Exploring unheralded rock songs from many genres including classic rock, hard rock, psych, garage, metal, proto-punk, punk, post-punk, and the occasional blues tune...
Today, Deep Rock Mining is featuring Toronto-area hard rockers, Triton Warrior with B side of their only release from 1972. The A side is Satan's Train. They were definitely going for the doom/evil theme before there would be genre's devoted to that.
John Bromley was/is a British singer songwriter who had the good fortune of having the Fleur De Lys back him on his only full length solo release, 1969's Sing. The result is some well written, catchy tunes. Here is the most popular song from that album, Sugar Love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-7OeCyoCgY
Yesterday, I played some fusion for the first time in a long time. It also occurred to me that I needed to play some sweet soul music, as this blog has been bereft of that genre lately. So, here is underknown Lou Johnson with a scorcher.
Pentagram was one of those legendary bands that never had an album released during their initial existence(1971-76). These heavy metal pioneers did manage to release a number of singles and record a bunch of other material that would sit on the shelf for years before seeing the light of day. Once interest in the band was renewed, an altered iteration of the band carried on. To me, I love these early tapes, though. Here they are from a recording session in December of 1972.
I've recently been turned on to this brand new Swedish garage rock band formed from some veterans of the Scandinavian rock scene. I like this song so much that I actually bought it on iTunes. It had probably been four years since my last iTunes purchase. But this song is worth it.
So far, the band has released only three songs on one EP. There is talk that a full length album may be out in the Fall. I will be buying it based on their currently released music. As for today's song, it not only is a good song, but they made a fun video. Feel free to skip ahead to 58 seconds in as that's when the music starts. Enjoy.
First State Bank was a terrible name for a band. Not only for how it's name would have been marketed to a hippie audience in 1969, but also today because finding more information on the band is near impossible as 99% of search engine results about Banking! In any case, here is the band with a nice groove.
Acid psych legends, The Heads, have released nearly 20 albums between 1995 and 2013, and I hadn't heard much about them until only recently. That just goes to show you that there is so much underappreciated rock music out there. Here are The Heads from their first, explosive LP, Relaxing With... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbDUDMzBqgs
Razor, this speed/thrash metal band from Ontario, Canada were very productive. During their initial existence(before the mandatory break up/reformation) the band released ten albums between 1984 and 1991. Here they are from their fifth LP, Custom Killing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYbQhtwjRNQ&feature=youtu.be
De De Lind was an Italian prog rock band who named themselves after a 1960's Playboy model. In any case, they managed to release one album and a few singles during their existence. Here is the second track off of their long player.
Black Oak Arkansas(from Black Oak, Arkansas) only very minimally entered my consciousness during my classic rock formative years(the 80's) with the occasional airplay of their biggest hit, Hot n' Nasty. They actually recorded dozens of albums and have had over fifty lineup changes over the years. In all that time, they surely made other music worth listening to, right? The answer is yes. Here is a funky number from their 1973 release, High on the Hog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOmRy25TPbk
Mad Dog was a Michigan band that sounded parts hard rock, heavy metal, and proto punk. They were definitely minimalists in the recording studio. The band had the good fortune of opening for Bob Seger and the MC5 on some Michigan dates. They impressed the large crowds by playing all original material. For one reason or another, though, they never broke through. At least we have their one album(released in '77 but parts recorded as early as '74).
When I was 12 years old and new to the powers of MTV, there was no bigger band to me that Def Leppard. This band released a power trio of videos from their recent Pyromania record(Photograph, Rock of Ages, and F-f-f-foolin'). This band could do no wrong. Unfortunately, by the time I was 13, MTV had played these videos into submission and I had had enough. My musical interests shifted to more classic rock and I didn't give much of a thought to Def Leppard for years. Of course, like most bands, I eventually discovered that their earlier stuff might be there best. Here they are off of their second album, High n' Dry, which is the album that preceded Pyromania, with an instrumental track.
Now today we have a band that never performed any live gigs. In fact, the sum existence of Green Bullfrog was three recording sessions between 1970 and 1971. Pseudonyms were used on the credits for the albums to hide the real names of Richie Blackmore, Albert Lee, Ian Paice, Matt Fisher, and Big Jim Sullivan. Apparently, this group of individuals had wanted to record together for a while, but record companies(blah blah blah), you know the story. Here they are with their epic instrumental, Bullfrog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvTNEZbJ2rc
Aguaturbia was a Chilean husband and wife centered band that recorded some great heavy psych material over a two year period. Sonny and Cher, these two aren't. This is some quality stuff. The band also recorded great covers of Jailhouse Rock, Crimson & Clover, and Rollin' and Tumblin'. If you ever come across their albums in the wild, you are very fortunate due to their extreme rarity.
Shortly after recording their seminal 60's hit, A Whiter Shade of Pale, guitarist Ray Royer and drummer Bobby Harrison were kicked out of Procol Harum. They quickly formed a new band, Freedom, and began recording. The band's lineup changed several times in the intervening five years. Here they are from 1971 with some wah wah soloing.
There's a very narrow band of pop rock that I find enjoyable. I also find it hard to define. But I know it when I hear it. I stumbled on this track recently while surfing the net and it grabbed me. Lyrically, it's just a bit darker than the band's big hit, Walking on Sunshine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7vhSlYw2xY
Okay, so I suppose I'll have to beg your indulgence as I have posted a song of the day that is over sixteen minutes long. In fact, Lamagaia does have a few shorter songs that I could have posted. However, you should really enjoy the magnum opus from these Swedish space rockers. This is Hawkwind level material here.
Dinosaur Jr. is one of those bands with a really distinctive sound. In their case, they sound like 90's alternative/indie mixed with searing guitar solos of an earlier rock period. In fact, J. Mascis' guitar chops seems only to have gotten better with age with side projects, such as Heavy Blanket. Here he is from a much earlier period with a track that ended up on the soundtrack of one of the most "Nineties" movies there was, Reality Bites. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reZ8o-ZHxM4
Loved it when a garage/mod band would start to minimally shade towards psychedelia. Today's song from this English five-piece is a good indicator of that time.
In my college years, my roommate John subjected me to dozens, if not hundreds, of airings of Queensryche's themed albums, Operation: Mindcrime and their follow-up, Empire. At the time, I knew that the band had some serious chops, yet the music didn't really grab me. Maybe I just wasn't ready for a heavy metal concept album. Fast forward a couple of decades, and I really enjoy Queensryche's earlier material. See if you agree.
I figured that I would play an Elvis song at some point. So, why not some young Elvis on the Fourth of July. Here he is singing the Lloyd Price classic.
While Daniela Casa was a vocalist at times, that is probably the least important part of her legacy as a musician. She was also a composer creating much soundtrack/library music in Italy over the course of the 70's. While this was her nominal profession, she was also laying groundwork for the ambient and electronic music for the decades to come. There is more to her biography that you can read here.
And now for some straight up psych from Brooklyn. This is one of those triple winners(band, album, and song are all the same name). They must have felt strongly about head shops...
Today's song comes from Swiss thrash/death/early doom metal pioneers, Celtic Frost. This track comes off of their debut album. The band would continue to record six albums through 1990 before finally calling it quits in 1993. They left behind quite a sound.
