Prog Nosis
As Marco Rossi finds himself stranded at a convention of ’70s Ash Ra Temple roadies in Geneva after a misunderstanding at the airport, MICK CAPEWELL gallantly steps into the breach with a shed load of Brainbox, Skin Alley and Graham Bond
Where better to begin than with an EPITAPH, the German hard-rock band led by Brit guitarist Cliff Jackson. Their third album Outside The Law (MIG) from 1973 has been remastered and expanded. It’s as loud and shrill as you’d expect but
they couldn’t write songs for toffee, so it’s very much an in one ear and out the other situation. The usual bout of management/ label hassles caused them to disband soon afterwards but they got back together in ’75 to record a “lost” album (yes, one of those). Three tracks from this session are included here and, dang me, not only is the sound and style more streamlined but they’d actually discovered how to write a memorable hook or two.
Another thing I can’t stand is hyperbole in the album title department. Take This Is Progressive Rock! (Angel Air) for instance. It should actually be called This Is The Best Bunch Of Prog-ish Style Music We Could Put
Together Given The Limits Of Our Catalogue. So what you get is a mixture of tracks from reformed (and generally inferior) line-ups of classic old bands (Greenslade, Stray, Atomic Rooster, Consortium) alongside some original second division combos (Warhorse, Affinity, Zzebra) and a few solo artists (Rob Thompson, Mo Foster). To be honest though, it’s not too bad overall. There are decent offerings from Third Ear Band and a languid, jazz fusioned-up ’74 version of ‘Child In Time’ from The Ian Gillan Band but the highlight is Mo Foster’s‘Achill Island’, six-plus minutes of violin, synth and loose-stringed bass that sounds a lot better than it reads. Backtracking titular kudos from me too actually, for sub-titling the set Ventis Secundis, Tene Cursum, which apparently means “Go with the flow”. Very prog!
Having trashed an Esoteric-centric book elsewhere this issue, I’m predictably going to dig myself out of the hole by praising some Esoteric product, and there’s always plenty of it about! Hopping across to Belgium now, we encounter MACHIAVEL,
“one of the most important progressive rock groups to emerge from mainland Europe in the late ’70s”, it sez ’ere. Machiavel (named after you know who) recorded a whole string of albums beginning with a self-titled debut in ’76. They became truly established in their homeland thanks to their next two albums Jester (’77) and Mechanical Moonbeams (’78), both now reissued with bonus material on Esoteric. On offer is typical mid to late ’70s prog, with Genesis influences abounding in both composition and sound. Vocals
are a weak link but that’s often the case in prog circles. Unlike the Italian bands of the period, who managed to forge for themselves a style and identity removed from the long shadow cast by the Brits, Machiavel, on this evidence anyway, never really rise above the status of competent imitators. The best track by far on Jester, for example, is the
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epic ‘Rock, Sea And Tree’ but it’s so reliant on a Tony Banks’ keyboard sound that you’re left with The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway in your brain rather than Machiavel. Mind you, Genesis fans that are more than willing to soak up anything redolent of Trick Of The Tale or Wind & Wuthering should check these out toot sweet!
Off to the Netherlands now for a generously expanded and remastered resurrection of the eponymous first album by BRAINBOX (Esoteric). The obvious selling point here is the pre-Focus appearance of both guitar maestro
Jan Akkerman and flamboyant drummer Pierre Van Der Linden. Brainbox sound nothing like Focus of course, but you can hear touches of the style and virtuosity that appeared to blast out of nowhere on Moving Waves in ’72. Back in ’69, Brainbox were peddling a car crash fusion of blues, psych and folk, as were many other bands at the time of course, but Akkerman’s playing was already jaw-to-the-floor in its speed and breadth, while vocalist “Kaz” Lux (who collaborated with Akkerman again in the mid-70s, to rather disappointing effect) proves to be more than just a gruff “shouter”. I could do without yet another cover version of ‘Summertime’ or indeed ‘Scarborough Fair’ but Akkerman’s casual genius and a dozen bonus tracks taken from non-LP 45s make this rather indispensable.
Emerging from the London underground (the music scene, not The Tube!) of the late ’60s come SKIN
ALLEY.These guys carved out a nifty enough live reputation to have majors like RCA and CBS fighting for their signatures. CBS won
the battle but in the end I doubt if either label or band were satisfied with the results, for Skin Alley were one of those bands that were always on “Most Likely To Make It Big” lists but ultimately never did. Big Brother Is Watching You (Esoteric) offers up the two albums released by CBS in ’70 plus a previously unreleased soundtrack for the film Stop Verushka, about the German fashion model. The eponymous debut album is decent enough but suffers from the usual faults: the lack of a really good vocalist, inconsistent material and a sort of muted feel, as if they were suffering from a lack of confidence in the studio, or were making too many compromises in an attempt to keep everyone
happy.There are moments when things click into gear but all too often they drop the thread and never quite find it again. Surprisingly, given that Pretty Things axe- slasher Dick Taylor produces, keyboards are very dominant (courtesy of the Scrabble-busting Krzysztof Henryk Juskiewicz), backed up by sax squalls, particularly on ‘Marsha’, while frilly fluting joins with harpsichord tinkling on ‘Country Air’, but for the most part this is a solemn, occasionally dreary collection that falls into that frustrating middle ground. It never offends but it rarely excites. The follow-up, To Pagham And Beyond, was recorded with a new producer, Fritz Fryer, and a slightly amended line-up, and although the band nail their colours more firmly to a jazz- rock mast this time, the results aren’t much of an improvement. The material just isn’t distinctive enough, and
a cover of Graham Bond’s classic ‘Walking In The Park’ pales beside Colosseum’s powerhouse demolition of the tune. The Verushka tracks veer from fairly exciting freakout jams to completely unlistenable sax noodling, percussion thrashing and vocal yowling.
Esoteric have also licensed Two Quid Deal, Skin Alley’s third album from late ’72. By this time their CBS deal had lapsed and they had signed to Transatlantic. The change of label didn’t alter the group’s fortunes and the music is much the same too,
albeit it rocks a tad harder with more guitar punch than previously evident. All in all this is more Skin Alley than anyone needs, but taking into account Esoteric’s usual attention to detail and the bonus material, fans of the jazzier end of prog’s spectrum will find some pearls amongst the swine.
Having crossed paths with GRAHAM BOND above, let’s end with this most enigmatic of musicians. Bond is sadly now remembered more as a casualty than a pioneering musician; a sad figure who lost his career, his mind
and ultimately his life (under a train at Finsbury Park tube station in ’74) following financial problems, drug addiction and dabbles with the occult. Love Is The Law and Mighty Graham Bond (both Esoteric CDs) are fascinating documents of the man recorded in America at the tail end of the ’60s while, if not quite at the height of his powers, he was still in control of himself and his muse. Both albums were recorded quickly
in Los Angeles for Mercury imprint Pulsar. On the first, Bond plays virtually everything apart from drums (handled by none other than Hal Blaine) and his gritty takes on the title track and ‘Crossroads Of Time’ are superior to those he had produced for Welsh group The Eyes Of Blue prior to his US relocation. Bond’s meaty organ and sax playing and his whale-surfacing vocals really are impressive, making his subsequent decline seem even more tragic. The second album is basically more of the same but with a slightly bigger cast. The entire album thing was recorded within two days, which although obviously rushed, was perhaps a boon as Bond, without the time or opportunity for distractions, remained focused throughout, turning in some deeply soulful performances. Some of these songs appeared in the UK on a ’70 budget album, but neither album has ever been issued in full in the UK before. If you’ve never heard Bond, or if you just picture him as a hairy loony, take a listen to either (or both) of these discs. Best reissues of the month for me.
Well, the referee’s blown the final whistle. Hopefully Marco will be back in time for the replay. I’m off for a rubdown and Horlicks. At least I think that’s what I was promised.
www.mig-music.de www.angelair.co.uk www.esotericrecordings.com
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