Short Rounds: Ethiopian & His All Stars, Gladiators, Moloch & Phil Seymour (2018)

New album releases in 150 words or less…

Ethiopian & His All Stars – The Return of Jack Sparrow (Omnivore Recordings)
Singer Leonard Dillon (“Jack Sparrow”) was frontman of 1960s-era reggae group the Ethiopians, which experienced some success in Jamaica. By the late ‘70s, tho’, Dillon was a solo artist then known as the Ethiopian and 1987’s The Return of Jack Sparrow (the title a callback to his original nickname) was recorded with the cream of the island’s instrumentalists, but never released when the label ran out of cash. Omnivore Recordings recently grabbed up the Nighthawk Records catalog and promptly released the LP for the first time. A hearty blend of traditional reggae, ska, and dub remixes – including remakes of several Ethiopian tracks –Dillon’s voice is in fine form here, whether revisiting his foot-shuffling hit “Train To Skaville” or trying out new material like the mesmerizing “Straight On Rastafari” or the R&B-tinged “Slender Thread.” The intermittent dub versions of songs provide a welcome shot of adrenaline to a pleasingly laid-back collection. Grade: A   BUY IT!

Gladiators – Full Time (Omnivore Recordings)
As part of their restoration of the Nighthawk Records catalog, Omnivore has rescued the Gladiators’ 1995 Full Time LP from obscurity and making it available to a larger audience. A compilation of sorts culled from the band’s trio of ‘80s-era albums for the defunct reggae label, Full Time is nevertheless a solid collection of mesmerizing, dub-tinged reggae. Fronted by singer/guitarist Albert Griffiths, whose pipes remind of Peter Tosh from that other reggae outfit, Gladiators’ performances often feature vocal harmonies provided by bassist Clinton Fearon and guitarist Gallimore Sutherland. With Clinton Rufus providing subtle albeit innovative lead guitar and with a solid rhythm section, Gladiators prove with tunes like “Ship Without A Captain,” the transcendent “One Love,” or the gorgeous “I’m Not Crying” that they were a self-contained, creative, cutting-edge reggae harmony band on par with the Mighty Diamonds or the pre-stardom Wailers.  Grade: A   BUY IT!

Moloch – Moloch (Stax Records)
Like Motown attempted with their Rare Earth imprint, so too did Memphis soul giants Stax Records try to grab some of that sweet rock ‘n’ roll cash with recordings from Big Star and UK progsters Skin Alley released on their Enterprise subsidiary. Local lads Moloch, featuring phenomenal guitarist Lee Baker, released a single self-titled 1969 album for Enterprise that went nowhere, disappearing until this über-cool 2016 vinyl reissue. A hard-rockin’ blues band, Moloch transcended the Clapton/Cream blueprint by incorporating Fred Nicholson’s uranium-weight keyboards into songs years before Deep Purple or Uriah Heep. Baker cranks molten riffs while singer Gene Wilkins does his best Jack Bruce impersonation on a rock-solid collection of bluesy jams penned by producer Don Nix, a Memphis legend. Moloch’s performance of Nix’s “Going Down” offers an incendiary, exotic reading that stands proud among a thousand covers. Period blues-rock fans will dig this overlooked relic of the era. Grade: A   BUY IT!

Phil Seymour – Prince of Power Pop (Big Beat Records)
Phil Seymour was an integral part of power-pop legends the Dwight Twilley Band, singing and co-writing with longtime friend Twilley. Breaking up after Shelter Records crashed and burned after just two albums, Seymour launched a modestly successful solo career mining much the same ‘60s-influenced pop-rock musical territory as his former band. Seymour scored a Top 30 hit with the lovely “Precious To Me” from his 1980 solo debut, faring less well when his 1982 sophomore effort fell victim to Boardwalk Records falling apart. Prince of Power Pop is a fine tho’ incomplete career retrospective that includes just six songs from Seymour’s debut and only two from his second LP. The selling point here is eleven previously-unreleased tracks recorded in 1980 with Seymour’s touring band, all of ‘em red-hot and ready to rock; covers of Bobby Fuller’s “Let Her Dance” and Twilley’s “Looking For The Magic” should-have-been monster radio hits. Grade: B+   BUY IT!

Previously on That Devil Music:
Short Rounds, December 2017 - Flat Duo Jets, Focus, The Original Blues Brothers Band, Uriah Heep & John Wetton
Short Rounds, November 2017 - Tommy Castro, NRBQ, Radio Moscow & the Replacements
Short Rounds, October 2017 - Action Skulls, Arthur Adams, the Nighthawks & UFO 

Stax Records reissues rare Moloch LP

Stax Records has been enjoying the label’s celebration of its 60th anniversary this year with reissues of classic Memphis soul albums and the release of a slate of Stax Classics CDs covering artists like Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others. On July 21st, 2017 Stax will reissue the long-lost, self-titled 1969 album from the cult blues band Moloch as both a 180-gram vinyl album and as a high-resolution digital download. The album will be packaged in a single-pocket, old school-styled cardboard jacket with a printed inner sleeve with new liner notes by writer Bob Mehr.

Moloch was comprised of singer Gene Wilkins, guitarist Lee Baker, bassist Steve Spear, keyboardist Fred Nicholson, and drummer Phillip Durham. The band was a popular mainstay of the late ‘60s Memphis rock scene, their sound a high-octane blend of blues, rock, and soul filtered through psychedelic influences. The band’s lone album was produced by Memphis roots ‘n’ blues legend Don Nix, who wrote most of the material including his song “Going Down,” which would later become a blues-rock standard covered by artists like Freddie King, Gov’t Mule, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others – but Moloch put their stank on it first.

Moloch’s 1969 album is a bit of an anomaly for Stax, tucked in between releases by stone cold soul artists like Isaac Hayes and Sam & Dave. It was an important release, however, as influential on the development of the stateside blues-rock scene as Eric Clapton and Cream’s first album was on British blues. The band’s late guitarist, Lee Baker, was an underrated but imaginative player whose influence would spark the creative muse of a younger generation of Memphis pickers, including Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars and Steve Selvidge of the Hold Steady. Long available only as a pricey import CD, here’s your chance to grab a bona fide slab of Memphis blues on glorious black vinyl!

Buy the vinyl from Amazon.com: Moloch's Moloch

Moloch track listing:
A1. Helping Hand
A2. Maverick Woman Blues
A3. Outta Hand
A4. Same Old Blues
A5. Going Down
A6. She Looks Like An Angel

B1. Gone Too Long
B2. Dance Chaney Dance
B3. Mona
B4. People Keep Talking
B5. I Think the Same of You
B6. Night at the Possum