Evil West

The band's third album for Reprise has its advocates among psychedelic cultists, but it really is a letdown when stacked against their previous two Reprise LPs, even if those LPs (particularly the second) were haphazard in their psychedelic-pop-folk-rock admixtures. When they play it straight, the songs are often average or even unmemorable, easy-going late-1960s L.A. rock. When they are obviously trying to be strange, as on the title cut, it sounds contrived, and if you've heard the previous Reprise LPs already, Bob Markley's occasional deranged rants will be old hat. The minute-and-a-half "Anniversary of World War III" is entirely silent: a radical notion for a rock album of the time, perhaps, but something that had already been done by John Cage. There are some pleasing moments here and there, like the melancholy folk-rock ballad "Eighteen Is Over the Hill"…

Leslie West first gained recognition as the lead guitarist for the Vagrants, a locally popular 1960s Long Island group. One of that band's singles was produced by Felix Pappalardi, a bass player who also produced Cream. After the Vagrants and Cream split up, Pappalardi played bass on and produced West's debut solo album, Mountain (July 1969). Following its release, the two teamed up with drummer Norman Smart (soon replaced by Corky Laing) and keyboard player Steve Knight to form the band Mountain. They cut the albums Climbing! (February 1970, a gold-selling LP featuring the Top 40 single "Mississippi Queen"), Nantucket Sleighride (January 1971, which also went gold), and Flowers of Evil (November 1971). In 1972, Pappalardi left Mountain to return to producing.

Trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and one of the most important figures in jazz music history, and music history in general. Davis adopted a variety of musical directions in a five-decade career that kept him at the forefront of many major stylistic developments in jazz. Winner of eight Grammy awards…

Plying their trade in the fertile San Francisco scene of the late '60s, Crystal Syphon's name was only known to aficionados through viewing copies of old SF gig posters and through the index of bands at the back of Ralph Gleason's book on the rise of Jefferson Airplane. Then both their studio and live 1967-1969 archival recordings were discovered that replaced the imagination with true grooves in 2012 and 2015 with the release of 2 LPs on Roaratorio Records. Trying to find comparison with other Bay area bands from that era has proven a bit fruitless as they don't specifically evoke any of the heavy hitters of the era. They have a bit of a dreamy, stoned vibe with some great harmonies and some have compared their style to Quicksilver Messenger Service (John Cipollina was their idol!!) as well as H.P. Lovecraft. As with so many bands of the era, the draft, time and declining fortunes signaled the end of the band. There is some great guitar work alongside the Farfisa organ in the extended jams, and fans of the west-coast sound should delight in these recordings.