Week of November 14, 2004
Personnel:
Tommy Calandra – Bass
James Calire - Keyboards, Vocals
Tony Galla - Vocals, Harmonica
Gary Mallaber – Drums
John Weitz – Guitar
Albums:
Live At The Inferno (Discovery 36133) 1967
Raven (CBS CS 9903) 1969
45s:
Feelin' Good/Green Mountain Dream (CBS 4-44988) 1969
Children At Our Feet/Here Come A Truck (CBS 4-45163) 1970
Originating from Buffalo, New York, Raven recorded a great studio album
in 1970. Raw and distorted, it’s heavy, unpolished, filthy, bluesy, moody rock –
just the way I like it! Not quite the
Small Faces or
Procol Harum, it’s
taken me a while to find something similar in the annals of my mind and my own
collection. But the analogy has finally bubbled up to the surface: it is
not unlike
Moore/Shiels/Bridgeman or maybe
Gary Moore’s first
solo album, “Grinding Stone” from 1973. Except it’s also got those
haphazard keyboards – piano and organ – once again, so raw and distorted and
played with such energy and abandon, they give the frantic guitar a run for its
money. In that, as well as the bluesy, at times dishevelled vocals, it’s
even more like Juicy Lucy
and Toe Fat’s debut
albums as well as "Cliff Bennett's Rebellion" (1971). A pleasant surprise
and a revelation, to say the least!
Alex Gitlin
November 2004
Line-up and discography taken from: Fuzz, Acid & Flowers - American Garage, Psychedelic & Hippie Rock 1964-1975