PHILLIPS / MacLEOD - Le Partie Du Cocktail! (1979)

Here's a very fine and elegant harmony-laden record that you will dig a lot if you like yer pop with Beach Boys trademark constructions and wonderful, surprising chords progressions all over the place (but not only that: Wings, 70s FM pop à la Boston, Queen guitars...). I honestly don't know much about these guys other than they are from the U.S. and apparently released a second, self-titled album one year later. (What...? That you have this second album...? Oh, please leave a message...!)

At any rate, this is one melodic gem of a record to be enjoyed big time.



(the photo on the back cover is originally blurred, so you know)

The songs:

City Of Lights
Take Me To The High Ground
Come With Me
Easy Street
Takin' It Easy
What Am I Gonna Do
Gone Are The Dreams
Wendy
Viva Alessa
Lost In The Storm

Written and performed by Robert Phillips and Sean MacLeod.
Produced by Tony Peluso.

DON COOPER - s/t + Bless The Children (1970)

After a long, unintentioned break, VT is back to present you the two first records by obscure folk-pop singer Don Cooper.

Here's the AMG review:

Don Cooper was a promising folk-style singer/songwriter who enjoyed some modest success -- mostly on-stage -- during the early '70s. Coming up as he did amid the singer/songwriter boom of the era -- dominated by the likes of James Taylor, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and Loudon Wainwright III -- he got lost in the shuffle, perhaps because he was signed to a label (Roulette) that was positioned badly, in terms of image and distribution, to break an artist working in his particular genre. Born in the mid-'40s, he grew up in various locales, his father's work taking the family to numerous towns across the country throughout his childhood. Cooper began playing the ukulele (which was a big instrument among kids in the 1950s) in elementary school and was drawn to country music as he grew older. In high school during the early '60s, he played in various bands, with a repertory heavy on the work of James Brown, Buddy Holly, and the Beach Boys, all done country-style.

The transforming moment of his life came when he first heard The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, the 1963 album that established Dylan as a major songwriter and artist. By that time, Cooper was playing a regular gig at a local coffeehouse and began mixing his music and Dylan's songs. By the end of the '60s, at just about the same time that James Taylor and Joni Mitchell were poised to emerge as major artists, Cooper found interest in his work from three different labels, and ended up going with Roulette Records, a company that was primarily associated with jazz (Count Basie, et al.) and pop/rock (Tommy James & the Shondells, et al.), founded and run by a totally disreputable figure named Morris Levy. In early 1970, just weeks after signing a contract, his self-titled debut album was released. Cooper proved himself strong singer, with a rich and powerful voice, and also a serious and dauntingly talented songwriter on this and on his subsequent three Roulette albums, which he produced himself. He was good enough to rate support spots on-stage with the likes of Blood, Sweat & Tears (in their peak years) and Chicago at major venues, including Carnegie Hall. He was, thus, able to reach thousands of people at a time at some of his bigger support gigs.

What he wasn't getting, however, were major record sales -- not that Roulette was putting much into marketing his albums, either. Put simply, he was probably the right artist at the wrong label. Apart from its unique jazz roster of the late '50s and early '60s (a point when Levy, with deep pockets and personally being a big jazz enthusiast, was able to pick up a lot of artists being dropped or overlooked by the major labels), Roulette's big strength had always been at breaking big singles, mostly by virtue of Levy's mob connections and his "unique" access to the jukebox business. But the music industry was different by the 1970s, and on top of that, Don Cooper wasn't aiming at listeners who did much with jukeboxes -- he was recording songs that were going to get placed in or played on a lot of them (at least, not outside of a few college-town pizzarias). In short, he wasn't Tommy James and wasn't writing "Mony Mony," much less recording it. On Reprise or Columbia, he'd have had a good shot, but Roulette wasn't really the place for an artist like him, anymore than it would have been for Leonard Cohen or Livingston Taylor.

At some point both parties took a look at the contract that linked them together and recognized a losing proposition for both sides. Cooper was obligated to deliver ten LPs to Roulette, a daunting number for any artist, and Roulette could see little profit in continuing to record him much past 1972 and his fourth album. The two parties went their separate ways in the mid-'70s, and Cooper's four LPs were consigned by the thousands to the cut-out bins. For his part, Cooper eventually gave up the life of a touring and performing artist, in favor of making records of children's songs, a goal that came to fruition in that peculiar niche market -- which drew upon his folk and popular music backgrounds equally -- during the 1990s, with help from Random House. In 2005, Europe's Delay Records released a 15-song compilation CD of Cooper's work under license from EMI (which owns the Roulette library for Europe), entitled Howlin' at the Moon. The singing is great and even the production is worth hearing. ~ Bruce Eder

Don Cooper - s/t:

Big Sur Mountain Air
Captain Spangle's Crystal Song
Wither Thee Girl
Tina's Magic
Hey Little Flower
Cotton Candy Dreams
Home Again
Alice (Song For)
Easily Said
Flying Free
Miss Georgia
Hold Some Tears - Hey Mom

All songs composed by Don Cooper
Produced by Hutch Davie



Don Cooper - Bless The Children:

Mad George
Sad-Eyed Queen Of The Mountains
Tell Me About Her (J. Slezinger)
Willy Jean
Bless The Children
Something In The Way She Moves (James Taylor)
Tin Cans And Alleyways (K. Shephard)
Only A Dream
Rapid Rainbow Times
A New Gun
Brotherlove

All songs composed by Don Cooper unless noted otherwise.
Produced by Don Cooper.
Bass: Terry Plumeri
2nd Guitar: Elliott Randall
Lead Fiddle: Bobby Notkoff

The third and fourth albums may end up appearing here as well. So stick around!

DAVID WERNER - Live (1979)

Well, here's the final installment of David Werner goodies!

This Live record is actually half a Live record only. Side A includes 5 songs off an L.A. show from 1979 and, oddly, side B only adds a weird but fun non-music collage made up from excerpts of several Boston's WBCN programs. I'm guessing David participates or even talks in these radio snippets, but I'm not sure. Any clue you may have will be very much appreciated! The record ends with Too Late To Try from his self titled album.

The wonderful quality of his performance leaves you wanting for more, indeed.

I can even hear a guy in the audience requesting Cold Shivers. I guess he possibly did it later, but it never made it on this record. Sigh.

HEART - s/t (1969 & 1972)

Of all the many Hearts to be found in the history of pop music, this band may be one of the most obscure ones. Hailing from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Heart released their first self-titled album as a foursome in 1969. Psych-pop with soul leanings. Really good stuff. I have been unable to find information about these guys other than that Carl Silva had been a member of the garage-rock band Lindy & The Lavells, whose material was reissued by Big Beat in 2006. I don't have this cd, so I don't know if the liners shed a little light on Heart, but the description I read here has put this cd on top of my purchase priorities for next year.



Heart - s/t (1969)

Now
Give Me A Happy Day
Love
Tell Her I Love Her
My Girl
Flowers
All My Reasons
La La
Lottie
I Love You
Hurry Up Peace, It's Time

Carl Silva - drums, harmonica, vocal
Bob Barron - bass
Danny Burnett - guitar
Arnold Bodmer - piano

Production and sound - John Wagner
Brass and strings arrangements - Roger Janotta

Well, fast-forward to 1972 and we find that the heart has been broken in two. Oh, that happens so very often. They're now a duo, and they release another self-titled album. I honestly ignore if they released anything else in the two years in between, so if any of you know, please enlighten me!

This second album is more pop-oriented. The opening track reveals that they were listening closely to Macca's C Moon or similar stuff (good!). Please bear with me if you hear some clicks and pops here and there. Warped old vinyl, you know.



Interestingly, Sing A Song Of Love sounds like one of the best songs Michael Brown of the Left Banke never wrote for The Beckies (years before that wonderful album!). And interestingly, it's the only song not penned by any of the members of the band. Whoever you are, Mr. David Goodnow, thanks for this gem!



Heart - s/t (1972)

I Want You
Just Thought I'd Let You Know
Country Smile
Oola Lucy
I Said It With A Laugh
Sing A Song Of Love
Amaze Me
Somehow
Goin' Down
And Then There's
Set Me Free

Bob Barron - Bass, guitar, slide guitar, vocals
Carl Silva - Drums, lead vocal, keyboard, guitar, mouth harp

Producers - John Wagner - Leon Danielle

So well, two hearts are better than one, as they say.

Happy new year!

THE ROAD - Cognition (1971)

Cognition is the act or process of knowing; awareness and judgement.

Well, the cover pretty much tells you what you're going to get here. How to describe it... psych rock, prog-rock, prog-pop...? Anyhow, if you dig in, you definitely need to be in a cosmic mood today.

In fact, this is a request from a good friend. So here it is, Johnny!
A Kama Sutra 2-record set* with lots of twists and turns in a prog-rock atmosphere that never abandons a pop and melody sense nevertheless. Very listenable.

So, take off your t-shirt, lower the lights, free your mind and take control of the galaxy and beyond!






Imagine yourself, feelin' as high!



* Also on Ampex 8-track Cartridge & Cassette Stereo Tapes

MICHAEL FENNELLY - Lane Changer (1974)

Yep, that ugly promo sticker. I know. Well, I tried to peel it off. You can see the results. Come to think of it, it has been stuck there for... what? 33 years. OMG...

Anyways... but who is this guy above (and below)?



Mr. Bryan Thomas from AMG says:

Michael Fennelly was born in 1949, in New Jersey, but moved to L.A. where he became involved in California's pop/protest movement. By 1967, Fennelly had secured a publishing deal with songwriter/producer Curt Boetcher's Mee Moo Music and became a member of Boettcher's studio-based collective of musicians, including the two main groups, Sagittarius, and the Millennium. Fennelly -- one of five singer/guitarist/songwriters in the latter group, who were actually intended to be a proper live act -- provided fabulous falsetto vocals in addition to co-writing much of the group's material, often with guitarist/vocalist Joey Stec, another member of the Sagittarius/Millennium collective. In 1969, Fennelly was looking to form a group of his own to showcase his lead vocal talents and songwriting, when met the members of a band called Stonehenge, a blues-oriented group who were being scouted by Elektra's David Anderle, a friend of their manager's. The band -- with Fennelly now taking over lead vocals and songwriting duties -- changed their name to Crabby Appleton and signed to Elektra Records. Their first album, Crabby Appleton, was produced by Don Gallucci (from Don & the Good Times) and released in 1970. It enjoyed reasonable success with a catchy Top 40 hit, "Go Back," which peaked at number 36 in July 1970 after five weeks on the charts. Crabby Appleton's second album, Rotten to the Core, was released in October 1971. Despite complimentary reviews, the group's two albums proved ultimately unsuccessful and the band broke up. Fennelly later traveled to England, where he began focusing on a solo career, recording two solo albums. The first, Lane Changer, was recorded in London with the support of ex-Zombies bassist/producer Chris White and Rod Argent on synthesizer (Actually, I gotta step up here... This is not correct 100%. The only synth sound I can identify is on Touch My Soul -a very gentle background- and in Watch Yerself's crazy solo interplays. So there.)

A second solo album, Strangers Bed, was recorded in L.A., produced by Denny Bruce and engineered by Keith Olsen (yes, I've got to have this somewhere...) (incidentally, Fennelly's album was Olsen's last as a engineer -- he was, at the same time, producing Fleetwood Mac's first album with two new members, Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks). Released by Mercury in 1975, Stranger's Bed failed to chart. Fennelly is still involved in the music business, and continues working with Joey Stec.

All songs by M. Fennelly. Cockroach, Haymarket, Hard Core and Mee Moo Music BMI.

Lane Changer
Touch My Soul
Won't You Please Do That
Over My Dead Body
Dark Night
Easy To Love
Shine A Light
Bad Times
Flyer
Watch Yerself
Give Me Your Money

All guitars, pyrotechnics and vocals by M. Fennelly with noted exceptions.

Also, very fine musicians playing in some of the songs:
Drums: Robert Henrit, Henry Spinetti and others.
Bass: Jim Rodford, Dave Wintour.

On Touch My Soul: Background vocals by Rod Argent, Russ Ballard and Mystery Singer.
On Dark Night: Rod Argent plays the mellotron.
Produced by Chris White (of the Zombies).

From the back cover:

Lane Changer is Michael Fennelly's first solo album.
Lane Changer doesn't have to apply to him. It's one of the eleven songs here and not necessarily the best. The words sound good together. Lane Changer.
In the late sixties he was part of the notorious Millenium. In the early seventies he was the leader of Crabby Appleton, writing and singing Go Back and everything else the group recorded.

The changes continue on Lane Changer. Searing blitz rock to comfortably complex ballads to acoustic love songs.

Enjoy!

Never forgotten.