The College Crowd Digs Me

"SAHB Stories" - The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (1976 )       The Sensational Alex Harvey Band  has always enjoyed adding a little slice of avant-garde to their sound.  A little twist to their lemons.   On  "SAHB Stories"  (pronounced "Sob Stories"),   however, the theatrics are toned down just a smidge, and yet the album still delivers more often than the midwives at the Nonnatus House.   Everybody came to the party, especially guitarist Zal Cleminson and bassist Chris Glen , who always seem to play off each other with such ease and chapeau.  "SAHB Stories,"  the band's sixth album, has it all and with no drop-off.   The riffage bangs right alongside  Alex Harvey's  tongue-in-cheek swag without any problems.  Add a little atmosphere and attitude, and you have yourself a  surprisingly strong hoss for being this deep in their discog rodeo.         The Sensational Al...

"71Spiders" - Spider Fingers (2017) (CD front and back)       "71Spiders" is a pretty tasty piece of guitar-driven crankage that bangs out in various directions with a mid-70s hard rock flair. The influences are numerous on this 11-song collection and ring out from coolly familiar yet oddly different places.  And it's this curious chasm that draws you in and creates unexpected flashes of awareness, making for a fun spin.  One you'll want to crank up.       Spider Fingers  is a founding member of both  The Flying Sixty Nine  and  Electric Monster.    Spider  is responsible for all the music and lyrics on this, his solo debut album, and is a chameleon of sorts, being whatever is necessary.  There are a couple of traffic cones on this square, but most of the songs work, maintaining a cool tone that often carries an enjoyable and unexpected edginess.  If you like your 70s guitar churn-and-burn c...

"Anthem Of The Sun" - Grateful Dead  (1968 )        "Anthem of the Sun," the band's second studio album, is the one I've wanted to own for the longest time.  And I intentionally avoided listening to this album until I could actually spin it for myself.  Probably the  Grateful Dead' s most psych-ified album, where the colorful 'pass-it-around' circle rug begins to spread wider and wider for everyone to enjoy.  An essential album, especially for psych enthusiasts.  Soon, the band would drift into a more cosmic country-folk-rock direction while still maintaining their community aura of headiness.        The trip-fest square   is a multiple-net-free tightrope walk across hundreds of wires strung from every direction… and crossing streams like you wouldn't believe.  An almost blindfolded adventure of sorts.  The band is fearless in their 1968 lysergic leap of faith.  This square is the purp...

"A Summer's Night" - Montreal (1970 )       "A Summer's Night" is a unique and pleasant ride on a very lightly acid-ized jazz-folk train car that gives the mind a wee-curious sensation.  This was Montreal's only album, but it did make its way into the Acid Archives .  It's pretty unusual to find a copy out here in Kansas, and it was cheap, so I had to grab it.  "A Summer's Night" is sort of loungy and gentle, but more than ordinary.  Something's going on.  Fran Losier's vocals have a nice timbre that recalls elements of both Françoise Hardy (without the French accent) and a softer Connie Devanney (Ill Wind).       Richie Havens signed Montreal to his own label and contributes some sitar and koto (a zither-like instrument) with a light touch.  Nothing that would suggest a Woodstock flashback.  There is also some occasional flute that I'm a sucker for.   "A Summer's Night" isn't a great album, but it...

A Man On The Moon by Andrew Chaikin (1994) Paperback, 685 pages      Space: The final frontier, as the mantra goes.  And going to the moon has been the greatest, boldest adventure we small humans have undertaken in our lifetime.   In A Man on the Moon ,  Andrew Chaikin   takes us along as we follow the Apollo Program from its inception in 1967.   From Apollo 1 to Apollo 17, the last mission, we are reminded of the tragedies and near-tragedies, as well as the amazing triumphs and accomplishments.  This almost reads like a novel.        We learn so much about the astronauts.  In many ways, the astronauts are a lot like us and yet nothing like us at all.  There's a fearlessness and bravery gene hidden inside each one of the astronauts that somehow allows them to rub shoulders with the shadows of death.  Savoring the risks and begging for the triple-dog dares.  We also learn how important mission ...

"Rainbow Ride" - Andy Kim (1969 )      I had a few dollars left on my gift card, and in a bit of a hurry, I spotted Andy Kim's "Rainbow Ride" sporting a $5 sticker.  Being a fan of psychedelia, I thought this might hold a little of that stuff, so I grabbed it.  The album cover was throwing off some pop-psych vibes to me, and when I got it home, cleaned it, and dropped the needle on the square, that's exactly what it was.  The psych elements are fairly light, with side one being the strongest. But overall, it's pretty good.      I'm sure Andy Kim was just trying to rub shoulders a bit with the lysergic vibes that were in the air at the time.  No foul for that.  There is some fuzz guitar.  Some phasing.  Some studio trickery and noise-dropping shenanigans.  All of these kinds of things, but in small doses.  Nothing to scare Mom and Dad.  I dug the innocence of the lite-psych dabbling  on the  "Rain...

"Hard Attack" - Dust (1972)      Not as heavy as one might think, but there are definitely a few bangers.  Two of them dive into the darker end of the bottomless pool.  Dust brings some heavy hard rock with some dustings of protometal.  The New York trio brings the riffage, and with better-than-average lyrics and vocals.  It's all good, but it's the bass that's the star of the bar to my ears.        Surprisingly, there are a few melodic chillouts on the album as well, but they play nice without sounding wimpy.  I mean, when it's time to bang, they bang.  And when it's time to chill, they chill.  Maybe Dust should have stayed in one lane, who knows?  But they pull off each equally well, and I've been spinning this one a lot.  Sometimes you don't get what you want, but you do get what you need.  If you are a lover of that early 70's rock discourse, Dust is another underground hider to check out. "Ha...

"Here Comes The Night" - Them (1965)      This is where it all started for Van the Man.  Van Morrison.  The band  Them's  first album, in the US, anyway, was  "Here Comes the Night,"  released in 1965, with the title track being the promoted single. B ut it was the song, "Gloria," that would cement Van's fate in the annals of rock 'n' roll asskickery.  Their debut album definitely holds its own against their better-known peers, but I'm guessing distribution here in the US might've been lacking because I seldom see any Them albums in the bins.  And that's a shame, shame, shame, because there is more to enjoy than what radio would have you believe.         "Here Comes the Night"  is a square that bangs R&B with cool garagey vibes that are raucous, soulful, and a bit menacing.  Morrison wrote 7 of the 12 songs, including "Gloria," but each song is delivered as if it could be his last.  Aft...

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Serial #1 Max Allan Collins, Gabriel Rodriguez, Ashley Wood Published January 1, 2003 Graphic Novel, 144 pages NO SPOILERS:       If you are familiar with the CSI TV show, the parlay within these pages will ring familiar, but it can sometimes be annoying.  Thankfully, the story keeps a good pace, and everything clicks and plays nicely with the mystery.  But Ripper stories, as you well know, have been done to death in all their various shades of blood splatter and knife slicings.  If you're cool with this overworked premise, you'll find this one is no worse for wear.   CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Serial  #1 (inside graphic novel)      Here we have a modern-day Jack the Ripper imitator reinacting the historic murders committed in the 1800s during a "Ripperologist" Convention.  It's kind of corny, and yet the pages hold court pretty well.  The artwork is fine, but it would have behoove...

"Fantasy" - Fantasy (1970 )       Fantasy's self-titled album is a mix of psych and prog, a little heavier on the prog side yet somehow stays mostly grounded.  There are a couple more jammier rockers, one of which is an instrumental track... "Stoned Cowboy" ... that received a lot of heavy radio play for a fairly long minute.  If Jefferson Airplane Grace Slick vocals are your thing, or perhaps if the occasional Frumpy legend  Inga Rumpf snags your swag, you'll definitely enjoy this.  And singer  Lydia Janene Miller's vocals   belie her age.  She was just 16 when she hooked up with the band to record this album.  Miller sounds like a girl who could sell seashells down by the seashore, and customers would still hit the tip jar.  Good stuff.        As for this band that called Miami home,  Fantasy's  songs often slip into some kind of art-rock wigout, and at times, sound pretty dang ambitio...

"Pretties For You" - Alice Cooper (1969 - Rei 1970 )       "Pretties For You" is an unexpected Alice Cooper psych album.  The square is a widowmaker of surprises and louies from needle drop to label.  At times, the band rubs shoulders with The Beatles and shakes hands with the early Syd Barrett Floyd the next.  It gets heavy over here and goes jazz-trippin' over there.  Everything in good measure.  The harmonies are great.  The musicianship is solid.  And conviction is the rule of the school.  Not quite the dangerous, creepy, hard-rock sound the band would later create, but there is still a delightful strangeness here that hits the sweet spot.       And lest we forget, this was the band's debut!  And what they couldn't sell in the open market, I expect, would quickly change hands in the murkier alleys.  The album may be underrated or underappreciated; I can never make up my mind about which word to c...

"After The Gold Rush" (w/ Pink Text ) - Neil Young (1970 - Rei 1976)      I'm showing this Neil Young album because it's the rare-ish 1976 reissue with pink text instead of the usual yellow-gold.  I wasn't a fly on the wall when Neil found out, but apparently, he was plenty pissed and demanded that the albums be yanked from stores PDQ.  And that's what they did.  The pink text copies were pulled from record shelves faster than you can say 'hey-hi-you!'  How many actually got out is unknown, but it's safe to say not all that many.  I mean, they're out there, but...  So I guess in the whole Rock and Roll records scheme of things, these pink-text albums are like leprechauns.  I mean, they're around, but you don't see'em very often.       Some copies are known to fetch relatively high dollars.  Over $100 from time to time.  You're probably not gonna get rich, but there's still something cool about an album, "r...

" And Paul said,  'What are you doing for the next few years?'" ~ Laurence Juber ~ Hailing from East London, but now calling L.A. home, Laurence Juber has had plenty of days playing in the sun.  With a 30-plus discography of critically acclaimed CDs under his belt, the fellow definitely knows his way around a guitar.  Juber is recognized as one of the top acoustic guitar players of all time and was once voted Guitarist of the Year .  He has received two Grammys, and his fingers have never once left his hands.  The guy can play.       Since moving to California, Juber has put his guitar stylings to good use composing or co-composing soundtracks and scores for shows as diverse as Dateline NBC, Ken Burns documentaries, and even The Brady Bunch.  Juber has added his guitar to soundtracks and dozens of films and television shows.  From "Good Will Hunting" to "Dirty Dancing."  From Eric Carmen To Harry Styles.  The man walks throu...