Leonard Cohen took his verse into music and stilled the world with his bleak melancholic. The euphoric “So Long Marianne”, “Sisters Of Mercy” and chilling “Who By Fire” continue to shiver through the lonely strains of a man’s heart. Tim Hardin sang his austere “Bird On The Wire”, (about birds on a telegraph wire in […] Continue reading →

Kevin Ayers the English songwriter and poet and was a key influential force in the  psychedelic movement of the mid sixties. BBC DJ John Peel wrote, ‘Kevin Ayers’ talent is so acute you could perform major eye surgery with it.’Kevin Ayers started out with The Wilde Flowers then to Mr Head, the remnants thereof blossoming […] Continue reading →

Scotland the brave with tartan warriors like Beggars Opera and Cirkus had prolifically scaled awesome musical heights during the Prog revolution. Sadly one band from Newcastle is often forgotten in the seventies shuffle namely the three- piece Ginhouse (name from St Andrews pub). Ginhouse played a mighty set at the Newcastle Polytechnic Ellison Building in […] Continue reading →

The music media of the UK received a riveting reminder of their short sightedness when English guitar fans turned their sights away from Clapton and Beck and focussed on the virtuosi Jan Akkerman. Jan’s early days were honed in Johnny & the Cellar Rockers during the guitar instrumental era of 1962. Even at the promiscuous […] Continue reading →

Fear Itself were more of a blues group caught in the psyche energy of 1966. Members comprised of ex Electric Blues vocalist Ellen McIlwaine, Chris Zaloom lead guitar ex Soldiers bassist Steve Cook, replaced by Paul Album and drummer Bill McCord. Fear Itself lived on the edge playing clubs like Cafe Bizarre in New York […] Continue reading →

The soul of Prog Blues is acutely balanced in the quintessential Every Which Way and their one and only self titled release. This remarkable group came together when ex Nice drummer Brian Davison teamed up with ex Skip Bifferty / Heavy Jelly vocalist Graham Bell, future Lake Geoffrey Peach and jazzy ex Sweetwater Canal bassist […] Continue reading →

Saxophonist Dan Seals, younger brother of Jimmy Seals of Seals & Crofts and classical pianist John Colley started out as the Shimmeres with various recordings in Nashville until their stage act as Colley & Wayland. Backed by Hip Records they launched their 1968 debut Smell Of Incense along with the title track which made #56. […] Continue reading →

Somewhere in Bournemouth 1968, the green giant emerged largely through vibrant concert performances. The Hulk started with the thunderous vox of Pete Thorpe who fronted the Harvey Wells Soul Band that become legendary through the ballrooms of the ‘Boscombe Hippodrome’ warming up for Status Quo, Small Faces and Pretty Things. The stirring grit of “In […] Continue reading →

Squelching reverb and crescendo leadbreaks quantify the German Freakbeat band Electric Sandwich. The first phase of this hippy ensemble came together with ex Whetstones drummer ‘Wolf‘ Lupus Fabian joined up with ex Chaotic Trust bassist Klaus ‘Lowry’ Lormann and ex Slaves of Fire guitarist Jog ‘Edu’ Ohlert , fronted by ex Flashback singer Jochen ‘Archie’ […] Continue reading →

Cosmic traveller Donovan Leitch served his musical apprenticeship in hippy toil before being discovered by songwriter Geoff Stephens in 1964. Donovan effectively launched his career in 1965 when he became a regular on the British rock TV programmed Ready Steady Go, yet his US performing debut was at the 1965 Newport folk festival. Donovan first […] Continue reading →