skip to main |
skip to sidebar
...if any cat ain't got any wax by this combo, (there might be a few) a good place to pick up the youngblood groove is right here...being a goodly snootful from the first 3 disks (67/69) its full of folkrock/r'n'b/goodtime/jazz jams just right for kicking the gong around on those lazy afternoons when something mellow but solid is needed...over an hours hep vibrations and not one dud note and thats a excellent thing right enough...
...the youngbloods were one of the more intesting combos working in the post folk-rock creative blast that produced wax by fred neil/tim buckley/buffalo springfield, the 'bloods angle on moving things forward was to get a more heavy jazz groove on with their third LP(elephant mountain), but this being slightly before that avenue was trundled there's recognisable folk influence (if only in the choice of covers), all inflected with the smoke from hazy bongs, good vibes are happening...all gets underway with the old tymey 'euphoria' kicking the gong around with some reflective acid pop ballad following up...lively R&B and some jazzy pop move the side along nicely, keeping everything groovy, nicely wigged old school country vibes, the type the byrds were trying to master, start to close down the side with some funky footstomper R&B shouter finishing off...mellowed out laid back blues get it all back in the saddle with more super cool keyboards (the electric piano on this whole LP is real pleasing), non fey orchestral pop follows laying down a sinister vibe, then some stoner tune advocating that wine drinking vibe that most hooligans will know and dig...some garage-raga blast comes on to start the end of the disk with a nice version of tim hardins 'reason to beleive', a nod to the recent folk past and then the disk disappears into thin air, a short but economically packed smorgasbord of hep coffee house acid noodles...
...the great thing that gives these cats some substance, some presence away from the general hippy mass entertainers/chancers, was their seemingly easy ability to groove in way different styles and yet make it sound as though it was their own style...whether they be working in a folk rock or psych style and later when they got friendly with some jazzboing and some country hickness it was all them and not a band trying different things and just plain messing it up...their whole vibe was natural, an innate sense of purity, a purity once removed from the source, like jazz or folk and turned into youngblood music...the unfortunate downside of this seeming confusion of styles, for that's what it seemed to the great unwashed who actually went out and bought a single of theirs and made it a top ten smash, won them eventual diminishing returns at the accounts office but to add to the weirdness of the times they got some cash from the bean counting suits to set up a label and record their hippy folk chums...naturally all the platters they put out went straight to the bargain cutout bin along with their own stuff which is one reason a lot of brokedown busto crusto heads had a complete run of youngblood and racoon label wax in the collection...yes indeed, they were real friendly to the counter cultural cats back in the day and this wax is their finest effort, the peak of their powers with the aformentioned styles all bubbling making for a mellow but exciting earfull...
...if any cat ain't got any wax by this combo, (there might be a few) a good place to pick up the youngblood groove is right here...being a goodly snootful from the first 3 disks (67/69) its full of folkrock/r'n'b/goodtime/jazz jams just right for kicking the gong around on those lazy afternoons when something mellow but solid is needed...over an hours hep vibrations and not one dud note and thats a excellent thing right enough...
...the youngbloods were one of the more intesting combos working in the post folk-rock creative blast that produced wax by fred neil/tim buckley/buffalo springfield, the 'bloods angle on moving things forward was to get a more heavy jazz groove on with their third LP(elephant mountain), but this being slightly before that avenue was trundled there's recognisable folk influence (if only in the choice of covers), all inflected with the smoke from hazy bongs, good vibes are happening...all gets underway with the old tymey 'euphoria' kicking the gong around with some reflective acid pop ballad following up...lively R&B and some jazzy pop move the side along nicely, keeping everything groovy, nicely wigged old school country vibes, the type the byrds were trying to master, start to close down the side with some funky footstomper R&B shouter finishing off...mellowed out laid back blues get it all back in the saddle with more super cool keyboards (the electric piano on this whole LP is real pleasing), non fey orchestral pop follows laying down a sinister vibe, then some stoner tune advocating that wine drinking vibe that most hooligans will know and dig...some garage-raga blast comes on to start the end of the disk with a nice version of tim hardins 'reason to beleive', a nod to the recent folk past and then the disk disappears into thin air, a short but economically packed smorgasbord of hep coffee house acid noodles...
...the great thing that gives these cats some substance, some presence away from the general hippy mass entertainers/chancers, was their seemingly easy ability to groove in way different styles and yet make it sound as though it was their own style...whether they be working in a folk rock or psych style and later when they got friendly with some jazzboing and some country hickness it was all them and not a band trying different things and just plain messing it up...their whole vibe was natural, an innate sense of purity, a purity once removed from the source, like jazz or folk and turned into youngblood music...the unfortunate downside of this seeming confusion of styles, for that's what it seemed to the great unwashed who actually went out and bought a single of theirs and made it a top ten smash, won them eventual diminishing returns at the accounts office but to add to the weirdness of the times they got some cash from the bean counting suits to set up a label and record their hippy folk chums...naturally all the platters they put out went straight to the bargain cutout bin along with their own stuff which is one reason a lot of brokedown busto crusto heads had a complete run of youngblood and racoon label wax in the collection...yes indeed, they were real friendly to the counter cultural cats back in the day and this wax is their finest effort, the peak of their powers with the aformentioned styles all bubbling making for a mellow but exciting earfull...
No comments:
Post a Comment