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Peter Banks \u2013 The Self-contained Trilogy\n<\/i><\/b>People of a certain age sometimes grouse needlessly about the fact that the current lineup of their favorite classic band doesn\u2019t include all of the original members. Hey, we\u2019re all getting older, and the fact is that people move on, while interest and demand endure. So I don\u2019t mind it so much. One of my favorite groups, Yes, doesn\u2019t currently feature any original members (current leader Steve Howe<\/a> joined in 1970). Yes\u2019 founding guitarist was Peter Banks; he departed the group after sessions for Time and a Word<\/i>. But he didn\u2019t quit music; he remained busy with an underrated band, Flash, did session work, and eventually got a solo career going steady in the 1990s. His releases from the period 1994-1997 (Instinct<\/i>, Self-contained<\/i> and Reduction<\/i>) have long been out of print, and a new reissue brings them together in a 3CD set. Banks covers a lot of stylistic ground here, with lyrical guitar work that hints at what Yes might have sounded like had he stayed with the group.<\/p>\n
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Peter Banks \u2013 Be Well, Be Safe, Be Lucky…The Anthology
\n<\/i><\/b>This 2CD anthology repeats a good portion of the 1990s material discussed above. Its first disc, The Best of Peter Banks<\/i>, only features three cuts not found on the aforementioned set. The second disc, Can I Play You Something More?<\/i> Draws from a similarly-named 1999 collection that compiles Banks\u2019 early work (1965-\u201968), adding a few previously-unheard cuts. Banks passed away in 2013.<\/p>\n
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Gene Clark \u2013 Gene Clark Sings for You
\n<\/i><\/b>Clark was a founding member of the Byrds, but he was gone by early 1966. His early post-Byrds work hinted at the future of the rock-country hybrid, a direction his old group would also go on to pursue. In addition to his collaborations with the Gosdin brothers and the Dillards, he recorded a passel of demos, collected as Gene Clark Sings for You<\/i>. While we don\u2019t know exactly who played on all of these sessions, there\u2019s no doubt as to their value. Anyone who appreciates Dillard & Clark\u2019s \u201cWhy Not Your Baby\u201d (or its superb remake by Velvet Crush) will find much to love in this set. Some of these songs are as good as anything the Byrds ever did. Meanwhile, Clark\u2019s muse apparently led him to create more material than he had use for; this new collection features the contents of a five-song acetate he recorded, songs meant to be recorded by folk-pop group the Rose Garden. Most of those cuts feature only Clark and his acoustic guitar, and they\u2019re more folky (and less immediate) than the Sings for You tracks. The full-band electric blues \u201cBig City Girl\u201d is out of step with the other tracks, but it\u2019s fascinating and memorable. And \u201cDoctor Doctor\u201d sounds like (and is<\/i>, really) a long-lost gem of its era.<\/p>\n
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The Rose Garden \u2013 A Trip Through the Garden
\n<\/i><\/b>This group is remembered (if at all) for its lone hit single, \u201cNext Plane to London,\u201d a lovely tune with shades of We Five crossed with the gentle end of Jefferson Airplane. The group\u2019s sole LP is included here in its entirety and features \u201cTill Today,\u201d a tune written for the group by Gene Clark (his demo of the song is included on the aforementioned CD discussed above). This disc appends that LP\u2019s ten tracks with 16 more: single versions, stereo mixes, rehearsals, acetates and live recordings. The unreleased material is as good (and often better) than the songs on The Rose Garden<\/i>. Not surprisingly, the five live tracks that close the disc show the group\u2019s skill at playing and singing, with just a bit more oomph<\/i> in the arrangements. The band\u2019s searing, energetic reading of the Byrds\u2019 \u201cSo You Want to Be a Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Star\u201d shows that the Rose Garden could rock out when they wanted to.<\/p>\n
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Thomas Dolby \u2013 Hyperactive
\n<\/i><\/b>Thanks to the massive success of \u201cShe Blinded Me With Science,\u201d Thomas Dolby<\/a> will always be associated with the early 1980s. And that\u2019s a shame, because he remains active and vital today. Dolby\u2019s a sort of modern-day renaissance man, with involvement in all manner. of creative pursuits (Read his excellent memoir<\/a> to learn more). He\u2019s never been one to look backward: he told me<\/a> in 2011, \u201cevery week I get an offer to go off and do some eighties revival tour with ABC<\/strong> and A Flock of Seagulls<\/strong>. With all due respect, I wouldn\u2019t touch something like that with a ten foot pole. It would be an admission of \u2018All my glory days are behind me; if you want to get a few drinks in you and take a walk down Memory Lane, come to our show.\u2019\u201d And the sequencing of this new 2CD best-of collection is right in line with that attitude; it\u2019s intentionally sequenced non-chronologically, putting the songs together in the manner that suits the listening experience best. Highly recommended, especially for those who know The Golden Age of Wireless<\/i> and not much else.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/grant_green_funk.jpg\")
Grant Green \u2013 Funk In France: From Paris to Antibes (1969-1970)
\n<\/i><\/b>This 2CD set is a sort of companion to Slick!<\/i> (reviewed below). But unlike that single-CD set, this collection draws from Green\u2019s two appearances at the 1970 Antibes Jazz Festival plus a radio session from October \u201869. Some slinky soul jazz is the order of the day, with plenty of sax and organ alongside Green\u2019s tasteful fretwork. Green and his band serve up classy and intriguing readings of well-known pop material (\u201cHurt So Bad,\u201d nearly a half hour of \u201cHi Heel Sneakers\u201d) as well as jazz standards (Sonny Rollins\u2019 \u201cOleo\u201d). The liner notes are predictably essential, and while it\u2019s purely incidental to the music, serious props as well to package designer\/art director Burton Yount for his work.<\/p>\n
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Grant Green \u2013 Slick!: Live at Oil Can Harry\u2019s