Rock a Doodle

Linda Lewis - Lark (1972) {2012 Remastered & Expanded - Big Break Records CDBBR 0092}
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© 1972, 2012 Reprise / Big Break Records / Cherry Red Records | CDBBR 0092
R'n'B / Soul / Soft Rock

Few artists can fuse genres as effortlessly as Linda Lewis. Gifted with an incredible 5 octave vocal range, her unique sound contains elements of Folk, Soul, Pop and Rock and has won the admiration of artists from Stevie Wonder to Paul Weller, Jamiroquai and Noel Gallagher, who Linda recently recorded backing vocals for.

This is the 2nd album by the legendary Dutch Blues-Rock band Livin` Blues, which followed the pattern of many British groups, which were formed at about the same time. Led by their vocalist Nicko Christiansen, who co-wrote most of the bands original material (sung in English of course) with the band's guitar player Ted Oberg, who was one of the country's best, harmonica player John Lagrand and a constantly changing rhythm section…

This Dutch blues band was formed in the Hague around 1967, becoming a regular outfit from 1969. The early line-up included Bjorn Toll (vocals), John Lagrand (harmonica), Ted Oberg (guitar), Ruud Fransen (bass) and Niek Dijkhuys (drums) but although the name remained wholesale changes soon took place, bringing in a new singer, Nicko Christiansen, and new bass and drums, Peter Kleinjan and Beer Klaasse, the latter pair being swiftly replaced by Gerard Strutbaum and Cesar Zuiderwijk, while keyboard player Henk Smitskamp was added. Other changes followed through the 70s, by which time the band’s repertoire was more inclined towards rock. Musicians involved included bass players Ruud van Buuren, Jan van der Voort, Jaap van Eijk and André Reynen, drummers John Lejeune, Herman van Boeyen, Cor van Beek, Michel Driessen, Kenny Lamb and Arjen Kamminga…

An unsuccessful attempt to assemble an album of live/BBC material by Dr. Strangely Strange (not enough usable stuff could be found), unusually, led to something better - an entire LP's worth of well-preserved 1969-1970 studio outtakes. Those ten outtakes (with two versions of one song, "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo") form the bulk of this 2007 release, topped off by three 2006 recordings supplied specifically for this project. It's the 1969-1970 material, naturally, that's the main attraction, and it's a surprise to find that - unlike the unissued cuts excavated for most collections of this sort - they're pretty much on a par with the two albums this fairly obscure Irish acid-folk-ish band issued during their brief lifetime…