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| Cactus - Restrictions
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(ATCO SD33-377 US-71 VG+ 350:-)
Despite the title, there's no restrictions at all on Cactus' third album. They seem to be even more confident, more able to stretch their wings and fly than ever before – even adding in some extra piano and keyboards at points to the core guitar-heavy sound of the quartet!
All the group's best elements are very firmly in place – searing guitar, righteously confident vocals, and a strutting sensibility that makes this early 70s album way ahead of the game in terms of territory that so many bigger groups would later copy.
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| Callender, Bobby - The Way
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(Mithra SAAB 931-4 US-72 VG+ 800:-)
During the late 60's, Bobby Callender was one of the most mythical figures in popular music. Conceptually his musical universe delivers all the originality of an artistic freedom, really awakened of alternative lifestyle, cross cultures and psychedelic "civilization".
The two albums he recorded under his name ("Rainbow" in 1968, "The Way" in 1971) are currently seen as the two logical sides of a grandiloquent project including numerous musicians from the jazz and raga scenes.
Original US pressing.
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| Camel - Mirage
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(Deram SML-1107 UK-74 VG+ 500:-)
English progressive rock group Camel formed in 1971 with an original lineup of Andrew Latimer, Peter Bardens, Doug Ferguson and Andy Ward.
Released in 1974, ‘Mirage’ saw Camel take their unique prog brilliance to a new level. The album includes two of the band’s best-known songs in “White Rider” and “Lady Fantasy” and the quality of all five tracks on the album is unquestionable.
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| Carmen - Dancing on a Cold Wind
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(Regal Zonophone SLRZ-1040 UK-74 VG+ 300:-)
In the early 70's, Carmen broke new ground in rock music, combining the British flair for progressive rock with traditional Spanish folk themes into a very fresh, energetic and powerful new mix.
It's hard to say which of Carmen's first two albums is better - both are excellent in their own right - but "Dancing on a Cold Wind" does include "Remembrances (Recuerdos de Espana)," a 23-minute rock-opera type epic, so use that as a factor in deciding which one you want first.
Original UK Vinyl; the sleeve shows some minor wear; the vinyl is in Excellent condition!
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| Carmen - Fandangos in Space
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(Regal Zonophone SRZA-8518 UK-73 VG+ 300:-)
In the early 70's, Carmen broke new ground in rock music, combining the British flair for progressive rock with traditional Spanish folk themes into a very fresh, energetic and powerful new mix.
"Fandangos in Space" is filled with good musical ideas, great harmony vocals (often reminding of Queen), a perfect mix of acoustic and electric guitars with occasional synthesizers and a discrete Mellotron in the background.
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| Clark, Gene - White Light
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(A&M AMLS-64292 UK-71 VG+ 375:-)
A legendary album from the great Gene Clark – a key part of that scattered legacy that really helped cement his individual genius after leaving The Byrds!
Much of the record is a spare and intimate affair – with Gene's warm vocals accompanied by his own gently picked acoustic guitar, along with producer Jesse Ed Davis (also on guitar). The tunes are also sweetened by waltzy basslines, and Byrds-y keyboard riffs by Ben Sidran, but Gene's wonderful vocals and his amazingly strong songwriting are obviously the biggest draws – not standard country or roots rock, and instead delivered with a sense of sophistication that's almost a genre unto itself.
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| Clark, Sanford - Return of the Fool
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(LHI Records S-12003 US-68 VG+ 300:-)
Sanford Clark found fleeting fame with his rendition of the Lee Hazlewood song "The Fool." With a vocal style that blended elements of Johnny Cash with Ricky Nelson, Clark released the song in 1956, and it eventually peaked in the Top Ten of the pop charts and in the Top 15 of the country charts -- his first and only hit.
In 1965, Clark recorded a new version of "The Fool" featuring Waylon Jennings on guitar. Lee Hazlewood signed Clark to his LHI label, where he made an album, "Return of the Fool", but it went nowhere, and by the early '70s Clark had had enough and joined the construction industry.
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| Colosseum - Valentyne Suite
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(Vertigo VO-1 UK-70 VG/VG+ 500:-)
Although Colosseum are probably best known as a hard rocking progressive band, they certainly had plenty of jazz touches – and this album spawned the great groover "Elegy", which has become something of a jazzy dancefloor classic over the years!
Overall, the record's got some very tight drumming, plenty of hard-wailing organ work, and a basic groove that takes off where the beat groups of the 60s left off – pushing into more expansive, more progressive jazz territory.
2nd UK pressing on the B&W Vertigo label. The sleeve shows some wear and is graded VG; the vinyl is VG+.
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| Costello, Elvis - Goodbye Cruel World
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(F-Beat ZL-70317 Hol-84 VG+ 225:-)
If there was ever an album showing an artist in transition then this is it. Elvis was continuing his move from popular music star to deep thinking artist, but here he had a crisis of confidence writ large which was not surprising given his personal issues at that time, including a divorce.
Dutch pressing; this copy has been signed by Elvis on the front.
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| Costello, Elvis - My Aim is True
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(Stiff SEEZ-3 UK-77 VG+ 350:-)
Elvis Costello is one of the biggest talents to come out of London's mid-1970s Pub Rock scene. His earliest records were of such high caliber and from such a different viewpoint than the music emanating from punkified London that even today his music is liable to knock an unsuspecting listener on her or his arse.
Elvis' debut album was recorded over the course of six four-hour studio sessions. Produced by Nick Lowe, the backing band was made up of members of Clover, a California-based country rock act, who were uncredited on the release due to contractual difficulties.
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| Curved Air - Airconditioning
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(Warner Bros WSX-3012 UK-70 VG+ 500:-)
Curved Air's debut album perfectly demonstrated the band's innovative musical approach, blending classical, electronic and folk music influences in their work and featuring Sonja Kristina's sublime vocals.
This was one of the very first mass-produced 'progressive rock music' picture discs to be produced and was released in a limited edition of 10,000 pressings.
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| Czukay, Holger - On the Way to the Peak...
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(Trio Records AW-25013 Jap-82 350:-)
"On the Way to the Peak of Normal" is the second solo album by bassist, composer, mad scientist Holger Czukay, one of the founders of German Krautrock band Can.
Much like his previous work "Movies", "On The Way…" is a remarkably accessible slice of experimental music composed using an extensive tape manipulation process that involved thousands of edits and “enriched copying”.
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