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Issue 26

Magnificent labour of love compendium and first in a planned '60s rock series. Notwithstanding a well-honed scene setting piece from Martin Celmins, this is a wheat-from-chaff-sorting A-Z of the highest order. Forty-two acts from 1960-1972-26 British, 16 American-are presented in detail, drawing on a wealth of contemporaneous sources for quotes and opinion and featuring painstaking discographies. With recent rock encyclopedias often putting presentation over substance-and thus omitting seminal figures like Alexis Korner-Blues Rock Explosion is a godsend (that said, the absence of Free is an unexplained mystery). Here we have not only Korner but fellow neglected Brit legends Cyril Davies, Duffy Power and Graham Bond, along with the more successful Yardbirds, Cream and Ten Years After (whose Oasis-like critical and crowd-pulling status at the time will, to some, be a revelation; such is the value of re-focusing on original sources). The Allmans, Paul Butterfield and Johnny Winter lead the US pack. While the writing may, almost necessarily, lack some narrative panache, the factual accuracy is unassailable. 

-- Colin Harper, Mojo magazine

From Old Goat Publishing comes its Sixties Rock Series book, Blues-Rock Explosion. This is a great read about the blues-rock acts from that time period. The book tells the tale of 42 artists from that musically innovative decade. They set standards for music as we know it today. Old Goat has chosen both the obvious and the obscure artists, who are equally important in blues-rock. The complete history of all artists is told, topped off with what they are doing today. 

The well-known bands and performers such as The Allman Brothers, Elvin Bishop, Eric Clapton, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After, and Johnny Winter have all had their story told before, but, as with any new read, there is always something new to find out. Rory Gallagher, Nick Gravenites, Alexis Korner, Mike Bloomfield, Savoy Brown, Blues Project and others have been written about previously, but these chapters will give any reader additional insight on these great musicians. 

Even the borderline blues-rock artists are written about in Blues-Rock Explosion. The John Dummer Band, Rod Piazza, The Siegel-Schwall Band, The Artwoods, Bakerloo and several more have their story told, and their impact on the blues-rock scene is revealed. Black-and-white photos of each band are provided. Although different contributors provided the many articles, the stories flow together easily together in this well-written book. Anyone who enjoys blues-rock and music history buffs will find this book informative as well as entertaining. (www.oldgoat.com) 

-- Guy Lee, Goldmine

First off, I have to say that I really enjoyed reading this book and I will continue to do so as I go back to it again and again. It's a great reference source, chockfull of great Blues-Rock information from 1960-1972. There is so much music information here that I wasn't aware of, and I thought I already knew a lot. 

The book begins with an insightful foreword by someone who was actually there on the scene, former Fleetwood Mac bassist, Bob Brunning. An excellent Introduction section by Martin Celmins helps to inform the reader of the correct historical and social aspects of the music (along with the key people involved) without getting too dry. It outlines how Blues and Rock'n'Roll music in America and Britain came together by cross pollination, thus creating this unique hybrid. 

Other contributing writers include Borge Skilbrigt, Harry Shapiro, Mike Stax, Jeff Watt and archive consultant Julian Barker. Most of the major movers and shakers of the '60s Blues-Rock have their own chapters: Allman Brothers, Elvin Bishop, Mike Bloomfield, Blues-Project, Graham Bond, Eric Clapton, Eric Clapton, Cream, Canned Heat, Cyril Davies, Downliners Sect, Alexis Korner, Electric Flag, Fleetwood Mac, Rory Gallager & Taste, John Mayall, Charlie Musselwhite, Pretty Things, Savoy Brown, Ten Years After, Johnny WInter, Yardbirds plus others. There are also some artists with their own chapters who I was unfamiliar with-Bakerloo, Black Cat Bones, John Dummer Band, Barry Goldberg, Nick Gravenites, Mark Leeman Five, Rod Piazza, Duffy Power, Siegel-Schwall Band-but I'm glad that they're here for everyone to rediscover. Each band/artists's chapter comes with their US/UK Discography and a postscript covering their doings after 1972. There are also many b&w photo shots inside the book along with some equally cool color shots on the front and back covers.

One strange omission is Led Zeppelin, a blues-based group if I ever heard one. They are mentioned in the Yardbirds chapter, the foreword, and in the book's introduction, yet for some reason the book's creators decided that Zeppelin didn't merit a chapter of their own. Also, strangely enough, Blind Faith merit their own chapter, but the Rolling Stones don't have one. [NB: Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones will be covered in other volumes in this genre-based series-MS]. 

Those small criticisms aside, what I really enjoyed about the book was how the detailed historical information was told in an entertaining yet accurate fashion. I know that I learned a few things or more about these bands/artists just from reading this book. It's also refreshing that the writers objective was to check all the facts and report them accurately here. All in all, an excellent job here by the team at Old Goat Publishing whom all should be applauded for creating such a fascinating first time book. Others in the '60's Rock Series are already in the pipeline. 

-- Steve Elliott, Ugly Things

This fat, 300-page volume covers 42 bands-from the Allman Brothers to the Yardbirds-and focuses on the hybrid genre's heyday of 1960-1970. Profiling such groups as Cream, Ten Years After, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, and early Fleetwood Mac, the British Invasion is caught in full swing. The book also details the action across the pond with entries on Canned Heat, Taj Mahal, Elvin Bishop, Johnny Winter, Mike Bloomfield and others. 

Blues-Rock Explosion also covers Ireland's late, great slide export, Rory Gallagher, as well as artists you may not be familiar with. (How about 23 combined pages on the Downliners Sect, the John Dummer Band, Jo Ann Kelly, and the Pretty Things?) Finally, with its extensive discographies and penchant for detail, you can also think of this book as the Old Testament on the modern phenomenon of jam bands. After all, it the psychedelic, blues powered groups of the late '60s that invented the extended rock guitar solo. Old Goat Publishing

-- Jude Gold, Guitar Player

In the 1960s, many young, white hipster musicians in the United States and England aspired to sound "black." In their search for authenticity, artists like Eric Clapton, John Mayall, and the Allman Brothers inadvertently revitalized the careers of many forgotten bluesmen like Muddy Waters and Skip James, who, at the beginning of the decade, were strapped for cash or had given up music entirely. The first volume in a series on 1960s rock, this work documents in mini biographies the careers of 42 of the decade's blues artists (all white with the exception of Taj Mahal), who battled elitism and pondered how to sell records without selling out. From reading this book, it would seem the eternal question since 1960 has been, Can white people play the blues? The contributors, however, do not seek to answer that question so much as show that Clapton and company sparked a movement that affected both the white and the black community. Surprisingly little has been written about the blues revival of 1960-70, which produced music that lost its context quickly, created a religion of guitar god worship, and was probably responsible for the 1980s guitar tablature culture. Edited by two experienced pop music journalists and including a humorous and insightful introduction by blues aficionado Martin Celmins, this well-researched and readable book traces the branches of blues' bastard family tree. Recommended for all libraries. 

-- Eric Hahn, Library Journal

A bit of a heavyweight in some respects, Blues-Rock Explosion offers a guided tour of the 42 bands the Old Goat Publishing team regard as the founding fathers of modern rock. It's all very earnest and only sparsely illustrated with a few black & white plates separating the pages of close-set type. All in all, it should be heavy going...but actually, it's not.

We have a well-judged selection of artists, with each band getting a detailed biography-plus a discography-though inevitably you might not have picked exactly the same list if you were compiling the book (where's Hendrix? Surely Red House alone qualifies him for a Blues-Rock biography?) Still, the bands that are here are well researched and, perhaps most importantly, the passion of the writers shines though. It's clear that this is a book that was produced by fans and that gives it a freshness to carry it past a certain visual drabness.

-- James Humphries, Guitar Magazine

Over 300 pages covering Brits like The Artwoods, Graham Bond, Chicken Shack, Cyril Davies, John Dummer, Downliners Sect, F. Mac, Dave & Jo Ann Kelly, Alexis Korner, Mayall, Clapton, Savoy Brown, TYA, Yardbirds and Bloomfield, P. Butterfield, J. Winter, Taj Mahal, Rod Piazza… the list goes on. The reading is most absorbing considering the task taken on by the author. Here's a meaty, weighty good read for all who love the genre. Weighing in at 2.2 pounds (1 kg) a copy and with testimonials from the likes of Mike Vernon, John Mayall, Pete Frame and Chris Welch, you're guess just how important this book is. Chris Welch says: "An indispensable reference..a fascinating journey back into the heyday of the Blues revival…". Nadine Cohodas (author of Spinning Blues Into Gold) says: "This fact rich compilation is a music fans treasure full of information and insights into the artists. The helpful postscripts answer the "where-are-they-now question and the discographies remind us of all that came out of this important musical movement"…there's no more to say but let's get this book out in the U.K. 

-- Dino McGartland, Blues Matters magazine

When the bluesmen picked up their guitars, little did they know what influence they would have on the music of years to come. In fact, while the whole scene can be traced back to Robert Johnson or even earlier, it wasn´t until the blues and R&B of the 1950s (Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters to name but two) that the movement really took off. Combined with skiffle (which included later blues-rock masters such as Jimmy Page), which helped popularize the guitar, you had a bomb waiting to explode. 

This book concentrates in detail on that explosion, with a lengthy introduction and 42 artists given a full biography, discography and photos. Fans of Cream, the Yardbirds, John Mayall and Canned Heat et al will love this tome, while the inclusion of Savoy Brown, Fleetwood Mac (the Peter Green years), Ten Years After and the classic Black Cat Bones ensures that all the influential blues-rock bands of the late 60´s are given full merit. 

Sadly, the book stops with that explosion, so the 70s heyday of Rory Gallagher (and to an extent Savoy Brown) is glossed over, the Allman Brothers are the only Southern rock entry, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page barely get a credit outside the Yardbirds and Foghat hardly get a mention at all. 

Despite a few minor errors (with some dates in the text and discography not matching up, for example), this is an exhaustively researched and largely well-written encyclopedia that covers both major and lesser artists. A 1970s follow-on would be the icing on the cake. 

-- Joe Geesin, Record Collector magazine

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