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ONCE UPON A TIME.....Discover America

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  VAN DYKE PARKS  Discover America  (WB, 1972) - Progressive pop, Calypso       On paper, Discover America is a calypso record, with Parks remodelling traditional songs in a celebration of Trinidadian culture. It does that, and it sounds joyous. But it’s not all sunlight. Hidden behind the breezy rhythms, he’s also making a sly comment about post-colonial Trinidad and, by implication, race relations in the US. That sounds grim, but it’s largely playful, and sometimes straightforwardly funny (see “G-Man Hoover”, which tirelessly mocks the fabled FBI chief). Little Feat provide the salty atmospherics on “FDR in Trinidad”, and the gangster theme is continued on the lazy, tropical-sounding “John Jones”. Ry Cooder is an obvious point of reference, but, really, it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that The Clash colonised this territory a decade later in their pan-global phase (though Parks is slower to anger, and has superior table manners). TRACKLIST: Jac...
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ONCE UPON A TIME.....Learn To Love It

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  JESSE WINCHESTER  Learn To Love It  (Bearsville,1974) - Folk rock       As the title suggests, making a virtue of necessity had always been one of Jesse Winchester's goals, and by the time of the release of his third album, the American expatriate had gone ahead and assumed Canadian citizenship. This seemed to free him to comment explicitly on his antiwar exile in "Pharaoh's Army" and especially a version of the old campaign song "Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt" updated with new lyrics: "In the year of 1967, as a somewhat younger man, the call to bloody glory came, and I would not raise my hand." Elsewhere, Winchester continued to write love songs to his lost South ("L'Air de la Louisiane," "Mississippi You're on My Mind") and, to a lesser extent, to pursue the wistful philosophizing found on Third Down, 110 to Go ("Defying Gravity").  TRACKLIST : Wake Me                     Every Word You Say   ...
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ONCE UPON A TIME.....Silly Sisters

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  MADDY PRIOR & JUNE TABOR  Silly Sisters  (Chrysalis,1976) - Folk rock       Maddy Prior and June Tabor’s Silly Sisters is a magical hinge album, a meeting of two transcendent voices and a jolly band of British folk masters. Recorded in 1976 but somehow outside of time, its ancient songs, close harmonies, and loose, luminous performances summon something older than the British folk revival itself. Fifty years on, it remains a timeless gem hiding in plain sight: raw, sophisticated, and mysterious. TRACKLIST: Doffin' Mistress                          Burning Of Auchindoon                          Lass Of Loch Royal                          The Seven Joys Of Mary                          My Husband's...
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LITTLE DRUMMER BOY.....Lee Kerslake

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         In Lee Kerslake, we have another example of a drummer who while you probably have never heard his name mentioned (not often, at least), you most certainly have heard his thunderous playing. Case in point, if you’re a Heavy Metal fan, then you probably are a fan of Ozzy Osbourne, and if you’re a fan of Ozzy, then I am sure you’ve looked into his seminal albums Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman . Have you ever wondered who played drums on those albums? Yes, that is the one and only Lee Kerslake AKA “The Bear” backing up Ozzy on the radio staple and instantly recognizable track  'Crazy Train'.   Sadly, it seems that Lee had some sort of falling out with Ozzy, and while he did handle all of the drum tracks on Diary of a Madman , Tommy Alderidge continues to be unfairly credited for work he did not perform on the record. Perhaps lesser known is the fact that Lee Kerslake was the long-time drummer for seminal Progressive Rock outfit Uriah Heep....
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ONCE UPON A TIME.....Look At Me Now

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  BERNIE MARSDEN  Look At Me Now  (Parlophone,1981) - Hard rock       The lineup wasn't quite as extensive as on his solo debut album, "And About Time Too," when Whitesnake's Bernie Marsden recorded the follow-up album "Look At Me Now" in 1981, but it was still top-notch enough to nail down these songs in just three weeks. These days, you'd barely be adjusting the drum mics.      While the guitarist had leaned heavily on a 70s West Coast style on the previous album (you know, sometimes you want to try something different), "Look At Me Now" was significantly rockier. The driving riffs at the beginning of the title track announce this in true Whitesnake fashion, and with Ian Paice and Neil Murray, Bernie had their driving force on board, along with Jon Lord, their keyboard specialist at the time. Only Lord's Polymoog flourishes point a little too obviously back to the 80s. Bernie's voice, as usual, lacks the power of his Whitesnake lead s...
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ONCE UPON A TIME.....Trouble

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  WHITESNAKE  Trouble  (EMI,1978) - Hard rock       The band’s debut album was the first to feature Coverdale’s former Purple bandmate Jon Lord. Trouble served as a template for all albums until 1987 : good-time rock delivered with varying and mostly loveable degrees of success.       Take Me With You , the title-track, the instrumental Belgian Tom’s Hat Trick all do the business and in Lie Down (A Modern Love Song) with its chorus of “ Lie down, I think I love you, lie down, I think I care… ” Coverdale managed to be both sexist and funny. TRACKLIST:  Take Me With You                          Love To Keep You Warm                          Lie Down (A Modern Love Song)                          Day Tripper           ...
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ONCE UPON A TIME.....Turn Out The Lights

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  BERNIE TORME  Turn Out The Lights  (Kamaflage,1982) - Rock       Bernie's debut solo album, Turn Out The Lights , highlights why Gillan wanted him in his band, and why he formed such an integral part of the classic Gillan line-up. Punk metal, explosive energy, touches of blues a la Hendrix.       The single 'America' is here, and the title track is as good as anything he did with Gillan, it nods at Tobacco Road, exquisite.       There's some melodic touches too. Genius throughout.   TRACKLIST: Turn Out The Lights                      Painter Man                      Lies                      America                      Getting There                     ...
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