Tongue And Groove – Tongue And Groove (1970)

Artist: Tongue And Groove
Title: Tongue And Groove
Year: 1970
Format: LP
Label: Fontana

As a trio, Tongue And Groove featured the talents of singer/keyboardist Michael Ferguson, vocalist Lynne Hughes, and lead guitarist Randy Lewis. Ferguson had been one of the original members of San Francisco’s The Charlatans (see January 7, 2011 post).

For this album the group enlisted the services of several bass players including Richard Olsen, Terry Owens, Ron Johnson and Eddie Adams. They also used three different drummers, Roger Dowd, Earl Palmer and Eddie Hoh.

Also appearing on the record are one time Elvis Presley guitarist James Burton (dobro) and Phil Spector musician Jay Migliori (horns). Therutius Deeps provides background vocals.

Hughes started out as a Seattle-based folkie, but by the late 1960s was a barmaid working at the Virginia City, Nevada Red Dog Saloon where The Charlatans were working as a house band.

Though not officially a member with the group, Hughes occasionally accompanied The Charlatans on stage and ended up singing on a couple of their recording sessions.

After a dispute with their label over the release of a cover of Buffy St. Marie’s “Codine” as a single (Philips management balked at releasing the song out of fear that the song’s drug lyric would spur criticism (ironic given it was an anti-drug song) this led to the label dropping The Charlatans from their recording contract. Ferguson then formed Tongue and Groove with Hughes and Lewis. (Bad Cat)

Track Listing

1. Devil
2. Come On In My Kitchen
3. Mailman’s Back
4. Cherry Ball (Shake Shake Mama)
5. The Shadow Knows
6. Sidetrack
7. Motorhead Baby
8. Duncan & Brady
9. Rock For My Pillow (Livin’ With The Blues)
10. Fallin’ Apart
    

Lynne Hughes – Freeway Gypsy (1969)

Artist: Lynne Hughes
Title: Freeway Gypsy
Year: 1969
Format: LP
Label: Fontana

Lynne Hughes went on to record a solo album “Tongue and Groove Presents Lynne Hughes Freeway Gypsy”. In the early 1970s she briefly joined Stoneground and apparently passed on in the early 2000s.

The album features Mike Melvoin, Therutius Deeps, Buddy Childers, Gary Coleman, Bob Brookmeyer, Bob Enevoldsen, Don Menza, Plas Johnson and Others.

Mining the field between Folk, Blues, And Rock, in somewhat the same manner as fellow Bay Area female singers Tracy Nelson and Janis Joplin. (Audiofile)

Lynne Hughes was the lead singer of the late-’60s San Francisco Bay Area band Tongue and Groove, mining the field between folk, blues, and rock, in somewhat the same manner as fellow Bay Area female singers Tracy Nelson and Janis Joplin (or, from beyond the Bay Area, Maria Muldaur).

Hughes had a more old-timey ragtime tilt to her vocals than any of those other singers did, and was the most prominent presence on Tongue and Groove’s fair, self-titled late-’60s album. Prior to that, she had been something of an auxiliary member of the Charlatans (see January 7, 2011 post), doing some singing and even recording with them without being an official group member.

Hughes had entered music as a folk musician in Seattle in the early ’60s before going to the Bay Area. In 1965, she was performing at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, NV, the same venue where the Charlatans had a long-running residency. She would play guitar and sing lead on a few songs with them, such as “Sidetrack” and “Come on in My Kitchen,” and taught them the English madrigal “I Saw Her,” which was one of their best recordings (though not officially released until 1996).

She also played and sang on some demos they did for Kama Sutra in early 1966; two on which she sang, “Sidetrack” and “Devil Got My Man,” appear on the 1996 CD compilation The Amazing Charlatans. The Charlatans links carried over to Tongue and Groove, which also featured former Charlatans pianist Mike Ferguson; their Tongue on Groove album had bass by Charlatan Richie Olsen, and a song by ex-Charlatan Dan Hicks. Hughes went on to sing with Stoneground in the early ’70s. (Richie Unterberger)

Track Listing

1. Bad Dream
2. Rose Of Woe
3. Night Life
4. Never Stop A Dream
5. Gypsy Good Time
6. Freeway Gypsy
7. Rages And Old Iron
8. My Man Is Gone
9. And When I Die
10. It Didn’t Even Bring Me Down
    

The Triangle – Now How Blue Cow (1969)

Artist: The Triangle
Title: Now How Blue Cow
Year: 1969
Format: LP
Label: Amaret

The Triangle were a self described “Western Blues” trio from El Paso, Texas who moved to L.A. in the late sixties and found gigs playing the Sunset Strip clubs, most notably the Galaxy before being signed to Amaret Records in 1969.

The group consisted of Michael Carelli (guitar-vocals), Howard Steele (bass) and Ty Grimes (drums). The music is Texas psych with an undercurrent of soul dominated by blazing fuzz and slide guitars. (Jack Dominilla)

A note from guitarist Mike Ciccarelli of the group Triangle:

“I was happy to see the Triangle album (ST5001) in your listing under Amaret. I was the guitar player/vocalist on it and it was a remarkable outing. It got a five star rating in Billboard in June 1969 (Neil Young got four and a half), but was never supported with quantities or promotion.

I spelled my name at the time Carelli for simplicity. The drummer, Ty Grimes went on to play for Ricky Nelson and left the group right before the plane crash that killed all members.

The bass player went on to engineer/produce many hits including “Freebird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Leo Sayer hits. The Triangle album was also co-produced by Chris Huston, an Englishman who produced some Led Zeppelin albums.” (Spectropop)

Track Listing

1. Music Music
2. 99 1/2
3. Torn Down
4. Now She’s Gone
5. Short Stuff
6. Magic Touch
7. Lucille
8. Love Me Thru The Night
9. Try Harder
10. Rolling Stone
    

Mother Earth – Living With The Animals (1969)

Artist: Mother Earth
Title: Living With The Animals
Year: 1969
Format: LP
Label: Mercury

Strong Texas fare with some good people on it – Powell St.John wrote for the 13th Floor Elevators, Mark Naftalin was keyboardist for Butterfield Blues Band, and Tracy Nelson’s strong clear vocals recall a controlled Janis Joplin.

Supported by a large and excellent backing band of musicians, this is a blues/rock album worth checking out. Powell St.John’s originals are the most memorable, including the final track, which unlike the other tracks, is deep and psychy in tone and texture, “Kingdom of Heaven.”

A superb songwriter, a little surprising to see him go in a blues direction, but this is overall, a very solid and listenable record. (hello43 RYM)

Track Listing

1. Marvel Group
2. Mother Earth
3. I Did My Part
4. Living With The Animals
5. Down So Low
6. Cry On
7. It Won’t Be Long
8. My Love Will Never Die
9. Goodnight Nelda Grebe, The Telephone Company Has Cut Us Off
10. The Kingdom Of Heaven (Is Within You)
    

Mother Earth – Make A Joyful Noise (1969)

Artist: Mother Earth
Title: Make A Joyful Noise
Year: 1969
Format: LP
Label: Mercury

This album, as funky as it is bluesy, as bluesy as it is soulful, as funny in places as it is sad in others (“Wait, Wait, Wait” pretty much defines the concept of “regret”), is the opposite of “slick” or “overproduced.”

Yes, it’s a little raggedy in places, and some of the players seem to have gone off to oblivion after it was released (NOT Tracy Nelson, though, who’s still singing and whose voice should be considered a wonder of the world), but it’s a trove of great songs and a true gem in the rough. Give it at least two or three listens; even if you don’t love it right off the bat, it’ll grow on you. (Jeff Durstewitz)

Track Listing

1. Stop The Train
2. What Are You Trying to Do
3. I Need Your Love So Bad
4. Soul Of The Man
5. Blues For The Road
6. Country Side:
7. You Win Again
8. Come On And See
9. Then I’ll Be Moving On
10. I, The Fly
11. I Wanna Be Your Mama Again
12. Wait, Wait, Wait
    

Steppenwolf – Steppenwolf [Mono Vinyl] (1968)

Artist: Steppenwolf
Title: Steppenwolf
Year: 1968
Format: LP
Label: Dunhill

Noisy, Gritty Snap, Crackle Pop Vinyl Rip, But It’s Mono!!!
Without ever being true innovators, virtuosos of any sort or a groundbreaking force in any special way, Steppenwolf’s charisma was evident from the get-go (or very early on their existence); and with a hymn the size of “Born to be Wild” (by the way, written by the at the time ex-member, guitar player Dennis Edmonton, and under his Bonfire pseudonym), and the projection its inclusion on the movie-of-a-generation Easy Rider gave them (and made most people identify the film and the way-of-life it depicted with the band, up to this day),their place in the Deluxe edition of the Rock History book was pretty instantaneously guaranteed;

Additional carburant for this blazing ignition was provided by the cosmic-sounding, hypnotic and trance-inducing version of Hoyt Axton’s anti-drugs anthem “The Pusher”- a bizarre feat at a time of drug culture exaltation (and pre-dating similarly oriented opinions by Neil Young or Lynyrd Skynyrd among others) in the view of those who forget that for the druggies that was after all secondary, as long as they could recognize the scenes and relate to the stories… – , or by the infectious opener “Sookie, Sookie” , chunky and fuzzy guitars, rolling bass and drums, organ swells, Kay’s raucous and punchy singing, another usurpation, yet majestic resurrection of somebody else’s stuff, in this case an original by influential R&B and Soul masters Don Covay and Steve Cropper…

In fact, namely on his collaborations with producer Gabriel Mekler, Kay has a tendency to pen tunes with Bubblegum inflections (“Everybody’s Next One”), banal Psych-Poppers or Rock ballads (“Take what you Need” or “Desperation”); surely it sort of becomes excusable in the light of the instrumental surroundings, although they do fare much better in my opinion when they let their Rocking and Boogie roots run free and wild or launch Jam oriented grooves as on “Your Wall’s Too High” or on the closing “Ostrich”( a fine example of Kay’s politically charged lyrics, he who having experienced repression was much more real and honest than most self-proclaimed revolutionaries) ;

And it’s also with their raw garage sound that they pay an intense tribute to Rock & Roll God father Chuck Berry (“Berry Rides Again”) and do a down and dirty reading of the classic “Hoochie Coochie Man”, laying two more sturdy pillars that helped cement a reputation solid as Rock – never mind the contentious times that lay ahead, but that’s another story… (comusduke RYM)

Track Listing

1. Sookie Sookie
2. Everybody’s Next One
3. Berry Rides Again
4. Hoochie Coochie Man
5. Born To Be Wild
6. Your Wall’s Too High
7. Desperation
8. The Pusher
9. A Girl I Knew
10. Take What You Need
11. The Ostrich
    

Catfish – Live Catfish (1971)

Artist: Catfish
Title: Live Catfish
Year: 1971
Format: LP
Label: Epic

Catfish Hodge & his band STOMP a grizzly brand of electric blues with the nasty conviction being from the Detroit scene in its peak days, Mc5, Stooges, Rationals, SRC, Frost, etc … this is head-on Blues, no compromise, no bullsh*t.

And the guy, Catfish Hodge has a voice and knows how to use it. He surely ate gravel before singing and had a good slug of whisky. “LIVE CATFISH” will ring your bells if nothing else will. Had the chance viewing of this band “in-action” around 1971 (supporting John Sinclair’s band, the legendary “UP”) at a big city college.

As the band tuned up before starting their first number, a wise-guy college student yelled out loud about Catfish Hodge being “fat” … You would have had to have been there to have appreciated the way Catfish Hodge stopped in his tracks, turned around and literally stomped to the front of the stage (boom, boom, boom boom) shaking his fist in anger yelling back in a threatening voice: “you wanna come up here and fu*k with me”? ….

The whole auditorium went dead silent. Catfish Hodge was a big man and from the mean streets of Detroit … one look told you he was bad. …Incidentally, the band put on a torrid, hard as nails blues rocking boogie assault. And ya know, that 1971 show was the touring support of this album, CATFISH LIVE ! (popsike)

Track Listing

1. Nowhere To Run
2. Money
3. 300 Pound Fat Mama
4. Mississippi River
5. Letter To Nixon
6. Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On
   

Catfish – Get Down (1970)

Artist: Catfish
Title: Get Down
Year: 1970
Format: LP
Label: Epic

Catfish were a blues/rock outfit that consisted of Bob “Catfish” Hodge (guitar-keyboards-vocals), Dallas Hodge (guitar), Dennis Cranner (bass), Harry Phillips (keyboards), Jimmy Demers (drums), John Hill (piano)and Johnny Badanjek (drums).

The band Catfish was fronted by singer/guitarist Bob Hodge whose gutsy vocals and unique delivery sometimes made you feel like you were sitting on the back porch of a bayou cabin listening to blues the way they should be sung, then the band would cut loose with some of the best get on yer feet rock n’ roll ever created!

The whole work is great listening [that in itself unusual for it's time!] but the tracks that stand out to me are “Tradition”, one of the best solid rocking songs I’ve ever heard, and “300 Pound Fat Mama”, a hilarious blues romp that showcases just how far this band can GET DOWN!! (Robert L. Baldwin)

Track Listing

1. Catfish
2. The Hawk
3. No Place To Hide
4. 300 Pound Fat Mama
5. Love Lights
6. Coffee Song
7. Tradition
8. Sundown Man
9. Reprise: Catfish/Get High, Get Naked, Get Down
   

Sweet Marie – 1 (1970)

Artist: Sweet Marie
Title: 1
Year: 1970
Format: LP
Label: Yard Bird

Sweet Marie were a Rock trio consisting of Prince Teddy (vocals, bass), Sonny Lathrop (vocals, guitar) and Willy Bims (drums). The group released two albums in the early seventies for Yard Bird Records (“Stuck In Paradise” is extremely rare and was reissued by Gear Fab in 2007)

By the mid-’60s singer/guitarist Sonny Lathrop had made a minor name for himself as a member of Mickey and The Invaders and The Starfires. Along with a wave of other California-based acts (Merrell Fankhauser, Jimi Hendrix, Quicksilver Messenger Service, etc.), the late-’60s found Lathrop living and working in Hawaii.

Teaming up with drummer Willy Bims and singer/bassist Prince Teddy, as Sweet Marie the trio began to attract local attention, eventually being signed by the small California-based Yard Bird label.

The band made their recording debut with the 1970 single “Remember Mary” b/w “Don’t You Understand?” (Yard Bird catalog number YDB-70-1314), and seemed poised on the edge of success when Liberty Records acquired national distribution rights, reissuing the 45 (Liberty catalog number 56215).

Unfortunately, the single vanished without a trace. In the meantime, Yard Bird financed an album. Recorded in Honolulu, Hawaii 1970′s self-produced “Sweet Marie 1″ offered up a great slice of guitar-propelled rock. Interestingly, splitting vocal chores, Lathrop and Teddy provided the band with the ability to handle distinctively different styles.

With Teddy at the helm material such as “Remember Mary” and “If You Love Me” found the band working in a Hendrix-styled heavy rock arena. While a less distinctive singer, Lathrop injected material such as “Standin’ By The River” and “Don’t You Understand” with a more conventional rock orientation.

Regardless of who was handling vocals, the material was peppered with some first rate guitar (check out the jazzy “Goin’ Down The Road”). Now the bad news. While they may have been one of the best bands in Hawaii, little on the album was particularly original or innovative. It’s a good, if somewhat pedestrian rock set that you’re liable to like if you enjoy Hendrix.

As for dealers that are advertising it as being psych, or progressive … nope! Signed to a small label such as Yard Bird guaranteed limited sales, though the band apparently made enough money to buy a nightclub on the island of Oahu. (Bad Cat)

Track Listing

1. Remember Mary
2. Standin’ By The River
3. Sweet Pea
4. Don’t You Understand
5. If You Love Me
6. Thru Rusty Windows
7. Walk Marie
8. Going Down The Road
9. Dr. Feelgood
10. Willy Bims
11. Bugalusa Baby
    

Dirty John’s Hot Dog Stand With Kenny Paulson – Return From The Dead (1970)

Artist: Dirty John’s Hot Dog Stand With Kenny Paulson
Title: Return From The Dead
Year: 1970
Format: LP
Label: Amsterdam

A strange and crude psychedelic blues-rock album from a short-lived band based in Boston circa 1969-1970. One member (PJ Colt) later released a solo album in 1976 (associated with “Skunk” Baxter of Ultimate Spinach, Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers fame).

Another member, Carey Mann, had been a member of the Boston group Ill Wind (see June 11, 2010 post). Several vocalists ranging from a growly split-octave style to white-bread blues style to rock-n-roll howl style. An intriguing record released on an unlikely label (Flying Dutchman’s Amsterdam label those).

Mostly original compositions with a couple of covers (“Blue Skies”, “Next Time You See Me”). The originals range from hard-rock Led Zeppelin riff-based arrangements (“I Won’t Quit”), to Johnny Winter style white-bread blues (“Hard Drivin’ Man”). Some are beyond comparison (“Waiting For Yesterday”, “River”) and have melodic but unusual chord structures and are steeped in psychedelic washes of wah-wah or slap-back guitars and elaborate horn arrangements.

The album is extremely rare, and even more so because of a manufacturing error resulted in many copies with only one playable side (this rip suffers from those pressing errors, but nonetheless an interesting historic document). It has yet to be released on CD (The Dragonfly RYM)).

Track Listing

1. Hard Drivin’ Man
2. Living In A Cloud
3. River
4. Blue Skies
5. And Now I’m Coming Home
6. Kansas City
7. I Won’t Quit
8. Next Time You See Me
9. Growing Old