Story From http://www.sssc.vic.edu.au/masters/panama/story.htm
In early 1971 the Masters had released Choice Cuts, recorded at the legendary Abbey Road studios.
Relesed and getting rave reviews in England and Europe, Jenny Halsall who worked for EMI alerted her brother, John Halsall a promoter and huge fan. He contacted the Masters in Australia and urged them to come back. They reformed and set off back to England. Again on a boat!
When they arrived 7 weeks later all interest in Choice Cuts had fizzled out (It had sold 12000 copies). EMI had offered to finance the recording of another album. EMI England set the recording date for 3 months away. That gave the band plenty of time to write, rehearse and polish the songs. They went back to Jeff Jarratt and the same team at Abbey Road studios. A Toast To Panama Red was the result.
The title is a homage to an illicit national crop picked up while traveling through the Panama Canal on the way to England.
The band took their time and experimented with a variety of styles and sounds and produced a far more diverse set of songs than those on Choice Cuts. It was a personal creative venture that was the most enjoyable thing they had done.
Recording this time much more relaxed as the Masters new the routine. However Glenn had a part time job that interfered with rehearsals and recording sessions. The upshot of it meant Doug ended up recording some of the bass parts.
The album was released early 1972. Again, like Choice Cuts, to good, solid reviews despite it being undeniably self-indulgent. Doug Ford, whose soloing dominates the album came in for particular acclaim. Europe once again took to the album warmly. It is still a popular bootleg there today.
The band were broke, under-rehearsed with Glenn being part-time and they were unable to promote the new album properly. The single Love Is failed to do anything significant and the end was near.
Glenn left for a lucrative job in Australia and soon after Jim reluctantly quit and returned to Australia, both sad and glad that it was all over. Colin's brother Denny joined on bass and the Masters continued for about 6 months in England. They only recorded one song - Freedom Seekers (available on the Hands of Time CD compilation, also the only Master's song Jim did not contribute too)
Review from http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1689
1. Rio De Camero 2. Michael 3. Easy To Lie 4. Because I Love You 5. Catty 6. Our Friend Owsley Stanley III 7. Death Of A King 8. Song For A Lost Gypsy 9. I'm Your Satisfier 10. Song For Joey Part II
If you are not yet familiar with The Masters Apprentices, I should direct you to the fabulous anthology "Hands Of Time-1966-1972" on the Raven label. This faultless collection was compiled by Australian rock historian Glenn A. Baker, and provides and excellent introduction to this great Australian group, who along with The Easybeats were the two top acts down under in the late 60's early 70's.
The Masters started life in 1966 as a primal R&B garage outfit that specialized in ultra primitive rock and roll in the style of The Pretty Things and Van Morrison's early group Them. Their early sides were penned by the group's guitarist, a gifted writer named Mick Bower, but their obvious focal point was lead singer Jim Keays. Keays had both style and talent, and possessed a wailing vocal range that would rival Pretty Things lead singer Phil May.
Early Masters recordings such as "Undecided", "Buried And Dead" & "Hot Gully Wind" are top drawer, freakbeat ravers that take a back seat to no-one. As time went on Mick Bower's songwriting became more sophisticated and reflective, tracks such as "Wars Or Hands Of Time", "Theme For A Social Climber" & "Tired Of Just Wandering" showed tremendous maturity. Sadly Bower suffered something of a nervous breakdown and was advised by his doctor to leave the pop business, which he eventually did.
This could have spelled the end for the Masters, but Jim Keays picked up the pieces and weathered the group through the flower-power era. This era of the group was resonsible for the classic "Elevator Driver" 45 and also "But One Day" (which was a Mick Bower holdover.) The Masters entered their next phase leaning towards a harder, more progressive sound which was first introduced with the 1969 album "Masterpiece." All the while the Masters were incredibly popular in Australia regardless of their several lineup shifts. Jim Keays was the one constant that kept the group's head above water. However as 1969 turned into 1970 the group felt they were stagnating in Australia and decided to take a shot at global acceptance and relocated to England.
The Masters arrived in England in the spring of 1970 and signed with the EMI progressive label Regal Zonophone (home to The Move, The Tickle, Procol Harum & others.) This lineup featured Jim Keays on lead vocals, guitarist Doug Ford (previously with The Missing Links & Running, Jumping, Standing Still), Glenn Wheatley-bass and Colin Burgess on drums. This lineup would prove to be group's finest since the Mick Bower days.
The Masters managed to book Abbey Road Studios to record their first album on UK soil. "Choice Cuts" (which was issued in the UK simply as "Masters Apprentices" or the "chair album") was nothing short of a revelation and a quantum leap artistically for the group. This album is just a drop dead classic from the word go. Released in 1970 "Choice Cuts" is the equal of any great record you care to mention from that year. The Masters prove to be just that, masters of any style they chose to attempt, pop, folk, progressive and full tilt, heavy rock. It's all there and it's all good!
"Rio De Camero" is a vibrant opener which combines a latin, shuffle beat with Glenn Wheatley's fluid, upfront bass lines and funky minor chords played by Doug Ford. Keays interjects with his shrieking, double-tracked vocals, the whole thing ends with a rush of guitar muscle (this track was included on the "Hands Of Time" collection.) "Michael" begins as a plaintive acoustic ballad that quickly evolves into an all out heavy guitar blitz that simply never lets up.
"Easy To Lie" is absolutely threatening! It begins with Wheatley's throbbing bass line and leaps right into a massive acid guitar frenzy, Keays has his vocals treated to where he sounds like Ozzy Osbourne. Doug Ford hammers at his axe with the savage intenisty of T.S. McPhee of The Groundhogs, while the rhythm section lays down a sinister, gorilla beat that would have made the Hogs proud. Then comes an absolute curveball in "Because I Love You" which reminds me of Peter Frampton's melodic contributions to Humble Pie, the song employs bright acoustic guitar patterns to a rousing chorus which fades in the manner of The Beatles "Hey Jude" & Donovan's "Atlantis." I'm sure the female fans of the group dug this romantic tune all the way.
"Catty" returns to the blistering hard rock of "Easy To Lie", the spare, punishing guitar chords remind one of Free's late, great guitarist Paul Kossoff. While the overall feel of the number is that of a funky Black Sabbath. "Our Friend Owsley Stanley III" is also in Black Sabbath territory with an equal measure of "Stand Up" era Jethro Tull. Obviously the song is an ode to the US acid kingpin, perhaps acid got to Australia a bit late, as most groups were more into singing about granola and ecology flags in 1970.
"Death Of A King" is another Groundhogs style pissed off heavy ballad which concerns itself with the tragic death of Martin Luther King. This song addresses the subject in a much more convincing fashion than U2's self-serving "Pride" anthem. "Song For A Lost Gypsy" goes for the heavy thud of Blue Cheer with positive results. "I'm Your Satisfier" is a down and dirty, funky number that once again draws a Free comparison. The final piece "Song For Joey Part 2" begins with some lovely acoustic guitar work from Doug Ford before hurling another curveball at the listener, this piece quickly shifts into the greatest Van Morrison copy since the USA garage band Things To Come's "Sweetgina", however this one goes for Morrison's "Astral Weeks" style and Keays and Co. pull it off perfectly.
"Choice Cuts" was greeted by glowing reviews in the UK press but somehow the record failed to attract much action at the shops or on radio and sank into obscurity until being re-discovered by collectors in the 1980's. The record now changes hands for $150+ but it lives up to that lofty price tag with room to spare. There have been a few legal and semi-legal CD re-issues of it down the years, but it seems to be out of print at the moment. Hopefully this will change very soon. "Choice Cuts" is a dazzling blend of folk, heavy and progressive styles that should be in every serious record library. The good news is that the Masters would actually up the ante with "Choice Cuts" brilliant follow-up "A Toast To Panama Red" (more on that one in a bit.)
The Masters Apprentices were one of the great groups of the late 60's early 70's and it's about time their name starts getting mentioned next to the MC5, Pretty Things, Stooges, Groundhogs etc. because they no doubt belong in that company.
Review from http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1295#
1 Freelance Fiend 2 Sad Road To The Sea 3 Drowned My Life In Fear 4 Work My Body 5 Stray 6 With A Minute To Go 7 Growers of Mushroom 8 Stagnant Pool 9 Sawdust Caesar
10 It's Going To Get Better (bonus track, originally a German b-side) 11 Hip Shaker (bonus track, previously unissued)
Pete French - vocals Mick Halls - lead guitar Derek Brooks - rhythm guitar Stuart Brooks - bass Keith Young - drums
Leaf Hound is one of the literally dozens (seemingly hundreds?) of groups that arose from the late 60's "Progressive Blues" scene in the UK, who then went in a heavier direction as the style of the times changed in the early 1970's. Most of this particular group were formerly a more properly "bloozy" outfit called The Black Cat Bones whose sole 1970 album "Barbed Wire Sandwich" almost certainly inspired Spinal Tap's "Shark Sandwich". Leaf Hound's particular corner of the rock family tree also includes cross-references with members of such other sub-luminaries of the day as Atomic Rooster, Cactus, Foghat & Free. Later singer Pete French would audition for Deep Purple & Uriah Heep, but lose out to fellow journeymen like Dave Coverdale and John Lawton.
So knowing all this you shouldn't have too much difficulty pre-supposing what Leaf Hound is gonna sound like: succinctly in two words, "LED ZEPPELIN." Only dumber, cruder, uglier, and generally lacking any notion of subtlety (as the blatantly druggy band & album titles would suggest.) Except when they sound like The Who or Black Sabbath or Uriah Heep. Actually, the band they keep reminding me of the most is Sir Lord Baltimore -- there almost seems to be some subliminal transatlantic psychic link between these two groups, who would have been recording their debut albums at about the same time (so I don't see how one could have directly borrowed anything from the other. Unless someone can find a link between them we must assume that the times REQUIRED music like Leaf Hound & Sir Lord Baltimore, and thus it was summoned forth from all corners of the globe. Just like a whole bunch of different guys all invented radio at about the same time in different parts of the world.)
"Freelance Fiend" kicks things off in fine style with a scrungetastic Baltimoresque riff and a funky cowbell (can never get too much cowbell now can we?) French does his mushmouth macho manboy yowling bout "I'm gonna live my life like a freelance fiend / build all my castles on top of my dreams!" Mick Halls' lead guitar work throughout the album is a bit on the trebly-needly side, and he's certainly no Louis Dhambra. What makes this one is the Sabbath-like aural blending of low rhythm guitar & massive bass tones locked in on a grind-o-matic machine riff. In other words, METAL!
"Sad Road" is driven by acoustic guitar strumming over that fat-tastic bass, rocking it in the style of The Who's "The Seeker." More wah wah wangdoodle & predictable bloozoid lyrics delivered with mushmouth melisma.
"Drowned" features a grinding circular riff that keeps on going, yet more sub-Mick Box wah wah soloing, and the first uncomfortably Zeppelinish moments in French's redline blues howling which bears more than a little resemblance to Zep's "Ramble On."
"Work My Body" is an evil creepy jazz-blues type of thing, somewhere between "Planet Caravan" and The Doors. Again the guitar heroics are a bit strained and for the most part the lyrics are silly sexo rapping, but the massive coda riff with organ sounds cool (hello, Uriah Heep!) and on the whole this winds up being one of the more distinctive sounding numbers on the record.
"Stray" bears an eerie resemblance to Sir Lord B's "Woman Tamer" riff, which is to say both sound a bit like Zep's "Heartbreaker" thrown in a blender. The relentless riff only ever pauses for big bad drum fills (hello, Bill Ward!) and a brief psychjazz bridge. More early 70's metal heaven.
"With A Minute To Go" uses the acoustic guitar & rumblin bass approach again, adding some shimmery powerchords to make me think of The Who's "Naked Eye" this time -- that is until the descending riff at the end where French nicks the melody & cadence of Bob Plant's "well the wind won't blow and it really goes to show uh woah woah woah" right down to the umlauts.
The title track of the album is the goofiest thing here, a taut little 2 minute multi-sectioned pop operetta in the vein of The Who's "Happy Jack" or maybe MC5's "Human Being Lawnmower". It's also the most blatantly druggy number here, he keeps repeating "nobody could tell we were growing some mushrooms!" but with verse lyrics like "my life was a beetle that ran down the wall!" one has to wonder.
"Stagnant Pool" is some gawdamn effing METAL, in fact I can't imagine this was inspired by anything less that the previous year's smash hit single "Paranoid", as they've got the same locked-in machine grind chugga-chugga going on here. However, it's got lots more parts to it than the Sabbath song, including one riff that again is eerily similar to the climactic riff of Lord Balty's "Caesar LXXI" -- as well as another bit that sounds so much like the Jefferson Airplane you expect to hear Marty Balin's sweet tenor floating by instead of Ol' Raspy there.
"Sawdust Caesar" whoops it up and makes a fine ending to the original LP. Shambolic whiteboy lumbering funk with MORE COWBELL!!! that is just plain irresistable. Mick's guitar solo is also his looooosest playing on the record, making this track another of the highlights.
The first CD bonus track "It's Going To Get Better" is pretty useless, a piano-driven ballad that sounds like another band entirely. Reminds me of mid-70's Guess Who (not in a good way.)
"Hip Shaker" is much better though, sounding like a garage band pastiche of the Faces and Humble Pie. The bashing post-gogo boogie metal groove is happenin', so who cares that the lyrics are simple-minded "hip shaker / love maker" nonsense.
Doing research for this review* I've come across quite a few other reviews of Leaf Hound already out there in Internetland, most rife with cliches about "bludgeoning riffs" and superlatives to make you think Leaf Hound is the hottest shit you've never heard before. I dunno, on the one hand it's nothing original and not all that superlative as far as he-man guitar histrionics go -- but I must admit if you were to ask me to make a list of five albums which fit well with the phrase "bludgeoning riffs" this would probably make it. Which is to say if you can't get enough vintage 1971 proto-metal crunch, here's another platter to add to your Unsung diet. But if 70's stoner cock-rock is not your bag, save your drachmas for some other din.
Leaf Hound's music first saw release in Germany in 1971 on Telefunken (where they did a lot of touring; this self-titled "first" album was the same as "Growers of Mushroom" minus a couple tracks.) Later the same year the album was released in their UK homeland by Decca, with nine tracks as shown above (didn't make it across the pond I don't think.) The CD reissue on the See For Miles label includes the 2 bonus tracks listed above. This same label has also reissued the aforementioned "Barbed Wire Sandwich" LP -- which I've not heard, but the album cover to that one is even more hideous than "Toe Fat"! Hard to resist! Lawd help me, I think I have a problem!
* Here's a factoid mentioned in almost every review, so I'll repeat it here as well: the band's name & most of the song titles on the album are taken from an anthology of horror stories by Herbert Van Thal.
URIAH HEEP certainly comes to mind when you hear LUCIFER’S FRIEND, as do LED ZEPPELIN, DEEP PURPLE and BLACK SABBATH to some extent, although you can’t accuse the FRIEND of cloning them as none had attained their notoriety as yet. The band started off as ASTRIX in 1970, with frontman and future URIAH HEEP vocalist John Lawton teaming up with guitarist Peter Hesslein, keyboardist Peter Hecht, bassist Dieter Horns and drummer Joachim Rietenbach. Through various personnel changes over the course of twelve years – including Lawton exiting in ‘76 and then returning for a last gasp in ‘81 – the band released nine studio albums and two compliations. In ‘82, they split up but reunited in ‘94 for a night album.
Their earlier releases are aggressive and raw, not unlike The SCORPIONS, JANE or LONESOME CROW. Living up to their sinister name, they performed heavy, mean, keyboard-based rock that should please LED ZEP, SABBATH or PURPLE fans. Then came their absolute masterpiece, “Banquet”, in 1974, which focusses on epic prog numbers with complex instrumentation, complete with string and horn arrangements, and Lawton giving his full-throttle vocal performance. This album perfectly pulled together the many different elements of their sound: prog, soul, jazz and hard rock. If you want to sample some LUCIFER’S FRIEND, you could try their compilation albums; if you want to hear LUCIFER’S FRIEND at their proggiest, go for the “Banquet” – their subsequent releases received mixed reviews, particularly “Sumogrip” in 1994.
Fans of URIAH HEEP or those interested in the roots of heavy metal definitely ought to get their hands on some of these items.
MAY BLITZ Biography MAY BLITZ were formed by vocalist/guitarist Jamie Black who recruited Tony Newman on drums, (ex Sounds Incorporated and Jeff Beck Group), and Reid Hudson (bass, vocals) in 1969. The original lineup featured bassist Terry Poole and drummer Keith Baker, from Bakerloo, but both left before recording anything for the band. Baker had a better offer from Uriah Heep, and went to record "Salisbury" with the band.
The band survived long enough to record two incredibly heavy, powerful and psychedelic albums with strong blues undertones and progressive tendencies, despite the lack of keyboards. These were released on Vertigo, who we also associate with Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep - but the music is probably heavier than either. Their style comes in somewhere around High Tide and the Pink Fairies - but these are really ballparks.
Their debut album is a must-hear for anyone curious about the development of heavy music, and features a production in which it is not only almost possible to smell the ganja smoke, but is also rich and clear enough to provide the striking dynamic contrasts the music needs, as it occasionally veers from ambience to crushing riffs in the blink of an eye. It is certainly very unpredictable, even now.MAY BLITZ were formed by vocalist/guitarist Jamie Black who recruited Tony Newman on drums, (ex Sounds Incorporated and Jeff Beck Group), and Reid Hudson (bass, vocals) in 1969. The original lineup featured bassist Terry Poole and drummer Keith Baker, from Bakerloo, but both left before recording anything for the band. Baker had a better offer from Uriah Heep, and went to record "Salisbury" with the band.
To celebrate my lucky day when i found this record for 50 kr (approx 5 us dollars) on original philips 1:st press, im posting this badboy. For those who dont know Weed is Ken Hensley (Uriah Heep) and some german dudes who later formed kraut band Virus. Anyhow, its a execlent slab of 70's hardrock/proggressive.
Like it says on the top of this page ill be sharing mostly 60s-00 psych rock, doom and kraut, but its not impossible that other genres will show up, like Dub, Indie or Metal etc.
Have fun and please leave comments.
feel free to mail me for requests or other stuff @ jahanders@gmail.com
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