Quadio is a recently developed optical disc audio format. It has been around for a few years and is essentially reissues of albums on Blu-ray that seek to replicate the ’70s quadrophonic, four-channel sound, but for the digital age. There have been some fine Quadio releases from Rhino, including a Chicago box from 2016 and a Doobie Brothers box from 2020 that are both long out of print. The format proves that everything old is new again, but that digital music on disc can sound excellent if it’s done right.
Here are two recent Quadio releases that are highly recommended for audiophiles and just about anyone who owns a Blu-ray player, has a particular soft-spot for ’70s rock albums, and likes good sound. The discs come in bespoke packages, include technical notes on the Quadio format and have beautiful visual interfaces.
The J. Geils Band may be one of the most underrated groups in rock history. It was one of the best live bands of the ’70s, who also scored a few hits along the way and made some fine albums. While its studio albums never fully captured the raw excitement of its live shows, good songwriting, strong support from the group’s label (Atlantic Records) and a true band feel made the group’s albums well-worn staples of people’s record collections in the ’70s.
The songwriting was mostly shared by lead singer Peter Wolf and keyboardist Seth Justman, but the group members were cracker-jacks in selecting and covering blues, soul, and R&B gems and making them their own. The group was rounded out by Stephen Jo Bladd on drums, Howie Klein on bass, Magic Dick on harmonica, and J. Geils on guitar. This lineup sustained through all but the group’s last studio album, with Wolf not in the fold for its finale. Wolf is one of the most charismatic front-men in rock history, combining moves like Jagger with a tough Boston edge, gritty vocals, and a musical vocabulary steeped in blues and R&B legends, including some that he worked for in his scuffling days.
Nightmares is the group’s fifth album. It was released in 1974, is one of the group’s best and includes the hit “Must Of Got Lost.” The music here represents the height of the band’s rock, R&B, and blues sound before it departed Atlantic for EMI for its eighth album, which set the stage for its massive pop success with the album Freeze Frame in 1981. The music is inspired, road tested ’70s rock at its best.
The Quadio mix sounds excellent and while the group’s live magic could never be duplicated, the clarity of the instruments and vocals does show how well made the group’s studio albums were at this time. This reissue is yet another reminder that the J. Geils Band deserves to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The group’s absence from the hall is a criminal oversight of epic proportions. These are tales from the ’70s vinyl jungle from the real bad boys from Boston.
The Jefferson Starship’s Red Octopus is a very different album from Nightmares, even though it was only released a year later. The album represents the full flowering of the group and its completed metamorphosis from the Jefferson Airplane. The final studio album from the Airplane was Long John Silver in 1972, with Sunfighter credited to just Kantner and Slick, preceding that album in 1971.
Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun, a Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, and David Freiberg album, was released in 1973. Freiberg had previously played with members of the Airplane and was a member of another Bay Area psychedelic group, the Quicksilver Messenger Service. Grace Slick released a solo album in 1974. There had been an album in 1970 credited to Paul Kantner/Jefferson Airplane called Blows Against the Empire.
The first Jefferson Starship album was Dragon Fly, released in 1974. It included, from the Airplane, Kantner, Slick, Johnny Barbata, and on one track (“Caroline”), Marty Balin. Craig Chaquico replaced Jorma Kaukonen on guitar and Pete Sears replaced Jack Cassady on bass,. Kaukonen and Cassady departed the Airplane for good and forged ahead full-time with their group Hot Tuna. Freiberg was also a full-fledged member. Papa John Creach, who had played previously on one live and two studio Airplane albums, as well as Sunfighter and Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun, also played on the second Hot Tuna album.
The Starship eschewed the overtly acoustic, folk-rock and psychedelic shadings of the Airplane, for a slick, turbo-charged sound that was a staple of album rock in the mid-’70s. While Dragon Fly was essentially the debut of the Jefferson Starship and a fine album, Red Octopus was a more fully realized effort and benefitted greatly from Balin’s full membership in the group. The addition of Creach, a black blues violinist born in 1917, added just enough to help the group transcend the more heavy-handed AOR rock of the day, and the two albums he appeared on (Dragon Fly, Red Octopus) are the group’s best albums.
Red Octopus includes muscular ’70s rock (“Fast Buck Freddy”), beautiful and powerful songs with vocals from both Balin (most notable on “Miracles”) and Slick, and some interesting textures and explorations. The album stands up well to the test of time and it’s odd that some of the more rock and accessible tracks are no longer played on FM rock radio. This is such a talented assemblage of musical artists and reflective of the myriad of groups in the States and the UK that made the decade such a rich period for live and recorded music.
It is important to note that Jefferson Starship continued on, and while albums like Spitfire and Earth were fine efforts, later albums included varying degrees of participation from Slick. Balin dropped out for a long stretch and eventually, after various lineup changes, the group morphed into the Starship with Mickey Thomas the primary vocalist. The group became a shell of its former self as either the Jefferson Airplane or Jefferson Starship.
The sound here is superb. Although the Airplane could be pretty spacey and even a little ragged and improvisational, its albums were always well recorded. With the Jefferson Starship the sound quality was even better, making this album a perfect candidate for the Quadio treatment. The mix brings out beautifully some of the more nuanced and textured sounds and enhances the more lush moments.
These discs tend to go out of print fast, so picking up these two as soon as possible is highly recommended.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
J. Geils Band, Nightmares and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle
B+
Jefferson Starship, Red Octopus
B+
