Ok so today on the Record Collectors Facebook Group a member asked people to dig into their collection and post an album that is unknown and/or obscure. Well, I have many vinyl albums that fit that description! And many more CDs that do also!
However the album I decided to listen to and write about is the debut album from singer-songwriter Jimmie Spheeris Isle of View. (Say it three or more times fast). Anyway the album has been one of my favorite quiet night albums since I bought in in the early 70s! However, I think Jimmie’s music has largely been forgotten because his career was cut short by a tragic accident.
\The Tragic Accident
From Wikipedia…
Spheeris died at the age of 34 in Santa Monica, California, when his motorcycle collided with a van at 2 a.m. on the morning of July 4, 1984. The driver of the van, Bruce Burnside, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and felony vehicular manslaughter.
About Jimmie Spheeris
From Wikipedia….
Jimmie Spheeris (November 5, 1949 – July 4, 1984) was an American singer-songwriter who released four albums in the 1970s on the Columbia Records and Epic Records labels.
Spheeris primarily composed on the guitar and piano. His musical genre was generally in the folk music and singer-songwriter traditions, although later work explored jazz, rock music, jazz-rock fusion and new wave music.
With few exceptions, Spheeris’ guitar compositions employed the use of open tunings, also referred to as alternate tunings. Johnny Pierce (November 30, 1953 – December 12, 2005), worked with Spheeris as a recording session and touring artist from 1973 to 1980, and wrote extensive guitar tablature regarding the tunings Spheeris used throughout his career.[6]
Spheeris’ vocal range was primarily baritone and tenor, with occasional falsetto flourishes. His voice is most often described by music critics and fans as “soulful,” “sultry,” or “smoky.” (Read More)
Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Jimmie Spheeris
So this week started as a good running week. On Sunday I ran my first 6.2 mile (10K) training run. While I ran comfortably at a 10:30 pace through the first three miles, the next three were a struggle and I needed to slow down to make the 6.2 miles. However, I did make it and was pleased with my overall time and pace and the soundtrack consisting of one site’s Top 20 Psychedelic Rock Songs. Here are those pesky “Nerdy Details” about the run!
The Nerdy Details
TotalDist: 6.21 Time1:07:58 Pace: 10:57 min/mile
Splits
Mile: 1 10:35 Mile 2: 10:27 Mile: 3 10:39
Mile: 4 11:01 Mile 5 11:22 Mile: 6 11:37
Mile 7 (0.21) 10:51
Avg HR 143 Max HR 164 Cals Burned: 864. Cals
Now after all of the above, I may need to remind you that I started off this post writing, my running week started off well. Well, last night as I was going down the stairs to feed our cats before bed. I slipped on the top step and skied down the stairs on my butt. Needless to say both my bottom and my left shoulder (I twisted around) were sore this morning.
As a result, I chose not to run. Instead I did some light rhythmic movement and then my favorite self-created yoga routine. Actually, it was probably a needed easy day, as my steps per day average was 16,194 for Su day and Monday. Although, I would rather have done it WITHOUT falling down the stairs. Anyway here is the soundtrack for the run.
The Ultimate Classic rock list contains songs from a lot of my favorite bands> It includes songs from: Cream, Traffic, Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and The Who. It also contains songs from groups I don’t know like Tintern Abbey, Tomorrow and July. As wells, bands I’ve hard of but never really listened to likeThe Pretty Things and The 13th Floor Elevator.
All and allI thought it was a good list and even though I was struggling over the second half of the run, hearing some of my favorite songs kept me going! So Check out the complete list!!
So according to my new blog schedule, (which you don’t know about because I still haven’t finished the post about it yet, damn you ADD) today, I am supposed to be writing about a blues album I picked on Saturday and listen to twice since then.
The thing is I didn’t create this schedule until this Sunday, so I didn’t know I was supposed to pick an album to listen to prior to writing this post.
The good thing though is I have used the new album from Savoy Brown Ain’t Done Yet.
as the soundtrack for at least two runs. Even better, I haven’t written about the runs or album yet.
Through the years, I never have been a Savoy Brown fan. Oh, I knew the name but never listened to a full album until somewhere around 2011, when they released the album Voodoo Moon
About Savoy Brown
From the Savoy Brown Website…
Savoy Brown was formed in 1965 by guitarist Kim Simmonds in London, England. Simmonds has been the group’s guiding hand from the first singles released in 1966 through the band’s newest effort, their forty-first album “Ain’t Done Yet”
The three- piece line-up now includes Kim Simmonds on guitar and vocals, Pat DeSalvo on bass and Garnet Grimm on drums. This trio has established itself as the longest-running consistent line-up in the band’s history, now going strong for more than 10 years.
Over the last ten years, my favorite Savoy Brown albums have been Voodoo Moon, Witchy Feelin’ and City Nights. I do believe Kim Simmonds has handled the lead vocals on all these albums, except Voodoo Moon.
Thoughts About Ain’t Done Yet
In my opinion, Ain’t Done Yet is an appropriate statement about both the band and its driving force Kim Simmonds. This album had me from the opening tracks “All Gone Wrong” and “Devil’s Highway” to the closing instrumental “Crying Guitar“
Throughout the album, the tracks are varied, well written and interesting. Simmonds vocals and guitar playing are always spot on. Simmonds guitar never outplays the song, it just fits in perfectly. I guess that’s a result of crafting 41 albums!
What I admire most is that after 53 years and 41 albums Simmonds and Savoy Brown are still recording fresh great new blues songs! I for one am glad they “ain’t done yet”!
So today I went again to the construction site in Voorhees for the new Virtua Hospital to observe the installation of underground stone columns. The columns are designed to make the ground more stable during an earthquake.
So I had the player on shuffle on the way over and back. A good mix from all the music I’ve listened to over the last several weeks was playing a little Gold Heart, The Devil Makes Three, Killbilly, Tommy Castro and then I heard a voice from the past and I had forgotten that I had downloaded his new album actually his first album in seventeen years and that voice belonged to Steve Miller and his new album Bingo!
A little personal footnote: both of my daughter Elizabeth’s children, Emma and Lucas, were born in the hospital I was working at at the time. Needless to say, the site looks a lot different today than it did back then.
Bingo! Becomes the Soundtrack for a Run
So I made the album the soundtrack for my four mile run this evening and both turned out to be good! The 67 year old Miller’s voice is still good as is his guitar playing. I was a Steve Miller Band fan from Sailor through album seven Recall the Beginning and then came The Joker and Fly like an Eagle and I kinda lost interest in the band.
Bingo! Hits No 1 on Billboard’s Blues Chart
The album debuted at No 1 on Billboard’s Blues Chart and Miller graces the cover of the current issue of Guitar Player Magazine. Where Miller and Johns discuss the album, the follow-up album and what people can expect from the band’s tour.
My Thoughts
For me this album works on all levels, even though there’s no new songs! I just like the total vibe of the album it’s more bluesy than some of the rock hits albums and the guitar work really stands out! The album was produced by Andy Johns who is the younger brother of Gyn Johns who produced Miller’s early albums
Tracks that I like included: “Hey Yeah”, a cover of Jimmie Vaughan’s “Don’t Cha Know”,and “Come On (Let the Good Times Roll). A track that caught my attention every time I’ve listened to the album!
Earl King’s “Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)” is a burning solo workout and takes the party jam into an entirely new musical dimension. Vocally, Miller touches on his ’70s persona, but it’s only a glance; the rest is burning blues. – Thom Jurek, Rovi All Music Guide
The main release has ten tracks. The version I put on the player from Rhapsody had four bonus tracks and I like these four tracks as much if not more than the others. They are more blues driven and remind me of the early Steve Miller that I loved. More from the All Music Guide Review:
There are also four bonus tracks, the most notable are readings of Elmore James’ “Look on Yonder Wall” — with a killer vocal from Buffalo — and the closer, Roosevelt Sykes’ “Drivin’ Wheel,” with Miller’s filthiest guitar work of the set. This is a welcome return for Miller, and a must for modern electric blues fans. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi All Music Guid
I agree with Thom Jurek and think that Drivin’ Wheel may be the best track. Anyway if your a blues fan or a Steve Miller fan the album is well worth checking out and I know it will be on my player for a while!
A 6-Pack Playlist from Bingo!
Years after this post and a post Let Your Hair Down I- I had a weird day with Miller’s “Quicksilver Girl” you can read about it here.. Some songs literally stay with you forever!
Links for More Explorations of the Steve Miller Band
“One-two….Uh, listen here now,here’s what….tihs is where it’s at, this is the thing of this gig and here’s…I’ll tell you ’bout it now. Uh, awhile ago my friend Alan Kooper called me on the phone and said, “Let’s make this gig, an LP in Los Angeles and we’ll sat will happen” So we went and I played, and I played for one day and I split and went back to San Francisco where I live and the other day Stephen Stills played….and they put out an album called “Super Sessions”…….Mike Bloomfield , San Francisco, September 26, 1968 9:50 PM
The above quote is the begining of a little speech given before Mike Bloomfiled and Al Kooper were introduced for their live gig based upon their album Super Session describing what the audience would be listening to. What they would be listening to would be some grerat live music recorded over three nights.
The first two were with Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper and band mates John Kahn and Skip Prokop and after Mike Bloomfield’s insomia caught up with him (he was up for five straight days and ended up in the hospital) and for the final night’s tracks recorded with Carlos Santana and Elvin Bishop filing in are included in the album which is the first album side
I listened to tonight side 2 of The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper.
The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper.
Side 2 of The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper opens with a great cover of The Band’s song “The Weight” and Mike and Al are both in good form on the number.
On the next three tracks Mike and Al swap lead vocals with Mike doing the vocals on a Ray Charles song “Mary Ann” and then Al on”Together ’til the End of Time” and Mike again on “That’s All Right”.
During this gig it was the first time Al had heard Mike sing! But the real reason that I listened to this album was the last track on Side 2 a great cover of Booker T’s “Green Onions” with Mike playing the part of Steve Cropper. I always loved this track and mentioned it the other day.
Overall even after uh 42 years, it’s still a great listen. I love both Mike Bloomfield guitar work and Al Kooper’s organ playing!!
The second album I listened to was released around the same time and was my introduction to another band I would be listening to for the next forty years and that would be Poco and their live album Deliverin’.
Again I listened to the second side. I guess I was always like that side a little more than the first because I really liked Jim Messina’s “You Better Think Twice” but then again I also like Richie Furay’s “A Man Like Me” and the medley which included Rusty Young’s “Grand Junction”.
So I guess I always like the whole album including side 1! Through the years my wife became a bigger fan than I was, I never like the band as much after Messina and Furay left.
In the last several years, we have seen Poco them several times live and they always put on a great show. We haven’t seen a show yet where Richie has played with them but I’m hoping we get to one!
The last album that I listened to was Pearls Before Swine The Use of Ashes. Released in 1970 this is another of my favorite all time albums and one I’ve listened to frequently through the years but not for a while.
I listened tonight to Side 1 because that’s the side that has my two favorite songs “The Jeweler” and “Rocket Man” both of which are great songs with vivid imagery.
In Rocket Man the chorus when a mother and child other face a world where their husband and father could be being killed at any moment
My mother and I never went out
unless the sky was cloudy or the sun was blotted out
or to escape the pain
we only went out when it rained.
It’s a chorus that’s rambled around in my head for forty years and never fails to move me! Anyway the other songs on this side “From a Movie”, “God Save a Child” and “Song about a Rose” are less remembered but listening again tonight brought back how much I liked this whole album!
Overall, it was a better night of listening to music than it was watching Phillies baseball!
Thre Video
Here’s a video of Mike and Al’s cover of “Green Onions”
Several years go I bought this poster at Wolfgang’s Vault with a Christmas Gift Ceritifcate from my son Peter.
It wasn’t until I looked more closely at the dates on the poster that I realized it was the nights the album was recorded!
2026 Update: Weekly Music Days Are Changing
As I look back at these posts from my early blogging years, I realize that most of the artists and albums featured here were never really forgotten. They had simply gone a long time without finding their way back onto my turntable or playlist.
Because of that, I’ve decided to rename Folk Monday as Memories Monday.
This post isn’t just about three albums. It’s about spending an evening revisiting music that has been part of my life’s soundtrack for decades and discovering that it still sounds every bit as good as I remembered.
Going forward, Memories Monday will be the place where I revisit the music and memories that have shaped my journey. Some weeks that might mean rediscovering favorite albums or concerts. Other weeks it may be old playlists, first musical discoveries, reel-to-reel tapes, stories about sharing music with Andrew or Peter, memories from my college years, or even family stories and genealAfter all, music has always been more than something I’ve listened to—it has been one of the threads that connects the people, places, and moments that have made me who I am.
P.S. As part of the new weekly rhythm on A Sixties–Seventies Man, Folk Monday is moving to Folk Friday.
One of my favorite bands from the 60’s and early 70’s was Ten Years After and not just because of Alvin Lee’s guitar wizardry. No, while I liked the overall blues rock feel of the band and loved tracks like “Good Morning, Little School Girl” and “Woke up this Morning”
‘ I also liked that the rest of the bands members could play and the strong jazz influences on their early albums particularly on the second release Undead. I loved the track “Woodchopper’s Ball”. A cover of the Woody Herman hit.
Ten Years After Then
The band was the first band booked by the Chrysalis Agency and their performance at the Windsor Jazz Festival in 1967 led to their contract with Deram Records. I have their albums from the first release Ten Years After throughCricklewood Green. Which was their fifth album and contained the hit “Love Like a Man”.
After that album the band took a more commercial turn with A Space in Time which contained the song “I’d Love to Change the World and I kind of drifted away. The band ultimately broke up in 1974 when Alvin Lee embarked on a solo career.
Ten Years After Now
I was happy in find out a few years ago that the band had reformed in 2004 without Alvin Lee. His replacement on guitar is Joe Gooch. They released a fine album entitled Now. I occasionally play tracks from that album but haven’t really kept up with the band, but was searching around the other day I discovered that the band had released two more albums. Roadworks a collection of tracks of material from their tours and a 2008 release Evolution. I put that album on the mp3 player today and color me a fan of Ten Years After again.
Evolution
Evolution is a great album from the opening track “I Think it’s Going to Rain All Night” which opens with Gooch’s great guitar and Chick Churchill’s keyboards and features nice keyboard and guitar solos! Almost ever track on this ten track CD is a standout in it’s own way.
The ballads are as good as the rocking songs and the vocals and lyrics are outstanding throughout the album. Of the ballads I like ” I Never Saw it Coming” and I also like “Slip Slide Away” which features some more fine keyboard work by Chick Churchill and more guitar from Gooch. Alvin Lee who?
“Tail Lights” has a kinda’ country feel and the album ends with two great songs “Angry Words” again Gooch shines and “That’s Alright” a great rocking closing number. I know that this album will get many listens over the coming weeks! So if you were a Ten Years After fan check out their new stuff and if you don’t remember them other than at Woodstock and “I’m Coming Home” check out their early albums and certainly check out some of their best work which is on Evolution.
Definitely a 4.5 and maybe a 5.
2016 Update:
In 2014 both Joe Gooch and long-time bassist Leo Lyons left the band. Leo was replaced by Colin Hodgkinson, The part of Alvin Lee and Joe Gooch is now played by Marcus Bonfanti. The other original members of the band Chick Churchill on keyboards and Ric Lee on drums remain the same. The new group is still touring and have yet to release an album with the new lineup.
This morning I was listening to the band’s 2014 release The Name Remains the Same. What I heard I really liked and will be listening to it some more. The band on that release still included: Leo Lyons and Joe Gooch. What I heard from Gooch’s guitar was great!!
Old Note
Oh, and I never knew where the band name came from but from Wikipedia: the band formed in 1966 ten years after Elvis Presley’s break out year of 1956!
Here’s a video of the song “Angry Words” from Evolution
