Missionaria Protectiva

        Native New Yorkers The Youngbloods formed under the leadership of Jesse Colin Young in 1967 and played soft rock numbers with a light jazz feel, successfully avoiding the pitfall of playing cocktail pseudo-jazz.       The band had a big US hit with  Get Together  which drew them to L.A. where they found the lifestyle and attitudes more in tune with their own and based themselves in Inverness, California.       While Young was always the focal point of the band, their first two albums –  The Youngbloods  (1967) and  Earth Music  (1967) – also had songwriting contributions from their original guitarist Jerry Corbitt, who tired of commuting between New York and the West Coast and quit the band, leaving The Youngbloods reduced to a trio.       The group broke up in 1972, and Jesse Colin Young had a long and moderately successful career as a solo singer/songwriter. The Best Of The...

  TODD RUNDGREN  Todd  (Bearsville,1974) - Crossover prog       "Todd" was the follow up to "A Wizard, A True Star", and builds on the trippy music of that album, but has more consistency.       Todd mixes up all of the styles of music he was into at the time, making this a music lovers extravaganza. First, there's a few of those ballads he has always been known for. The most famous of these is  A Dream Goes On Forever . I'd swear this song was inspired by Brian Wilson's "Pet Sounds" album. The rhythm in particular has a sound similar to  I Just Wasn't Made For These Times .       There is also a few heavy rockers.  Heavy Metal Kids  is a great one, and became a concert favorite with Todd's solo band as well as Utopia. But the real fun comes from the experimental pieces. Right from the start,  How About A Little Fanfare? , the album is a roller coaster ride of bizarre noises made into music and wild stu...

  SHADOWSHOW  Shadowshow  (TM,1983) - Jazz rock       Not strictly a Rod Argent recording as "Shadowshow" were a band featuring Barbara Thompson, Jon Hiseman, Clem Clempson and John Mole in addition to Rod Argent. This album features some truly great songs including "Manhattan Midnite" and "Doing What Must Be Done". TRACKLIST : Secure In You                     Down On Your Luck                     Sleepwalker                     Siren                     Manhattan Midnite                     It's Over                     Echoes                     Moving In The Morning Sun           ...

  ROGER GLOVER  Elements  (Polygram,1978) - Symphonic rock         It's a moody, symphonic rock piece.  The musicianship is superb and given that I'm a sucker for the sax and big fat string sections this now occupies my CD player at work and looks like doing so for a while to come. TRACKLIST : The First Ring Made Of Clay                          The Next A Ring Of Fire                          The Third Ring's Watery Flow                          The Fourth Ring With The Wind                          Finale https://www.sendspace.com/file/hpcc13

        For those who love Rainbow or Deep Purple, this is a good collection of various live performances of Ritchie's band with various lineups. The recording quality is not that good but it's okay if you love Rainbow. Keep on rockin' ..! TRACKLIST  CD1: Spotlight Kid / I Surrender / Miss Mistreated / Street Of Dreams / Jealous Lover / Can't Happen                                   Here / Tearin' Out My Heart / Since You Been Gone / Bad Girl                       CD2: Difficult To Cure / Stone Cold / Power / Man On The Silver Mountain / Long Live Rock'n'Roll /                                     Weiss Heim CD1 -  https://www.sendspace.com/file/0df9bf CD2 -  https://www.sendspace.com/file/z6pt0b

  BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS  B,S & T 4  (Columbia,1971) - Rock        "Go Down Gambling" was my favorite because of the guitar solo at the end. Believe it or not David Clayton Thomas played very well. I didn't know he could even play the guitar until I heard him on this. After I heard the whole album, I wondered why the band couldn't have done more of the rock oriented stuff. They put the song out on a 45 which I believed misled a lot of people who bought this album. I was thinking that "man, this set is gonna be pretty good with plenty of lead guitar to listen to." Unfortunately that wasn't the case. "Go Down Gambling" is the only one to employ a decent guitar solo on it.        There are a few noteworthy songs on this album though. "Redemption" has a great drum solo compliments of Bobby Columby. It then progs to the vocal tune and it stays upbeat throughout, with some nice solos by the horn section.        "...

  PETER CETERA  One More Story  (WB,1988) - AOR       His batteries re-charged, he re-entered the studio for what is possibly Peter's best, and if not best, certainly his most polished solo effort. Trading in the over-synthesized power-pop production of Michael Omartian on his sophomore  Solitude/Solitaire  Peter switched gears and changed directions for  One More Story , this time teaming with Patrick Leonard who was still riding the success of Madonna's  Like a Prayer  album.   Leonard even paid Peter the courtesy of bringing Madonna along for the ride (she went by the pseudonym of "Lulu Smith" for her very noticeable background vocal contributions on Cetera's  Scheherezade ). TRACKLIST : Best Of Times                        One Good Woman                        Peace Of Mind        ...

  GARY WRIGHT  The Light Of Smiles  (WB,1977) - Soft rock       Accompaniment from drum aces Jim Keltner and Ronnie Wood’s brother Art, future Toto man Steve Porcaro and songs (including a co-writing credit for Paramahansa Yogananda on  I Am The Sky ) provide platform for Wright’s radiant musical skills and tender humanity rather than extra curricular proselytising. Works of a prodigious talent, open ears will be rewarded. TRACKLIST : Water Sign                          Time Machine                          I Am The Sky                          Who Am I                          Silent Fury                          Phantom Writer ...

  JAMES TAYLOR  Gorilla  (WB,1975) - Soft rock       This is soft rock at its best, primarily made up of love songs, and helped immensely by the harmonically-gifted backing vocals of  Graham Nash  and  David Crosby .       Rolling Stone notes that “With Gorilla, Taylor is well on his way to staking out new ground. What he’s hit upon is the unlikely mating of his familiar low-keyed, acoustic guitar-dominated style with L.A. harmony rock and the sweet, sexy school of rhythm and blues.” TRACKLIST : Mexico                     Music                     How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)                     Wandering                     Gorilla                     You Make It Easy ...

  MOTT THE HOOPLE  Mott The Hoople  (Island,1969) - Rock       Before Mott the Hoople joined the glam-rock hit parade with 1972's ''All the Young Dudes,'' the English quintet had staked out its own strange corner of rock & roll. The band's 1969 debut,  Mott the Hoople  — a bracing mixture of Ian Hunter's self-consciously Dylanized vocals, Mick Ralphs' power guitar, and Verden Allen's churning organ swirls — contains such reckless but successful undertakings as a thuggish instrumental cover of the Kinks' ''You Really Got Me,'' a majestic examination of Sonny Bono's inane ''Laugh at Me,'' and the stately 11-minute ''Half Moon Bay.'' Amid the enveloping psychedelia and overt Dylan knockoffs, the groupie love song ''Rock and Roll Queen'' showcases future Bad Company star Ralphs at his most searingly cogent.  TRACKLIST : You Really Got Me                        At The Crossroads ...

  STILLS / YOUNG BAND  Long May You Run  (Reprise,1976) - Country rock      It sounded like a good idea, anyway. Neil Young joins with his Buffalo Springfield and CSNY bandmate Steven Stills. They had made some great music in the past, so maybe the magic would still be there. I sure hoped for a great album, I loved some of the earlier Stills albums especially the first Manassas album. And even though Stills more recent albums had become uninteresting and his voice had lost some of its edge, still these were the two guys dueling guitars on such great tunes as Bluebird and Almost Cut My Hair. It happened before, perhaps it would happen again.      But it was not to be. I was disappointed in the Stills/Young band effort Long May You Run. It had some good songs, but compared to the genius of Zuma, Neil's songs on LMYR are a letdown. Granted they aren't terrible songs, as a group they just aren't among his great tunes. Long May You Run the song wa...

        The Zombies were the only British group of the 60s who could have seriously given  The Beatles  a real run for their money.       Although comparatively unrecognised, their body of work is every bit as innovative, complex and appealing as that of the Fab Four. After The Beatles and The Beach Boys, no 60s group wrote melodies as gorgeous as those of The Zombies.       Dominated by Colin Blunstone’s breathy vocals, choral harmonies and Rod Argent’s shining jazz and classical-influenced organ and piano, the band sounded utterly unique for their era.       Their three biggest hits are now rock standards, and  She’s Not There  has been covered by other artists such as  Vanilla Fudge ,  Santana  and  UK Subs . The EP Collection See For Miles,1992 https://www.sendspace.com/file/90bne9

  TIMOTHY B. SCHMIT  Timothy B.  (MCA,1987) - Rock       Schmit is a fine, expressive singer throughout, and at the core of the album there is some superb playing, but something a little less heavily "produced" might have showcased all of these elements better. TRACKLOST : Boys Night Out                         Don't Give Up                         Hold Me In Your Heart                         Everybody Needs A Lover                         Into The Night                         A Better Day Is Coming                         Jazz Street                   ...

  ROBERT PALMER  Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley  (Island, 1974) - Soul, Funk       After three albums with Vinegar Joe, the band in  which the singer shared  vocal duties with Elkie Brooks, Palmer was kept on  by Island and teamed with  members of Little Feat and The Meters for 1974’s Sneakin’ Sally Through The  Alley. Laconic funk and R&B  are the order of the day,  best exemplified by the  two Allen Toussaint covers  (the title track and From  A Whisper To A Scream)  and Lowell George’s Sailin’  Shoes, though the slow-burn  tour de force is the selfpenned  12-minute closer  Through It All There’s You. TRACKLIST : Sailin' Shoes                           Hey Julia                           Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley         ...

        In 1975,  John Miles  had signed a contract with Decca Records. The first song he recorded and released was the above-mentioned “Highfly.” Eventually, the success of the song would result in  John Miles  recording a full album for the label. The album  Rebel  would turn  John Miles  into a big star in the United Kingdom. In the United States, he remained relatively unknown. TRACKLIST : Music                          Everybody Wants Some More                          Highfly                          You Have It All                          Rebel                          When You Lose Someone So Young ...