17. Gôg - Meic Stevens [1977]

Y caneuon hyn oedd fy ail record hir, a gai ei recordio maes o law yn stiwdios Sain yn Llanrug. Roedd y record yma'n gam mawr ymlaen i mi fel cyfansoddwr caneuon; cafodd groeso brwd, gwerthodd yn dda a ges i lawer o waith ar ei chorn.

Recordiwyd Gog o fewn pum niwrnod.

 - Y Crwydryn a Mi

Practical, self-effacing Meic Mortimer Stevens, wizard and true Welsh star. Melodic nous and unquestionable chops grounded in earthy authenticity. He doesn't put a foot wrong on this astonishingly good amble among Breton idylls, wandering blind boys, and country loving. Contender for best folk-rock album of 70s, in any language. 

 Essential.

Oddi wrth y brawd

[Dros ben llestri in Comments]

Rise Up Like The Sun - The Albion Band [1978]

 

Fag end of 70s outing for Ashley Hutchings and Co.. Said company a solar line up comprising Richard Thompson, Martin Carthy, Dave Mattacks, John Tams, Philip Pickett, McGarrigle sisters, and er..Julie Covington. Something of a last huzzah for folk rock in classic UK vein. Joe Boyd produced...always a fair sign. Gruff saucy drone of Poor Old Horse a particular treat.

Oddi wrth y brawd

The Constant Pageant - The Trembling Bells [2011]

And proof, if any were needed,....

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No Roses - Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band [1971]

Pinnacle of UK folk rock achievement. No contest. Essential.

Oddi wrth y brawd

The Wishing Chair - 10,000 Maniacs [1985]

That rarest of beasts: well-turned out folk rock noise from the 80s. Heady UK influence in J. Marr guitar jangle and trad. song choice. 'Triffic.

Oddi wrth y brawd

Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air - The Incredible String Band [1971]

These are the true troubadours of the last two centuries. They explore divinity and magick from a lyrical chivalric dimension. Combine this with the interdimensionality and you have works beyond compare. SUBLIME!

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge

New York City, April 2004

And I shall dance for you,

The sweetest dance that I can do.

Likky

Final true entry in the canon. Worlds they rise and fall. Last thrilling, if poignant, outing for ham-fisted Heron sitar. Talking of painted chariots, Darling Belle and the end.

Oddi wrth y brawd

No Other - Gene Clark [1974]

Bare, big celestial malaise. Fear. Paranoia.

Oddi wrth y brawd

no other

Gone With The Bin - John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett [1981]

Cheryl's gone home (her body made her do it). Cor. Aylesbury's holy raspberry fool and perhaps the bravest man of all.

Make this the big one for Otway.

Oddi wrth y brawd
block buster

Clocks Are Like People - Circulus [2006]

Ancient wind instruments, vintage Moog synthesiser flourishes and what can only be termed, reluctantly, as Elizabethan harpsichord "work outs". Highly mannered, make that preposterous, baroque 'n' roll. Somehow, all captured in lead pantaloon's juxtaposition of period klobba and Specsavers eye-wear.

The whiff of generic coming of age 70s teen TV prog theme. Utterly, bewilderingly po-faced. 

Oddi wrth y brawd

dungarees and dragons

The Road Goes On Forever - The Highwaymen [1995]

Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings.

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so what's it to you?

A Moment of Forever - Kris Kristofferson [1995]

Free, twinkling-eyed spirit. Human, humane n holy. Still wild enough for you.

Oddi wrth y brawd

under the gun

Anymore For Anymore - Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance [1974]

Criminally under-rated. Ronnie's hard luck n humour hobobilly arguably the only truly righteous import of Basement Tapes / Old Weird America esthetics married to homegrown quintessential English gypsy ramblin' minstrel vibery. Most will be familiar with Small Faces / Faces glory years but these solo fruits of long coda into ill health and obscurity be revelatory.


Yes, essential.


Here are Ronnie and pals on.....sweet Jesus....the Basil Brush Show.......

N cop this transcendental piece of English pastorale. To the country what Waterloo Sunset is to the urban mise-en-scène ...

Oddi wrth y brawd

bottle o' plonk

Songs from the Wood - Jethro Tull [1977]

...More a case of folky window dressing in a prog rock shop-front. But, all in all, one of the best ever Tull albums...


Let me bring you all things refined:
Galliards and lute songs served in chilling ale.
Greetings, well met fellow, hail!
I am the wind to fill your sail.
I am the cross to take your nail:
      A singer of these ageless times - 
      With kitchen prose, and gutter rhymes.

Oddi wrth y brawd
tip to toe

Abandoned Love - Trembling Bells [2010]

Oh, classy R.Thompsonesque folk rockery pinned to Calvary cross oblivious with colliery brass band twist. 

Oddi wrth y brawd

pirates patrol the ports of yorkshire

Gasoline Alley - Rod Stewart [1970]

Lest we forget. Before abandoning the one true path for perma-spiked glitz n unsexy leopard spot trews, Rod produced untouchable folk rock n roll of first water with an unparalleled knack for reinterpreting songs of others. 

Assorted highlights: eponymous title track written by Stewart n Ronnie Wood - unbeatable; Only A Hobo candidate for top ten best Dylan covers of the ages; none more rollickin' It's All Over Now pisses indecorously over Stones' version; Elton John n Bernie Taupin's Country Comforts horse-drawn folky melancholy; improbably magnificent keening violin, massed acoustic guitars n biscuit tin lid pound of Kenneth Day Jones on Cut Across Shorty.

oddi wrth y brawd

his way of giving

頭脳警察 1 - 頭脳警察 / Zunou Keisatsu [1971]

Two chord protest mantra agin Japanese Man. Congas, bongos, strum-along acoustic n yawping vocals akin to politically dis-chuffed Tyrannousaurus Rex. Lyrics make about as much sense likewise. Get out in streets kid bruthas.

Oddi wrth y brawd

they were the brain police

Surfing - Megapuss [2008]

Banhart in "screwing around" side project. Enough to strike fear in the heart of po-faced music lovers everywhere. A big quivering strap on of sloppy silliness. Enjoy.

Oddi wrth y brawd

duck, people

Paint a Lady - Susan Christie [1970]

Lightly psychedelicised, mildly experimental folk rock. Eschews gossamer flummery typical of period ssw acid-folk genre in favour of open throttle roister doister. Well worth a shufti.

Oddi wrth y brawd

today, where's my mind?

A Beard of Stars - Tyrannosaurus Rex [1970]

Easy pastoral love pump action. Electrick prelude to bopping elf rampant. Great god Pan priapic, no mistake: First Heart Mighty Dawn Dart (at a push Organ Blues n' Woodland Bop). No more arse sitting cross-legged acoustic Tolkien schtick. Be upstanding for mighty Marc n' Micky. Less warble, more strut.

Oddi wrth y brawd
dedicated to the priests of peace, all shepherds and horse lords and my imperial liege lord - the king of the rumbling spires innit

Y Gore a'r Gwaetha o'r Tebot Piws - Y Tebot Piws

Llythyr i'r wasg:
    Yn ddiweddar bûm mewn Cabaret lle'r oedd y Tebot i fod i gymryd rhan, a gallaf eich sicrhau
    imi glywed un o'r perfformiadau mwyaf gwael a diymdrech gan unrhyw grŵp pop Cymraeg 
    erioed. Ni chredaf eu bod  wedi cyrraedd terfyn unrhyw un o'r caneuon oherwydd y gwamalu 
    a'r lol. Roeddwn yn teimlo dros y rhai a weithiodd yn galed i geisio gwneud noson 
    lwyddiannus, a'r gynulleidfa yn gorfod dioddef y fath sothach.

Y Cymro 22 Rhagfyr 1971

Ha! Arloeswyr Be Bop a Lula'r Delyn Aur...


Anarchic pioneers Welsh language folk-rock-pop scene 1969-1972.


Bonus documentary: Gwreiddiau Roc - Y Tebot Piws [w/subs]. As bois Sbardun, Pws, Ems & Stan move on to other  groups of era - Mynediad am Ddim, Edward H Dafis, Ac Eraill - expect potted overview of era.

Oddi wrth y brawd
ie ie 'na fe