Missionaria Protectiva

  IAN MATTHEWS  Some Days You Eat The Bear...  (Elektra,1974) - Country rock       Ian Matthews moved away from country rock on Some Days You Eat The Bear and Some Days The Bear Eats You, and switched between the LA country sound, the West Coast Sound and soft rock. The music was slick, polished and radio friendly. That was no surprise, given the personnel that played on the album. They provided the perfect accompaniment for Ian Matthews. Especially on his rueful cover of Tom Waits’ Ol’ 55, and soul-baring covers of I Don’t Wanna Talk About It and Tried So Hard. There was also a cover of Steely Dan’s Dirty Work, where Ian Matthews and his all-star band stay true to the carefully crafted original. Then on Wailing Goodbye, Keep On Sailing and Home Ian Matthews’ showcased his talents as a singer and songwriter. However, he had kept one of his finest songs until last. The melodic and memorable strains of The Fault closed Some Days You Eat The Bear and Some Days...

  AL KOOPER  Easy Does It  (Columbia,1970) - Rock       After his unceremonious ouster from Blood Sweat & Tears Al Kooper embarked on several different projects including a handful of concerts with Mike Bloomfield and a string of critically acclaimed but generally commercially unnoticed solo albums.       Easy Does It a double LP set, was Kooper's third solo endeavour. The fact that this is not only a double album, but also an exceptional one without a single track that would be described as "filler" is a testament to Kooper's many talents. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and master arranger-- all hats that Kooper wore for this exceptional set. TRACKLIST LP 1:  Brand New Day / Piano Solo Introduction / I Got A Woman / Country Road / I Bought You The                                     Shoes (You're Walking away In) / Introducti...

  BLUE VAMP  Blue Vamp  (Vamp,1973) - Hard/Glam rock       The group consists of Jean-Pierre Bucolo and Bernard Madelin on guitars, Helios Vidal on vocals, Jean-Pierre Bellanger known as "Bel" on bass and Stéphane Ficarelli on drums.       Today, I still listen to Blue Vamp with just as much pleasure, and while it's not an essential work, it proves to be a very good Glam/Hard Rock album and deserves a reissue today! TRACKLIST: Le Serpent Bleu                      Lady Bentley                      Ephebes                      La Decade                      La Veuve Noire                      Le Michetonneur                   ...

  WACKERS  Shredder  (Elektra,1972) - Folk/Rock       The Wackers' third album has a distinctly British pop sensibility, both in Randy Bishop's faux-camp vocals and its stripped-down production. "Eventually, Even You Even Me" sounds both like early David Bowie and a template for the Britpop explosion of the 1990s, while the tropical textures of "The Beach Song" recall mid-period Kinks, and "It's My Life" rivals the Raspberries in its pure unashamed pop exuberance. TRACKLIST: Day & Night                       Hey Lawdy Lawdy                       I'll Believe In You                       Puttin' Myself To Sleep                       Eventually, Even You Even Me                       C...

  GRAVY TRAIN  Staircase To The Day  (Dawn,1974) - Progressive rock       While Gravy Train never moved to the premier league with the likes of ELP and Yes, their BJH-styled approach is understated but equally as gripping. Hence, the psych-tinged chorale of opener Starlight Starbright is redolent of Yes, while Bring My Life On Back To Me is akin to BJH’s The Great 1974 Mining Disaster, which can’t be bad. Never Wanted You is a psych-leaning number with harmonica wails, while Staircase To The Day has pastoral flute and mellotron. TRACKLIST: Starbright Starlight                          Bring My Life On Back To Me                          Never Wanted You                          Staircase To The Day                   ...

        Knechtel shared a Grammy for his work with Simon and Garfunkel on the timeless classic "Bridge over Troubled Water," a track he played piano on. He also played bass guitar and harmonica, among other instruments, and performed in the studio and live with artists such as the Mamas and the Papas, Neil Diamond, Hank Williams Jr., Randy Newman, the Beach Boys, Elvis Costello and, most recently, the Dixie Chicks. He played keyboards on the Chicks' Grammy-winning album, Taking the Long Way , and toured with the band to support the album.       Larry's résumé is a history lesson in great American music all unto itself. MAMAS & The PAPAS The Papas & The Mamas Dunhill, 1968 https://www.sendspace.com/file/5e9jo1h6