Anyway: Remastered & Expanded Edition
FAMILY
(Esoteric Records)
★★★★★

ORIGINALLY released in 1970 Anyway was Family’s breakthrough platter, with one side recorded live in Croydon and the other comprising of studio tracks, establishing them as one of Britain’s top underground bands.

Anyway reached number 7 on the album chart and their non album single In My Own Time peaked at number 5 on the singles chart.

Formed in the mid ’60s in Leicester as R&B band The Farinas they established their prog rock credentials with their first two albums. 

Fronted by the instantly recognisable Roger Chapman, they were an excellent live band given to long jams with tracks Good News, Bad News and Strange Band real crowd pleasers.

The 2 CD expanded set includes 45rpm edits of Weavers Answer and Hung Up Down plus 15 tracks from John Peel’s Top Gear and In Concert BBC shows.

The Rough Guide To Reverend Gary Davis: The Guitar Evangelist
Rev Gary Davis
(World Music Network/Rough Guide)
★★★★★

DURING the 1960s blues boom Gary Davis was a fixture on the folk and blues scene. His dazzling guitar runs and pulsating rhythms influenced The Grateful Dead, Dylan and Ry Cooder.

At three weeks old he was blinded by a doctor treating him for sore eyes. As a child he learned to play guitar and became street musician. 

His 1935 recording debut in New York is included on this vinyl album (in pristine sound) — including the only blues tracks he was to record. 

The remaining sides were sung with such fervour including You Got To Go Down and I Am The True Vine prove Davis was a true believer.

An ordained minister, he gave folkies guitar lessons, recorded dozens of albums and toured the world — getting right with God.

WE’RE AN AMERICAN BAND
A Journey Through The USA Hard Rock Scene 1967 -1973
(Grapefruit Records)
★★★★

THE antidote to hippy album rock — 3 CDs of blue collar bands with roots in blues and garage rock with the music getting heavier, harder and louder as time progressed.

Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf, Blue Cheer and Mountain were in the vanguard followed by the anarchic and politically savvy Detroit bands MC5, Alice Cooper and The Stooges — topped off in the early ’70s by the million selling, ear-drum splitters Grand Funk Railroad who dominated US AM radio. 

Eventually Alice Cooper became glam rockers, others included here such a Coven dabbled in satanic rock and bands like Sir Lord Baltimore laid the groundwork for thrash metal.

With plenty of rarities, a 48-page colour booklet, the four-hour set traces the transition from counterculture to mainstream, head-banging rock.