Jotcamp is a pair of art students with some vague principles on media gluttony. We don’t want to just sit back and consume all the tasteful art we come across, so we’ve made this blog to compile and comment on that delicious media to keep our TV, music, and movies habit from becoming a one way conversation.
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15 posts tagged psychedelic blues
Stray - Suicide
Stray’s 1971 effort, Suicide, didn’t stray too far from material covered in their debut, but who would really want them to? This album is British hard rock at its finest: lead guitar domination, hoarse vocals, heavy rhythm section, and blown-speaker distortion. This is the album’s title track, an 8 minute long riff-fest. Sabbath and Judas Priest fans should enjoy this a lot.
45 Plays | Download
Stray - All In Your Mind
Stray was hugely influential 70s psychedelic rock band that hailed from Britain. They get lumped in with guitar-focussed progressive rock bands like Captain Beyond and Wishbone Ash because some of their songs are similarly sprawling, but they just often wade through heavy blues riffs using as much distortion as possible like Toad or Leaf Hound. Iron Maiden fans might recognize this song, All In Your Mind, as the metal band did a cover of it on their Holy Smoke single, later included as a bonus track on No Prayer For The Dying’s reissue. This is the full on, 9 minute long meltdown version that kicked off Stray’s 1970 debut (Maiden covered the much shorter single version).
11 Plays | Download
Cactus - Songs For Aries
I read too many news stories today, making myself way too stressed out and angry, so I escaped into an old favourite, Cactus’ One Way… Or Another. Apparently the band’s never made it onto this Tumblr before, which is weird.
Cactus had kind of a false start to their career. Originally, Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart were supposed to join the band with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, but Beck got into that car accident and Stewart bailed to basically start his solo career. The other two signed up Jim McCarty (guitar) and Rusty Day (vocals) and made some of the best psychedelic blues albums known to man.
When the band fell apart, Bogert and Appice joined up again with Beck to form their short-lived, eponymous group. Rusty Day was shot to death in the early 80s, so when Cactus reformed in 2006, they plugged their singer spot with Savoy Brown front-man, Jimmy Kunes.
6 Plays
Primevil - Leavin'
I know; this record’s cover is the worst, but just try to ignore it because the music is worth it. Primevil were an American progressive rock act with a serious heavy side due to having two distortion loving guitarists. They sound a lot like early Captain Beyond and Lucifer’s Friend, so great hard rock riffing broken up with some acoustic passages to keep things interesting. They only managed to put out this one album, Smokin’ Bats At Campton’s, in 1974.
0 Plays | Download
Leonda - Zono My Bird
Some crazy how Woman In The Sun, even through it was released through a major label, not only didn’t manage to catch on, but became one of the rarest records around. Leonda is a gorgeous 60s singer-songwriter. I didn’t really find our where she was from, just that she’s Native American and that her backing band were Canadian (The Paupers). The record just seems so freaking marketable, being a healthy mix of fantastic psychedelic folk and blues songs with just tinges of Native American folk influences. And she’s gorgeous!
11 Plays
Sarofeen And Smoke - Cream Of Nowhere
Sometimes it feels like my music library is a collection of crushes on 70s singers. Earlier this week I stumbled across this through whendeliverycomes (where you can also find great music posts) and Tumblr desperately needed more of this record.
Sarofeen and Smoke were a psychedelic blues band fronted by Anne Sarofeen, basically a boobed Long John Baldry. The album is in the same vein as Martha Velez’s Fiends & Angels (both albums containing a version of the song Swamp Man), so there’s some great guitar work, dirty horn section, and some of the strongest vocals you’ve ever heard. Unfortunately the band only managed to put out this one record in 1971.
10 Plays
Sugar Bear - Moccasin Mona
Next up on this list of Radioactive Records reissues is a band out of 70s Florida called Sugar Bear. They released just the one self-titled record in 1970. This song, Moccasin Mona, is ridiculously catchy. Me and my room-mate have been obnoxiously singing the chorus to each other for a few days now, and so it’s become out go-to car music. The record generally reminds me of other light psychedelic rock bands like The Collectors and Stained Glass (also reissued by Radioactive Records!) mixed with some Canned Heat. So basically they sound like all my favourite things.
20 Plays | Download
Zerfas - Stoney Wellitz
Zerfas was another American private press psychedelic band that put out this obscurity in 1973. As is usually the case with bands that have such a limited run, there’s not a lot of readily available information on them. The band is named after a pair of brothers in the band, and according to some notes on the album, they were big DIYers, making their own wine and their own synthesisers.
10 Plays | Download
Mountain Bus - Rosalie
More cheery psychedelia is in order!
Mountain Bus was a short-lived band out of Chicago that put out this single 1971 record, Sundance. No one talks about the band without mentioning how clearly influenced they were by the Grateful Dead, and I refuse to be original right now. They’ve got a chill jam rock sound right up the Dead’s alley, dense but not cluttered, wandering but not aimless. They use great, clean guitar tones, see-sawing between Americana and psychedelic blues influences. If you’re a dead-head, I guarantee this record will bring a grin to your face
10 Plays | Download
Buffalo - Stay With Me
Buffalo’s third record suffered from album art equally as bad as its second’s dick-volcano painting. Having the hard rock talent doesn’t bring with it much business sense. It’s not like it’s all that gory or shocking, just kind of half-assed looking.
Apparently these Australians just didn’t have the heart for a shock rock career, and after this album the band splintered, losing guitarist John Baxter and pursuing a more mainstream sound. But hey, putting out three truly great fuzzed out rock records is more than a lot of 70s bands achieved.
0 Plays
