Next... by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band

I vaguely remembered the name Alex Harvey, but nothing more, so I wasn’t sure quite what to expect. The music sounded promising - bouncy 70s glam - but then I started listening to the lyrics. It says something when a Jaques Brel song is the least offensive thing on an album, lyrically speaking. I’m pretty sure I know what Swampnake and Giddy Up A Ding Dong are referring to, but the song Gang Bang is probably the most unpleasant thing I’ve heard in a long while. Yuck.

Bleed, New Leaves

A daimyo is no more
A poet turns a new leaf
Blood stains tatami

From Elvis In Memphis by Elvis Presley

After leaving a whole generation of white American teens all shook up and a brief spell in the army in 1960, Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker took the bizarre decision to focus his career into making cheesy B movies and soundtrack albums.

Not surprisingly, Elvis grew increasingly unhappy with this arrangement and after his legendary 68 comeback special, wanted to record a new LP in Memphis with a change of musical direction. After some wrangling over publishing rights and contracts, he finally got into the studio and recorded a set of songs with styles ranging from Memphis Soul to country and blues, with a touch of gospel.

This album is a great showcase for Elvis at his vocal crooning best, even if some of the songs are on the mawkish side. This re-release includes some non album singles including the great Suspicious Minds but offset by the atrocious Don’t Cry Daddy.

Ghetto-tastic!

Stems, Fire

Rose stems neatly pruned
Trimmed, stacked, fuel for the bonfire
Thorns crackle in flames

Cozy, Full Moon

Red firelight fading
Full moon rising in the sky
A cozy night in

Cheap Thrills by Big Brother & The Holding Company & Janis Joplin

Let’s start with the good. Janis Joplin blazed a trail as one of the very few women in the 60s fronting a band and she brings a very powerful voice to this album, full of raw emotion and cracking in places. As well as a couple of original tracks, her versions of Summertime by George Gershwin and Another Piece of My Heart are genuine classics.

The bad is the bait and switch with this album posing as a live recording. Only one of the tracks was actually live (at least on the original release) with the rest featuring recorded audience noises played in. To be fair, the recording does have a raw, live feel that captures the energy of a top notch rock band, but it feels a little bit of a cheat all the same.

The ugly is the cover art by Robert Crumb, which features crude racist and sexist stereotypes of the worst sort. Apparently Crumb claimed later that he was satirizing those attitudes and that his audience would have understood the context, but it really leaves a sour taste even after all this time.

The final tragedy is that just two years after this record, Joplin joined the pantheon of dead rock stars, dying from a heroin overdose at the age of just 27. What a waste.

Comfort, Sowing

Hot chocolate and cream
Sowing the seeds of sweet dreams
Comfort in a mug