Pentangle - BBC In Concert 1971 (DVD)
An almost 26 minute rebroadcast (I believe a track is missing and probably on a comp) of the folk group at the peak of their powers, not terribly long after Cruel Sister. Jacqui McShee in particular is mesmerizing, but what always strikes me about Pentangle is the intricacy of the instrumental talent and how all the interlocking parts work to create the whole. “Light Flight” and “I’ve Got a Feeling” both stood out here among the shorts, but all the pieces work within a feel of delicacy and a slight dreaminess or ethereality akin to the era.
The Doobie Brothers - The Captain & Me
Listening to this after, maybe 15 years or so made it clear this was one of those lost artifacts of youth, an album I used to listen to a lot and then promptly forgot about. From memory, I remember this being the best of the Doobies’ albums, and certainly it’s one that was a staple of classic rock radio with Long Train Runnin’, China Grove, Without You and Ukiah. It also happens to be an intricately crafted record with a lot of earthy and slightly folkloric influence to leaven the almost hard rock sound, akin in many ways to the Grateful Dead or the Allman Brothers, but far more concise and hard hitting.
Gravy Train - (A Ballad of) a Peaceful Man
Never have thought much of Gravy Train, never really liked the vocals and since it’s been over ten years since I heard one last I didn’t really quite remember their sound. This album, which I believe is their second, reminds me in some ways of Italian groups like Delirium with a somewhat folky based songwriting style that’s often played out in suite-like fashions. For the most part they fit right in with the English groups of the day, they’re not quite like but slightly reminiscent of anything from the harder Vertigo groups to bands like Cressida and Gracious. Overall my opinion improved a little, from a 7 to a 9 in gnospeak, but I still felt a little let down by the somewhat difficult to absorb vocals and the occasionally rather banal musical segments.