Rock — CDs  

A should-be Cali country rock classic by Chris Darrow – and a real rare gem of a record we'd put right up there with the best of its kind! Multi-instrumentalist Darrow might be best known to psych enthusiasts – as he was a founding member of Kaleidoscope – but as a session player, he's worked with an eclectic roster of major players that includes Frank Zappa, Gram Parsons, Leonard Cohen, Sly Stone, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and others. His solo work is akin to some other great, but better-known Cali country rockers, and honestly, we'd rate this record up against the aforementioned Mr. Parsons – it's really that good – but with more eclectic instrumentation. Catchy songs that are well sung and expertly-crafted – with Chris playing guitars, mandolin, dobro, fiddle and just about anything else with strings on it – and some light percussion, too! Other players include Ed Black, Loren Newkirk, Arnie Moore and Mickey McGhee – plus a sweet group of backing vocalists that includes Jennifer Warren. Titles include "Beware Of Time", "Lovers Of Sleep Abed Tonight", "Shawnee Moon", "Move On Down The Line", "Song For Steven", "Cocaine Lil", "Alligator Man", "Keep On Trying", "New Zoot", "The Show Must Go On", "The Sky Is Not Blue Today" and "We Can Both Learn To Say I Love You". This great 2013 version on Drag City has 5 bonus demos, too!

A pair of overlooked albums from Clover – a great Bay Area group from the start of the 70s – best known for later work with Elvis Costello and Huey Lewis! Clover is a great start for a very cool group – a set that definitely draws on some of the "out of the city" sounds of the post-Haight scene in SF – as you might guess from the cover – but which also has some funkier undercurrents too, and almost a garagey mix of soul amidst the rootsy elements – one that really shows the evolution of a group like this from the styles of a few years before! Titles include a cover of "Shotgun", plus "Come", "Could You Call It Love", "Southbound Train", "Going To The Country", and "Stealin". Fourty Niner shows a wonderful growth in Clover – a record that really has the group coming into their own, and hitting some of the best Marin County vibes of the time! There's a definite rootsy feel to the record – some of those Bay Area transmogrifications of sounds from the south, into much more hippie-oriented styles – but there's also a sense of confidence and care with songwriting that should have made these guys huge – a quality that easily rivals the best work from the late Byrds or early Eagles camp – with maybe a bit to challenge The Band too – served up with a great Fantasy Records rock approach all the way through. Titles include "Mr Moon", "Harvest", "Old Man Blues", "Sound Of Thunder", and "Love Is Gone".

Crazy psyche era wierdness from Cromagnon – the band name and album title may reference prehistory, but this stuff is actually way ahead of it's time – if we didn't see the date on this thing, we'd have sworn it to be from the art damaged post punk early 80s! The group is credited to Austin Grasmere, Brian Elliot and "The Connecticut Tribe" – and the instrumentation is billed as vocals, music and sounds – you figure out the rest. The set opens with some soundbites of Hollywood fan fare that segues into a mix of bagpipes, thundering percussion and vocals that sound like screams and whispers at the same time. The following track "Ritual Fest Of The Libido" rivals "LA Blues" by the Stooges in gutteral grunted nightmare soundscapes, but later tracks mix in more laidback grooves that are just as freaky. A total mindfrack of a record, and a pretty amazing one, if not for everybody! Other titles include "Organic Sundown", "Fantasy", "Crow Of The Black Tree", "Genitalia", "Toth, Scribe I" and "First World Of Bronze".

Ah for the day of the hometown radio station – those halcyon 70s years when local rock powerhouses really reigned the airwaves, and could shape the listening tastes of an entire region of listeners! And back in the day, some of the stations were so strong, they acted as key forces in the record business too – putting out compilations that drew attention to up-and-coming artists from their local scene – often featuring a fair bit of great work that never got exposure otherwise! With this sweet little set, Numero Group pay tribute to this overlooked genre of album – the kind that we bought years ago from Chicago stations like WLUP or WKQX – but presented here by the imaginary WTNG (The Numero Group – get it?) As with any other Numero collection, the set's overflowing with rare material – but the vibe is different than most of what they've featured so far – lots of cool, mellow, underground 70s rock – well-produced, but locally issued – with a flavor that's quite different than the bigger work coming from the coasts at the time. The whole thing's a wonderful musical discovery – the kind we've really come to expect from Numero over the years – with tracks that include "Aladdin" by Roach Band, "Try To Be True" by Caroline Peyton, "Your Love Rolled Over Me" by Timoth, "I'd Like To Touch A Star" by Lester Brothers, "Between Us" by Cream & Sugar, "Fantasy Woman" by Lorren Cornelius, "Heaven's Child" by Dwain Virgil, and "I Got Cha" by Green flow.

A pretty great record from one of the coolest school teachers you could ever hope to have – the lovely Miss Rita Abrams, a hippie who was teaching in Marin County at the start of the 70s! The set's a project done by Abrams with her fourth grade class – a set that mostly features original tunes penned by Rita, filled with joy, hope, and the sort of optimism that characterized the Marin County scene of the post-Haight years – and performed with a cool blend of acoustic instrumentation next to Abrams keyboards – with some larger arrangements from Ed Bogas, who'd later work on hip soundtracks for Fantasy Records, across the Bay. There's nothing hokey about the set at all – as the tunes are great, and the kid-quality of the vocals is really kept to a minimum – more used to underscore the warmth in Rita's lead, and surprisingly never cloying at all – a lot like some of the best singer/songwriter projects on Reprise at the time, especially given Rita's cool electric keyboards. Titles include the cool single "Mill Valley" – plus "Floating Away", "Wonder", "Building A Heaven On Earth", "Running In The Green Grass", "Sweet Summertime", and "I Never Asked". CD also features three bonus tracks – "Sad Night", "The Happiest Day Of My Life", and "America Let's Get Started Again".

Far out harmonies and psyche pop from the mid-to-late 60s – and another groovy batch of obscurites from the Cali scene and beyond in the Soft Sounds For Gentle People series from Pet Records! The series has only gotten deeper and groovier since the first one came out – many singles from groups that were recording for the major labels at the time, but the majority of whom are fresh discoveries to us – and if labels like Columbia, Warner Bros and Capital provided the opportunity for richer sounds and production, it's used to shoot the grooves even further out, without comprising the catchy grooves and sweetly soaring male and female harmonies. Possibly the best entry yet! 21 tracks in all: Titles include "Take A Bus" by Stix & Stonz, "Nothing Sacred" by The Johnnys, "Look At The Sun" by Mouse, "Hello" by Things To Come, "Kill The Cobra" by Bentley Road, "It's A Groovy World" by The Lollipop Fantasy, "Looking Down" by 1st Century, "Wispy Paisley Skies" by Fraternity Of Man and more.

The great first album by Traffic – one of the best debuts by a British group in the late 60s! Better remembered as Mr. Fantasy, the album has a bit of a confusing release history. This excellent CD version features the album as it first appeared in the US – including the brilliant singles and in the rare mono mix. The punchy, direct vibe of the mono version is wonderful, but however you may prefer to hear it, the artistry is indisputable! There's still plenty of psych pop in the mix, colorful songcraft with a bluesy rock undercurrent. Capaldi, Winwood and Wood are most prominently credited, as Dave Mason hit the road after the singles, but since those are included on this early US version, let's show him some love, too! The organ and a driving rhythm are prominent, with flute and trippy atmosphere throughout. Later on, the group would work with jazzier and bluesier styles, traces of which are here. They would evolve pretty quickly, actually, both stylistically and via lineup shifts. Here's a most vital first stage! Includes "Paper Sun", "Dealer", "Coloured Rain", "No Face, No Name And No Number", "House For Everyone", "Dear Mr. Fantasy", "Smiling Phases", "Heaven Is In Your Mind", the weird closing fade "Were A Fade, You Missed This" and more.