Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Tyrannosaurus Rex, "Hot Rod Mama," 1968

The lead number of their debut album, before they became the famous T.Rex and Marc Bolan became the face of glam rock in the 1970s:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Blodwyn Pig, "Dear Jill," 1969

Another nice number from the debut album of ex-Jethro Tull guitarist Mick Abrahams' band:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Groundhogs, "Groundhog," 1971

Another excellent number from the sadly forgotten British blues band:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Rhinoceros, "Apricot Brandy," 1969

Elektra Records created this band through auditions in 1967, but it never achieved much success, despite releasing a number of singles and albums.  This instrumental, released as a single, isn't bad:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Fat, "The Shape I'm In," 1970

Another great number (earlier ones here and here) from the Western Massachusetts band that deserved to be far more successful than they were:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Factory, "Try a Little Sunshine," 1969

The second single from this largely forgotten British psychedelic band we featured last month; a good tune, very much of its moment:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Frijid Pink, "Sing a Song for Freedom," 1970

Another number from this Michigan band; this was a single, that missed the top 40, but did chart:

 

Not-so-obscure rock 'n' roll

Black Sabbath's first album was released 50 years ago today.  I still think it's their best, and one of the best albums in a year full of excellent ones.

(Thanks to James Bondarchuk for the pointer.)

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Blodwyn Pig, "It's Only Love," 1969

After Mick Abrahams, the original guitarist for Jethro Tull, left the band after a dispute with Ian Anderson about the musical direction of the band (This Was, Tull's debut, was a much more British blues-style album than later work), Abrahams formed a new band Blodwyn Pig.  This tune comes from their debut album (and doesn't sound at all like Jethro Tull!):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Fire, "Father's Name is Dad," 1968

Another forgotten British psychedelic band (some of whose members later migrated to The Strawbs), this was their most successful release (at least in the UK):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Attack, "Magic in the Air," 1967

Another forgotten British psychedelic band that released a few singles in the late 1960s; this tune, which wasn't released at the time, is better than the singles in my opinion:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Factory, "Gone," 1968

British psychedelic band that released two singles and enjoyed no recognition at the time; this is the B-side of one of the two singles (which I rather prefer to the A-side, "Path Through the Forest"):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Spice, "Astranaza," 1968

Before Uriah Heep and Ken Hensley, vocalist David Bryon and guitarist Mick Box played with a band called Spice, which recorded more material than it released, including this quirky tune that grows on you:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Groundhogs, "Cherry Red," 1971

Long-lived British rock band, this comes from their most successful period (at least in the UK):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: the five best finds of 2019...

...in my opinion, anyway.  Glad to hear yours in the comments (click on the category, "Great Moments in Obscure Rock 'n' Roll" to see this year's selections).  Here's mine (with apologies to Warpig, Toad and U.F.O. who almost made it):

Sir Lord Baltimore, "Hard Rain Fallin'"

Jeronimo, "Understanding"

Band of Joy, "I Got to Find My Baby"

Fat, "Country Girl"

Dirty Tricks, "Wait Till Saturday"

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: U.F.O., "Prince Kajuku," 1971

Early U.F.O. once again, still with guitarist Mick Bolton, from their second "space rock" album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Frijid Pink, "Drivin Blues," 1970

Another late 60s Michigan band, the psychedelic/blues rock Frijid Pink had one national hit with their cover of "House of the Rising Sun," but this was an earlier single the same year:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Frost, "Little Susie Singer," 1969

Michigan in the late 1960s was a fertile ground for rock music, producing, among others, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, the MC5, Grand Funk, Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, and, the least successful of them all (but arguably more talented than some of the others), The Frost, a band we've not featured since last year.  Here's another number from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Listening, "See You Again," 1968

Boston-based psychedelic/hard rock band, this song comes from their one and only album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Elf, "Rocking Chair Rock 'n' Roll Blues," 1974

Here's another number from Ronnie James Dio's pre-metal period, with his first band, Elf; this is from their second album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: U.F.O., "Boogie for George," 1970

Late 1960s British blues rock/spacce rock band that became much better known for a hard rock and then heavy metal style in the mid-1970s and after; but this number is closer to the beginning, with original guitarist Mick Bolton, when they were only moderately successful in some European countries:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Toad, "Pig's Walk," 1971

Here's a heavy number from the Swiss hard rock outfit's debut album; you can hear the Hendrix influence all over it:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Elf, "Hoochie Koochie Lady," 1972

Late 60s/early 70s American band, featuring proto-heavy-metal musician and singer Dio, this is probably their best song:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Graham Bond Organization, "Harmonica," 1965

Early movers in the British blues explosion, this band was well-known in the mid-1960s (mainly in Britain), but hasn't fared well in the collective rock 'n' roll memory.   That's Bond on vocals and organ, Jack Bruce on bass and harmonica, and Ginger Baker on drums.   This version of their best-known song comes from a 1965 movie:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Toad, "Boogin' on a Saturday Night," 1975

We haven't featured this under-appreciated Swiss hard rock band since last year; so here's a nice number from their third album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Freedom's Children, "Sea-horse," 1971

Here's the lead track from this South African band's third and final album (we featured them last year, with my favorite number from that album):

 

 

In Memoriam: Ginger Baker (1939-2019)

For my rock 'n' roll fans, Baker, the drummer for Cream, and before that, the Graham Bond Organization, has died.   He was a very good drummer and a complete maniac!  That he lived so long is, like Keith Richards, a case of:  how could he have survived his lifestyle? This documentary isn't bad, although a bit tedious at points, but it certainly brings out what a dysfunctional human being he was in addition to his skill as a drummer.  

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Fat Mattress, "Naturally," 1970

Another fine tune from Noel Redding's short-lived band:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Trúbrot, "Going," 1970

Psychedelic and progressive influences are apparent in the work of this Icelandic rock band that performed from the late 1960s into the 1970s; I thought this one of their better numbers:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Fat, "Duck Sweat," 1970

Another good number from this Massachussetts band that we first featured this summer:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Grannie, "Leaving," 1971

This is one of the very first obscure numbers I posted several years ago, but it's such a great tune by a forgotten British band that I'm putting it up front again (a mix of Blind Faith and Traffic, as it were):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Warpig, "Rock Star," 1970

Canadian hard rock band of the early 1970s, that enjoyed some local success in Ontario, but not really elsewhere.  This is from their one and only album (with echoes of Deep Purple):

UPDATE:  As reader David Frydrych points out, the "echo" may be going the other way!

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Dirty Tricks, "Too Much Wine," 1975

Another strong number from the debut album of this short-lived British rock band:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Hard Stuff, "Jay Time," 1972

We haven't featured this British hard rock band, spun off from Atomic Rooster, in a good while; here's the lead number from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Black Widow, "Sacrifice," 1970

British hard rock/progressive band of the late 1960s and early 1970s, this is the title track of their second, and most successful album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: White Witch, "It's So Nice to be Stoned," 1972

Eclectic Tampa, Florida band, ranging across many styles, this tune comes from their debut album (thanks to Davd Wasser for the tip):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Jerusalem, "Frustration," 1972

Britsh hard rock band, that toured widely as an opening act for major hard rock acts in the early 1970s, this is the b-side of the one single from their one and only album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Weed, "Weed," 1971

After leaving Uriah Heep, Ken Hensley went to Germany and recorded one album with a group of German rock musicians; this is the title song, an instrumental very much in the Uriah Heep style:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Dirty Tricks, "Wait Till Saturday," 1975

Short-lived British hard rock band, this is a fine rocking tune that leads off their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Fat, "Country Girl," 1970

Western Massachussetts band that never made it nationally; this is from their debut album (UPDATE:  Shaun Nichols, John Fischer, Dean Rowan and others tell me they aren't getting the video, so I'm reposting with anew video, which I hope works):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Flower Travellin Band, "How Many More Times," late 1960s

They don't get much more obscure than this Japanese pscyhedelic/progressive/hard rock band of the late 1960s and early 1970s, that enjoyed no commercial success even in Japan, but has long had a small cult following.   They began by doing covers of various British blues rock numbers, of which this is one--a rather distinctive version of the song Led Zeppelin ripped off from Howlin' Wolf and Albert King and made famous:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Juicy Lucy, "Who do you love?", 1970

British blues rock band, doing their version of the Bo Diddley tune that George Thorogood made famous for later audiences (their version is better!):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Band of Joy, "I Got to Find My Baby," 1968

Before they joined Led Zeppelin, singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham both played in this British band, that recorded several demos but never released any records.  You can certainly recognize the voice and the drumming in this early song:

 

Great moments in rock 'n' roll covers: Black Pistol Fire, "Oh Well"

And here's a contemporary rock band covering, and putting a distinctive imprint, on the Peter Green classic:

 

Great moments in covers of "Oh Well": Johnny Gallagher, 2015

A great Irish blues guitarist does his brilliant solo version of this month's song:

 

Great moments in covers of "Oh Well": Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes

This may be the best version after the original:

 

Great moments in rock 'n' roll riffs: Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, "Oh Well," 1969

In 1968-69, the British blues band Fleetwood Mac, led by guitarist Peter Green, ruled the British charts, including with this number, which may be the best riff in the history of rock 'n' roll.  For May, I'll be featuring various covers of this tune, but here's the original (that's Green on vocals and doing the riff, while Danny Kirwan, whose career went to ruin in mental illness, drugs, and alchohol, is doing the lead):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Roy Young, "I'm a Loner," 1973

British rock musician who performed and recorded in many different genres over the course of nearly fifty years, although with not much success on this side of the Atlantic.  This was the b-side of a 1973 single:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Kleptomania, "Stop," 1971 (not released until 1979)

This Belgian hard rock outfit released various singles throughout the 1970s, and was a popular live act on the Continent, but never had much commercial success.  Various songs from a 1971 recording session, including this one, eventually appeared on an album released in 1979.

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Jeronimo, "Understanding," 1971

German hard rock band that had some success in Europe in the early 1970s.  This song is a bit atypical, and better than their standard fare (which I found a bit tedious):