(Items from the Vault)
Unearthed Albums:
Buck Owens -In Japan! Sundazed Music
Original Release: 1967
Reviewed by Shel Desormeaux
My dad’s a musician (and a really good one, I will proudly add), so at a very young age I found myself exposed to a wider variety of music than I probably would have been otherwise. I’m not a fan of what you’d call “New Country,” but Faron Young and I go way back, man. It does me good to pull out some old stuff now and again. So I could never forget that occupying a special spot in Dad’s vinyl collection was (and is) Buck Owens’ In Japan!, a recording of his 1967 concert at the Tokyo Kosei Nekin Hall. The cover alone enchanted me; I hadn’t the foggiest idea of what a Geisha was, and when I found out, I pictured Buck and a trio of these beautiful tea ladies shuffling about on an outdoor stage, under enormous Banzai trees and paper lanterns.
Like everything Buck’s ever done, the album is free of pretension and full of open charm. The chemistry between Buck and his band, The Buckaroos, is so smooth and sweet, that live selections like ‘Second Fiddle’ and the instrumental ‘Steel Guitar Polka’ sound, at moments, like carefully laid out studio tracks (also included: the snappy ‘Fishin’ on the Mississippi’, ‘I Was Born to Be in Love with You’, and the mournful ‘The Way That I Love You’.) A key member of the band, the late Don Rich, learned to mimic Buck’s style perfectly, so the two friends could swap instruments and parts without a hiccup. Buck conducts a cheery one-sided banter with Don throughout, even in the middle of songs. Their relationship, onstage and off, was almost telepathic in nature, and Buck never recovered from Don’s death from a motorcycle accident in 1974.
What’s missing for me is the very lovely ‘Made in Japan’, a ballad that wasn’t recorded until 1972 and wound up being Buck’s final number one solo recording. My late uncle used to perform this song with my father, quite often, and it remains my favorite Buck Owens tune. But I’m glad to have discovered this album again. I didn’t know I missed it this much. And now I just want to call my pop.
The Smoke - …It’s Smoke Time Repertoire
Original Release: 1967
Reviewed by Adam M. Anklewicz
...It’s Smoke Time is a collection of the complete works of The Smoke. I found this one day when I had earned enough points to get a free CD from a record store. I’d say it was worth the price. The material found on this album was recorded between the years 1965 and 1972, with most of the songs being bonus tracks.
“My Friend Jack” and “High In A Room,” both filled with drug references, are great rock and roll psychedelia. Despite being British, The Smoke capture the sound that is forever identified with Haight-Ashbury. Weird guitar effects date these recordings amazingly well.
Able to lead the listener into quieter melody driven music with “Wake Up Cherylina,” The Smoke also can take us into some blues-rock with “Don’t Lead Me On.” “Waterfall,” though a pretty song, seems like so much of a rip off of the obscure Lennon/McCartney song “From A Window” that for those familiar with the tune, it becomes distracting while listening to it.
As an album with more bonus tracks than album tracks, the reissue makes it appear to be of great value. Most of those bonus tracks are from their collection of 45s and show quite well why they were a one-hit wonder... in Germany.
Though filled with a couple of good songs, these recording do seem to be a time capsule preserving the sound of Psychedelic Rock. My best suggestion is ignore the CD. Online music stores are designed for music like this: poor albums, a handful of good songs. Pick up “My Friend Jack,” “High In A Room,” and “Wake Up Cherylina”, a good three dollars spent.
