CD Review: Very 'eavy, Very 'umble...Humble Pie Live! (2026)

Humble Pie, in my…ahem…‘humble’ opinion, are one of the great lost bands of the 1970s. To my knowledge, they’ve never even been considered for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (for what that’s worth), much less ‘snubbed’ even if Pie frontman Steve Marriott was honored as part of an oddly unsatisfying dual induction for the Small Faces and the Faces. Although Humble Pie’s oversized influence on later outfits like the Black Crowes, the Georgia Satellites, and Badlands, to name but a few, is out of proportion to the band’s modest commercial returns, there’s no denying frontman Marriott’s impact on generations of artists to follow in his wake.

Although Marriott tragically died in a house fire in Essex, England in April 1991, his work lives on through regular reissues of Humble Pie’s ten studio albums circa 1969 and 1981, as well as the band’s stellar live release, 1971’s Performance: Rockin’ The Fillmore (no, I don’t count 2002’s Back On Track…). Marriott’s Small Faces albums remain more-or-less eternally in print and are an essential addition to any British rock fan’s collection, while various solo projects like 1976’s solo Marriott album or The Legendary Majik Mijits (recorded in 1981 with Small Faces bandmate Ronnie Lane and finally released in 2001) showcase different facets of Marriott’s talents.

Humble Pie’s Sunset Blvd 1969

Jerry Shirley, the band’s original drummer, Humble Pie archivist, and “keeper of the flame” for his former mates has ensured that the band’s legacy carries on through a series of unreleased live albums, some of which should have definitely remained in the can collecting dust and cobwebs. For better than a decade, a number of these semi-bootleg albums have been released by Cleopatra Records (or their Deadline Records subsidiary). There’s a lot of chaff to sort through among these 21st century archival releases, but Cleo has found a real winner in the recently-released Sunset Blvd 1969 album.

As you may have glommed from my comments above, Humble Pie was formed when singer, songwriter, and guitarist Steve Marriott left his popular 1960s-era teen-beat outfit the Small Faces to hook up with fellow teen idol Peter Frampton (from The Herd), a fine guitarist in his own right, bassist Greg Ridley (from Spooky Tooth), and drummer Shirley (ex-Apostolic Intervention, which enjoyed a 1967 hit single in the U.K.). Signing with former Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate Records imprint, Humble Pie released a pair of exquisite records – As Safe As Yesterday Is and Town and Country – both in 1969.

Sunset Blvd 1969 features a dynamic performance by the original band line-up at the legendary Whisky A Go Go club in Los Angeles in December 1969, during Humble Pie’s first U.S. tour. Although the album’s scant five songs may seem to short-change the diehard Pie fanatic, they nevertheless stretch across fifty minutes of playtime. The party starts with a brilliant cover of the 1965 Yardbirds hit “For Your Love,” with Shirley’s tribal drum patterns setting the stage for Frampton’s graceful, almost jazzy guitar lines to introduce Marriott’s soulful vocals. Although bluesier, of sorts, than the Yardbirds’ version (which featured Eric Clapton on guitar), Marriott and Frampton and the gang take the song through unexpected sonic detours, fleshing out the single from its original 2:38 length to a staggering nine-minute-plus, dancing across esoteric soundscapes in the creation of a mesmerizing listening experience.

A cover of Johnny Kidd’s classic “Shakin’ All Over” – a 1960 U.K. hit for Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, and later covered by the Who on Live At Leeds – is provided plenty of room to breathe, a bluesy hippie jam with every flavor of guitar, bass, and drums available in a busy, albeit fascinating performance that clocks in at an impressive 12 minutes but could have seemingly played on forever, given the band’s energy level. A pair of songs that would later grace Performance: Rockin’ The Fillmore are included here: a swinging reading of Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah, I Love Her So,” which captures the magic of the song’s R&B roots while Dr. John’s “I Walk On Gilded Splinters” is provided an airy instrumental romp gradually extending to over 20 minutes of stunning and soaring instrumentation. Marriott’s “The Sad Bag of Shaky Jake,” off Town and Country, growls like a hungry wolf, raw-boned and semi-metallic with wiry guitar solos and an overall menacing blues-metal vibe that would later spawn bands like Badlands.

Humble Pie’s Live In Cincinnati 1983

There were a lot of highs and lows for Humble Pie between 1969 and 1983, including fleeting stardom and subsequent obscurity. The band’s self-titled 1970 A&M Records debut and the following year’s Rock On pushed Humble Pie onto the lower rung of rock ‘n’ roll success stateside, and Performance sealed the deal, solidifying the band’s status as mid-card festival performers and occasional headliners. Frampton bolted after the release of Performance to pursue a solo career that would strike gold a half-decade later. Adding second guitarist Clem Clempson (ex- Colosseum), the band hit its stride with 1972’s Smokin’ (peaking at #6 stateside and selling at Gold™ Record levels) and 1973’s Top 20-charting Eat It.

Subsequent releases like Thunderbox (1974) and Street Rats (1975) – a Pie album in name only, really, given Marriott’s lack of involvement – saw diminishing returns on investment and the band broke up. Marriott resurfaced years later with a brand new Humble Pie featuring drummer Shirley, former Jeff Beck Group guitarist Bobby Tench, and American bassist Anthony “Sooty” Jones, the line-up recording two albums, On To Victory (1980), and Go For the Throat (1981), neither of which barely grazed the Billboard album chart. Marriott relocated from the U.K. to Atlanta, Georgia in the early ‘80s and put together yet another version of the Pie featuring Tennessee guitarist Tommy Johnson, Atlanta bassist Keith Christopher (The Brains, The Georgia Satellites), and drummer Fallon Williams III. Johnson was later replaced by Phil Dix, and this is the roster that performed in Cincinnati in December 1983. Touring as “Humble Pie” out of necessity rather than desire – Marriott was trying to launch a new band rather than rest on the laurels of his former outfit as he struggled to find a record deal – this Cincinnati performance is nevertheless a real banger. 

Live In Cincinnati 1983 features a set list mixing Small Faces and Humble Pie songs with favored covers and a splinter of new material. The diminutive frontman with the larger-than-life voice sounds great here, the band well-practiced and ready to rock. The Small Faces’ “Whatcha Gonna Do About It” opens, sounding little like those British pop-rock stalwarts as Marriott and his freshly-baked Pie deliver a scorching take on the song that features Marriott’s powerful vocals, band harmonies, and a grinding instrumental soundtrack. Marriott resurrects “Fool For A Pretty Face” from On To Victory, the medium-strength former FM-radio hit pumped up on ‘roids and rolled out with a rollicking performance that mimics “I Don’t Need No Doctor” later in the set.

The Pie fan favorite “30 Days In the Hole” is raucous recreation of the hit single with introductory drumbeats leading into Marriott’s leather-lunged vox and lusty guitar riff. For those of us who love the song, it’s a welcome reminder of how electrifying Marriott could be on stage, even at this late date. Ditto for “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” an Ashford and Simpson-penned R&B gem that Pie pumped-up and pumped-out into the world on Performance, an edited version of that nine-minute jam achieving mid-level chart success when released as a single back in the day. This 1983 version doesn’t lack in enthusiasm or energy, Marriot belting out his vocals like it was his first day on the job. Marriott’s “Big Train Stops At Memphis” appropriately bleeds into a cover of Rufus Thomas’s Southern soul classic “Walkin’ the Dog,” both songs delivered by the band with reckless abandon, shimmering guitars and wailing vocals matched by a deep instrumental groove that infects both songs with joy.   

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Before embarking on what would be the last Humble Pie tour (disillusioned by the record business, and with his marriage on the rocks, Marriott returned to England at the end of 1983 and played with various short-lived and mostly unremarkable bands until his death), the singer/songwriter had taken his 1982 version of Humble Pie into Pyramid Eye Studios in Chattanooga, Tennessee (where the Allman Brothers Band recorded Reach For the Sky), to record three demo tracks after a deal with the beleaguered Capricorn Records label fell through. Two of those (previously-unreleased?) studio tracks are tacked onto the end of Live In Cincinnati 1983, proving that the battle-scarred rock ‘n’ roll veteran was still firing on all cylinders. “Trouble You Can’t Fool Me” is a smoldering, mid-tempo R&B tinged number with a funky groove and blazing horns while “Lonely No More” is a gorgeous ballad with a rockin’ undercurrent, Marriott’s emotional vocals, band harmonies, and a subtle, soulful backing soundtrack.      
   
The quality and brilliance of these studio tracks – both Marriott originals – present the eternal question of “what if?” the band could have gotten a record deal and further explored Marriott’s new musical fascinations. Of the two live releases, Sunset Blvd 1969 offers the better sound quality, remarkably so for a recording of its vintage, while Live In Cincinnati 1983 is noisier, muddier, and closer to a soundboard bootleg (but still quite listenable…turn it up!). Both albums offer high-octane performances from different versions of the band, and the Cincinnati set includes lengthy, insightful liner notes from music historian Dave Thompson (a former editor of mine). Both albums will thrill Humble Pie fans, a legion that continues to grow 40+ years after the band’s unfortunate demise. (Cleopatra Records, released November 2025 & March 2026)

Buy the CDs from Amazon:
Humble Pie’s Sunset Blvd 1969
Humble Pie’s Live In Cincinnati 1983

Also on That Devil Music: Humble Pie’s On To Victory/Go For the Throat CD reviews 

CD Preview: Shuggie Otis’s Inter-Fusion

This one almost slipped by the ol’ Reverend – on April 20th, 2018 the amazing Shuggie Otis will be releasing a new album titled Inter-Fusion. Recorded with a monster rhythm section comprised of veteran rockers Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Rod Stewart) on drums and bassist Tony Franklin (The Firm, Roy Harper, Kenny Wayne Shepherd), the album was produced by keyboardist Kyle Hamood of L.A. rockers Them Guns. Inter-Fusion will be available on CD, vinyl, and as a digital download.

Shuggie Otis, of course, is the brilliant singer, songwriter, and guitarist who created such magical musical moments as “Strawberry Letter 23” and “Inspiration Information.” Shuggie honed his chops playing with his legendary father Johnny Otis’s band during the ‘60s, and had his official “coming out party” with the 1969 release of Al Kooper’s Kooper Session album, which featured Otis’s stellar guitar playing. He subsequently recorded a trio of albums for Epic Records, including 1974’s landmark classic Inspiration Information. After appearing on his father’s 1981 album The New Johnny Otis Show, Shuggie all but disappeared from the frenzied rock music scene. He was still writing and recording music, but he was also raising a family and seemed to be in no hurry to undergo the sort of roadwork necessary to sustain a career.

Otis reappeared in 2013 to promote an expanded reissue of Inspiration Information, touring with his sons Eric and Nick and recording a live album, Live In Williamsburg, which was released in 2014. Inter-Fusion is Otis’s first album of new material in over 40 years, a mostly instrumental collection that features his skilled fretwork on what is being called a “fusion rock” project (a mix of funk, blues, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll). In a press release for the new album, Carmine Appice says “this was one of the wildest sessions I’ve ever done in my career!” while Tony Franklin adds “Shuggie loved to jam, and was very open to everyone’s input. He was not afraid to experiment and try new directions and sounds. I think the music sounds very fresh and alive.”

Producer Hamood offers his perspective, saying “watching the songs come together over such a short period of time, and the diversity that each band member brought to the overall sound and vibe was truly magical. It was an honor to work and create with such a talented group of musicians.” You can check out the promotional video embedded below for a taste of things to come. Heck, I’d walk across the street anytime to hear Shuggie play guitar, so I’ve already ordered my copy of the CD and you can get one yourself from Amazon.com.

Also on That Devil Music.com: Shuggie Otis - Live In Williamsburg CD review

Archive Review: Shuggie Otis's Live In Williamsburg (2014)

Shuggie Otis, the son of R&B legend Johnny, was a true musical prodigy, the guitarist recording his first album at 16 and retiring from the rigors of the biz by age 30 with a handful of classic recordings comprising his canon. With the 2013 reissue of Otis’s landmark 1974 album Inspiration Information (which included Wings of Love, a bonus disc of unreleased recordings), Otis went back on the road after a three-decade hiatus, performing with a band that included his brother Nick on drums and son Eric Otis as second guitar. Live In Williamsburg offers a snapshot of a single performance from the guitarist’s “comeback” concerts, the document a welcome reminder of Otis’s unique musical voice and enormous talent.

Otis runs through a dozen of his best songs on Live In Williamsburg, the performances ranging from the soulful groove of Inspiration Information or the Chicago-styled, guitar-driven electric blues of "Sweetest Thang" to the psychedelic soul of "Wings of Love." The guitarist’s signature "Shuggie’s Boogie" displays Otis’s deft hand at traditional blues guitar while the exotic "Aht Uh Mi Hed" blends reggae rhythms with lush fretwork, wistful lyrics, and bleating horns to create a new R&B sound. Otis is best known, perhaps, for the sly funk of "Strawberry Letter 23," the song a 1977 Top Ten chart hit for the Brothers Johnson. Here Otis tones down the song’s rhythmic backbone slightly in favor of shimmering instrumentation and soulful vocals, creating a transcendent musical moment. Otis’s vocals and guitar playing show little or no rust here, displaying the same livewire electricity as his groundbreaking 1970s work, albeit tempered with experience and wisdom. (Cleopatra Records, released October 14, 2014)

Review originally published by The Blues magazine in the U.K.

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Shuggie Otis's Live In Williamsburg

CD Preview: An Evening with Todd Rundgren

One of the most multi-talented artists in rock music, Todd Rundgren is a singer, songwriter, and producer; he’s a pioneer in the production and promotional use of video; he’s a computer software developer and interactive artist. Rundgren’s legacy is built on better than two dozen solo and studio and live recordings as well as a significant body of work recorded with his band Utopia. As a producer, he’s shepherded more than 50 albums to completion, including successful, charting albums by artists as diverse as Badfinger, Hall & Oates, the New York Dolls, Cheap Trick, Grand Funk Railroad, Meat Loaf, and Patti Smith, among many others.

Rundgren continues to tour and record, and on August 26, 2016 you can “spend an evening” with this legendary artist when Cleopatra Records releases An Evening with Todd Rundgren – Live at Ridgefield, a two-disc CD/DVD set recorded live at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, Connecticut on December 15, 2015. The album features live versions of some of Rundgren’s best-known and beloved songs, including hits like “Hello, It’s Me,” “I Saw The Light,” and “Bang the Drum all Day” as well as songs originally by his bands Nazz and Utopia.

The CD features eighteen songs, including material from a whopping ten Rundgren solo albums like 1972’s Something/Anything, 1976’s Faithful, and 1985’s A Cappella plus songs from three Utopia LPs, including 1977’s Oops! Wrong Planet, and from the acclaimed albums by Rundgren's early band the Nazz, 1968's Nazz and 1969's Nazz Nazz. The DVD offers seven additional songs, and a separate single-disc Blu-ray video version of the performance will also be released.  

Accompanying Rundgren on stage for the show are longtime collaborators Jesse Gress (guitar) and Kasim Sulton (bass) as well as keyboardist John Ferenzik and drummer Prairie Prince (The Tubes, Jefferson Starship). An Evening with Todd Rundgren – Live at Ridgefield is presented in a special six-panel digipak and will also be available as a digital download and as a limited-edition, ten song vinyl album. Rundgren hasn’t released that many live recordings throughout a career that now spans six decades, making this one a ‘gimme’ for Todd fans and fans of classic rock ‘n’ roll.

Buy the CD/DVD from Amazon.com: An Evening With Todd Rundgren
 
An Evening With Todd Rundgren track listing:
1. I Saw The Light
2. Love of The Common Man
3. Open My Eyes
4. Sometimes I Don't Know What To Feel
5. Black And White
6. Buffalo Grass
7. Determination
8. Lost Horizon
9. Bang The Drum All Day
10. Kiddie Boy
11. Black Maria
12. Drive
13. Secret Society
14. Love In Action
15. Couldn't I Just Tell You
16. Can We Still Be Friends
17. Hello It's Me
18. One World

Guitarist Eric Gales brings the Blues to Sunset Strip

Since discovering Memphis blues-rock guitarist Eric Gales back in 1991 with the release of his debut album (The Eric Gales Band, recorded with his brother Eugene), the Reverend has been a big fan. Gales didn’t disappoint with his sophomore effort, either, Picture of a Thousand Faces kicking out the blues-rock jams with even more energy and vitality than Gales’ debut.

I’ve kept track of the talented guitarist for a quarter-century now as he’s released fiery, critically-acclaimed albums like 2001’s That’s What I Am, 2006’s Crystal Vision, and 2011’s Transformation, as well as the two projects he recorded with King’s X bassist dUg Pinnick and former Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen (2013’s Pinnick Gales Pridgen and the following year’s PGP2). Throughout all his recordings, Gales has displayed a knack for innovation, an unquenchable musical curiosity, and an adventuresome nature that he shares with one of his major influences, Jimi Hendrix.

Although he tours constantly, I’ve yet to witness Eric Gales perform live…a sad situation only partially redeemed by the upcoming release of the guitarist’s A Night On The Sunset Strip. A two-disc CD/DVD concert set scheduled for July 8th, 2016 release by the good folks at Cleopatra Records, Gales’ A Night On The Sunset Strip documents a particularly explosive performance by the guitarist and his band at the notorious Hollywood venue the Viper Room.

During the Hollywood show, Gales performed material from his growing back catalog, including fan favorites like “Block The Sun” and “The Open Road,” as well as songs from his recent 2014 album Good For Sumthin’ and a very cool cover of the Rolling Stones’ classic “Miss You” (full album track list below). If you’re not hip to this extraordinary blues-rock fretburner, you owe it to yourself to check out Eric Gales’ A Night On The Sunset Strip…you’ll thank me later!   

Eric Gales’ A Night On The Sunset Strip track list:
1. Intro
2. Make It There
3. The Change In Me
4. Block The Sun
5. The Open Road
6. Sea of Bad Blood
7. Bass & Drum Solos / Guitar Solo
8. Swamp
9. 1019
10. Good For Sumthin’
11. Miss You

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Eric Gales' A Night On The Sunset Strip

Ritchie Blackmore & Rainbow Boston 1981 live set

Here’s a gem you may have overlooked in your misguided haste to grab a copy of the new Punky Meadows CD! Purple Pyramid Records, a Cleopatra Records imprint, released Boston 1981 – a scorching live set by Ritchie Blackmore and Rainbow – on May 13th, 2016 on CD and vinyl. Touring in support of the then brand-new Difficult To Cure album, which introduced new Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner, the band performed at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston in July 1981. Although the show has been frequently bootlegged, and has been swapped between fans online for years, this is the performance’s first legitimate album release.

Boston 1981 is available as a CD packaged in a mini-LP wallet, or as a gatefold double-album set on colored vinyl (your choice of red, blue, or green) with a stitched-in 20-page booklet. The set list for the show is truly electrifying, offering up both classic Rainbow tunes like “Man On The Silver Mountain” and “Love Live Rock n’ Roll” as well as new material like the Beethoven-derived “Difficult To Cure,” a cover of songwriter Russ Ballard’s “I Surrender,” and the Blackmore/Roger Glover original “Spotlight Kid.” In a nod towards his legendary former band (with whom he’d reunite in 1984), Blackmore provides a lively performance of Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water.”

Yes, hardcore Rainbow fans tend to sneer at the band’s 1980s-era releases, Blackmore trying to make bank with a more radio-friendly sound similar to Foreigner, who were burning up the charts at the time. And yes, nobody (not even Graham Bonnet) could fill Ronnie James Dio’s enormous shoes, but in ’81 RJD was slumming with Sabbath, so Joe Lynn was recruited halfway through Difficult To Cure to pick up the microphone chores. Still, Rainbow was a pretty raucous outfit throughout the ‘80s, and Boston 1981 captures them on a good night, kicking out the jams with the set list shown below. Ignore at your own risk…

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Rainbow's Boston 1981

Rainbow's Boston 1981 track list:
1. Spotlight Kid
2. Love's No Friend
3. I Surrender
4. Man On The Silver Mountain
5. Catch The Rainbow
6. Can't Happen Here
7. Lost In Hollywood
8. Difficult To Cure
9. Long Live Rock N' Roll
10. Smoke On The Water

Thor’s underground metal classic Keep The Dogs Away LP reissued!

In the annals of heavy metal, which counts among its ranks such notorious figures as Burzum and King Diamond, none are more infamous than the almighty Thor! Born Jon Mikl Thor in Vancouver, Canada in 1953, Thor is a professional bodybuilder, part-time actor and screenwriter, and rock ‘n’ roll legend. After winning the bodybuilding title of Mr. Junior Canada (one of many such honors he’s received in the U.S. and Canada), Thor decided to become a rock ‘n’ roll star. Proclaiming himself “The Legendary Rock Warrior” – basing his entire image on the Norse God of Thunder whose name he shares – Thor formed his first band in 1973.

His performances during the ‘70s were part hard rock/heavy metal and part performance art (he’d often perform acts of strength on stage as the band bashed away); Thor took Alice Cooper-inspired theatrics to a whole other level. Recording his debut LP in 1976-77, Thor subsequently licensed the album to RCA Records, which released Keep The Dogs Away in 1977. The album went Gold™ in Canada but failed to chart in the states, but Thor kept banging away at the gong, releasing albums and EPs throughout the 1980s, finding a new audience as heavy metal fandom blossomed during the decade. Thor temporarily retired from music in the late ‘80s to concentrate on film, but came roaring back in the late ‘90s and continues to record and perform sporadically until this day.

On May 13th, 2016 the good folks at Cleopatra Records will reissue Thor’s underground metal classic Keep The Dogs Away as both a three-disc deluxe edition and a triumphant vinyl version. Long out of print, Thor’s Keep The Dogs Away comes as a triple-disc CD set packaged in a six-panel digipak with alternative cover art and liner notes by longtime fan Brian Kehew (co-author of Recording The Beatles). The first disc reprises the original album, disc two features 22 rare and unreleased songs, while disc three is a bonus concert DVD offering a vintage 1980 performance by the metal legend. The black wax version of Keep The Dogs Away is a faithful recreation of the original vinyl album with a foldout poster and printed inner sleeve.

The day after, on May 14th, there will be a four-hour multi-media event held at the Highline Ballroom in New York City in celebration of the album’s release. Sponsored by Thor, radio and TV personality Eddie Trunk, and Fabio Productions the event will include a first time ever full concert performance of Keep The Dogs Away as well as a theatrical screening of the I Am Thor documentary film, a special Thor museum display, and a second concert performance of Thor’s most popular songs with special guest performers.

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Thor's Keep The Dogs Away

Todd Rundgren’s Box O’ Todd Live Box Set

With so many new album releases every month, it’s easy to overlook something specific that may scratch a musical itch that’s been running like drunken chiggers across your cerebellum. One such release that may have flown under your well-tuned rock ‘n’ roll radar is Box O’Todd, a three-disc, limited edition live box set from legendary singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Todd Rundgren released on March 18th, 2016 by Purple Pyramid, a subsidiary of Cleopatra Records.

Rundgren, of course, has left his mark on rock music as both an artist and producer. After making his bones as an integral member of the bands Nazz and Runt (really a Todd solo vehicle), Rundgren launched his solo career in earnest in 1971 with the classic double-album Something/Anything, on which he played all the instruments on three sides of the disc. Rundgren would subsequently release classic albums like Todd, Faithful, and Hermit of Mink Hollow, finding moderate commercial success and the occasional hit single; his side band, Utopia, provided an outlet for Rundgren’s more outré instrumental compositions. As a producer, Rundgren has worked on classic albums by artists like Meatloaf, the New York Dolls, and Grand Funk Railroad as well as recordings by XTC, Hall & Oates, Sparks, and the Tubes, among others, and he continues to tour and record to this day.   

Box O’Todd features previously unreleased (but frequently bootlegged) live in-studio performances which were all originally broadcast on FM radio at the time. Disc one features a 1971 performance by Rundgren, backed by the Hello People, which was originally broadcast on WMMR-FM in Philadelphia. The Hello People were an odd late 1970s/early ‘80s band that mixed mime and music, and they served as Rundgren’s touring band for a while (Todd also produced their 1975 LP Bricks). The performance offers a mix of songs by Rundgren and the Hello People.

Disc two of Box O’Todd captures a 1972 performance by Rundgren and the Hello People, originally broadcast from the UltraSonic Studios on WLIR-FM radio in Long Island, New York. The third disc of the box features a 1973 performance in Cincinnati which was broadcast by WKRQ-FM and features an early performance by Rundgren with his band Utopia. Box O’Todd also comes with a 20-page booklet featuring liner notes by esteemed writer Dave Thompson (a buddy of mine), rare color photos, a signature guitar pick, three collectible pins, and a backstage pass – goodies that will certainly appeal to the hardcore Todd fan – as will three discs of great live music. 

Buy the CD box from Amazon.com: Todd Rundgren's Box O'Todd

+ + + + +

Box O’Todd track list:

DISC 1 - Live From Philadelphia 1971
1. Banter & Soundcheck
2. Believe In Me
3. Lady On The Terrace
4. I Got My Pipe
5. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference
6. Rock All Over Again
7. Everybody In The Congregation
8. Broke Down & Busted
9. Tonight I Wanna Love Me A Stranger
10. Ooh Baby Baby
11. Hold Me Tight (Excerpt)
12. Before I Grow Too Old
13. Be Nice To Me
14. I'm Feelin' Better
15. The Ballad (Denny & Jean)

DISC 2 - Ultrasonic Studios 1972
1. Broke Down & Busted
2. Georgia Swing
3. Outside Love
4. Piss Aaron
5. A Dream Goes On Forever
6. I Saw The Light
7. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference
8. Feels So Good to Be Alive
9. Mad Red Ant Lady
10. Blaze
11. Lady On The Terrace
12. Slut

DISC 3 - Counterpart Studios Cincinnati 1973
1. Intro
2. I Saw The Light
3. A Dream Goes On Forever
4. Piss Aaron
5. Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song
6. Hello It's Me
7. Banter
8. Utopia Theme
9. Black Maria
10. Hungry For Love
11. The Ikon (Segments)

Pat Travers & Carmine Appice Revisit ‘Balls’!

Blues-rock guitarist Pat Travers has forged a lengthy career spanning better than four decades now, ranging from his mid-1970s status as arena-rock guitar hero to his current blues-bustin’ bluster as displayed by albums like 2012’s Blues On Fire or 2015’s Retro Rocket. During the early 2000s, Travers hooked up with legendary Vanilla Fudge/Cactus/Rod Stewart drummer Carmine Appice for a handful of goodtime records that showcased the guitarist’s trademark six-string shred and the drummer’s bombastic percussion.

Among those Travers/Appice collaborations was the 2004 album It Takes A Lot of Balls, a recording that was sadly lost among the guitarist’s abundant back catalog and kneecapped by his relative obscurity at the turn of the century. Travers has since been rediscovered as the talented elder statesman of blues-rock, so the guitarist and his former drummer have decided to revisit It Takes A Lot of Balls with a new edition. Deadline Music, a Cleopatra Records subsidiary, reissued the album on March 4th, 2016 on CD as The Balls Album, adding a pair of bonus tracks – including the scorching cover of Barry White’s “Never Gonna Give You  You Up” shown in the video below – along with brand new album artwork.

The pair deliver an odd take on the soul classic, Travers sounding like a crooning David Bowie on vocals and infusing the song with Jimi-inspired swirls of psychedelic color and Stevie Ray-styled slashes of switchblade licks while Appice pounds the stuffing out of his kit as he is wont to do. The rest of The Balls Album shows a similar disregard for the rules of polite society, Travers and Appice rocking and rolling with reckless abandon.

In a press release for the new reissue, Appice praised his partner, stating “I love playing with Pat. He is a great artist, and this was one of the best albums I have made, especially in such a short time – 3 weeks to make! Great songs, great playing, lots of energy, and each track has a lot of BALLS!” Travers responds in kind, saying “I have been a fan of Carmine since 1967. I followed his career over the years and was very pleased to meet him when he was playing drums for Ted Nugent in 1981. We did a lot of shows together and got to know and like each other along the way…we decided that we should record an album together. That led to me going to L.A. and recording this amazing album.”

Related Content: Pat Travers' Retro Rocket CD review

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Pat Travers & Carmine Appice's The Balls Album

Live 1985 Joe Lynn Turner Album Released

Rock ‘n’ roll singer Joe Lynn Turner has a larger-than-life voice that is equaled, perhaps, in power and glory only by his friend Glenn Hughes. Over a storied career that now spans some five decades, Turner’s has fronted legendary outfits like Rainbow, Deep Purple, and Yngwie Malmsteen’s band as well as recorded with artists as diverse as Leslie West, Billy Joel, Lita Ford, and Cher. Turner has also forged an acclaimed solo career of better than 30 years, and his voice has appeared on over 60 recordings, including better than a dozen solo studio and live albums.

On March 4th, 2016 Cleopatra Records released Street of Dreams – Boston 1985, a long-lost live Turner solo album. A year after the break-up of Rainbow, with whom Turner recorded three classic, acclaimed, and successful albums, the singer was touring in support of his solo debut album, Rescue Me. The live set includes several songs from Turner’s solo effort, as well as raucous performances of Rainbow’s “Stone Cold” and “Street of Dreams.” 

In a press release for Street of Dreams, Turner recalls, “that night at the Boston Paradise, it was outstanding. I can remember seeing the audience and I remember there was an awkward pillar – I guess it was a support column in front – not directly in front, but enough to block some of the view. But the stage was an actual concert stage. Aerosmith and all those guys used to always play there, the Paradise. So I can remember actually going on and playing the set, how it felt because it was absolutely exhilarating, and the audience was just crazy.”

Turner’s solo band at the time featured guitarist Bobby Messano, bassist Barry Dunaway, keyboardist Alan Greenwood, and drummer Chuck Burgi. Turner recalls, “this was our first tour out, and I’m not sure if we were opening for someone at the Paradise, but if we were, then they had a pretty difficult time because the crowd was absolutely bananas for us, and we were hot. We were really on top of our game, the whole band and it sounds it, you can hear it, everyone is playing with incredible energy and enthusiasm and very precise.”

Street of Dreams track list:
1. I Found Love
2. Losing You
3. Soul Searcher
4. Young Hearts
5. Endlessly
6. Rescue You
7. Stone Cold
8. Street Of Dreams
9. Feel The Fire
10. Guitar Solo/Good Girls Gone Bad
11. Get Tough
12. On The Run
13. Them Changes

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Joe Lynn Turner's Street of Dreams - Boston 1985

Cleopatra’s Psych Box Explores Classic & Modern Psychedelic Rock

It doesn’t surprise the Reverend that the good folks at Cleopatra Records would release a project like the five-CD Psych Box, nosiree! Over the past year, the label has made it their mission to dig up and release undiscovered gems by psych-rock legends like Iron Butterfly and Quicksilver Messenger Service as well as discs by fellow travelers like Curved Air, Captain Beyond, and Hawkwind.

Psych Box is packaged in a 7” x 7” box with individual CD wallets and a full color booklet, the set tracing the history of psychedelic rock from its roots in the 1960s through the present day. The set includes choice music from bands like the aforementioned Iron Butterfly and Hawkwind, the Syn (which featured future Yes guitarist Peter Banks), the Legendary Pink Dots, the Warlocks, the Black Angels, and many more.

The enclosed booklet includes band bios and suggested listening for whatever sort of musical acid trip you’d like to book in the future. The set includes a bonus 7” record featuring a spoken word track by Dr. Timothy Leary with a B-side from Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Just check out the track list below and we think you’ll agree that you’re getting a lot of bang for around $40 for the Psych Box!

Psych Box track list:

Disc One
1. The Brian Jonestown Massacre – “Going to Hell”
2. The Black Angels – “Soul Kitchen”
3. The Legendary Pink Dots – “Damien”
4. A Place To Bury Strangers – “Sunbeam”
5. The Warlocks – “You Destroy”
6. Hawkwind – “Opa-Loka”
7. Absolutely Free – “Vision’s”
8. The Movements – “Great Deceiver”
9. Chrome – “Meet You In The Subway”
10. Nikola Tesla & Thee Coils – “Sweet Rays”
11. Rotten Mangos – “Tent Rentals”
12. The Thunderbeats – “Something Inside Me”
13. The Third Sound – “For a While”
14. Sula Bassana – “Lost In Space”
15. Brainticket – “Black Sand”

Disc Two
1. Wild Style Lion – “Love Was In Me” (featuring Kim Gordon)
2. The May Company – “Wrap Around Porch”
3. The See See – “Big Bad Storm”
4. The Syn – “14 Hour Technicolour Dream”
5. Sons of Hippies – “Mirrorball”
6. The Deviants – “Jamie's Song”
7. Cambrian Explosion – “The Sun”
8. Surprise Party – “Cut Me”
9. Siena Root – “In My Kitchen”
10. The Spyrals – “Sunflower Microphone”
11. Studio 69 – “Il Est Juste La”
12. The Litter – “Action Woman”
13. Las Brujas – “Sweaty Windows”
14. Jovontaes – “Forever”
15. Spindrift – “Red Reflection”
16. Dum Dum Girls – “Letter to Hermione”

Disc Three
1. Nico – “All Tomorrow’s Parties”
2. Bonfire Beach – “Black Tinted Moonlight”
3. The Fresh & Onlys – “In The Light”
4. The Altered Hours – “Smoke Your Eyes”
5. Femme Accident – “Everything Goes Wrong”
6. The Ones – “Lady Greengrass”
7. Tales of Murder and Dust – “Laid Bare”
8. Dead Meadow – “The Crystal Ship”
9. The Sonic Dawn – “Japanese Hills”
10. MC5 – “Gold”
11. Tashaki Miyaki – “Take It Or Leave It”
12. Holy Wave – “Do You Feel It”
13. The Tulips – “Winter Winds”
14. Fade In Mona Lisa – “Green Carnations”
15. Electric Moon – “Spaceman”

Disc Four
1. Magic Wands – “Jupiter”
2. Nektar – “It’s All In The Mind”
3. The Chocolate Watchband – “No Way Out”
4. Brujas Del Sol – “Occultation”
5. Calliope – “Iron Hand”
6. Energy 2000 – “Zodiacal Light”
7. The Floormen – “The Place Where The Flat Things Are”
8. The Striped Bananas – “Dark Peace”
9. Indian Jewelry – “Kashmir”
10. Wight Lhite – “Close To Odd”
11. Surly Gates – “Under Your Tongue”
12. Aqua Nebula Oscillator – “Innocent Tu Seras Incandescent”
13. Pink Velvet – “Allez prenons un autre verre”
14. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – “Devil's Grip”
15. Black Delta Movement – “MacBeth”
16. Aura Blaze – “A Glass of Tears Half Empty”

Disc Five
1. Iron Butterfly – “Possession” (original 7” version)
2. The Fuzztones – “Hallucination Generation”
3. Allah-Las – “Stoned”
4. Love, Hippies & Gangsters – “This Is What We Want”
5. onYou – “National Strings Attached”
6. Secret Colours – “Get To The Sun”
7. The Vacant Lots – “Julia”
8. Black Moon Circle – “The Machine On The Hill”
9. Ttotals – “Life Thus Far Out”
10. Nik Turner – “Time Crypt”
11. Shuggie Otis – “Ice Cream Party” (instrumental)
12. Kim Fowley – “The Trip”
13. Landskap – “South Of No North”
14. The Lucid Experiment – “She’s My Melody”
15. The Raveonettes – “The End”

Buy the box set from Amazon.com: Various Artists - Psych Box

Cleopatra Releases Super Deluxe UFO live box set!

Formed in 1969 by singer Phil Mogg, guitarist Mick Bolton, bassist Pete Way, and drummer Andy Parker, British rockers UFO began life as a psychedelic-drenched space-rock band that staked out musical turf that wasn’t far away, stylistically, from what Gong or Hawkwind were doing at the time. By the time of the band’s third album – 1974’s Phenomenon – Bolton had been replaced by guitarist Michael Schenker and UFO had veered away from exploring their inner consciousness and towards a hard rock sound that would become the band’s calling card. Subsequent albums like 1975’s Force It, 1976’s No Heavy Petting, and 1977’s Lights Out would influence a generation of rockers to follow, including many bands that would create the ‘New Wave of British Heavy Metal’ in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

On February 5th, 2016 the good folks at Cleopatra Records will release UFO’s Live Sightings, a four-CD box set that features classic live performances from the band’s successful early ‘80s concert run through the states. Guitarist Paul Chapman had replaced Schenker by the time of 1980’s No Place To Run album, and this line-up of the band delivered a handful of charting albums like 1981’s The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent and 1982’s Mechanix. The first disc of the box set features a Chicago 1980 concert with performances of songs like “No Place To Run,” “Doctor Doctor” and “Rock Bottom” among its dozen tracks. Disc two offers up a Chicago 1981 show that includes performances of “The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent” and “Too Hot To Handle” while disc three delivers a St. Louis 1982 set with performances of songs like “We Belong To The Night,” “Only You Can Rock Me,” and “Lights Out.”

The fourth disc of Live Sightings features a Cleveland 1982 set with performances of songs like “Doing It All For You” and “Live Rain.” Altogether, the four concert discs feature 46 songs, and each disc is packaged in its own mini-jacket with printed inner sleeve. Live Sightings also includes a 12”x12” sixteen-page booklet with color photos and extensive liner notes as well as duplicate printings of vintage tour programs. If that wasn’t enough for your $60 (pre-order price on Amazon as of today), Live Sightings also includes Early Flight, a special bonus vinyl LP documenting a 1972 performance featuring the only known recordings of guitarist Larry Wallis (Pink Fairies, Motörhead) on songs like “Galactic Love,” “Back In The U.S.A.,” and “Mean Woman Blues.” A very collectible set for long-time UFO fans, Live Sightings provides a lot of bang for your buck!

Buy the CD box set from Amazon.com: UFO's Live Sightings

Kenny Neal Celebrates a ‘Blue’ Christmas

Cleopatra Records moved further into the blues field with the November 6th, 2015 release of the talented blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist Kenny Neal’s I’ll Be Home For Christmas album. Neal, a New Orleans native, is a Blues Music Award winner, multiple Grammy® Award nominee, and Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inductee.

The son of Louisiana music legend Raful Neal, Kenny has forged a career entirely on his own talents over the past 30 years, the multi-instrumentalist creating a legacy of his own with acclaimed albums like 2008’s Let Life Flow and 2010’s Hooked On Your Love. Neal’s I’ll Be Home For Christmas is the bluesman’s first foray into holiday music, the album mixing soulful takes on traditional and modern Christmas songs, all delivered with no little soul and plenty of Louisiana flavor. If you’re looking for something to mix a little ‘blues’ into your holiday reds and greens, check out Kenny Neal’s I’ll Be Home For Christmas!

I’ll Be Home For Christmas track list:
1. Christmas Comes Once A Year
2. Silver Bells
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Merry Little Christmas
5. Please Come Home For Christmas
6. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
7. Merry Christmas Baby #2
8. Lonesome Christmas
9. Merry Christmas Baby #1
10. O Come All Ye Faithful
11. Silent Night

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Kenny Neal's I'll Be Home For Christmas

CD Review: Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers' L.A.M.F. Live At The Village Gate 1977 (2015)

Johnny Thunders was one of rock ‘n’ roll’s great tragedies, an enfant terrible who, while not dying particularly young (he was 38), nevertheless seemingly left this mortal vale before fulfilling whatever promise Fate had in store for the tortured guitarist. Thunders made his bones as part of cult rockers the New York Dolls, his raw, slash ‘n’ burn six-string technique putting him in a rarified class with the Kinks’ Dave Davies and inspiring a generation of young soul rebels in his wake. Two criminally-underrated Dolls albums were all that the band could muster before going supernova, and Thunders went on to create a productive, if sporadic and often times maddening solo career.

In between the 1975 break-up of the Dolls and the release of his acclaimed 1978 solo album So Alone, Thunders took another shot at the brass ring with his band the Heartbreakers. Formed with New York Dolls bandmate Jerry Nolan, the Heartbreakers included ex-Television bassist Richard Hell, and later added a second guitarist in the talented Walter Lure. A clash of egos soon flared up between Thunders and Hell, who both thought that the Heartbreakers was their band, and Hell left to form the Voidoids, replaced by Billy Rath. This is the version of the Heartbreakers that released their lone classic album, L.A.M.F., in 1977 in the heart of the punk rock explosion. A year or three ahead of its time, L.A.M.F. did little or nothing in the way of sales, and Thunders broke up the band in favor of a solo career.

Johnny Thunders’ L.A.M.F. Live At The Village Gate 1977

The importance and popularity of L.A.M.F. has only grown since its ill-fated release, dragging Thunders and the Heartbreakers along for the ride. Since Thunders’ death in ’91, dozens of live and bootleg albums of dodgy provenance have been released under both Thunders’ and the Heartbreakers’ names. One live set that had never been released, even semi-legitimately, is the Heartbreakers’ August 1977 shows from the Village Gate in New York City. Cleopatra Records, which is rapidly making a name for itself as an archival label, got a hold of the tapes and has released L.A.M.F. Live At The Village Gate 1977. Drawing performances from two electrifying Heartbreakers’ shows that Walter Lure considers the best the band ever played, L.A.M.F. Live includes guest appearances from former New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain and rockabilly rebel Robert Gordon.

First, a warning – the sound quality on L.A.M.F. Live sucks worse than a politician at a fundraising dinner. Back when the Reverend was reviewing bootleg CDs for an outlaw music zine in Missouri, we’d have called this an “audience recording,” which sounds every bit as bad as it reads. Hollow, cavernous, echoed, with solar flares of feedback at times rendering the listener mute, none of it really matters when the band kicks into high gear with a frenzied, steroidal performance of the Ramones’ “Chinese Rock.” It’s like standing in the back of the club and letting the sonic waves wash over your fractured cerebellum. If live Heartbreakers doesn’t get your medulla oblongata to stand up on its hind legs and do tricks, then turn up the amp…and if that doesn’t work, schedule your lobotomy.

Overall, Lure is right in that L.A.M.F. Live captures a high-energy performance by a band hitting on all cylinders, playing eight of the twelve original tunes from the studio album, the sound slam-dancing off one wall and bouncing hard against the other. The riotous “Get Off The Phone” hits your ears like a tsunami, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake, while the cacophonic “One Track Mind” takes Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” production technique to the extreme, the instruments constructing an impenetrable, distorted sonic sludge from which only shouted vocals and piercing guitar licks can escape. A cover of the Dolls’ “Chatterbox” is loud, chaotic, and a rowdy lot of fun while the Carl Perkins’ rockabilly gem “Boppin’ The Blues,” featuring a chicken-pickin’ Sylvain and singer Gordon, is a sloppy, greasy, drunken bacchanal. The Heartbreakers’ theme song, “Born To Lose,” is a runaway freight-train teetering down the tracks to nowheresville.     

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Atrocious, bootleg sound quality notwithstanding, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers put on a helluva party with L.A.M.F. Live At The Village Gate 1977. The guitars cut like a switchblade, and the rhythm players raise a ruckus like a thunderstorm. There’s nothing virtuoso or cautious about the performances captured on L.A.M.F. Live – this is raw, visceral rock ‘n’ roll played from the gut by guys that have nothing to lose, so why not make a joyful noise on your way out? Highly recommended for Johnny Thunders fans, or fans of the New York Dolls, or even youngsters who cut their teeth on bands like the Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs or New Bomb Turks. L.A.M.F. Live will scratch the punk-rock itch you didn’t know you had… Grade: B- (Cleopatra Records, released October 16, 2015)

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers' L.A.M.F. Live at the Village Gate 1977

Hawkwind’s Early Years Remembered In Print

If you’re of a similar vintage to the Reverend, then British space-rock pioneers Hawkwind probably hold a special place in your heart. The band’s early ‘70s albums like In Search of Space and Space Ritual were mind-blowing, consciousness-expanding experiences for many young rock ‘n’ roll fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Nik Turner has enjoyed a lengthy solo career exploring the outer limits of rock music, but he was also an early and essential member of Hawkwind, contributing to seven of the band’s albums during the decade of the 1970s. Turner has documented these anarchic, chaotic early years in the pages of The Spirit of Hawkwind 1969-1976, a beautiful deluxe hardback book that was published on October 30th, 2015.

Written with music historian Dave Thompson, Turner provides readers with an inside look at the band, from the drug bust of original band bassist Lemmy K to the band’s notorious Glastonbury Festival appearance. The book runs 300 pages and includes an enormous number of rare and never-before-seen photos as well as a comprehensive Hawkwind discography (no mean feat, considering their various side projects, single releases and such), a complete list of band gigs, an a reproduction of Turner’s tour diary from the band’s first U.S. tour in 1975.

The deluxe tome also includes a reproduction of the band’s 1971 single “Sonic Attack,” and a reproduction of a 1971 twenty-page 6”x9” promotional booklet. The Spirit of Hawkwind 1969-1976 ain’t cheap – the Cleopatra Records website is selling it for around $60 – but it’s also a unique piece of Hawkwind memorabilia.

Turner will be touring the U.S. beginning in November in support of his new album Space Fusion Odyssey, performing songs from the rich and deep Hawkwind catalog. The book will be available at the merch table, and Turner will be signing copies of The Spirit of Hawkwind at the shows, which we’ve conveniently listed below.

Nik Turner North American tour dates:

Nov 12 - Brick And Mortar, San Francisco CA
Nov 14 - El Corazon, Seattle WA
Nov 16 - Lion's Liar, Denver CO
Nov 18 - Shank Hall, Milwaukee WI
Nov 20 - Reggie's, Chicago IL
Nov 21 - Token Lounge, Westland MI
Nov 22 - The Rockpile, Toronto, ON Canada
Nov 23 - Grand Victory, Brooklyn NY
Nov 24 - Cafe Nine, New Haven CT
Nov 25 - The Bug Jar, Rochester NY
Nov 27 - Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia PA
Nov 29 - Brighton Bar, Long Branch NJ
Nov 30 - Sellersville Theater, Sellersville PA
Dec 1 - The Pourhouse Music Hall, Raleigh NC
Dec 2 - The Masquerade, Atlanta GA
Dec 3 - Siberia, New Orleans LA
Dec 4 - Notsuoh, Houston TX
Dec 5 - 237 @ The Korova, San Antonio TX
Dec 6 - 7th Street Club, Austin TX
Dec 8 - Rebel Lounge, Phoenix AZ
Dec 9 - Till Two Club, San Diego CA
Dec 10 - The Whiskey, West Hollywood CA
Dec 12 - LVCS, Las Vegas NV
Dec 13 - The Continental Room, Fullerton CA

Related Content: Nik Turner's Space Fusion Odyssey CD Preview

Vintage Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers 1977 live LP!

After the break-up of the groundbreaking and influential New York Dolls in 1975, guitarist Johnny Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan formed the Heartbreakers with bassist Richard Hell. When Hell left the band to form the Voidoids, he was replaced by Billy Rath, and a second guitarist was added in Walter Lure. It’s this line-up that recorded the band’s lone classic album, 1977’s L.A.M.F.

Although it flopped like a beached halibut on the Jersey shoreline, the Heartbreakers’ L.A.M.F. has since come to be considered an early punk-rock gem, the album influencing bands like the Damned and the Sex Pistols (both of whom the Heartbreakers toured the continent with on 1976’s Anarchy Tour), among many others. Thunders’ post-Heartbreakers solo career and his popularization of junkie chic have served to make the singer, songwriter, and guitarist a rock ‘n’ roll cult idol. Since his death in 1991, dozens of live and bootleg albums of dodgy provenance have been released under both Thunders’ and the Heartbreakers’ names.

Oddly enough, one live set that’s never been semi-legitimately released is the Heartbreakers’ August 1977 shows from the Village Gate in New York City. On October 16th, 2015 Cleopatra Records will finally put this legendary performance on plastic with the release of Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers’ L.A.M.F. Live At The Village Gate 1977. Pulling from two electrifying performances that Walter Lure considers the best shows that band ever played, the Village Gate shows include guest appearances by former New York Doll Sylvain Sylvain and rockabilly rebel Robert Gordon. L.A.M.F. Live At The Village Gate 1977 is being released on both CD, with a mini-LP gatefold sleeve, and as a limited-edition hot pink vinyl LP with gatefold sleeve.  

L.A.M.F. Live At The Village Gate 1977 track list:

1. Chinese Rocks
2. Pirate Love
3. Get Off The Phone
4. All By Myself
5. Let Go
6. Can’t Keep My Eyes On You
7. Chatterbox
8. One Track Mind
9. Take A Chance With Me
10. Born Too Loose
11. Boppin’ The Blues
12. Do You Love Me
13. I Wanna Be Loved

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers' L.A.M.F. - Live at the Village Gate 1977

Unreleased Concert LP by Finnish Rockers Smack

Chances are that you’ve never heard of them, but take my word for it – Smack were one of the great unknown rock ‘n’ roll bands of the 1980s. Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain was enamored of the of the band, covering Smack’s “Run Rabbit Run” in concert during his ground-breaking band’s early, pre-fame days. The influence of Smack’s punky, ramshackle sound and on-stage ferocity can be heard in bands like Guns N’ Roses and D Generation, but unlike their fellow countrymen Hanoi Rocks, Smack never achieved even cult status stateside.

We’re going to get another chance to discover Smack, however, on August 7th, 2015 when Cleopatra Records releases Helsinki 1986, a previously-unreleased concert CD from the too-often-overlooked Finnish rockers. The fourteen-track disc includes rare photos of the band as well as liner notes by Jyrki 69 of the Finnish Goth band The 69 Eyes. Smack was at the top of its game in ’86, touring in support of their sophomore album, 1985’s Rattlesnake Bite (their acclaimed debut, Smack On You, was released in 1984).

The band’s electrifying mix of the Stooges, the Sex Pistols, and the New York Dolls won converts wherever people heard the band, but Smack suffered from being an indie band with poor album distribution stateside. Helsinki 1986 should bring the band a new audience and, with little luck, maybe we’ll get CD reissues of Smack’s hard-to-find studio albums down the road sometime.    

Smack’s Helsinki 1986 tracklist:
1. Some Fun
2. Rattlesnake Bite
3. Black Bird
4. (I Think I’m Gonna) Buy This Town
5. Cemetery Walls
6. Walkin' On the Wire
7. Good Morning Headache
8. Wishing Well
9. Somewhere Out of the Day
10. Run Rabbit Run
11. Pass That Bottle
12. Stepping Stone
13. Pills
14. Paint It Black

Cleopatra Records Snags Junior Wells Estate, Launches Blues Imprint

Here’s some interesting news for blues music fans – the estate of Blues Hall of Fame inductee and Chicago blues legend Junior Wells has been entrusted to Cleopatra Records through an agreement worked out between the label and Wells’ daughter Regina Brown. The deal includes Wells’ sound recordings as well as his song publishing, an extensive catalog that ranges from the harp player’s earliest recordings in the 1950s through his death in 1998. The deal also includes unreleased master recordings, and Wells’ personal memorabilia including his harmonicas, performance outfits, photos, and personal journals, among other artifacts.

Born Amos Wells Blackmore, Jr. in December 1934 in Memphis, Tennessee, Wells was raised on the other side of the Mississippi River in West Memphis, Arkansas. He learned the fundamentals of blues harp from another future legend, Junior Parker, before moving to Chicago in 1946. Wells hooked up with guitarists Louis and David Myers, the three young men playing house parties and infrequent club dates as the Three Deuces. They later changed their name to the Three Aces, and finally just the Aces when they added drummer Fred Below.

Wells’ big break came when he joined Muddy Waters’ band in 1952, replacing Little Walter Jacobs, who enlisted the Aces to launch his own solo career. Wells began playing with guitarist Buddy Guy in 1958, the two forming a creative relationship that would last some 20 years. Wells’ raucous, no-holds-barred playing style, characterized by his staggering solos and vocal interplay, was perfectly suited for the era, defining the Chicago blues harp sound at a time when the music was shedding its country roots and becoming more sophisticated.

Wells recorded for a number of labels during his 50+ year career, including Chief, Profile, Vanguard, and Telarc Records, but it is the recordings he made with Guy for Delmark Records during the 1960s on which his enormous legacy rests. Albums like Wells’ 1966 solo debut, Hoodoo Man Blues, and 1969’s Southside Blues Jam would cross over to young blues-rock fans and lead to collaborations with artists like Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, and the Rolling Stones. In 1990, Wells worked with fellow harp players James Cotton, Billy Branch, and Carey Bell to record the W.C. Handy Award-winning collaboration Harp Attack!      

It seems like the marriage of old-school Chicago blues and Cleopatra Records would be an odd fit, the Los Angeles-based label better known for its signature Goth, punk, and hard rock releases. Formed in 1992 by Perera, the label has released albums by an eclectic roster of artists, including Christian Death, the Damned, and U.K. Subs. Through their Deadline Music imprint, the label has released albums by bands like Quiet Riot and Cinderella, but Cleopatra has branched out in recent years through its Purple Pyramid subsidiary, releasing psychedelic and prog-rock archival material from artists like Iron Butterfly, Nektar, Tangerine Dream, and Quicksilver Messenger Service, among others.

In spite of the label’s storied history, the label seems psyched to venture into blues territory. “We’re very excited to enter into this deal and be a part of the one of the all time icons in American blues history,” says the label’s Brian Perera in a press release about the historic agreement with the Wells estate. “We intend to keep the Junior Wells legacy alive with a variety of releases as well as merchandise and branding partnerships in the years to come.” Perera has announced a newly-launched Cleopatra Blues imprint that will feature future releases from Wells and other artists including Eric Gales, Shuggie Otis, and Harvey Mandel. Given the label’s acclaimed previous efforts in rescuing long-lost music from the archives, I’m anxious to see what they’ll do in a blues vein. Stay tuned…

Iggy Pop’s Rare & Unreleased Psychophonic Medicine Box

There’s no denying that Iggy Pop is one of the true, bona fide legends in rock music. From his time fronting groundbreaking Detroit noise terrorists the Stooges, and through five decades and counting of an influential solo career, there are few rockers that have made a bigger splash in the R&R gene pool than the Igster.

Amazingly, even after some sixteen authorized solo albums and, at a minimum, an equal number of album releases of, ah…shall we say, “dodgy” provenance…there’s still some fuel in the tank in the way of unheard Iggy Pop recordings. On June 23rd, 2015 the good folks at Cleopatra Records will release Psychophonic Medicine, a three-CD box set comprised of a wealth of rare and unreleased Iggy sides that concentrate on the singer’s vital late 1970s/early ‘80s solo years.

Iggy’s Psychophonic Medicine includes a disc of previously-unreleased studio outtakes and alternate takes from his albums The Idiot (1977) and the vastly underrated Party (1981). The disc includes a pair of songs that have never shown up on any Iggy compilation, anywhere, at anytime – “It’s My Life,” taken from the sessions for Party and “Warm Feelings,” from demo sessions recorded with Steve Jones. The disc offers several songs from the 1985 Jones sessions as well as three songs circa 1983 which were recorded by Ric Ocasek of the Cars.

The other two CDs included with Psychophonic Medicine feature a pair of incendiary live performances. Disc two offers Iggy’s Paris Palace show from 1979 for the first time on CD, a dozen red-hot primal screams that include performances of faves like “Cock In My Pocket,” “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” “Kill City” and, of course, “Louie Louie.” Disc three offers Iggy’s often-bootlegged (and appropriately notorious) San Francisco 1981 show, mastered from a newly-discover (and vastly-improved) audio source. That concert performance included such fan favorites as “Lust For Life,” “1969,” and “TV Eye,” a baker’s dozen songs in toto.

Psychophonic Medicine includes a 36-page color booklet featuring rare photos from the archives of longtime Stooges photographer and biographer Robert Matheu, who also wrote the box set’s liner notes. Each of the set’s three discs is packaged in an individual wallet sleeve, and the set includes a bonus track of Iggy’s duet with Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast that was featured on HBO’s True Blood show. Iggy fans, you’re going to want to grab this one up fast ‘cause these sorts of collectors’ wet dreams tend to disappear from the shelves in the blink of a bloodshot eye!

Buy the CD set from Amazon.com: Iggy Pop's Psychophonic Medicine box

Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow – Live In Denver 1979

There have been a few live Rainbow albums trickle out from the archives over the past few years, almost all of ‘em showcasing the ground-breaking, earth-shaking Ronnie James Dio era of the band when guitarist Ritchie Blackmore’s influential outfit Rainbow trotted across the musical landscape like a proud T-Rex. After Ritchie and Ronnie James went their separate directions, however – Dio moving on to a superb solo career – Rainbow regrouped with one of the best line-ups of the band's lengthy run. Fronted by the leather-lunged Graham Bonnet and including bassist Roger Glover (Blackmore’s former Deep Purple bandmate), keyboardist Don Airey (from Coliseum II), and journeyman drummer Cozy Powell.

This is the group that would record the band’s breakthrough LP, 1979’s Down To Earth, which yielded a minor hit in its energetic cover of Russ Ballard’s “Since You Been Gone.” Bonnet was a different sort of beast than Dio, his vocals leaning more towards a lean hard rock sound whereas Dio favored a soaring, symphonic approach to the material. With the new band members finding an easy chemistry, this era of Rainbow delivered a hard-rockin’, proto-metal sound that was FM radio-friendly and arena ready. The tour in support of Down To Earth was legendary, pulling material from all four of the band’s albums as well as featuring a massive, awe-inspiring light show.

The Down To Earth era of Rainbow has been severely underrepresented by live material, however, an oversight partially remedied by Cleopatra Records and the May 26th, 2015 release of Denver 1979 on glorious colored vinyl. The full-length, double-disc set will be available in your choice of three different colors of wax – red, green, or blue – and packaged in an eye-popping holographic foil gatefold jacket. There are only seven songs, but they’re long ones, with plenty of room for the band to stretch out and jam, and Denver 1979 includes performances of several of the band’s most popular tunes, including “All Night Long” and “Since You Been Gone” from Down To Earth as well as “Man On The Silver Mountain” and “Long Live Rock N Roll.”

On August 21st, 2015 Cleopatra will revisit the Bonnet era of Rainbow with the release of Down To Earth Tour 1979, a deluxe three-CD box set that features full-length concert recordings from Denver, Long Island, and Chicago, taken from radio broadcasts and each packaged in an individual sleeve. Aside from a helluva lot of great music, the box also includes a bunch of goodies that will have the hardcore Rainbow fan salivating, including a 1” color button, an embroidered fabric patch, a Ritchie Blackmore signature guitar pick, and a combo bottle opener/keychain, all packaged in a red-velvet lined box. Mighty swanky swag, but it’s the music that’s going to sell this one, with longtime fans finally able to get a taste of Rainbow’s 1979 tour on disc.

(Fun facts: Rainbow opened for Blue Oyster Cult during the first leg of their 1979 U.S. tour, headlining the second half of the tour with opening acts like John Cougar (!), Gamma, Scorpions and, in the Detroit area, the mighty Cub Koda!)

Buy the vinyl from Amazon.com: Rainbow's Denver 1979