Can we talk about early-mid70s West Coast post-psych/pop/rock/folk-rock/country-rock?

Frog City! what year did it come out?

I just spent the afternoon sunning & swimming w/my son, came home and put on Garden Party by Rick Nelson and am totally feeling that early-mid 70s West Coast post-psych/pop/rock/folk-rock/country-rock.

"what's up my mellow"

garden party is such a genius album. just jaw-dropping to me.

frog city came out in 71. so did later that same year. which was the last matthews southern comfort album.

i bought garden party not really knowing what to expect other than i liked the actual song garden party. god it just sounded so amazing and beautiful.

i love the double album of rick's country stuff that i have too.

Thanks for all that Mason info upthread, dow!

then there is ANOTHER album that came out in 71 on Harvest:

http://991.com/newgallery/Southern-Comfort-Southern-Comfort-257890.jpg

and now i am kinda curious about this completely different u.s. band who had one album in 1969:

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/449192.jpg

listened to moby grape '69 today too. it is summer after all. and the last vetiver album! doesn't fit time-wise for this thread, but it definitely gave me a warm west coast feeling. some of their stuff on that album reminded me of what i liked about beechwood sparks.

can we please get a head-count of who hates and who likes beechwood sparks? i know some people hate them for some reason and i have no idea why. i really dug their stuff. i still want to get the stuff of theirs that i haven't heard. i only have the first full-length and that affiliated album by The Tyde that i also really like.

Moby Grape's Wow/Grape Jam double-LP may be the only one of theirs not mentioned yet on here. Mainlywhat I remember isMoseley on the one that starts,"Working 'til e-leh-eh-ven..."That one got me. Later he joined the Marines, while the Vietnam War was still going strong. Didn't know he did a solo album! Wonder if he's still active/alive?

beachwood sparks with better vocals coulda been great. the first record had the best songs, but they played with more confidence on the second (and it was better produced than the debut). the final ep was kinda interesting, showed them moving out of the overtly retro thing, sorta, or at least away from country-rock thing.

If you like Beachwood Sparks Scott check out a now defunct side project of one of the main members called AllNightRadio. They take the whole west coast/pop/country/folk thing and change it up a bit with more psych and less overt pop structure. Kinda what Gershy was saying about the final ep and part of the reason they broke up, the more forward thinking dude went on to AllNightRadio.

I've been digging Unicorn's Blue Pine Trees LP from '74. David Gilmour pretends to be Garcia on pedal steal -- he's great. Unicorn sound very much like the British version of New Riders. The LP isn't as consistenly cosmic as the first two New Riders LPs, but there are several peak moments, particularly "Sleep Song," which is literally a cosmic country/smooth British pop ode to sleep!

I finally got my in-house turntable working again this weekend, and one of the first things I listened to was the first side of Leon Russell and The Shelter People. Jammy goodness and too underappreciated on this thread. I've swiped Hank Wilson's Back and the live TRIPLE ALBUM from my dad's library recently. Will report back soon.

I need to look into those Russell jams. Is it bluesy stuff or more soaring West Coast magic?

In the last week, I've interviewed Weir, Tom Shipley (of Brewer & Shipley), and Richie Furay (of Poco). I'm ass-deep in West Coast sounds.

C.Grisso/McCain, have you heard Asylum Choir II? Leon and Marc Benno, who seems to have pretty much disappeared after AC, though he did at least one solo album. II used to be a party favorite in our trailer park, especially "Down On The Base" (Base Exchange party favors, whoo hoo! An important part of Southern culture, on or off the skids). Speaking of Jason Isbell, here's my review of his solo debut, Sirens Of The Ditch (smoother and more consistently tuneful than the Truckers, but closer to Zevon and Newman than the Eagles--maybe if Ronnie Van Zant had gone solo, and kept going--?) http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0728,allred,77190,22.html

Haven't heard Asylum Choir II. I did recently pick up the new reish of Look Inside The Asylum Choir, their first set from '68 (IIRC, II was cut the next year but temporarily shelved). It was ok studio psych. I actually haven't played HWB and the live set yet, though I'll probably dip into the former when I get home. As for The Shelter People LP, it actually is a loose mix of blues, country, and some soaring West Coast magic, with all three coming together beautifully in the opening cut, "Stranger In A Strange Land." There are also a couple of cool Dylan covers ("A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall" & "It Takes A Lot To Laugh..."). Side 1 is more rock and souled-out, side 2 is mellow come down stuff.

somethings i've been digging alone these lines.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh100/h181/h18112ljmb9.jpg
the Wackers "Wackering Heights" - Gary Usher produced record that amg gets right on: A charming, sunny debut disc from a group that somehow managed to blend the Byrds and the Monkees into a pop sound that was as intelligent as it was catchy.

Johnny Rivers "Realization" - i've never listened to him before, but after my mom telling me she dated him for 2 years after she and my dad split up, i decided to check it out. really nicely produced w/great plucked bass sound. kinda reminds me of Gene Clark.

Don Everly "Sunset Towers"

Wait, your Mom dated Johnny Rivers? How'd she meet him? I used to go out with a girl whose Mom went out with Don Preston of the Mothers (I think he also played with Leon; they were both from Oklahoma.) "Donnie" wa long gone by the time I got there Her Mom was this cool old Southern Alabama-to-Southern Cali hipster, homegrown. Um, anyway, don't know if they're on that album, but you gotta hear "Summer Rain," "Poor Side Of Town" "Baby, I Need Your Lovin'," "Secret Agent Man."

I just spotted Poco "Legend" for a buck. Picked it up. None too impressed, but I see it wasn't mentioned upthread, so I'll try a couple more.

I just put on the first Aztec Two-Step album and am shocked at how much I'm liking it. Not west coast, really more 'soft rock' than anything in the thread title, but definitely feels post-psych/folk-rocky.

first aztec two step is probably their best. really nice. great jerry yester production too. the guitars sound awesome.

yeah i like that aztec two-step record.

i don't know much by him, but john stewart interests me. "july you're a woman" popped up on my ipod tonight.

this is really good:

http://members.aol.com/clackclack/bloodlin.jpg

hoosdude, as was stated elsewhere on this thread, i will only vouch for poco up to and including crazy eyes. after that, you are on your own.

scott's seal of quality:

# 1969 Pickin' Up the Pieces
# 1970 Poco
# 1971 Deliverin'
# 1971 From The Inside
# 1972 A Good Feelin’ To Know
# 1973 Crazy Eyes

Wait, your Mom dated Johnny Rivers? How'd she meet him?

i already forget the full story, but something about her good friend being his manager or something? she lived in Topanga Canyon for a buncha years and in santa cruz for a few others (dated one of the guys in Snail for a bit). hippy shit.

Fans of this style should see Daft Punk's 'Electroma'.

with all three coming together beautifully in the opening cut, "Stranger In A Strange Land."

Is this the Crosby tune? Blackburn & Snow did a wonderful version. For any San Fran folk-rock fans, Blackburn & Snow is a must.

Nah, it's a Leon original w/the same title. Those 60s Cali hippies loved them some Heinlein.

holy shit guys
http://www.angryhippy.net/images/Paul_Kantner_And_Grace_Slick_Sunfighter.jpg

I picked this up cause the name Grace Slick rang some vague bells and the cover was funny. This is like my favorite accidental find of the year so far. All the reviews I'm reading call its subpar stuff, inessential, whatnot, but I'm loving the shit out of it.

Definitely more psych than post-psych, per se, but very psych country-rock.

the name Grace Slick rang some vague bells

haha

ya rly

oh, BIG HOOS

i r learning

I snagged a John Stewart comp (Earth Rider) at the record shop for 3 bucks last week, and I are happy...never knew too much about this guy, except he was in the Kingston Trio, and did the song "Gold"...but what a career...treads the same paths that Gene Clark and Townes Van Zandt once did, with a touch less cynicism...can't believe I didn't catch on sooner...

never knew too much about this guy, except he was in the Kingston Trio, and did the song "Gold"

and wrote the great "daydream believer," among other things!

Would Lee Michaels fit in here? Definitely west coast. Some kinda folky moments (but nothing really on the country tip) and definitely some psych moves. I like his early ones (Barrel and Recital come to mind) and the live 2lp is a monster. It's just him on organ and a badass drummer.

LEE MICHAELS, I salute you.

Yeah that live Lee Michaels is heat.

i've only got the self titled one, but it's pretty awesome. that drum solo (and a few other spots on the album) have been sampled a bunch of times.

i've been listening to a bunch of Little Feat's "Feats Don't Fail me now" lately. god it's so funky. any other groups get this funky? sounds like the meters fronted by a white guy.

and i've had that album for years. was one of the first records i bought for a buck. never pulled it out because i'm not huge into boogie blues stuff, but read recently rub'n'tug used a track from it on one of their mixes and realized how wrong i was about them.

I also dig some of Brian Hyland's stuff (who probably fits in better here). His cover of Gypsy Woman is awesome.

I'll have to check that Little Feat. Is that the one w/ the crazy piece-of-cake-on-a-swing cover?

No, I guess not (thanks google). Their covers are so wacky and bad sometimes that I look at those Little Feat albums and think "HOW can this be good?"

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000631ED.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

And Sailin shoes was the one I was thinkin of originally:
http://www.superseventies.com/ac10sailinshoes.gif

WTF???

my fave stoner lee michaels cover:

http://www.coolforever.com/temp/leemichaels_tailface.jpg

waiting for columbus is one of my favorite live albums EVER. it makes my top 10 or 20. if i had a top 10 or 20.

okay, scott I'll get over my little feat phobia for that.

that album with gypsy woman on it is really good, but my fave thing on it is his cover of slow down. luv the fuzz on that one.

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/67791.jpg

i love little feat. and they are still great!

Little Feat Fuckin' Rocked Tonight!!!!