J.D. Simo - Mind Control

J.D. Simo - Mind Control - 2021

By Mike O’Cull from rockandbluesmuse

Guitarist, vocalist, and blues/rock/psychedelic visionary JD Simo brings us all deeper into his world on his invigorating new album Mind Control. Released November 5th, 2021 on Crows Feet Records, the platter was tracked during the pandemic at Simo’s home studio The House of Grease, in Nashville, Tennessee. Simo made it all happen with drummer and frequent collaborator Adam Abrashoff and friend, bassist/producer/engineer Adam Bednarik (Justin Townes Earle) providing the support he needed to take his creativity and his inspirations farther than ever before. Mind Control blends the hill country sound of RL Burnside, the Afro Beat of Fela Kuti, and the lysergic wisdom of Hendrix and Captain Beefheart with the hard blues of John Lee Hooker and the noise of Nirvana. No other modern performer does it like Simo does and his fearless pursuit of his own musical soul is a welcome blast of clean air.

Born in Chicago and now working out of Nashville, JD Simo has caused a lot of commotion in recent years with his highly individualistic approach to roots music. His way of connecting the soul of Motown with the subversive freedom of Woodstock and Seattle has made more than a few fans of outstanding guitar music take notice. Already, he’s worked with important artists including Jack White, Tommy Emmanuel, Luther Dickinson, and Blackberry Smoke, performed at Bonnaroo, Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam, and Mountain Jam, and been invited to join Phil Lesh and Friends.

Making Mind Control was JD’s way of coping with the Covid situation that has impacted all of our lives. “Like everyone, I was unprepared in how to deal with this new “normal” so I turned to the thing that always helps me: music,” he said, “I just started playing, opening up my socials and jamming and from that, Mind Control was born.” The end result of working through this vulnerable time is a fully artist-oriented record that does exactly what it wants to do. It’s the sound of a small, talented crew making music for themselves.

Simo begins casting his spell right from the jump with the raw and hypnotic “Go Away Satan.” He leans all the way into a wild, Hendrix-inspired, hallucinatory trance funk state of mind and lets the notes fall. It’s raw and genuine, immediately commanding attention and threatening to blow your speakers to bits. Simo’s guitar work is exemplary in this almost avant-garde setting, as are his vocals. Hear it and you’ll want more.

“I’m In Love” is moody, atmospheric, and equally heavy. Simo lives entirely in the moment like the blues greats of old and seems to toss off incredible stream-of-consciousness tracks by the force of his soul, alone. The song just keeps unwinding and Simo lets it go where it desires. His full, reverb-soaked tone fits his vibe perfectly and helps him take control of this expressive piece.

“Know It All” opens with a complex and mystical groove that works its way into the smallest parts of your psyche. Simo is simmering, dissonant, and aggressive in turn, calling out an offender who is “allergic to truth…weak and so small” and evolving the cut into a freestyle, soul-cleansing noise workout. Simo’s artistry and intensity are both on point and beyond, happy facts that put him at the leading edge in any discussion of contemporary guitar monsters.

“That’s When You Know That You’re Down” is a dark, undulating journey of a song that delivers a Robert Johnson-level sense of existential dread and disorientation that’s seriously amazing through headphones. Simo is otherworldly in a way that no one else on the current scene could think up, much less execute. He might not excite the blues purist crowd but has the potential to become a major point of light for everyone else.

Every track on Mind Control has much to offer all of the adventurous listeners out there and, at only ten songs in length, there’s no excuse for missing even a moment of this career-making effort. JD Simo is exactly the iconoclast the roots music universe needs right now. He’s here to remind us that the future is what it’s all about now and that we have the power to remake any tradition in our own image. Ignore him at your own risk.

01. Go Away Satan

02. I’m In Love

03. Let Go

04. Know It All 

05. Want What I Don’t Have

06. That’s When You Know That You’re Down

07. Fucked Up

08. Devil Is Always Watchin’

09. People Pleaser

10. Recovery

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Pete Hodge - Forgot Your Password (Try Again) - 2021

Pete Hodge - Forgot Your Password (Try Again) - 2021

Cotswolds-based Pete Hodge is a multi-talented musician, songwriter and artist. His long association with the band Dulcimer, from the early 1970’s until the 1990’s, produced 6 albums. Pete later produced a further album: Shadows in the Dust. After ten years or so away from the music scene, concentrating on his other major talent, art, a chance meeting with singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rob Powell, reignited Pete’s enthusiasm and together with cellist/flautist Lorna Joy Davies, the band Wyrewood was born and currently have 2 albums to their name.

Following the success of the 2nd Wyrewood album, Pete was inspired to continue working on new songs and soon had sufficient to record a new album. The restrictions of the Covid crisis limited Rob and Lorna’s availability but the answer was close at hand. Pete had known Tim Haines for many years and in passing Tim mentioned that he had a recording studio just across town. Having already heard and been impressed by the quality of Tim’s recordings with his band hanna*h*, Pete decided to book a tentative try-out session and ‘see what happens’. The success that followed can now be heard by all, in the form of Pete’s new album “Forgot Your Password? - Try Again”.

01. The Enemy Within

02. Wave Goodbye (My Little Darling)

03. Good Morning Mr. Sunshine

04. When Paradise Is Lost

05. Ten Long Years

06. Friendly Fire

07. Not in My Name

08. Forgot Your Password (Try Again)

09. Master Plan (For the Working Man)

10. Slightly Optimistic Song

11. Let's Reinvent the Wheel

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Bodkin - Bodkin

Bodkin -  Bodkin 1972

BODKIN were a Scottish quintet that released a self-titled album in 1972. They made a classic-sounding, rough-edged heavy progressive rock with the emphasis on Doug Rome's Hammond organ and complimented by Mick Riddle's guitar, Bill Anderson's bass, Dick Sneddon on drums and the cool wailing of Zeik Hume.

Somewhat more jam-oriented than contemporaries such as ATOMIC ROOSTER or URIAH HEEP and not quite as hard-hitting, BODKIN nevertheless delivered spirited rock music with energetic interplay between guitar and organ, fine musicianship, and distractingly good compositions from the 21 year-old Doug Rome.

A very palatable blend of dark organ-rock and dirty blues, Bodkin will surely please listeners interested in the murky and mysterious early years of the Heavy Prog scene and anyone seeking rare prog.

01. Three Days After Death (Part.1)

02. Three Days After Death (Part.2)

03. Aunty Mary's Trashcan

04. Aftur Pour Lumber

05. Plastic Man

Bonus Track

06. Three Days After Death Pt. 2 - instrumental

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Heron - After the Dawn (1983-2005 Relaxx Records Years)

Heron - After the Dawn (1983-2005 Relaxx Records Years) - 2021

from wikipedia

Heron are an English folk-rock band who released two albums in the early 1970s and have continued to perform since reforming in the 1990s.

The band had its origins in 1967 at the Dolphin Folk Club in Maidenhead, Berkshire, where Tony Pook (vocals), Roy Apps (guitar, vocals), and Robert Collins (guitar) played together, inspired by Bob Dylan and The Incredible String Band. When Collins left, Pook and Apps were joined by Gerald T. Moore (guitar, mandolin, vocals), who had previously played in R&B bands in Reading, and Martin Hayward (guitar), to form Heron. As student entertainments secretary at Reading College of Technology, Apps was able to book his own band as support act to performers such as Ralph McTell. Gus Dudgeon signed them as songwriters to Essex Music and the group won the support of A&R man and record producer Peter Eden, who had worked with Donovan, Mick Softley and others. After Hayward left the band, to be replaced by Steve Jones (keyboards), the group won a recording contract with the Dawn label, a subsidiary of Pye Records.

Peter Eden became their producer, but the band quickly realised that they disliked recording in a studio environment. In 1970, they stayed at Pook's family farmhouse at Appleford-on-Thames in Berkshire, and recorded an album with a mobile studio in a field behind the house, picking up ambient noises such as bird song. The songwriting was shared between Apps, Pook and Moore. Released in November 1970, the self-titled album achieved only moderate success. The band toured with Comus, Titus Groan and Demon Fuzz on Dawn's loss-making Penny Concert tour, and appeared on John Peel's Top Gear radio show. They released a single, Moore's song "Bye and Bye", which received considerable airplay but failed to sell in large quantities because of problems of vinyl supply followed by a strike of delivery drivers. They continued to perform, on one occasion supporting David Bowie at a BBC Radio 1 concert.

Heron recorded their second album in a cottage garden at Black Dog, a small village near Crediton in Devon. As well as Pook, Apps, Moore and Jones, musicians on the album included Bill Boazman (electric guitar), Mike Cooper (slide guitar), Mike Finesilver (bass), and Terry Gittings (drums). The recordings were issued as a double LP, Twice As Nice & Half the Price, and included unexpected cover versions of songs including "This Old Heart of Mine" which Moore had played in his previous bands. Pook later commented: "I think that there was enough material there for one very good album, but one quite mediocre double album. But we wanted two records for the price of one. That was the hippie ethos behind it, for people to get value for money – which I think they did." Disagreements within the band led to Moore leaving – he later backed singer Shusha and then formed G. T. Moore and His Reggae Guitars – and the record company reduced its support. The band disbanded in 1972.

CD 1

01. Traveller's Song

02. Dance Of Time

03. Barbara Allen

04. Serpentine

05. Open Up The Road

06. Louise

07. The Water Is Wide

08. Stolen Time

09. Lakes Of The Pontchartrain

10. Lady In May

11. Lakes Of The Pontchartrain

12. Please Go

13. You Ain't Going Nowhere

14. Last Train

15. Do You Believe It's Easy?

16. Broken Arrow

17. Only A Hobo

CD 2

18. Walking With The One I Love

19. Yellow Roses

20. Gypsy Roads

21. Ramblin' Gamblers

22. Wild Mountain Thyme

23. Summer In The City

24. Car Crash

25. Lord & Master

26. River Of Fortune

27. Wanderer

28. Yellow Roses

29. Stars

30. Friend

31. I Wouldn't Mind

32. Harlequin 5

33. Adagio

CD 3

34. Carnival & Penitence

35. Summer In The City

36. Harlequin 2

37. Upon Reflection

38. Smiling Ladies

39. Gypsy Roads

40. The Devil

41. Thick And Thin

42. Another Goodbye

43. Working For The Company

44. Please Go

45. Louise

46. 2000 Miles

47. So Long

48. Pearl

49. Do You Believe It's Easy?

CD 4

50. Field Of Eden

51. In The End

52. Last Train

53. Tomorrow's Child

54. From The Land To The Sea

55. I Wouldn't Mind 

56. Gypsy Roads 

57. Harlequin 2 

58. Last Train 

59. Lord & Master 

60. River Of Fortune 

61. Yellow Roses 

62. Tomorrow's Child 

63. The Devil 

64. Another Goodbye 

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Eric Burdon & War - Spill The Wine...Live

Eric Burdon & War - Spill The Wine...Live - 2021

An electrifying performance by Eric Burdon and War, captured live in Germany in September 1970 promoting their debut LP Eric Burdon Declares War! Combined with their first ever televised performance on the Della Reese TV show from 1969, a host of rare archival photos and extensive liners and interviews, Burdon’s War is a compelling account of late 60s hedonism and of one of America’s finest funk/R&B outfits to emerge from the cultural revolution.

01. Paint It Black

02. Spill The Wine

03. Tobacco Road

04. Bear Back Rider

Bonus Tracks (Live in Della! 06 oct 1969)

05. Tobacco Road

06. Interview

07. Bright Lights, Big City

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The Wooden Glass feat. Billy Wooten - Recorded Live (1972)

The Wooden Glass feat. Billy Wooten - Recorded Live (1972) -  2004

Mad funky vibes from The Wooden Glass – a group led by vibist Billy Wooten – an obscure player in the history books, but one who has had a huge influence on 21st Century groove! Billy's got a hard style on the vibes that's like Bobby Hutcherson and Roy Ayers at their soulful best – working here with a tight combo that includes guitar and organ, very much in the mode of his classic work with the slightly more famous (although equally obscure) Indianapolis combo The Ninteenth Whole! The set's a live one, but it really cooks with a sweet electric feel – echoey, funky, and soulful – as tunes spin out in a staggering approach to the vibes that's unmatched by any record of its time. Billy was a huge influence on Madlib and the sound of Yesterday's New Quintet – and hearing this set, it's virtually a blueprint for that group's current work! Includes great covers of "In The Rain", "Day Dreaming", and "Love Is Here" – plus Wooten's excellent original tracks "Monkey Hips & Rice" and "Joy Ride"

The late Billy Wooten isn’t particularly well known among vibraphone players, and when you live in a world with the likes of Victor Feldman, Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson, it’s easy to get lost.  Wooten did some recording in the early 1970s as a member of Grant Green’s band for Blue Note, and after that, he settled down in Indianapolis and became a local fixture.

A live recording of Wooten’s band, The Wooden Glass, playing at the 19th Hole club in Indianapolis was released on a local label, Interim Records, in 1972 under the title The Wooden Glass Recorded Live.

The album sold modestly, as small independent releases are likely to do, but at some point, the album caught on with collectors, who loved its mixture of jazz, soul and funk, with prominent vibes, organ and funky guitar.  Original copies of the album on the Interim label have sold for as much as $3000 and even copies in so-so condition usually sell for $1000 or so.

In 2004, the Japanese reissue label P-Vine issued a limited edition pressing of The Wooden Glass, pressed on 180 gram vinyl, and as far as we know, this was the only authorized reissue of the album.  The pressing sold out almost immediately and is now long out of print.

01. Monkey Hips and Rice

02. We've Only Just Begin

03. Joy Ride

04. In the Rain

05. Day Dreaming

06. Love Is Here

07. 6 Variations of 'In the Rain' (feat. Madlib)

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