Missionaria Protectiva

         Multi-instrumentalist Chris Stainton has been a major presence on the British music scene since joining  Joe Cocker 's backing group,  the Grease Band , in 1966. Although he wasn't a part of the classic lineup of the free-standing version of that group, his longtime association with  Cocker  during the latter's prime years made him very much in demand as a player, mostly on keyboards but also on the bass.        When  Cocker  abandoned  the Grease Band , owing to personal and management considerations, Stainton remained with him and was part of the legendary  Mad Dogs & Englishmen   tour, memorialized in articles, on a triple-LP album, and in a documentary film. By that time, however, he'd also established himself as a top session musician, and had appeared on albums and singles by  Spooky Tooth ,  the Who ,  Leon Russell , et al., in addition to rejoining  the Grease Band  in the mid-'70s and running his own group,  the Chris Stainton Band . His record

  DAVE GREENSLADE  The Pentateuch Of Cosmogony  (EMI,1979) - Progressive rock       Grand epic fantasy concept album dominated with the keyboard genius of Dave GREENSLADE. Based on the wonderful world created and inked by artist Patrick Woodroffe, GREENSLADE transports us musically into his wonderful world. GREENSLADE is assisted throughout by both Phil Collins and John Lingwood on the drums and daughter Kate Greenslade who was 2 years old at the time. In many ways "Pentateuch" plays like a childhood nursery rhyme with GREENSLADE's choice of colorful themes and passages. Along the way we are treated to some nice varieties of keyboards with Mellotron, Church Organ, Polymoog, Tubular Bells, Minimoog, Clavinet, Vibraphone to name a few. TRACKLIST LP1: Introit / Moondance / Beltempest / Glass / Three Birds / Birds & Bats & Dragonflies / Nursery                                     Hymn / The Minstrel / Fresco-Kashrinn / Barcarole / Dry Land                      LP2: Fo

  LODESTONE  Time Flies  (Philips,1971) - Progressive rock       It’s more than a little hard to find details about this lost corner of the transition from psychedelic rock to progressive rock. Lodestone never released anything aside from  Time Flies , and it was only available on the German Philips label, apparently in very limited quantity. The musicians credited were Gerry Morris (guitar, bass, vocals), Phil Chesterton (drums, percussion, guitar, vocals), John Da Costa (keyboards, guitar, vocals), and John Hollis (lead vocals, guitar, percussion), all of whom had worked with each other in various other bands.  TRACKLIST : Overture                     Link / Theme                     Castle / The Fault                     I Awake                     Crash Landing                     We've Made It                     World Wall One                     Liberation                     The Observer / We Arrive Pt.1                     We Arrive Pt.2 / The Space Shanty                

  HARLIS  Night Meets The Day  (Sky,1977) - Kraut/Prog rock       “Night Meets The Day” is a conceptal album. It tells the story of a shipwrecked person who lures a ship on a deserted island by means of a beacon, makes a short career as a pirate, and finally ends up as a shipwreck after a lost battle.       Musically, Harlis offer a mixture of progressive rock and melodic hard rock. In the foreground is the guitar with some nice solos, some songs are dominated by simple, hard riffs (“Ruler of the Island”, “King of the Pirates”). The keyboards always remain in the background and are limited to atmospheric background as in the beautiful instrumental “Endless Sea”.       “Night Meets The Day” is not an essential album, but it is too much for simple hard rock.   TRACKLIST : Night Meets The Day                        Shipwrecked Stranded                        Ruler Of The Island                        King Of The Pirates                        Narrow Escape                        The Last

  FLAKE  How's Your Mother  (Violet's Holiday,1971) - Psych/Prog pop       Aided by their friends, singer and lyricist Gary Paige and guitarist Hubert Williams. The LP's lavish gatefold sleeve was Sporting a 'trippy' cover design, the album featured lighter pop-soul material on Side 1, with Side 2 featuring the band's heavier and more psychedelic side, highlighted by the epic 12-minute track "Violet Jam" (the second part of which was the Vanda-Young track "Quick Reaction"). Like many independent LP releases that came out during this  period the Flake LP had no commercial success at all and it has become a rare collector's item. Just before the album came out Billy Taylor left the group and he was replaced by Mick Meehan (ex Cinnamon). The album track "Under The Silent Tree" was released as the group's fourth single and it did moderately well, reaching #35 in Sydney in November 1971. TRACKLIST :  Under The Silent Tree        

  PENGUIN CAFE ORCHESTRA  Music From The Penguin Cafe  (EG,1976) - Chamber jazz       Multi-instrumentalist Simon Jeffes is joined by a collection of guests on eclectic backing instruments for this weird, occasionally folk-tinged slice of abstract avant-garde art-muzak. Presenting chamber music with no apparent connection to any pre-existing musical tradition, in retrospect (thanks in part to the Penguin Cafe's early championing by Brian Eno) we can see this as a sort of mellow, more acoustically-oriented cousin to the sort of ambient pop that Eno and Brand X cooked up on Another Green World. Minimalistic, yes, but never boring, the Penguin Cafe flock are always doing something interesting which sounds like little before or since. Followers of the more abstract jazz, folk, or pop tendencies will likely find it worth their time. TRACKLIST : Penguin Cafe Single                       From The Colonies                       In A Sydney Motel                       Surface Tension      

  SCOPE  Scope  (Atlantic,1974) - Jazz/Progressive rock       Scope  was a Dutch  jazz rock  group that was active from 1971 to 1976. It was founded in the city of Zwolle  by keyboardist/flutist Rik Elings and drummer Henk Zomer as a successor to their band Strange Power. Their compositions utilize elements of jazz  as well as progressive rock  combined with the prominent use of sounds that are typical of the decade such as the use of the wah-wah pedal . During their period of activity they were popular in the jazz rock scene in the Netherlands and often compared by Dutch publications to other jazz fusion groups, mostly those that originated in the United States. TRACKLIST : Watch Your Step                        Can You Follow Me                        Kayakokolishi                        Yesternight's Dream                        Description                        Walpurgis Night                        Chewing Gum Telegram                        The Queen Can Do No Wrong https://

        Dave Mattacks is a great and versatile player who’s done prog along with many other styles. Though best-known for his long service in  Fairport Convention , Mattacks has been the ultimate songwriter’s drummer, able to work with the world’s best and figure out exactly what every song calls for. In terms of prog credentials, he’s got a year with Jethro Tull, played on a few Camel   tracks and sessions with Gary Brooker and Phil Manzanera and more surprisingly he played on Bill Nelson’s Red Noise’s groundbreaking bit of prog-punk futurism,  Sound-on-Sound . FAIRPORT CONVENTION Babbacombe Lee Island,1971 https://www.sendspace.com/file/xf3vqy

  DELANEY BRAMLETT Mobius Strip  (Columbia,1973) - Rock,Pop rock       This album came out the year after his divorce. It’s his second solo album and clearly divorce has had an effect on him. Then again, he is singing the “blues’. Otherwise, Delaney seems to have not missed a musical beat. He is drawing on what he was doing with Delaney & Bonnie (I expect that as an accomplished guitarist, songwriter, and producer he would have been the prime mover) … country blues songs about people, love, life and moral decisions. TRACKLIST : Are You A Beatle Or A Rolling Stone                       What Am I Doin' (In A Place Like This)                       A Young Girl (In Her Garden)                       Big Ol' Piece Of Blues                       Circles                       When A Man Is In Need Of A Woman                       I'm A M-A-N                       BB's Blues                       Little Bit Of You In Me                       California Rain https://www.sends

  LEON RUSSELL  Americana  (Paradise,1978) - Pop rock       Not quite as bad as others have portrayed it as while there are a few disco tracks here calling this entire album a disco album is an exaggeration as there are some fine ballads and r&b tracks but as is too often the case with Leon you don't get a consistently good album since the outstanding debut album. The Chicago horns section is certainly not the reason for the bad tracks given that this is the band at their prime with Terry Kath still alive and way before their truly insipid David Foster/Diane Warren phase in the late 80s to early 90s. Not Leon's best work but certainly not his worse either. TRACKLIST : Let's Get Started                        Elvis And Marilyn                        From Maine To Mexico                        When A Man Loves A Woman                        It's Only Me                        Midnight Lover                        Housewife                        Ladies Of The Night  

  SPEEDY KEEN Previous Convictions  (Track,1973) - Pop rock       John Keen was young Pete Townshend’s flat mate and chauffeur, but he was a musician and songwriter in his own right; in fact, Keen wrote “Armenia City in the Sky” from The Who Sell Out.  In 1969 Pete and manager Kit Lambert paired Speedy up with Andy Newman and Jimmy McCulloch in the ready-made band Thunderclap Newman, which was intended as a showcase for the three musicians.       They recorded an album at Pete’s legendary home studio, and the Keen-penned single “Something in the Air” went on to hit number one in nine different countries.  Not too shabby.       After Thunderclap Newman, Keen recorded two solo albums (this was his first) and then went to work in the studio both as a studio musician and producer. TRACKLIST : Old Fashioned Girl                          Keep Your Head Down                          Let Us In                          Something Else                          The Flying Wino                    

  ROGER DALTREY  One Of The Boys  (Polydor,1977) - Rock       Beyond a few good songs,  One of the Boys  does keep interesting company, including John Entwistle,  Eric Clapton  and a previously unreleased song from Paul McCartney ,  Giddy , that has its origins in “Rode All Night” from the Ram  sessions. The latter song is one of the few cases where Daltrey’s vocals fall short of the original (McCartney didn’t get enough credit for his vocals, in my opinion). You could probably live a full and rewarding life without owning any of Roger Daltrey’s records, unless you’re a hardcore Who fan, in which case you’re likely to own at least one of these albums, with  One of the Boys  as good a choice as any. TRACKLIST : Parade                        Single Man's Dilemma                        Avenging Annie                        The Prisoner                        Leon                        One Of The Boys                        Giddy                        Written On The Wind            

  STEVE GIBBONS  Short Stories  (Wizard,1971) - Rock       A real classic rock gem from Birmingham's elder statesman of rock. Recorded in 1969 with a stellar musical cast: Countryrock pickers deluxe Albert Lee & Gerry Donahue on the Telecaster, old Move/Balls colleague Trevor Burton on bass, half of Spooky Tooth (Gary Wright, Greg Ridley & Mike Kellie), Gerry Conway on steel guitar, Doris Troy and Madeleine Bell on backup vocals and produced by Jimmy Miller who stood for the best records of Traffic and the Rolling Stones. The tracks are an oustanding mix of uptempo (country-) rockers, ballads and swiniging brass rock (with an uncredited Chris Barber on trombone). A real fascinating template for the music to come from the Steve Gibbons Band from the mid 1970s on, that toured the world with the likes of The Who, AC/DC or Lynyrd Skynyrd. TRACKLIST : Leader Of The Band                        Now You're Leaving                        The Last Farewell                        

  MATTHEW FISHER  I'll Be There  (RCA,1974) - Rock       I'll Be There was Matthew Fisher's second solo album, but he didn't seem to have much to say. While pleasant enough, I'll Be There showed that the buying public wasn't. TRACKLIST : It's Not Too Late                        Not Her Fault                        Song Without Words                        Taking The Easy Way Out                        She Knows Me                        It's So Easy                        Do You Still Think About Me                        Cold Harbour Lane                        I'll Be There https://www.sendspace.com/file/kgaljf

        As an 18-year-old in 1965, Barbara Mason captured the innocent stirrings of adolescence on the self-penned  Yes I’m Ready , a US #3 R&B hit which is widely acknowledged as the beginning of the Philadelphia sound, with its use of sweet, sweeping strings and the musicians who would go on to form the nucleus of the Philadelphia International label’s house band, MFSB.       Mason, who wasn’t raised in the church but honed her craft in local talent shows and sang along to  Etta James , Gloria Lynne and  Aretha  records on the radio, took to the road with  Curtis Mayfield ‘s The Impressions in 1966 after a string of R&B hits like  Sad Sad Girl  and  I Need Love , which built on the same formula as  Yes I’m Ready .       By the turn of the decade, she had graduated from teen crush to tempestuous lover, documenting bedroom dramas in forthright fashion.       In 1972 she worked with Mayfield on a version of his  Give Me Your Love  for an album of the same name, and in 1975 score

  VIXEN  Vixen  (EMI Manhattan,1988) - Hard rock       The  Vixen  album has a great, but easy, sound. It’s easy to sing to and all of the songs are catchy. Janet Gardner has a great voice and Jan Kuehnemund impresses on her guitar. Remembering the 80s, Jan Kuehnemund, Lita Ford, and Nancy Wilson (Heart) were three of the best female guitar players in all of Hard Rock/Metal. TRACKLIST : Edge Of A Broken Heart                        I Want You To Rock Me                        Cryin'                        American Dream                        Desperate                        One Night Alone                        Hell Raisers                        Love Made Me                        Waiting                        Cruisin'                        Give It Away https://www.sendspace.com/file/120q0o