RIP Allen Toussaint

I read of the sad passing of Allen Toussaint a couple of days ago and have thought how best to offer my own little tribute to his talents from within my own music collection.


So, here is Jess Roden with 'Trouble in Mind' a track which featured on his 1974 solo album and which was produced and arranged by Toussaint who also plays piano on the track.

'Trouble in Mind'

Also a live performance by Little Feat of the Allen Toussaint composition, 'On Your Way Down'.

'On Your Way Down'


Enjoy and remember a musical genius.

Vinyl Hunting - a Progress Report

One month on from purchasing a new record turntable and beginning my quest for vinyl albums, I can reveal how much I have enjoyed the experience. I have loved the physical side of handling and placing the records on the deck and even having to cross the room every fifteen minutes or so to turn over the disc has had a certain charm about it (and it's a bit of exercise isn't it)? Oh and while the record is playing, I can browse the cover and unlike with CD's, I actually have a chance of being able to read the sleeve notes.

Some of my aimless local walks have suddenly been given some purpose as I pop into charity shops or browse around local markets and seek out bargains - and there are bargains to be had despite the rise in the popularity of vinyl. (For example I picked up a Ry Cooder album in great condition for £1.50). Consequently up until last week, I had expanded my vinyl collection to a round dozen without breaking the bank.

My favourite finds have been 'Blues From Laurel Canyon' by John Mayall, Steely Dan's 'Katy Lied' and possibly my absolute favourite, 'Keep Your Hat On' by the Jess Roden Band.

I had forgotten just what a good album 'Blues From Laurel Canyon' was. The whole album is an autobiographical account of a visit Mayall made to the west coast of the US, mixing with the likes of Frank Zappa and the members of Canned Heat. The album has a great sound to it with a very wide stereo spectrum, some great songs and of course a very young Mick Taylor on lead guitar.

I don't believe that Steely Dan were capable of making a bad record and certainly not a bad sounding one. I'm delighted with the sound of 'Katy Lied' yet it appears that Donald Fagan and Walter Becker weren't owing to the malfunction of a new noise reduction system in the studio. They even famously refused to listen to the completed album. 

'Keep Your Hat On' is one I have never managed to own in any format and I don't recall it ever being released on CD. It was Roden's second solo album but the first credited to the Jess Roden Band and it features nine tracks, a mixture of covers and band originals. One of those covers is of the Eagles' 'Desperado' with Roden managing to give the song a soulful, bluesy feel. Far superior to the original in my view.

So far so good.

Then suddenly and very unexpectedly last week my meagre collection of vinyl was substantially increased owing to the generosity of a very good friend. Among the beauties he gave me were this lot.

And there were many, many more. 

It may be some time before I am back out vinyl hunting again. But then you never know do you?

Sandy Denny - Losing Game featuring Jess Roden

While listening to a bunch of stuff with my music player on 'shuffle' I came across the song 'Losing Game' by Sandy Denny, a track I couldn't recall hearing previously. This might be because it is buried away at the back end of a 19 CD box set collection of the complete works of Sandy Denny issued a couple of years ago.

With a little bit of research I discovered that the song was written by Australian singer/songwriter Richard Clapton (not Eric Clapton as one misinformed website claims) and it was originally recorded during the  'North Star Grassman & The Ravens' 1971 recording sessions. However it would not be completed until April 1976. (A version was issued on the re-mastered edition of the album in 2005).

The musicians involved in the final sessions were John 'Rabbit' Bundrick on keyboards, Jerry Donahue and Trevor Lucas on guitars, Pat Donaldson on bass, Dave Mattacks on drums, Dick Cuthell on trumpet and Alan Skidmore on saxophone. An illustrious line-up I think you will agree.

However what made me stop in my tracks while listening to this previously unissued version, was the distinctive voice of the backing singer. Sure enough a little more research revealed this to be none other than Jess Roden, a singer who I believe to be the best ever British male vocalist. You may wish to argue that point but surely no one can doubt that he is the most underrated.

Now the shuffle facility has been switched off and I am revelling once again in the back catalogue of Jess Roden solo and with The Alan Bown!, Bronco, the Butts Band and the Humans. What a voice!

In my view Roden is one of the few artists that I could easily spend a lifetime listening to and would never grow weary of.  Who are the others? Hmmm, an interesting question and perhaps a theme for a future post.

Meanwhile, who are yours?

The Butts Band - Live on Midnight Special 1974

I believe I may have mentioned Jess Roden in previous blogs. Yeah right! Well I can't help if I happen to regard him as the best British vocalist ever.

Anyway, courtesy of Neil Storey on Twitter I came across this rare piece of video footage of the Butts Band on US TV back in 1974.

For the non-initiated, The Butts Band were formed by Roden with two former members of The Doors, drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robbie Krieger.

Watch and enjoy as they perform 'Love Your Brother' and 'Kansas City'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-X4VZaCRPU&feature=youtu.be

The Best Album Re-Releases of 2013

Well, here we are in December already. Where has this bloody year gone I wonder?

It is therefore time to turn my attention to what I consider the best album releases of the year, but the White Room rules clearly state that I can only include new albums, not reissues regardless of how well they have been remixed, remastered or repackaged. So the following represent those albums that cannot feature in my final 'best of 2013' list.

It has been a great year for new albums but likewise it has been pretty wonderful for reissues also.

Early in the year, Family marked their 40th anniversary live reunion with a boxed set of all of their seven studio albums plus a live album from 1970, three singles and two CD's of alternate versions and studio outtakes. All nicely packaged with a 70 odd page book.
You can read my thoughts here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/box-sets-4-family-once-upon-time.html
and here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/family-once-upon-time-hands-on-verdict.html

Bob Dylan reissued what many consider one of his worst ever albums, yet 'Another Self Portrait' demonstrated that stripped of all the adornments that helped to ruin the original album, there were some very fine songs there. Additionally this package was boosted by the inclusion of some alternate versions of songs which later featured on 'New Morning'.

And speaking of Dylan, The Band brought out 'Live at The Academy of Music 1971' a four CD set which documented all of their performances at that venue in '71. If you can bear the repeated performances of various songs, there are some absolute gems in there.

In an earlier post which can be read here - http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/box-sets-7-john-martyn-island-years.html
I reported on the release of an 18 disc box set of all of John Martyn's recordings on the Island label. Plus an additional live DVD. Expensive but wonderful. (And I did grab myself a bit of a bargain with that one).

It has been a wonderful year for Beatles fans what with the voluminous 1st part of 'All These Years' by Mark Lewisohn (I am still working my way through the deluxe edition). Nineteen years after the release of 'Live at The BBC', the second volume, 'On Air' has been issued. While it may not be quite as essential as the first volume, it is still a fascinating piece of history and makes for some great listening. After all it is The Beatles!

However..... the absolute prize for the best reissue set of 2013 just HAS (in my opinion) to go to 'Hidden Masters' a six CD box set covering the career of Jess Roden. You can read my thoughts on that here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/jess-roden-hidden-masters.html
and here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/box-sets-6-hidden-masters-jess-roden.html

Look out soon for the White Room best albums of 2013.
See ya.

Books#4 - The Alan Bown Set - Before and Beyond by Alan Bown & Jeff Bannister

After leaving his position as trumpeter with The John Barry Seven early in 1965, Alan Bown went on to form The Alan Bown Set in May of that year.

Originally operating as a six piece band with organist Jeff Bannister taking most of the vocal duties, they played clubs and colleges up and down the country. For the most part, their repertoire was made up of jazz, blues and soul covers and they attracted a similar audience to their contemporaries, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames and Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers.

Impressed by a young singer from the Midlands who sang with The Shakedown Sound, Bown decided that he was the best white soul singer he had ever heard. His name was Jess Roden and he was quickly recruited to the Alan Bown Set making them a seven piece band.

It was at around this time that I became aware of the band either through seeing them live at Newcastle's Club-A-Gogo or through hearing an album which featured them performing live at London's famous Marquee Club on 25 September 1966. The album was called 'London Swings' and featured Jimmy James & The Vagabonds on the first side and The Alan Bown Set on the second.

I was hooked!

Over the next six years the band made a handful of albums for various record labels. The name was changed to The Alan Bown! and during this time Jess Roden departed and was replaced by another fine young singer named Robert Palmer. Eventually the band broke up in July 1972.

This excellent book was written by Jeff Bannister in collaboration with Alan Bown himself. It covers all of Bown's career and gives a fascinating insight into life in a band in the 1960's. Published in 2007 by Banland Publishing Ltd, the book is in hardback and is printed on very good quality glossy paper. It is perhaps aimed at those who are already fans of the band and features some interesting anecdotes including how Jess Roden came to leave the band. Nevertheless I'm sure many of the contents will appeal to all music fans of that era.

Box Sets #6: Hidden Masters - The Jess Roden Anthology

I wrote last year about a forthcoming box set representing the career of Jess Roden who I believe in his peak had the greatest soul/blues voice in the UK. The set has been lovingly compiled by Neil Storey in collaboration with Jess himself, and the work has involved much trawling through hundreds of tapes of studio and live recordings. These have been restored and remastered and among them are some previously unreleased gems.

 

 



 

 

After literally months of waiting, the hard work of mastering, manufacturing and hand numbering and signing the sets has been completed and this week I received my copy (number 120 if you must know). And a very fine set it is too. Well worth the wait.

 

The six discs are set into the front and back covers of a 12" square hardback book. There are complete recording details of all of the songs, numerous photographs and notes from Jess Roden regarding the various stages of his career. Of course the music represents this full career and consequently spans work with Alan Bown, Bronco, The Butts Band, The Rivits, Paul Kossoff, Seven Windows, The Jess Roden Band, Jess Roden & The Humans and of course his solo work.

 

While the package itself is great, the quality of the music is phenomenal. The boys have certainly done a wonderful job of remastering this material and I am hard pushed to find any fault with this set at all.

 

I suspect that this box set is going to occupy most of my music listening time over the forthcoming weeks and months.

 

Deep joy!

 

 

 

Jess Roden - Another Hidden Master

The latest track to be streamed from the 'Hidden Masters' anthology is a Jim Capaldi/Steve Winwood composition that was recorded by Jess Roden in June 1974. The song is called 'Let Me Make Something in Your Life' and according to Jess himself, it was recorded at Muscle Shoals with the resident musicians providing the backing. Collectively they were known as 'The Swampers' but individually were Roger Hawkins - drums, Barry Beckett - piano, Jimmy Johnson - guitar, Spooner Oldham - Hammond organ, Pete Carr - guitar, Ronnie Eades - baritone sax, Charlie Rose - trombone, Harrison Callowa - trumpet, Harvey Thompson - sax and David Hood - bass.

Incidentally it is pure coincidence that a few posts back I should have been talking about Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers, because his dad is David Hood from the above session.

While this song was recorded by Jim Capaldi and featured on the first solo album by Steve Winwood, this particular version by Jess never saw the light of day - until now of course, as it will feature in the forthcoming anthology.

For more on the Jess Roden 6 CD anthology see previous posts from 31 October, 12 November and 23 November.

More on this subject in due course.

Jess Roden - Hidden Masters: First Taste

It would appear that sales of the Jess Roden 6CD Anthology are going quite well. As I write this, PledgeMusic have achieved over 75% of their target pledges in little over a week. It is clear from the comments being left on the website that the Jess Roden fans out there are eagerly awaiting the eventual release of this item.

To whet our appetites and as a thank you for our pledges, a few of the tracks from the collection have been made available for us to stream. The first of these was an unreleased demo of 'Love Me' by The Alan Bown Set recorded on 19th December 1966. Using an arrangement similar to the underground hit by Billy Stewart, it was the first recording to feature new guitarist Tony Catchpole.

The second track 'Can't Get Next to You' features The Jess Roden Band playing live on a stormy night at London's Marquee Club on 20th May 1976. The accompanying notes detail how this version has been put together using parts from three different tapes that exist. The detail of the work that went into producing this version whilst retaining the essential live atmosphere is absolutely fascinating and the end result is awesome! This nine minute rendition of a song from the album 'Play it Dirty - Play it Class' is perhaps one of the best live recordings I've heard by anyone. As someone else has commented on the website, it sounds like Jess and the band are in the room with you. To quote someone else, "Oh this is very fantastic."

Finally (for now) we have been treated to 'In a Circle' a previously unreleased recording from sessions produced by Steve Smith that were long thought to have been lost or destroyed. Recorded by The Jess Roden Band at Island Studios in St Peter's Square, Hammersmith on 9th August 1975, this particular track also features Steve Winwood on Hammond organ. The sessions were to be for the first Jess Roden Band album, but sadly this was never released. Fortunately the tracks have been recovered thanks to great detective work by Neil Storey, and they will now feature on this much anticipated anthology.

All of the music released so far has been accompanied by very interesting and informative notes including many comments from Jess who has worked closely with Neil throughout the project. Consequently I am looking forward to reading the hardback book that will accompany the package, almost as much as the music itself.

As the pledges keep coming in, I look forward to more tracks slowly becoming available for our listening pleasure. It sounds like this is going to be an awesome collection.

Jess Roden - Hidden Masters: An update

Over the past week I have had little time for writing new posts or anything else for that matter. Among other things, some home decoration has kept me busy, and kept me covered in paint!

Anyway, to update all those Jess Roden fans out there regarding the exciting news I posted last week, I can now report that as of today orders are being taken for the long awaited CD anthology. And as if that wasn't enough, it has also been announced that the anthology has now been upgraded to a 6 CD set rather than the 5 originally planned. It would seem that there was so much material available that an extra CD is now included within the set.

For me. that's brilliant news and I placed my order earlier today. Although I may still have to wait a while, I can't wait for the postman to knock on my door. Patience was never my thing but this is worth waiting for.

This issue of the set is strictly limited so those interested in grabbing it while it lasts had better place their orders soon. Here are some further links for you.

http://www.hiddenmasters.net/jess-roden.html
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/jessroden

Jess Roden - Hidden Masters

On 1st September I wrote about the 1970's band named Bronco that were fronted by one of the finest British vocalists ever, Jess Roden.

I first became aware of his work when he sang with a Northern Soul band The Alan Bown Set. They released a few singles and one side of an LP record which was recorded live at the famous Marquee Club in London. The album, released in 1966 was entitled 'London Swings' and the other side featured Jimmy James & The Vagabonds. I played the Alan Bown side to death and loved it for its high energy as the band tore through several soul based numbers which then formed part of their stage repertoire. After that I never missed an opportunitiy to catch them live when they played in the north east of England.

As pop music became more psychedelic, the seven piece band featuring trumpet, saxophone, keyboards, guitar, bass and drums, changed their image and renamed themselves as The Alan Bown! With Jess Roden on vocals they released one more album, the imaginatively titled 'Outward Bown' but then having recorded the follow up album in 1969, Roden decided to leave the band. His replacement was none other than Robert Palmer who recorded new vocals for the UK version of the album, though the US version was released with the original Jess Roden vocals.

Roden subsequently went on to form Bronco, then played with two surviving members of The Doors under the name The Butts Band. A band called The Rivits followed and then a trio of albums under Roden's own name. Despite being critically acclaimed as they say, none of the albums were commercially successful and for a time, Roden left the music business altogether. He re-emerged in the mid 1990's as Jess Roden & The Humans, but after one album, he disappeared again.

At the end of my last blog on the subject of Roden, I hinted that there was some very interesting and exciting news for the hard core of Jess Roden fans out there. In 2010 almost 800 pieces of music recorded by Roden were discovered in the archives. These included released works (most of which have been deleted) and many that have never seen the light of day. From these tapes, a five CD anthology has been lovingly compiled and restored and I am now told is due to be released in the very near future. This covers all of his career and the release will be strictly limited to 950 hand numbered copies. The collection will not be available through the usual outlets. For more information and a full track list, check out the Jess Roden website at http://www.jessroden.com/news.html 

Hidden Gems #2 Bumpers West by Bronco

Bronco - Bumpers West

Bronco unfortunately only released two albums during the early 1970's, 'Country Home' from which this track is taken, in 1970 and 'Ace of Sunlight' the following year.

They were fronted by vocalist Jess Roden who early in his professional career joined white soul outfit The Alan Bown Set. Moving to a more psychedelic pop format, the band changed their name to The Alan Bown! and with Roden released only one album, the imaginatively titled 'Outward Bown'.

Despite recording a second album with the band, Roden decided to leave and his vocals were re-recorded by his replacement, Robert Palmer. Incidentally the original version of the album with vocals by Jess Roden was released in the US and today it is pretty hard to come by.

Roden then spent a couple of years with Bronco before joining forces with two members of The Doors, releasing an album under the name The Butts Band. He then formed his own outfit but after a few highly regarded albums he left the music scene altogether and turned his attention to graphic design. His re-emergence in the mid 1990's as Jess Roden & The Humans was sadly short lived and he now appears to have retired from the music business. In my opinion, it is a sad loss as he possesses one of the finest and most soulful voices I have ever heard. Listen to the track and let me know what you think.

To the best of my knowledge both Bronco albums have been deleted but I managed to obtain an import copy of both albums on one CD.

There will be more about Jess Roden in a future blog and for other fans of his music out there, some very interesting news!!

Meanwhile, enjoy this hidden gem.