‘Legend of a
Mind’ is a collection of songs from
bands between the years of 1968 and 1974
from the off-shoot record label of Decca
Records, neatly called Deram. Deram Records
was actually set up in 1966 by the suits
at Decca, who had already made the cringe-worthy
mistake of turning down the Beatles. They
realized then that the young folk of the
day did not only want to buy Englebert
Humperdink records, but needed something
with a bit of street creed that they just
plain did not understand.
This was a lucky break for them. In the
summer of 1967 the Beatles turned the
rock world on its head with the release
of ‘Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart
Club Band’, allowing all serious
minded musicians to break out of the 4/4
structures of 3-minute songs. There were
literally hundreds of bands out there
wanting to sign up to a record company
to get their sound out to an eager public;
some with 2½ -minute songs of cleverness,
others with 20-minute epics. Deram was
keen to sign them all - the good and the
bad - (How would they have known the difference?)
and here, spread over three 77-minute
discs, is a selection of arguably the
best.
Some bands on this collection went on
to be household names like Thin Lizzy,
The Moody Blues, and Camel; some miraculously
are still going on today in one form or
another like Caravan, Savoy Brown, and
Ten Years After; and some went on to become
bigger and better things namely Giles,
Giles & Fripp of course became King
Crimson, who went on to be both household
names and are still going strong today.
After a fine career Trapeze gave us Mel
Galley for Whitesnake; Dave Holland for
Judas Priest; and Glen Hughes for Deep
Purple, insuring gainful employment for
the trio years after they bit the dust.
Other bands like Black Cat Bones, Leafhound,
and Egg gained legendary status years
after they had disbanded.
Some bands were plainly a little too
ordinary or too way out to make it. East
Of Eden had a massive hit single with
‘Jig-a-Jig’, which is included
here, but their other material never quite
lived up to their early hit, although
after the band’s demise violinist
Dave Arbus turned up on the Who's Baba'
O'Reiley playing the fiddle solo that
brings the song to a rousing conclusion.
Others, alas, only lasted one album,
but that is where you come across some
unexpected delights. If you like heavy
metal guitar riffing to bang your head
to, then look no further than the eight
minutes of T2's 'No More White Horses’.
How Aardvark missed the boat to rock
superstardom will always be a mystery.
I mean they even had the perfect name.
When you walked down your local record
store racks Aardvark's album must of been
the first album you came across, they
would of even been in front of Abba. The
marvelously monickered ‘Once Upon
A Hill/Put That In Your Pipe And Smoke
It’ is Aardvark’s tour de
force over ten minutes of keyboard mayhem
that only Keith Emerson or Jon Lord could
of equalled.
The reason that Clark-Hutchinson did
not last long is evident in their sole
contribution song title here.
It's quite fun just to read the names
of the bands with the title of the song(s)
they play and then to imagine the sound
and see if you were correct.
The set comes in a psychedelic cardboard
box with each C.D. in a full color replica
of one of the albums from Deram. The 48-page
booklet includes essays from the people
at Deram, plus a full page devoted to
each band and some very embarrassing photos
from the era (stand up 'Mellow Candle').
At fourteen pounds and fifty pence, the
price of a normal single CD, this box
set is a real bargain. Whatever your taste
you just have to like something.
Rummaged by Mott the Dog
Sorted by Ella Crew
E-mail:
review@mott-the-dog.com
CD 1
Moody Blues - Legend Of A Mind
Bill Fay - Screams In The Ears
Giles, Giles & Fripp - Suite No. One
The End - Introspection - Part One
Ten Years After - I Can’t Keep From
Crying Sometimes
Bulldog Breed - Austin Osmanspare
Egg - The Song Of McGuillicudie The Pusillanimous
Johnny Almond Music Machine - Voodoo Forest
East Of Eden - Nymphenburger
Aardvark - Once Upon A Hill/Put That In
Your Pipe & Smoke It
T2 - No More White Horses
Caravan - Hello Hello
Leafhound - Freelance Fiend
Granny’s Intentions - Nutmeg, Bitter
Suite
The Rattles - The Witch
The Alan Bown! - Still As Stone
CD 2
Human Beast - Maybe Someday
Black Cat Bones - Chauffer
Pacific Drift - Tomorrow Morning Brings
Zakkarias - The Unknown Years
Clark-Hutchinson - Free To Be Stoned
Room - Cemetery Junction Part One &
Two
Keef Hartley Band - Roundabout
Moody Blues - Question
Ten Years After - Love Like A Man
East Of Eden - Jig-A-Jig
Caravan - Golf Girl
Mellow Candle - Boulders On My Grave
Keef Hartley Band - Theme Song
CD 3
Savoy Brown - Hellbound Train
Khan - Stranded
Thin Lizzy - The Rise & Dear Demise
Of The Funky Nomadic Tribes
Trapeze - Seafull
Caravan - C’ Lu Thlu
Thin Lizzy - Whisky In The Jar
Camel - Lady Fantasy: Encounter, Smiles
For You & Lady Fantasy
Pete Brown & Friends - Nights In Armour
Curved Air - Propositions
Camel - Air Born
Darryl Way’s Wolf - The Envoy
