BAKERLOO – BAKERLOO – 1969 (UK) hard rock

One of the first acts signed to the fledgling Harvest label in 1969, Bakerloo were very much a product of their time, a hard-hitting progressive blues band whose predilections ranged from a straightforward assimilation of Willie Dixon to some positively dazzling flashes of instrumental prowess. Guitarist Dave Clempson's "Big Bear Folly," the opening cut on the band's first and only album, is a dazzling Ten Years After-style showcase, while a jazzy variation on a theme of Bach, the aptly titled "Driving Bachwards," proves that the band wasn't averse to messing with the classics, either. The quartet's virtuosity occasionally overwhelms the songs themselves, although there is no shortage of gripping atmosphere. Bassist Terry Poole unleashes an almost sepulchral vocal across the stygian "Last Blues," a seven-minute marathon that swiftly develops into a full-fledged heavy rocker, punctuated by mood shifts that amount to separate movements -- it's a magnificent piece, rendered with both musical precision and some of producer Gus Dudgeon's most inspired washes and effects. Impressive, too, is "Son of Moonshine," a distorted metal effort that clocks in at double that length and combines Clempson's intensive guitar soloing with a desperately driving blues rhythm. Period comparisons with Cream and early Led Zeppelin really weren't that far off the mark. Bakerloo were not long for this earth -- Clempson quit to join Colosseum shortly after the album's release; Poole reappeared alongside Graham Bond; drummer Keith Baker departed for Uriah Heep; and Bakerloo itself disappeared off the shelves fairly quickly. Since then, reissues on Repertoire in 1993 and Akarma a decade later have taken at least some of the edge off the collectors' market, with the latter adding two bonus tracks, an alternate take on the slow blues "This Worried Feeling" and the B-side-only "Once Upon a Time."

- Dave 'Clem' Clempson / guitars, piano, harpsichord, harmonica, vocals
- Terry Poole / bass guitar
- Keith Baker / drums
1 Big Bear Ffolly 3:55
2 Bring It on Home 4:19
3 Driving Bachwards 2:08
4 Last Blues 7:07
5 Gang Bang 6:16
6 The Worried Feeling 7:06
7 Son of Moonshine 14:55
Bonus Tracks
8 Once Upon a Time (Havest #5004 B-Side) 3:40
9 This Worried Feeling (Previously Unreleased) 5:45

Honestly, check the album, because it's interesting heavy blues with elements of psychedelia and progrock.

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download links
http://link-protector.com/254188/
http://link-protector.com/254189/