The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorized in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognized as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a wide range of genres, including rhythm and blues, British music hall, folk, and country. Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the group's 32-year run. Original members Pete Quaife (bass guitar, vocals) and Mick Avory (drums and percussion) were replaced by John Dalton in 1969 and Bob Henrit in 1984, respectively. Dalton was in turn replaced by Jim Rodford in 1978. Keyboardist Nicky Hopkins accompanied the band during studio sessions in the mid-1960s. Later, various keyboardists, including John Gosling and Ian Gibbons, were full-time members. The Kinks first came to prominence in 1964 with their third single, "You Really Got Me", written by Ray Davies. It became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. Kinks is the self-titled debut album by The Kinks, released in 1964. It was released with three tracks missing as You Really Got Me in the United States. The album was re-released in 1998 in the UK on Castle Records with twelve bonus tracks. This reissue was itself reissued in 2004 on the Sanctuary label. 01 - Beautiful Delilah 02 - So Mystifying 03 - Just Can't Go To Sleep 04 - Long Tall Shorty 05 - I Took My Baby Home 06 - I'm A Lover Not A Fighter 07 - You Really Got Me 08 - Cadillac 09 - Bald Headed Woman 10 - Revenge 11 - Too Much Monkey Business 12 - I've Been Driving On Bald Mountain 13 - Stop Your Sobbing 14 - Got Love If You Want It LINK
Mason Proffit was a folk rock band from Chicago, Illinois that released five albums between 1969 and 1973. Brothers Terry Talbot and John Michael Talbot played together in several local bands around Indianapolis, Indiana and later in Chicago. After their group Sounds Unlimited disbanded, in 1969 they formed Mason Proffit with a focus on the emerging blend of folk, country and rock that would come to be called country rock. Older brother Terry's "Two Hangmen" from their first album Wanted..., became a regional hit and helped their second album, Movin' Toward Happiness, chart on the Billboard 200. In 1972, the band signed to Warner Bros. Records and continued touring, performing up to 300 concerts each year. Some of Mason Proffit's opening acts during that time included The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, John Denver, and Mac Davis. Their country-rock-bluegrass style was innovative yet difficult to place in a marketing genre. Their live shows were high energy. Mason Proffit disbanded in 1973 when brothers John and Terry Talbot left the band and began performing as a duo. 01 - Voice of Change 02 - A Rectangle Picture 03 - You Finally Found Your Love 04 - Sweet Lady Love 05 - Stewball 06 - Two Hangmen 07 - Buffalo 08 - Walk On Down The Road 09 - Its All right 10 - Till The Sun Goes Down 11 - Johnnys Tune LINK
Velvet Fogg were one of the myriad of obscure late-60s one-album-wonder bands, but a name even to most collectors of prog-psychedelia. I picked up a copy of the original vinyl album for a song in the late 70s, and was intrigued to hear that I'd actually missed out on something rather better than the garish cover might have led me to expect. An early incarnation of the band (which like many had evolved out of an obscure beat outfit) was graced by the presence of Sabbath's Tony Iommi, but that seems to be Fogg's only claim to relative fame. Tony's eventual replacement, guitarist/vocalist Paul Eastment, then formed the mainstay of the band, which was one of a raft of "underground-style" signings to the then ailing Pye label at the tail end of the decade (in a last bid to give the label some prog-cred). Velvett Fogg was more or less exclusively a studio band, and a fairly laid-back one at that; even John Peel's otherwise useful original liner note for the album admitted to an ignorance of the band personnel (which, apart from Paul, comprised keyboardist Frank Wilson, later of Warhorse, and Mick Pollard and Graham Mullett)! And the band's sole album (released in the first month of 1969) shouldn't be written off either, as in spite of the avowedly "cobbled-together" gestation of its various components it's a well-above-passable, nay very credible example of the then-burgeoning psych-prog crossover genre. Running an expectedly wide stylistic gamut in its nine tracks, you'll find shades of (early) Deep Purple (Yellow Cave Woman), definite overtones of Vanilla Fudge (a typical cover - the Bee Gees' New York Mining Disaster 1941), a token Jimmy Smith-style cool jazz organ-led workout (Owed To The Dip), a cheeky proto-Tolkien tale (the rather "hobbit-forming" Wizard Of Gobsolod), distinct eastern leanings (Within The Night), White Noise/USA-like electronic treatments (an eerie cover of Tim Rose's Come Away Melinda) and tuneless heavy thrash (Plastic Man).(AMG) 01 - Yellow Cave Woman 02 - New York Mining Disaster 03 - Wizard Of Gobsolod 04 - Once Among The Trees 05 - Lady Caroline 06 - Come Away Melinda 07 - Owed To The Dip 08 - Within The Night 09 - Plastic Man 10 - Telstar 69 (Bonus) LINK
Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group formed in 1970 by singer Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her composition Fotheringay about Fotheringhay Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots had been imprisoned. The song originally appeared on the 1969 Fairport Convention album, What We Did on Our Holidays, Denny's first album with that group. Two former members of Eclection, Trevor Lucas and Gerry Conway, and two former members of Poet and the One Man Band, Jerry Donahue and Pat Donaldson (bass), completed the line-up responsible for what was long assumed to be the quintet's only album. Fotheringay disbanded in January 1971 during sessions for a projected second album. In 2007 the BBC announced that Donahue would be attempting to complete the abandoned project (which he accomplished using previously unheard takes from the original archived tapes). Permission had finally been granted and the work was completed by summer of the following year. The resulting album, titled Fotheringay 2, was released on 29 September 2008. 01 - Nothing More 02 - The Sea 03 - The Ballad Of Ned Kelly 04 - Winter Winds 05 - Peace In The End 06 - The Way I Feel 07 - The Pond And The Stream 08 - Too Much Of Nothing 09 - Banks Of The Nile 10 - Two Weeks Last Summer (live) 11 - Nothing More (live) 12 - Banks Of The Nile (live) 13 - Memphis Tennessee (live) LINK
Cressida were a British progressive rock band, best known for their mellow, symphonic sound. Originally known as Charge, they were active from 1968 and 1970, and recorded two albums for Vertigo. The roots of Cressida were sown in March 1968, when guitarist John Heyworth answered an advertisement in Melody Maker, and later travelled to London to join The Dominators, a band whose situation he later described as "hopeless - until Angus Cullen applied for the lead singer spot". He and Heyworth hit it off immediately, and Heyworth was invited to stay at Cullen's family flat in Barkstone Gardens near Earl's Court. The pair settled down to some serious writing, eventually welcoming bassist Kevin McCarthy and drummer Iain Clark to the fold and now calling themselves Charge. Angus Cullen - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, John Heyworth - guitars, vocals (1968-70), John Culley - guitars (1970), Lol Coker - organ (1968-69), Peter Jennings - organ, piano, Mellotron (1969-70), Kevin McCarthy - bass and Iain Clark - drums, percussion. Cressida from 1970 is the debut album of the band. Disbanded in September 1970. 01 - To Play Your Little Game 02 - Winter Is Coming Again 03 - Time For Bed 04 - Cressida 05 - Home And Where I Long To Be 06 - Depression 07 - One Of A Group 08 - Light In My Mind 09 - The Only Earthman In Town 10 - Spring '69 11 - Down Down 12 - Tomorrow Is A Whole New Day LINK
Often overlooked early '70s hard rockers Bull Angus' second and last album Free For All is less heavy than their superior self-titled debut, more jammy and progressive-minded (especially on the first side), but is still a solid offering from the upstate New York six-piece. Once again produced by Vinny Testa, the 1972 release opens strong with the lengthy "Lone Stranger", but never really kicks into high gear again until side two's awesome opener "Savoy Truffle", a spirited run through a personal favorite Beatles' deep cut from The Beatles [White Album], which is followed by the equally cool "Drivin' Me Wild", pompy "(We're the) Children of Our Dreams", and "Train Woman Lee". 01 - Lone Stranger 02 - City Boy 03 - Loving Till End 04 - Savoy Truffle 05 - Drivin' Me Wild 06 - (We're The) Children Of Our Dreams 07 - Train Woman Lee LINK
