Our spotlight on the Guerssen label’s autumn 2023 releases continues with considerations of two sets by The Artwoods, Art Gallery and the 2LP singles collection I Take It All (both in mono), the 2LP retrospective covering The Daily Flash The Legendary Recordings 1965-1967, Pulse’s self-titled album, Sabattis’ Warning in the Sky, and John St. Field’s Control. All six releases are out now.
For heavy-duty aficionados of 1960s UK Beat rock and Mod R&B, The Artwoods (originally The Art Woods) likely need no introduction, if only as a footnote. Formed by vocalist Art Wood, younger brother of Ronnie Wood, after the dissolution of the Art Wood Combo (Art also briefly sang in Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated), The Artwoods’ lineup cohered around lead guitarist Derek Griffiths, organist Jon Lord (later of Deep Purple), bassist Malcolm Pool, and drummer Keef Hartley (later of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and his own band); Hartley was later replaced by Colin Martin.
The Artwoods’ discography consists of the Art Gallery LP reissued here, plus a handful of singles and a four-song EP “Jazz in Jeans” that are compiled onto I Take It All, a 2LP set. Nearly everything The Artwoods released was originally issued by Decca, but with the exception of “I Take What I Want,” which rose to No. 28 on the UK pop singles chart, The Artwoods never had a hit. However, as detailed in Mike Stax’s typically strong liners, The Artwoods were a working band that toured up and down the UK playing to enthusiastic crowds.
I’ll confess to being a sizable fan of ‘60s Beat-Mod sounds, so I Take It All lands right in my zone. The Artwoods have sometimes been downgraded for a lack of original material and additionally for not transforming their sources a la “House of the Rising Sun” or “Go Now,” but I Take It All is the core Beat-Mod stuff. Furthermore, the band evolves as these songs unwind, as there are jazzy excursions.
But I Take It All has peaks and valleys of quality and does feel like a comp at spots. Contrasting, Art Gallery is a sharp compact set that benefits from a relatively tight recording timeframe (exact dates are lost to time) and smart choices of material. And unlike many albums of the era, which fill out their sides with extra stuff around singles tracks, everything here is exclusive to this album, an inspired set that’s a requirement for the UK Beat-Mod shelf. Definitely more than a footnote.
Sometimes erroneously tagged as a California band, The Daily Flash (original lineup: bassist Don MacAllister, guitarists Don Hastings and Steve Lalor, and drummer Don Keliehor) got their start in Seattle, playing psych-tinged folk-rock in a city that was dominated by garage and frat sounds. Initially given something of a cold shoulder by Seattle club promoters, The Daily Flash traveled south to the Golden State to play ballroom shows in San Francisco (listed on numerous posters, sometimes as the headliner) and acquired management in Los Angeles.
Having already cut a 45 for the Parrot label, a cover of Dylan’s “Queen Jane Approximately” b/w the traditional reworking “Jack of Diamonds,” they followed it with a single for Uni, offering a version of Ian & Sylvia’s “The French Girl” b/w Len Chandler & Bob Kaufman’s “Green Rocky Road.” A lack of original material is occasionally cited as the reason for the band’s modest rep in the whole ’60s shebang, but the more obvious issue was a simple lack of recordings; they didn’t get a retrospective album out until I Flash Daily was released via the Psycho label in 1984.
“Jack of Diamonds” did make its mark through its inclusion in the Nuggets library, but The Legendary Recordings 1965-1967 illuminates the breadth of The Daily Flash’s talent by essentially doubling their ’60s catalog through unreleased studio and live recordings. Bluntly, the band had the folk-rock sound of the era down pat (additionally tackling songs by Eric Anderson and Tim Hardin), but at times they were far more expansive than that, as the excellent live version of Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island” drives home. For fans of the band and the ’60s West Coast sound in general, this is a must.
Pulse grew out of the breakup of two New Haven, Connecticut garage bands, The Shags (note the singular g) and Bram Rigg Set. Both of those groups were produced by Thomas “Doc” Cavalier aka Trod Nossel, and the association continued with Pulse, as Cavalier was the guiding hand on their debut 45 “Can Can Girl” b/w “Burritt Bradley,” which was released on Atco as The Pulse in 1967.
That first 45 couples a psych-pop A-side typical for ’67 with an oddball flip complete with a deep-throated titular narrator. By ’69, the group, six members strong, had retained the psych edge but toughened up with a bluesier bent complete with harmonica blown by Jeffrey Potter. Benet Segal was the drummer, Richard Bednarczyk handled keyboards, Paul Rosano played bass, Peter Neri was the guitarist-vocalist, and Carl Donnel sang lead.
Pulse’s eponymous nine-song LP, all originals, was released on Poison Ring Records, the label of Cavalier, who handled production duties once again. A big part of the record’s appeal is how elements of late ’60s hard psych are still part of a non-purist bluesy heavy rock equation. The band works up appealing heat as a unit, while Donnel, who’s aggressively upfront in the scheme, avoids going overboard with the sub-Stewart soul-boy wailing. But most impressive is a batch of well-developed songs that largely stay on the short side. Pulse’s sole full-length is effectively a grower.
The Rochester, New York four-piece Sabattis recorded a demo in March of 1970 with future Grammy winner Mick Guzauski with hopes of securing a record deal. This didn’t happen, and rather than go the private press route, the tape was set aside until 2011, when Jargon Records released it on CD as Warning in the Sky. Guerssen issued it on vinyl via Out-sider in 2015, and now here comes a fresh new edition.
Sabattis featured Jim Marvin on guitar and vocals, Rocky Kaler on bass, Gary Culotta on keyboards and vocals, and Larry Wegman on drums. There had been some prior high school band experience, so the seven tracks are dynamic and cohesive as Guzauski captured them in a full-bodied recording made on the cheap in a home studio setup.
The cited influences on Warning in the Sky include Deep Purple, Grand Funk, and Mountain. I can hear all three but Deep Purple in particular, as Culotta’s choice of axe was Hammond B-3. This gives Sabattis a vintage sound that shines through taste and restraint. While there are a few lesser tracks, it’s more important that nothing embarrassing occurs throughout the set. Sabattis liked to stretch out a bit, but they did so productively, and the record’s standout “Conversation with Billy” sounds like it took some inspiration from Procol Harum, and that’s just sweet.
John St. Field is a pseudonym used by Jackie Leven, later of the punk-era band Doll by Doll, who released four albums between 1979-’82. After that he had a long productive solo career (intermingled with life struggles) in a folk style both under his given name and another pseudonym, Sir Vincent Lone. Leven died from cancer in November of 2011, by which time Control, his debut (and only release) as John St. Field, had seen a few small reissues and was included in Cooking Vinyl’s Great Songs From Eternal Bars 4CD set.
The recording of Control began in ’71 but according to backing vocal contributor Jesse Ballard wasn’t finished until early ’73 and then was only released in Spain two years later by the label Movieplay. Leven’s use of the John St. Field moniker had to do with an avoidance of potential hassles by law enforcement, and it’s also notable that Control was cut after Leven dropped a substantial amount of LSD while on a sabbatical.
It’s clear his psychedelic experience informed this album, but Control isn’t one of those twisted excursions that hang out on the fringes of this era. It is quite stylistically varied, wafting vibes of folk, soft pop, prog rock, playfully engaging experimentation, and straight-up rock; “Dog Star” is even a leftfield blend of pub rock boogie with touches of power pop. According to Guerssen, this edition of Control offers the entire original tracklist (prior reissues didn’t), which is swell news, for this is a highly underrated album that deserves wider exposure in its non-truncated form.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
The Artwoods, I Take It All
B+
The Artwoods, Art Gallery
A-
The Daily Flash, The Legendary Recordings 1965-1967
A-
Pulse, S/T
B+
Sabattis, Warning in the Sky
B+
John St. Field, Control
A-
