ECOLargest selling colour popweekly newspaper.Price 6d. No. 441.Every ThursdayWeek ending August 23, 1969. ed

INSIDE THIS WEEK: Jane Birkin, Blind Faith, Fat Mattress,Tamla, Barry Ryan, Blodwyn Pig, plus Bee Gees exclusive

DID Davy Jones deliberately lie about his marriage duringthe period before the information was released-or

escaped? It looks that way. Was he justified in misleadinghis fans for so long? The life of an important person canbe threatened to the point of destroying his personal affairsand perhaps this was what Davy Jones feared.

Dixie Linda Haynes married David Jones in December,1967, after meeting him a year before at a party in Hawaii.The lovely Linda, who towers an inch over the shorterMonkee, is spending a few weeks in London with Davyand Talia, their little girl. She revealed from the Savoy, thatfans had been very understanding when the delayed factswere finally made known. "No one really knew we weredating back in 1967, because we were just friends for a longtime. About eight or nine months later, he asked me outon a real date and things just changed right there at themovies! Each time we dated, I was sure I wouldn't hearfrom David again, but each time, he rang up and we wentout again.

"We had been friends for so long, I simply couldn't explainthe strange feeling that was coming over me. At first I

wasn't even serious about him, as I was very busy with mymodelling Career and I also knew that it did no good to getover -excited about things, because that only makes it worsewhen you are let down. Then it happened. When you have

'DAVY THE FAMILY MAN' by his wifelooked at it that way and it works, it's always so muchbetter.

"The main reason for keeping it down was Davy's alreadyhectic schedule. He was always being interviewed and askedquestions, but we wanted to keep our private life private.Not too many actually queried it anyway, so there was noreason to deny anything. Now he's older as well and it willbe viewed differently."

American born Linda is naturally proud of her Man-cunian husband, but there are inconvenient sides to havingmarried a pop star.

"I knew there would be disadvantages to being marriedto David. I was aware that he would be away a lot andbusy much of the time, but I knew what I was doing. I justhave to keep busy while he is away, which isn't hard sinceI have Talia and the house to look after, plus a load ofanimals. When he's home, he's home for at least two weeksat a time. I like to travel, but not short visits where I seeonly the insides of hotel rooms.

"This is perfect-two weeks in London. Talia was bornin Wimbledon in October, 1968, so I have been here before

and. I know a little about the city. David had decided hewanted her to be a British subject long before the event.Talia is a big draw for Davy. He cancels all appointmentsthat are really unnecessary so that he can be home morewith us. He hasn't exactly said he wanted thousands ofkids, but I plan to have a family of six. He won't say that,but I will and when I mention it to him, he doesn't say no.David is really good with children-much better than I am.It was his idea to have one.

"Everything is working beautifully right now. We're happy,my parents are happy, when Davy goes away with theMonkees, we wives (Phillis Nesmith, Sammy Juste Dolenz)get together and make clothes or something, and Davy and -I have our dream to work on. We hope to have a ranch ora farm with lots of land, animals and kids, He wants tolive in Yorkshire. That's a long way from Texas, but Idon't mind."

Little Talia voiced the cry of the jungle from the nextroom, meaning that the afternoon bottle was late. Thosebig Jones eyes said, "Mummy, when will daddy be home?"

LON GODDARD

RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969

tIJ

. . . want to let off steam?Any questions on the scene?Any problems? Then drop a

line to VAL or JAMES,letters dept.

RECORD MIRROR -EVERY THURSDAY -116 SHAFTESBURY AVE, LONDON, W.1. GER 7942/3/4

The re4ssue gameReaders' defend Stevie's hit

MAY I reply to Miriam Battersby's letter and explain that the current StevieWonder hit has neither been re-released, nor deliberately re -promoted. Far from

there being any "ulterior motive" behind this record, if anyone is responsible for theB side becoming a hit it is the general public.

After having dropped from the chart as the flip of "I Don't Know Why", "MyCherie Amour" was requested on Family Choice and Family Favourites, both ofwhich have very high listening figures. These airings undoubtedly attracted the recordbuying public, who probably didn't even know the song existed previously, andretailers all over the country reported increased demand for the disc. So the recordre-entered the lower half of the chart and in turn the radio disc jockeys started toplug the disc.

Public interest arousing from "accidental" airplays has accounted for many of therecent so-called re -issues. "This Old Heart of Mine", "Nowhere to Run", "Get Ready"and others were never actually deleted and could be ordered from most record shops."Harlem Shuffle" was available on Sue and on several LPs, but probably the moststriking example was Wink Martindale's classic "Deck of Cards". Due solely to oneplay on "Two Way Family Favourites" one Easter Sunday the record shot into thecharts after lying dormant in the shops for five years!

Anyway, in the long run a record company issues a record for one reason only-to make money! - Trevor Hall, Senior D.J., The Golden Palms, St. Peter StreetBlackburn, Lancs.

TN reply to the letter from Miss Miriam Battersby (August 9th), the history of Stevie-11- Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" hit is as follows.

After the comparative failure of "I Don't Know Why" in the American charts (itreached 41), Motown decided to re -promote the flip "My Cherie Amour" with theresult that it made number 4 on Billboard's chart.

Meanwhile on this side of the Atlantic, "I Don't Know Why" had reached number14. EMI, having no new release available, decided to wait rather than re -issue someother track. The Radio One DJ's played "My Cherie Amour" on the strength of itsAmerican success. The public (those who didn't buy "I Don't Know Why") presumedthat it was Stevie's latest release and bought enough copies to place it in the top ten.

Surely Miss Battersby wasn't suggesting that there are people who don't play the Bsides of records, and that they have now bought a second copy of TMG 690! If thishas been the case, perhaps those people now realise what a great "sound" they havebeen missing! - Brian Fooks, Secretary, The Official Stevie Wonder Fan Club of Gt.Britain, 72 Corston View, Bath, BA2 2PQ.

TWINKLE!THANK you, Record Mirror, for

reviewing the new initinklesingle (Instant). I'm sure

with some exposure this record"Micky" could enter the top 50.The flip "Darby and Joan" isbrilliant and a credit to Twinkle,who penned both sides, and MichaelD'Abo, the producer.

Could anyone help me to obtainTwink's 1965 follow-up to 'GoldenLights"', ''Tommy", as my copyhas been damaged? - Al, 10Churchill Crescent, Stanford -le -Hope, Essex.

EL DENIALISHOULD like to make it clear,following the front page featureon Elvis in last week's RM,

that the readers of El News Maga-zine and the members of the SouthLondon Branch of the Elvis Presleyfan club have no knowledge of abig campaign against the newsingle "Clean Up Your Own BackYard".

We think, in fact, that this sideis far superior to the flip side"The Fair Is Moving On". In theStates the "B" side did not receiveone play over the radio, whereas"Clean Up Your Own Back Yard"has reached number 31 in theBillboard charts.

Incidentally, in November it wasstated that the fan club wasexpected to reach membership of5,000, so it must have grownrapidly.-Jim Ellis, Editor, ElvisNews Magazine.

HARMONY GASIWOULD like to say a bigthank you through your letterspage for a great night at the

Marquee, given by Harmony Grass,Tuesday, August 12.

What a group! All this talk ofthe so-called underground sceneand blues, and yet a group whocouldn't be further away from thissound got such a wonderful recep-tion. I have been going to theMarquee for over a year now and

Janice Whyte, 2c Naylor Lane,Airdrie, Lanarkshire. - Wanteddesperately, any info. or photos ofCream. Would any RM readerwho has any they wish to sellplease write.

P. Lock. 15 Wickford Drive,Harold Hill, Romford, Essex. -I will give London cast versionof "Hair" (perfect) for "Days OfFuture Passed" (must be in goodcondition), by the Moody Blues,mono or stereo.

I have never seen a group getso much applause as they did.And they really deserved it!

I am now an ardent fan ofHarmony Grass and will be fora long time.-Annie Carlson, 12Princes Road, London, S.W.7.

SHORT DAYWITH Joe Dolan and Clodagh

Rodgers doing so well nowit looks as if the Irish

musical stars are at last gettingthe recognition they deserve. Thismonth Houston Wells and theTrident, who are Co. Roscommon'stop Showband, are cutting a recordin London which should really setthe charts alight, so Joe andClodagh-watch out. Houston Wellsis coming ! !-Ken Blyth, CarlingPark Donamon. Co. Roscommon,Eire.

STRINGS ATTACHEDONE recent development in

contemporary pop which seemsto have been overlooked is

the increasing number of violinistswho are cropping up in variousgroups.

We have Ric Grech (BlindFaith), Richard Koss (Third EarBand), John Weider (Family), JetZaphalia (Pegasus) and DaveSwarbrick (who recently teamedtip with Fairport Convention).

I wonder if this heralds a lessviolent, more wistful trend in newmusic?-Margaret Foxall, 17 Ches-son Road, London, W.14.

HIPPIESRECENTLY while in Belgium

I listened to "Oh Happy Day"in a juke box. I was sur-

prised to learn that the versionwas longer than the copy I have.Does this mean that the Britishpublic have been cheated? If wehave 1 would like to know why'.-Stephen Alexander (age 11). 2

Maddox Road, Adeyfield. HemelHempstead. Herts.

TAMLA PARTYTHE secretaries of the Jimmy

Ruffin fan club would like tothank all those who turned up

and helped to make a success ofthe Tamla Motown ,United- party.

Everyone at the party seemedto enjoy themselves and inquiriesas to when the next party willbe held have already beenreceived. Much as yet unreleasedmaterial Includes Gladys Knightand the Pips' "'the Nitty Gritty",Edwin Starr and Blinky's firstduet disc "Oh How Happy" andthe Temntations' "Don't Let The

Joneses Get You Down". Amongthe celebrities who attended wereClodagh Rodgers, Johnnie Walkerand Jimmy Ruffin, who mingledwith tho crowd, answering ques-

tiohs and signing autographs.Films were shown of Edwin Starr.

Minify, The Originals and theTemptations "Run ` Away ChildRunning Wild". We must hereexpress our sincere thanks to JohnMarshall of EMI for the loan ofthese films and for his great help.

Unfortunately at the end of theevening, a few individuals refusedto leave, and some damage wasdone, as a result of which wefan club secretaries have beenPresented with a fairly hefty billwhich will have to be paid out of

our own pockets. This means wemay well discontinue such eventsas, frankly, we couldn't affordanother such night.

We were really shocked that thiskind of behaviour could happenat a get-together of Motown fans,and we think Jimmy Ruffinsummed on our feelings exactlywhen he said: "This was supposedto be Motown United-not MotownDivided." - Phil Svmes. JimmyRuffin Fan Club of Great Britain:101 Stansted Road. Bishops" Stan-ford. Herts.

ESTHER NEWSI'M writing to inform readers of

the formation of the OfficialEsther Phillips Appreciation

Society. I hope to bring out amonthly magazine, which will fea-ture other soul singers, with ageneral slant on R&B/Soul music,new releases, etc. So anybodywho likes Esther and R&B musicPlease write to: Terry R. Capper,13 Pitt Road, Horfield, BristolBS6 STY.

GUERCIO-A SUCCESSFUL IDEALISTJIM

GUERCIO is an honest man.And this is a strange sort of

person to come across in the popbusiness. He believes in music, anddoesn't really want to know aboutthe snide associates of the musicscene.

He acknowledges the fact thatthere are few people in thebusiness purely for the money. Yethe is that rare sort of bird who hashis ideals; and is also verysuccessful.

Having been a musician and playingwith the Mothers of Invention, Jim turnedhis hand to producing records and hasdone very well. The current Blood, Sweatand Tears album he produced and thisis one of the success albums of theyear; so far it has sold over a millioncopies.

"I became interested in producingrecords the minute I played a solo andheard it back in the control room," Jimstated. "The guy there said 'yeas, thatsounds all right', and it wasn't to mymind. So then I decided to do it myself.

"I studied guitar from the age of sixthen played with a hack -up band afterI left University. When I was doing that.I felt a strangled effect from the agents,managers and so on who are part of thebusiness.

"The avant garde in pop was juststarting then and I met up with FrankZappa. We were both serious composersat that time. I knew him Men on amusical basis, but I don't think he'sfunctioning on a musical basis now."

To look at Jim with his relatively shorthair and respectable appearance, it's hardto think that he played Bach and Ravelon acoustic guitar with tie Zappa freakshow.

"I first met Frank when he had shorthair," Jim admitted. And let's face it,that must have been some time ago, asJim is now only 23.

Jim, as a musician/songwriter, firstwent in as a producer with the Bucking -hams. They had had a hit but no follow-up.Jim put that right for them. He thenwent on to produce their next five hits.Then, of course, taere's that fantastic

production on the Blood, Sweat and Tearsalbum which he did and has been top ofthe American charts for so long.

"Blood, Sweat and Tears broke downa lot of doors," Jim said. "They've openedup many things for jazz musicians forexample. In fact they've opened up thewhole musical scene. They are very goodmusicians in the band. But I'll tell yousomething. I don't think you'll see Blood,Sweat and Tears appear in this country.Tere are so many hang-ups with variousPeople associated with them which wouldprevent them coming .

"I'm a composer, arranger and playerbasically. And I creatively function as acomposer. As a producer, I'm aware ofthe nature of social change which in turnis represented in music.

"My goal is to expand musical freedom

and this is one of the reasons why I tookon the job of producing the Blood, Sweatand Tears album. I like to see new formsof music introduced to the mainstreamof contemporary music.

"It's not important how much moneya group makes per night, or woo looksbest in a picture - anything like that.It's the music that counts and I feltthere were more meaningful things to bedone in the field of music."

Don't get the impression that .IimGuercio is doing a moody-like I wroteat the beginning, he is one of the fewhonest people in the business. It's just aquestion of his knowing where he wantsto go and how to get there. And believeme, he's got there as far as money isconcerned. Yet he's not hung -up on money-he is simply interested in music and theexpansion and evolvement of same.

Jim has recently completed an albumwith Moondog. He is a blind musicianwho used to play on the sidewalks ofNew York and was popular with themodern jazz enthusiasts in the late fiftiesand early sixties. Moondog had a wayof life which one thought would have beentaken up by the so-called hippies. Butover the years, de's been neglected byjazz producers and hippies alike. That isuntil Jim recorded "Symphonies Of Moon -dog" which has been issued in the Stateson the CBS Masterworks series (theirclassical line).

"Moondog is a contemporary Americancomposer," Jim affirmed. "He's a masterof rhythmn and rejects anything which isnon -acoustic. This symphony he's writtenruns into many pages and was done inbraille. It cost 6,000 dollars to save ittranscribed.

"The thing I'm working on now is theFiresign Theatre. They are like aRepertory Company-four people who arejust like the Marx Brothers. So far theyhave two albums out and are in themiddle of writing a screen play."

Jim Guercio is an innovator and hemakes records which are excellent. BUT,they might not be appreciated by themajority of people before the next fiveyears. You see, in his way he's a realmusician and also a perfectionist.

The standard of musical appreciation isrising and that can't be at all bad.

IAN MIDDLETON.

RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969 3

THREE OHS'by Hugh Gibb

IT IS a wise father that knows his own son.Given the opportunity. "It's been virtually

impossible for me to speak to him for thirteenweeks."

Hugh Gibb is tall, greying and worried. "Thepeople round Robin have cut him off from every-body-including his own mother and father."

"We first read about the split in the papers.Then when we tried to find Robin he had vanished.By then I was in a bloody fury."

He telephoned his son's Belgravia home. Robin"wasn't available". So his wife and Lulu, theirdaughter-in-law went round to try and see him.

HE WASN'T HAPPY

The door was slammed in their faces. That wasthree months ago. Since then Hugh has spokento Robin once. For about ten minutes.

"We hardly had a chance to say ,hello. But I

could tell from the way he spoke that he wasn'thappy."

Not that Hugh Gibb claims he knows best forRobin. He hasn't interfered in any of his sons'careers since the heady day three years ago thatthey signed with Robert Stigwood.

But he knows his sons. He encouraged Robinto sing when he was a boy, even though he"sounded like a mad Arab". He put up withBarry nicking his fuse wire to make a guitar whenhe was ten. And he helped Maurice to try andwrite songs.

And he frankly admitsthat when they are to-gether, his three sons"are a bit of a handful".They have had theirrows too.

"Of course therewere rows. They arethree brothers, thereare bound to be someproblems. It would be un-natural if there weren't.

HEART-THROB"But they never came to

blows." They never came toblows, said Hugh, becausethe three brothers Gibb arevery close. They need eachother.

They started out togetheras a musical group back in1957 when Tommy Steelewas somebody's heart-throb.It was in Manchester.

Their father was the drum-mer in a band on theNorthern Mecca circuit. Hehad a fatherly eye open formusical talent and quicklyrealised their potential.

On Barry's 11th birthdayhis father gave him a guitar.In the spring of the follow-

ing year the family emigratedto Australia. Said Hugh:

"They entertained every-body on the boat going out.It was a tremendous success.They were only doing it forfun but everybody lovedthem."

In Brisbane the mediajumped on the boys. Theywere given their own halfhour television programme,which was so successfulthat it caught the eye of thelocal Welfare Dept.

Clutching Dickensian re-gulations designed to dis-suade unscrupulous fathersfrom shoving their childrenup and down chimneys, theauthorities closed the show.

SALESMANThat didn't stem the de-

mand. By day Hugh was alawnmower salesman collect-ing about £80 a week-"theyhave a lot of grass in Aus-tralia, you see" - and bynight Hugh was lookingafter his sons as theyappeared across the country.

Eventually something hadto go. The boys wererequired up and down thecountry which involved driv-

MAURICE, HUGH and BARRY GIBB seen together -in their early days Hugh cut grass before the sonsshone . .

ing, flying, travelling up to3,000 miles for a show.

Hugh wasn't going to letthe grass grow under hisfeet, so he left his job andconcentrated on looking atterhis sons.

ZENITH

"My ambition was to getthem with a good agent inAustralia but at that timethere wasn't anybodyaround," he explained. Sohe ran the whole showvirtually singlehanded.

Within a couple of yearsthey became the top groupin Australia. They hadreached their zenith. SoHugh and the family set sailfor England.

They arrived with £300and a lot of enthusiasm.Three days after they founda house Robert Stigwood, anAustralian, telephoned Mr.Gibb.

"To this day I still don'tknow how Robert got mynumber," said Hugh. They

-as told to David Skan

"We just want to lose this 'supergroup' label"

met, liked each other -"although I think Robertthought we were going tobe interfering parents"-andsigned the deal.

PUBLICFrom that day the Gibb

story went public. Except forthe fact that they have a

daughter, married and livingin Australia and another son,Andy, 11, who might becomethe fourth Bee Gee when hegrows up.

Barry captured the heartsof a million girls across theworld, Maurice capturedLulu and Robin? Yes, Robin.Like his brothers in the

group, he was caught up inthe demanding turmoil ofsuccess.

He seemed to friends tobe quiet, to the point ofbeing reserved. And somepeople he talked to say hebuilt up some strange feel-ing of resentment aboutwhat was happening.

"Robin had some feelingagainst Robert Stigwood forsome reason. I don't knoweven now what it was. I

don't understand it at all.

CUT OFF

"Robert doesn't under-stand it either. We bothwant to talk to Robin to findout what was going on inhis mind. But he has beencompletely cut off from us.

"I am his father . . I hadhoped that he felt he couldcome and talk to me aboutanything that was botheringhim. I've always tried tobring the boys up to confidein me.

PRAY

"Perhaps I am partly toblame . . I don't honestlyknow."

He is an extremely sad-dened man. His wife is heart-broken. And, deep down,says Hugh his brothers areupset. But he is hopeful.

"The door is wide open.We all hope and pray thatRobin will come back. You'veno idea how worried we areabout what is happening tohim.

"But I believe that he willcome back."

Perhaps the family's feel-ings are best summed up bythe first line of the Bee Gees'new single:

"My heart won't believethat you've left. . . . "

ShareYourLove With Me

BOBBY BLAND

ACT4548

B&C RECORDS LTD.

37SOHO SQUARE, LONDON,W.1.(01 734 3932)

L07.0.14

4 RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969

JACK BRUCE and GEORGE HARRISON (pseudonymously) play on "Songs For A Tailor". And Elvis createsa storm with his comeback.

Bruce into jazz, & topJACK BRUCE was in New

York last week onvarious kinds of business.Mainly it was to play withjazz guitarist Larry Coryell(ex -member of the GaryBurton group and belovedof the New Generation as abridge between jazz androck).

Why Jack Bruce, knownbest for his work in theCream?

"I don't know either," saysJack. "I met Larry when theCream and Gary Burtonplayed opposite one anotherin New York. We dug eachother's playing, no doubtabout that. Anyway theother week I got this call

LEAPY LEE 'STUFFING

FISH IS EXPENSIVE!'"I FELL out of a coconut tree," exclaimed

Leapy Lee. "I had some of the mostamazing times of my life when I visitedFlorida a few weeks ago. To start off with,I had to get drunk on every plane flight,because I can't stand to be up there."

"We were all very exhausted when welanded, and that night, after a few parties,someone dared me to climb up a ridiculouslyhigh tree and get a coconut. Feeling asgood as I did, the tree didn't look as highas it was, so I went to it with great con-fidence. It hit me about halfway up thatthis was a stunt best left for the natives,but I kept going, arriving at the top in astate of collapse.

"Then I found the coconuts were hangingout on limbs. I could hardly hang on withtwo hands, but I reached out in a danger.ous fashion trying to knock one of themdown. Unfortunately, all parts of nature'swonders are built to last; I lurched oncetoo far and took a nose dive downwardswithout my coconut. There wasn't anyserious injuries, so I got up determinedto score some sort of triumph during thevisit,

"Next, I decided to do some ocean fish-ing, being a fan of the sport. Some ofmy cash went towards hiring a fishing boatand I was off to challenge the deep blue.Not long out, I began to feel somethingtoying with the bait so I cleverly waiteduntil I thought it had a good hold andjerked sharply.

"Whatever it was tore me up out of myseat and nearly landed me in the drink,but I kept control and started playing it in.It was a hard battle, but eventually thefish was drawn to the boat and hauled in.I had no idea the thing was that big andthe skipper, whose business was cruisingfor fisherman, said it was a fantastic catch;that he hadn't seen a swordfish like thatfor a long time.

"He then Informed me that. I had to pay so muchper inch to have the thing stuffed. I don't knowwhat I wanted with a stuffed fish, but I laid outanother 200 dollars for that and we headed back.Then I had to pose with the thing and pay fortrophy photographs with a lot of pot-bellied dockpeople. Now I have to pay for the stuffed fish tobe sent over to England so I can put it in myhouse. I went away trying to figure out how muchit cost me to go fishing and decided I had falleninto it, hook, line and sinker.'L

That wasn't the real reason Leapy went to theStates-he had just been added to the Country MusicHall Of Fame, the only British artiste ever awardedthat title.

"Ws fantastic,!" he declared. "I don't know howmany artistes are inside the enclosure in Nashville,but there are 30 or 40 gold stars along the pathleading to it, and I have been put in the line-up.There are people like Jim Reeves and Tex Ritterthere." -

"The records seem to sell strongest in the southernUnited States. You can hear them from hillbillyshacks out in the mountains. Country music is verybig in the States, because it has a long history intheir heritage. When you look at the music, youfind it's really only variations of the particularcountry's folk music.

"That is why it has trouble getting off the groundin England. Ireland has its own folk history, butEngland is a sort of hybrid collection of borrowedtrends. Modern C&W hits here, but authentic stuffwouldn't stand a chance; it would drive them mad.I know there is a hard core of authentic countryand western music fans in Britain, because I've hada lot of rows with them revolving around a futileargument-they say I'm not an authentic C&Wsinger and I say they are right.

"I don't go out to copy real Country and Westernsounds from other artistes-this is modern stuffbased on an early concept of the music. SouthAfrica is a good market for Country music, as isAustralia, but of the English speaking nations.Britain is the last on the list. 'rite authentic stuffis at its peak right now and these fans are satis-fied. The ordinary stuff never stops-it will go onand on.

Leapy's name has been spread across the globe,thanks to "Little Arrowsv.

It was the "Jump off" for him in this and othercountries. Leapy went "from nowhere to every-where'; as it reached number one in 12 of the 22countries of its release. And it made the charts inevery one of them. He is currently choosing oneof three possible songs for his next effort due verysoon.

LON GODDARD

US club closes...from New York asking meto come over and do somegigs with him. I had a greattime - we seemed to get ontogether, especially consider-ing it was the first time wehad actually played together."

Another thing that Jackdid in New York waspromote his new album,"Songs for a Tailor" whichAtlantic are releasing in theStates in about three weeks.

The album consists of pickup men like Dick Heckstall-Smith (of Colleseum) anda pseudononymous GeorgeHarrison. Now Jack wants togo back to Britain and forma group with a prospectiveNovember tour of the US inmind. As well as playingBritain where, he says, "thescene is still strong althoughit's hard to promote recordson the radio."

CALL IT FREDSaid Jack: "After all I

have to get my own grouptogether. The people on thealbum all belong to othergroups and it's a bit hardasking George Harrison toleave his lot to join me!"

Bruce has another albumrecorded and ready forrelease - "This is allinstrumental and mainly I

play accoustic bass. If youcould call it anything I

suppose you'd say it wasa jazz album. I dunno -call it Fred. This also hasJimmy McLaughlin, a greatBritish guitarist on it. It'sreally amazing how Jimmyhad to come to America toget any kind of recognition.He has gigged with TonyWilliams, a really fantasticdrummer who played withMiles Davis, as a memberof Tony's Lifeline group. Heis even on a new album byMiles Davis-that's how goodhe is!"

With his new group, whenhe forms it, Bruce wants toplay a Festival Hall concert."I want to show off what I

can do," he says.And with the inevitable

question, what does he thinkof Blind Faith, Bruce states:"I haven't heard the groupor even their record. Butwith the people concernedthey must be into somethingnice.

The Scene Club hasclosed. A small underground(literally) place in NewYork's West Side it occupiedthe same kind of esteem inthe pop world that the first

Speakeasy did in London. Itfeatured various and variedgroups chosen by the offbeat and occasional brillianthand of its owner StevePaul (Now guiding thefortunes of blues guitaristand possessor of more front -money -from -record - companythan anyone else, JohnnyWinter).

The Scene Club was alsohome for all the manyBritish rock groups passingthrough and working in NewYork-an unofficial head-quarters.

More important it gave theso-called taste makers ofNew York a chance topronounce and pontificate onnew groups. Word soon gotround about the status of agroup playing the Scene,underground papers wrotethem up, occasionally Timeof Life would pick up onthem, record executivesdropped in . . . and so on.A pop music life style wenton down the Scene until thatSaturday evening when afight closed the place.

At first the place wasclosed for redecoration toopen up as a better show-case for rock talent. Butthen Steve Paul, heavy intothe Winter scene, decidedto swallow the Scene scene.Now it's for sale - liquorlicence intact, apparently.

At first there was aspontaneous movement toSave Our Scene. The Fill -more East was organising abenefit for the place, recordcompanies (faced withlosing a good, if not the best,showcase for their newtalent) were willing tosupport the deal financially,those British groups withthe big bills on the slatebehind the bar (you couldsign for drinks if you hadcertain status down there)were willing to help SOS . .

But it's for sale.Some of the action has

moved some 30 blocks up-town to Unganos, wheregroups like Spooky Tooth,Collesseu m, Terry Reid,Muddy Waters, John LeeHooker, etc., have played orare booked. HOwever, themost potent liquid servedin the place is a sour drinkmade of lemon. No liquorlicence.

Which may be why theBritish groups have movedto a pub just around thecorner from the Scene. A

straightforward drinkingplace, no music. It's a homefrom home, because it'scalled the Haymarket andserves draught ale.

Many an evening resoundswith a merry chorus of"What we want is

EROTIC ELReaction to Elvis Presley's

Las Vegas opening has beenfantastic - critics andeducated viewers are callingit the most impressivere -launch of a decade. Andapparently the erotic magicof Presley live is stillundimmed. Ain't nobodyturned his damper down . .

One of the more impressivesights of week: Atlantic's topproducer Jerry Wexler gettingright into his first everrecording session with Samand Dave (Previously 'pro-duced by Isaac Hayes andSam Porter down in Memp-phis). In New York Wexlerworked like a demon runningthrough lyrics, singing alongon and off mike with thedynamic duo and leaving withthe conviction that he hada couple of good sides . . .

When Aretha Franklin wasfined for careless driving inDetroit with charges ofbeing abusive in the policeheadquarters thrown in, itwas found she was on leavefrom a local hospital. Noreasons were given.

BOYCOTTA farmer who lent his

property for the Festival hasbeen threatened with a boy -cot by local people opposedto the promised arrival of100,000 music fans in thearea for the weekendFestival. He may not be ableto sell his produce locally.

Dylan said that he hadbeen invited to the Festivaland may show up. But hismain worry, as he sat in hismansion was-lack of water.

"The pump motor hasbroken down and its beenthree days now. We pay alot of taxes and buy a lot offood here. We expect betterservice than this," he said.My children need water."Anthony Newley, unveilinghis brand new night clubact, received a lot of acclaimand applause. It's the firsttime he has worked live incabaret or concert since hisBritish teenage idol days.They threw roses in Van-couver.

RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969'

An unusual Mattress &

the Hendrix break-up!

NOEL REDDING-Emphasis on melody:

THE name "Fat Mattress" springs fromthe rolling hills of Africa almost seven

years ago. A man took a truck with a mat-tress on the back for a long rambling tourof the dark continent. At night, he slept onthe mattress in the sweltering tropical heat.

He met his friends on his return homeand declared to them, "Hey, I've broughtback a really fat mattress here", whereuponthe bulging upholstery was opened to displayno small amount of those eastern substancesour authorities dislike.

Seven years later, the bass player for FatMattress, Jim Leverton, remembered whatthe phrase was and it became the title forNoel Redding's new group. While he wasfrantically rehearsing, Noel explained howlong the group had been formed and what,as opposed to his days with the HendrixExperience, it would stand for,

"We've actually been together about three and ahalf months, though the inception was back in thesummer of '68. We alt knew each other from the daysbefore the Experience and each had been writingsongs during the time we were apart.

"We decided to get together and record some songspurely for the sake of a recording combination; noone had any ideas about going on the road. When wewent into the studio, the first number clicked justlike that. We recorded an entire album andthought, why don't we do a gig? I was still workingin the Experience, so Mitch, Jimi and myself decidedto do something different at the coming Albert Hallgig.

GOING NICELY"Each of us would get together a little band, do our

separate spots and finish off as the Experience. Onthe day, nobody had anything together except us, sowe did the Fat-- Mattress spot and it turned outbeautifully."

"After that, I thought it might be nice to take theband to the States with the Experience. We did tenor twelve gigs with Jimi and everything was goingalong nicely. I would play with Mattress and thenwith Mitch and Jimi.

"The clinch came in Denver at a tour date. I.arrived early at the venue and some fellow came upto me and said, "Oh, you're not still playing withJimi Hendrix are you? I thought he had gotten anotherbassist." Then I heard that he had asked anotherbass player to do the recording sessions, so I quitright then and there.

"I could never record in the studio with Jinnanyway, because he is impossible to get along with.He wasn't interested in the songs Mitch or I werewriting because that would take some of the imageaway from him. He tried to domineer everythingthat went on in the studio."

"Following that, there were rumours that Mitchand I were forming a group together, but that wouldnever have worked. He Is a fine drummer, butcan't cope with his timing. Mitch will be a great jazzdrummer and he is well into that, but for my songs,I prefer simple and exact drumming. Our drummer,Eric Dillon, and myself get along very well."

"The style of music from Fat Mattress will b'much apart from what I did with the Experience'rhere, the emphasis was on a wild stage act andheavy lead guitar work. Our aim is to be appreciatedfor the music without all the cavorting about. Theemphasis is on melody.

is happier music-a hit countrified, a little jazzy,a knell of the rock and roll and a pinch of theByrds. A lot of harmony and I'll be playing guitarfor the first time In three years. Between us, wehave a piano player, saxophonist, vibes player andthe. usual guitar, bass and drums.

I thought the Jimi Hendrix Experience productswere partly inferior, so this will be what I think isgood music without any member of the group tryingto rule the studio.

"We all write and all of our stuff is original.Often, we work In sections-one of us writes a tune.another writes a verse, another writes the secondverse and I may put a middle eigitt in it. This is ateam and the limelight won't be centered on oneperson to the point it was before."

LON GODDARD

THE WORLDOF HITS Vol 2

PA PA

iput spellIran hear the grassarow

Melth s gofwf neWS

( I girt)comes thr

testashotice.

d pin't let magic grk -

rs whing ,res ,

-ho tver&nag t"`.

mY dog

LOOK WHAT'S ONTHIS ALBUM!

THE MOVE I can hear the grass growTHE SMALL FACES All or nothing

LULU ShoutTHE TORNADOS Telstar

THE HONEYBUS I can't let Maggie goHEDGEHOPPERS ANONYMOUS It's good news week

THE ALAN PRICE SET I put a spell on youTHE AMEN CORNER Bend me shape meCRISPIAN ST. PETERS The pied piperTHE NASHVILLE TEENS Tobacco Road

WHISTLING JACK SMITH I was Kaiser Bill's batmanTHE ATTACK Hi -ho silver lining

THEM Here comes the nightCAT STEVENS I love my dog

FANTASTIC VALUEAT ONLY

19/11recommended price U.K. only

DECCA12' LP

The Decca Record Company Limited Decca House Albert Embankment London SE1

6RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969

Gold discs,Basie andthe Ryans

AT the Ryan household they're currentlyawaiting a new arrival, Another de-

livery of gold discs. Five such soughtafter records already adorn the walls ofPaul and Barry Ryan's flat, but this timethey're to mark a million European salesof 'Love is Love'.

Mind you, when I arrived, the thoughtuppermost in the Ryan twins' minds washow to get thirty pounds' worth of aScalextric racing circuit working.

"I have to have something to keep meoccupied when I'm at home," Paul ex-plained. "We had the thing working lastnight, and I can't see what's wrong withit now."

Paul is usually kept pretty busy with hissongwriting, though, and has now becomegreatly in demand. Among the artistes whoare soon to record his compositions areTom Jones, Jack Jones, Amen Corner andeven Count Basie has put in a personalrequest for a number from Paul.

NOT ALIKE"We met Bill Basie when our father,

Harold. invited him to the house for ameal," Barry explained. "He heard some ofPaul's compositions and asked if he couldwrite him a number. Even if Paul doesn'tdo it, it's still great to have Count Basieinterested."

While he crawled about the floor addingextra 'boosters' to the racing circuit andattempting to trace the fault, I askedBarry why he felt 'Love is Love' had notbeen as successful here as on the Continent.

"I think it was too soon and too similar," Barrytold me, "I have become very big on the Continent,whereas here, although I'm popular, I'm just an-other name."

I asked Paul if he had intentionally written 'Loveis Love' in the same vein as Eloise.

"Of course I did," he replied abruptly. "No

Barry Ryan - calls CountBasie "Bill".

really that would be ridiculous. They're not thatalike anyway, simply that there's the big build upand a break in the middle. If 'Love is Love' wasreleased first it could have been the number one,then people would have said 'Eloise' was a copyof it."

"My new single. 'The Hunt' comes out in fourweeks! time,'! Barry told me, then played me anacetate.

The number is based on a hunt, with cries of"Tally -ho", and brass hunting horn sounds. It's adynamic and striking song, which really could makea big impact here. One of the most outstandingpoints is that since Barry has gone solo, his voiceseems to be very much stronger.

"I haven't had any training since then," Barrytold me. "My voice has just got better. Now thatI'm on my own I don't have to think about fittingin with someone else."

Barry then played me a track from his albumwhich should be completed in two months. It wastitled 'Sea of Tranquility'

"I wrote that before the Americans landed,"Paul remarked, and pointed out an uncanny linewhich refers to seeing somebody else trying to getthere first.

Barry is soon to return to the Continent forseveral TV appearances, accompanied by Paul, whois tipped to collect the Bravo gold award for com-posing. Barry is also to tour Germany in Septemberwith Amen Corner. But while he is there he'll keepwell away from photographers and their gimmicks.

"The accident created a lot of sympathy for me,"Barry told me. "I think it was a shock to people,and especially me! I should have stopped the wholething sooner, but on the Continent they're reallykeen on gimmick photos, and it gets out of hand."

With that I left Paul and Barry still trying toget the car circuit working, though when theyfinally do it may well have to be uprooted, as thetwins hope to move into a house away from thenoisy London streets.

VALERIE MABBS

TAMLA are releasing suein September - six into be worth a special fe.the Temptations (STML11113), "25 Miles" - EtBack To Chuck Jackson"

Ended" - David Ruffin (STMLGaye (STML 11119).

"Cloud Nine" is tagged after tinuntil last week was held up fsuccess with re -issues. Much ofalready been scraped off by MaryStates, the nouveau Tamla sounThe side is a rollicking social etbackdrop - very un-Tamla - atpace, far removed from the usrhythms. The song, a Tamla milby their version of "Grapevine",which isn't quite the definitiveversion as James Hamilton wouldhave it, but Is certainly verydifferent to the versions byGladys and Marvin. The boyssing in strong unison to a Latinbackdrop, and a lead voicewails soulfully in an intrudingmanner - most effective. I hadthe idea that this number is astage showcase for the boys. Lastnumber on side one is a nine -minutesong called "Run Away Child, RunningWild", and this is another ambitioussocial commentary. It's a progression.with the Temps coming out usingeverything available, and producerNorman Whitfield twisting and turningthe backing to keep interest high.This is probably the most interestingsingle side of any Tamla LP to date,and all the numbers are by Whitfieldand Strong.

The second side is much moreordinary Temps, with no really OW -standing tracks, Mostly well -performed.rather uninspired songs obvioushlacking David Ruffin's saving vocals-best items are their version of FreddieScott's "Hey Girl" and a song called"I Gotta Find A Way". The reasonwhy Ruffiln isn't missed on side oneis because of the change in materialwhile on the second side there's notmuch difference to standard Tempssongs.

PROGRESSION"The Four Tops Now" shows the

boys' progression from the thumpingteen -oriented chart numbers to moresophisticated material, and althoughthis is obviously a question of hobson'schoice, due to the absence of Messrs.Holland -Dozier -Holland, it has madethe Tops fit themselves into anotherhag. Their bouncily emotional versionof "Little Green Apples" contrastswith an impassioned "Eleanor Rigby"-- neither to my taste, but theirbeautiful "What Is A Man" matchesup to an orchestral and ambitious"Mac Arthur Park" - both superb.They do "Fool On The Hill" withouttoo much histrionics, and the othertracks are all beautifully recorded andperformed. They are: "The Key", "MyPast Just Crossed My Future", "Don'tLet Him Take Your Love From Me","Do What You Gotta Do", "Don'tBring Back Memories", "Wish I

inf says Genesis isYou don't need to take anybody'sword for it, you can go and listenand form your own opinion-I think'From Genesis to revelation' is thebest album to be made by a youngEnglish group in ages. Miles aheadof it's time and also downrightenjoyable to listen to. The numberis SKL or LK 4990.

ROY ORBISON'S new single is acompletely new departure for him.He generally records his own songs,but 'Penny arcade' is by an Englishsongwriter, Sammy King. It's a zippy;up -tempo number, full of the fun ofthe fair, and in spite of the change of

style the vocal is utterly Roy. This isgreat for anyone who was everbitten by the one -arm bandit bug,

RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969 7

own

an interesting batch of albumsall - that we considered themiture. They are: "Cloud Nine" by11109), "Four Tops Now" (STML[win Starr (STML 11115), "Goin'(STML 11117), "My Whole World11118) and "M.P.G." - Marvin

U.S. hit single of last year whichor release here due to Tamla'sthe glory of "Cloud Nine" has

in Gaye's "Grapevine", but in thed started with the Temptations.immentary, set to a freaky Latinid moving at an excited nervousaal heavy and sluggish Motown[estone, is followed on side one

Wesley Laine reviews

new Motown LP's

David RuffinDidn't Love You So" and "OpportunityKnocks".

Edwin Starr's "25 Miles" is an un-ambitious slab of pure dance beat andrhythm. It falls thin in places, butEdwin's distinctive an evokati v evocalising is always far too good forthe songs and arrangements he is given,most of which are typical churned -out Tamla. Best tracks are "I'mStill A StrugglIn' Man" and "24Hours" but you can forget his versionof Mary Wells oldie "You Beat Me ToThe Punch".

"Goin' Back To Chuck Jackson" isinteresting, in that Chuck hasn't quitesuccumbed to the Tamla machine, Notquite, but he's on the way. Certainly,the atmospheric and tender Jacksonof "Any Day Now" and "If I Didn'tLove You' has given way to a gen-erally harder and less distinctivefigure. The first track. "Are YouLonely For Me Baby" sounds forced,hut the record's producers have chosena good selection of material - noneof it quite good enough for Chuck'sPotentially beautiful voice. Best are

Continued on page eight.

'Serge JANE BIRKINgulp!(

a b o v e ) onn her own,ove

rsighgt) Gwalkbingg with new eHactlywhat he wanted'

force for good.and should add to Roy's alreadyvast horde of devoted fans. Thenumber is HLU 10285 London.

LES REED is a busy man, writingand arranging and producing andthings. Fortunately not too busy tomake records himself. His latestsingle is a song he co -wrote withGeoff Stevens titled 'Rain of love'.It's a lovely slow sad ballad and hesings it with great sensitivity. OnChapter One, the number is CH 108.

be amazingly graceful

DECCA group records

The Decca Record Company LimitedDecca House Albert Embankment London SE1

IF more people could understand the-11- whispered sweet nothings of a FrenchRomeo, more uproar might be expected.

As it is. the vocal version of "Je T'Aime,Moi Non Plus" has crept quietly into theBritish charts, though it hasn't escaped thenotice of the B.B.C. Establishment.

But how did Jane Birkin, a young actress,become involved in what can only bedescribed as the recording of love -makingto an appropriately "moody" backing.

Serge Gainsberg, the man who wroteit, is featured on, and produced-or is itdirected?-the recording, has become analmost constant companion to Jane.

"Serge has written `Je T'Aime, Moi NonPlus' and he asked me to record it," Janeexplained. "It was released on an album inFrance, as well as a single. They couldn'tplay it there any more than they can here."

As a translation, if it is not alreadyapparent, reveals some rather dubious"lyrics". I asked Jane if she regrettedhaving recorded the song.

"No, not at all," was the prompt reply."I wouldn't have thought it could do anyharm, especially as it's French. For mostpart it has got a beautiful melody, andinstrumentals of 'Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus'have been made, which proves that. It hasan unmistakable atmosphere, which is whatsome people object to, it's very warm."

It seems that little harm can be done tothose who recognise the atmosphere any-way, but what about the younger record -buyers, who will naturally want to knowall about the new chart entry?

"If they think it's as romantic as therecord makes it, then that's good," Janetold me, though strangely enough duringour conversation she always referred to "it",rather than love, sex, or whatever.

"Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus" was recordedin a British studio, as Serge apparentlyprefers to work there.

"And you know what a studio's like,"Jane said pointedly. "There was nothing ofanything else, and it was cleverly done.Serge knew exactly what he wanted, andI watched what he told me to do, and spokeand breathed as he directed."

"As far as television appearances inFrance go," Jane confessed, "I sing othernumbers from the L.P."

People who bought the album may wellhave boosted interest in the now successfultrack and, as Jane says, "It's nice to suc-ceed despite the B.B.C."

But does the actress -turned -singer intendto pursue her vocal success any further?

"It depends on Serge, what he finds thatis good," Jane told me. "We like to makesomething intellectually good. We're goingback to France soon though, as I have justcompleted work here on 'May Morning' andthe next film, which features Serge, is soonto be made. The record is a bonus."

A bonus that could be repeated inAmerica.

'Maybe for America 'Je T'Aime, Moi NonPlus' will be translated," Jane added. Newsthat should please the Daughters of theRevolution, no end!

VALERIE MABBS

8 RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969

Super Album? Well, here are some interestingthings from Blind Faith

CENSORSHIP from somewhere hereprevents us from reproducing the

cover plc - a freckly red-headedpouting eleven -year -old with well -developed breasts holding a supposedlyphallic model of a Comet jet plane. It'ssomewhat surrealistic and seems com-pletely meaningless, except to attractattention to the record inside.

First track, "Had To Cry Today" by Steviefeatures a strong rock -blues riff running through-out with plenty of wailing vocal, and theinstrumental passages become very Interestingtowards the end. Nothing original here though-it does actually sound like an amalgam ofCream and Traffic.

Second track "Can't Find My Way Home".again by Stevie. Is completely different andfar better, with his vocal coming out in almostethereal tones, and light acoustic work behindhim, and plenty of changes going on. Thelyrics are superb, and the total atmosphereIs beautiful

Next comes their version of Buddy Holly's"Well All Right". It was always a powerful andevocative piece by Holly, and Blind Faithbring out many qualities in the song, andgenerally update the arrangement, which wasoriginally highlighted by powerful acoustic workfrom the Crickets. Stevie wraps himself aroundthe strong lyrics which become a statementof attitude, and Eric's bubbly guitar workoverflows on this.

The beat is complicated and everything ishappening-Ginger excels on the song's crescen-

dos-"you know our lifetime love will be allright", ". . . you know we'll live and livewith all our might". They update the lyricIn one place-Instead of Holly's original "Wellall right so we're going steady", it changesto "Well all right so I'm not working". A signof the times. . . . The cacophonic Instrumen-tal passage at the end will blow your head off -

"In The Prescence Of The Lord" is a gospel -tinged song by Eric, reminiscent of Dylan'soriginal "I Shall Be Released"-powerful per-cussion with that "Day In The Life" feel, andsome guitar work that beautifully sums upthe atmosphere of the plaintive song. Verydeep feeling throughout here, and Eric's guitarbreak surpasses his usual excellence in technicalingenuity and freakiness.

On side two, "Sea Of Joy" has a simplefeel, with pretty guitar work, mainly acousticat first, and the song-Stevie's-Is bound withthat rather moody feel that so many groupsare getting, despite the materiaL Again, thesong builds until everybody comes in, with theexpected guitar work, some nice bass andambitious percussion.

Last track is the long "Do What You Like",a Cream -y number from Ginger; that developsinto a strong vehicle for their instrumentalsolos which come across superbly on thistrack. You can really listen to this one, andthe progressions are terrific.

The LP needs to be listened to a few times,but once you see the direction the group aregoing in, things become clearer, and enjoy-able. The overall sound isn't distinctive ororiginal-the combination hasn't formed any-thing distinctly new-but the overall sound isPerhaps better than this type of thing has everbeen done before. WESLEY LAINE.

ICJ

idx

NRBQ "NRBQ" (CBS 63653 stereo)AMERICAN rock group-lots of

loud and wild sounds - listento their ear-splitting version

of Eddie Cochran's "C'Mon Every-body" - or their wailing "HeyBaby". But they're versatile. Their"Rocket No. 9", a Sun Ra jazzprogression is interestingly dis-chordant, and most of the otheritems are varied and well perfor-med. Underground but gond under-ground.* * * *GLENN MILLER "The NearnessOf You" - The Nearness Of You:April Played The Fiddle; A Night-ingale Sang In Berkeley Square;Fools Rush In; Missouri Waltz; MyBlue Heaven; Alice Blue Gown;Faithful Forever; Old Black Joe(RCA International INTS 1019)

NOSTALGIA flows in waves fromthe record player as this LPsounds. The second cheap re-

release in a short time which provesthat the Glenn Miller sound is sel-ling, and selling heavily.* * * *CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY(CBS 66221 stereo)

AFTER the sophisticated nouveaurock of Blood Sweat andTears, it was inevitable that

other groups would expand theirmusical ideas and make some goodrecords. This is one of them It's

a double -LP set selling at 43/9dfeaturing many musical aspects ofthis group. They employ brassarrangements which are usedeffectively and make you listen tothe record - their songs can beexceptional, especially "Does Any-body Really Know What Time ItIs", and their improvisation andlive performances - "Free FormGuitar" and "Liberation" respec-tively, are superb. Presumably thisis classified as underground, but it'shigh in the US album charts andshould easily make it here too.* * *DON GIBSON "I Love You So MuchIt Hurts" - I Love You So MuchIt Hurls; Born To Lose; FoggyRiver: After The Heartaches:Almost; Sweet Dreams; DriftwoodOn The River; The Streets ofLaredo; It Makes No DifferenceNow; My Hands Are Tied (RCAinternational INTS stereo 1024)

"InkON Gibson has had a consider-able influence on the musicseene_in general - especially

on his popularisation of countrymusic with Ray Charles, etc. ThisLP is a nice deep -voiced item, withPlenty of appeal.* * * *BRIDGET ST. JOHN "Ask Me NoQuestions" (Dandelion 63750 stereo)

BRIDGET has a warm. latenight folk voice and her songsare pretty and deep - a

nice combination. Shades of Jon.

IDOWILPUIDCE

TADVEU

THE ORIGINAL

'EASY SQUEEZY

Is by

LOVE CHILDREN

on

DERAMDM 268

RUSH RELEASED

AUGUST 22nd

45 rpm record

Deram Records Decce House Albert Embankment London SE1

Mitchell intrude in the song con-struction, but that's no realcriticism. Cleanly produced byJohn Peel - I hope he keeps onmaking worthwhile records II. -this.* * * *ANDWELLAS DREAM "Love AndPoetry" (CBS 63673 stereo)

RATHER a good underground 1,1'this - plenty of versant tyshown, and some nice sounds

- especially on "Lost A NumberFound A King", an acids piece ainstrumental, with little vocal. TheLP has a nice continuity and canbe carefully listened to. They runthe whole current pop gamut -clever folk, freaky guitar sounds,neo-jazz workouts. The vocals aretoo British - that's the onlycriticism.* * * *

FAT MATTRESS "Fat Mattress"-All Night Drinker; I Don't Mind;Bright New Way,; Petrol Pump As-sistant; Mr. Moonshine; MagicForest; She Came In The Morning;Everything Blue; Walking ThroughA Garden; How Can I Live (Poly-dor 583 056 stereo).

AN ambitious and beautifulalbum cover. My expecta-tions were completely shat-

tered by the sound of this albumwhich is nowhere near the Hendrixbag. It's pop - and very verygood pop. The songs are mostlymusically simple, but the lyricshave a certain depth which ispleasing and varied, Vocals aregood but not too distinctive andthe instrumental work comes overwell. Certainly with enough radioexposure Fat Mattress will justifyPolydor's faith in them.* * * *

BONZO DOG BAND "Tadpoles"-Hunting Tigers Out In 'Indlah';Shirt; Tubas In The Moonlight; Dr. Jazz; Monster Mash; I'm TheUrban Spaceman; Ali Baba's Camel; Laughing Blues: By AWaterfall; Mr. Apollo; Canyons Of Your Mind (Liberty stereo LBS83257).

CKLE the toons you tapped your tootsies to on ThamesTV's 'Do Not Adjust Your Set' " says the cover, Songsrange from vintage horror -rock - "Monster Mash",

through the camp raj comedy number "Tigers" to the cod Elvis -"Canyons Of Your Mind". Not as John Peel oriented as their lastalbum and nearer to their fantastic "Gorilla".* * * *

CHAMPION JACK DAUPREE"Scooby Dooby Doo' (Blue Horizon7-63214 stereo)

BLUE Horizon and blues albumfrom Jack who makes somegood sounds here - listen to

"Puff Puff' or his "Ain't That AShame". Can't say the effect on "IWant To Be A Hippy" was toogood though - rather off-putting infact. But mostly a fine blues record.for 1969 anyway.* * * *

BILL BLACK'S COMBO "BlackWith Sugar" (CBS 63672)

THE instrumental sound of BillBlack was the predecessor tothe current Stax-Volt noises.

which are much funkier and moresoulful than this. This is grittyunimaginative stuff, and theft ver-sion of "Ob-La-Di" sounds likethe Bonzos. OK for nostalgicrockers.* * *

-L1OR those that listened avidly to PADDY ROBERTS '-Balladr Of Bethnal Green" and the "Belle of Barking Creek". they're

both on his "The World of Paddy Roberts" LP (Decca SPA 37stereo) together with other dryly amusing items. In contrastthose interesting gentlemen LOS INDIOS TABAJAROS come upwith their "Song Of The Islands" (RCA INTS International 1003)which proves just how versatile you can get through picking upguitars in the jungle. JOHN DAVIDSON (CBS stereo 83678) isvaguely in the Engelbert bag, but his choice of material is moreadult - his version of "Both Sides Now" is surprisingly percep-tive. and he handles "Apples'', -Suzanne" and "I've Gotta Be ',lc"with vocal grace and feeling. Some deep -voiced stuff for listeningto while drinking your vodka and reading Turgenev - -MoreFolk Songs From Old Russia" by IVAN REBROFF (CBS 6323:1stereo) - contains some beautiful Russian songs by Ivan accom-panied by the Troika Balalaika Ensemble. Tinkly pianistics fromPETER NERO on Ever I Would Leave You (RCA Inter-national INTS 1018 stereo) and some very good songs here -"Serenade In Blue", "Scarlet Ribbons", "A Certain Smile", etc.Decca come up wit,) a nice sampler with "The World of PhaseFour Stereo" (SPA 32 stereo) and items from Frank Chackslield,Ronnie Aldrich, Paul Livert, etc. Rare soul items on RCA's "JustA Little Bit Of Soul" (RCA Int. 1014) containing tracks by SamCooke. The Exciters, Johnny Nash, etc.

Some good jazz releases from A & M,' who are really branchingout with some great material. PAUL DESMOND and "Summer-time" - his first ex-Brubeck set (A & M AMLS 946 stereo) is asensitive LP with some beautiful backing work. Much more oh -beat - NAT ADDERLY and "Calling Out Loud" (AMLS 94/) -mystical sounds, semi -baroque, all into the deep jazz mould, andvery listenable. GEORGE BENSON and -the Shape 01 ThingsTo Come" is a progressive set of swinging tunes (AMLS 945 stormwith lots of delicacy involved. Some familiar tunes on HERM:MANN'S "Glory Of Love" (AMLS 844 stereo) - "House Of TheRising Sun" and "The Letter", plus the theme from "A Man AntiA Woman" and "Hold On I'm Coming". Nice.

THE NICE: Nice-Azrael Revisi-ted; Hang On To A Dream; DiaryOf An Empty Day; For Example;Rondo; She Belongs To Me (Im-mediate Stereo IMSP026).

THIS LP will be a monster any -way, but the thing that makestheir albums an even stronger

draw is the fact that every trackis so well known long beforerelease. The Nice have- beeppounding through numbers likeDylan's "She Belongs To Me" andtheir own "Rondo" for some timeand these fantastic numbers havebeen sought after on record forjust as long. Four of the sixtracks are selfpenned, the sixthbeing Tim Hardin's: "Hang On ToA Dream". Emerson's amazingclassical -jazz style is so intriguingand the three-man group manageto create entirely new songs outof old with such taste, the listenertends to view the original as in-ferior.

Side two is recorded live at theFillmore East, while the first is astudio production and begins with"Azrael Revisited", a rock -in-fluenced composition with a definitelionky tonk piano effect. An im-mediate switch to jazz piano andscat chorus towards the end.Keith Emerson again on pianofor "Hang On To A Dream", butquieter and gentler. The choir isthere in the cathedral depth .anda bowed string bass cries -justbefore it upbeats into one of themost incredible piano solos of alltime. On to" the organ for "DiaryOf An Empty Day", a complexProgression that involves entireoctaves. Lee Jackson's bass isParticularly good here and use ofa Spanish acoustic guitar marksa gorgeous ending. Full orchestra-tion and choir produce organisedchaos in "For Example". Keithpushes the organ to its limit, thenstops to preach a little religion onit. Very advanced patterns.

"Rondo", perhaps their mascotnumber, is Emerson's holiday onthe organ. Although he can't beseen putting it through every con-tortion imaginaule while main-taining the excellent standard ofmusic, he can be felt. "Rondo'IS the Nice.

The precise "She Belongs To Me"is a. trademark as well. Never hasa simple song such as this, beenso completely remodelled in sounique a manner. This is the num-ber of numbers. It contains count-less movements and phrases thatdeviate to extremes from theoriginal melody, yet never actu-ally lose it. The finale to a monu-mental performance, it is the epi-tome of their musical characterand stands magnificently alone inmusic today. L.G.* * * * * *

CARL PERKINS "Greatest Hits"-Blue Suede Shoes, Match Box;Mean Woman Blues; Turn Around;Folsom Prison Blues; Daddy SangBrass; Boppin' The Blues; HonerDon't That's Right; Your TrueLove; Restless (CBS 63676 stereo).

THE best part of this LP is thecover, including Johnny Cash'ssleeve notes and his poem.

Carl's voice is pretty good, butthen it was always good. It's justthat these versions of Carl's oldSun hits don't have any kind ofexcitement or atmosphere - theydon't even effectively update them.Best tracks are "Daddy Sang Brass"and "Restless", but Carl's fansneedn't discard their Sun stuff forthis.* * *

CLODAGH RODGERS "ClodaghRodgers" - Without The OneYou Love; Arizona, The Colours

re Changing; Together; I Will;ome Back And Shake Me; Get

Back; Tuesday Afternoon; Made-leine Off His Mind; Captain OfYour Ship; I Am A Fantasy;Under The Boardwalk (RCA SF8033 stereo.)

APART from the terrible cover,th., is a fine pop LP. Credit1,,ust go to producer Kenny

Young whose own song "Arizona"is a super number with a niceWest Coast flavour, but thearrangements of the other songsare all different from theoriginals yet with distinct appeal.My favourites were "Without TheOne You Love" and "I Am AFantasy". Obviously a big hitLP.* * * *

Motown Magic?(continued from page six)"The Chokin' Kind" and "Loving Youis Sweeter Than Ever".

Ex -lead singer with the Temptations.David Ruffin has always had a superbvoice. It is ably demonstrated on hisalbum "My Whole WorM Ended".tagged after his big US single. Amoody picture of Dave dominates thecover, and the LP is mainly beautifuland emotional songs, performed andoutperformed by one of Tamla's all-time great stylists. The only complaintis a slight tendency on David's partto over -sing, perhaps to compensatefor the lack of a group. But hedoesn't need to do this - his ownnatural style and phrasing are terrific.Anyone who ever dug the Temps willdig this one, very strongly.

Lastly, perhaps the best LP of themall. "M.P.G.", a simple title and asimple cover picture, of Marvin Gaye,who seems to have revolutionisedTamla thinking. They've really got theMarvin Gaye image together, and theset kicks off with the charming "TooBusy Thinking About My Baby", a

beautifully recorded number, and whosaid it was like "Grapevine"? Marvin'svoice is confident and better than everbefore. He handles the songs withease yet isn't afraid to let ripemotionally in a very controlled andsophisticated way. My only complaintis the arrangements - one is temptedto sing "I bet you're wondering howI knew . . " to half of the songs,but Marvin picks them out of anyPrevious bag and gives them somedistinctive vocal work, His "ThisMagic Moment" is pleasing, but doesn'tmatch Ben E, King's, but the rest ofthe tracks are really the epitome oftoday's soul feeling. Tracks are -"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby","This Magic Moment", "That's TheWay Love Is", "The End Of OurRoad", "Seek And You Shall Find"."Memories", "Only A Lonely ManWould Know", "It's A Bitter Pill ToSwallow", "More Than A Heart CanStand", "Try My True Love", "I GotTo Get To California", "It Don't TakeMuch To Keep Me".

RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969 9

reviewed by peter Jones new singles reviewed by Peter Jones new singles reviewed by Peter Jo

Moody and compulsive

blues from Chicken Shack

Stan Webb of the Chicken ShackLON SATTON: Destiny; Blowing In The Wind (Mercury MF 1117). A very

nice performance this - a continental song dressed up with English lyrics,and sung with a "feel" for the romanticism of the piece. * * * *

LES REED: Rain Of Love; Well I Did (Chapter One Ch 108). Songwriter,producer and all-rounder - and this is a sensitive performance at a verygood song (by Les and Geoff Stephens), and is in fact a Record Of TheWeek. Builds beautifully and is sort of anguished. * *

ROBIN SCOTT: The Sailor; The Sound Of Rain (Head HDS 4003).Piano - introed bit and a lad who can change his style several times inone record. Not potentially a hit, but there is life here. * * * *

THE 4 O'BRIENS: Sunflower Eyes; Francois (Philips BF 1803). Ratheramazing harmonic work here - and certainly a Record of The Week.Group goes for a harmonic approach, but there is more. Produced bythe excellent Marty Wilde. * * * *

WILD SILK: Help Me; Crimson and Gold (Columbia DB 8611). Quitegood - but not really sufficiently different to register. But the vocalsounds are fine. * *

'IGGINBOTTOM'Igginbottom's Wrench

0 SML 1051 CI DML 1051

tGGIWRENCH

'Igginbottom's Wrenchis what you've been

waiting for!

1 2 Stereo or Mono LP

DERAMDERAM RECORDS

DECCA HOUSE ALBERT EMBANKMENT LONDON 5E1

CHICKEN SHACKTears In The Wind; The Things

You Put Me Through (CBS BlueHorizon 3160). First from theteam since Christine Perfect left-after a moodily - relaxed opening,they get a somehow heavier soundthan before. Stan Webb, who wrotethe top deck, handles vocal leadwell but a big emphasis in on newman Paul Raymond's piano power.This is compulsive listening, build-ing well and emphatically bluesY-A hit, Flip: Not available atPress time.

CHART CERTAINTY.

SPANISH music with the usualflair and fire: "Maria Isabel",

by LOS PAYOS (Ilispa Vox 307).Front the FRANCO-LONDON OR-CHESTRA: "Main Theme FrontRobinson Crusoe" (Philips BF1806), music from the televisionseries. A highly -commended treat-ment of the Beatle song "Here,There And Everywhere" (MCA MU1095), by the MIKE LEANDERORCHESTRA - a really imagina-tive reading and scoring. Moretelly -theme music: "Theme FromDepartment S" (Pye 17807). byCYRIL STAPLETON and his massedorchestra, pretty lavish arrange-ment. "Come On Home", by theirrepressible DANDY (Down Town437) is sica-type material, sung inan interesting way.

A pretty straightish singalongfrom SEAN DUNPHY and theHOEDOWNERS: "When the FieldsAre White With Daisies" (Dolphin4466), but this is the sort of thingthat so often clicks big. JANUARYare two lads and they get finevocal scenes going on "It SingsFor Me" (CBS 4465), with somevery good highlights. Movie musicfrom JOHN BARRY: "Midnight

MARK JASONLove Is The Name Of The Game:

For The First Time In My Life(Fontana TF 1050). A Ken Howardand Alan Blaikley song, which Isn'ta bad kick-off for a highly -toutednew singer. Actually Mark is wellabove average in style and person-ality and this is a punchy, brisk,business -like sort of production allround. Could miss out, but it'scommended and deserves to getthrough. Flip: A slower -movingromantic ballad.

CHART POSSIBILITY

BRIAN KEITHTill We Meet Again; Lady Butter-

fly (Page One POF 152). This iseither going to be a biggie or adead loss. It's a hymnal sort ofthing, with ex -Plastic Penny Briansinging extremely well. But it'salso a bit maudlin and sort of end -of -the -war and that kind of bit. It'scertainly not to all tastes, but I

found it compulsive listening-andthe choral effects are very good.Flip: A gentle ballad with someextremely good lyrics.

CHART POSSIBILITY

Cowboy" (CBS 4468), a fine filmand some pretty expressive musicall round - tonal colours here.DEENA WEBSTER is a youngtalent worth encouraging - her"Joey" (Parlophone R 5798) is anokay song, but she'll surely hit itwith something else. All sort ofRusski: "Casatschok", by DIMITRIDOURAKINE (Columbia DB 8526).a jack -booted bit of music.

JUNIORS EYES: Star Child; Sink Or Swim (Regal Zonophone R 3023).Promising group but this doesn't seem to have that hit potential. A bitdirgey and soporofic in parts, but the basic musicianship of this teamshows through. * * *

SAMANTHA SANG: The Love Of A Woman; Don't Let It Happen Again(Parlophone R 5799). A breathy girl, a husky girl, a dynamic girl-thisis a Record of the Week. This girl really sounds like being a tremendoustalent. This record may flop; Samantha must be big. * * * * *

PRINCIPAL EDWARDS MAGIC THEATRE: Ballad Of Tne nig Girl NowAnd A Mere Boy; Lament For The Earth (Dandelion 4405), Lovely. Allsort of light and airy and really super -music - a Record of the Week,incidentally. Fine lyrics and fine voice. * * *

THE GUN: Hobo; Don't Look Back (CBS 4443), Country blues this time- not too sure whether it can restore the boys to the charts, but thereis an air of dynamism about it which could click. * * *

AMERICA AWAKES

BY JAMES HAMILTONNICKIE LEE: And Black Is Beautiful; Faith Within (Deep Soul

DS 9013). Dave Godin and fellow freaks at "Soul City" have finallygot it together and are all set to release a lot of sizzling wax overthe next few weeks (including a budget -price Oldies album!). Tokick off, they've only released one of the best Soul records of theyear, that's all. Actually a U.S. R&B hit about the time of JamesBrown's "Say It Loud", this slowie takes that most Black music ofall, Gospel, as a framework for its message . . . a logical choice.As chicks repeatedly chant the title statement Nickie interweaveshis rallying advice, so that the whole is a powerfully insinuous slabof the best type of Soul there is. Naturally I am prejudiced, asGospel Soul (along with those Oldies -But -Goodies Soul Vocal Groups!)is my favourite variety, and there hasn't been enough of it duringthe last four years! (Deep Soul got this beauty from Bell Records.who again have let a small label win a six star review. Sure, itwon't be a hit, but then neither was "Soul Deep" by the Box Tops-which has most merit. Bell have got the goods in plenty, so whycan't they give us a taste more often?). * * * * * *

JOHNNY ADAMS: Reconsider Me; If I Could See You One MoreTime (Polydor 567775). Exactly five years after the late Joe Hintonscored so massively in America with his Souled-up version of theC&W "Funny (How Time Slips Away)", Johnny Adams is enjoyinga similar success with his not dis-similar treatment of another C&Wsong. His voice soars to a high and beautiful falsetto in a way thatwill delight True Soul Freaks, who should hear this. Great. Incident-ally, his last hit was "Release Me"! (Modesty Corner: due to alamentable lapse of my normally reliable I.B.M.-like brain, crammedfull with unimportant facts, I forgot in the recent Aretha review thatof course both "Pledging My Love" and "The Clock" were JohnnyAce songs). * * *

THE WATTS 103rd STREET RHYTHM BAND: Till You GetEnough; Light My Fire (Warner Bros. WB 7298). The Band's latestU.S. hit starts with a trace of Isaac Hayes' "Hyperbolicsyllabicse-quedalymistic" sound (it's a track off his smash "Hot Buttered Soul"album), before they get into their own jungle rhythm groove. Notevery Soul fan's groove maybe, but for "Cue Club" -goers and otherfunky dancers this is a mesmeric gas! It's sure all got rhythm!Dig the quiet flip too - if yOU think at first that it's nothing new,have patience. * *

THE PERSUASIONS: Party In The Woods; It's Better To HaveLoved And Lost (Than Never Loved At All) (Minit MLF 11017).Soul Group Freaks - ignore the very ordinary beater on top, anddig the slow flip (which I think was the U.S. A -side anyway). Youwill be rewarded for your effort! Also, look out for a new Britishgroup called Jellybread, and corner their Pete Wingfield - he's asbig an S.G.F. as any! * * * * *

OTIS RUSH & HIS BAND: All Your Love (I Miss Loving); DoubleTrouble (Blue Horizon 57-3159). Mighty fine Blues from guitarist/vocalist Otis, as distinctive as ever. These tracks, from his forth-coming L.P. accurately titled "This One's A Good 'un'2, were recordedby the Cobra label, and, while not his very latest, they're certainlynot dated. Beautiful playing, and it's interesting to spot who's beeninfluenced by him! * *

BOBBY MARCHAN: Ain't No Reason For Girls To Be Lonely;Instrumental Version (Action ACT 4533). Bobby, of "There's Some-thing On Your Mind", "Get Down With It", "Funny Style", and"Shake Your Moneymaker/Tambourine" fame, has some fun on thisslightly sub -standard (for them) Gamble & Huff beater - it's enjoy-able and good without being really great. Still, I'm glad I eventuallyfound this (buried at the bottom of a drawer, hence this late review)as I like it and am sure that others do too. * *

EDWIN STARR: 25 Miles:. Mighty Good Lovin' (Tamla MotownTMG 672). Tamla have re -serviced this energetic stomper, which wasa U.S. smash for Edwin some time after it was first out here. It'sstill reminiscent of Wilson Pickett's "Mob() Mamma", and it's stillvery good. * * * * *

DJ12

this week-dave symondsThis week we have David Symonds as the guest discjockey. David of the deep voice and beardedcountenance, plus being a sportsman extraordinaire.As usual the selection is six of the best of the oldies,six favourites of the current crop and also the all timefavourite LP.

David, who has very definite tastes in music, startedoff with "Alone Again Or" by Love. "I've picked thisbecause I think it's a very pretty number," he said."Possibly it was a bit ahead of it's time and I thinkthere is going to be a return to pretty melodic records-I forecast this. I think the very hairy, freaky, feed-back fuzz -box sort of thing is going to go andacoustic guitars and woodwinds will come back.

"Vanilla Fudge and 'You Keep Me Hanging On'.Having just said things about freaky music, I supposethe Fudge are about the hairiest and loudest group inthe world. But it was such an original arrangementand so exciting with that 50 -second introductionbefore they come in with the vocal . . . building all theway.

"The Beatles and 'Strawberry Fields' because therehas to be Beatles in everyone's collection. This one isso artistic.

STEREO SINGLE"Merrilee Rush didn't have a hit here with 'Reach

Out' but I played it a lot. Like the Fudge it was atremendously good arrangement of a number that hadbeen heard before. It was released as a stereo singleand I think all singles should be in stereo.

"The Rolling Stones and 'Satisfaction'. Well I'vementioned the Beatles and the Stones have contributedso much over the years to pop music. They're leadingartistes and marvellous entertainers and probably thebest exponents of white rhythmn and blues. 'Satisfac-tion' has got to be one of the all-time greats.

I've got ScottMcKenzie's 'San Francisco'. This was just a one-offthing, wasn't it? It was a number one record in thatnice summer of 1967 and I had happy memories ofthat summer. I liked flower power and it was a hotsummer too. Flower power was just a gentle harmlessfad, and from that thinking pop has become moregentle. 'San Francisco' was the start of something andit was a nice record.

After putting down one of the big rock names, wecome onto the six current singles.

"I'm a tremendous fan of Simon and Garfunkle. I

thought 'Mrs. Robinson' was one of the best recordsof last year, and I've chosen their recording of 'The

Vanilla Fudge

Boxer'. This has everything you could wish for in asingle. They're a marvellous song writing talent. ArtGarfunkel has an incredibly pure voice and loads ofwork went into the making of this record. It tookover a hundred hours to make and it was reduceddown from 32 tracks and it sounds like it. A beautifulsong and the production is perfect.

"Next is the Procul Harum's 'A Salty Dog'. Therewas an album of the same title and this dropped justshort of the top thirty mainly because it didn't receiveenough attention from Radio 1. It was a marvellousrecord, a beautiful and emotional song with depth,perspective and meaning. A magnificent record whichshould have made it and didn't.

"The Who's 'Pinball Wizard'. Again a record takenfrom an LP. It had to be one of the best hits we'vehad in recent months. But I would recommend to anyof the readers to listen to the whole of 'Tommy' fromwhich it was taken.

"The next one is David Bowie's 'Space Oddity'. Thisis the second best example I can think of for releasingsingles in stereo. The Merilee Rush being the first. Ithas a very commercial melody. I don't think it willmake it, because it won't get played on Radio 1.

"Then there's Crosby, Stills and Nash with'Marrakesh Express'. I've always liked. Graham Nash

Continued on page 12

10 RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969

Interior of a Georgia prison camp "quarters" c1937 (from "Story Of The Blues").

OP

phas huge ears, a longmemory and no conscience.

Pop is fake feelings, done uplike the real thing.

Pop is industrialised happi-ness. Pop makes people happy.

Pop is music for as manypeople as can be conned into

liking it. Pop is what people like.Pop is the drug that stops revolution. Pop

is revolution."Pop" is a book by Nik Cohn. Its full title

is "Pop; From The Beginning", it's dedicatedto Jet Powers, Dean Angel and Johnny Ace,and it's published by Weidenfeld andNicholson, 238 pages for 36s. It's the bestand most irritating book about pop I've read.

The book has all the qualities of pop,which has to be a compliment, but it meansthat it has the same effect as Radio One-keeping its audience on the brink of turningoff, but coming up with something good justoften enough to promise better things.

Nik Cohn get genuinely excited by pop (orcommunicates the impression that he does),and has some effective descriptions of therock and roll acts that have been over here.It's hard to argue his conclusion that themost exciting people to watch on stage areLittle Richard and Tina Turner.

NEVER BORINGThe book seems to have been written at

one go, which is in the best pop tradition; itmeans there is some confusion in its organi-sation, but very few awkward theories orsubordinate clauses to hinder the reader'srace across its pages. It doesn't aim to pro-vide a lot of information, or at least won'thave much to tell anybody who reads a popmusic paper. The author has told his story,named the people he likes and why he likesthem (and in a few cases, why he dislikessomebody) and named a couple of recordsthey made.

He's almost never boring, and when writ-ing about the music and singers of Californiahe seems to find a subject which absolutelysuits his style, so that images of Lou Adler,Johnny Rivers, the Beach Boys and Sonnyand Cher suddenly find focus. But there aretimes when that style jars, with its magpie

thieving of bright words from too manycultures, so that we're told Tina Turner'sarse is "cosmic", and people makes strikes,wipe out, and boss things. But that's pop.

The blues, Paul Oliver could tell you, isn'tpop. Or it wasn't. His book "The Story OfThe Blues" came out a month ago, 175 hugepicture -packed pages for 60s., published byBarrie and Rockcliff. It makes about as muchreference to pop as Nik Cohn's book does tothe blues, a single disparaging paragraph.If Nik Cohn sees no relevance in the factthat three quarters of the people he likesare singing a version of the blues, PaulOliver seems to find it sad that blackpeople don't still sing the same way they didbefore the war.

HOSTILITYPaul Oliver's refusal to consider the value

of contemporary music is particularlystrange in view of his own criticism at thebeginning of this book of the people whowere interested in Negro music when theblues was first being developed. Instead ofattending to the blues, those researchersbusied themselves with collecting folk -songsthat predated the blues. "Occasional versesand fragments were noted but generally thecollectors looked upon the blues with hos-tility, regarding it as a degeneration of thefolk -lore they were anxious to save." Yetthis describes Paul Oliver's own reaction ashe contemplates soul in the last part of thebook. So he leaves out - perhaps neverlistened to - Sam Cooke's "A Change IsGonna Come", Bobby Patterson And TheMustangs' "Good 01' Days" and TyroneDavis' "Can I Change My Mind", three songswhich express as much as any blues song,keeping close to the blues tradition ofexpressing a personal feeling in a style whichdrew from the singer's culture, using wordsand rhythms that met tha taste of theaudience at the time.

Of course, this failure to consider thepresent does not seriously affect the value of"The Story Of The Blues" as a collection ofpictures and information which has no rival.The narrative which runs through the bookis perhaps less exciting than LeRoi Jones'"Blues People" or Charles Keil's "Urban

ESER

Charlie Gillett reviews two books on music

'Pop' by Nik Cohn, and 'The Story of The

Blues' by Paul OliverBlues"; but it is far more reliable, and willprovide exactly the right kind of backgrounda reader needs in order to be able to tacklethe complicated theories of Jones and Keil.

Paul Oliver's previous books, "Blues FellThis Morning", "Conversations With TheBlues" and "Screening The Blues" have pro-posed the importance of the blues as a kindof documentary recording of black people'sreactions to their culture; the reader hasbeen frustrated by not knowing how impor-tant - to their contemporary audiences -some of the songs and singers were. "TheStory Of The Blues" at last provides acoherent order, tracing the simultaneousdevelopments of various styles in variousplaces, managing to keep an interesting com-mentary running through the straight infor-mation like date aQd place of birth, influence,style, success and subsequent fate. The pic-tures of Northern cities and Southernprisons, road -side juke joints and billboardposters reinforce the message of the com-mentary, and the photographs of singersarouse curiosity and lead the reader into thetext-what did he do?

NO DISCUSSIONOne blues singer seems to have been

almost ignored - Jimmie Rodgers. PaulOliver mentions that he toured with someother, black, blues singers with a medicineshow in Texas, and that blues singers fromthe Mississippi Sheiks to Snooks Eaglin haveused his material and even imitated hisstyle. But there is no discussion of the inter-relationship between black and white cul-tures that these references suggest. But

Dancers in a juke joint in Mississippi(from "Story Of The Blues").

that's a small complaint about a marvellousbook.

The contract between the techniques ofPaul Oliver and Nik Cohn is fascinating, butit's a pity each could not have taken just alittle from the style of the other, Paul Oliverto conjure the excitement which people likeBo Diddley and Screamin' Jay Hawkinscreate, and Nik Cohn to slow down just longenough to assemble a little information wecouldn't get from "The Daily Mail Book OfGolden Records". Two things I learned, onethat "Rock Around The Clock" was firstrecorded by Ivory Joe Hunter (did anybodyelse know that?), the other that on a publavatory wall in Gateshead there is theinscription, "Buddy Holly lives and rocks inTijuana, Mexico."

CLASSIFIED ADVERTS

The price for classified advertise-ments is is. per word, pre -paidfor all sections. Postal ordersshould be crossed and made pay-able to Record Mirror.

No money, in any form, shouldbe paid to a Box Number.

Advertisements should be sub-mitted by Thursday of the weekpreceding publication. All advertise-ments are subject to approval bythe publishers.

The R.M. will not he liable forany event arising out of advertise-ments.

All advertisement copy is now tobe sent to Record Mirror at 7

Carnaby Street, London, W.I.

records for saleOLDIES (unplayed). S.a.e. for freelists - 12 Winkley Street, London,E.2.

"DO YOU LIVE IN SWEDEN,NORWAY, FINLAND, DENMARK,GERMANY, HOLLAND, YUGO-SLAVIA, etc., then try TANDY'Sfamous mail order export serviceand get all your records quicklyand cheaply. Details and free listsof new releases from: TANDY'S(RM), 20 Wolverhampton Road,Warley, Worcestershire.FREE lists. unplayed oldies. Sends.a.e. 12 Winkley Street, London,E.2.

RECORD BAZAAR. 50,000 from 2s.Write for lists: 1142-6 Argyle St.,Glasgow.

GUARANTEED used LPs. Cata-logues Is. - Cob Records (Cata-logues), Portmadoc, Caernarvon -shire.ELVIS AUCTION. Clear -out of allElvis singles (everyone available),from "That's All Right, Mama" to"In The Ghettov. Sun on 78, allothers 45, all in perfect condition.Bids and s.a.e. to 2 Valley View.Kirkcaldy, Fife.

ROCK AND SOUL AUCTION -for the collector. Mostly deletionson London - Berry, Burke, Domino,Lewis, etc., and lots more oldies!Send s.a.e. lists to Steve Butler,26 Eckersley Road, Astley Bridge,Bolton, Lanes.STAND UP, Jethro Tull, Unaalf-bricking, Fairport Convention; LedZeppelin: Hair, London cast; only32/11 new, post free. C.W.O. toBarnett, 7 Woodmere Avenue,Shirley. Croydon, Surrey.

penfriendsJEANS INTRODUCTIONS, 10

Queen Street, Exeter. 17 to 70.Worldwide successful romances.TEENS / TWENTIES. Penfrlends.Home/abroad. M.F.C. 9 The ArbourFarnhlll. Kelghley, Yorkshire.UNDER 21. Penpals anywhere.S.a.e. for free details. - TeenageClub, Falcon House, Burnley. 503.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS! Makenew friends through POSTAL PEN -FRIENDS. Send s.a.e. for details:52 Earls Court Road, London, W.R.FRENCH penfriends, all ages from12 to 21. Send s.a.e. for free de-tails -Anglo French CorrespondenceClub, Burnley.MARY BLAIR BUREAU. Introduc-tions everywhere. Details free. -43/52 Ship Street, Brighton. 523

PENFRIENDS at home and abroad,send S.a.e. for free details.-Euro-pean Friendship Society, Burnley.

504

INTRODUCTIONS to new friendsof the opposite sex arranged bypost. Members aged 16 upwardseverywhere. Write for details, stat-ing age: Mayfair Introductions (De-partment 9), 60 Neal Street, Lon-don, W.C.2.ROMANCE OR PENFRIENDS.England / Abroad, Thousands ofmembers. Details World FriendshipEnterprises, MC74, Amhurst Park,N.16.

WORLDWIDE PENPALS. Magazine/Directory 5/-, Internal, 16-R8Ightham Common, Sevenoaks.

mobile discothequesSOUND AND AROUND MobileDiscotheques for all occasions.Stobe, Kinetic and UltravioletLighting. 01-286 3293.

songwritingLYRICS WANTED by Music Pub-lishing House - 11 St. Alban'sAvenue, London, 1V.4.PROFESSIONAI. MANUSCRIPTSfrom tape. Photostats. Demonstra-tion Records by Recording Stars.-Morgan Jones, 27 Denmark Street.London, W.C.2. 01-836 1186.

EARN MONEY SONGWRITING.Amazing free book tells how. -L.S.S., 10.11 R. Dryden Chambers.119 Oxford Street, London, W.I.4d. stamp.LYRIC -WRITERS required byrecording company. Write: 3 Coal -way Road, Bloxwich, Staffs.LYRIC WRITERS required by re-cording company. Write: 3 Coal -way Road, Bloxwich, Staffs.HOW TO MAKE MONEY writinglyrics and music. Free details.s.a.e. to Dept. P.J.B., la ByronParade, Hillingdon, Middx.SONGS (words or music) requiredfor publication and/or recording.Submit MSS to: Kingfisher Record-ings (Music Publishing DepartmentRM1), Suite 1, 8 Foster Lane.London, E.C.2.ROCK/SOUL/R & B 45's availablefrom reviewers' collection. London.Stateside. etc., many rare andinteresting items. - Write yourwants and bids (min. 4s. 6d.) toW.L., 355 Alexandra Park Road,London, N.22.

rehearsal roomACCOMMODATION for group.vocal, instrumental practice -01-799 1010.

announcementsBLUSHING, shyness, nervesquickly overcome by my famous40 -year -old remedy.-Write now to:Henry Rivers (RM12), 2 St. MaryStreet, Huntingdon, Hunts,

RECORD, TV, Radio Stars studiedVOICE at EUROPEAN SCHOOL.Voice test, career advice. 01-794 4085.

personalEXCITING DATES BY COMPUTERFOR EVERYONE EVERYWHERE- SEND TODAY FOR FREEQUESTIONNAIRE WITHOUT OB-LIGATION - DATELINE (DEPT.11), 16 STRATFORD ROAD, LON-DON W.8. TELEPHONE 01-9370102,

JANE SCOTT for genuine friends.introductions opposite sex with sin-cerity and thoughtfulness. Detailsfree, 5d. stamp to Jane Scott, 50/RMMaddox Street, London, W.1.TALL GOOD looking man, 23, seeksgirlfriend, please write to: Brian.50 Avon Drive, King's Heath, North-ampton.

fan clubsKENNY BALI. APPRECIATIONSOCIETY. - S.a.e. to Miss PatSanders, 18 Carlisle Street, London.W.I.

publicationsMOTOWN DISCOGRAPHY. Listingall British releases from 1959 on-wards, LP, EP track details. Send5s. 6d. R. J. Wilkes, 91 LindsellRoad. Altrincham. Cheshire.

records wantedANY UNWANTED LP's bought/ex-changed for new. S.a.e. Cob Re-cords, (Purchases), Portmadoc.Caernarvonshire.RAY CHARLES DISCS. Top Price.31 Parkville Road, Prestwick, Man-chester.WANTED LP's. Everly Brothers,Tommy Roe, Four Seasons. WillPay 30s. each. Ken, 2 Kirkby Road.Lawrence Weston, Bristol.

WANTED:CARTOON IDEAS

Suggestions for strip or singleframe.

Possible BIG OPPORTUNITYfor an ART STUDENT who'd

like to boost his grant.Write: Editor,

RECORD MIRROR,7 Carnaby Street, London, W.1.

UNCHAINED MELODYStory of the late Roy Hamilton

ROYHAMILTON died

recently, in New Rochelle,New York. With three orfour other singers, he trans-formed the way blackAmericans sang for whiteAmericans; but, like ClydeMcPhatter and Bobby Bland,he could never force hisvoice into the exaggeratedshrieks and cries of soul,and had not recently hadmuch hit parade success.

Born in Leesburg, Georgia(about 1930), Roy Hamilton grewup in New Jersey, where he sangin church and, like a remarkablenumber of other singers, was aGolden Gloves boxing champion.(Screamin' Jay Hawkins, JamesBrown, Jackie Wilson, JohnnyBurnette - readers must knowof 'other boxers who saw a betterchance of realising fame throughsinging). In 1954, Hamilton begana series of successful records forEpic: at that time Columbia andits subsidiaries Epic and OKehhad the best roster of rhythm andblues singers among major com-panies, including Big Maybelle,Chuck Willis and Screamin' Jay.

Potentially, Roy Hamilton'sbaritone was -similar to BillyEckstein's, but Hamilton's purechurch -trained voice avoided themannered, dragged -out crooningstyle which major company pro-ducers encouraged their blacksingers to adopt for white audiencesin the hope of matching Nat"King" Cole's success. With "Ebb

Tide", "Hurt", "If I Loved You"and "You'll Never Walk Alone".Hamilton established himself inthe rhythm and blues market in1954, one of the first singers witha dramatic ballad style to do wellin this market, The following year,his "Unchained Melody" came offthird best in the popular marketbehind Les Baxter's instrumentalversion and Al Nibbler's similarvocal for Decca, But Hamilton wastae most popular with the blackaudience.

At the end of 1955, the Plattersbegan their series of hits whichcornered the market for dramaticballad singing, and Roy Hamiltoncame back later with a couple offaster songs, "Don't Let Go" ('58)and "You Can Have Her" (81),which were among the most ex-citing pop records of their time.Meanwhile, a legion of baritonesingers with gospel influenceacknowledged his success by tak-ing up similar styles: Jerry Butler.Ed Townsend, Joe Henderson,Chuck Jackson, Ben E. King, BrookBenton.

Not long before he died, RoyHamilton was contracted by AGP.the Memphis based company (dis-tributed by Bell) founded by ChipsMoman and Tommy Coghill; herecorded the James Carr hit,"Dark End Of The Street" in hisstrong, sad baritone, ignoring thetemptation to imitate Carr's in-tense style. Maybe TrevorChurchill, in charge of Bell in thiscountry, will pay tribute to animportant singer by including acouple of Roy Hamilton's trackson his next "Cellar Of Soul"compilation.

CHARLIE GILLET1'

R.M. Dylan Special!Next week, a special Dylan issue of the Record Mirror will be

on sale at the Isle of Wight during the festival. As this issue willnot be on sale anywhere else, readers who would like a copysent to them should enclose a ls. P.O. to RM DYLAN ISSUE,7, Carnaby Street. W.I. The standard RM will he on sale asusual.

RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969 11

RECORD MIRROR CHARTS PAGE

AIR MAILED FROM NEW YORK

1

23

4

5

67

8

91011

12

13

1415

1617

18

19

2021

22232425262728293031

32

33343536373839

HONKY TONK WOMEN*2 (5) Rolling Stones (London)A BOY NAMED SUE*5 (5) Johnny Cash (Columbia)CRYSTAL BLUE PERSUASION3 (16) Tommy James & Shondells (Roulette)SWEET CAROLINE4 (8) Neil Diamond (UNI)IN THE YEAR 2525*

1 (9) Zager & Evans (RCA)PUT A LITTLE LOVIN IN YOUR HEART6 (6) Jackie de Shannon (Imperial)GREEN RIVER15 (3) Creedence Clearwater Revival(Fantasy)POLK SALAD ANNIE*13 (5) Tony Joe White (Monument)GET TOGETIIER*14 (5) Youngbloods (RCA)LAUGHING*12 (5) Guess Who (RCA)RUBY DON'T TAKE YOUR LOVE TOTOWN*7 (8) Kenny Rodgers & The 1st Edition(Reprise)LAY LADY LAY*16 (4) Bob Dylan (Columbia)BABY I LOVE YOU*10 (11) Andy Kim (Steed)SUGAR SUGAR24 (3) Archies (Calendar)GIVE PEACE A CHANCE*20 (4) Plastic Ono Band (Apple)MY CHERIE AMOUR*8 (10) Stevie Wonder (Tamla)WHAT DOES IT TAKE9 (12) Jr. Walker & The All Stars (Soul)EASY TO BE HARD40 (2) Three Dog Night (Dunhill)I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN*25 (3) Tom Jones (Parrot)WORKIN' ON A GROOVY THING*22 (5) Fifth Dimension (Soul City)CHOICE OF COLOURS21 (8) Impressions (Custom)QUENTIN'S THEME*18 (9) Charles Randolph Grean (Ranwood)MOTHER POPCORN*17 (10) James Brown (King)SOUL DEEP41 (4) Box Tops (Mala)SPINNING WHEEL*11 (11) Blood, Sweat & Tears (Columbia)I'D WAIT A MILLION YEARS27 (6) Grass Roots (Dunhill)BIRTHDAY43 (2) Underground Sunshine (Intrepid)MARRAKESH EXPRESS*31 (4) Crosby, Stills (Atlantic)HURT SO BAD37 (4) The Lettermen (Capitol)NITTY GRITTY39 (3) Gladys Knight & The Pips (Soul)SHARE YOUR LOVE WITH ME32 (3) Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)COMMOTION34 (3) Creedence Clearwater Revival(Fantasy)MY PLEDGE OF LOVE19 (9) Joe Jeffrey Group (Wand)IT'S GETTING BETTER*30 (5) Mama Cass (Dunhill)TRUE GRIT42 (4) Glen Campbell (Capitol)DID YOU SEE HER EYES46 (3) Illusion (Stead)I'M FREEA8 (2) The Who (Decca)CLEAN UP YOUR OWN BACKYARD35 (5) Elvis Presley (RCA)KEEM-O-SABE- (1) Electric Indian (United Artists)

40 OH WHAT A NIGHT- (1) Dells (Cadet)MUDDY RIVER45 (3) Johnny Rivers (Imperial)HOT SUN IN THE SUMMERTIME- (1) Sly & The Family Stone (Epic)YOUR GOOD THING44 (2) Lou Rawls (Capitol)

44 JEAN- (1) Oliver (Crewe)GOO GOO BARABAJAGAL49 (2) Donovan & The Jeff Beck Group(Epic)NOBODY BUT YOU BABE- (1) Clarence Reid (Alston)ABERGAVENNY*47 (3) Shannon (Heritage)I CAN'T GET NEXT TO YOU- (1) Temptations (Gordy)EVERYBODY'S TALKIN'- (1) Nilsson (RCA)YOUR HUSBAND-MY WIFE50 (2) Brooklyn Bridge (Buddah)

414243

45

4647484950

Plastic Ono Band

TOP 20 LP's1

2

3

4

5

67

8

91011

1213

1415

161718

1920

STAND-UP1 Jethro 'Tull (Island)FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS- Elvis Presley (RCA)ACCORDING TO MY HEART2 JIM Reeves (RCA International)HIS ORCHESTRA, HIS CHORUS,HIS SINGERS, HIS SOUND4 Ray Conniff (CBS)CYMANFA GANU7 Massed Welsh Choir(BBC Radio Enterprise)WORLD OF VAL DOONICAN5 Val Doonican (Decca)20016 Soundtrack (MGM)WORLD OF MANTOVANI11 Mantovanl (Decca)FLAMING STAR3 Elvis Presley (RCA International)SOUND OF MUSIC15 Soundtrack (RCA -Victor)BEST OF THE SEEKERS13 The Seekers (Columbia)OLIVER10 Soundtrack (RCA)HAIR17 London Cast (Polydor)I HIS IS TOM JONES8 Tom Jones (Decca)JOHNNY CASH AT SAN QUENTIN- Johnny Cash (CBS)LOOKING BACK- John Mayall (Decca)WORLD OF BACHELORS16 The Bachelors (Decca)AHEAD RINGS OUT9 Blodwyn Pig (Island)ON THE THRESHOLD OF A DREAM19 Moody Blues (Deram)LED ZEPPELIN14 Led Zeppelin (Atlantic)

Bubblin UNDERTHIS IS SOUL-Various Artistes (Atlantic)NASHVILLE SKYLINE-Bob Dylan (CBS)MY WAY-Frank Sinatra (Reprise)BEST OF THE BEACH BOYS VOL. 1-The Beach Boys (Capitol)WORLD OF BRASS BANDS-Brass Bands (Decca)

5 YEARS AGO1

2

3

45

67

8

9

10

11

12

13

1415

1617181920

DO WAR DIDDY DIDDY1 Manfred Mann (HMV)A HARD DAY'S NIGHT2 Beatles (Parlophone)HAVE I THE RIGHT11 The Honeycombs (Pye)I WON'T FORGET YOU5 Jim Reeves (RCA Victor)CALL UP THE GROUPS3 Barron Knights (Columbia)TOBACCO ROAD6 Nashville Teens (Decca)IT'S ALL OVER NOW4 Rolling Stones (Decca)I GET AROUND8 Beach Boys (Capitol)I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DOWITH MYSELF7 Dusty Springfield (Philips)FROM A WINDOW12 Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas(Parlophone)ON THE BEACH9 Cliff Richard (Columbia)IT'S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE10 Billy Fury (Decca)IT'S FOR YOU17 Cilia Black (Parlophone)I FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY14 Four Pennies (Pre)YOU'VE REALLY GOT ME- Kinks (Pye)I LOVE YOU BECAUSE19 Jim Reeves (RCA Victor)WISHING AND HOPING15 Merseybeats (Fontana)SOMEDAY WE'RE GONNA LOVE AGAIN16 Searchers (Pye)AS TEARS GO BY- Marianne Faithfull (Decca)THE CRYING GAME- Dave Berry (Decca)

(R & B SINGLES1

23

45

67

89

10

11

1213

1415

1617

18

19

20

MY CHERIE AMOUR1 Stevie Wonder (Tamla Motown TMG 690)'1'00 BUSY THINKING ABOUT MY BABY3 Marvin Gaye (Tamla Motown TMG 705)WET DREAM4 Max Romeo (Unity UN 503)LOVE IS BLUE (I CAN SING A RAINBOW)5 Dells (Chess CRS 8099)RED RED WINE7 Tony Tribe (Down Tc.wn DT 419)IT MEK2 Desmond Dekker (Pyramid PYR 6068)I'VE PASSED THIS WAY BEFORE10 Jimmy Ruffin (Tamla Motown TMG 703)HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE13 Pat Kelly (GAS 115)CLOUD NINE- Temptations (Tamla Motown TMG 701)NO MATTER WHAT SIGN YOU ARE14 Diana Ross & The Supremes(Tamla Motown TMG 704)THAT'S THE WAY GOD PLANNED IT6 Billy Preston (Apple No. 12)DON'T TELL YOUR MAMA16 Eddie Floyd (Stax 125)MOODY WOMEN- Jerry Butler (Mercury MF 1122)SOUL CLAP '69- Booker T. & The M.G.'s (Stax 127)HEY JOE9 Wilson Pickett (Atlantic 584821)SHARE YOUR LOVE WITH ME- Aretha Franklin (Atlantic 584 285)KIND WOMEN- Percy Sledge (Atlantic 584 286)REACH FOR SOMETHING I CAN'T HAVE11 The Marvelettes (Tamla Motown TMG 701)BLACK PEARL8 Checkmates Ltd, with Sonny Charles(A & M AMS 752)WAKE UP!- Chambers Brothers (Direction 58 4367)

U.S. ALBUMS1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

AT SAN QUENTIN*4 Johnny Cash (Columbia)BLOOD. SWEAT AND TEARS*1 Blood. Sweat and Tears (Columbia)HAIR*2 Original Cast (RCA)BEST OF6 Cream (Atco)BLIND FAITH- Blind Faith (Atlantic)SOFT PARADE9 Doors (Elektra)ROMEO AND JULIET3 Original Soundtrack (Capitol)THIS IS TOM JONES*S Tom Jones (Parrot)

CROSBY-STILLS-NASH*7 Crosby-Stills-Nosh (Atlantic)IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA*8 Iron Butterfly (Acto)SMASH HITS14 Jimi Hendrix Experience (Reprise)BEST OF13 Bee Gees (Atco)NASHVILLE SKYLINE*10 Bob Dylan (Columbia)THE AGE OF AQUARIUS*11 Fifth Dimension (Soul City)LED ZEPPELIN*12 Led Zeppelin (Atlantic)SUITABLE FOR FRAMING19 Three Dog Night (Dunhill)BAYOU COUNTRY*20 Creedence Clearwater Revival (Fantasy)TOMMY*16 Who (Decca)A WARM SHADE OF IVORY*

17 Henry Mancini (RCA)THREE DOG NIGHT- Three Dog Night (Dunhill)

10 YEARS AGO1

2

3

4467

89

1011

12131415

1617181920

LIVIN' DOLL1 Cliff Richard (Columbia)ONLY SIXTEEN10 Craig Douglas (Rank)LONELY BOY7 Paul Anka (Columbia)BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS3 Lonnie Donegan (Pye)LIPSTICK ON YOUR COLLAR4 Connie Francis (MGM)DREAM LOVER2 Bobby Darin (London)BIG HUNK OF LOVE5 Elvis Presley (RCA)A TEENAGER IN LOVE6 Marty Wilde (Philips)HEART OF A MAN9 Frankie Vaughan (Philips)ROULETTE8 Russ Conway (Columbia)I KNOW16 Perry Como (RCA)SOMEONE15 Johnny Mathis (Fontana)RAGTIME COWBOY JOE14 Chipmunks (London)ONLY SIXTEEN- Sam Cook (HMV)CHINA TEA- Russ Conway (Columbia)PERSONALITY13 Anthony Newley (Decca)GOODBYE JIMMY, GOODBYE- Ruby Murray (Columbia)TALLAHASSIE LASSIE- Freddie Cannon (Top Rank)MONA LISA20 Conway Twitty (MGM)GIVE, GIVE, GIVE/TALLAHASSIE LASSIE17 Tommy Steele (Decca)

R & B LP's

2

345

67

8

910

TCB4 Diana Ross & The Supremes and theTemptations (Tamla Motown STML 11110)GREATEST HITS5 Stevie Wonder (Tamla Motown STML 11075)TIGHTEN UP2 Various Artistes (Trojan Tn. 1)IN EUROPE- Otis Redding (Atco 228 017)rests IS SOUL8 Various Artistes (Atlantic 643301)THE ISRAELITES1 Desmond Dekker (Pyramid DLN 5013)THIS IS . . . DESMOND DEKKER3 Desmond Dekker (Trojan TTI. 4)LOVE MAN- Otis Redding (Atco 228 025)LIVE AT THE APOLLO, VOL. ONE- James Brove (Polydor 583 729 30)GREATEST HITS7 The Dells (Chess CRLS 4554)

RED NUMBERS DENOTENEW ENTRY

'AN ASTERISK DENOTESRECORD RELEASED INBRITAIN

424344454647484950

1

23

45

67

8

91011

1213

1415

1617

18192021

2223

242526272829

13031

3233343536373839

Compiled forRecordRetailer andthe BBC byThe BritishMarketResearchBureau.

HONKY TONK WOMEN1 (7) Rolling Stones (Dem)SAVED BY THE BELL2 (7) Robin Gibb (Polydor)IN THE YEAR 252513 (3) Zager & Evans (RCA)MY CHERIE AMOUR5 (7) Stevie Wander (Tamla Motown)MAKE ME AN ISLAND3 (9) Joe Dolan (Pye)GIVE PEACE A CHANCE4 (7) The Plastic Ono Band (Apple)GOODNIGHT, MIDNIGHT6 (7) Clodagh Rodgers (RCA)TOO BUSY THINKING ABOUT MY BABY12 (5) Marvin Gaye (Tamla Motown)CONVERSATIONS7 (7) Cilia Black (Parlophone)EARLY IN THE MORNING8 (5) Vanity Fare (Page One)BRINGING ON BACK THE GOOD TIMES9 (6) Love Affair (CBS)CURLY19 (5) The Move (Regal ZonoPhonc)WET DREAM10 (12) Max Romeo (Unity)VIVA BOBBIE JOE20 (4) Equals (President)I CAN SING A RAINBOW/LOVE IS BLUE15 (6) The Dells (Chess)IN THE GHETTO11 (11) Elvis Presley (RCA)

JE T'AIME, MOI NON PLUS32 (4) Jane Birkin & Serge GainsbourgDON'T FORGET TO REMEMBER43 (2) Bee Gees (Polydor)I'M A BETTER MAN28 (3) Engelbert Humperdinck (Decca)BAD MOON RISING49 (2) Creedence Clearwater Revival (Liberty)SI TU DOIS PARTIR29 (5) Fairport Convention (Island)BABY MAKE IT SOON18 (11) Marmalade (CBS)NATURAL BORN BOGIE- (1) Humble Pie (Immediate)PEACEFUL25 (7) Georgie Fame (CBS)IT MEK22 (9) Desmond Dekker (Pyramid)GOOD MORNING STARSHINE31 (3) Oliver (CBS)TEARS WON'T WASH AWAY MY HEARTACH26 (4) Ken Dodd (Columbia)SOMETHING IN THE AIR21 (11) Thunderclap Newman (Track)WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE17 (9) Jim Reeves (RCA)HELLO SUSIE23 (9) Amen Corner (Immediate)WAY OF LIFE24 (12) The Family Dogg (Bell)NEED YOUR LOVE SO BAD35 (5) Fleetwood Mac (Blue Horizon)GOO GOO BARABAJAGAL14 (7) Donovan & The Jeff Beck Group (Pye)BREAK -A -WAY27 (11) Beach Boys (Capitol)HEATHER HONEY30 (5) Tommy Roe (Stateside)TIME IS TIGHT36 (16) Booker T. & M.G.'s (Stax)THAT'S THE WAY GOD PLANNED IT16 (8) Billy Preston (Apple)THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO37 (12) The Beatles (Apple)PROUD MARY3(4Lib(1e2r)tyC)reedence Clearwater Revival

40 SOUL DEEP- (1) Box Tops (Bell)

41 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA33 (4) Maazel & New Philharmonic Orchestra(Columbia)CLOUD NINE- (1) Temptations (Tamla Motown)NO MATTER WHAT SIGN YOU ARE40 (6) Diana Ross & The SupremesOH HAPPY DAY- (1) Edwin Hawkins Singers (Buddah)MARRAKESH EXPRESS48 (2) Crosby, Stills & Nash (Atlantic)I'VE PASSED THIS WAY BEFORE47 (3) Jimmy Ruffin (Tamla Motown)IT'S GETTING BETTER46 (2) Mama Cass (Stateside)BIRTHS

y) Peddlars (CBS)

38 (19) Tommy Roe (Stateside)MY WAY41 (10) Frank Sinatra (Reprise)

Billy Preston

12RECORD MIRROR, Week ending August 23, 1969

rMick Abrahams' ambitions for Blodwyn Pig arequite simple: "I'd like to see the band goingfor another three or four years. We want tokeep progressing musically and keep doing thethings we want to do. What do I mean by pro-gression? Playing better solo's, producingbetter sounds, writing better songs. How farcan we progress? Well, we don't see ourselvesbecoming the ultimate in musicianship.

We won't go the way of some people whothink in terms of progression as playing somehigher levels of jazz, an avant garde music. I'mnot sure whether that's progression or regres-sion. They get so they don't communicate at all,their music gets TOO personal.

"Of course I'd like the band to be success-ful, it's the obvious aim of a group anyway. Butfirstly it has to be really good. As long as weremain friends, stay happy, play good musicand continue to do exactly what we want tomusically, I think that's great."

EMBARRASSEDOff stage particularly, Mick is modest and

introverted and sometimes gets a little embar-rassed when discussing the group's success.Their album consists of eight of their own num-bers, mainly written by Mick. They recorded itscarcely more than a month after their forma-tion and I wondered how Mick's newer sonoswere coming along. "As far as my writingabilities are concerned, I think the songs aregetting just a little bit better, I'm getting itmore together. I think our forthcoming single isthe best thing we've done so far. It's called'Walk On The Water' and everyone's particularlypleased with it. We've also started work on an-other album."

The Pig don't attempt to categorize theirmusic, although many people label them aBlues band, which puzzles Mick. "I haven'theard a group like us around the British scene-I've heard better bands than us, but noneplaying the same sort of things we're doing.All the things we play we write anyway. Inreviews I've read so many reports sayingLBIodwyn Pig come on playing some hard hit -

NO BLUES ISOOD NEWS

ting Blues'. We're the farthest thing removedfrom Blues going. Now, we only play one pureunadulterated Blues number on stage-whichwe thoroughly enjoy doing.

"As far as Blues in Britain is concerned,John Mayall, to me, has been the person whohas kept the Blues in front in a very originalmanner. His new band surpasses anything thatI've seen in Blues. He's got something reallytogether. It's very quiet too, he's got awayfrom the blast and sock -it -to -me type of Blues.With his new band it's not a case of 'oldfather MayaII playing 12 bar', it's somethingdifferent, something original. Led Zeppelin alsoknock me out. They're not strictly Blues, butthey've got the essence."

At a recent Pig recording session, a veryprominent guitarist dropped in to listen to them."I can't mention his name," said Mick, "buthe talked to me about making an album withhim. This is something the band would like todo in the future-make an album together withguest artistes - other guitarists. It would besomething entirely separate from our nextalbum, something to do in a year or two."

During their most recent Marquee appear-ance, 300 people had to be turned away as theclub was packed to capacity. "The place was asell out and John Gee told us that people werepassing out all over the place. Our drummerRon Berg collapsed. it's heavy work on drumsand he was sick and vomiting afterwards.

"Constant travelling and the heat in packedclubs has affected him. He sweats a lot and atplaces where there are no proper facilities-as in some places around the country-it canbe bad for health. We play six nights a week,sometimes seven. We'd like to have nice, cleandressing rooms and when we do leave themnice and clean at the finish. Some groupsdon't-which is probably why we aren't givennice, clean dressing rooms. But it's terriblewhen we've been travelling a long way andarrive at a venue feeling dirty from travel anddon't have any washing facilities. It's evenworse when there's no dressing room at alland we have to change behind a two foot widepiece of sacking."

NOT FUSSYDespite the inconveniences at some gigs,

Blodwyn Pig are never happier than when they'reextremely busy-and they're particularly happywhen they're playing at some of their favouritevenues, which include the Marquee, Mothers,Cooks Ferry Inn and Jimmy's at Brighton. "Butwe're not particularly fussy about where weplay, whether ballroom, club or University. I

don't think audiences differ that much. Werecently appeared at a ballroom which had adance band on and was crowded with youngkids. We thought we wouldn't go down at allwell, but we got a tremendous reception." A

DJ1

but I've never met the other two. I was convinced fromthe outset he was doing the right thing by leaving theHollies; he had to really and I'm sure he was right.Then when the 'Hollies Sing Dylan' came out I knewhe was right! I thought it was awful! To hear Dylan with

E .those hard nasal Hollie voices was ghastly. GrahamNash could see it coming and got out. This new group

O is going to get even better, because they're adding.Neil Young from the Buffalo Springfield. The singlecontains some great lyrics, some great harmonies, a

rCICD nice melody and has some beautiful phrasing.

CD 0 "Thunderclap Newman's 'Something In The Air' is

*e"',.. , one that came in the pile and as soon as I put it onthe turntable, I knew it'd be a smash. It was different,

r4 exciting, tongue in cheek and it expressed something.

44a)bp

Some of us believe there have to be some changesmade. It had a nice melody, a groovy piano solo and

O Cdr was a refreshing change."CD) al This now leaves us with the favourite LP which knowing David

Printed by Papers and Publications (Printers) Ltd.

had to be The Moody Blues and "Threshold Of A Dream.""It's only 'Threshold Of A Dream' because I haven't heard

the next one yeti" David explained. "If I had it would be that-it's just been finished. They go on getting better and better. Itbegan for me with 'Days Of Future Past' with the FestivalOrchestra. The Moody Blues provide the most perfect blend ofwords and music in the whole world, and I don't mind whatanybody else says. From there it went onto a very ambitiousstep-'In Search Of The Lost Chord'. Another symphonic LPbut playing all the parts themselves. 'Threshold . . .' is thesame but moreso. They play something like 60 pieces betweenthem on 'Have You Heard'. The words are important and there'sa subtle theme. They're getting ever cleverer and more subtleand more delightful. Their next LP is going to be an absoluteknockout and the one after that is already planned and will becompletely acoustic. Everybody contributes, everybody writesand has ideas. The Moody Blues is what contemporary music isall about. I wouldn't even use the word pop to describe them."

Instead of doing a Disc Jockey Dozen, David said he couldhave done a Disc Jockey Three Dozen. He likes mainly melodicand lyrical music although he admits to a few groups who areaway from that but have great excitement. Once again there isthe problem of not being able to Include all the records onev:ants.

(T.U.l, Swan Close, Banbury, Oxon, for Cardfont Publishers Ltd., 116 Shaftesbury Avenue,

IAN MIDDLETON.

London. W.1 (Telephone: Gerard 7942/3/4)

THE

STUART HENRY, anavid Buster Keaton

fan, has booked to seeevery film of the BusterKeaton season at Lon-don's Academy Onecinema . . GrahamBond can't decide whathe likes best aboutbeing back in England- Whitbread, Flowers,Double Diamond. . . .

A31: Manfred Mann("5-4-3-2-1") . . . Chris-tine Perfect beinglaunched on a solocareer in September . . .

fans broke into JohnMorgan's flat and stolea master tape of theirLP . . . first LP by GangBang to be called "AliBash" . . all praise toRM's chart team for fear-lessly correcting theirspelling of the contro-versial "Je T'Aime . ."- of course the discstill has the BBC non-plussed . .Mick Carlessfined 150 for lack of TVlicence . will William("Tribute To A King")Bell's "Happy" song gofar, far, far, far, far, far?. . . Raymond Froggatt'sfirst album selling likehot cakes . . . Max Baerand the Seconds pre-sented with luxuryTransit van from theirmanager . . . Bakerlooupset that Harvesthaven't released theiralbum yet - nowscheduled for .Septem-ber 5 . . . Temptation's"Cloud Nine" must beTamla's most dated -sounding disc ever -isn't it obvious that itwas made at a timewhen the hottest newR&B property on thescene was Sly and theFamily Stone? . . . Q32:Who enjoyed originalsuccess with (a) "YoungGirl", (b) "The YoungOnes", (c) "A YoungGirl", (d) "Young Love",(e) "Shuffle In TheGravel"? . . . Ian Ander-son, Mick Abrahams,Andy Fairweather Lowamong pop teetotallers. . . comedian Nick Joneschased round Liverpoolat 85 m.p.h. by two"scruffs" who turnedout to be fuzz . . Aus-tralia's Marcie and theCookies greatly admiredby Dusty Springfield andJohn Bowles . .. melody -wise, "Early In TheMorning" could well beyet another "Hair" in-spired hit . . . IF - No.11: If Barry Gibb alsoquit the Bee Gees, wouldthey be known as theN.B.G's? . . . publisherStuart Reid looking verysun-tanned after holidayin French cowboy coun-try . . . Burnett Riggseems to have given uphis yen for femaledwarfs . . will the pro-posed new grading offilm certificates from 1

to 4 mean a comebackfuture on the cinemacircuit for Janice ("Oi'llgive it foive") Nicholls?. . . doesn't Vi of theFlirtations look likeErnestine in somemusical papers? . . . a

budding Allan Shermanof _the Face's acquain-tance goes around sing-ing: "Call out the fumi-gator, because there'ssomething in me hair. . ." . - Alvin Lee ofTen Years After, votedNo. 4 in World's TopGuitarists section inmajor American maga-zine poll .

Sole Distributing Agents for Great Britain, Surridge, Dawson & Co. Ltd., 136-142 New Kent Road, London, S.E.1.