Missionaria Protectiva

  DEKE LEONARD  Kamikaze  (UA,1974) - Rock       After being sacked by Man in early 1972 Deke recorded his first solo album Iceberg , starting in May of that year, with the album eventually being released in 1973.       Mixing rock’n’roll stompers with souped up psychedelicised country rock, Leonard is joined by a fine cast of the Manband family past, present and future, and by members of the closely related band Help Yourself. Dave Edmunds lends production assistance on future Man track A Hard Way To Live , a song released as a single. Deke had to deconstruct Edmunds’ layered production, lest it sounded “exactly like a Dave Edmunds record”. Deke ponders in his wryly humorous way that had he left it alone he might have had a hit with it.       All in all this album is a fine representation of Leonard’s good time vibe. TRACKLIST : Cool Summer Rain                       ...

  SHUGGIE OTIS  Inspiration Information  (Epic,1974) - Psychedelic soul       A blues guitar prodigy who’d been playing with his father  (pioneering R&B bandleader Johnny Otis) since he was 11, Otis played on Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats when he was 16, and released an album with blues-rock gadabout Al Kooper before he was 20.  Upon release in October 1974, Inspiration certainly sounded like the work of an isolated L.A. savant. Smooth, organ-driven California funk, quasi-new age psychedelia, loungey jazz instrumentals, string interludes-- all propelled by the same kind of analog drum machine that had piqued Ralf & Florian's interest at the same time .       Inspiration instantly earned comparisons to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, and reportedly made Sly Stone’s jaw drop upon hearing it.  The album failed to live up to Columbia’s expectations, such as they were, and Otis was unceremoniously dropped from the label after its...

  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...

  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   ...

  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...

         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....

  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...

  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           ...

  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                     ...

  IAN GILLAN BAND  Child In Time  (Polydor/Oyster,1976) - Jazz rock/Fusion       This album is Ian Gillan's solo debut after he left Deep Purple in early 70-s. Released on small Oyster label, he didn't succeed, mostly because he didn't offer much to ex-Deep Purple fans.       Looking on this album as independent product, open ear listener can find some nice moments though. First of all - "Child In Time", remake of the possibly the best Deep Purple 's song. Not too much similar to original, no way better than it, it offers softer, warmer and much more emotional version. With many progressive rock elements and excellent Gillan's vocals.       Five first songs (all A-side) are all short and more straightforward heavy funk-rock numbers with some r'n'b elements, great Gillan vocals, but not too complex. Even if not so great, these songs are worth listening unless you hate funk in your music or are hungry to listen pseudo-symphonic o...

  GOOD RATS  Ratcity In Blue  (Platinum, 1976) - Rock       The Good Rats are a band that comes to mind quite easily when listening to great Rock & Roll groups that should have become bigger than they actually became. Hailing from Long Island, New York in the 1970s, The Good Rats were immensely popular in the New York area.         The Good Rats Ratcity In Blue . album was released in 1976 on the Platinum Records label. It was an album of 11 songs composed by Good Rats bandleader Peppi Marchello. The album was produced by Stephan Galfas who would go on to work with artists such as the Allman Brothers Band , Meat Loaf and Cher.       Every song on the Ratcity In Blue album is great. There was not one clunker among the 11 great tracks. Of course, we all had our personal favorites but there were a handful of songs on that record  we all agreed stood out among the rest. The first would be the album’s great...