Weed, Weed (1971)

Weed‘s Weed is little more than half an hour long, but that proves to be plenty of time for it to summarize much of what was righteous about the heavy rock movement of the early ’70s. The band was founded circa 1970 by keyboardist Ken Hensley, who by then had not only released two records with Uriah Heep, but albums with Toe Fat, Head Machine and The Gods as well. Bringing him to the fore on lead vocals and guitar in addition to keys, Weed would only release this one album during their time together, but it nonetheless captures a moment right at the intersection of psychedelia, heavy rock and what would in the early/mid-1970s become krautrock and prog, something of course Uriah Heep would dig into deeply after their rawer earlier work. Joining Hensley in Weed were guitarist Werner Monka, bassist Reinhold Spiegelfeld, flutist Bernd Hohmann, keyboardist Rainer Schnelle and drummer Peet Becker, some of whom came from the German prog band Virus, and while commonly thought of as a solo-project for Hensley, Weed‘s Weed boasts a definite and significant full-band feel.

That’s true even in the minimalist intro of the organ-led “My Dream,” but most apparent on bluesier cuts like opener “Sweet Morning Light” and its shuffling side B counterpart “Slowin’ Down.” Elsewhere, Weed bask in the second-track balladry that would become a staple of the era on “Lonely Ship” and embrace a wider scope on “My Dream,” leaving the penultimate “Before I Die” to offer piano-led proto-prog and the closing title-track to move into post-Hendrix psychedelic jamming, bass and guitar sparring excitingly over swinging drums and an upbeat push, ending as scorching lead lines are placed one on top of the next until finally the whole thing becomes a wash of big-finale noise. Live-sounding to be sure, but clear, Weed pulls off difficult stylistic pivots with ease and remains something of an underrated addition to the canon of the classic heavy era. A footnote perhaps when compared to the 13 records Hensley put out during his time with Uriah Heep, its appeal all the same runs much deeper than its bizarre cover art and the band’s moniker. If it’s a footnote, it’s a loud one.

And an enduring one. Weed‘s Weed has been reissued multiple times over, by Philips Records, which originally put it out, among others, all the while finding an audience among heads looking to dig into the past. If you know it, I hope you enjoy the chance to revisit, and if you haven’t heard it, I hope you stick it out through the whole thing, because both the trip and the destination are entirely worth the effort.

Hope you dig.

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So uh, hey. Next week is Roadburn. Wish I could tell you the laundry is done, my bag is packed and I’m ready to roll, but the truth is that it kind of snuck up on me this year. I like that though. Better than waiting for months and months more than I am anyway for April to get here. I fly out on Tuesday, get in Wednesday morning to Tilburg, get to the hotel in time for the Hardrock Hideout on Wednesday night, then four days of heavy bliss ensue.

If you don’t know how I do Roadburn coverage, basically my goal is to review each day before the next day starts. This involves a lot of late-night posting, it does not involve a lot of sleep. I hope, if you choose to keep up with that adventure, you enjoy it. There will not be many posts next week aside from Roadburn coverage once that starts. Don’t want to say none, because you never know, but still, if any not many.

That’s okay though, because in addition to a rare Sunday post lined up, I’ve got a full-album stream on Monday for the new Black Rainbows and a track premiere from Sidewave, as well as a full-album stream Tuesday for Merchant and a track premiere for Atala. That’s pretty much a week’s worth of stuff anyway, so there you go. There’s more too. It’s going to be somewhat hectic. No big change there.

Posted about it on the social medias, but we hit a new record for listeners-at-once for The Obelisk Radio this week. It was awesome, and thank you. Wish I knew what was playing at the time, I’d put it on more.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Please check out the forum and radio stream.

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Atomic Rooster, Death Walks Behind You (1970)

In the annals of undervalued heavy rock, there are few who hold such a place as the UK’s Atomic Rooster. Founded by organist Vincent Crane and drummer Carl Palmer, both of whom had previously been members of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, the band made their semi-self-titled debut, Atomic Roooster (discussed here), early in 1970, and followed it with Death Walks Behind You later that same year. Those two, together with 1971’s In Hearing of Atomic Rooster (discussed here), form a trifecta of early heavy rock and proto-prog righteousness that, even as it produces landmark swing like that in the opening title-track of Death Walks Behind You, underscores a decent portion of why their commercial reach never extended farther than it did. Like a lot of bands from their era — and this era, for that matter — they couldn’t keep a consistent lineup. Palmer and Crane founded the band with Nick Graham on bass, guitar, vocals and flute, but by their second album, John Du Cann took over on guitar, bass and vocals and Paul Hammond took the drum spot from Palmer, who joined the supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Hammond, Crane and Du Cann would also return for In Hearing of Atomic Rooster, but with Peter French, formerly of Leaf Hound, as the band’s frontman. That lineup was also short-lived, as French would join Cactus for 1972’s ‘Ot ‘n’ Sweaty.

Meanwhile, Atomic Rooster would once again shake up the entire lineup around Crane by the time their fourth album, Made in England, surfaced, so a fair amount of turbulence was the standard. This, coupled with Crane‘s well-documented struggles with issues of mental health, depression and hospitalization, meant that Atomic Rooster lacked the stability — such as it was — that a band like Black Sabbath had through their pivotal first six LPs. That, however, takes nothing away from the quality of Death Walks Behind You itself, which is a document of a special if brief power trio as formidable as anything the heavy ’70s produced. Whether it’s in the swaggering vibe of “Tomorrow Night” or the krautrock-inspired experimentation of closer “Gershatzer,” Atomic Rooster‘s sophomore outing may be part of a legacy of tumult, but that does nothing to diminish the smooth vibes as the organ leads the way into “7 Streets,” the guitar swapping channels en route to a rolling side A finish, or the shuffling “Sleeping for Years” at the start of side B. It may on some levels be defined by the hook of its leadoff cut, but Death Walks Behind You offers a rare glimpse at the transition from heavy blues rock to what would continue to take shape as prog, and for that and for the quality of its songcraft and performance, it well earns its place among the best offerings of the early ’70s.

Crane released two albums with Atomic Rooster in the early ’80s — working with Du Cann, David Gilmour and others in the process — and eventually took his own life on Valentine’s Day 1989. Death Walks Behind You and Atomic Rooster‘s other early works have been reissued numerous times and are available alongside other live outings from various incarnations of the band and compilations, bootlegs and so on.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

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One of those afternoons where the Neurosis can’t seem to get loud enough. Plenty of those. I must’ve slept poorly, but I can’t remember, as I can’t think of anything else that would so darken my mood enough for Through Silver in Blood when it was a pretty good week. Added Snail to the All-Dayer and got a great response off that, and my books are back in from the press and will be on sale soon through War Crime Recordings. I also just got off the phone with Andrea Vidal of Holy Grove for a really cool interview that will be up in the next couple weeks. I’m headed down to Jersey to see family this weekend. These are all positives. And me, in the middle of it, grump grump grump.

That’s how things feel to me a lot. Whatever. Get me out of the office, get me a day or two of not-work, maybe even a couple hours without staring at my laptop, and I’ll be good as new. I’m just done with the week.

It was busy. Man, was it busy. Even down to the Scissorfight interview and Blackwitch Pudding tracks premiered today, there was just a ton going on. And keeping up with news — I’ve got stories slated into next Tuesday as it is. Look out next week too for a Merlin review, Samavayo track premiere, full-album stream from Deadsmoke, maybe the Brant Bjork interview posted if there’s time, a new track from Queen Elephantine and I don’t even know what else. It’s all in the notes. There’s a lot of it.

Like I said, the weekend is travel to NJ and back. It’s also the deadline for the Roadburn ‘zine that I edit, the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch, so I expect there will be plenty by Sunday to keep me occupied between that and getting ready for the week to come. It never really stops these days. Also next week, need to start preparing for the Quarterly Review, which will start March 28. I just want to keep going, keep writing, keep my head down, keep working.

Maybe I’ll quit my job and go on a three-month book tour. That’d show ’em. And by ’em, I mean me which is ’em backwards.

Have a great and safe weekend. Forum and radio.

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