Ken LaBrie - Lost & Found [1975]

Ken LaBrie has one of those rich smooth voices, but at least he can alter it to suit the mood. Lost & Found has some very traditional material (such as ‘My Tribute’ and a hymns medley), but there are also a few notable light-rock singer/songwriter moods, like the organ-backed title track, the soft acoustic ballad ‘Jesus Died’ or the folky ‘I’ve Got Something’. ‘The Medicine Bottle God’ talks about our tendency to use God only when we need him, after which we put him back on the shelf. One cut in particular really stands out: ‘Listen’ has a harder rock edge that features heavy electric guitar and organ passages. Ken on lead and rhythm guitar, others on drums, harmonica, bass, piano, organ and additional lead guitar. A few catalog numbers down from the same-label Concrete Rubber Band lp. (The Archivist, 4th edition by Ken Scott).

Ken

GONG - Gong est morte, vive Gong [1977]

Gong est Mort, Vive Gong is a live album by the psychedelic rock group Gong. It is a double LP recorded 28 May 1977 at the Hippodrome, Paris, France, and released by Tapioca Records, France in 1977.[2]

The concert was a partial reunion of the version of the "Angel's Egg"-era group with the return of Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, and Steve Hillage who had left Gong in 1974 and 1975, respectively, and were not part of the then-current Gong which would eventually change its name to Pierre Moerlen's Gong. Gong appeared as the headlining act in a 24-hour marathon festival; a poster advertising the event can be seen in the photo collage included with a later album, Gong Live Etc. During the concert, all the music from four entire albums was performed: Camembert Electrique, and the three albums of the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy. Some songs are presented in extended arrangements, therefore the album documents less than half of the entire performance.

gONg

The Fantastic Dee-Jays [USA garage 1966]

A Pittsburgh garage band whose high point was opening for a Rolling Stones concert in 1965. They might have been total unknowns in the grand scheme of things, but they actually managed to cut a few mostly self-penned singles on local labels in 1965 and 1966 that are well respected by '60s collectors. The trio featured two guitarists and a drummer -- a bass-less lineup, which is a rarity in rock music. Some of their singles were recorded at a local radio station, and indeed the crudeness of the production is fascinating, with mounds and mounds of reverb making the band sound like nothing so much as a garage punk version of Peter & Gordon. After five singles and an album, the group disbanded and evolved into the Swamp Rats, a harder-edged combo relying almost exclusively on nasty punk versions of big rock and R&B hits.

Fantastic Dee-Jays