El Topic de Riding Easy y sus Brown Acid Trips (entre otras cosas), en breve volumen decimonoveno!

Tópic para comentar los lanzamientos de Riding Easy Records y sobre todo sus Brown Acid Trips, solo por eso merecen el cielo. Además en algunos casos después de un majestuoso recopilatorio editan o reeditan un disco completo de alguna banda, como pasó con Master Danse, Maximillian, Fraction o Ice

Y es que además tienen un catálogo actual cojonudo ocn Early Moods, Mondo Drag, DEATHCHANT, SVVAMP, Salem's Pot (qué habrá sido de ellos?) o Electric Citizen. Casi nada!

Muy fan de estos viajes de acidísimo heavy-psych!!! Tengo creo los 9 primeros volúmenes en vinilo y quiero ir haciéndome poco a poco con todos.

Por añadir, muy recomendables los vídeos que sube a veces Lance Barresi de Permanent Records presentando los 7" de muchas de estas bandas rarunas:

Jincho escribió:Muy fan de estos viajes de acidísimo heavy-psych!!! Tengo creo los 9 primeros volúmenes en vinilo y quiero ir haciéndome poco a poco con todos.

Por añadir, muy recomendables los vídeos que sube a veces Lance Barresi de Permanent Records presentando los 7" de muchas de estas bandas rarunas:

buena pinta

silver escribió:

Jincho escribió:Muy fan de estos viajes de acidísimo heavy-psych!!! Tengo creo los 9 primeros volúmenes en vinilo y quiero ir haciéndome poco a poco con todos.

Por añadir, muy recomendables los vídeos que sube a veces Lance Barresi de Permanent Records presentando los 7" de muchas de estas bandas rarunas:

buena pinta

--

Otra joya que sacaron el viernes


BETTY - Handful 1971



además con texto currado::

BETTY Handful 1971

"Thank you for being what you really are"... key words from this impossibly rare 1971 private pressing LP.
BETTY lays down who they really are straight upon "Handful" like a breathing snapshot in time. The performances and mix sound like they were done on the fly, which in the private pressing tradition means the artists are captured unfiltered with diamond-in-the-rough vitality. Their influences are seamlessly integrated into a personality filled biker rock roadhouse attack with discreet echoes of Canned Heat, Steppenwolf, the Doors, even throwing an early '60s UK beat rock curveball at one point. They are pro at communicating but not slick enough to compromise their own reality by aping their influences. The musical elements here will be familiar but the band's audacious attitude fire this baby up with undiluted excitement. The music feels like real life captured out in the wild rather than created in the studio.

BETTY was a working band out of LA gigging primarily around Pasadena at the time. An early biker rock vibe dominates, post '60s west coast moves moderate the more typical hard-drinking-woman-trouble-raising-hell scenarios the genre usually exemplifies. Most of the songs are about women... though they may be a "handful" to deal with mentally, the eye-popping "handful" pictured n the LP sleeve is the ultimate bottom line. Treat 'em right, get down all night. There's a genuine sense of appreciation for the ladies here, little in the way of macho posturing. The guitars keep it tough and the singer's preposterously ragged confidence hits the bullseye from left field continually. Anthon Davis may be a bit over the top but it really works. Character to spare.

BETTY were main songwriter Anthon Davis on guitar and lead vocals on tracks #1 - #9, Mike McMahon on guitar and backing vocals, Kerry Kanbara on bass and backing vocals, Al Rodriguez on drums and backing vocals. Tom Jordan guests on keyboards and Lee Marks guests on backing vocals. McMahon and Marks also helped with the writing on several tracks.

Only 200 copies of "Handful" were custom pressed by Thin Man Records in 1971 made to sell at live shows. BETTY unleashed an uncompromising serendipitously emergent killer here where these real guys get in your head as they really are... or were, ripping it up at dive bar remnants of Wild West saloons before hitting the highway. A perfect triple bill would have been these guys, Bear Mountain Band and the Estes Brothers!

SIDE ONE:

BOOGIE WITH YOU a kicks in with a tuff Deadish shuffle and an outsider misfit vocal approach akin to Ray Harlowe and Gyp Fox in attitude. A tough fuzz guitar riff backbones the groove while Wild West saloon piano throws some bar band in the twilight zone action into the atmosphere. A brief recurring Doorsy flash happens when the lyric goes "you're the best woman that I've ever seen, or at least that I've had". The title says succinctly what is on the singer's mind.

BLIND WITH SHAME is curveball number one, an unexpected gear shift into dead ringer early '60s UK beat rock vocal harmonies crossed with funkier street rock blues moves. The lead vocal is wonderfully crude and effective. Thick fuzz guitar break contrasts nicely with the retro beat rock flashback. An odd duck that walks just fine.

JUST FOR FUN is a stone killer, stalking dark and dangerous groove, garage intensity, a distant flash and on Foxy Lady with some Blue Cheer sludge. There is a terrific extended guitar solo that is relaxed and acidic, this takes the band into a psychedelic zone. The singer found out the chick he's been getting it on with has another main dude and she's just playing around... he really digs her but he is bummed! He loses but we won, this track is a classic.

HIGH ROLLIN-N-THE-FREEWAY is earlier rock and roll gone sideways enough that it doesn't come across as terminal oldies retro, it just makes for a glorious mess with a wacko mix, buried drums and detached roots Travelers Aid style vocal phrasing. High rollin' on the freeway equals high rollin' on the lady! Long free is the general message and the track includes an out of left field wah-wah guitar break as a bonus quirk. Familiar but original sounds in these guys hands.

RIVER BUMMIN grabs immediately as a straight up primitive sieze-the-day minimal Americana chill rocker but also hints at something coming from way further out. Uncanny slip between the cracks Travelers Aid vibe again. Uses basic two chord structure to good effect. It's a maverick blast of basic primal guitar sound with more Wild West piano moves that gets far out during the break. The attitude here makes the personal need to keep moving resonate universally. This track is unusual enough to transcend genre. Lee Marks did this song in a very different version on the rare folk country freak California LP by Good Dog Banned privately issued in 1973.

SIDE TWO:

HANDFUL (OF LOVE) is messed up just right, so basic it's outrageous, reaching into Maximillian levels of proto heavy rock absurdity. Primal sinister on-the-prowl riff unfolds as the central message of the LP is unleashed in a tribal way... take a chance, get yourself a handful of love, you want it, you need it! Brilliant back up vocal arrangement using the song title as the singer goes deep into it. Tuff lead break, ominous organ, as far as I'm concerned this heavy track plus that delicious sleeve photo makes this a naturally occurring concept album, says it all.

THANK YOU has a remarkably primitive mix with gushy organ, buried drums, disorienting vocal harmonies, fuzz grunge and freaky wah-wah action. It's another song expressing appreciation for his lady. Swirling circular chord change pattern creates a cumulative trance vibe by the end. Plain spoken and heartfelt with even a bit of vulnerability on display.

LEARN HOW TO BOOGIE uses a straight up classic boogie groove, as always the vocals are raw and real to the point of caricature at times in a good get-down fun way. Singer laments that he can't dance, sees a little girl, takes a chance and thusly is glad he learned how to boogie. A glimpse into a simpler world. Canned Heat adjacent vibe with some gnarly Henry Vestine moves during the guitar break No doubt they jammed this one out live!

HARLEY PERDOO adds to the subtle biker flavor underlying the action through the whole LP. Another menacing stalker riff with tough guitar and ominous organ. Harley Perdoo is a character who seems like he escaped from a Dennis The Fox song. Harley is bad news, he needs to feel some pain, no ladies in sight on this track. Remarkably unhinged guitar break goes sideways into almost arty noise territory, almost off the tracks but more interesting because of it's misfire qualities. One of those terrific quirks you find on private pressing LPs that would have been removed as "incorrect" as soon as these guys got further up the food chain.

LIGHTS GONNA SHINE is curveball number two. Another reason music sounds naturally more personal in the rule free zone of private pressings... you can have nine hard rocking apples in a row and one peculiar orange to wrap things up. Anthon Davis hands the mic over to Mike McMahon and the music mellows with acoustic guitar, delicate lounge prog drama and an off the wall haphazard singer-songwriter vocal style that I struggle to describe, far out enough I hope there is some whole LP out there that sounds messed up but compelling like this track. Funny way to end the ride but it works!

deniztek escribió:

silver escribió:

Jincho escribió:Muy fan de estos viajes de acidísimo heavy-psych!!! Tengo creo los 9 primeros volúmenes en vinilo y quiero ir haciéndome poco a poco con todos.

Por añadir, muy recomendables los vídeos que sube a veces Lance Barresi de Permanent Records presentando los 7" de muchas de estas bandas rarunas:

buena pinta

Apunto

De los que mencionas arriba me molaban Salem's Pot...como dices, sin noticias (creo) desde hace tiempo.

sí, desde 2016 que sacaron ese Pronounce This!, que fue un pequeño hype en el foro, nada de nada... bueno un directo el años siguiente pero poca actividad en redes...

The locals would say the Pearl Handle Band legend emerged at a barn party in Illinois corn country, on Halloween, under a brilliant, harvest-style full moon. The year was 1974. The auspicious debut brought three communities together. George Millspaugh, lead singer and guitarist, was raised just a couple miles away in the farm town of Waterman. Guitarist Dan Hurc and bassist Mickey Gentile were products of the northwest side of Chicago. And drummer Dean Aliotta hailed from suburban Berwyn.
Millspaugh had come to the band schooled in Chicago blues with an appreciation for country rockers Marshall Tucker and Charlie Daniels. He delivered piercing, glass shattering, vibrato-soaked vocals backed by fierce and fast licks on his red Gibson SG guitar. He would brag he had been the speediest typist in high school. Millspaugh, who also had a large physical presence, would often thrill crowds with a head high karate kick or a big swig of Jack Daniels, as he cried out for “ammunition.”
Hurc previously played bass, influenced by a father who favored the button accordion, but had committed to guitar. While not yet fluent on his instrument his musical instincts held sway. With a long-held love of rock music but a yearning desire for the blues, he was both the perfect sponge to absorb Millspaugh’s knowledge and the creative driver of the band’s chunky chord structures that grounded the band’s originals. Hurc’s instrumental riffs provided the members full license to contribute lyrical content.
Gentile had returned home after a college stint at SIU Carbondale and used his new-found freedom to stretch out with the band. He consistently delivered a compact, solid, low-end bass that underpinned the quickly developing twin guitar work of Millspaugh and Hurc. As aficionados of double guitar threats like Thin Lizzy, The Allman Brothers and Wishbone Ash, Gentile and Hurc pushed Pearl Handle into new territory. With a sense of business and fashion, Gentile set a standard of professionalism for the band.
Aliotta was the youngest of three brothers, the eldest having made his mark as bassist in the Rotary Connection. Both Aliotta and Hurc had done a turn with Aliotta’s middle brother in the band Hoona. A rocker at heart, but loving outlaw country, Aliotta’s signature smile exposed a laid-back sensibility, his drumming not so much a heartbeat but the rumbling approach of a freight train or a herd of cattle, his double kicks accenting a flood of sound that put feet on the dance floor and kept them there.
Making their bones on the college circuit and sorting their way through their various influences, the Pearl Handle Band found themselves in demand, opening for Journey and Van Halen and appearing at rousing summer concerts. As the only band to book in for three appearances in a single year at Chicagofest, two on the rock stage and one on the country stage, the band was genre crossing long before the 80’s rock sound became the mainstay of modern country decades later.
Six years after the barn dance in the cornfields of Illinois the band found themselves in Nashville recording with producer Nelson Larkin and famed engineer Ron “Snake” Reynolds. Armed with their originals and a couple tunes offered by their producer the boys discovered the powers that be were not quite equipped for the sound they were delivering. Not pop country and not quite ZZ Top, they were adrift among the marketing silos, with untamed amounts of whiskey, women and Marshall amplifiers.
The album got finished, for the most part, but then the label folded leaving Pearl Handle Band with a choice. A soft implosion followed. Millspaugh worn down by the road, decided to take a sabbatical. Over time bootlegged versions of the studio sessions made their way to cassette tapes distributed through interstate truck stops. In that way the band and the sound lived on. But here and now, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of a magical night which birthed the Pearl Handle Band, they finally get their due.

silver escribió:

BACK JACK - Bridge Waters Dynamite

y disco de Black Jack

buenísimo!

Sorcery - Sorcery Instrumentals





a collection of unreleased instrumentals from the legendary heavy metal band Sorcery!

Oda - Oda



Of the plethora of touted "private press hard rock monsters'' out there, very few live up to the swaggering riff-fury of west coast blasters ODA. Commonly known as the "Black Album," the first clobbering platter by the quartet was released on their own tiny Loud Phonograph Records imprint and now commands large sums--but is actually worth the heavy hype. The band naturally centered around Randy Oda, a multi-talented ax shredder and keyboardist, and the lineup was filled out by his brother Kevin on drum assault, Art Pantoja on lead bellows and rhythm guitar, and galloping bassist Kyle Schneider.
The Oda brothers were born in Alameda County, California, attending Kennedy High School in Richmond, and started the band while still teenagers at the beginning of the 70s. ODA was influenced by hard UK rockers like Deep Purple, Zep, Free, and the Who, and they gigged all over the Bay Area, with Randy garnering comparisons to Jeff Beck's molten six-string mastery. Their 1971 self-titled LP (aka the Black Album) fully displays their blistering talents, but despite some local airplay on KSAN radio, the band packed it in by '73.
This would not be the end of the Oda story, as Randy joined CCR's Tom Fogerty in the outfit Ruby afterwards, laying down his licks on two LPs that flirted with the mainstream, while staying true to his highly electric guitar muse. In 1983, ODA actually reformed for one more LP on Loud Phonograph, entitled Power Of Love. The comeback album delves a little deeper into radio friendly power pop, which makes sense, as in '82 Oda co-wrote "Think I'm In Love" with Eddie Money (which, let's face it, is Money's best song by like a mile). Randy would also collaborate with Fogerty as a duo, and the posthumous Sidekicks album (released after Fogerty passed) listed the clearly-integral Randy Oda as "arranger, composer, guitar (acoustic), guitar (electric), keyboards, primary artist, and producer."
In the 2000s, Randy would start another band with his brother called OPO which means "to lay a foundation" in Hawaiian, and ODA would reform to play a benefit in 2015 along with other obscure and heady/heavy Bay Area rockers like Savage Resurrection and Country Weather (some live footage of the event shows the band still rocking hard).
At last, Riding Easy is legitimately reissuing ODA's first smoking, gargantuan LP with bonus tracks, so crank this one up in your 70s Camaro with the windows open, and some dirt weed joints a-blazin'.



MABLE cranks up right out of the friggin' gates with some bellowing meat n' potatoes hard rawk. Sporting a proto-punkin' Sonic Rendevous brand of efficient rock bluster, the tune's infectious, clanging riff is indeed on par with Michigan rokkers like thee 5 or Grand Funk, or maybe the UK's Megaton or mighty Quo. Randy owns the cut with healthy doses of screaming solo sizzle, and Pantoja's urgent but melodic vocal sends it home.

WASN'T VERY LONG displays even more cokk-rokkin' swagger, fueled by a metallic lick not unlike the Pink Fairies' "I Wish I Was A Girl" played by Cactus. The tune has a build-and-release dynamic that almost places it in the progressive realm, as the southern-fried vocal and screaming guitar rippage gives way to mellow sections of leslie-d and psyched-out intonations.

GABRIEL has a bad ass, guttural Budgie-trudge, but wildly delayed vocal trails and some complicated changes elevate the track to a veritable head anthem, wielded in the way bands like Mournin, Morley Grey, or even Montrose could.

CHEATED oscillates between some sick boogie crud-rock and one dang melodic chorus-- in some perfect world, it coulda been a chart topper alongside "Paranoid" or "Strutter." Even more surprising, it sports a funky, horn-addled break that sounds like Terry Kath and crew at their Chi-towne peak.

GIVE IT UP displays more varied colors from the band, with some rootsy organ and a pleading lyrical delivery. Truly an earworm slice of rural, dirt floor classic rock, somewhere between Crazy Horse and Highway.

CHANCE is another catchy hard rock nugget with snappy drumming, which goes off the tracks into one tranced out middle section. The number is completed by a molten, fuzzed out solo that would make Eddie Van H (or maybe his hero Harvey Mandel) take notice....all in 3:15 perfect pop single time!

ABOUT YOU shows a more sensitive but mournful side of ODA, as it has nearly a garage band bummer-ballad feel (aided by a more "real people" vocal and mellotron-like key textures). The paean culminates in a pained guitar rave up of Stone Harbour-playing-"Freebird" proportions.

HOW DO YOU FEEL is dual-creamy-lead nirvana for fans of the mighty Lizzy and Wishbone Ash, but with a punky "stick it to da man" attitude. Darkly deep lyrics also grace the intense and tricky composition.

HARD TIMES is a "Stranglehold"-ish cyclic riffer, and betrays a serious Paul Rodgers blooz-bluster oral influence. Its wicked ZZ choogle goes into overdrive, and gives Randy plenty of room for abstract shreddage.

ONE MORE TIME surprises with yet another side of ODA, as they attempt a more benign jangly number, with a "doot doot da doo" chorus? It works surprisingly well with Oda's jazzier guitar moves (and hella phasing), sounding more like a strange outsider-pop private press ala Ryan Trevor or George-Edwards Group.

I GOT A MIND TO GIVE UP LIVING is slow burning, bloozrock sizzle of the Freddie King school, laid down with absolute purity ala Peter Green's Mac. Naturally, the Paul Butterfield cover serves as a showcase for Randy's adept post Hendrix/Alvin Lee 6-string moves, which display both excess and taste, and some eye-wateringly beautiful tone.

ALL I WANT TO DO also has a bluesier feel, and spreads out nicely, placing ODA in the realm of great Bay Area jammers. Accented with spare piano and soaring dual-ax-work, the lament acts as a delightful if not downer finale to one diversely rockin' LP.

Recorded at Dimensional Sound Studios (PPX Enterprise) West 54th Street, New York, N.Y., October 1975.

silver escribió:

Recorded at Dimensional Sound Studios (PPX Enterprise) West 54th Street, New York, N.Y., October 1975.

It all started in the summer of 1972. Brothers David and Gary Oickle were already writing and jamming in their Basement. When by mere chance Kevin Orsie lived the next street over and ran into David one day. The guys started talking about music and found they had some common interest. The Oickle Brothers were into Pink Floyd and Hawkwind, and Kevin was into Yes. Kevin was invited over to jam. It all started in the Oickle boys basemen, there was a unique chemistry. The guys started meeting up daily and the song writng just seemed to take off, most of it starting as just jam and continuing to expound on ideas as they came. Shortly after the 2 brothers recruited Ralph Jenkins to play Drums and things started to fall in place, it was obvious the band needed needed a better place to practice. Gary and Dave through a friend were able to gain the use of an old abandoned Church Auditorium in Ellicot City, Md. It was big and made of solid wood, so the acoustics were pristine. Not a day went by in 3 years that the band missed a practice.

Before long ID started to gather a following, word was getting out. The band practice often filled the auditorium and had turned into a real scene.
providing opportunities to play out and not just have "practice shows". In the Spring of 1975 ID loaded the van and headed up to New York City to record their first and only album. It was recorded at Demensional Sound Studio, located on 54th Street in New York City. The Album titled ID: Where Are We Going came out in 1976. In and around 1978 Kevin Orsie the bass player left the band and is the only one who remained active in the music field. Kevin went on to Play show and continued playing original in several Bands ( Fuzz, Rain Delay, Bind ). Kevin is still recording his original music and releasing music with his Project VISTA Sky. Kevin Orsie is the only surviving member of ID. This album remains a testament of the passion and dedication of these 4 musicians.... As there are so many stories left untold, this one remains the Swansong for ID.


Recorded at Dimensional Sound Studios (PPX Enterprise) West 54th Street, New York, N.Y., October 1975.

Have you ever had a great afternoon nap? The kind where you drift off, and on your way back to the afternoon, shards of the dream creep into your reality, bits of reality creep into your dream? As you wake up, you can’t tell if the afternoon just got better because the best parts of the dream made it into the day, or because the nap refreshed you so completely that you now have a whole new perspective?

That’s what “Licorice Roots Orchestra” by Raymond Listen sounds like.

If you tilt your head at the appropriate angle, you will hear the best parts of Marc Bolan, Donovan, and the Beatles. Or maybe just a massively talented fan refracting those things, but when you’re just waking up, who can tell?

Raymond Listen, as the band was originally known, was formed in the early 1990’s by singer/songwriter/pianist Edward Moyse, when he moved from rural Wellsboro in Northern Pennsylvania to Newark, Delaware and asked Dave Milsom to form a band with him. Milsom quickly took up the drums. Gradually, they added Dave Silverman (flute/glockenspiel/keyboards) and Kim Benner (finger cymbals). There was a fertile music scene percolating in Delaware, including peers like Jimmy Crouse, Zen Guerrilla, Smashing Orange, and Carnal Ghia, some of whom Raymond Listen shared stages with in 1991 and 1992. If you wanted to see a national touring act, you probably had to go to Philadelphia, but there was something going on.


In 1992, Raymond Listen started recording at Noise New York, with studio owner and legendary scenester gadfly (Mark) Kramer. His business was in transition, and sessions quickly moved to his new facility Noise New Jersey. The recordings that became “Licorice Root Orchestra” went so well that Kramer offered to release the results on Shimmy-Disc.

A brief refresher course for those of you who didn’t live through the indie-rock boom of the 1980’s/1990’s: Kramer is an artist/producer/collaborator/label head who worked with a dizzying array of artists, including Galaxie 500, The Butthole Surfers, Ween, Penn Gillette, John Zorn, Jad Fair, Daniel Johnston, Low, King Missile, Bongwater, Gwar, Boredoms, Jon Spencer, Yo La Tengo, and many, many more. Shimmy-Disc was his label, and it was known as much for the outsize and outsider personalities he collected (and personified) as for his deft and clever production style.

The label was no commercial powerhouse, but it had an outsized cultural footprint. People paid attention to Kramer and Shimmy-Disc. In a world where punk and indie rock had recently upended the established commercial order, small labels were potential breeding grounds for the next thing, and Shimmy-Disc was high on the New York City list.

Probably as a result of Shimmy-Disc’s reach, the album was widely reviewed, and reviews were ecstatic. Melody Maker called it “Seismic” and hailed it as “a delicate work of weird genius.” NME called it “magical and childlike.” CMJ said “infused with the essence of Pet Sounds without sounding derivative.” Sassy magazine issued them their coveted “Cute Band Alert.” None of this seems to have contributed to much in the way of airplay or sales.

A short tour in Spring, 1994 took them to Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Louisville, and two different cities in West Virginia. They played some regional shows with Dogbowl, a few scattered shows in New York City, and gradually changed their name from “Raymond Listen” to “Licorice Roots Orchestra.” A second album was recorded at Noise New Jersey, but disagreements between Moyse and Kramer over mixing and production resulted in the band leaving the label, and Moyse taking over the producer role for their subsequent recordings. They made and released 6 more excellent, lower-profile albums, the most recent one of which came out in 2009.

How could such a beautiful, unique piece of work come out in the midst of a creative boom time, and go mostly unheard? My theory is: It was too nice. People were looking for snark, angst, neurosis, and despair in their indie rock music in 1993, and Raymond Listen offered peace and serenity. Grace doesn’t win a battle with a jackhammer.

Now RidingEasy comes to the rescue. If you ever loved the dreamier side of the Flaming Lips, the idea of Elephant 6, or a great afternoon nap, here’s your chance. This is why the world needs record collectors. Licorice Roots Orchestra is, on its own terms, a masterpiece. Good night.


---Geoffrey Weiss, Los Angeles, 2024