Melody Maker - October 1969
Music Reviews - By Maurice GibbJOHN COLTRANE/DON CHERRY: "The Blessing" from the album "The Avante Garde" (Atlantic)
A jazz group? Is this meant for the chart? I find this very dull. If it's a try for the charts, forget it. It swings but it's very difficult to understand. I can't understand it. I don't like this at all. It's very uninteresting to me and I've no idea at all who it is.
THE DOORS: "Light My Fire" (Elektra)
Doors. I love the Jose Feliciano version of this, but I heard this version by the Doors in New York and I don't like it. It's very loud and the whole production is very messy. I think they're quite good..... Jim Morrison's very good looking, but I don't like this version of the song. The Feliciano version is better..... a knockout.
CAT STEVENS: "Here Comes My Wife" (Deram)
Cat Stevens. Yes. This guy's beautiful when he does some of those songs of his. This will be a hit but I don't think it'll be as big a hit as some of the things like "Mathew and Son". It's very over-arranged. I'd like to have heard a lot more of his voice. I prefer the things he does when the arrangements aren't so messy. But I think he writes some tremendous songs. I hope it's a hit for him though. He hasn't had one for some time. He's a very good songwriter.
THE BACHELORS: "Turn Around, Look At Me" (Decca)
The Bachelors? We recorded this song about six years ago in Australia. It didn't do a bloody thing then and I don't think this version will do anything today. We did a perfect take-off of the Bachelors on our version. I'll be honest. We copied their style, but no one at all wanted to know. We copied everyone.... the Beatles, the Bachelors. It was the only way people would even listen to you. This is like listening to ourselves again. But I think that England's had this big ballad, religious-type ballads. They've had so many songs like it. No one wants to know any more.
TINY TIM: "Hello Hello" (Reprise)
He's a terrible whistler. He's the only guy with long hair who looks like my brother, except Robin hasn't got a big nose - but I can soon arrange that. Tiny Tim. Anyone could sing like that. I don't even recognise the song. It's atrocious. It'll get into the charts but it won't be a big hit. It's hideous, really.
BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY: "Down On Me" (London)
American? Terrible drummer. Terrible. Really terrible. May I ask who this is? Big Brother And The Holding Company. Well, they've got an organ! Two of our group saw them at the Hollywood Bowl and they weren't very good then. They had a good girl singer, Janis Joplin, but she's left now. This is atrocious and I hope it's not a hit here. British public please note. Hey, am I being nasty enough?
B. B. KING: "The Woman I Love" (Blue Horizon)
Can I ask who that is? B. B. King? Well, that's great. Nice. I'm not a big blues fan really but I like that very much. I don't know anyone who doesn't dig B. B. King. It's got a great beat and really a marvellous blues drive. I don't think it'll make the charts but I hope it does. It's not terribly well recorded but then they don't bother too much with the balance and things on blues records. But it's got terrific drive.
YOUNG BLOOD: "Bang-Shang-A-Lang" (Pye)
What's that called? Bang-Shang-A-Lang. Who's it done by? Young Blood - it sounds bloody old to me. They need a transfusion. I don't like records which over-commercialise. This is determined to make you remember it so every second word is "Bang-Shang-A-Lang". Actually, I've heard the American version and it's nicer because it's not so simple and the harmonies are nice.
MALCOLM ROBERTS: "May I Have The Next Dream With You" (Major Minor)
I hate this kind of song. There are so many like it. It'll get the plays - Jimmy Young will play it for instance. It's not Jimmy Young singing it is it? No. He'll probably sing it on his programme. There are too many of this type of ballad around - the Des O'Connor type of thing. I think there should be a lot less. I'm not against ballad singers, Englebert's all right and Tom Jones is great, but I don't like ballads that are made just because that style is selling at the moment. I hate all that. Imagine what'd happen if everyone recorded things in "Hey Jude" style. I'd like to have heard him try something really different.
A TASTE OF HONEY: "Goody Goody Gum Drops" (Rim)
It's very well produced. Very short, isn't it? I don't think it's commercial enough, though they are trying to be with that repeating bit that sticks in the mind. No, I don't like it. Is it American? It sounds like a take-off of the Association or that other thing. "Simon Says" by the 1910 Fruitgum Company. Nice harmonies though, but I don't think it'll be a hit.
JIMMY SMITH: "The Duel" from the album "The Incredible Jimmy Smith" (Blue Note)
It's a groove, organ player but I don't know who it is. It's great for jazz lovers and for devotees of the organ like Brian Auger's brother. We like melodies and I hate it when a jazz group takes a number with a great melody and mangles it so the melody is unrecognisable. It makes the whole song seem like an ad-lib jam, which to me, is what jazz is. Is this Jimmy Smith? Nice if you like it but I don't particularly."
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