Going back and listening again to Tony Joe White's prodigious output from his early years, one is amazed at the depth of his talent as a guitarist, a singer and as a songwriter. After a series of albums that explored his love of deep Southern Blues, TJW took a warmer, more acoustic turn with Home Made Icecream. A lot of this is the back porch music he clearly loves - and here he is surrounded by fine session men who, if I recall from my old vinyl copy, include a drummer who wouldn't play until he'd read the lyrics…which as Tony Joe noted: "Is all right by me." The album flows beautifully, kicking off with a little rocker - Saturday Night in Oak Grove Louisiana (Tony Joe always had a thing about vehicles - little details like fender skirts - and here its the fibreglass mufflers on his pickup truck) and featuring among other things a gorgeous, lightly picked acoustic guitar and harp instrumental: the title track of the album. There's a ballad - Ol Mother Earth - but the standout is the last track which blows in like a cold breeze off a lake. "Did Somebody Make a Fool Out of You" is among his best ever examples of songwriting, singing and guitar playing.
In 1999, Mobile Fidelity reissued Blue Oyster Cult's first two albums, Blue Oyster Cult (1972) and Tyranny and Mutation (1973) on a single 24-karat gold CD that was aimed at audiophiles. Hearing the albums back to back on the same disc, one is reminded how much crisper, tougher and sharper Murry Krugman and Sandy Pearlman's production was on Tyranny and Mutation – it's a production that's more suitable for a heavy metal/hard rock band…
In 1967 and 1968, Ice were a much-touted but slightly mysterious recording band, constantly on the radio (including the famous John Peel Show with Jimi Hendrix and Traffic) but seldom seen on television and never live. 'Walk On The Water' was the controversial track (disguised as 'Walk Under Water' for radio purposes) that was intended to be their second single and was eventually sidelined in favour of 'Ice Man'. Record Collector lists their two singles 'Anniversary (Of Love)' from 1967 and 'Ice Man' from 1968 in their Rare Record Guide and apart from the singles and their 'B' sides all of the tracks featured on this CD have never before been released. Lynton Naiff, Grant Serpell, Mo Foster and Linda Hoyle all later joined up as Affinity but that as they say is another story. This CD represents the group's entire recorded output of the cult 60’s rock group Ice.
The soaring spirit of Blue Note Records – served up here with a really special twist to fit the mode of the Free Soul series! The package is overflowing with goodness – four hours' worth of listening, with a special focus on two periods of the label – that great late 60s/early 70s stretch when they were trying out so many new ideas and rhythms, including elements borrowed from soul, Latin, fusion, and Brazilian modes – and the more recent stretch that has seen Blue Note re-emerge as one of the most forward-thinking labels in jazz!
Als 1985 der Song „You're A Woman“ weltweit die Charts aufmischte, hätte es wohl kaum jemand für möglich gehalten, dass die Gruppe 35 Jahre später immer noch rund um den Globus aktiv ist! Ausverkaufte Events in den Staaten, Kanada, Vietnam, Russland etc. bis hierzulande sprechen eine deutliche Sprache. Dass 2020 ein neues Album möglich war, war 2018 noch fast undenkbar. Zwischen zwei Gigs in Sibirien lieferten sich zwei Trucks auf geschlossener Eisdecke ein Rennen, worauf eines dieser Fahrzeuge mit voller Wucht in die Seite des Tourbusses der Band krachte. John McInerney, der zunächst einige Wochen im Koma lag, musste sich daraufhin einigen Operationen in Russland unterziehen, bevor er nach vielen Wochen in ein hiesiges Krankenhaus verlegt werden konnte. Mit einer enormen Disziplin kämpfte sich der aus Liverpool stammende Brite anschließend zurück.