Count Basie and His Orchestra Broadway Basie's...Way ABC/Command 1966

Count Basie and His Orchestra Broadway Basie's...Way ABC/Command 1972 CAT# RS905 SD


This is MOR Count Basie. He trudges through 12 show tune standards, thus the title, "Broadway Basie's...Way."

It's unimaginative, but that's not to say it's un-listenable. It'd be pleasant as background music if you don't have to pay attention to it. Of note, it was put out by ABC's Command label which was an early audiophile label founded by Enoch Light, who later to left to do Project 3 recordings. The label employed high tech recording techniques and material for the time which was aimed at getting the best recorded sound possible. So, in that regard, it's some high-quality background music that will sound crisp and clear pumping through a hi-fi system.

Mystic Number National Bank Self Titled Command/ABC/Probe 1969

Mystic Number National Bank Self Titled Command/ABC/Probe 1969 CAT# CPLPS 4501

Oddly obscure Kansas City heavy psych band.  Very blues based, riding in on the style of Cream, with tons of pedals and effects to make up for the fact that they didn't feature the same level of talent.  Apparently, outside of some super obscure local 7"s, this is the entire output of the band.

Kind of head stractcher.  The whole package is strange.  It was put out by ABC's Command label which was mainly an output label for Enoch Light and released tons of easy listening and lounge albums throughout the 60's.  The label was heavily focused on recording techniques which might explain a the absurd amount of studio effects used on this album.  They weren't really known to release rock records.  They were also thrown on ABC's Probe label, which was focused on International success and progressive groups.  The gatefold LP also has a die-cut feature in which you can open up the vault to see the band.  Overall, it just seems like a lot of money to dump into a debut LP.

The inner gatefold does have some liner notes written by John Arnoldy of the band.  He says what everyone knows about the Kansas City area growing up, "Childhood was boring."  But, there's a brief KC history of the band, some members joined the army and others attended the Kansas City Art Institute until the band was signed and tried out San Francisco.  But, outside of that, there's not a lot of info out there on this band.

The album isn't bad.  It isn't great either.  Between 1969 and say, 1971, there was a ton of bands doing this sound.  The LP hasn't gone unnoticed, there was a German reissue done and people champion some of the tunes that are into obscure heavy blues rock from this era.  However, the production isn't as raw and threw in some horn arrangements as likely bid for radio play.  It doesn't blow you away with heavy psych sounds.  There is a few tunes though that are worth checking out, namely "Beautician Blues."  Apparently the lead singer, Glenn Walters stuck around in San Fran, gigged in some other bands and made a career singing for commercials and movie soundtracks.

Blues So Bad & Beautician Blues

Joe Walsh Barnstorm ABC/Dunhill 1972

Joe Walsh Barnstorm ABC/Dunhill 1972 CAT# DSX 50130

Man, I'm done waiting for post-James Gang Walsh albums to impress me.  They're all the same, a few moments of classic rock awesomeness followed by mellow California style radio rock.  Boring.

This one is called his masterpiece.  His lovely textured guitar work and spacey open-ended songs, blah, blah, blah.  It's boring.  It's what would happen to the Grateful Dead if they got sober.  Soft boogie rock, soft melodies, everything soft.  It's a very country tinged affair, but not in a country rock way, in the spacey California country kind of way.  It's the songs here that probably led the Eagles to pick up Walsh as a guitarist and songwriter.

Admittedly though, I'm not really being fair to the album.  Of the Barnstorm-era and proper solo Walsh stuff I've dove into, this is one of the better albums.  I just wished Walsh would rock more, like "Rocky Mountain Way."  This album is missing a a rocker all together.  The space and psychedelic experiments into country are border line brilliant.  Had I started here, I wouldn't have said all the stuff about Joe Walsh being boring.

Birdcall Morning

Joe Walsh The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get Dunhill/ABC 1973

Joe Walsh The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get Dunhill/ABC 1973 CAT# DSX-50140

This is the second "Barnstorm" album from Wichita-Born Joe Walsh.  When Walsh left the James Gang, he formed a band called Barnstorm.  ABC put out the albums as solo LPS by Joe Walsh.  For the most part, it's Joe Walsh's thing, but the tunes are credited to Barnstorm Music and the Joe Vitale and Kenny Passarelli were members of a band with Joe Walsh at this time, not just his backing band.

The first song on the LP, "Rocky Mountain Way," is a monster.  It's a defining hard-rock song of the 1970's.  From there though, the album gets a bit soft.  Walsh explores soft rock and even Jazz inflicted tunes like the instrumental, "Midnight Moodies."  Despite solid songs like "Bookends", "Dreams," and "Days Gone By," they pale in comparison to "Rocky Mountain Way."

The album does have nice melodies, lots of cool instruments, good arrangements, all that stuff.  But, I could listen to Fleetwood Mac if I wanted clever soft rock, it's better.  It does have Joe Walsh's guitar, though.  He's good at that and probably the most famous Kansas born guitarist, ever?  I don't think there are too many that did as much with the instrument and established themselves as a player as much as he did.

Richard Pryor Introduces "Rocky Mountain Way"