Fuzzy Duck 1971 Esoteric Recordings

A much sought-after classic of U.K. underground progressive rock and psychedelia, this was originally issued in a scarce edition of 500 back in 1971. The album reached legendary status by affiliation, as it features Mick Harnsworth of Five Day Week Straw People and Andromeda, and Roy Sharland, a keyboardist who later worked with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Spice. This album is classic keyboard-driven British progressive rock in the vein of Soft Machine and Caravan. This CD edition has eight tracks, including "A Word from Big D", an entertaining performance from Roy Sharland offering his humorous 'ducking' vocals. Among four bonus items are the A and B-sides of two singles that featured top guitarist Garth Watt-Roy. Four rare bonus tracks!

Spirogyra - St. Radigunds (1971). Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a newly remastered edition of the classic album "St. Radigunds” by Spirogyra. Initially formed by duo Martin Cockerham and Mark Francis in Bolton in 1968, the band expanded when Cockerham was a student in Canterbury at the end of 1969. The expanded line-up featured Martin Cockerham (guitar, vocals), Barbara Gaskin (lead vocals), Steve Borrill (bass) and Julian Cusack (violin, keyboards) and secured a contract with B&C Records in 1970. The band’s debut album, "St. Radigunds” was issued in 1971 and featured guest drummer Dave Mattacks and Tony Cox on VCS 3 Synthesiser. "St. Radigunds” is rightly hailed as a classic of the era and this Esoteric Recordings newly remastered edition celebrates this legendary album, featuring a booklet with new essay…

Open Spaces (1971). Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of Open Spaces by CMU, the band's debut album from 1971, this unique masterpiece is a much sought after collectors item originally released on the Transatlantic label. CMU (Contemporary Music Unit) were a unique fusion of Progressive rock, Jazz and Folk influences. In keeping with the mood of the times, Open Spaces touches a style that evokes the work of contemporaries Affinity or even Arthur Brown. In Larraine Odell, CMU had one of the few female vocalists of the Progressive era, a fine vocalist supported by a fine band…

Dutch band Alquin released four studio albums in the early to mid-'70s, initially playing prog rock influenced by Pink Floyd and Roxy Music. However, by 1975's Nobody Can Wait Forever (the only Alquin album released in the U.S.), the band turned to a more varied style encompassing blues and hard rock. The original group comprised guitarist/vocalist Ferdinand Bakker, vocalist Job Tarenskeen, bassist Hein Mars, drummer Paul Weststrate, and horn player Ronald Ottenhoff; Michel Van Dyke joined the band as lead vocalist in 1975. A live album appeared in 1976, and the best-of Crash! was released a year later. Bakker and Tarenskeen played in the new wave outfit the Meteors in the late '70s and early '80s.

Nicky Higginbottom departed Paul Brett's Sage after the release of the band's eponymous debut album, and with her went the haunting flute that gave much of the album such a rich, pastoral sound. But the band was already moving in a new direction, exploring rock's roots and the genre's many permutations. Jubilation Foundry welds Sage's varied influences onto their sleeves, from "Cottage Made for Two," an homage to the Everly Brothers, to the gospel fired "Help Me Jesus" and the Stax inspired "Hold My Hand Mother." There are tributes to Southern blues and Southern rock, nods to singer/songwriters Cat Stevens and Harry Nilsson, and even a tip of the hat to the Beatles. With the group here sporting rich harmonies, the emphasis is on great songs in a variety of musical veins and moods, with singalong choruses, memorable melodies, and flashy musicianship evident throughout the album.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a 2CD Anthology by the legendary Progressive Rock group Cressida. One of the finest groups to sign to the legendary Vertigo label in 1969, Cressida’s unique Progressive Rock style earned them a loyal fan base in the early 1970s, with their legend growing over the ensuing decades and their followers growing, with notable aficionados including Mikael Akerfeldt of the band Opeth. The roots of Cressida were sown in March 1968, when guitarist John Heyworth answered an advertisement in Melody Maker, and later travelled to London to join The Dominators. With vocalist Angus Cullen he settled down to some serious writing, eventually welcoming bassist Kevin McCarthy and drummer Iain Clark to the fold and now calling themselves Charge…

Satisfaction was a short lived jazz influenced progressive outfit formed by trumpet and horn player Mike Cotton, a veteran of the early 60's British R&B boom. The group also included John Beecham (trombone), Derek Griffiths (guitar, vocals), Bernie Higginson (drums, vocals), Lem Lubin (saxophone) and Nick Newell (saxophone). John Beecham had previously been in the Mike Cotton Sound, whilst Griffiths had been a member of the highly regarded Artwoods with Keef Hartley and Jon Lord. By the late 1960's jazz was crashing headlong into the world of rock and Mike Cotton assembled a group of like minded musicians to explore the musical possibilities in this area. Signing to Decca in 1971, the group worked with producer David Hitchcock on the eponymous album. This Esoteric Recordings reissue marks the album's debut on CD.