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July 2024 = |
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Empty House
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Back Jack
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Chris Forsyth
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EMPTY
HOUSE – BLUESTONE
(CASS/DL from Cruel Nature Records or https://emptyhouse.bandcamp.com/)
Empty
House is the current creative vehicle for Fred
Laird, whom long-time readers will be
unsurprised to learn has his name stamped on one
of Terrascope’s lifeboats (the ones kept behind
Phil’s print shed). [feature
interview in Terrascopaedia issue 22 -
Phil]
Bluestone
is inspired by a trip around Pembrokeshire, from
where much of the raw material for Stonehenge is
reputed to have originated. It is a collection
of intense and occasionally acerbic meditations
on which Laird gamely wrestles an ISB-worthy
array of instruments variously plucked, bowed,
thumped and unsung (take a curtsy you Behringer
Wasp). The title track is reminiscent, and
approvingly so, of Flying Saucer Attack’s
studies in cooking up DIY bathtub psychedelia
and skin of the teeth feedback (think ‘To the
Shore off Further or the monumental In
Search of Spaces) leavened with more airy,
folksier passages and snippets of choral
chanting. Another high point, ‘Fires at
Midnight’, enlists the assistance of another
Terrascope regular, bongo bothering hired gun
Nick Raybould (Glowpeople, Thought Bubble) on
djembe which adds a palpable layer of tribal
suspense in response to which that Wasp buzzes
ever more fervently.
We
were fortunate enough to be treated to ‘Written
in Earth’ on Jon Chinn’s commendable Trace
Imprint vs The Others compilation
fundraiser a while back. Whether its comfortable
familiarity, having already given it the
reviewer’s obligatory three spins, but its
mystical reveries just edge out ‘Fires…’ for the
reviewer’s top gong (yeah, there are faint
traces of them here, too).
In
all it amounts to a more caustic Ash Ra, spliced
with elements of Popol Vuh (and the
aforementioned FSA), a rough terrain of country
rambling for the Weird Walkers with an
occasionally raised digit of ur-pagan attitude.
Noel Edmunds’s house was reputedly Full, while
Fred’s is Empty.
Honestly, is there no justice in the
world, because I know which one I prefer.
Ian
Fraser
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BACK
JACK – BACK JACK
(LP,
Digital on RidingEasy
Records)
Last
month we reviewed the comp Brown Acid – The
Eighteenth Trip, the latest in the
long-running series of predominantly early 70s
hard rock singles mostly by bands you never
heard of. The
lead-off track in that set was an excellent song
called “Bridge Waters Dynamite,” a slice of 1974
heavy guitar rock by a band from the St. Louis
area called Back Jack.
This month we come right back at you with
a full album by the band.
Not that they ever released an album.
During their time, Back Jack released a
sole 45 rpm on obscure Missouri label World
Concept. But
the good people at RidingEasy have compiled all
their recordings into this new release.
Back
Jack was active from 1971 to 1975.
Originally called Trellis, they changed
their name to Back Jack, after a bumper sticker
about bass player Kim McKinney’s father Jack’s
campaign for mayor of his small town in
Missouri, which urged voters to ‘Back Jack!’.
In their heyday, in addition to backing
Kim’s dad, the band opened for outfits such as
Blue Öyster
Cult, Trapeze, James Gang, Charlie Daniels,
Rush, and Canned Heat.
Band members included Mike Collier
(guitar, lead vocals), the aforementioned Kim
McKinney (bass, vocals), and Hans Myers (drums,
vocals), and later Jeff Ballew (guitar, vocals)
and Mike Lusher (drums, vocals).
The
majority of the tracks on this collection were
recorded in 1974 and 1975.
The Brown Acid series is mostly
about bands with a single 45 to their name, like
Back Jack. Occasionally,
RidingEasy has released albums by Brown Acid
artists. I’ve
listened to some of these, and let’s just say as
kindly as possible there’s a reason most of
those albums are unknown.
But Back Jack is different.
Most of the 13 tracks on this collection
live up to promise of “Bridge Waters Dynamite.”
Back
Jack played a brand of hard guitar rock not
unlike artists of the time like Bachman Turner
Overdrive, Rick Derringer, and Grand Funk
Railroad. The
music conjures images of muscle cars, long hair,
handlebar mustaches and bell bottoms.
The band is tight.
Mike Collier’s and Jeff Ballew’s guitar
playing is solid throughout.
The rhythm section of Hans Myers or Mike
Lusher on drums and Kim McKinney on bass keeps
the beat steady and driving.
Collier is a fine rock and roll singer,
who occasionally reaches back to wail at the top
of his lungs, sometimes when it’s not really
necessary. Many
of the songs have solos or instrumental
passages, which they pull off with excellent
chops.
They
occasionally throw a curveball at you, such as
on “California,” where they unexpectedly morph
into the Doobie Brothers, or on the fine,
rocking, lone instrumental “Phonic Voyage,” in
which guest Gary Reed’s piano is almost like a
Vince Guaraldi-inspired interlude from a Charlie
Brown TV special, played by Beethoven-loving
miniature keys man Schroeder.
It’s
cliché to say, but Back Jack deserved better.
Had a solid break or two turned their
way, they might have been able to put out some
quality albums in their time.
Props to RidingEasy for trying to bring
them some overdue love.
Worth a listen.
(Mark
Feingold)
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CHRIS
FORSYTH – CHRIS FORSYTH PLAYS LOVE DEVOTION
SURRENDER
(Digital
on
Bandcamp,
streaming services)
It
takes
a lot of chutzpah to take on a performance of a
popular album by not one, but two of the
greatest guitarists in rock music history.
But if anyone can pull it off, Chris
Forsyth can. The
Philadelphia-based guitarist recorded this live
rendering of the 1973 record by Carlos Santana
and John McLaughlin at the 2023 Philly Music
Fest, possibly commemorating the original’s 50th
anniversary.
The
1973
release saw Santana and McLaughlin, both at the
heights of their instrumental powers, backed on
record by their respective bands Santana and
Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Both were devotees of the guru Sri
Chimnoy (McLaughlin had introduced Santana to
Sri Chimnoy in 1971), and the album reflected
his teachings, including the title.
Since both guitarists were going through
a deeply spiritual phase, that sacred journey
informs their playing and passion.
The other deep influence on the record is
fellow spiritual traveler John Coltrane, and two
of the five tracks are his compositions (“A Love
Supreme” and “Naima”) while McLaughlin’s “The
Life Divine” is also influenced by ‘Trane.
Forsyth
is
a student of music history, and has both
surveyed and learned hands-on from some of the
great guitarists.
He applies all of his attained mastery
here in playing Santana and McLaughlin in what
is often some pretty gnarly work.
I’ll add that he’s joined on guitar by
Nick Millevoi, who’s no slouch himself when you
listen to the many passages with both of them
powering away.
I’ve
heard
Forsyth play before, but rarely as accomplished
as this. He attacks the compositions with
dedication and gusto.
Sure, it helps that he had great material
to start with, but he performs it magnificently.
His work on McLaughlin’s “The Life
Divine,” Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme,” and the
traditional “Let Us Go Into the House of the
Lord” are especially incendiary.
One small nitpick I have is that the two
shorter, quieter pieces, Coltrane’s “Naima” and
McLaughlin’s “Meditation” do sound better on the
original album, boosted by McLaughlin’s
sensitive acoustic guitar on the former, and
Santana’s acoustic playing and McLaughlin’s
piano (who knew he played piano?) on the latter.
The
finale,
the sixteen-minute “Let Us Go Into the House of
the Lord,” is a guitar lover’s dream.
You can tell the arrangement is more
Santana than McLaughlin, and Forsyth summons up
all his dexterity to play this finger torturing
piece, while drummer/percussionists Michael
Patrick Avery and Ryan Jewell similarly get a
workout on congas and drums.
Some
might
consider this blasphemy, I don’t know, but as a
guitar fan, I like some of these tracks as
transposed for guitar more than the original
Coltrane horn-based versions, or Lonnie Liston
Smith’s version of “Let Us Go Into the House of
the Lord,” which some believe is the inspiration
for Santana and McLaughlin’s version on the
studio album. In
any event, Chris Forsyth pulls it off letter
perfect on guitar.
This
is a digital only release that I can barely find
any mention of anywhere else, so you heard it
here on the Terrascope first, folks.
If you like brilliant guitar playing,
it’s well worth a listen.
(Mark
Feingold)
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