1970

A groovy groovy electric set from Hammond giant Shirley Scott - a set that really kicks things up in the rhythm department, in a way ties the album as much to Atlantic Records soul of the 60s as it does to some of Scott's earlier work for Prestige! There's a great pulse at the bottom of the tunes - thanks to guitar work from Billy Butler and Eric Gale, and some sweet electric bass from Chuck Rainey - working here in the rhythm section with Jimmy Johnson on drums and Ralph MacDonald on congas. The combination of all these great players on one date really makes things cook - and Shirley's organ sounds groovier than ever - so much so, she also seems free to try out a few sounds here on piano and ondoline as well. Things take on a nicely trippy feel at times, and a funky groove at others.

Alternating hard-driving blues-rockers with country-folk numbers, Humble Pie neatly showcases the two sides of this band's personality on their first release for a major American label and third album overall. All of the elements are in place for the sound that would reach its studio peak with the next release, Rock On, and culminate with the classic Live at the Fillmore album. "Earth and Water Song" provides a blueprint for the acoustic guitar-based sound Peter Frampton would ride to multi-platinum success as a solo artist later in the decade. "One Eyed Trouser-Snake Rumba" and "Red Light Mama, Red Hot!" show the hard-rocking direction in which Steve Marriott would move the band after Frampton's departure the following year.

A groovy groovy electric set from Hammond giant Shirley Scott - a set that really kicks things up in the rhythm department, in a way ties the album as much to Atlantic Records soul of the 60s as it does to some of Scott's earlier work for Prestige! There's a great pulse at the bottom of the tunes - thanks to guitar work from Billy Butler and Eric Gale, and some sweet electric bass from Chuck Rainey - working here in the rhythm section with Jimmy Johnson on drums and Ralph MacDonald on congas. The combination of all these great players on one date really makes things cook - and Shirley's organ sounds groovier than ever - so much so, she also seems free to try out a few sounds here on piano and ondoline as well. Things take on a nicely trippy feel at times, and a funky groove at others.

The second LP from this heavy blues-rock\psychedelia group, who remained on the edge of obscurity with two incredibly rare albums released on Nasco in 1970. Both albums were reissued in 2001. On their second album, the standouts are a cover version of "World of Pain," originally by Mountain, and a rave-up on the blues standard "Don't Need No Doctor," while elsewhere they soak in instrumentals with electric keyboards and guitar distortion with no apparent direction.

The Gardet festivals were the Swedish equivalent to Woodstock, an outdoor gathering of underground bands and other counterculture freaks. Recorded live at the first Gardet festival in June of 1970 and not released until 26 years later as part of Subliminal Sounds' Swedish Underground Archive Series, this CD catches an early Trad, Gras Och Stenar in top form, before the release of the band's eponymous first LP. The versions of "All Along the Watchtower" and "Satisfaction" are rawer than those from the debut, though offering a similar stretched-out and stripped-down minimalism to these rock classics. The two longest tracks, "Frihetsdans i D-moll" and "Lifeforce No. 3," build slowly into intense raga mantras of powerful minimalist rock, with heavy droning guitars and locked-groove rhythms that seem like they'll never stop. The live recording quality, done by someone in the front row of the concert, is quite good for that time…

The Albert's 1970 debut on Perception Records is a groundbreaking fusion of psychedelic rock and jazz, bursting with explosive improvisation, cosmic storytelling, and genre-defying creativity. Experience the sound of limitless possibilities!