Danny DOUMA - Night Eyes (1979)

Artist: Danny Douma
Album: Night Eyes
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Catalog#: BSK 3326
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1979
Genre: Rock
Duration: 00:37:55

• The opening harmonics on "Hurt to Pride" make it sound promising, but then the band kicks in and Danny Douma's debut recording seems mildly flaccid at first, echoing the musical DNA of several other southern California acts of the '70s. But as the recording continues, things pick up steam and Douma starts to develop a unique sound of his own. It's a polished effort through and through, with concerted efforts to break the mold of southern California rock. At times Douma succeeds with flying colors, and at other times he fails miserably. The big hit here, however, is "Hate You," a bluesy laid-back shuffle affair (think Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop"), which features everyone in the Mac (minus Stevie Nicks) and Eric Clapton as his backing band. Douma never made another album after this -- which is both a curiosity and an enigma, considering that his potential as a singer/songwriter could have been so much more with a bit more effort. - Rob Theakston

 • Side One:
A1. Hurt To Pride 02:55
A2. Dontcha Break My Heart 04:30
A3. Endlessly 03:19
A4. Broken Wing 03:32
A5. Carnival Boy 04:01
 • Side Two:
B1. Hate You 03:07
B2. No Meaning Without You 04:14
B3. Beauty Has An Ache 03:49
B4. Love Now 04:05
B5. Sweet Home 04:23

      Producer by Danny Douma, Nick Van Maarth
      Executive Producer: Mick Fleetwood
      Engineer: Nick Van Maarth
      Art Direction by Vigon Nahas Vigon       

Personel:
Christine McVie, Michelle Gruska - Backing Vocals
Danny Douma - Vocals, Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals
Peter Frieberger - Bass
Todd Sharp - Guitar
Nick Van Maarth - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Jay Gruska - Keyboards
Claude Pepper - Drums

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Risa Potters - Take Me Away (1972)

Artist: Risa Potters
Album: Take Me Away
Label: Buddah Records
Catalog#: BDS 5115
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1972
Genre: Rock, Folk Rock
Duration: 00:52:40

 • Side One:
A1. Take Me Away 05:24
A2. Too Many People 04:18
A3. Second Choice 05:09
A4. Birds 02:14
A5. Moving 02:52
A6. Love Song 05:05
 • Side Two:
B1. It Must Have Been Hard 04:12
B2. My Mistake 05:27
B3. I Think I Always Knew 05:46
B4. Traveling Man 04:54
B5. If I Could Sing 05:32

      Recorded At – Air Studios
      Producer – Steve Rowland
      Engineer – Bill Price 

Personel:
Backing And Vocals Arranged By – Capability Brown
Strings Arranged By, Mellotron – Tony Cox
Bass – John Honeyman
Bass, Pedal Steel, Resonator Electric Guitar, Flute, Vocals – Tony Ferguson
Organ, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Electric Piano, Vocals – Dave Nevin
Bass Guitar, Vocals – Ken Rowe
Cello – Douglas Cummings
Congas – Tony Carr
Drums, Vocals – Roger Willis
Lead Guitar , Vocals – Graham White
Percussion, Vocals – Joe Williams
Piano – Risa Potters
Soloist Violin – Jack Laroque
Tape Op – Nigel Jones
Trumpet (Piccolo) – Michael Laird
1st Violin – John Brown
2nd Violin – Michael Desaulles
Viola – George Turnland
Written-By – Neil Young, Risa Potters

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                                                            • Many thank to EW

Michal Hasek - Michal Hasek (1974 Naja 1)

Artist: Michal Hasek
Album: Michal Hasek
Label: Naja Records
Catalog#: Naja 1
Format: Vinyl, LP Album
Released: 1974
Country: Canada
Genre: Folk, Psych
Duration: 00:37:02

• Michal Hasek is a Toronto-based guitar player, harmonica player, singer/songwriter with a roots-blues background. He released two albums of self-penned songs interspersed with blues standards which he recorded with his band, Sundog, in the '70s. The 'Michal Hasek' album came out in 1974 and featured musical assistance from Sundog and such luminaries as Ian Guenther, Steve Kennedy, Tony Kosinec, Brian Browne, Gairey Richardson and Ron Nigrini. It was produced by C.R. Young and C.F. Peterson with engineering assistance and production advice by Steve Kennedy, Brian Browne and Terry Brown. The record contained all original music except for covers of David Wiffen's "More Often Than Not" along with Ron Nigrini's "Horses".
• In 1978 Hasek, along with Sundog, recorded 'The Radio Play' with added assistance from Ron Nigrini and Tony Kosinec. Recording and mixing assistance came in the form of Steve Vaughan and John Bojicek. The record featured mainly Hasek originals with a few Sundog co-writes alongside "Send Me Somebody To Love" (Percy Mayfield), "She Caught The K.T." (Taj Mahal), and "Built For Comfort" (Willie Dixon).
• Both albums were on his own Naja Records label. The self-titled debut was picked up for distribution by A & M Records. Most recently Hasek has been playing around the Toronto blues clubs and has a CD called 'Hasek which features the playing of his family as well as Rich Bell, Blake Papsin and Jimmy Weider. Technical assistance on the project came from Tony Kosinec at his Think Music production facility in Toronto. (jam.canoe.ca)

 • Side One:
A1. Natural Man - 02:56
A2. More Often Than Not - 04:34
A3. Strange Man - 03:11
A4. You Lighten My Load - 02:50
A5. Naja - 04:35
 • Side Two:
B1. Horses - 03:11
B2. Song To The Country - 04:50
B3. Sweet Lady Blue Rain - 02:15
B4. Nothin’ Baby Like You - 04:16
B5. Kick n’ The Ass~Amchitka - 04:20

      Produced by Hasek
      Technical direction by Tony Kosinec

Personel:
Rodney St Amand - bass
Ian Guenther - violin
Steve Kennedy - sax, flute
Tony Kosinec - tablas
Mitchell Lewis - guitar, banjo
Michal Hasek - guitar, harp, dobro, vocals
Brian Browne - piano
Ron Nigrini, Gairey Richardson - guitar
Christine Newland Hanson - cello
Peter Alves - synthesizer
Michael Irvine - drums
Singers:
Jessica Boraski , Ron Nigrini ,
Tony Kosinec , Gairey Richardson ,
Caryne Chapman , Nancy Simmonds

-----  ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ ----- 

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Streek - Streek (LP, 1981)

Artist: Streek
Album: Streek
Label: Badland Records/Columbia
Catalog#: FC 37660
Format: Vinyl, LP
Released: 1981
Country: US
Genre: Rock, AOR
Duration: 00:39:01

 • Side One:
A1. Johnny, You're A Bad Boy 04:17
A2. I Can't Go On 04:18
A3. Only Heaven Knows 03:28
A4. Gone Too Far 03:27
A5. Fantasy 04:14
 • Side Two:
B1. Runner 03:59
B2. Stop 03:25
B3. One More Night 03:48
B4. Tonight 04:30
B5. Rocket 03:35

Personel:
Ron Abram - Guitar, Vocals
Giuvanni Bartolotto - Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals
Bill DeMartines - Keyboards, Vocals
Randy Oviedo - Vocals, Background Vocals
Daniel Ricciardelli - Saxophone, Background Vocals
Fred Ruppert, Bob Stringer - Producer

-----  ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ ----- 

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Naughty Sweeties - Chinatown (1980)

Artist: Naughty Sweeties
Album: Chinatown
Label: Dauntless Records
Catalog#: DLS-1
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1980
Genre: Rock, New Wave, Rock & Roll
Duration: 00:41:33

 • Side One:
A1. Tortured Nights - 03:14
A2. Rendezvous - 03:19
A3. Elena - 03:39
A4. Johannesburg - 03:00
A5. Alice - 03:33
A6. Wonder Will I Get Mine - 02:50
Written-By – D. Provisor
 • Side Two:
B1. New Ideas About Love - 03:49
B2. Ultimate Shades - 04:12
Written-By – R. Smith
B3. So What - 02:03
B4. No. 64 - 02:18
B5. Bad Girl - 05:30
B6. Black Cadillac - 03:56

      Producer by Naughty Sweeties, Stan Young

Personel:
Bass – Simon Pillich
Drums, Vocals – Bartholomew E. Smith-Frost
Engineer – Tret Fure
Guitar, Lead Vocals, Written-By – Ian Jack
Keyboards, Vocals – David Jackson
Lead Guitar, Vocals – Rollo Smith

-----  ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ ----- 

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The Creamcheeze Good-time Band - Home Cookin' (1973 MCA Records)

Artist: Creamcheeze Good-time Band
Album: Home Cookin'
Label: MCA Records
Catalog#: MCA 398
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Canada
Released: 1973
Genre: Pop/Rock, Folk & Country
Duration: 00:34:41

• This quintet from Perth County, Ontario was a showcase for three siblings and the vocals of Barb Payne. Their first hit was 1971's "Uncle Jed" from their Terry Regan produced 'Perth County Green' LP. Their second hit was 1973's "Living Without You" from the album 'Home Cookin' produced by Gary Buck and contained a number of cover tunes including The Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday", Cat Stevens' "Wild World", Gordon Lightfoot's "Redwood Hill", and "Fleetwood Plain" written by Greg Quill, long-time columnist for The Toronto Star. The latter song was the second song off the album. (jam.canoe.ca).

 • Side One:
A1. Living Without You 2:30
A2. Ruby Tuesday 4:26
A3. Fleetwood Plain 3:07
A4. Wild World / Song for Marlene 6:20
  • Side Two:
B1. Home Cookin' 2:17
B2. Redwood Hill 3:02
B3. Uncle Jed 3:37
B4. Log Cabin Home (In the Sky) 3:39
B5. T.O. Lady 2:15
B6. Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (Has Anybody Seen My Girl) 1:53

Personel:
Billy Kell - guitar, vocals
Dave Harwood - bass
Barb Payne - fiddle, maracas, washboard, recorder,vocals
Pat Kell - mandolin, tambourine, kazoo, whizzer, washboard, vocals
Jimi Kell - drums, spoons

-----  ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ ----- 

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Grinder's Switch (Featuring Garland Jeffreys) - Grinder's Switch (1970)

Artist: Grinder's Switch
(Featuring Garland Jeffreys)
Album: Grinder's Switch
Label: Vanguard
Catalog#: VSD 6550
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1970
Genre: Pop/Rock, Blues Rock
Duration: 00:34:41

• New York singer/songwriter Garland Jeffreys made his disc debut as the leader of the band Grinder's Switch on Vanguard Records in 1970. By the evidence of its ten Jeffreys-composed songs, he and the group had spent a lot of time listening to the Band's Music from Big Pink and the batch of songs Bob Dylan had developed with the Band in the late '60s, including "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)." Jeffreys, Ernest Corallo, and Stan Szelest approximated the Band's rough vocal trio of Levon Helm, Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel, and the country-rock musical arrangements, with their prominent organ and piano work by Szelest, also strongly recalled the sound of the Band. (Szelest actually joined a later lineup of the Band, appearing on their 1993 album, Jericho.) Jeffreys had some clever and amusing things to say in his lyrics, marking him as the singer/songwriter he would develop into later. But upon release, Garland Jeffreys and Grinder's Switch was so much of a clone of the Band that it was hard to separate it out as the work of an independent entity. - William Ruhlmann.

 • Side One:
A1. Sister Divine 04:45
A2. Father, The Son And The Holy Ghost 03:56
A3. Won't Ya Come Back Home 02:26
A4. Dear Jolly Jack 03:41
A5. And Don't Be Late 02:42
 • Side Two:
B1. An Imaginary Invalid 04:05
B2. Last Night I Drove Down To The Bar (Women And Wine) 02:09
B3. Evening 01:52
B4. They Call Me Fortune And Fame 02:17
B5. Seven Sleepers' Den 07:40

      Art Direction by Jules Halfant
      Producer, Remixing: Lewis Merenstein
      Photography by Joel Brodsky

Personel:
Ernest Corallo - Acoustic, Electric & Steel Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals
Richard Davis, Bob Piazza - Bass
Garland Jeffreys - Composer, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Garland Jeffreys & Grinder's Switch - Vocals
Sanford Konikoff - Drums
Neil Schwartz - Engineer
Stan Szelest - Harmonica, Organ, Piano, Vocals

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