Rolling Late-60's/Early-70's Thud-Rock Thread

Rev. Hoodoo, the Bar-Kays do indeed rock on the '07 collection Wattstax: Music From The Wattstax Festival And Film (3 discs, from the various LPs that came out of this, plus some prev unissued). They kill with "Son Of Shaft/Feel It"(9:19; "In The Hole" (originally an instrumental b-side, here with "screams, vocables," as the booklet says, and words too!)(lotta stuff happens in 2:47); and "I Can't Turn You Loose." This follows an equally hot set from Rance Allen, and Disc One has a great 5-song set from the Staple Singers. Overall, each disc is a little uneven, but for instance David Porter's "Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand" is followed by Richard Pryor's "Niggas" and "Arrest/Lineup." The Terry Manning album starts really good (with a parody of a Box Tops outtake, like teenaged Chilton forcing the obligatory gravel voice through a mouthful of hangover) and ends great ("I Can't Stand The Rain," with the Hi Rhythm Section, live at a last-minute fill-in gig, at a high school, I think!)(the guitarist cuts loose like I always hoped Sonny Sharrock would get to do on one of Herbie Mann's Memphis or Muscle Shoals sets)(yeah, he's good on Memphis Underground, but this is way past that)But the booklet explains that Manning just did the Box Tops parody as a one-off; played it for his boss, who demanded an album, and to me the results sound as forced as what he was kidding Alex about. But Edd Hurt really likes the whole thing, so maybe he's right (Manning also worked with Big Star, on Led Zep III, etc.)

Hey, Dow...

I am very familiar with the Bar-Kays appearance in the WATTSTAX flick. I've had the two original soundtracks for years, and while I usually lift the needle during the "Feel It" part, the "Son Of Shaft" half of that song kills on contact - matter of fact, I like the live version of "S.O.S." better than the studio, but then again this live take was the first version I ever heard.

Gospel-soul icon Rance Allen wasn't a stoner-rocker, but the distorted tone he gets on his guitar is on some kind of Blue Cheer steez. Too bad he doesn't play guitar live anymore! "Lying On The Truth" is amazing.

As far as Terry Manning, I'm with Edd Hurt - that album is really good, especially when you consider how hit-or-miss Stax was with white rock! I consider Manning's album to be one of those peculiar, twisted rock classics that could have only come out of Memphis, up there with James Luther Dickinson's DIXIE FRIED and John Prine's PINK CADILLAC. But Manning's LP is the only one that would fit in a thread devoted to Nixon-era hard rock...

And speaking of hard rock on Stax...the self-titled Moloch album definitely belongs in this thread. Recently reissued on CD.

anyone familiar with the Raven album Back to Ohio Blues? Just got a reissue and the descriptions sound awesome

of all of the albums i've seen described as having a "biker vibe," it's by far the best. not too bluesy or too boogie, just kind of pissed off stomping rock. alright, the title track is kinda bluesy, but not in a shitty way, and the vocalist is foaming at the mouth through much of it. rockadelic version made the rounds of the mp3 blogs a while back if you're interested in checking it out before you drop $20 on it.

was that Rationals album reissued on CD?

Also on Wattstax, after horns play fancy, Rufus Thomas says, "Ohhhh, I feel soooo inadequate." But he doesn't really! You can tell! A true thudster. (Sure hope the great Concord Music Group's Stax-Volt reissue series will include whole albums by him; he keeps having to hitch a ride with daughter Carla). The recent Blue Cheer set, What Doesn't Kill You..., has thud and bounce, which they may be getting from (and/or why they're attracted to) "Born Under A Bad Sign," although their cover isn't that great (it's okay though). The opening track is really stupid, but mostof the rest is pretty satisfying on my exercycle (but I need even more recommended biker rock than is already on this thread).

well, there's that reissue of betty's "handful" album on shadoks...

a bit late for this thread, from '92, but the High Speed & The Afflict Man 'Get Stoned Ezy' record is real cool, maybe in more of a "basement rock" way? what are the specific limits of basement rock vs. thud rock???

http://www.inblogs.net/siltblog/2006/03/superfuzz-bigmuffmudhoney-is_06.html

oops, from EIGHTY-TWO, not 92.

>>the self-titled Moloch album definitely belongs in this thread. >>Recently reissued on CD.

A bit overrated. I got this one on the Don Nix connection. He wrote all the material. Leans toward heavy psychedelic with acid bursts of blooz fuzztone guitar. But the entire thing tends toward slow in a molasses way and the rhythm section just never quite gets going the way you think it should for the style. Plus, it's on Fallout which is just another dodge name for the Radioactive ripoff label from Europe.

>>the self-titled Moloch album definitely belongs in this thread. >>Recently reissued on CD.

>>A bit overrated. I got this one on the Don Nix connection>>

I was probably more impressed by the band than the Nix connection, although it is unusual that the entire album was written by a non-member of the band...makes 'em look like a prefabricated bubblegum band or something.

I just dl'd this groundhogs album, thank christ for the bomb. damn, it's pretty good! it's not nearly as plodding as 'thud rock' (with all respect) makes it sound.

yeah, those dudes were probably like the next level above thud rock. really, they were on that shoulda-been-huge level, but i don't think they did very well in the US.

"maybe in more of a "basement rock" way? what are the specific limits of basement rock vs. thud rock???"

who else is basement rock?

I got an Afflicted Man track off of the Crud Crud blog, it's awesome!
Still pumped over finding a cdr of the first Dust album in the free box in the break room at the library I work at. How the hell did that get in there!?

Another thing that deserves mention is a UK biker group called Wicked Lady. They've got an album called "The Axeman Cometh" that thuds with the best of em.

Gott Punch, I do have that Betty album in Shadoks, and wrote about it on Rolling Country (since we also talk about bikers and everything else over there; Gorge recently discoursed/dosgorged astutely on Slade). I thought of most of it as being more like biker pop, remembering that the Doobie Brothers (!) were said to be biker mascots, very early on (that would be when Tom Johnson or Johnston's driving guitar and voice were more dominant, but still pop).Which was okay, except the wrong guy sang lead on most of it. But some good tracks, especially the one about vengence on the sawmill operator that done you wrong: "Good mornin, how do you do, I'm lookin' for a man with the name of, Harley Perdoo." Billy, I don't mean thud rock to=plodding, God and Gott forbid! Just has a lotta thud in it, though maybe not just thud. Like the new Apes album, with new singer: high voice x high lyrics x keybs x thud of bass and drums= ape sporting shredded wedding veil ov stars.

Meant "wrong guy sang lead on most of" Betty's Handful, not that Tom J. was wrong lead for Doobies; he was prob the rightest one for them.

This is a good thread.
I listened to that first Dust record a few days ago cuz of it. Still can't get behind Toe Fat, though.

also many xposts: i think basement rock is some sort of lo-fi/amateurish subgenre of thud rock...? sorta.

been jamming this lately, so nerdy, so awesome...they always seemed to be of one spirit with the first rush album to me (thx metallica for covering these dudes so i knew abt them!)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NXTZNGXML._SS500_.jpg

(of course, like all 2 disc sets, last half of the second disc is sort of a bummer)

Budgie have a few really badass albums. I'm still looking for a copy of Squawk, dammit.

What do you recommend, TM?

First five Budgie albums are generally good to excellent. Bandolier is my personal favorite. Budgie's live double CD, Heavier than Air is also invigorating. Described with other similar things here.

the first three are essential: budgie, squawk, never turn your back on a friend. if you like those, then you really like budgie and you'll want the rest of their 70's albums like bandolier and in for the kill. *never turn your back on a friend* is a solid starting point. the whole album is great. strong songs. just killer stuff. but i like most of their albums a bunch.

budgie x-post with gorge.

Thanks fellas

Those guys said it better than I could.

Some rare singles that'd fit right in with this thread:
- Mouse & the Traps, "Wicker Vine" (Texas garage-rockers get heavy with this 1969 single, probably available on any Mouse/Traps compilation...I know of two)

- Magi, "You Don't Know Me" (1971 single that was mistakenly included on a PEBBLES compilation)

- Curley Moore & the Kool Ones, "Funky Yeah" (more psychedelic funk, with a lot more distorted guitar than you're used to hearing on a funk record, thus qualifying it for this thread)

I guess I'd think "basement rock" as like Stone Harbor (would-be Uriah Heep), Sainte Anthony's Fyre (would-be Sir Lord Baltimore), Friedhof ... private press heaviosity like that

we talked about Gun on that Groundhogs thread... I still think "Yellow Cab Man" is the only song on the first one that i truly love. agreed w/ skot that the 2nd is better.

Hi James!

this one - Broheems, You Do Need A Copy Of Black Diamond! A.K.A. The Groundhogs Thread

that Frantic album is great

for Budgie, I'd start with Squawk ... that's their best as far as I'm concerned. does Rodger Bain still produce that one? can't remember, I know he did the first one.

(sorry just getting up to speed on all the recent posts)

Can't think of too much *new* stuff that I've picked up in this vein .. 'cept maybe that Maxmillian record that Hurlothrumbo mentions upthread. that thing is INSANE!!!!

for some reason i think rev.hoodoo - and you too stormy - would like the one and only five by five album on paula. unless you already own copies.

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20070801/260145271670.jpg

album is a little uneven, but worth the price for "hang up" and their cover of "fire". doesn't totally fit this thread. though they fuckin' rocked when they wanted to.

fyi: i have three singles (i think) that Paula put out and they are WAY louder than the album versions. and preferable if you are me. i gotta dig them out and maybe put them on a mix for ilm. "apple cider" rules. as does "fruitstand man".

singles usually go pretty cheap:

http://cgi.ebay.com/FIVE-BY-FIVE----APPLE-CIDER._W0QQitemZ200191741502QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL0801141342a34443

TM, fyi, Squawk is available here

but if you can find it, the hang up/fire single is what you want. some fine proto-thud psych.

x-post

fuck, apple cider is killer too though. i think they just sell to portugese deejays for freakbeat fancy dancer all-nighters in lisbon.

looking for five by five, i found a freedom 45 on ABC. playing now. they belong on this thread more specifically.

Freedom?

Hmmm, another LP I once passed up 'cause...hey, you never know with late-sixties/early-seventies rock, it isn't always that consistent! You see a fairly generic band name like Freedom on an all-purpose label like ABC, they could be either Argent or Bread, you know? There are no signifiers that say "THIS IS HEAVY." But I'll continue to keep an eye out for it, if they're turning up in a thread like this.

The reason it stands out in my mind is because, IIRC, they had a future Doobie Brother bassist in their lineup...an almost unrecognizable Tiran Porter, and his hair is conspicuously short, as if he just got home from Vietnam or something.

"but if you can find it, the hang up/fire single (by Five By Five) is what you want. some fine proto-thud psych."

Scott, I am very aware of 5x5...I don't have their album, but I've owned the single for years. "Fire" was a regional hit, which explains why it turns up so often in used bins. Great single, both sides of it. The only other songs I have by these guys are on a weak compilation on Charly called BORN ON THE BAYOU. It's an anthology of white garage-soul acts who recorded for Paula, like 5x5 and John Fred & the Playboy Band. Coulda been better, except that it's mostly covers of overdone soul standards, and many of them don't measure up to the originals. 5x5 are heard doing "Soul Man" and "You've Really Got A Hold On Me."

If you liked "Hang Up," you'll probably also like "Life (Don't Mean Nothin')***" by Michael & the Messengers on USA...freaky mid-sixties garage that is JUST hard-rock enough, by accident, for this thread. The A-side, "Romeo & Juliet" was featured on the NUGGETS album and box set. This band later altered their name to the Messengers and had an LP on Rare Earth.

_______________________________________________________________________
***the title could be "LIFS (Don't Mean Nothin')" - I figured a printer's error fucked up the title, but since the phrase doesn't really feature in the lyrics, who knows?

Hey, Stormy D, whassup!!

Is anybody here familiar with a new - or at least "recent" - band called Atomic Bitchwax? Evidently, their sole purpose is to play the kind of heavy metal-before-they-called-it-that music that we've been talking about...they're quite good at it too.

I had that Messengers album years ago, and I NEVER played it. The one on Rare Earth. everyone loves romeo & juliet. or if they don't, they are no friend of mine.

Freedom were cool. They even had an album on the Actuel freejazz label. Very hard-rocking, proto-metal, etc.

Atomic Bitchwax were cool. Or at least the stuff with Ed Mundell that I had was cool. I'm a fan of his. He's the guitarist in Monster Magnet. Heavy stoner jamz.

MY other fave band on Paula was The Uniques with Joe Stampley. Awesome southern garage pop with nice fuzz. I only have the 2nd album though. Never heard the earlier stuff. I might not like them as much as I like a band like The Gentrys, but, man, is that record ever solid. So cool. I don't know if it's ever been reissued.

The Uniques' second album...I'm assuming you mean HAPPENING NOW!

Even though they're usually considered a garage-rock band, the Uniques actually played a multitude of styles, like the southern party band they were. They also had their share of blue-eyed soul and teen-pop releases. I know there have been a few Uniques best-ofs floating around, but I don't know if any of their regular LP's (there were four in all) were ever reissued.

Freedom had at least three records on ABC/Dunhill. Freedom At Last is to be avoided. It's bad late Sixties 60's pop rock, poorly done, poorly sung, just poor. Freedom and Through the Years are the one's people usually go for. My take is the latter of the two is the best. It's turn up the volume early-70's Brit heavy white boy blooz and boogie by a trio. "Toe Grabber" is the high point of the latter. It galumphs along at a decent pace and the singer has an adequate-to-good blues shriek. Not going to replace your Mike Vernon-produced Savoy Brown records from the same time frame but it'll do in spots to break the monotony.

Freedom also had some connection with early pre-Trower Procol Harum, not to the former's benefit. The connection is heard on <i>At Last</i>, the LP to avoid.

I still haven't found an album that sounds like Fraction's Moonblood...that album really does something to me

the first track on that Road album is somewhat similar, looking for more of that heavy psych with intense vocals!

nothing is quite like the fraction album. dragonwyck are a band that i usually listen to when i'm in that kinda mood tho. might just be because i discovered both around the same time.

for some reason i think rev.hoodoo - and you too stormy - would like the one and only five by five album on paula. unless you already own copies.

i think i would like it, too, if i could find mp3s of the bloody thing. i haven't bothered pricing it yet, but originals of anything decent are usually too rich for my blood. i'm basing my need to hear it on their cover of "7 and 7 is," which is like as blue cheer thuddin' as i've ever heard a love cover get.

"The Uniques' second album...I'm assuming you mean HAPPENING NOW!"

actually, the one i have, is their last album. shows what I know. Man, someone has to reissue those other records.

i have this one:

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/372548.jpg

We were discussing these over in the Super K thread, and they merit bringing over here...both Crazy Elephant's self-titled LP on Bell as well as the self-titled Gentrys album on Sun run about 50% heavy rock, if you're willing to wade through the bubblegum numbers. The Gentrys' LP was late in their career and can usually be found cheap. (It was even reissued on CD, on the Collectables label, with bonus tracks!)

Where is the love for Crazy Elephant?