramount 13103
22. c. October 1931 (L-1101-2, Paramount 13103)
23. c. June 1932 (L-1475-2, Paramount 13137)
24. c. June 1932 (L-1476-2, Paramount 13137)

Blind Blake, vocal / guitar. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; possibly Tiny Parham or Aletha Dickerson, piano. Blind Blake (as by Blind Arthur), guitar solo. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar / speech; Papa Charlie Jackson, banjo / vocal / speech. Chocolate Brown: Irene Scruggs, vocal; accompanied by Blind Blake, guitar / comments. Laura Rucker, vocal; accompanied by Blind Blake, guitar.



Despite the name of Blind Arthur being used for two guitar solos recorded in October 1929, there can be little doubt that it is Blind Blake who is playing his "famous piano-sounding guitar" (to quote a Paramount advertisement) on Guitar Chimes. It has the same use of harmonics as in Police Dog Blues (DOCD-5026) but played in the key of C and latterly commented on by a noted musicologist thus, "most country blues guitarists were not sufficiently well versed in C to have hazarded such an instrumental". By comparison, Blind Arthur's Breakdown is an object lesson in finger-picking, the playing more in keeping with the technique of Virginian, William Moore. For Baby Lou and Cold Love, Blake again returns to his theme of the mistreating lover, Baby Lou having the chord structure and tempo of the South American tango. In May the following year Blake was in the studio, both in his own right and as accompanist to former St. Louis vaudeville singer, Irene Scruggs. Recording as Chocolate Brown, on one song, Itching Heel, Scruggs scoffs at chauvinistic blues singers ("he don't do nothing but play on his old guitar, while I'm busting suds in the white folks yard") to which Blake, in knee-jerk reaction, responds by speeding up the rhythm indicating that the remark hadn’t escaped unnoticed. Diddie Wa Diddie No. 2, unlike the first song (DOCD-5026), now finds Blake admitting that he knows what "diddie wa diddie means" which he delivers with heavy irony. In his long career Blind Blake only once recorded a two part blues and in Rope Stretchin' Blues, suitably sung to the tune of "St James Infirmary", he uses the occasion to recount, with a degree of morbidity, the ultimate penalty resulting from the infidelities of others; Don't trust no woman who mistreats a man, when you think she's in your kitchen cooking, she’s got a stranger by the hand, I have a lots of women I sure don’t want none now, she always milks me dry, than ever you milk a cow.

Blind Blake's final two recordings took place in June 1932 and so uncharacteristic is one of the songs that commentators have argued that perhaps two singers were involved with the session. Despite doubts it is fairly certain that Blake sings on Champagne Charlie Is My Name, a song composed by George Leybourne and set to music by Alfred Lee in 1868, found fame in the Victorian music hall. The equally topical Depression's Gone From Me, appropriately sung to the tune of “Sitting On The Top Of The World, witnessed Blind Blake ending his six year recording career and, one assumes, his life, on a positive note.



"Arthur "Blind (Blind)" Blake (according to other sources, Phelps) (Arthur "Blind" Blake (Phelps)) born in the 90s of the XIX century, in Jacksonville (Jacksonville), Florida, d. c. 1933

One of the pre-war blues' most virtuoso guitarists, Blind Blake nevertheless remains a very mysterious figure.Very little is known about his youth, but it is generally accepted that he traveled along the east coast of the United States, since it was there that many other bluesmen met him - according to their own recollections, where he first recorded in 1926 for the record label Paramount.

Along with Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blake became one of the first black guitarists to record a commercially successful record. After the release of his first hit (the ragtime solo "West Coast Blues"), he regularly released new recordings, totaling about eighty. There are varying opinions on the validity of Blind Blake being a blues musician - in fact, his repertoire ranged from pure blues and traditional stuff like "Georgia Bound" to vaudeville numbers like "He's in the Jailhouse Now". However, regardless of the requirements and canons of any particular form, Blake's accompaniment always represents an example of good taste, skill and creative imagination; the sound of his guitar is clear and sonorous, the rhythm of the game is stable. His talent as a musician found perhaps most striking embodiment in such virtuoso ragtime solos as "Southern Rag" and "Blind Arthur's Breakdown". Other examples of Blake's fine craftsmanship can be found in his accompaniment work on LPs by other artists such as Ma Rainey and Irene Scruggs; he also recorded the unforgettable duet "Hastings Street" with Charlie Spand. Blake mostly recorded solo, occasionally also releasing records as part of a small group.

Blake died in obscurity, most likely shortly after the dissolution of Paramount in the early 1930s, but his undoubted influence can be traced in the subsequent history of the blues, in particular in the work of such representatives of the eastern blues as, for example, Blind Boy Fuller (Blind Boy Fuller) and others.

songster "Papa" Charlie Jackson and others, becoming the "house" (studio) guitarist for Paramount Records. The company maintained a long-term relationship with Blake, recording and releasing him as a solo musician, sometimes with the support of pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson (Alex Robinson). In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] becoming the "house" (studio) guitarist for Paramount Records. The company maintained a long-term relationship with Blake, recording and releasing him as a solo musician, sometimes with the support of pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson (Alex Robinson). In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] becoming the "house" (studio) guitarist for Paramount Records. The company maintained a long-term relationship with Blake, recording and releasing him as a solo musician, sometimes with the support of pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson (Alex Robinson). In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] The company maintained a long-term relationship with Blake, recording and releasing him as a solo musician, sometimes with the support of pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson (Alex Robinson). In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] The company maintained a long-term relationship with Blake, recording and releasing him as a solo musician, sometimes with the support of pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson (Alex Robinson). In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] sometimes supported by pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson. In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] sometimes supported by pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson. In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci]

Blind Blake also had other recordings with jazz musicians, for example with pianist Tiny Parham (Hartzell “Tiny” Parham, 1900-1943) ... Stephen Colt, the author of comments on one of Blake's LPs published on Biograph, suggests that the singer and guitarist made good money : If you follow the Paramount rates ($50 per recorded song), then in 1928 alone, Blake could earn a thousand dollars. In total, he recorded almost seven dozen songs for this label! Therefore, Colt finds it strange that such a commercially successful musician should have vanished from Chicago in 1933 of his own free will.[xcii] There were various rumors about his disappearance, including that Blake returned to Florida, where he died in 1933. There is no exact information about his death, as well as information about his birth ... Blind Blake's recordings were released on four LPs on Biograph, and reissued on CD by Document, Yazoo, Classic Blues and Wolf in the 1990s and later. Blake's playing can also be heard on reissues of other musicians, in particular on Johnny Dodds records ... Blind ragtime reverend guitarist Gary Davis, who considered himself a follower of Blake, rated him as the best of all guitarists: "He played the guitar very rhythmically" (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), - Davis said about him ... Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and, by the way, except for the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica ... But let's still return to the direct connection of country blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. Yazoo, Classic Blues and Wolf. Blake's playing can also be heard on reissues of other musicians, in particular on Johnny Dodds records ... Blind ragtime reverend guitarist Gary Davis, who considered himself a follower of Blake, rated him as the best of all guitarists: "He played the guitar very rhythmically" (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), - Davis said about him ... Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and, by the way, except for the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica ... But let's still return to the direct connection of country blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. Yazoo, Classic Blues and Wolf. Blake's playing can also be heard on reissues of other musicians, in particular on Johnny Dodds records ... Blind ragtime reverend guitarist Gary Davis, who considered himself a follower of Blake, rated him as the best of all guitarists: "He played the guitar very rhythmically" (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), - Davis said about him ... Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and, by the way, except for the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica ... But let's still return to the direct connection of country blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. in particular on the records of Johnny Dodds ... Blind ragtime reverend guitarist Gary Davis, who considered himself a follower of Blake, rated him as the best of all guitarists: "He had a very rhythmic way of playing the guitar" (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), - said Davis about him… Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and, by the way, except for the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica… But let's still get back to the direct country connection -blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. in particular on the records of Johnny Dodds ... Blind ragtime reverend guitarist Gary Davis, who considered himself a follower of Blake, rated him as the best of all guitarists: "He had a very rhythmic way of playing the guitar" (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), - said Davis about him… Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and, by the way, except for the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica… But let's still get back to the direct country connection -blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. “He had a very rhythmic way of playing the guitar” (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), Davis said of him ... Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and , by the way, in addition to the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica ... But let's still get back to the direct connection of country blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. “He had a very rhythmic way of playing the guitar” (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), Davis said of him ... Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and , by the way, in addition to the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica ... But let's still get back to the direct connection of country blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. who can still be considered a representative of the country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. who can still be considered a representative of the country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits.