Knights 5+1: On The Move (1967,US)

Another unknown album on the rare Justice label, with covers of Knock On Wood, West Sun, Mustang Sally, Tomatoes, In The Midnight Hour, Barefootin', When A Man Loves A Woman, Land Of A 1,000 Dances, On The Move, Try Me, Don't Lose Your CoolNinety Nine And A Half (Won't Do). and Of all the rediscoveries from the Justice Records library, the Knights 5+1 are one of the most rewarding, a sophisticated multi-racial rhythm-and-blues sextet with a professional veneer to their playing and three qualified lead players (Wilfred Wilson on sax, Ronnie Cook on lead guitar, and Bing McCoy on the organ). The Knights 5+1 had a great lead singer whose name, alas, hasn't lasted in the memory to be passed down to us today. They were based in the area around Charlottesville, Virginia, and undoubtedly played a lot of clubs and dances there-this is one band that would've been worth seeing more than once, and not just for r&b history buffs and oldies fanatics.

ALBUM REVIEW

The Knights 5+1 were not only a completely professional band, in contrast to virtually all of the rest of the Justice Records roster, but they were good songwriters as well, based on the evidence of the title-track and a pair of additional instrumentals interspersed among the covers of "In The Midnight Hour," "Mustang Sally,""Land of a Thousand Dances," and "Try Me." Their influences included rock 'n roll and gospel as well as r&b, and they must've held audiences at the University of Virginia and other venues spellbound when they weren't up dancing to the group's music.


LINK: ON THE MOOOOOVVVV....

V.A.: Cowabunga! Set 2: Big Waves (1963)

Most listeners are still better off with the several excellent single-disc surf compilations available (the best of which, like this one, are on Rhino). If your interest runs very deep, this should satisfy, placing most of the emphasis on instrumentals rather than vocals (though significant efforts in the latter vein by the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, and others are included).








LINK: BIG WAVES, SET 2

Slam Creepers: Bubbles (Swe,1967,Rare Swedish Beat)

Gruppen bildades nyåret 1962-63 och tog sitt namn efter en populär sko som i början av 60-talet kallades "slamkrypare". Fyra av bandets

fem medlemmar gick i Vansbro kommunala musikskola medan Björn Skifs hämtade sina första erfarenheter i sin fars revyer.
Musikstilen var från början dansmusik men efterhand blev det rhythm & blues. Gruppen bestod av Björn Skifs, sång, orgel, piano,
Kenneth Windahl, gitarr, Lars Christians, bas, Lollo Svensson, saxofon, flöjt, sång och Janne Fackt på trummor.
1964 ställde bandet för första gången upp i Sveriges Radios Popbandtävling men gick inte till final. Det gjorde gruppen däremot året
därpå, för att till sist 1966 vinna tävlingen.
Under 1966-67 släppte Slam Creepers sju singlar som togs emot med gillande men något genombrott blev det inte. Våren 1968 gav de ut singeln It´s Saturday med Hold It Baby på B-sidan - men då hände det. It´s Saturdag kom in på Kvällstoppen den 5 mars och låg där i tre veckor med en 15:e plats som bäst.
Låten tog sig även in på Tio i Topp med en 2:a plats som
högst.


1968 släppte bandet sin första LP Bubbles.I augusti blev det framträdande i Belgien i ett popprogram producerat av Nordrings. Lollo
Svensson lämnade gruppen, en stor förlust för bandet. Han ersattes av Kent Igelström från f.d.String Tones. Det hann bli ett andra album detta
år Sweet Ruth som sägs vara tillägnat Rut Bjurman i Falun som var president i Slam Creepers fan club. På diskoteket "Revolution" i London gjorde de ett beljublat framträdande i december.





Slam Creepers upplöstes i mars 1969 trots att de fortfarande låg på Tio i Topp, nu med Land Of
Love. Bandet hade, som fler med dem, börjat känna av att popvågen nu ebbat ut.
Igelström, Svensson och Windahl lämnade musikbranschen. Lars Christians bildade
dansbandet Bortalaget (som 1993 var husband i Bernt Egerbladhs TV-serie "Jag minns mitt 60-tal".)
Björns Skifs påbörjade en egen framgångsrik karriär med gruppen Blåblus och är nu en av
landets mest populära sångartister och låtskrivare.

Ultra rare beat from this lovely band... more info here
Dig this rare lost lp.

LINK: LOVE A GO GO

Les Sinners: Vox Populi (Can, 1968)

This French Canadian act from Montreal, Quebec, made three good punk/psych albums and played between 1966-70. The origins of the band go back to 1965 when Guy, Lintton and Parizeau formed a rock'n'roll band called The Silver Spiders. After two months they became Les Sinners. Later in 1968 Guy departed to form La Revolution Français. It proved short-lived, but he went on to form a further trio with Jay Brown and Jean-Guy Durocher before departing to go solo with the Montreal-based Pumpkin Records.

Les Sinners returned in 1970 with a new line-up (functioning mostly as a studio group). They enjoyed their only hit with Le Chante the same year. This new line-up featured singer Alan Jodoin. In 1972, they established their own studios in Montreal. Their final 1975 album featured songs in both English and French.

Only five songs from the first album were in English. Pebbles, Vol. 13 includes Nice Try, a cut from their first album. This was a fine garage-punk track with snarling vocals and good guitar work, very much in the mould of fellow Montreal act The Haunted. Vox Populi is reputedly a killer album. Most of their 45s were in French but they're listed for those of you with good French. All four albums are well worth checking out - their later work was more progressive in style.

Including extra-bonus tracks. From Canada...
More info about the band here (french)



Thanks a lot to Patroimoine PQ

LINK: VOX POPULI

V.A.: Cowabunga! Set 1: Ground Swells (1960/63)

Massive, though not quite definitive, four-CD, 82-track box set of surf music. The first three discs are devoted to material from the genre's '60s prime, and the fourth devoted to revivalists from 1977 to 1995. Most listeners are still better off with the several excellent single-disc surf compilations available (the best of which, like this one, are on Rhino). If your interest runs very deep, this should satisfy, placing most of the emphasis on instrumentals rather than vocals (though significant efforts in the latter vein by the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, and others are included). It has most of the big hits, and quite a few of the ones which were principally popular in Southern California, as well as some neat rarities that are hard to find anywhere, like the Illusions' storming "Jezebel," and the Surfmen's "Paradise Cove," the Latin-surf hybrid of Dave Myers's "Moment of Truth," the Sandals' "Theme From Endless Summer," and the Sunrays' pale Beach Boys Xerox, "I Live for the Sun." The fourth disc of modern-day revivalists, alas, was probably unnecessary in the minds of everyone except the compilers; it's the first three that really deal with the heart of the matter, with voluminous annotation in the 66-page booklet.



B. Billycan drop the idea about having this box... and why not? ( this is the 1st cd, be patient, the others coming soon ! ! ! )
Give a try to this first part of the box, that contains songs from the early 60s.
A must for all those surf music lovers ! ! ! (f-b-in artwork, but not the complete booklet).
20 songs to ride some waves yeah...(in the other hand, little sad...hearing about R. Wright-R.I.P.)

LINK: GROUND SWELLS, SET 1

Sandy Nelson: In Beat (1966, Us)

Sandy Nelson was the biggest -- and one of the few -- star drummers in the late 1950s and early 1960s era in which instrumental rock was at its peak. He landed two Top Ten hits, "Teen Beat" (1959) and "Let There Be Drums" (1961), which surrounded his Gene Krupa-inspired solos with cool, mean guitar licks that were forerunners of the surf sound. Nelson had only one other Top Forty hit, "Drums Are My Beat" (1962). He ground out a quick series of instrumental albums in the early 1960s -- eight within 18 months, as a matter of fact -- with several other top Hollywood rock and pop session musicians. Nelson was not that great a drummer, although he was good. His principal importance is that he found a place for drum rock solos in hit instrumental singles, and the more reckless elements of his style no doubt influenced other musicians, such as surf drummers and, later, Keith Moon.


Near the end of 1963, Nelson was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that necessitated amputation of his right foot and part of his leg. Nonetheless, he managed to resume his drumming career and continued to churn out albums, as well as some singles, of which "Casbah" (1965) is the highlight, with its wild splashing drums and frenetic middle eastern-surf guitar.




Something different here... instrumental songs, rockabilly and classic rock base.
One of the greatest drummers ever. Dig it.


LINK: BEAT`EM ALL UP ! ! !

Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels: Detroit Breakout! (Us,1966/68, Superb Compilation)

BAND INFO

The unsung heart and soul of the Motor City rock & roll scene, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels' blue-eyed R&B attack boasted a gritty passion and incendiary energy matched by few artists on either side of the color line. Born William Levise, Jr. in Hamtramck, MI on February 26, 1945, as a teen Ryder sang with a local black quartet dubbed the Peps but suffered so much racial harassment that he soon left the group to form his own combo, Billy Lee and the Rivieras. While opening for the Dave Clark Fivethe Rivieras came to the notice of producer Bob Crewe, who immediately signed the group and, according to legend, rechristened the singer Mitch Ryder after randomly selecting the name from a phone book.

ALBUM REVIEW

If you want a Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels greatest-hits-plus package that's one-stop shopping of the highest order, then look no further. This two-disc, 50-track set collects all three of the group's original albums plus Ryder's solo album, What Now My Love. With only three single sides (not counting the original single edit of "Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly, Miss Molly," available on Sundazed's reissue of the All Hits album) missing to keep this from being a "complete" set, this does provide an awful lot of bang for a buck; unless a single hits compilation will fill the bill in your library, this is the way to go. Great notes and superlative sound on this one, too.

Make some space for this double cd set of 50 tracks... containing the band first 3 lps, plus some sinlges and rarities. Highly but higly recommended for those lovers of Detroit 60s rock sound.
Pure R&b, Frat Rock and classic tunes...yeah... dig it.

LINK: LONG TIME NO VIDDY DROOG...

The Livebirds: Star-Club Show 4 (1964, Uk)

Make some space for the girls...yeah...

A four-piece girl group, who were active in Liverpool's music scene from the early sixties onwards. They went to Germany where they recorded two rare albums on the Star-Club label: Star-Club Show 4 (1964) and More Of (1965). The first one, which was reissued on Line in 1986, is full of cover versions of classics like Johnny B. Goode, Love Hurts, Talking About You, Mona, Too Much Monkey Business, Money, Road Runner, Before You Accuse Me, Got My Mojo Working etc.


They had a raw, basement, but competent enough sound.
You can find their 2nd lp here.

LINK: RIGHTY RIGHT ! ! ! ...

The Standells Re-posts...

The Riot Squad: Jump! (Singles 1965-67,Uk, Beat, R&b)

INFO ABOUT THE BAND

This Liverpool band underwent several personnel changes in their three year career and enjoyed quite a prolific 45 output, though no commercial success. They were usually a six-piece and their music was predominantly beat and R&B. Mitch Mitchell (later of Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames and The Jimi Hendrix Experience) was one of their drummers and Jon Lord was their keyboard player after leaving The Artwoods and prior to forming Deep Purple. David Bowie was also a member for a brief period in '65, although he didn't take part in any of their recordings, and has only been connected with the band via a publicity shot from the period...

Aside from these subsequent prestigious associations their other claim to fame was to have appeared on a couple of episodes of 'Emergency Ward 10' - not playing their songs, though!

All of their 45s are now minor collectables. Cry Cry Cry and I Take It That We're Through were Joe Meek productions. Curiously, another Meek produced track, How Is It Done was later ripped off almost note for note and word for word as No Life Child by Keith Dangerfield.

You can find more info about the band here.

ALBUM REVIEW

Given their history, the Riot Squad ought to have a bigger cult following than they do -- David Bowie was briefly a member and so was Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience; for a spell they worked under the tutelage of iconic producer and visionary nutjob Joe Meek; and they somehow developed a huge following in Venezuela. However, they've mostly been forgotten except by a handful of beat-era fanatics, and not without reason. While the group turned out a few interesting sides, judging from Jump!, a collection featuring the seven singles they released along with some unreleased sides and tracks they cut backing other vocalists, the Riot Squad were a distressingly average combo, veering between R&B and pop influences without hitting either dead on.


Featuring Mitch Mitchell...

Some pics of Mitchell with the band

By many accounts, both editions of the Riot Squad were strong live acts (the Meek-era band was tapped to back up Wilson Pickett on a U.K. tour), and it's a shame they were never able to pour the excitement they generated live onto wax -- Jump! sounds like odds and ends from British Invasion also-rans rather than the legacy of a swingin', underappreciated beat group.

LINK: Jump damn ! ! !

Hey...take a look

A friend has started a new blog (which is great by the way)
Beat music, classic rock, garage, beat and more...
Spanish reviews and also you can use the translator (for the international visitors)
Visit this blog and of course... leave comments.

http://roadrunnerbeatbeat.blogspot.com/

MC5: Thunder Express (Us,1972,Amazing Boot)

Tracks 1 to 7 recorded "one day live in the Studio" at Herouville Castle, March 1972. Ok, so, this is how the MC5 sounded live. Raw, furious, crude, fast... amazing versions of "ramalamafafafa", "kick out the jams" and "moto city is burning" ! ! ! yeah... Incredible!.

MORE INFO ABOUT THE BAND

As the years went by, however, MC5's influence expanded; punk, hard rock, and power pop all clearly reflected the band's impact and by the 1990s, they were the subject of a steady stream of reissues and rarities packages. Following the band's demise, its members pursued new projects: Tyner released several solo records and also earned acclaim for his photography before suffering a fatal heart attack on September 17, 1991. Smith, meanwhile, formed Sonic's Rendezvous with fellow Detroit music legend Scott Morgan, issuing the underground classic "City Slang" in 1977 before leaving the group; in 1980 he wed Patti Smith, dying of heart failure on November 4, 1994.



LINK: RamalamaFAFAFAAA ! ! ! ...